Chapter 5 - The Second Bracelet
Sarah and Margaret remained motionless.
Footsteps crossed the foyer.
A drawer opened.
Then another.
The intruder was searching.
Margaret pointed toward the attic window. A narrow maintenance ledge ran beneath it and connected to the roof above the garage.
Sarah shook her head.
Margaret whispered, “You have a better idea?”
The attic door handle moved.
Sarah opened the window.
Cold air rushed inside.
Margaret climbed out first with surprising steadiness. Sarah followed, holding Anna’s journal page between her teeth. They crouched on the ledge as the attic door opened behind them.
A man entered.
Sarah saw only his silhouette through the window.
He wore gloves and a gray coat.
Victor Mercer walked to the pile of records. He picked up Ethan’s discharge summary and placed it inside his coat.
Then he noticed the open window.
Sarah and Margaret moved across the ledge.
Mercer reached the window just as they climbed onto the garage roof.
“Mrs. Carter,” he called calmly.
Sarah looked back.
His face showed no urgency.
“You are placing your son in danger.”
“You broke into my house.”
“I came to prevent a misunderstanding.”
“By locking me in the attic?”
“That was not my intention.”
Margaret shouted, “Where is my daughter?”
Mercer’s calm expression flickered.
“Margaret Vale. I wondered when you would involve yourself.”
“You know what happened to Anna.”
“I know she made unfortunate decisions.”
Margaret took a step toward the window.
Sarah grabbed her arm.
Mercer looked at Sarah.
“Daniel has made mistakes, but he has protected Ethan for fourteen years. There are people who would not be so protective.”
“Who is Rebecca Sloan?”
Mercer’s gaze shifted.
That was all the answer Sarah needed.
She and Margaret climbed down the side ladder.
Mercer did not follow.
When Sarah reached the driveway, a black sedan pulled away from the curb. A woman sat in the rear seat.
For a fraction of a second, Sarah saw her face.
The woman resembled Ethan.
That evening, Sarah went to the hospital alone.
She did not tell Daniel she was coming.
Ethan was asleep when she entered his room. His skin looked pale beneath the blue monitor lights.
Nurse Elena Ruiz was adjusting his medication.
“I need to ask you something,” Sarah said.
Elena studied her bruised wrist.
“Is your husband here?”
“No.”
Elena closed the door.
“You called my house,” Sarah said.
The nurse’s face changed.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You left a message about Ethan’s blood.”
Elena turned toward the hallway window.
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Then it was you.”
“Lower your voice.”
“Dr. Patel found something.”
Elena sat beside the bed.
“Dr. Patel found that the tissue samples in Ethan’s earliest records could not belong to the same child.”
Sarah’s stomach tightened.
“Explain.”
“The genetic profile from his newborn screening is different from his current profile.”
“Could the sample have been mixed up?”
“One sample, yes. But there were six records taken across three years.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone replaced parts of his medical history.”
Sarah looked at Ethan.
“Why?”
“We don’t know.”
“Where is Dr. Patel?”
Elena’s eyes filled with fear.
“She never took leave.”
“Then where is she?”
“She sent me a message before she disappeared.”
Elena took out her phone.
The message contained only a photograph.
Two newborn identification bracelets lay on a metal tray.
One bracelet read Baby Boy Carter.
The other read Baby Boy Sloan.
Both carried the same time of birth.
2:13 a.m.
Sarah zoomed in.
A small circle crossed by a vertical line appeared on each bracelet.
The Halcyon symbol.
“There were two babies,” Sarah whispered.
Elena nodded.
“One of them was Ethan.”
“What happened to the other?”
“We don’t know.”
A voice came from the doorway.
May you like
“I do.”
Daniel stood there holding a bouquet of white lilies.
