Chapter 3 - The File That Should Not Exist
The hospital moved quickly once Thomas started giving orders.
I didn't understand why.
He wasn't a doctor.
He wasn't my guardian.
As far as I knew, he was a dead man who had appeared out of nowhere.
But everyone listened to him.
Even Denise.
She led us through a restricted corridor.
Thomas stayed beside me the entire time.
At the end was a small records room.
The door was open.
A security officer stood outside.
“What happened?”
“Someone entered six minutes ago.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
Thomas looked inside.
A filing cabinet had been forced open.
Several folders lay scattered across the floor.
But only one file was missing.
Rachel Mercer.
Thomas crouched.
He picked up a torn piece of paper.
His face went pale.
“What is it?”
He handed it to me.
It was an old hospital bracelet.
Rachel Mercer.
Age 31.
Date of admission: October 17.
I looked at the date.
Exactly twelve years earlier.
The same month I had disappeared from my mother's life.
I looked at Thomas.
“You said my mother disappeared.”
“She did.”
“But she was here.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you find her?”
He didn't answer.
That frightened me more than anything else.
Then Denise spoke.
“I remember that night.”
Thomas turned.
“What do you remember?”
“She came through the back entrance.”
“Alone?”
Denise nodded.
“She was bleeding.”
“From what?”
“She wouldn't say.”
Thomas's voice hardened.
“Did she have a child?”
Denise looked at me.
“Yes.”
I froze.
“You saw me?”
“You were six.”
My heart started pounding.
“Where was I?”
Denise looked toward the hallway.
“With your father.”
Thomas stared at her.
“That isn't possible.”
Denise shook her head.
“That's what I remember.”
I whispered,
“Dad brought me here?”
“No.”
Denise looked frightened.
“He brought your mother here.”
Thomas stepped closer.
“What did he do?”
“I don't know.”
“You know something.”
Denise's eyes filled with tears.
“I remember him arguing with her.”
“About what?”
“She kept saying she had proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Denise shook her head.
“I don't remember.”
Thomas grabbed the edge of the cabinet.
“Try.”
She closed her eyes.
Then whispered,
“She said, ‘If anything happens to me, Thomas will find out.’”
The room went silent.
Thomas slowly released the cabinet.
My mother had known her father would come looking.
Someone had made sure he never got the chance.
Then the security officer's radio crackled.
A voice said,
“Sir, we found the person who entered the records room.”
Thomas turned.
“Who?”
The officer hesitated.
May you like
“Your son's wife.”
Vanessa.
