‘Carrigan will tell him you asked, or worse, that you went looking.’
Lachlan looks to Danya, who groans.
?
They have exactly one minute forty-five seconds.
Zaitsev can only bubble the capture footage surveillance for that long.It’s the typical amount of time needed for Lachlan to get Jules safely into the East Wing after Jules has been out.
Lachlan and Danya move fast and silent into the West Wing, headed for the archive; a room in the back of Alistair’s office.Hehatesthis place, but he wants to see these documents.The crackle of radio static is theirgo ahead.
The door unlocks when Danya uses the override and they head to the door on the far left, repeating the process.Inside this new room, the air is stale.There are hundreds of books on the shelves.Incredibly old, sitting behind protective glass.Ancient artefacts.Private treasures.
Lachlan has no interest in those.
He goes right for the files.
Old, hardcopy files in secure archival drawers.
Lachlan breaks in easily.‘Here,’ he tells Danya.
Together, they scan through the drawers fast.
‘Got it,’ Danya tells Lachlan, pulling out a file.‘Under one minute left.’
The file is labelledInfant Records.
Lachlan flips through the paper, scanning forJane Doeor Jessamine Penhalyx.He ignores everything else, including a stunning amount of medical notes for Jules but the boy’s birth certificate is worth three seconds.
CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH
Child’s Full Name:
Julian Sael Penhalyx
Date of Birth:
November 11, 1999
Father’s Full Name:
Alistair Sael Penhalyx
Mother’s Full Name:
Isabel Basine Seravienne
He sees a death certificate for Isabel, but Lachlan has no time for that.He needs information about Mimi’s mother.Sheaskedhim, and he wants to have something concrete to tell her.He finds very little with her name on it.As Blaire said, a surrogacy agreement but no birth certificate.
PRIVATE GESTATIONAL SURROGACY AGREEMENT
Alistair Sael Penhalyx(“Intended Father”)
and
Jane Doe(“Gestational Carrier”)
It’s all boilerplate stuff beneath, nothing specific, no name but Jane Doe.
