Chapter 8
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Nathan could hear Susan crying softly.
Police moving upstairs.
Wind against the cabin windows.
Everything else disappeared.
He stared at Anna.
“You had another child.”
“Yes.”
“My sister.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“I found you today.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
It sounded too much like Robert.
He hated himself for it.
Anna flinched anyway.
Nathan walked away.
Emily followed.
“Nate.”
He raised one hand.
Not now.
He stared at the dark basement wall.
Another sibling.
Another missing person.
Another piece of his life hidden from him.
He turned back.
“Who was her father?”
Anna answered immediately.
“A man named David Mercer.”
Nathan recognized the last name.
The name Anna used now.
“Were you married?”
“For three years.”
“What happened to him?”
“He died.”
Nathan swallowed.
“How?”
“Construction accident.”
“Did Dad know him?”
“Yes.”
Nathan laughed again.
Of course.
“Did Dad hate him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because David helped me keep looking for you.”
Nathan rubbed his face.
“And the baby?”
“Her name was Lily.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Lily.
A sister he had never known.
“What happened?”
Anna sat down.
“When Lily was nine months old, David died.”
Her voice shook.
“I fell apart again.”
Nathan stayed silent.
“Robert found out.”
His eyes opened.
Anna continued.
“He contacted child services.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
“Why?”
“He said I was unstable.”
“Were you?”
Anna looked directly at him.
“Yes.”
The honesty stopped him.
“I was grieving. Drinking again. I missed appointments. I made mistakes.”
She began crying.
“But I was getting help.”
“What happened to Lily?”
“She went into temporary foster care.”
Nathan stared.
“Temporary.”
Anna nodded.
“I completed treatment. I found housing. I got a job. I did everything they asked.”
Her voice broke.
“When I went back for the final hearing, the case had changed.”
“How?”
“Records said I had abandoned her.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
Anna wiped her tears.
“The foster family had moved.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not possible.”
“I know.”
Nathan looked at the blue ledger.
“Dad.”
Anna nodded.
“I always believed he was involved.”
Nathan felt nauseated.
“You think my father took my sister too.”
“I think he made sure I lost her.”
Emily whispered, “Why?”
Anna laughed sadly.
“To punish me.”
Nathan walked upstairs.
He needed air.
Outside, dusk had fallen.
He stood near the trees.
Emily came out a minute later.
She didn’t touch him.
She simply stood beside him.
Nathan finally spoke.
“I don’t know how many people I’m supposed to hate.”
Emily looked at him.
“You don’t have to decide tonight.”
“My father stole my mother.”
“I know.”
“He may have stolen my sister.”
“I know.”
“Your father helped.”
“Yes.”
“My aunt helped.”
“Yes.”
“My grandmother knew and waited until she was dying.”
Emily nodded.
Nathan looked at her.
“And you deleted the voicemail.”
She closed her eyes.
“I know.”
He immediately regretted saying it.
“That was cruel.”
“It was true.”
“It wasn’t the same.”
“No.”
Nathan looked toward the cabin.
“I don’t know how to trust anyone.”
Emily’s eyes filled.
“Then don’t trust everyone.”
He frowned.
“Trust one thing at a time.”
“What thing?”
“That I’m standing here.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You could have gone with your father.”
“I didn’t.”
“You could have left after the church.”
“I didn’t.”
“You could leave now.”
“I won’t.”
Nathan’s throat tightened.
Emily continued.
“I made a mistake last night. I will spend as long as necessary proving it wasn’t who I am.”
Nathan took her hand.
Not forgiveness.
But again, enough.
Mason came outside carrying his laptop.
“I may have found Lily.”
Anna appeared behind him so quickly she nearly fell.
“What?”
Nathan turned.
Mason opened the screen.
“I used the original case number from Anna’s file.”
Anna stared.
“How did you get it?”
“Cabin records.”
He continued.
“The official foster placement is sealed, but Robert’s archive had copies of payments to a private adoption attorney around the same time.”
Nathan felt his stomach tighten.
“Name?”
“Gerald Knox.”
Anna whispered, “I remember him.”
“He handled Lily’s placement?”
“He represented the foster family.”
Mason nodded.
“I found an adoption finalized under a new case number six months later.”
Anna grabbed the table.
“Name.”
“The child’s original name is sealed.”
“Mason.”
“I know.”
He looked at Nathan.
“But the age matches. Birth date matches. County matches.”
“Family?”
Mason hesitated.
“The adoptive father was Thomas Hale.”
Anna froze.
Nathan noticed.
“What?”
She stared at Mason.
“Thomas Hale?”
“Yes.”
Anna backed away.
“No.”
“Who is he?”
Anna covered her mouth.
“Robert’s college roommate.”
Nathan went still.
Mason looked stunned.
“So Robert didn’t place Lily with strangers.”
Anna started crying.
“He knew where she was.”
Nathan’s hands curled into fists.
“All these years.”
Mason continued.
“Thomas Hale died eight years ago. His wife, Rebecca, died three years ago.”
Nathan asked, “Lily?”
“She’s twenty-two now.”
“Where?”
“I found a possible match.”
Mason turned the screen.
A social media profile.
Lily Hale.
Twenty-two.
Nursing student.
Brown hair.
Green eyes.
Nathan stared at the photograph.
Something inside him shifted.
Her smile looked familiar.
Not like Anna.
Like him.
He could see his own expression in her face.
Anna reached toward the screen but stopped before touching it.
“My baby.”
Nathan looked at Mason.
“Where is she?”
“Two hours away.”
Anna was already moving.
Nathan caught her arm.
“Wait.”
She turned.
“I’ve waited twenty-one years.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
Nathan flinched.
Anna’s face softened immediately.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. You’re right.”
Nathan looked at the profile.
“We can’t show up at her door with this.”
Anna stared at him.
“Why not?”
“Because she may not know she’s adopted.”
The words stopped her.
Nathan continued.
“She may have had good parents. She may have a life. We don’t know what Robert told them.”
Anna began trembling.
“What if she doesn’t want me?”
Nathan looked at her.
Now he understood the fear on the church steps.
Not rejection in general.
His rejection.
The terror of losing the same child twice.
He took her hands.
“Then we let her decide.”
Anna cried silently.
Nathan squeezed her fingers.
“But first, we find out the truth.”
Police took the cabin records into evidence.
The blue ledger went with them.
Nathan’s attorney obtained copies before it disappeared into an evidence room.
By evening, financial investigators were involved.
Robert’s location remained unknown.
The media storm exploded.
Nathan refused interviews.
Then at 9:13 p.m., his phone received a message.
From Robert.
A photograph.
Lily Hale leaving a coffee shop.
Taken that evening.
Nathan’s blood turned cold.
Below it:
Stop digging.
Anna saw the image.
“He’s watching her.”
Nathan called police immediately.
They sent local officers to Lily’s apartment.
No answer.
Her roommate said Lily had left an hour earlier after receiving a call.
Nathan stared at Mason.
“From who?”
Mason worked quickly.
“Unknown number.”
Anna began pacing.
“No.”
Nathan grabbed his keys.
Emily followed.
The drive took ninety minutes.
They reached Lily’s apartment building.
Police were already there.
Her roommate, a young woman named Jenna, stood outside crying.
Nathan approached.
“What did the caller say?”
Jenna looked confused.
“Who are you?”
Nathan hesitated.
How did a man explain this?
“I might be her brother.”
Jenna stared.
Anna stepped forward.
“I might be her mother.”
Jenna’s mouth fell open.
Nathan quickly said, “Please. The call.”
Jenna shook herself.
“She said an attorney contacted her.”
“About what?”
“Her parents’ estate.”
Mason looked at Nathan.
Robert.
Jenna continued.
“She was supposed to meet him at a restaurant.”
“Which?”
“Riverside Grill.”
Police raced there.
The restaurant manager remembered Lily.
She had arrived alone.
A man in his sixties joined her.
Nathan showed Robert’s photo.
The manager nodded.
“That’s him.”
Anna nearly collapsed.
“When did they leave?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Together?”
The manager nodded.
“He seemed like family.”
Nathan’s jaw clenched.
“Did you hear anything?”
The manager thought.
“She called him Uncle Robert.”
Anna closed her eyes.
Nathan stared.
Uncle.
Robert had known Lily.
Not just watched her.
Known her.
Her entire life.
The manager added, “They left in separate cars.”
Mason rushed outside.
“Lily’s phone location just came back.”
Nathan followed.
“Where?”
Mason looked at the map.
Then at Nathan.
His face went pale.
“No way.”
“What?”
“It’s moving toward the city.”
“So?”
Mason turned the screen.
Nathan recognized the destination.
Cole Development headquarters.
Nathan frowned.
“Why would he take her there?”
Anna whispered behind him.
“Because he knows we’ll follow.”
They reached the twenty-eight-story office tower just before midnight.
Only a few lights remained on.
One at the top.
Robert’s office.
Nathan entered the lobby.
Security guards blocked him.
Then one stepped aside.
“Mr. Cole said to let you up.”
Nathan stared.
He was expecting them.
The elevator ride felt endless.
Nathan.
Emily.
Anna.
Mason.
Two police officers waited downstairs because Robert technically had not committed a crime by meeting Lily.
Not yet.
The elevator opened.
Robert stood near the windows.
Lily sat on a couch.
Alive.
Confused.
She looked at Anna.
Then Nathan.
Her eyes narrowed.
Robert smiled.
“There they are.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“Get away from her.”
Lily stood.
“Who are you?”
Robert answered before Nathan could.
“Lily, this is Nathan.”
She looked at him.
Recognition appeared.
“Nathan Cole?”
She knew his name from business news.
Robert continued.
“My son.”
Lily blinked.
Then looked at Anna.
Robert smiled faintly.
“And that woman is Anna Mercer.”
Lily’s face changed.
She knew that name too.
Anna whispered, “Lily.”
Lily stepped backward.
“No.”
Anna stopped.
Robert watched them.
Enjoying control again.
Lily looked at him.
“You told me she died.”
Nathan’s blood froze.
Anna made a broken sound.
Robert’s smile disappeared.
Lily turned toward Anna.
“He told me my biological mother died when I was a baby.”
Anna began crying.
“I didn’t.”
Lily shook her head.
“No.”
“I didn’t die.”
“No.”
“I looked for you.”
Lily stared at Robert.
“You knew?”
Robert said nothing.
Lily’s face hardened.
“You knew she was alive.”
Nathan stepped between them.
“Lily, we have proof.”
Robert laughed.
“Proof.”
Nathan ignored him.
“Your adoption was arranged by people connected to my father.”
Lily looked confused.
“My parents loved me.”
“I’m not saying they didn’t.”
“They were good people.”
Anna nodded desperately.
“I believe you.”
Lily stared at her.
Anna’s voice shook.
“I am grateful they loved you.”
The words broke something in Lily’s expression.
Robert moved toward his desk.
Nathan watched him.
Robert picked up a folder.
“This is what they are not telling you.”
He handed it to Lily.
Anna went pale.
“What is that?”
Robert answered.
“Your medical history.”
Lily opened it.
Her face changed as she read.
Robert looked at Nathan.
“You wanted truth.”
Nathan’s chest tightened.
Robert continued.
“Let’s have all of it.”
Lily looked at Anna.
“You signed away your rights.”
Anna shook her head.
“No.”
Lily held up a document.
“Your signature is here.”
Anna took one look.
“That is not my signature.”
Robert smiled.
Nathan moved toward him.
“You forged it.”
Robert shrugged.
“Can you prove that?”
Nathan’s phone buzzed.
A message from Leonard Price’s granddaughter.
Mason had contacted her earlier.
Attached was a video recorded that afternoon.
Leonard sitting in his nursing-home bed.
Confessing.
Naming Robert.
Naming forged adoption papers.
Nathan looked up.
“Yes.”
Robert’s smile vanished.
May you like
Nathan held up the phone.
“I can.”
