Chapter 6: The Name They Buried
Marcus grabbed the note from the table.
*Your son belongs to us.*
The paper crumpled in his fist.
“Not happening.””
His voice was low.
Not frightened.
Not anymore.
Ruiz looked at him.
“Marcus, we need to get Jaylen out of here.””
He nodded.
Carter was already moving toward the stairs.
“Up. Now.””
Jaylen clung to Marcus’s hand.
They climbed quickly.
The moment they reached the living room, Carter locked the hidden floor panel behind them.
Marcus turned toward the shattered front window.
The street outside looked empty.
Too empty.
“Where did they go?””
“We don't know,” Carter said.
Marcus looked at Ruiz.
“The voice.””
“What about it?””
“You heard him.””
“Yes.””
“You recognized him?””
Ruiz shook her head.
“Not from the voice.””
Marcus studied her.
She was hiding something.
He could see it.
“You knew that wasn't Cameron.””
Ruiz's expression tightened.
“I knew the name Cameron Washington doesn't explain what we've found.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“Then tell me who Michael is.””
Carter interrupted.
“Not here.””
“Where?””
“The station.””
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“Why? So somebody can put me in a room and ask me questions while whoever did this walks into my house again?””
“No,” Carter said.
“Then why?””
“Because we've been looking for the people behind this for two years.””
Marcus went quiet.
Carter continued.
“We finally have something concrete.””
He held up the DNA report.
“And you're standing in the middle of it.””
The police station was thirty minutes away.
They went in two separate vehicles.
Marcus sat in the back with Jaylen while Ruiz drove.
For ten minutes, neither spoke.
Then Jaylen asked the question Marcus had been trying not to hear.
“Dad?””
“Yeah?””
“Am I still yours?””
Marcus turned around immediately.
“What?””
Jaylen looked down at his hands.
“That paper said you're not my dad.””
Marcus felt his chest ache.
“No paper changes that.””
“But the test…”
“Listen to me.””
Marcus reached back and took Jaylen's hand.
“I was there when you came home from the hospital.””
Jaylen looked up.
“I was there when you took your first steps.””
A small smile touched Jaylen's mouth.
“You fell on the dog.””
“I remember.””
“I was there for your first day of kindergarten. Your first baseball game. Every bad dream.
Every fever. Every time you called me because you couldn't find your favorite hoodie.””
Jaylen's eyes filled.
“That makes you my dad.””
Marcus squeezed his hand.
“Nothing changes that.””
Jaylen nodded.
Then he looked out the window.
“But who is my real dad?””
Marcus didn't answer.
Because now there was another question beneath that one.
Who was Michael Washington?
And why had Camille known?
The station was mostly empty when they arrived.
Ruiz led them through a side entrance.
A detective named Sarah Bell waited in a conference room.
She was in her fifties, with silver streaking through short brown hair.
She stood when Marcus entered.
Her eyes immediately went to him.
Not with surprise.
With recognition.
“You look exactly like him.””
Marcus stopped.
“Like who?””
Bell glanced at Ruiz.
Then at Carter.
“You didn't tell him?””
“No,” Ruiz said.
Bell sighed.
“Then we're starting from the beginning.””
Marcus remained standing.
“Start with Michael.””
Bell studied him.
“Michael Washington wasn't a separate person.””
Marcus said nothing.
Bell placed a folder on the table.
“The hospital records were altered.””
She opened it.
“Twenty-three years ago, two infant boys were born at St. Vincent Medical Center.””
Marcus stared.
“Twins.””
“Yes.””
“One was Marcus Washington.””
Bell nodded.
“The other was Michael Washington.””
Marcus swallowed.
“So Michael was my twin.””
“That's what the original records say.””
“Original?””
Bell turned another page.
“Three days after the births, one infant was transferred to a private pediatric facility.””
“Why?””
“No official reason.””
“Who authorized it?””
Bell slid a document across the table.
Marcus read the signature.
His mother.
“Evelyn Washington.””
He stared at the signature.
“She gave him away?””
Bell shook her head.
“No.””
“Then what?””
“She tried to take both boys.””
Marcus looked up.
“What happened?””
“She was stopped.””
“By who?””
Bell hesitated.
“Riverside Security.””
Marcus felt the room go cold.
“The company?””
“Yes.””
“Why would a security company have anything to do with newborn babies?””
“They weren't just a security company back then.””
Bell opened another folder.
“They operated private protection contracts for wealthy families, corporate executives, politicians, and occasionally government clients.””
Marcus frowned.
“And my mother?””
“She worked for one of their clients.””
“Doing what?””
“We don't know.””
Bell pushed over another photograph.
Marcus looked down.
His mother was younger.
Standing in the same brick building from the photograph.
Beside her was Denise Holloway.
And behind them stood a man Marcus had never seen before.
His mother's hand rested on his shoulder.
“What is this?””
“Taken five days before the twins were born.””
Marcus stared.
“Who's the man?””
Bell didn't answer.
Instead she opened another file.
Inside was a copy of a death certificate.
Marcus Washington.
Date of death: three days after birth.
Marcus's eyes widened.
“No.””
Bell continued quietly.
“The public record said Michael died.””
Marcus looked at her.
“What?””
“Your family was told that.””
“But I’m alive.””
“Exactly.””
Marcus's mind raced.
“Then why was my brother's name attached to my identity?””
“Because somebody switched the records.””
He looked at Ruiz.
“And my mother allowed it?””
“No,” Bell said.
“She fought it.””
Marcus stared at her.
“So why didn't she tell me?””
Bell's expression softened.
“Because she was threatened.””
“By Riverside?””
“We believe so.””
Marcus looked down at the death certificate again.
The date.
The hospital.
The name.
His name.
A dead baby carrying the identity of the living child.
He suddenly understood why his mother had spent years warning him never to ask questions about Cameron.
There had never been a Cameron.
Not really.
Cameron had been another name.
Another identity.
Another piece of the lie.
“Then who raised Michael?””
Bell closed the folder.
“We don't know.””
Marcus slammed his palm on the table.
“You've been investigating this for two years and you don't know?””
“We didn't know he survived.””
Marcus stared.
“Until now?””
Bell nodded.
“Denise changed that.””
“Where is she?””
“We found her.””
Marcus's head snapped up.
“Where?””
Bell slid a photograph across the table.
It showed a motel.
“Room 214.””
“When?””
“Twenty minutes ago.””
Marcus's heart raced.
“Is she alive?””
“Yes.””
“Then let's go.””
Bell shook her head.
“You're not going anywhere.””
“Why?””
“Because the motel room was abandoned before we arrived.””
Marcus stared at her.
Bell continued.
“But Denise left something behind.””
She opened another evidence bag.
Inside was a VHS tape.
Marcus blinked.
“A VHS?””
“She wanted us to find it.””
“Do you have a player?””
Bell smiled without humor.
“We found one in the room.””
They moved to a smaller interview room.
An old television sat against the wall.
The tape began with static.
Then Camille appeared.
Marcus stopped breathing.
She was sitting in a chair.
Alive.
Healthy.
Her hair was pulled back.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Marcus.””
His knees nearly gave out.
Jaylen, sitting beside him, whispered, “Mom.””
Marcus grabbed the edge of the table.
Camille took a breath.
“If you're watching this, then I wasn't able to tell you myself.””
Marcus's eyes burned.
“I need you to listen carefully.””
The video continued.
“Don't trust the police.””
Ruiz stiffened.
“Don't trust Riverside Security.””
Marcus stared.
“Most importantly, don't trust the man calling himself Cameron.””
The tape paused for half a second.
Then Camille leaned closer.
“He is not your brother.””
Marcus closed his eyes.
“We know,” he whispered.
Camille continued.
“Michael survived.””
Marcus opened his eyes.
Jaylen looked at him.
“Michael is your twin.””
Camille's voice trembled.
“But he isn't the person you're afraid of.””
Marcus stared.
“Then who is?””
Camille looked off camera.
For the first time, fear appeared in her eyes.
“There is a third child.””
Silence filled the room.
Marcus's face went blank.
Camille continued.
“Your mother didn't have twins.””
“She had triplets.””
Ruiz looked at Carter.
Marcus couldn't move.
“Three babies were born that night.””
Camille's voice dropped.
“Marcus was the first.””
“Michael was the second.””
“The third was listed as stillborn.””
Marcus's heart pounded.
Camille looked directly into the camera.
“That baby was taken.””
The screen flickered.
Then returned.
“And Marcus…”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“The child they took was not the one they wanted.””
Marcus whispered, “What does that mean?””
Camille spoke the final words slowly.
“They wanted Michael.””
She paused.
“But they raised the third child as him.””
The screen went black.
Nobody moved.
Jaylen looked at Marcus.
“So who is Cameron?””
Marcus couldn't answer.
Bell rewound the tape.
“There's more.””
She pressed play.
The final seconds appeared.
Camille was standing now.
She seemed to be in a different room.
Someone was pounding on a door behind her.
She looked back at the camera.
Then whispered:
“Your brother has been looking for you.””
A man's voice shouted from outside.
“Camille!””
She flinched.
Then looked directly at Marcus.
“And he doesn't know which one of you is the real Marcus.””
The tape ended.
The room stayed silent.
Marcus slowly stood.
“Where did she record this?””
Bell said, “We don't know.””
“When?””
“Three months before her death.””
Marcus looked at Ruiz.
“That means she knew.””
“Yes.””
“She knew someone was coming.””
“Yes.””
“And she knew about the third child.””
Ruiz nodded.
Marcus thought of the man at the park.
The voice in the hidden room.
The photographs.
The surveillance.
The house.
The keys.
Then something from the tape struck him.
Camille had said:
*Your brother has been looking for you.*
Not a brother.
Not Michael.
Your brother.
Marcus looked at the evidence table.
The photograph of the man in the gray jacket.
The surveillance image.
He picked it up.
Then he saw a detail he hadn't noticed before.
A scar across the man's right hand.
Marcus knew that scar.
Because he had seen it every Sunday of his childhood.
On Cameron.
His heartbeat stopped.
“That's not the man from the park.””
Carter looked up.
“What?””
Marcus pointed at the photograph.
“He has Cameron's scar.””
Bell stepped closer.
Marcus's voice dropped.
“The man we've been calling Michael…”
He looked at Ruiz.
“…might actually be Cameron.””
A phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Bell answered.
“Detective Bell.””
She listened.
Her face changed.
“Where?””
A pause.
“Send the coordinates.””
She hung up.
Marcus waited.
Bell looked at him.
“They found Denise.””
“Where?””
Bell swallowed.
“At Riverside Park.””
Marcus's stomach dropped.
“Is she alive?””
Bell shook her head.
“No.””
She placed the phone on the table.
“The body was discovered beside the monkey bars.””
The same place where Jaylen had been playing that afternoon.
And taped to Denise Holloway's wrist was a photograph.
A recent one.
Marcus and Jaylen.
Standing together.
May you like
With one sentence written across the back.
*You found the wrong brother first.*
