Chapter 6
We found Sarah Henderson three days later.
She lived in a small, weathered house on the edge of a tiny town two hours outside the city.
Clara came with us.
She said Margaret was less likely to try anything if there was another witness.
Lily stayed home with a trusted babysitter, a woman who’d worked for Clara for ten years.
We’d installed a security system.
Changed all the locks.
Called the police to do extra patrols.
But I still checked my phone every two minutes, terrified something would happen.
Sarah answered the door on our third knock.
She was in her late thirties, with tired eyes and calloused hands.
She was holding a baby on her hip, a little boy no more than a year old.
Two small girls peeked out from behind her legs.
When she saw James, her face went white.
“Mrs. Henderson?” James said gently. “I’m James Carter. This is my wife Emily, and my aunt Clara. We need to talk to you about six years ago.”
Sarah’s hand tightened on the baby.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Please.” Clara stepped forward, her voice soft. “We know Margaret Carter paid you. We have the bank records. We’re not here to hurt you. We’re not here to get you in trouble. We just need the truth. For our daughter.”
Sarah hesitated.
She looked past us, up and down the street, as if expecting Margaret to jump out from behind a tree.
Then she stepped back and opened the door wider.
“Come in. But make it fast. My husband will be home soon, and he doesn’t know about any of this.”
Her house was small but clean.
Toys were scattered across the floor.
Drawings were taped to the fridge.
She sat us down at the kitchen table and shooed the older girls into the other room.
The baby fell asleep on her shoulder.
“I was desperate,” she said, without being asked. “My husband had lost his job. We were about to lose the house. My oldest daughter needed surgery on her heart. We had no insurance. No money. No hope.”
She paused, swallowing hard.
“Then Margaret Carter found me. She said she knew a couple who couldn’t have children. She said if I carried a baby for them, she’d pay me $75,000. All cash. Tax free. She said no one would ever have to know. She said the baby would have a good life. A rich life.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I didn’t want to do it. But my baby was going to die. What choice did I have?”
“Whose embryo was it?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
Sarah looked at me, her eyes full of regret.
“Margaret said it was her son’s and his wife’s. I believed her. I had no reason not to. I did the IVF at a clinic in Mexico. Margaret paid for everything. I never met the couple. I never saw any pictures. I just did what I was told.”
“When did you give birth?” James asked.
“October fourteenth. Six years ago. At 2:17 in the morning. A little girl. 6 pounds 2 ounces. Perfect.” She paused, her voice cracking. “Margaret was there. She took the baby the second she was born. She didn’t even let me hold her. She gave me an envelope full of cash and told me to forget it ever happened. She said if I ever told anyone, she’d take the money back. She said she’d make sure my daughter never got her surgery. She said she’d ruin my whole family.”
She broke down crying.
“I’m so sorry. I had no idea she was going to do what she did. I thought the baby was going to you. I thought she was your daughter. I never dreamed Margaret would… I never dreamed she was the mother.”
I reached across the table and took her hand.
It was shaking.
“It’s okay,” I said. “You did what you had to do to save your child. I would have done the same thing.”
Sarah looked at me, surprised.
“You’re not angry?”
“Angry at Margaret? Yes. Angry at you? Never. You were just as much her victim as we were.”
She squeezed my hand.
“Thank you. That means more than you know.”
“Mrs. Henderson,” James said. “We’re fighting Margaret for custody of our daughter. We need you to testify. We need you to tell the court exactly what you just told us. Will you do it?”
Sarah hesitated.
She looked at the baby on her shoulder, then at the girls playing in the other room.
“I’m scared. She said she’d ruin me.”
“We’ll protect you,” Clara said. “I have connections. I can get you security. I can make sure your husband’s job is safe. I can pay for anything you need. Margaret can’t hurt you. Not anymore. We won’t let her.”
Sarah was quiet for a long time.
Then she nodded slowly.
“Okay. I’ll testify. For that little girl. No one should have to go through what we went through.”
We left her house an hour later, our heads spinning.
We had the surrogate.
We had the bank records.
We had Clara’s testimony.
We had everything we needed to prove Margaret’s fraud.
But as we drove back to the city, James’ phone rang.
He answered it, his face going pale.
Then he dropped the phone.
“James?” I grabbed his arm. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
May you like
He looked at me, his eyes full of horror.
“That was the police. Margaret was at the house. She tried to take Lily.”
