Chapter 14 - DANIEL
Rebecca Sullivan opened the apartment door and fainted.
Literally.
She looked at me.
Her face went white.
Then she collapsed.
Fortunately I still remembered enough nursing to keep her from hitting the floor.
When she woke, Inspector Bellini was kneeling beside her.
Rebecca stared at me.
“Claire?”
“Hello, Rebecca.”
She began crying.
“I am so sorry.”
Six years of anger rose inside me.
I almost let it out.
Then a small boy appeared in the hallway.
“Mom?”
Everything stopped.
He had dark curls.
Gray-green eyes.
A falcon-shaped birthmark near his shoulder.
Daniel.
Rebecca immediately reached for him.
“Go to your room, sweetheart.”
“Who are they?”
“Friends.”
He looked at Alessandro.
Something in their faces echoed.
Not enough that a stranger would notice.
Enough that all of us did.
Daniel returned to his room reluctantly.
Rebecca sat at the kitchen table.
Bellini recorded the conversation.
“I thought Gabriel died.”
Rebecca cried harder.
“He almost did.”
“What happened?”
“Margaret Bennett came to the hospital.”
“Why?”
“She knew Warren was planning to move Elena's baby.”
“She begged me to help.”
“Why you?”
“My sister had adopted through New Horizons.”
“Margaret knew I hated what Warren was doing.”
“You could have gone to police.”
“I was afraid.”
“So instead you let me take the blame?”
The words came out sharper than intended.
Rebecca covered her face.
“Yes.”
I stared at her.
“You testified that I ignored the Keene monitor.”
“I know.”
“You watched them destroy my career.”
“I know.”
“And then you disappeared.”
“I know.”
Anger shook my hands.
“Why?”
“Because Warren threatened my daughters.”
That stopped me.
Rebecca looked up.
“He showed me photographs of them leaving school.”
“He told me if I contradicted the hospital report, they would disappear.”
I understood fear.
But understanding did not erase damage.
“You could have contacted me later.”
“I tried once.”
“When?”
“After you married Derek.”
My stomach twisted.
“I called.”
“He answered.”
My skin chilled.
“What did he say?”
“He said you wanted nothing to do with St. Agnes.”
“He told me you were pregnant and fragile.”
“He threatened to report me for harassment.”
I closed my eyes.
Derek again.
Always between me and the truth.
Rebecca continued.
“Margaret arranged everything.”
“She changed the baby's bracelet.”
“She changed his papers.”
“Another infant was sent to Italy under Gabriel's identity.”
“What infant?”
“A safe surrender baby.”
My stomach turned.
“What happened to him?”
“I don't know.”
“Daniel?”
“I took Gabriel.”
“You raised him?”
“Yes.”
“As your son?”
“Yes.”
“Does he know?”
“He knows he is adopted.”
“Not this.”
Alessandro had not spoken.
Finally he asked.
“Why Rome?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Your father.”
“My father died before Daniel was born.”
“He arranged it before he died.”
Everyone froze.
“He knew Vittorio might have a child.”
“He created a contingency plan.”
“Margaret contacted someone in his old network.”
“They moved us to Rome.”
Alessandro laughed bitterly.
“My father arranged more from the grave than I managed while alive.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“He wanted the boy to have no connection to your family.”
“Then he succeeded.”
“For six years.”
Bellini leaned forward.
“Why did you contact Margaret recently?”
Rebecca's face changed.
“I didn't.”
“Sofia Moretti recorded a conversation with Margaret referencing you.”
“I haven't spoken to Margaret in almost two years.”
Bellini exchanged a glance with me.
Then who had told Sofia where Rebecca was?
A knock sounded.
Every guard outside reacted.
Daniel came running into the kitchen.
“Mom, somebody is at the balcony.”
Rebecca's face drained.
We were on the fourth floor.
Alessandro moved first.
He pulled Daniel behind him.
Bellini drew her weapon.
The balcony door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Enzo.
Everyone exhaled.
“Sorry.”
Alessandro glared.
“Use the door.”
“There are reporters downstairs.”
Enzo held up a phone.
“We have another problem.”
“What?”
“Derek disappeared.”
I stared.
“From where?”
“The hotel police were monitoring.”
“He left through a service exit.”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
Bellini cursed.
“Vehicle?”
“Unknown.”
Then Rebecca's phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
No number.
Bellini nodded.
“Answer.”
Rebecca put it on speaker.
“Hello?”
Derek's voice filled the room.
“Rebecca.”
She started shaking.
“Derek.”
“Good.”
“Everyone's together.”
My blood ran cold.
“Claire there?”
I leaned toward the phone.
“Yes.”
He laughed.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
I wanted to throw the phone through the wall.
“What do you want?”
“My daughter.”
“You're not getting her.”
“We'll see.”
Bellini gestured for a technician to trace the call.
Derek continued.
“You people are still missing something.”
“What?”
“There were two switched babies.”
Rebecca went white.
I looked at her.
“What is he talking about?”
She whispered.
“I don't know.”
Derek laughed.
“Yes, you do.”
“Tell them what happened the night Margaret gave you Gabriel.”
Rebecca began crying.
“Shut up.”
“Tell them what was in the second bassinet.”
I grabbed her wrist.
“Rebecca.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“What was in the second bassinet?”
Derek answered for her.
“A baby girl.”
Silence.
“Whose baby?”
Derek's voice softened.
“That's the funny part.”
“Claire already knows her.”
I stopped breathing.
“What are you talking about?”
Then he said a name.
“Maya.”
The room disappeared.
I almost dropped the phone.
My daughter was three.
The St. Agnes events happened six years earlier.
“That is impossible.”
Derek laughed.
“I didn't say Maya was the baby.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“I’m saying the baby girl grew up.”
“And three years later, she gave birth to Maya.”
I could barely speak.
“Who?”
Derek's next words changed the entire story.
“You really should ask yourself why your own mother has refused to call you since you left Ohio.”
My blood turned cold.
May you like
Because there was one person whose history I had never questioned.
Me.
