Chapter 13: Archive B
“What other birth record?””
Robert smiled at Claire as officers tightened the handcuffs around his wrists.
“You spent your whole life asking the wrong questions.””
Claire stepped toward him.
“Answer me.””
Detective Ramirez moved between them.
“That’s enough.””
Robert looked almost amused as police led him away.
I hated that smile.
It belonged to a man who still believed knowing something gave him power.
Brooke clung to my arm.
“Dad, can we go home?””
“Yes.””
That mattered more than anything.
Ramirez stopped me before we left.
“We’ll examine the archive.””
“I’m coming.””
“No.””
“Detective—”
“You have a traumatized sixteen-year-old daughter.””
He looked toward Brooke.
“Go be her father.””
That shut me up.
We returned home shortly before three in the morning.
Maya was waiting on the porch.
The second she saw Brooke, she ran barefoot down the driveway.
Brooke ran too.
They collided halfway across the lawn.
Maya held her little sister so tightly Brooke laughed through her tears.
“I can’t breathe.””
“Too bad.””
“I’m okay.””
“You disappeared!””
“I know.””
Maya pulled back and touched Brooke’s face.
“I’m so mad at you.””
“At me?””
“I needed someone to be mad at.””
Brooke laughed again.
Then Maya started crying.
Watching them nearly broke me.
Claire stood beside me.
Neither of us spoke.
The Mustang gleamed beneath the garage lights.
Brooke noticed it.
Her smile vanished.
“Dad?””
“Yes?””
“Sell it.””
Claire looked at her.
“Brooke—”
“I don’t want it.””
“You loved that car.””
“I loved what I thought it meant.””
She looked at Maya.
“Now I know what it cost.””
Maya shook her head.
“You don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do.””
Brooke faced me.
“Sell it. Put every dollar back.””
I nodded.
“I will.””
Claire whispered, “I’ll replace the rest.””
Maya looked at her mother.
“With what?””
“Our savings. My retirement account if I have to.””
For the first time, Claire didn’t ask to be forgiven.
She simply named what she would do.
That was a beginning.
Not forgiveness.
A beginning.
At 10:20 the next morning, Ramirez called.
“We found Archive B.””
I put him on speaker.
Claire, Maya, Brooke, and I gathered around the kitchen table.
“What was inside?”” I asked.
“Original maternity logs, payment records, altered birth certificates and recorded statements.””
Claire gripped her coffee cup.
“How many records?””
“Seven questionable cases.””
My stomach turned.
Seven.
“Over what period?””
“Approximately eleven years.””
Claire whispered, “Lydia changed seven babies?””
“We don’t know that yet. Some alterations appear administrative. Others are more serious.””
“And ours?””
Ramirez paused.
“Yours is documented extensively.””
He explained that Robert had kept records as insurance against Lydia.
Receipts.
Copies.
Audio recordings.
Enough evidence to show that Robert had pressured Lydia into falsifying portions of Lily’s records.
Then Ramirez said something unexpected.
“Rebecca tried to expose him.””
Natalie, who had joined us that morning, looked up sharply.
“When?””
“Two years before her death.””
Ramirez had found copies of letters Rebecca sent to an attorney.
She described Robert’s abuse.
Lily’s birth.
The hospital cover-up.
Everything.
“What happened?”” Natalie asked.
“The attorney died before filing anything. The documents apparently disappeared.””
“Robert took them,” Claire whispered.
“Possibly.””
Natalie closed her eyes.
“My mother tried.””
Claire looked at her.
For years, Claire had described Rebecca as chaos in human form.
An addict.
A liar.
A disaster.
But now the picture was changing.
Rebecca had done terrible things.
She had also been a frightened young woman trapped beneath a father who had taught everyone not to believe her.
Both could be true.
“What about the other birth record?”” I asked.
Ramirez became quiet.
“We identified the record Robert was referring to.””
Claire straightened.
“Whose?””
“Thomas Bennett.””
Claire frowned.
“My brother?””
“No.””
A strange silence followed.
Ramirez continued.
“The original documents indicate Thomas Bennett was not Robert Bennett’s biological son.””
Claire blinked.
“What does that have to do with anything?””
“His biological father was a man named Samuel Cross.””
Natalie looked confused.
Evan, standing near the doorway, suddenly spoke.
“Cross?””
I saw him make the connection.
“Lydia Cross.””
Ramirez confirmed it.
“Samuel was Lydia’s older brother.””
Claire covered her mouth.
“So Lydia was Thomas’s aunt.””
“Yes.””
That explained why Lydia had remained tangled in the Bennett family for decades.
She wasn’t merely Rebecca’s friend.
She had family inside the house.
“Did Thomas know?””
“We believe he discovered it shortly before Rebecca died.””
Natalie whispered, “That’s why he started investigating Robert.””
Ramirez continued.
“There’s more.””
Of course there was.
“There was a photograph inside Thomas’s original file.””
“What photograph?””
“A newborn.””
Claire closed her eyes.
“I don’t understand.””
“The baby was wearing a hospital bracelet.””
Ramirez paused.
“It didn’t say Thomas.””
My skin prickled.
“What did it say?””
“Daniel.””
I froze.
“My name?””
“No.””
Ramirez’s next words turned the entire room silent.
“The bracelet says DANIEL BENNETT.””
Claire slowly turned toward me.
I almost laughed from confusion.
“That’s impossible.””
Then Claire’s face changed.
She whispered, “Daniel…”
“What?””
“My mother chose your name.””
I stared at her.
“What are you talking about?””
“When we first met, I told her your name.””
May you like
Claire’s voice trembled.
“She dropped her coffee.””
