Chương 6
“Yes.”
“When?”
“His first birthday.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
Daniel continued.
“I requested a copy of the birth records.”
“And?”
“The duplicate identification number wasn’t there.”
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t think that was suspicious?”
“I did.”
“Then why stop?”
Daniel turned toward her.
“Because you had started sleeping again.”
Claire’s anger returned.
“Don’t do that.”
“I’m not blaming you.”
“You keep telling me my recovery is why you lied.”
“I’m telling you why I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That if I told you there might have been another child, you would never stop looking.”
Claire stared at him.
He whispered, “And I didn’t know whether there was anyone to find.”
Noah shifted between them.
Both went silent.
After a minute Daniel said, “I was afraid I would destroy our family over a clerical error.”
Claire looked toward the window.
“And if it wasn’t an error?”
Daniel did not answer.
At ten the next morning, Claire arrived alone at the transitional residence.
She wore jeans and a plain sweater because the trench coat suddenly seemed obscene.
Then she hated herself for changing clothes to appear less wealthy.
The building had once been a small business hotel. The lobby still had patterned carpet and a brass luggage cart, but the front desk had been replaced by a security station and a shelf of donated toiletries.
Jo Alvarez was sixty, maybe older, with silver hair tied at the back of her neck and reading glasses hanging from a beaded chain.
She looked Claire up and down.
“You changed your outfit.”
Claire blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“Eli described you.”
“Oh.”
Jo almost smiled.
“Relax. Rich people look nervous when somebody notices they’re trying not to look rich.”
Claire exhaled.
“I didn’t know what was appropriate.”
“Clothes usually aren’t the emergency.”
“No.”
Jo led her into a small meeting room.
Eli sat at a table with a cup of instant oatmeal.
His hoodie was the same, but someone had cleaned the scrape on his knee.
He did not greet her.
Claire sat opposite him.
“Hi.”
He stirred the oatmeal.
Jo remained by the door.
Claire was glad.
Eli said, “You told your husband.”
“Yes.”
“You said you wouldn’t call anybody.”
“I said I wouldn’t call the police.”
“That’s lawyer words.”
Claire nearly smiled.
“My sister is a lawyer.”
“I knew it.”
“You did?”
“You talk like one.”
“I’m not sure whether to be offended.”
He shrugged.
Claire waited.
Eventually he reached into his hoodie.
The bracelet appeared.
He placed it on the table but kept one finger over it.
“You can look.”
Claire did not touch it.
The engraving was clearer in daylight.
BENNETT — BABY B.
The date.
And, near the edge, almost rubbed away, a seven-digit number.
Claire photographed it only after Eli agreed.
“Did your mother ever tell you where you were born?”
“No.”
“What was her name?”
“Rachel.”
“Rachel Mercer?”
He nodded.
“Was she your biological mother?”
He looked annoyed.
“She was my mom.”
“You’re right. Bad question.”
Jo watched Claire closely.
Claire tried again.
“Did she ever say you were adopted?”
“No.”
“Do you have a birth certificate?”
Jo answered.
“We have one.”
Eli looked at her.
“You do?”
“You’ve seen it.”
“No, I saw the school paper.”
“The school paper used information from the certificate.”
Claire’s heart accelerated.
“May I see it?”
Jo crossed her arms.
“No.”
Claire nodded.
“Okay.”
That surprised both Jo and Eli.
Claire took a folded piece of paper from her bag.
“I wrote down some questions so I wouldn’t overwhelm you.”
Eli eyed the sheet.
“How many?”
“Fourteen.”
He stared at her.
Claire folded it again.
“That’s probably overwhelming.”
Jo laughed.
Eli smiled.
A real smile this time.
Claire felt a pain behind her ribs.
Noah smiled exactly that way when he was trying not to.
She looked down.
Eli noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You keep doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Looking at me like you’re trying to remember something.”
Claire swallowed.
“I’m trying not to assume anything.”
“Like what?”
She met his eyes.
“That you and Noah are related.”
Eli stopped moving.
Jo’s expression sharpened.
Claire continued carefully.
“You look alike. You have an object with his last name and his birthday. That is evidence that something deserves investigation. It is not proof that you’re brothers.”
Eli stared at the oatmeal.
“What if we are?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t want me?”
The question was so direct Claire forgot every careful sentence she had prepared.
“That isn’t what I said.”
“You made a face.”
“I’m afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
“What, then?”
Claire looked at the bracelet.
“That somebody hurt you. That somebody lied to me. That my husband knew part of it. That Noah’s life could change. That yours could. I’m afraid of making this worse because I’m scared and angry and I want answers too fast.”
Eli’s shoulders lowered slightly.
Jo looked away toward the hallway.
Claire said, “If you are Noah’s brother, you do not become a problem I have to solve.”
“What do I become?”
Claire hesitated.
“I don’t know yet.”
Eli nodded.
Strangely, that seemed to satisfy him more than a promise would have.
Jo finally brought the birth certificate.
It listed:
ELI THOMAS MERCER.
Mother: Rachel Mercer.
Father: blank.
Place of birth: St. Matthew’s Medical Center.
Claire’s eyes lifted.
Jo saw it.
“Same hospital?”
“Yes.”
The room became very quiet.
Claire took a picture with permission.
Then she called Daniel.
He answered before the first ring finished.
“I have the certificate.”
“And?”
“St. Matthew’s.”
Daniel swore softly.
Eli watched her.
Claire said, “I’m putting you on speaker.”
“No.”
She paused.
“Why?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Not in front of him.”
Claire’s anger rose again.
“He is the person this concerns.”
“He’s eight.”
“So is Noah.”
“That’s exactly my point.”
Claire took the phone off speaker.
“What do you know?”
“Robert called me back.”
“And?”
“He says the hospital has no record of Baby B.”
Claire stared at the bracelet.
“What about the number?”
“What number?”
May you like
She sent him the photograph.
He was quiet for almost a minute.
