Chapter 67 Dr. Morrison visit
Vanessa's Room - 3:34 PM
Dr. Morrison found Vanessa sitting on the floor of her room, back against the bed, staring at nothing.
"May I come in?" Dr. Morrison asked.
Vanessa didn't respond, but she didn't say no either.
Dr. Morrison entered and sat on the floor beside her. Not talking. Just being present.
After several minutes, Vanessa spoke. "Whose baby am I carrying?"
"We don't know yet," Dr. Morrison said honestly.
"But someone made me pregnant. Someone I don't remember. Someone who—" Her voice broke. "Someone who used me. Violated me. And then made me forget."
"Yes," Dr. Morrison said gently. "I'm sorry."
"All my memories of Adrian," Vanessa continued. "The dates, the proposal, the planning none of it was real. I've been living in a fantasy for eighteen months. And now I'm pregnant with a stranger's baby and I don't even know who I really am anymore."
"You're Vanessa Cortez," Dr. Morrison said firmly. "Daughter of Roberto Cortez. Twenty-eight years old. You have a degree in business administration from Columbia. You love classical music and hate seafood. You volunteer at a women's shelter every Thursday. You're real, Vanessa. Your memories might have been altered, but you the core of who you are you're still there."
"How do you know all that about me?" Vanessa asked.
"Because I did my research," Dr. Morrison said. "Before you arrived, I looked into your background. Verified what I could. And everything I just told you? That's all documented, all verifiable, all true. Your memories of Adrian might be false, but your life before him that's real. You can hold onto that."
Vanessa was crying now, silent tears streaming down her face. "I don't know what to do. I don't know who to trust. I don't even know if I can trust myself."
"Then trust this," Dr. Morrison said. "Whatever was done to you, it wasn't your fault. And whatever comes next finding out who the father of your baby is, recovering your real memories, processing this trauma you don't have to do it alone. We're here. We'll help you."
"Why would you help me?" Vanessa asked. "I'm a stranger. A complication. A potential security risk."
"Because," Dr. Morrison said simply, "you're a victim of the same program that targeted Adrian and Emily. And we don't abandon victims. We help them become survivors."
Vanessa looked at her, really looked, and something in her expression shifted. Not hope, exactly. But maybe the possibility of hope.
"I want to help," Vanessa said. "If there's a way I can help take down whoever did this to me, to Adrian, to everyone I want to be part of it."
"Then you will be," Dr. Morrison promised. "But first, you need to rest. Process what you've learned. Let yourself grieve the relationship you thought you had. And when you're ready we'll figure out the truth together."
Evening - 8:47 PM
Marcus returned from searching Vanessa's room with a small electronic device in his hand.
"Found this in her suitcase," he said, holding it up. "Hidden in the lining. It's a tracking beacon. Very sophisticated. Transmitting her location continuously to an external receiver."
"Does she know it's there?" I asked.
"I don't think so," Marcus said. "It's well-hidden. Someone planted it without her knowledge."
"So whoever manipulated her memories also made sure they could track her movements," Emily said. "Which means—"
"Which means they know exactly where we are," I finished. "They've known since she arrived. This safe house is compromised."
"We need to move," Marcus said. "Now. Tonight."
"Where?" I demanded. "If they can track us this easily, nowhere is safe."
"Then we don't hide," Emily said, standing up. "We do what you planned. We go to New York. You face the board, fight for your company, and we force Stirling-Hale into the open. Because if they know where we are anyway, there's no point in hiding."
"That's incredibly dangerous," Marcus said.
"Yes," Emily agreed. "But so is sitting here waiting for them to make the next move. At least in New York, we have resources. Allies. The ability to fight back."
I looked at her this woman who kept surprising me with her courage, her strategic thinking, her refusal to be a victim.
"All right," I said. "New York. Tomorrow. All of us."
"Including Vanessa?" Marcus asked.
"Especially Vanessa," I said. "If her tracking beacon led Stirling-Hale here, then she's as much a target as we are. Better to keep her close where we can protect her."
"And where she can't unknowingly compromise us again," Marcus added.
"That too," I admitted.
Emily moved to stand beside me, her hand finding mine. "Whatever happens tomorrow we face it together."
"Together," I agreed.
But as we prepared to leave the safe house, as we packed up evidence and made travel arrangements and tried to prepare for a board meeting that could determine the future of Cole Enterprises I couldn't shake the feeling that we were walking directly into a trap.
That Stirling-Hale wanted us in New York.
That they'd orchestrated this entire situation the paternity test, the board meeting, even Vanessa's arrival to force us out of hiding and into the open.
Where they could finally finish what they'd started.
But we didn't have a choice.
Sometimes the only way forward is straight through the danger.
Even when you know it might destroy you.