Page 69 of The Other Mother
“Claire,” Adam calls from across the room. He looks gray, like someone has drained the color from him. “I don’t know anything about this. You have to believe me.”
The next hourpasses in a blur of questions. Eva and I are placed in the back of an FBI vehicle while agents coordinate the scene. Through the tinted windows, I look at Maria who sits in another vehicle, her face buried in her hands as the reality of her situation becomes clear.
Agent Holt slides into the seat across from me, her expression serious but not unkind. "Mrs. Matthews, your case broke this whole thing open. We've been tracking this network across six states, but we needed someone on the inside."
"I didn't know," I whisper, adjusting Eva in my arms.She's sleeping now, exhausted by the chaos. "I thought they were helping me."
"We know. You're not in trouble, Mrs. Matthews. You're a victim. But we need your help to make sure these people can't hurt any more children."
I look down at Eva's peaceful face, thinking about the forty-seven children Agent Holt mentioned. Forty-seven babies stolen from their families, sold like commodities, their entire lives built on lies. Just like Eva's has been.
"What do you need me to do?”
“I’m not going to sugarcoat this. Your husband was one of the top people involved in this fraud.”
Agent Holt does not blink. “We have wire records that route through shell companies tied to his ‘consulting’ work. Silver Rock Partners, BrightStart Domestic Advocates, J.H. Consulting. Money moves from those entities into an account at First Desert Bank in his name. There is a second account at Cascade Trust that you did not know about. Total deposits into the two accounts exceed three million dollars in the past three years.”
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 JamesRodriguez. 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 likelyescape 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.
