Chapter 5: The Baby They Took
“Stay down!””
The stranger shoved the table sideways as another shot cracked through the diner.
Glass exploded across the floor.
Marcus wrapped both arms around Noah and pulled him beneath the booth.
Buddy barked wildly, snapping at the empty air.
Vanessa screamed.
Someone outside shouted, “Get the boy!””
Marcus's stomach dropped.
Not the phone.
Not the documents.
The boy.
Noah.
He held his son tighter.
“Don't move,” Marcus whispered.
“I’m scared.””
“I know.””
The stranger crouched beside them.
“There's a rear exit through the kitchen.””
Marcus stared at him.
“Who are you?””
The man glanced toward the shattered window.
“We can introduce ourselves after you're alive.””
Another shot struck the wall.
The waitress screamed and crawled beneath the counter.
Marcus grabbed Noah.
“Come on.””
They rushed toward the kitchen.
Vanessa followed.
Buddy stayed glued to Noah's side.
The stranger moved last, keeping watch behind them.
They burst through the swinging kitchen doors.
A cook dropped a tray and ran.
Marcus spotted a metal back door.
“Open it!””
“It’s locked,” Vanessa cried.
The stranger reached into his coat, pulled out a key, and unlocked it.
Marcus looked at him.
“You just happened to have a key?””
“I know this place.””
“Why?””
“Because I own the building.””
Marcus stopped.
“What?””
“Move.””
They ran into the alley.
Rain poured down.
A black SUV screeched around the corner.
The stranger raised his arm.
“Down!””
The SUV sped past.
Nobody fired.
Marcus looked back toward the diner.
The attackers were gone.
For several seconds, all he heard was rain and Noah's breathing.
Then Marcus turned to the stranger.
“You're going to explain everything.””
The man nodded.
“My name is Ethan Cole.””
“Related to Rachel?””
“My sister.””
Marcus's jaw tightened.
“The woman who gave me the photograph?””
“Yes.””
“Why did Rachel know my mother?””
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
“Because your mother paid her to protect Noah.””
Marcus stared.
“From whom?””
“From the people who took his twin.””
Noah looked up.
“I have a twin?””
Nobody answered.
Marcus felt the question hanging between them.
“Tell me.””
Ethan nodded.
“Your mother discovered that Lena gave birth to twins.””
Marcus remembered the photograph.
Two babies.
Two blue blankets.
He swallowed.
“What happened to the other baby?””
“He was taken.””
“By whom?””
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
“That is the question she has been avoiding.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I didn't take him.””
“Who did?””
“I don't know.””
Ethan's expression hardened.
“You knew the plan.””
“I knew part of it.””
“That's enough.””
Marcus looked between them.
“What plan?””
Vanessa stared at the pavement.
“Your father wanted control of the family company.””
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“And what does a newborn baby have to do with that?””
“Everything.””
She lifted her eyes.
“Because your father needed an heir.””
Marcus's face changed.
“He already had me.””
“You were his legal son.””
“Then why another?””
“Because your father knew your mother's will would eventually expose him.””
Marcus frowned.
“What will?””
“She left everything to her grandchildren.””
He stared.
“She had two grandchildren.””
“Yes.””
“So your father wanted access to both?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“He wanted one.””
Marcus looked toward Noah.
“Why?””
“Because Daniel wasn't legally recognized as family.””
Marcus's thoughts raced.
Daniel.
The hidden records.
The fake accounts.
The two babies.
The fire.
It all seemed to circle one terrible secret.
“Where is the other child?””
Ethan looked toward Noah.
“We don't know.””
Noah's eyes widened.
“You mean my brother?””
Marcus knelt.
“We don't know where he is.””
“Is he okay?””
Marcus looked at Ethan.
Ethan hesitated.
“We have reason to believe he survived.””
Noah's face brightened.
“Can we find him?””
Marcus's throat tightened.
“We're going to try.””
A car horn sounded at the end of the alley.
Everyone turned.
Rachel stepped out of a gray sedan.
“Get in.””
Marcus opened the rear door and pushed Noah inside.
Buddy jumped after him.
Vanessa followed.
Ethan took the passenger seat.
Marcus drove.
Rachel looked back at him.
“Did they see the photograph?””
“Yes.””
Her face tightened.
“Then we're out of time.””
Marcus gripped the steering wheel.
“You knew there were two babies.””
Rachel nodded.
“Your mother told me.””
“And you knew Noah wasn't biologically mine.””
“I knew you weren't his biological father.””
Marcus's voice cracked.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because your mother was afraid you'd go looking.””
“I would have.””
“And whoever took the other baby would have known where to look too.””
Marcus stared at the road.
“What happened at the hospital?””
Rachel closed her eyes.
“Lena gave birth to two boys.””
Noah listened quietly from the back seat.
“The first was healthy,” Rachel continued.
“The second needed immediate treatment.””
“Why?””
“He had trouble breathing.””
Marcus looked at her in the mirror.
“Which baby was Noah?””
Rachel shook her head.
“We don't know.””
Marcus's hands tightened.
“What?””
“The hospital records were altered.””
“By whom?””
“Dr. Collins.””
Silence.
Vanessa whispered, “That's why we can't go to him.””
Marcus remembered the text.
DON'T TAKE HIM TO DR. COLLINS.
He looked at Rachel.
“Why is Collins doing this?””
“He was working for your father.””
“And now?””
“No one knows.””
Marcus's phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Hello?””
A distorted voice said:
“You're asking the wrong question.””
Marcus glanced at Noah.
“What do you want?””
“The boy.””
“You're not getting him.””
A low laugh.
“You still don't understand.””
Marcus's voice hardened.
“Then explain.””
“The child you're protecting may not be Noah.””
Marcus went cold.
“What does that mean?””
“Look at his left shoulder.””
Marcus frowned.
“Why?””
The voice said:
“Ask him about the scar.””
The call ended.
Marcus immediately looked into the rearview mirror.
“Noah.””
His son looked up.
“What?””
“Take off your shirt.””
Noah frowned.
“Why?””
“Please.””
Marcus pulled into an empty gas station.
Rachel got out.
They opened the rear door.
Noah looked confused.
“Dad?””
Marcus's voice softened.
“I need to check something.””
Noah reluctantly removed his jacket and shirt.
A small scar curved across his left shoulder.
Marcus had seen it before.
He had always assumed it came from a childhood accident.
Rachel stared.
Her face turned pale.
“What?””
She touched the scar without actually touching him.
“That isn't an accident scar.””
Marcus felt cold.
“How do you know?””
“Because I've seen its twin.””
He stared.
“Where?””
Rachel looked at Noah.
“On the other baby.””
Marcus couldn't breathe.
“You saw him?””
Rachel nodded slowly.
“Once.””
“Where?””
She looked toward Ethan.
Ethan's expression darkened.
“Tell him.””
Rachel swallowed.
“It was six years ago.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“Where was he?””
She whispered:
“In a private school outside Boston.””
Marcus stared.
“My son was seven.””
“No.””
Rachel shook her head.
“The other boy was seven.””
Marcus's heart pounded.
“You're saying he's alive.””
“Yes.””
“What's his name?””
Rachel looked at him.
“That depends.””
“On what?””
“On which identity they gave him.””
Marcus was silent.
Then Noah spoke.
“Dad?””
Marcus turned.
Noah looked frightened.
“What if he looks like me?””
Marcus smiled through the tears gathering in his eyes.
“Then I'll know him.””
Rachel reached into her coat and pulled out a folded sheet.
“We have one problem.””
“What?””
“The boy's name on the school records was not Noah's brother.””
Marcus unfolded the paper.
A photograph fell out.
He picked it up.
His hands began to shake.
The boy in the picture had Noah's eyes.
The same mouth.
The same tiny scar.
The same blue-gray eyes Marcus had seen every morning for seven years.
On the back was a name:
*ELIAS MERCER.*
Marcus stared at it.
“Mercer?””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Ethan looked at her.
“You know that name.””
Vanessa whispered:
“That was your father's mother's maiden name.””
Marcus looked up sharply.
“So they didn't hide my son under a random identity.””
Rachel nodded.
“They hid him inside the family.””
Marcus stared at the photograph.
Then he noticed the date printed beneath it.
*Photographed three days ago.*
His heart stopped.
“He's here.””
Rachel nodded.
“Twenty miles from us.””
Marcus looked at Noah.
Then at the photograph.
For seven years, he had believed he was protecting one child.
Now he realized someone had spent seven years hiding another.
His son.
His brother's son.
Or perhaps both.
Marcus folded the photograph and put it in his pocket.
“Take me to him.””
Rachel shook her head.
“Not yet.””
“Why?””
“Because someone wants you to find him.””
Marcus stared at her.
“What?””
Rachel pointed toward the highway.
A black SUV had stopped across the road.
Its headlights were off.
Someone was sitting behind the wheel.
Watching them.
Then the driver's door opened.
A man stepped out.
He wasn't holding a weapon.
He didn't need one.
Marcus knew his face.
It was Dr. Collins.
The doctor looked directly at Noah.
Then slowly raised a piece of paper.
A birth certificate.
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And written across the bottom in red ink were four words:
*NOAH WAS NEVER THE BABY.*
