CHAPTER 6 – THE BOY WHO HAD NO BIRTHDAY
CHAPTER 6 – THE BOY WHO HAD NO BIRTHDAY
The third child in Rosa’s photograph looked nothing like Daniel or Lucía.
He had straight black hair.
Gray eyes.
A narrow face.
A small scar near his chin.
He sat between them with his hands folded tightly in his lap.
Daniel leaned toward him protectively.
Lucía held the boy’s wrist.
All three children looked directly at the camera.
All three were alive.
That was the only mercy in the image.
Beneath it, Rosa had written that only two of them had been born at Santa Emilia.
One child did not belong to the hospital records.
One child had entered the conspiracy later.
Elena stared at the photograph.
“That is not Mateo.”
I looked at her.
“You just told me your brother disappeared.”
“He did.”
“But that boy is not him.”
“Then who is he?”
“I do not know.”
“Show me a picture of your brother.”
She unlocked her phone.
Her hands shook as she opened a family photograph.
A boy stood beside an older couple in a formal garden.
He was about seven years old.
He had light brown skin, thick dark curls, and a cautious smile.
Elena stood behind him with one hand on his shoulder.
The image had been taken at Christmas.
The child looked happy.
Safe.
Completely different from the boy sitting between Daniel and Lucía.
“When did you last see Mateo?”
“Sunday evening.”
“Before Daniel warned me?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“My mother called yesterday morning.”
“She said his bed was empty.”
“The security camera had been disabled.”
“Why did you not tell me?”
“Because I did not know it was connected.”
“Everything is connected.”
“I understand that now.”
“No.”
“You understood more than you admitted from the beginning.”
Officer Salgado approached.
“Commander Montes wants the phone.”
I held it behind me.
“No.”
“It is evidence.”
“It is my only contact with my son.”
“We can preserve the connection.”
“You can also trace it and frighten Rosa away.”
“That may be necessary.”
I looked at Elena.
“Tell him what the lake house is.”
She closed her eyes briefly.
“My father owns the property.”
Salgado’s expression sharpened.
“Your father is connected to the suspect?”
“I do not know.”
“You just said he owns the location she selected.”
“That does not mean he is helping her.”
“It means we notify Montes.”
He reached for his radio.
Elena stopped him.
“My parents may be targets.”
“That is why we notify him.”
I looked at the photo again.
Rosa had said all three surviving children were together.
Surviving.
The word had been chosen carefully.
It implied at least one child had not survived.
Or at least one child was believed dead.
I typed a response.
Who is the third boy?
The phone remained silent.
I typed again.
Where is Mateo Vargas?
No answer.
Then I wrote the only sentence that mattered.
Let me speak to Daniel again.
The phone rang almost immediately.
I answered.
“Mommy?”
Daniel sounded calmer.
“I am here.”
“Are you still with Rosa?”
“Yes.”
“Is Lucía all right?”
“She is hungry.”
A muffled protest came from beside him.
“I am not hungry.”
Even through terror, the children sounded like children.
That nearly broke me.
“Who is the boy with you?”
“He says his name is Gabriel.”
“Did Rosa bring him?”
“No.”
“He was already in the car.”
“Does he know where he came from?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“He says he woke up in a room.”
“What room?”
“He does not remember.”
“Is he hurt?”
“He has a bandage on his arm.”
“Can you ask him why?”
I heard whispering.
Then Daniel returned.
“He says someone took blood.”
My pulse quickened.
“Who?”
“He does not know.”
“Ask Rosa to speak with me.”
There was movement.
Rosa came onto the line.
“You should not involve the police.”
“They are already involved.”
“You brought them to the fuel station.”
“They found the van.”
“I expected that.”
“Who is Gabriel?”
“A child who was created by the same people who switched Daniel.”
“Created?”
“Do not twist my words.”
“Then explain them.”
Rosa exhaled.
“Gabriel was born through a private fertility program.”
“At Santa Emilia?”
“No.”
“At a laboratory connected to Cordero Medical Holdings.”
“Who are his parents?”
“That is what they are trying to determine.”
“By taking his blood?”
“Yes.”
“Why is he with Daniel and Lucía?”
“Because his DNA connects the three files.”
“How?”
“I cannot explain over an unsecured line.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because people have died for less information.”
“Who died?”
Silence.
“Rosa.”
“Tomás Cordero.”
The hospital administrator.
Mariana’s brother.
The man Eduardo claimed had arranged the infant transfers.
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“How?”
“Officially, a car accident.”
“And unofficially?”
“He tried to release the original records.”
“Who stopped him?”
“Family A-17.”
“Elena’s parents?”
Rosa’s voice hardened.
“Do not confuse the Vargas family with the people behind the code.”
“Elena said her family was A-17.”
“Her parents received a child assigned to A-17.”
“They were not the buyers.”
“Then who were?”
“The account was created by a private foundation.”
“What foundation?”
“The Armenta Foundation.”
Silvana’s surname.
My mind raced.
“Silvana’s family?”
“Her uncle.”
“Why would her family purchase a child while she was giving birth in the same hospital?”
“Because they did not know she was pregnant.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
“Come to the lake house.”
“Bring Elena if you must.”
“But no police.”
The line ended.
I turned toward Elena.
“Rosa changed the condition.”
“She said you can come.”
“I am not taking you anywhere without police protection.”
“You are coming because your brother is missing.”
“That is exactly why we need the police.”
I stepped closer.
“If your father owns that house, he may already know we are coming.”
Her expression changed.
“My father does not know what I discovered.”
“What did you discover?”
She looked at Salgado.
Then at the officers around the van.
“We need privacy.”
“No more private conversations.”
I held up Rosa’s phone.
“Not after this.”
Elena nodded slowly.
“Seven years ago, my parents believed they were adopting a baby through a legitimate international program.”
“They paid fees to the Armenta Foundation.”
“How much?”
“Nearly four million pesos.”
“For an adoption?”
“They were told the child required medical treatment and legal protection.”
“What happened after the baby arrived?”
“My mother noticed the dates did not match.”
“What dates?”
“The hospital bracelet listed one birthday.”
“The adoption records listed another.”
“Which date did your family celebrate?”
“The date on the adoption certificate.”
“When was he actually born?”
“I do not know.”
“Then how do you know he came from Santa Emilia?”
“I found a photograph two months ago.”
“Of what?”
“My father holding the baby outside the hospital.”
“Was the baby Daniel?”
“No.”
“Lucía?”
“No.”
“Then the fourth child.”
“Possibly.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I confronted my father.”
“What did he say?”
“That the truth would destroy Mateo.”
“Adults keep using that sentence to protect themselves.”
“I know.”
“Where is your father now?”
“At home.”
“Call him.”
Elena hesitated.
“Call him now.”
She dialed.
The call went unanswered.
She tried her mother.
No answer.
Then she called the house landline.
A man answered on the fifth ring.
“Elena?”
Her father’s voice sounded breathless.
“Dad, where is Mom?”
“Upstairs.”
“Where is Mateo?”
Silence.
“Dad.”
“He is safe.”
“You told Mom he disappeared.”
“I needed you to act.”
My anger sharpened.
“Put him on speaker,” I said.
Elena did.
Her father heard me.
“Laura.”
“You know where my son is?”
“No.”
“You know Rosa.”
Another silence.
“Yes.”
“Did you help her take Daniel?”
“No.”
“Did you help her enter my home?”
“I approved the agency contract.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Her father continued.
“Rosa needed access to the boy.”
“You put a stranger inside my house.”
“She was his mother.”
“She was also lying to me.”
“We believed she would reveal the truth when the time was right.”
“Five years passed.”
“The right time never came.”
“Why?”
“Because Mariana was watching.”
“Through whom?”
“Eduardo.”
My stomach turned.
“He knew Rosa was there?”
“Not at first.”
“Then when?”
“Two years ago.”
“Why did he not remove her?”
“Because she had evidence against him.”
The betrayal continued to widen.
Everyone had watched everyone.
Everyone had collected evidence.
Everyone had used Daniel as the center of a private war.
“Where is your son?” Elena asked.
Her father’s voice softened.
“With me.”
“Send a picture.”
“I cannot.”
“Why?”
“Because Mateo is not your brother.”
Elena went still.
“What?”
“He never was.”
“I raised him.”
“You visited him.”
“You were already an adult.”
“That does not make him less my brother.”
“No.”
“But your mother and I were never his legal parents.”
“Who is?”
“The Armenta Foundation.”
The connection returned.
Silvana.
The foundation.
Family A-17.
“Why would a foundation retain legal control over a child?” I asked.
“Because Mateo was collateral.”
The word was so cold I almost did not understand it.
“Collateral for what?”
“A medical trial.”
Elena gripped the phone.
“What trial?”
Her father began to cry.
I had never heard an older man sound so frightened.
“A genetic treatment program.”
“They were studying inherited cardiac disease.”
“Lucía’s condition.”
“Yes.”
“The children were selected based on genetic markers.”
My body turned cold.
“Selected before birth?”
“In some cases.”
“How?”
“Fertility records.”
“Prenatal testing.”
“Donor databases.”
“Gabriel,” Elena whispered.
Her father heard.
“How do you know that name?”
“Who is he?”
“Where did you hear it?”
“Answer me.”
“He is the control subject.”
I looked at the photograph on Rosa’s phone.
Gabriel sat between Daniel and Lucía with a bandage on his arm.
“What does control subject mean?”
“He was genetically matched but did not receive treatment.”
“What treatment?”
“A procedure performed on infants with specific cardiac markers.”
“Did Daniel receive it?”
“I do not know.”
“Did Lucía?”
“Yes.”
That explained the surgeries.
Or part of them.
Lucía had not simply been treated for a heart defect.
She had been used in an experimental program.
“What about Mateo?” Elena asked.
“He was the first successful subject.”
“Successful?”
“He survived without major complications.”
“Where is he now?”
Her father’s voice dropped.
“Mariana took him yesterday.”
Elena’s face emptied.
“You said he was with you.”
“I lied because they told me you would lead them to Laura.”
“Who told you?”
“The foundation.”
“What do they want?”
“All three original children.”
“Daniel, Lucía, and Mateo?”
“Yes.”
“Then who is Gabriel?”
“The replacement.”
“For whom?”
The line went silent.
A dull sound came through the speaker.
Then Elena’s mother screamed in the background.
“Dad?”
The call disconnected.
Elena dialed again.
No answer.
Officer Salgado raised his radio and ordered units to the Vargas residence.
I stared at the screen.
Rosa had written that all three surviving children were together.
But the photograph showed Daniel, Lucía, and Gabriel.
If Elena’s father was telling the truth, Mateo should have been one of the original children.
Rosa had either lied.
Or Mateo was no longer surviving.
The phone in my hand vibrated.
A location pin appeared.
Lake Tequesquitengo.
Then Rosa sent a video.
Daniel sat at a wooden table.
Lucía was beside him.
Gabriel stood near a window.
Rosa moved into the frame.
Her silver hair was gone.
She had removed the wig.
Her familiar dark hair fell around her face.
The scar along her left cheek was fully visible.
She held up a small glass vial.
Inside it was a blood sample labeled MATEO VARGAS.
“Laura,” she said in the recording.
“Elena’s father has lied again.”
“Mateo was never taken yesterday.”
“He died six months ago.”
Elena made a sound beside me.
Rosa continued.
“The boy your family has called Mateo since then is not the same child.”
The video shifted.
A fourth child entered the room.
He looked exactly like the boy in Elena’s Christmas photograph.
Same curls.
Same skin.
Same cautious eyes.
But when he turned toward the camera, I saw a surgical line behind his right ear.
Rosa placed one hand on his shoulder.
“This child believes his name is Mateo.”
“His biological records identify him as Gabriel.”
“And the boy in the photograph with Daniel and Lucía believes his name is Gabriel.”
“His records identify him as Mateo.”
The two boys had been given each other’s identities.
The names had been switched.
The records had been changed.
And one family had been grieving a child who might still be alive.
Rosa looked directly into the camera.
“Come to the lake house.”
“Bring Elena.”
May you like
“Because one of these boys is her brother.”
“And before midnight, the Armenta Foundation will kill the other one.”
