Chapter 10: The Birth Certificate
Tyler looked like he'd been slapped.
“What did he mean?””
Dad was still staring at the dead phone.
“Dad.””
Tyler's voice cracked.
“What did Marcus mean?””
Two officers were already approaching us from the substation entrance.
Dad handed one of them his phone.
“He has my wife.””
“Do you know that for certain?””
“No. She called me. Then Carter took the phone.””
The officer's expression sharpened.
“Did she sound distressed?””
“Yes.””
“He said I should've stayed out of this,” Dad continued.
“Then he disconnected.””
The officers immediately started asking questions.
Address.
Vehicle.
Marcus's phone number.
Melissa's number.
Description.
While Dad answered, Tyler stood beside my recovered laptop like he had forgotten how to breathe.
Finally, he looked at me.
“My dad is alive.””
“We don't know that.””
“He said my original birth certificate has Carter's name.””
“That could mean something else.””
“Like what?””
I had no answer.
Neither did Dad.
One officer stepped aside to make calls while the other asked Dad whether Melissa might have left willingly.
Dad hesitated.
That hesitation said everything.
“I don't know anymore.””
Tyler lowered his head.
Dad looked at him.
“Tyler.””
“Don't.””
“I'm not going to lie to you.””
“Everyone else did.””
His voice broke.
“Mom told me my father died.””
Dad stepped closer.
“I didn't know.””
“You married her.””
“That doesn't mean she told me everything.””
Tyler laughed bitterly.
“She didn't tell you anything.””
The officer returned.
“A patrol unit is heading to your residence.””
Dad nodded.
“I'm going back.””
“No,” the officer said.
“You'll wait until the house is cleared.””
“My daughter—”
“She comes with you.””
Dad looked at me.
I held my laptop tighter.
Twenty minutes later, we followed police back toward our neighborhood.
Three patrol cars were already outside.
The front door stood open.
Dad got out before the officer could stop him.
“Melissa!””
No answer.
The aquarium hummed in the silent living room.
Her purse was gone.
So were her keys.
An officer came downstairs.
“House is clear.””
Dad checked the garage.
Melissa's car was gone.
Tyler stared at the empty space.
“She left.””
Dad looked at him.
“We don't know what happened.””
Tyler's mouth tightened.
“You keep saying that.””
The police asked for anything that might help identify Marcus.
Melissa's photographs.
Old paperwork.
Addresses.
Dad opened the filing cabinet in his office.
Most folders were intact.
Then he stopped.
“Tyler.””
Tyler came closer.
“Do you have a copy of your birth certificate?””
“Mom keeps it.””
“Where?””
“I don't know.””
Dad opened another drawer.
Nothing.
Then I remembered something.
“The school folder.””
Tyler frowned.
“What?””
“When you transferred schools last year, Melissa made copies of everything at the kitchen printer.””
Dad went to the cabinet beneath the printer.
There were tax forms, instruction manuals, old bills.
And a yellow folder.
*TYLER – SCHOOL*
Dad pulled out immunization records.
Previous transcripts.
Emergency contacts.
Then a photocopied birth certificate.
Tyler grabbed it.
His eyes raced across the page.
Mother:
*Melissa Bennett.*
Father:
*Marcus Carter.*
Tyler sank into a chair.
Nobody spoke.
“He's my father.””
Dad crouched beside him.
“Biologically, it looks that way.””
“He's alive.””
“Yes.””
Tyler's hands shook.
“All these years.””
He looked at the certificate again.
“She told me he died in a car accident.””
Dad's face changed.
“What?””
“She said he died when I was two.””
I felt a chill.
“Car accident?””
Tyler nodded.
Dad immediately opened the recovered laptop.
“Evan.””
He called him.
Evan answered.
“I need you to check the Accident Timeline file again.””
“For what?””
“Any older files. Anything about another accident.””
There was keyboard clicking.
Then silence.
“Daniel.””
“What?””
“There are deleted folders.””
“Can you recover them?””
“Some.””
More clicking.
Then Evan inhaled sharply.
“I've got one.””
“What is it called?””
“Bennett Claim.””
Melissa's maiden name.
Dad put the call on speaker.
“What’s inside?””
“A newspaper clipping.””
Evan read the headline.
*LOCAL MAN KILLED IN SINGLE-VEHICLE CRASH*
Tyler went rigid.
“Name?””
“Andrew Bennett.””
Tyler whispered, “That's the name Mom gave me for my father.””
Dad looked at the birth certificate.
Marcus Carter.
Andrew Bennett.
Two different men.
“What else?”” Dad asked.
“Insurance documents.””
Dad closed his eyes.
“How much?””
“Four hundred thousand.””
“Beneficiary?””
“Melissa Bennett.””
Tyler stood so fast the chair scraped backward.
“No.””
Evan continued.
“And there's something else.””
“What?””
“A scanned marriage certificate.””
Dad frowned.
“Melissa and Andrew?””
“Yes.””
Tyler stared at the floor.
“So Andrew was her husband.””
Dad nodded slowly.
“But not your biological father.””
Tyler looked sick.
Evan spoke again.
“Daniel, there's a photograph attached.””
“What photograph?””
“Melissa, Andrew... and Marcus Carter.””
Dad's face hardened.
“When?””
“Two weeks before Andrew died.””
Nobody spoke.
Then an officer walked into the kitchen holding a small black device.
“We found this underneath your wife's side of the bed.””
Dad took it.
“What is it?””
“A GPS tracker.””
My stomach dropped.
The officer turned it over.
“There are magnetic mounts on the back.””
Dad stared at it.
Then looked toward the driveway.
“My truck.””
The officer nodded.
“That's what I'm thinking.””
Tyler covered his mouth.
Dad's phone suddenly rang.
Melissa.
Every person in the room froze.
Dad answered.
“Melissa?””
Her voice was barely audible.
“Daniel, listen to me.””
“Where are you?””
“I don't have much time.””
“Are you with Marcus?””
A pause.
“Yes.””
“Are you there voluntarily?””
Another pause.
Then Melissa whispered:
“Don't trust the accident file.””
Dad frowned.
“Why?””
“Because Marcus didn't write it.””
The line crackled.
Dad gripped the phone.
“Then who did?””
May you like
Melissa began crying.
“I did.””
