Chapter 10: My Best Friend Was the Brother They Hid
I called Tyler three times before he answered.
Each time, the phone rang until the call went to voicemail.
On the fourth attempt, he picked up.
“Ethan?””
His voice was familiar. Too familiar. It was the voice I'd heard laughing across my lunch table, cheering at football games, and whispering terrible jokes during assemblies.
The voice of my best friend.
“Tell me it's not true,” I said.
There was a long silence.
“Which part?””
I gripped the phone.
“All of it. The hospital. The adoption. You being my brother.””
Tyler exhaled shakily.
“It's true.””
I closed my eyes.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I didn't know until three months ago.””
I looked at Noah, who stood beside me in Claire's office. Sarah and Rebecca were arguing quietly with my father in the corridor, while Dr. Evelyn Mercer had disappeared behind a hospital security officer.
“Three months ago?”” I repeated.
“Yeah. I found some old papers in Vanessa's bedroom. She'd hidden them inside a suitcase beneath her winter clothes.””
“What papers?””
“My original birth certificate. A photograph of a woman I'd never seen. And a letter with your dad's signature.””
My stomach tightened.
“What did the letter say?””
Tyler's voice broke.
“That I was supposed to be temporary.””
I stared at the wall.
He continued.
“Daniel promised to keep me until my mother could come back. But when she did, he told her I was dead.””
The room seemed to tilt.
“Who is your mother?””
“I don't know her name yet. That's what I've been trying to find out.””
I looked at the photograph on my phone.
The woman standing beside Tyler had the same red birthmark above her eyebrow.
“Is she the woman in the picture?””
“Yeah. I found that photograph in the same suitcase. Vanessa wrote a name on the back, but someone scratched it out.””
“What name?””
Tyler hesitated.
“Rebecca.””
I turned toward my aunt.
She was standing in the corridor, staring at the floor.
“Tyler,” I whispered, “Rebecca is here. She's my mother's sister.””
“What?””
“She says she never had another child.””
He went quiet.
Then he said, “Ethan, I think she's been lied to, too.””
Before I could answer, I heard a door slam on his end of the call.
A woman's voice shouted something in the background.
Tyler whispered, “She's here.””
“Who?””
“My mother.””
“Tyler, wait—”
The call ended.
I immediately dialed again.
This time, the phone was switched off.
Noah grabbed his jacket.
“We're going to your house.””
Claire shook her head.
“Not without the original records. If Vanessa knows you've discovered Tyler's identity, she may try to destroy whatever evidence remains.””
I looked at my father.
“Where is Vanessa?””
He rubbed his face.
“She went home.””
“Then we're going there.””
Dad stepped in front of me.
“Ethan, listen to me. You need to stay away from this woman.””
“Which woman? Tyler's mother?””
He didn't answer.
“Why are you so afraid of her?””
Dad stared at me.
“Because she knows what happened to the fourth child.””
Noah moved toward him.
“Gabriel is Tyler. We know that now.””
“Not the fourth child,” Dad whispered.
“The other one.””
I felt my blood run cold.
“Another one?””
Dad looked at Sarah, then Rebecca.
“Michael didn't tell me everything. I only found out recently that the original file listed another infant who wasn't assigned a case number.””
Claire opened the notebook again.
“That's impossible. The photograph shows four babies.””
Dad shook his head.
“There were five.””
Nobody spoke.
Sarah covered her mouth.
Rebecca sat down heavily.
Noah stared at the document.
“Five children?””
Dad nodded.
“The fifth baby was delivered in a different room. Michael told me the mother had requested complete confidentiality. He said the child wasn't connected to our family.””
“Then why would he threaten us over it?”” I asked.
Dad looked at me with exhausted eyes.
“Because the fifth child wasn't supposed to survive.””
I couldn't process the words.
My phone vibrated again.
A text from Tyler.
*Come home. Bring Noah. Come before midnight. Don't bring Dad.*
A second message followed.
*I found the original photograph. There are five babies, Ethan. Five.*
I showed Noah.
He looked at the message, then at our father.
“What's the fifth child's name?””
Dad began shaking his head.
“I don't know.””
“Stop lying!””
“I'm not lying!””
His voice cracked so violently that everyone in the corridor turned.
“I never saw the fifth child. Michael kept that part of the arrangement separate. All I know is that the baby was registered under a false name, and the mother signed a document agreeing never to search for it.””
Claire's face tightened.
“Do you remember the name on the document?””
Dad swallowed.
“Grace.””
Rebecca's eyes widened.
“Grace who?””
“I don't know.””
Sarah stood abruptly.
“I had a cousin named Grace. She disappeared when we were teenagers.””
Rebecca looked at her sister.
“What?””
“Our family told everyone she ran away. My mother refused to discuss her after that.””
Claire opened the notebook to a page marked with a red line.
At the bottom, beneath the four names we'd already seen, was a fifth entry.
*GRACE MERCER — MATERNAL CONTACT.*
Sarah stared at it.
“Grace was my cousin.””
Dad lowered his head.
“And Michael was the last person seen with her.””
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Noah picked up his phone.
“We need to get to the house. Tyler may be in danger.””
I nodded.
We left the hospital through the emergency entrance, avoiding the main lobby. As we reached the parking lot, a black sedan pulled alongside us.
The driver's window lowered.
A woman with dark hair looked out.
The woman from Tyler's photograph.
She studied me, then Noah.
Finally, her eyes settled on Rebecca.
“Hello, sister.””
Rebecca stopped dead.
Her face went white.
“Grace?””
The woman smiled sadly.
“I'm sorry it took me so long to come home.””
Rebecca staggered backward.
Sarah whispered, “But you disappeared twenty years ago.””
Grace looked at her.
“I didn't disappear.””
She opened the car door and stepped out.
“Michael made sure nobody could find me.””
May you like
Then she looked directly at me.
“And now that all five children are together, he's going to come for us.””
