Page 38 of The Other Mother

My mouth tastes like metal. I see golf tees in a crystal cup on his dresser. New grips. Paid for with babies.

“No, that can’t be right. He works for a real estate firm,” I hear myself say. The words sound small.

“He was there part-time, if that,” Holt says. “He also used development site visits as cover for meetings with hospital staff and facilitators. We have messages with Ava Pierce. We have travel overlapping with James Rodriguez. We have intake schedules that match his calendar.”

Jessica’s voice is quiet. “Claire, the timeline predates Eva. At least two years of activity before your delivery.”

My hands tighten around Eva’s blanket. He started doing this before I was pregnant. Before any of this was personal.

Holt keeps going. “We are also investigating your husband for possible involvement in the death of Mara Vasquez. We are not saying he physically harmed her. We have evidence of a payment from one of his shells to an intermediary forty eight hours after Ms. Vasquez contacted the network with specific allegations. The intermediary’s phone and vehicle were in proximity to Ms. Vasquez the night she died.

It is an open homicide investigation. We are treating it as a potential contract killing. ”

The room tilts. I think of Mara’s purse on the pavement in that news photo. No phone. No autopsy.

Holt lowers the folder. “We have victims back to 2021. Your case accelerated because someone inside the hospital flagged you as ‘suitable’ and he had leverage there. We believe he helped fabricate or obtain forged consents, then laundered placement fees through the shells I mentioned.”

I look at Adam out in the distance, just out of earshot. He looks smaller, like someone has let the air out of him. For years he was my husband. He wasn’t perfect but we made a good life together. But apparently, he was building another life in the shadows all of this time.

Holt turns back to me. “We need you to testify against the entire network. Your OBGYN, hospital staff, traffickers, everyone involved. In exchange, we will advocate for your custody of Eva through federal victim protection programs. That includes relocation and legal counsel.”

“My husband too?” My voice shakes.

“No, you two are married and you can’t testify against him due to spousal privilege. But you can testify against everyone else.”

"If I testify," I say slowly, "what happens to Eva?"

"Witness protection. New identities, relocation, full federal support for your custody case. Eva would be safe, and you'd have the resources to give her a normal life."

A normal life. The words sound foreign after everything we've been through.

But as I look at Eva's sleeping face, I know what Mara would want.

She'd want her daughter to grow up knowing the truth about where she came from.

She'd want the people who profited from trafficking children to face justice.

She'd want other mothers to be spared this nightmare.

“And if I don’t?”

Agent Holt considers this carefully. "Mrs. Matthews, without your testimony, we can probably convict the trafficking ring operators.

But the hospital network that started all this?

The doctors and administrators who created the system that made this possible?

They'll likely escape prosecution. And there are other safe houses like this one, other networks we haven't identified yet. "

The weight of it settles on my chest like a stone. It's not just about Eva anymore. It's about all the other babies, all the other mothers who might face what I've faced.

Eva stirs in my arms, her tiny hand reaching up to touch my face. Her eyes open for just a moment, meeting mine with that perfect trust that only exists between a mother and child. In that look, I see Mara's eyes, and I know what I have to do.

"I'll testify to everything," I tell Agent Holt. "Every name, every document, every crime. But I want full custody of Eva, and I want her to know the truth about her birth mother when she's old enough.”

Agent Holt nods and steps out to confer with other agents. Through the vehicle window, I watch Adam being read his rights. When he looks directly at me through the FBI car window, I expect to see anger or betrayal. Instead, I see something I've never seen before, relief.

He mouths three words: “I love you."

The realization hits me like a physical blow.

Adam has been carrying the guilt of what he did for months.

Part of him wanted to be caught, wanted to face consequences, and wanted the truth to come out.

All this time, I thought he was trying to control the narrative to protect himself.

But maybe he was just trying to protect me from the consequences of his choices .

Adam's phone buzzes in the hand of the agent holding him. The agent glances at the screen, and his face goes pale. He immediately calls for backup, speaking urgently into his radio.

Agent Holt returns to the car, her expression grim. "Claire, we have a problem. Someone just leaked this investigation to the press. Jessica Towler was going to publish the story once we were ready, but these so-called journalists? Who knows?”

“What does that mean?” I ask.

“Just assume that everything is about to become very public, very quickly.”

She pauses, her eyes meeting mine with the weight of terrible knowledge.

"And some very dangerous people are going to want to keep their secrets buried.”