Chapter 9: The Child They Declared Dead
Nobody spoke for nearly a minute.
The photograph lay across Maya's knees, its edges soft and yellowed with age. Two newborn babies slept beneath hospital blankets. One wore a blue wristband. The other wore a white one.
Maya stared at the faces.
They were too small to recognize.
Too young to have expressions.
Yet she felt a strange pull toward the child on the right, the one wearing the white wristband.
“Is that him?”” she whispered.
Daniel leaned closer.
“I think so.””
“You said he died.””
“I was told he died.””
“Who told you?””
“Rebecca Walker.””
Maya looked at Detective Walker.
The detective's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“My mother handled the legal records for the placement network,” she said.
“She told me she had worked with several families to correct documentation errors. I never knew about twins.””
“Did you ever see the records?”” Daniel asked.
“No.””
“Did you ever investigate the hospital?””
“No.””
“Then you don't know what your mother did.””
Walker turned toward him.
“I know she was capable of terrible things. I also know she spent the last two years of her life trying to expose the network.””
Daniel stared at her.
“Why didn't she go to the police?””
“Because she believed the police were already compromised.””
“And you believed her?””
“I was a teenager when she started telling me about it. By the time I understood what she meant, she was dead.””
Maya looked down at the photograph again.
“Could my brother really be alive?””
Walker nodded slowly.
“The message says he's at the west wing. We need to verify it.””
“Then let's go.””
Walker restarted the car.
“We're going to the facility. But I need both of you to follow my instructions.””
Maya tucked the photograph into her pocket.
“I will.””
She hoped she meant it.
The medical records facility stood beyond a row of abandoned warehouses, surrounded by a high chain-link fence and a gate topped with security cameras.
A sign near the entrance identified it as a former regional archive for hospital records. Several windows had been boarded over, and weeds grew through cracks in the parking lot.
Two police vehicles were already parked outside.
An officer approached Walker's car as it stopped.
“Detective, we've checked the main building. No sign of Elena Bennett.””
“What about the west wing?””
“Locked. The electronic system is offline.””
Walker glanced at Danielle.
“Can your key open the access door?””
Danielle held up the brass key.
“Possibly.””
The officer looked at Maya.
“Is she supposed to be here?””
“No,” Walker said.
“She is not entering the building.””
Maya opened her mouth.
Walker held up a hand.
“I know what you're going to say. But you are not going inside without a secure perimeter.””
Maya looked toward the dark windows.
“My brother might be in there.””
“If he is, we're going to find him.””
Daniel placed a hand on Maya's shoulder.
“Let them work.””
She looked up at him.
“Will you come back?””
He crouched beside her.
“I promise I'll do everything I can.””
Maya nodded.
She watched him follow Walker and the officers toward the entrance.
Danielle remained beside her.
For a moment, neither knew what to say.
Finally, Danielle asked, “Would you like me to tell you about your brother?””
Maya nodded.
Danielle looked toward the building.
“His name was supposed to be Samuel. Your father chose it. He said he wanted a name that meant he would always be heard.””
Maya swallowed.
“Did you hold him?””
“Yes.””
“Was he bigger than me?””
Danielle laughed softly through her tears.
“No. You were both tiny. You cried whenever someone put you down, and Samuel would stop crying the moment I held his hand.””
Maya looked at her.
“Did you love him as much as me?””
Danielle turned sharply.
“Oh, Maya. I loved you both with everything I had.””
“Then how did you lose him?””
Danielle's face crumpled.
“I didn't know he was missing until they told me he had died.””
She took a shaky breath.
“They said there had been complications. They showed me a certificate. I was exhausted, frightened, and recovering from surgery. Daniel was gone by then, and the people around me kept saying there was nothing I could do.””
Maya felt tears rise.
“You believed them?””
“I wanted to believe them. I couldn't imagine that someone would lie about a baby's death.””
Danielle knelt in front of her.
“I've spent eleven years wondering whether I should have asked more questions. Whether I should have demanded to see him. Whether I should have refused to leave the hospital.””
Maya looked toward the west wing.
“Maybe he's still waiting for you.””
Danielle pressed her forehead against Maya's.
“Maybe.””
A radio crackled behind them.
“Detective Walker, we've found a room on the second floor. There are signs of recent occupation.””
Danielle stood immediately.
Maya moved toward the entrance.
An officer stepped into her path.
“Stay here, sweetheart.””
“Please.””
“I know you're worried. But I need you to wait.””
Maya stopped.
She watched the officers disappear inside.
Minutes passed.
The sky darkened.
A security light flickered above the gate.
Then the radio crackled again.
“Detective Walker, we have a possible victim. Male, approximately eleven years old. Conscious but unresponsive to questions.””
Danielle made a sound that seemed to come from somewhere deep inside her chest.
Maya grabbed her hand.
“That's him.””
The officer's radio crackled again.
“Requesting medical assistance. The child has a hospital bracelet with the name Samuel Brooks.””
Danielle sank to her knees.
For eleven years, she had believed her son was dead.
Now his name had come through a police radio.
Maya knelt beside her.
“Mom,” she whispered, using the word without thinking.
Danielle wrapped her arms around her.
Maya didn't pull away.
For the first time that night, she allowed herself to be held by the woman who had given birth to her.
They brought Samuel out on a stretcher twenty minutes later.
He was thin, pale, and wearing a gray sweatshirt several sizes too large. His dark hair curled around his ears, and a small bandage covered the back of his left hand.
Danielle rushed toward him.
“Samuel!””
A paramedic stepped between them.
“Ma'am, please give us room.””
“That's my son!””
“We need to stabilize him first.””
Samuel opened his eyes.
They were dark brown.
He looked at Danielle, then at the officers, then at Maya.
His gaze stopped on her.
For several seconds, he simply stared.
Then he whispered, “Maya?””
She moved closer.
“Samuel?””
He swallowed.
“You came.””
Maya felt tears spill down her face.
“Of course I came.””
Samuel tried to lift his hand, but the movement seemed to exhaust him.
Maya took his fingers carefully.
They were cold.
“I'm here,” she whispered.
Samuel closed his eyes.
“Don't let them take me back.””
Danielle bent over the stretcher.
“No one is taking you anywhere.””
A paramedic adjusted the blanket around him.
“Sir, can you tell us who brought you to this facility?””
Samuel's eyes opened again.
He looked toward the building.
Then he looked at Detective Walker.
His expression changed.
Fear flooded his face.
“No,” he whispered.
Walker crouched beside the stretcher.
“Samuel, you're safe. We need to know who brought you here.””
He shook his head frantically.
“Don't let her near me.””
Walker froze.
“Who?””
Samuel pointed at her.
“The woman with the badge.””
The officers immediately moved closer.
Walker stood.
“Samuel, I've never met you before.””
He began shaking.
“You told them I was dead.””
Danielle covered her mouth.
Daniel came out of the building, his face pale.
“What happened?””
Samuel looked at him.
For a moment, something like recognition crossed his face.
Then he whispered, “Dad?””
Daniel staggered.
He gripped the side of the stretcher to keep himself upright.
“Samuel?””
The boy began crying.
Daniel knelt beside him.
“I'm here, son. I'm here.””
Samuel reached for his hand.
Then he turned toward Maya.
“There's something you need to know.””
Maya leaned closer.
“What is it?””
Samuel's voice dropped to a whisper.
“The woman who brought me here said she was taking me to meet my sister.””
Maya looked at Danielle.
Danielle shook her head.
“I didn't bring him here.””
Samuel looked toward Detective Walker.
“She said she was my aunt.””
Walker went white.
Maya stared at her.
“Who?””
Samuel swallowed.
“Vanessa.””
The name seemed to drain the warmth from the night.
Maya looked around the parking lot.
Vanessa was supposed to be at the police station.
She was supposed to be under supervision.
She was supposed to be answering questions about Daniel's disappearance.
But she was nowhere in sight.
Detective Walker immediately reached for her radio.
“Dispatch, I need confirmation of Vanessa Cole's location.””
Static answered.
She tried again.
“Dispatch, respond.””
Nothing.
Daniel rose slowly.
“She escaped.””
Walker shook her head.
“She was being escorted between interview rooms.””
“Then someone helped her.””
Maya looked down at Samuel.
He was watching her with frightened, exhausted eyes.
“Samuel,” she whispered, “why did Vanessa bring you here?””
He swallowed.
“Because she said she could take us to Mom.””
Maya's heart stopped.
“Our mom?””
Samuel nodded.
“She said Elena was waiting in the next room.””
Daniel turned toward the building.
“Which room?””
Samuel lifted a trembling hand and pointed toward the west wing.
“Room B-12.””
Maya looked at Detective Walker.
“That's where everything started.””
Walker drew her weapon and turned toward the entrance.
“No one goes inside until the building is cleared.””
A loud crash came from the second floor.
Then the lights in the west wing went out.
Samuel grabbed Maya's hand.
“She's coming,” he whispered.
Maya looked at him.
“Who?””
Samuel's eyes filled with tears.
“The woman who said she was my aunt.””
From inside the building came the sound of a door slamming.
Then Vanessa's voice echoed through the darkness.
“Maya! Samuel! Come to me!””
Daniel moved toward the entrance.
Maya caught his sleeve.
“Dad, wait.””
He looked at her.
For the first time, she had called him Dad without thinking.
His eyes filled.
Then Maya turned toward the building.
“Vanessa,” she shouted, “if you want us to come to you, tell us where Mom is!””
Silence.
Then Vanessa answered.
“She's here, Maya.””
A pause.
“And she's not the person you think she is.””
Maya's fingers tightened around Samuel's hand.
The doors of the west wing began to close.
And just before they slammed shut, Maya saw a figure standing behind the glass.
A woman in a champagne-colored dress.
May you like
Holding Elena's phone.
Waiting for them.
