Chapter 2: The Lie Buried Eight Years Ago
Daniel sat quietly in the back seat of Evelyn's SUV.
He held the untouched sandwich in one hand and stared out the window as if expecting someone to tell him to leave at any moment.
Emily kept smiling at him.
"I have crayons," she said softly.
"You can use all the blue ones."
Daniel gave a tiny smile.
"No one's ever shared crayons with me."
Evelyn gripped the steering wheel tighter.
Every sentence the boy spoke felt like another knife.
Instead of driving home, she turned into the parking lot of St. Matthew Medical Center.
The old hospital looked exactly the same.
Inside, dusty archives lined the basement.
An elderly records clerk frowned as Evelyn explained.
"I'm looking for the birth records from eight years ago."
The woman disappeared for nearly twenty minutes.
When she returned, there was hesitation in her eyes.
"Mrs. Carter..."
She lowered her voice.
"Those records were requested years ago."
"By whom?"
"They were removed under authorization from Dr. Richard Hayes."
Evelyn froze.
Richard Hayes.
Her late husband's closest friend.
The same doctor who had personally told her that her baby hadn't survived.
"But that's impossible," Evelyn whispered.
The clerk slid one yellowed folder across the desk.
"There was one document left behind."
Inside was a transport form.
Across the bottom, someone had scribbled three words.
Infant transferred alive.
The room spun.
May you like
Her son had never died.
Someone had stolen him.
