Chapter 7: The Son I Had Been Raising
“Ethan… which baby did we bring home?””
Emily's question followed me into the ambulance.
I couldn't answer it.
The little boy sitting beside her was Noah. The child I'd raised for three years. The child whose first steps I'd recorded, whose first words I'd celebrated, whose tiny hand I'd held through countless nights when fever kept him awake.
But the birth certificate on my phone claimed he was Jacob.
And Jacob was supposedly the baby Richard had stolen.
I looked at my son.
“Buddy, come here.””
Noah climbed into my lap.
“Daddy, are you sad?””
I kissed his forehead.
“No, buddy. I'm just trying to understand something.””
He touched my cheek.
“Don't cry. Mommy's home now.””
That nearly broke me.
Across the ambulance, Emily was staring at the photograph of the third baby.
“Lucas,” she whispered.
I turned.
“What?””
“Sarah named him Lucas. I remember because she told me she wanted a name that meant light.””
I glanced at the document.
“Then why does his photograph appear under a different identity?””
Emily shook her head.
“Because Richard changed everything.””
The paramedic closed the ambulance doors.
“We need to get moving.””
Before I could respond, a police officer approached the window.
“Mr. Hayes, we need you to remain at the property for a few more minutes. There's been a development.””
I stepped outside.
“What development?””
The officer showed me his phone.
It was a security-camera image from St. Andrew's Academy.
A man was standing outside the school gates.
Beside him was a little boy.
The boy wore a blue backpack.
I recognized his face from the photograph.
Jacob.
The officer enlarged the image.
“Do you recognize the adult?””
I stared.
It was Victor, Richard's security man.
“That's the man who came with my uncle.””
The officer nodded.
“Our colleagues are on their way to the school. But there's something else.””
He swiped to another image.
A woman was leaving the school through a side entrance.
She was holding a little boy's hand.
The woman was wearing a silver heart necklace.
My mother.
I felt my blood turn cold.
“That's impossible. She's been here the entire time.””
The officer looked at me.
“The photograph was taken forty minutes before the party.””
I turned toward the house.
My mother was still sitting on the patio.
“Then who was that?””
The officer didn't answer.
Instead, he asked me to identify the woman in the photograph.
I looked again.
The face was almost identical to my mother's.
Almost.
But there was one difference.
My mother had a small scar beneath her right eyebrow.
The woman in the photograph had it beneath her left.
I remembered the identical men.
Richard and my father.
Then I remembered what my mother had said about her silver necklace.
“There's another twin,” I whispered.
The officer frowned.
“What?””
I looked toward the cellar.
“My mother has a twin sister.””
He checked his notes.
“Name?””
I swallowed.
“Evelyn.””
I'd heard that name once when I was a child.
My grandmother had told me Evelyn died in an accident before I was born.
But suddenly, I remembered something else.
My mother had never attended her sister's funeral.
She'd told me she couldn't bear to see the coffin.
I hurried back toward the patio.
“Mom!””
She looked up.
“Ethan?””
“Where's Aunt Evelyn?””
Her face changed instantly.
“Why are you asking about her?””
“Because someone who looks exactly like you was at St. Andrew's Academy.””
Mom stood.
“That's impossible.””
“Then explain the photograph.””
She stared at the screen.
Her lips parted.
And then she whispered something I never expected.
“Evelyn is dead.””
“Then who took Jacob?””
Mom covered her mouth.
“Her daughter.””
I stared.
“My cousin?””
Mom nodded.
“Your father and Richard told me Evelyn died years ago. But I found out recently that she had a daughter. A girl named Vanessa.””
I remembered the photograph.
The woman had looked older than Claire but younger than my mother.
“Why would Vanessa take Jacob?””
Mom closed her eyes.
“Because Richard promised her something.””
“What?””
“The money.””
I looked toward the ambulance.
Emily was watching us through the window.
“Mom, tell me everything.””
She finally broke.
“Your grandmother created a private inheritance arrangement. The children of her daughters were supposed to receive equal shares. Richard manipulated the records so he could control the accounts. But when the boys were born, everything became complicated.””
“Three children meant three beneficiaries.””
“Yes.””
“And you helped him hide them.””
Mom nodded.
“I thought the children would be safe.””
I stepped away.
“You don't get to say that anymore.””
Her face crumpled.
Then the police officer's radio crackled.
A voice came through.
“Unit Four, we have located the child at St. Andrew's. However, the male suspect has fled. The woman accompanying the child is claiming legal guardianship.””
The officer grabbed his radio.
“Is the child safe?””
A pause.
Then:
“Negative. The woman has taken him into a vehicle.””
I turned toward Emily.
She had heard everything.
“Jacob,” she whispered.
I climbed into the ambulance.
“I'm going to find him.””
Emily grabbed my hand.
“Ethan, wait.””
“What?””
She looked at Noah.
Then at me.
“There is something I never told you.””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“What now?””
“When Richard took Jacob, he told me that the second baby had a medical condition. He said one of the twins needed a rare blood treatment.””
I frowned.
“Which one?””
“He wouldn't tell me.””
She looked down at Noah's hand.
“But I remembered something the nurse said.””
“What?””
Emily's voice cracked.
“She said the two boys weren't identical. One had your blood type. The other had mine.””
I stared.
“And?””
Emily took a breath.
“Ethan, Noah's medical records show a different blood type from the one recorded at birth.””
The ambulance suddenly felt impossibly small.
I looked at my son.
“Have you ever had a blood test?””
Emily nodded.
“When he was six months old. The pediatrician found an inconsistency.””
“What did you do?””
“I asked Richard for help. He told me the hospital had made a mistake.””
She looked toward the window.
“Now I think he changed the records.””
My phone vibrated.
A new message.
Unknown number.
*VANESSA HAS THE BOY. RICHARD HAS THE ORIGINAL RECORDS. AND YOUR MOTHER KNOWS WHERE THE THIRD CHILD IS.*
I looked at my mother through the ambulance window.
She was standing beside the police officer.
Then she slowly raised her eyes toward me.
Her lips formed three words.
He is here.
I turned toward the ambulance doors.
A little boy stood outside.
May you like
He had blue eyes.
And he was holding a photograph of my father.
