Chapter 5: The Child in the Photograph
Marcus couldn't look away from the photograph.
The baby was tiny, perhaps only a few days old.
Evelyn stood beside a hospital entrance, smiling down at the bundle in her arms.
But the handwriting on the back made no sense.
*The child is not yours.*
Marcus turned the photograph over again.
“Whose child is this?””
Daniel remained silent.
Walter looked as if someone had taken the air from his lungs.
Renee moved toward the coffee table.
“Give me that.””
Marcus pulled the photograph away.
“No.””
“Marcus, please.””
“Not another lie.””
He looked at Daniel.
“Where did you get it?””
Daniel opened the cardboard box and removed a thin folder.
“Your mother left instructions with an attorney. After she died, I was supposed to deliver this to you when you turned thirty-five.””
Marcus frowned.
“I'm thirty-four.””
“I know.””
“Then why are you giving it to me now?””
Daniel glanced toward Renee.
“Because someone started looking for the documents before the deadline.””
Marcus felt his pulse quicken.
“Who?””
“Your wife.””
Renee shook her head.
“I wasn't looking for the baby photograph.””
Daniel opened the folder.
“You asked me to find the original birth certificate.””
Marcus stared at her.
“Why?””
Renee pressed her lips together.
Walter slowly stood.
“Daniel, stop playing games. Tell him what you know.””
Daniel placed the folder on the table.
“Evelyn gave birth to another child before Marcus.””
The room fell silent.
Marcus looked at him.
“What?””
Walter's voice cracked.
“She never told me about that.””
Daniel shook his head.
“That's because she wasn't married to you yet.””
Marcus looked at the photograph.
“So this is my half-sibling?””
“Possibly,” Daniel replied.
“Possibly?””
“The hospital record has two names. One is Evelyn's. The other is the person who signed the release papers.””
Marcus leaned forward.
“Who?””
Daniel turned the document around.
A name appeared beneath the hospital stamp.
*Renee Mitchell.*
Marcus felt the room tilt.
He looked at his wife.
“You?””
Renee shook her head violently.
“I was a child.””
“How old?””
“Fourteen.””
Walter stared at her.
“Fourteen?””
Renee looked down.
“I was staying with Evelyn that summer. She helped my mother when she was sick.””
Marcus looked at the photograph again.
“Why were you signing hospital paperwork?””
Renee wiped her eyes.
“I wasn't signing it as a parent.””
“Then what were you signing?””
She looked at Daniel.
He answered for her.
“Witness to the discharge.””
Marcus turned.
“Why would a fourteen-year-old girl witness the discharge of Evelyn's baby?””
Daniel sighed.
“Because Evelyn didn't want anyone else to know what had happened.””
Walter sat down again.
His hands were shaking.
“She had a child?””
“Yes.””
“And she gave that child away?””
Daniel nodded.
“That's what the records say.””
Marcus looked at the photograph.
“Who was the father?””
Daniel opened another page.
“Your mother never identified him in the hospital records.””
Walter stared at the floor.
For a moment, his expression changed.
Something resembling recognition passed across his face.
Marcus noticed.
“Dad?””
Walter looked up.
“What?””
“You know something.””
“No.””
“Don't do that.””
Walter rubbed his hands together.
“Your mother and I met after that summer.””
Marcus waited.
“She told me she had been through something difficult. She said she had lost someone close to her.””
Daniel shook his head.
“She didn't lose the child. She arranged for the child to be adopted.””
Walter looked at him.
“Do you know who adopted the baby?””
Daniel nodded.
“That's the strange part.””
He pulled out a second birth record.
The adoptive parents' names had been partially obscured, but the surname was visible.
*Mitchell.*
Marcus turned slowly toward Renee.
She closed her eyes.
“No.””
Daniel looked at his sister.
“You know who they are.””
Renee's voice trembled.
“I was told the baby went to a good family.””
Marcus stared.
“Renee, what does Mitchell have to do with this?””
She looked at him.
Then she whispered:
“The baby was adopted by my parents.””
Nobody moved.
Walter slowly stood.
“You mean your mother and father?””
Renee nodded.
Marcus felt a cold sensation move through his chest.
“So the baby in that photograph was...””
“My brother,” Renee said.
Daniel looked down.
“Not exactly.””
Renee turned toward him.
“Don't.””
Daniel's face was hard.
“Your parents adopted Evelyn's child. But the birth record wasn't the only document in that box.””
He pulled out another sheet.
It was an old adoption agreement.
The child's original name was listed.
*Benjamin Carter.*
Marcus stared.
“Carter?””
Walter's lips parted.
“That was my father's surname.””
Daniel nodded.
“Evelyn was pregnant when she and Walter were together. But she had not told him.””
Walter took a step backward.
Marcus looked between them.
“Wait. You're saying the baby was Dad's?””
Daniel nodded.
“That's what the records suggest.””
Walter sank onto the sofa.
He looked at the photograph again.
“Evelyn had my child?””
His voice was barely audible.
“Why didn't she tell me?””
Renee sat down.
“Because she believed you would never forgive her.””
Walter looked at her.
“For what?””
Renee wiped her face.
“Because the child was born with a serious medical condition. Your mother thought you would see him as a burden.””
Walter shook his head.
“That isn't true.””
“I know that now.””
Marcus looked at Daniel.
“Where is he?””
Daniel hesitated.
“That's the part we don't know.””
Walter stood again.
“Find him.””
“I tried.””
“Try harder!””
Daniel opened the folder.
“His adoptive parents moved several times. The last record I found was from eighteen years ago.””
Marcus frowned.
“Why did nobody search for him?””
Renee looked at him.
“Because your mother asked us not to.””
Walter stared.
“Who is us?””
Renee's eyes filled again.
“Me and Daniel.””
Marcus stepped back.
“You knew about this for years?””
Daniel nodded.
“Not everything.””
Renee continued.
“When I was a teenager, Evelyn told me that the baby had been adopted. She made me promise never to tell Walter. She said she wanted to protect him.””
Walter's voice rose.
“Protect me from my own child?””
Renee didn't answer.
Marcus picked up the adoption record.
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
*If Benjamin ever returns, give him the key.*
Marcus looked at the brass key on the coffee table.
“Is this it?””
Daniel nodded.
“It was inside the metal box.””
Walter picked it up.
His thumb traced the worn edges.
“Where does it go?””
Daniel looked at him.
“Your mother's old storage unit.””
Marcus frowned.
“I thought the box was buried in the shed.””
“The metal box was in the shed. The key is for another place.””
Walter looked at the key.
“Evelyn had a storage unit?””
Daniel nodded.
“Unit 214. She paid for it through a separate account.””
Marcus looked at the photograph again.
“Then that's where we go.””
Renee suddenly stood.
“No.””
Marcus turned.
“Why not?””
“Because you don't know what you're walking into.””
“Then tell me.””
She shook her head.
“You need to stop.””
Marcus looked at her for a long moment.
Then he asked a question that made her begin crying.
“Is Benjamin alive?””
Renee covered her mouth.
Daniel looked away.
Walter stepped toward her.
“Answer him.””
Renee finally nodded.
“Yes.””
Marcus stared.
“How do you know?””
She lowered her hand.
“Because he called me last month.””
The silence was immediate.
Marcus's voice dropped.
“What?””
“He called me. He said he wanted to meet.””
“Where is he?””
“I don't know.””
“You just said he called you!””
“I blocked the number.””
Marcus stared at her in disbelief.
“Why?””
Renee began shaking.
“Because he said he knew who his biological father was. And he said he was coming to claim what belonged to him.””
Walter's eyes filled.
“My son wanted to meet me?””
Renee nodded.
“He said he had spent years trying to find you.””
Walter took a step toward her.
“And you stopped him?””
“I was afraid!””
“Of what?””
Renee looked at Marcus.
Then she said something that made him feel as though the floor had disappeared beneath him.
“Because Benjamin told me he wasn't coming alone.””
Marcus frowned.
“Who was coming with him?””
Renee looked at Maya.
Then back at her husband.
“His daughter.””
Marcus stared.
“His daughter?””
Renee nodded.
“She was born with the same medical condition Evelyn was trying to hide.””
Walter covered his mouth.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then he looked toward the photograph of his late wife.
“Evelyn knew.””
Daniel nodded.
“She knew.””
Walter's eyes filled.
“And she wanted me to meet them.””
Daniel placed the brass key in Marcus's palm.
“That's why we need to go to the storage unit.””
Marcus closed his fingers around it.
But before anyone could move, Renee's phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
She glanced down.
Her expression changed instantly.
Marcus noticed.
“Who is it?””
She didn't answer.
He reached for the phone.
This time, she didn't stop him.
The message contained a single photograph.
Buddy was sitting in the back seat of a car.
Beside him was a man Marcus had never seen.
The message underneath read:
*I'm bringing Buddy home. But you need to know what your wife did.*
Then another message arrived.
*Ask her why she paid someone to destroy Evelyn's original records.*
Marcus slowly raised his eyes.
Renee was crying now.
Walter stepped forward.
“Renee?””
She shook her head.
“I can explain.””
Marcus looked at the message again.
“Who did you pay?””
Renee whispered:
“The person who had the original adoption file.””
May you like
And Daniel, who had been silent for nearly a minute, suddenly said:
“That person was me.””
