A nurse I didn’t recognize came in for another cheek swab. Her badge read S. MARSH. She smiled too brightly.
“Just routine,” she said, as if this were an ordinary day.

When she leaned over the bassinet, her hand trembled—just barely. Her eyes flicked to Alvarez, then to the door.

A chill slid down my spine.

After she left, I whispered, “Who was that? She wasn’t here yesterday.”

Alvarez checked his notes. “She’s a float nurse. Pulled from pediatrics. She was on shift the night you delivered.”

Megan’s voice shook. “I remember her. She commented on my baby’s cry—like she knew him.”

My throat tightened. “Can you look into her?”

Alvarez’s expression shifted. “We are.”

An hour later, Ryan called.

I almost ignored it.

“What’s taking so long?” he snapped. “This is ridiculous. The hospital is embarrassing us.”

Embarrassing.

“This isn’t about you,” I said quietly.

He exhaled sharply. “If this gets out, people will think—”

“Think what?” I cut in. “That you accused me of cheating and triggered an investigation that exposed a baby swap?”

Silence.

Then, too quickly: “Don’t talk to anyone without me.”

That was when my fear found a new focus.

Ryan wasn’t worried about the babies.

He was worried about the narrative.

By afternoon, the hospital issued a statement blaming a “procedural deviation during a staffing change.” The language was clean and hollow—like describing a typo instead of a catastrophe.

Alvarez wasn’t convinced.

He returned with a tablet. “Your husband signed in at 9:40 p.m. Did he leave the room?”

“Yes,” I said, remembering his pacing. “He went to the vending machines. Took a call.”

“Anyone else visit?”

I hesitated. “His mother. Donna. I was half asleep. She said she wanted to see the baby.”

“Did she handle the baby alone?”

I swallowed. “For a minute. Ryan stepped out.”

Alvarez’s jaw tightened. He stepped into the hallway and made a call. When he returned, his tone was sharper.

“We reviewed corridor footage. At 2:17 a.m., a woman matching Donna’s description left your hallway carrying a bundled infant. She returned minutes later without one.”

The room went silent.

Megan gasped. “That means—”

“We need to locate your mother-in-law immediately,” Alvarez said. “And your husband.”

Ryan arrived an hour later, dressed for business, eyes scanning the room like he was calculating exits. Donna followed, clutching a rosary, wearing the practiced expression of a woman ready to be wronged.