Chapter 9: The Second Son
Andre stared at the message.
Marcus read it over his shoulder.
Neither man spoke.
Tasha whispered, “What does it mean?””
Andre shook his head.
“I don't know.””
The footsteps below grew louder.
Marcus grabbed Andre's arm.
“Move.””
They reached the next floor.
A maintenance door stood ahead.
Tasha tried the handle.
Unlocked.
They slipped inside.
It opened into a narrow supply corridor.
Andre lowered Jasmine carefully.
“Can you walk?””
She nodded.
Tasha crouched beside her.
“Stay with me.””
Andre looked at Marcus.
“My mother had two sons.””
Marcus nodded.
“You and Daniel.””
“That is what I thought.””
Marcus swallowed.
“What if there was another?””
Andre stared at him.
“Another what?””
“Another son.””
“Daniel would have known.””
“Would he?””
Andre remembered the photograph.
Daniel beside the pregnant woman.
A secret child.
Letters.
Medical records.
A second identity.
Everything suddenly seemed connected.
“My mother lied about seeing Daniel.””
Marcus nodded.
“She may have lied about you, too.””
Andre pulled out his phone.
He searched through old family photographs.
Christmas.
Birthdays.
Graduations.
Daniel.
Andre.
Their mother.
But there was always something strange.
A gap.
A missing photograph.
Andre opened an old picture from when he was twelve.
He and Daniel stood beside Evelyn.
Behind them was a little boy.
Andre frowned.
“Who is that?””
Marcus leaned closer.
“I don't know.””
Andre zoomed in.
The boy was about five.
Same eyes as Daniel.
Same small scar above the eyebrow.
Andre's hands began shaking.
“My mother said Daniel and I were her only children.””
Marcus stared at the screen.
“That boy is your brother.””
“No.””
“Yes.””
Andre looked again.
A tiny name was written on the back of the photograph.
He turned it over.
The handwriting was Evelyn's.
*Andre. Daniel. Samuel.*
Tasha stared.
“Samuel.””
Andre whispered the name.
“I've never heard it.””
Marcus looked toward the corridor.
“You need to find out who Samuel is.””
A phone rang.
Not Andre's.
Marcus checked his.
Nothing.
Tasha checked hers.
Nothing.
Then Jasmine pointed toward a nearby supply cart.
“It's coming from there.””
Andre walked over.
A second phone was sitting underneath a folded sheet.
It was Monica's old phone.
Andre picked it up.
The screen showed dozens of missed calls.
One voicemail.
He pressed play.
Monica's voice filled the corridor.
“Andre, if you hear this, I'm sorry.””
Andre closed his eyes.
“I should have told you years ago.””
Her voice shook.
“Your mother didn't kill Daniel.””
Andre opened his eyes.
“She covered it up.””
Marcus stared at the phone.
Monica continued.
“Daniel found out about Samuel.””
Andre's breath caught.
“He found out Samuel was alive.””
The recording crackled.
“He also found out Samuel wasn't the person everyone thought he was.””
Andre whispered, “What does that mean?””
Monica's recorded voice continued.
“Samuel had been living under another name.””
Marcus's face changed.
“What name?””
The voicemail answered.
“Marcus.””
Silence.
Marcus stepped backward.
“No.””
Andre looked at him.
“You?””
Monica continued.
“Daniel believed Samuel had been manipulated for years. He tried to bring him home.””
Marcus shook his head.
“My mother told me Daniel abandoned us.””
“She lied.””
Marcus's eyes filled with tears.
Monica's voice continued.
“Daniel died because he confronted the wrong person.””
The recording stopped.
Andre stared at the phone.
“Who?””
The screen displayed another voicemail.
He pressed it.
Monica spoke again.
“I couldn't tell you because the person who caused the crash had access to every record we had.””
A pause.
“Your mother knew.””
Another pause.
“Andre…”
Her breathing became shaky.
“I need you to understand something.””
Andre waited.
“The person who caused Daniel's death isn't dead.””
Marcus whispered, “Who?””
Monica's voice answered:
“Samuel.””
The phone slipped from Andre's hand.
Marcus caught it.
“No.””
Andre stared at him.
“Your name is Marcus.””
Marcus shook his head.
“I was given that name.””
“By who?””
“My mother.””
“Who is your mother?””
Marcus's face went pale.
“I don't know her real name.””
Andre stared.
“What?””
“She changed identities.””
Tasha stepped back.
“This is insane.””
Marcus looked at Andre.
“Your brother Daniel wasn't killed because he knew about me.””
“Then why?””
“Because he knew who I really was.””
Andre's phone buzzed.
A photograph appeared.
Daniel.
Alive.
Standing beside a hospital bed.
Beside him was Evelyn.
And in the bed was a newborn baby.
The timestamp was dated *twelve years after Daniel was supposedly dead*.
Andre's face went numb.
“That's impossible.””
Marcus stared at the picture.
“That hospital.””
Tasha leaned closer.
“I recognize it.””
Andre looked at her.
“How?””
She pointed toward the wall behind Daniel.
A familiar blue hospital emblem.
“This is here.””
Andre's blood ran cold.
“The picture was taken in this hospital?””
Tasha nodded.
Marcus looked at Jasmine.
“Then someone brought us here on purpose.””
Andre looked down at the red backpack.
The zipper was still open.
Inside, beneath the lining, something white was visible.
A corner of another document.
Andre pulled it free.
His eyes moved across the page.
Patient:
*SAMUEL HAYES*
Date of birth:
*October 14.*
Andre stopped.
October 14.
Daniel's death date.
Marcus stared at the paper.
“That isn't a birth date.””
Andre looked at him.
“What?””
Marcus pointed at the bottom.
“It's a death date.””
Andre's heart slammed against his ribs.
He turned the page over.
There was one handwritten sentence.
*HE DIDN'T DIE THAT NIGHT.*
Behind them, the maintenance door slowly opened.
Andre turned.
Monica stood in the doorway.
Her face was streaked with tears.
And behind her stood a man Andre had never seen before.
But Jasmine looked at him once and whispered:
“Dad…”
May you like
She recognized him.
“That's the man who put the bottle in my bag.””
