Chapter 4: The Man Listed as My Father
For several seconds, I couldn't move.
Samuel Reed.
The name on the birth certificate belonged to the doctor who had delivered me—or supposedly delivered me—twenty-eight years earlier. According to my father's recording, Dr. Reed had been involved in the disappearance of the original hospital records. According to the document Daniel had brought into the study, he might have been my biological father.
And according to the hospital record lying between us, my wife had somehow been connected to my birth before either of us was old enough to remember.
I looked at Daniel.
“Start talking.””
He rubbed his bruised cheek.
“Not here.””
I grabbed the front of his shirt.
“You don't get to make demands anymore.””
“Marcus, listen to me. Someone broke into this house tonight. Someone who knew exactly what you were looking for. If we stay here, we'll never find the truth.””
I glanced at Mother.
She was sitting beside the desk, clutching the edge of the chair with both hands. Her face had gone gray, and her lips moved silently, as though she were repeating a prayer.
“Who broke into the study?”” I asked.
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.””
“You expect me to believe that?””
“No. I expect you to look at the security footage.””
He pointed toward the small monitor beside the bookcase.
I turned it on.
The screen displayed the mansion's front entrance, the hallway, and the corridor leading to Father's study. The footage from earlier that evening showed the funeral guests arriving.
Then, at 9:17 p.m., a man entered the house through the rear service door.
He wore a dark coat and a baseball cap pulled low over his face.
He walked directly toward the study.
No hesitation.
No searching.
He knew where he was going.
At 9:24 p.m., he emerged carrying a leather folder.
At 9:26 p.m., he stopped in the hallway and looked directly at the camera.
Even through the grainy image, I recognized his face.
I stepped closer to the monitor.
“No.””
Daniel stood beside me.
“Now you understand why I came back.””
The man on the screen was Dr. Samuel Reed.
Older than in the photographs, his hair almost completely white, but unmistakably the same man.
I turned toward Daniel.
“You said he died last year.””
“I said the family believed he died last year.””
“What does that mean?””
Daniel reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded newspaper clipping.
The headline read:
*RETIRED OBSTETRICIAN PRESUMED DEAD AFTER BOAT DISAPPEARS OFF MAINE COAST.*
Beneath the headline was a photograph of Dr. Reed.
The article stated that no body had been recovered.
“He disappeared eleven months ago,” Daniel explained.
“Your father had been paying him for years. After Dad died, the payments stopped. Then Reed contacted me.””
I stared at him.
“Why you?””
“Because he said I was the only person in this family who had a reason to want the truth.””
I laughed bitterly.
“You tried to bury my pregnant wife alive. Don't talk to me about reasons.””
Daniel flinched.
For the first time, he didn't defend himself.
“I know what I did,” he said quietly.
“Do you?””
“I was wrong.””
“Wrong?”” I slammed my hand against the desk.
“You put her in a coffin!””
Mother began crying harder.
Daniel lowered his head.
“I thought she would sign the papers. I thought she'd be released before you came home.””
I stared at him in disbelief.
“You thought we'd forgive you?””
“No.””
“Then what did you think?””
He looked up, and I saw something I had never seen in my younger brother's face before.
Fear.
“I thought she'd be dead by the time anyone discovered what we'd done.””
The confession hung between us.
Mother covered her mouth.
I stepped forward, but Daniel raised his hands.
“I'm not asking you to forgive me. I'm telling you because Reed has the original records. And he said the people who switched the babies are still alive.””
“Who?””
Daniel looked toward Mother.
She suddenly stood.
“That's enough.””
Her voice cracked through the room with an authority that made the staff outside stop moving.
“You have no idea what you're doing, Marcus. Some truths cannot be undone.””
I turned toward her.
“Then why did you spend twenty-eight years hiding them?””
“Because I was protecting you!””
“From whom?””
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
I walked to the desk, gathered the birth certificates, and slipped them into my jacket.
“I'm going to find Reed.””
Mother rushed toward me.
“You cannot!””
“Watch me.””
“If you contact him, he will destroy this family!””
I stopped at the doorway.
“Mom, this family destroyed itself when you put my wife in a coffin.””
Her knees seemed to weaken.
I left before she could answer.
Grace was awake when I returned to the hospital.
She was sitting up against the pillows, watching the muted television. A nurse had placed a cup of water on the bedside table, but she hadn't touched it.
The moment I entered, she searched my face.
“What happened?””
I sat beside her.
“Someone broke into my father's study.””
Her fingers tightened around the blanket.
“Did they take the letter?””
“Some of it. I found another birth certificate.””
I hesitated.
Then I showed her the document.
She read it slowly.
When she reached the name beneath Father, her lips parted.
“Samuel Reed.””
“You recognize him?””
Grace shook her head.
“Not personally. But I found his name in the papers from the safe.””
“What papers?””
“The documents your father kept about the trust. There was a letter from Reed to your father. It mentioned a payment made to a woman named Eleanor.””
I searched my memory.
“Eleanor who?””
“I couldn't see the last name. Your mother took the letter before I could finish reading it.””
I leaned back.
Every answer seemed to lead to another locked door.
Grace reached for my hand.
“Marcus, there's something else I haven't told you.””
I turned toward her.
“Tell me.””
“When Daniel and your mother held me in the basement, they argued about a woman who was supposed to arrive the following morning.””
“Who?””
“I don't know. But your mother said, ‘If Eleanor talks, the child will know everything.’”
My pulse quickened.
“Eleanor.””
Grace nodded.
“Daniel said they had already paid her to leave the country. Then your mother said something that frightened me.””
“What?””
Grace looked directly into my eyes.
“She said, ‘If Marcus ever meets his real mother, he will never forgive me.’”
I sat perfectly still.
For twenty-eight years, Margaret had called me her son.
She had attended every school event, every birthday, every milestone. She had held my hand at my father's funeral and promised me that I would never face the world alone.
If she had stolen me from my biological mother, then every memory I cherished had suddenly become a question.
I squeezed Grace's hand.
“I'll find Eleanor.””
Grace swallowed.
“And if she's alive?””
“Then I'll ask her why she let me grow up believing I belonged to someone else.””
My phone rang.
An unknown number.
I answered immediately.
“Reed?””
A man's voice spoke in a low whisper.
“Marcus Bennett?””
“Who is this?””
“My name is Eleanor Hayes.””
I stopped breathing.
Grace sat up straighter.
The woman continued.
“I know what your father did. I know what Margaret did. And I know why they chose you instead of the other baby.””
I gripped the phone.
“Are you my mother?””
Silence.
Then a broken whisper.
“Yes.””
My knees nearly gave way.
“Where are you?””
“I can't tell you over the phone. Margaret has people watching me.””
“Why didn't you come for me?””
A sharp breath sounded through the receiver.
“Because the night you were born, I was told you were dead.””
I closed my eyes.
The woman who had given birth to me had spent twenty-eight years believing I was buried somewhere.
“Tell me where you are,” I begged.
She hesitated.
Then she gave me an address.
Before I could ask another question, she whispered one final sentence.
“Marcus, don't bring Daniel. He's the reason your twin brother died.””
The call ended.
I stared at my phone.
Grace reached for my arm.
“What did she say?””
I looked at the hospital bracelet in my pocket.
Two babies.
One truth.
And a twin brother who had supposedly died before I could remember his face.
But according to Eleanor, he hadn't simply died.
May you like
Someone had made sure he never had the chance to grow up.
And the person who knew exactly why was the same brother who had tried to bury my wife alive.
