Chapter 8: The Other Child
I couldn't stop staring at the phone.
“Lucy, what does that mean?””
She sounded frightened.
“I don't know. The file mentions another transfer.””
“Another baby?””
“I think so.””
Daniel leaned toward me.
“Put her on speaker.””
I did.
“This is Daniel Hayes,” he said.
“I'm your father.””
There was a long silence.
Then Lucy began crying.
“My father died when I was a baby.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I was told you were missing.””
“Who are you?””
“I'm the man who has spent twenty-four years looking for his daughters.””
A faint sob came through the speaker.
“Both of them?””
Daniel's voice broke.
“Both.””
I pressed my hand against my mouth.
For the first time, the reality of having a twin sister felt overwhelming.
She was not an idea.
She was a person.
A woman with a voice, memories, fears, and a childhood that had been stolen just as mine had.
“Lucy,” I said gently, “can you tell us where you are?””
“I'm in Portsmouth. There's a small care facility near the old harbor. I came here because someone left the package at my apartment.””
“Are you alone?””
“No. There's a nurse here.””
“What's her name?””
“Margaret.””
Daniel looked sharply at the admiral.
“Margaret?””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Is it Margaret Carter?””
Lucy paused.
“Yes.””
The vehicle became silent.
My grandmother had been dead for thirteen years.
Yet another woman named Margaret Carter was apparently waiting for my sister.
“Lucy,” I said carefully, “can you describe her?””
“She has white hair. Maybe seventy years old. She wears a silver necklace with a little star.””
I looked down at my own bracelet.
A little star.
My grandmother had worn a similar necklace.
“Does she know who you are?””
“Yes. She told me she knew my birth mother.””
Daniel grabbed the phone.
“Lucy, do not let that woman take you anywhere.””
“What? Why?””
“Please listen to me. We're coming.””
The call suddenly became muffled.
I heard a woman speaking in the background.
Then Lucy whispered:
“She's here.””
“Who?””
“The woman from the photograph.””
I leaned forward.
“Evelyn?””
“Yes.””
My entire body went cold.
“Lucy, is our mother there?””
A soft voice came through the phone.
“Nia?””
I started crying.
It was the same voice I had heard during the brief call the previous night.
Evelyn.
“Mom?””
“Oh, my sweet girls.””
Daniel began sobbing beside me.
“Evelyn, where are you?””
There was a rustling sound.
Then her voice became urgent.
“Listen to me. You must leave the facility immediately.””
“Why?”” Lucy asked.
“Because someone has been watching you.””
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
Daniel was already ordering the driver to change direction.
The admiral spoke into his radio.
“Get a security team to the Portsmouth facility. We have two potential witnesses and a missing person connected to the Meridian investigation.””
I looked at him.
“Why did you call Lucy a witness?””
He hesitated.
“Because if the original records are accurate, she may have been moved as part of the same operation.””
“She is my sister.””
“I know.””
“Then stop talking about her like she's evidence.””
He nodded.
“You're right.””
An hour later, we arrived at the facility.
It was a modest brick building surrounded by a low fence. A small garden occupied the front courtyard.
A nurse stood near the entrance.
She was an elderly woman with white hair.
And around her neck was a silver star necklace.
I froze.
“Margaret?””
The woman turned.
Her eyes widened.
“Nia?””
Daniel stepped in front of me.
“Who are you?””
She looked frightened.
“My name is Margaret Ellis. I worked with Evelyn years ago.””
“Why did you use Margaret Carter's name?””
“I didn't.””
She pointed toward the building.
“Please. There's no time.””
We followed her inside.
A young woman stood near the reception desk.
She had dark curly hair, green eyes, and a tiny crescent-shaped birthmark beneath her left ear.
My hand moved to my own neck.
She did the same.
For several seconds, we simply stared at each other.
Then she whispered:
“You're real.””
I laughed through my tears.
“So are you.””
Lucy took one step toward me.
I took one toward her.
We embraced.
It was awkward at first, like two strangers trying to understand a familiar feeling.
Then she held me tighter.
“I thought I was the only one,” she whispered.
“Me too.””
Daniel approached slowly.
“Lucy?””
She turned.
He looked at her face, then at mine.
Two daughters.
Two faces that carried the same features as the woman he had loved.
Lucy began crying again.
“Are you really my father?””
Daniel nodded.
“I have the photograph from the day you were born.””
He showed her the picture of the two newborn babies.
Lucy touched it gently.
“That's me?””
“Yes.””
“And that's Nia?””
“Yes.””
She looked up.
“Why didn't you come?””
Daniel's face crumpled.
“I tried, sweetheart. I swear I tried.””
Lucy hugged him.
He held both of us, crying openly.
For a few minutes, the world felt almost normal.
Then Margaret Ellis interrupted.
“I'm sorry, but you need to see this.””
She led us into a small office.
On the desk lay a thick medical file.
Its cover read:
*HARBOR CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER — CONFIDENTIAL TRANSFER RECORDS.*
Margaret opened it.
“Evelyn asked me to preserve these records. She believed the truth would eventually reach her daughters.””
“Why didn't she come to us sooner?”” I asked.
Margaret looked down.
“Because she was afraid.””
“Of Richard Cole?””
“Yes. But not only him.””
She turned to the final section.
There were three birth entries.
Not two.
I leaned closer.
“Three?””
Margaret nodded.
“Evelyn gave birth to triplets.””
The room seemed to spin.
Daniel grabbed the edge of the desk.
“That's impossible.””
Margaret shook her head.
“The third baby was recorded as a boy. He was transferred to another facility less than six hours after birth.””
I looked at Lucy.
She looked back at me.
We had spent the morning discovering we were twins.
Now there was another sibling.
“Where is he?”” Daniel asked.
Margaret opened the final page.
A name had been typed beneath the third infant's identification number.
*INFANT C — ETHAN HAYES.*
Then, in red ink, someone had written:
*TRANSFERRED TO PRIVATE CUSTODY — AUTHORIZED BY DENISE CARTER.*
I felt my knees weaken.
“Denise?””
Margaret nodded.
“Your adoptive mother signed the paperwork.””
I stared at the name.
Denise hadn't just raised one of Evelyn's children.
She had been involved in the disappearance of all three.
Lucy gripped my hand.
“There's something else.””
She reached into her bag and removed a folded piece of paper.
“I found this inside my file.””
It was a recent photograph of a young man in his early twenties.
He had dark hair, a strong jaw, and the same crescent-shaped birthmark beneath his left ear.
On the back was a message.
*ETHAN IS LIVING UNDER THE NAME OF THE MAN WHO STOLE HIM.*
Daniel stared at the picture.
Then he whispered:
“Richard Cole.””
Before anyone could respond, Margaret's office phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Then her face turned white.
“What happened?”” I asked.
She slowly put down the receiver.
“Richard Cole has just been arrested.””
Daniel stood.
“By whom?””
May you like
Margaret looked at me.
“By the man currently claiming to be Ethan's father.””
