Chapter 6 - THE BABY IN HIS ARMS WASN’T MINE
For three seconds, nobody moved.
Not Mercer.
Not my mother.
Not Caleb.
Not Elena somewhere beyond the trees.
And not me.
Thomas began to cry in Mercer’s arms.
A thin, frightened sound.
It cut straight through everything else.
“Give me my son.”
Mercer smiled.
“I just told you.”
“I heard what you said.”
“Then perhaps you should listen.”
“I said give him to me.”
My voice remained low.
Controlled.
Mercer adjusted the baby against his chest.
My body reacted immediately.
“Support his head.”
Mercer looked almost amused.
“You really do believe he’s yours.”
“He is mine.”
“Based on what?”
“My wife carried him.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“My wife gave birth to him.”
“Also not my question.”
My hands curled into fists.
From the darkness, Elena spoke.
“Mercer.”
Her voice was calm.
“You’re holding an infant while armed officers have you surrounded.”
“No officers.”
He smiled.
“Only you.”
“You sure?”
His smile faded slightly.
Good.
Elena was buying time.
So was I.
Caleb took another step into the porch light.
“Why did Margaret tell me the baby was mine?”
Mercer glanced at him.
“Ask her.”
Caleb looked at my mother.
She couldn’t meet his eyes.
“Mom.”
Nothing.
“Look at me.”
Slowly, she did.
“Why?”
Her mouth trembled.
“I was trying to keep you calm.”
“You told me a newborn baby was my son to keep me calm?”
“You were asking questions.”
“Because Emily disappeared!”
“You were going to call Daniel.”
“I should have!”
“Yes!”
Margaret’s voice broke.
“That was exactly what we couldn’t allow!”
Caleb stared at her.
My mother covered her mouth.
Too late.
The truth had escaped.
“Why?”
I asked.
She looked at me.
“Why couldn’t Caleb call me?”
“Because you would have come home.”
“I came home anyway.”
“Early.”
Mercer said it with irritation.
“You were supposed to arrive Friday.”
I looked at him.
“You knew my leave schedule.”
He said nothing.
“How?”
Silence.
“Who told you?”
Mercer smiled again.
“Your military career isn’t as separate from your family as you think.”
A chill moved through me.
“What does that mean?”
“Daniel.”
Elena’s voice came from the darkness.
“Stay on the immediate problem.”
She was right.
Thomas.
Everything else could wait.
I looked at the baby.
“Mercer.”
“What?”
“Let Margaret take him.”
“No.”
“You need both hands.”
“I’m doing fine.”
“No.”
I nodded toward the pistol.
“You’re holding a baby against your chest with one arm while trying to control three people with the other.”
Mercer’s eyes narrowed.
“Eventually your arm gets tired.”
“Eventually Thomas moves.”
“Eventually you make a mistake.”
I took half a step forward.
“And you know Elena won’t.”
Mercer’s eyes flicked toward the darkness.
There.
Fear.
Small.
But real.
“You think I’m afraid of Vasquez?”
“I think you know who she is.”
He said nothing.
“You recognized her in the basement.”
Still nothing.
“Why?”
Elena answered.
“Because we’ve met.”
I looked toward the trees.
“What?”
Mercer’s face hardened.
Elena continued.
“Six years ago.”
“Where?”
“Fort Bragg.”
Mercer snapped.
“Shut up.”
That surprised everyone.
Especially me.
Elena had found something.
She knew it.
“You were there regarding a missing soldier.”
Mercer’s grip tightened on Thomas.
“A woman.”
Elena continued.
“Twenty-six.”
“Army nurse.”
“She disappeared while home on leave.”
My mother whispered.
“Elena.”
I turned toward her.
She knew too.
“What was her name?”
Elena answered.
“Rebecca Shaw.”
Mercer’s face went pale.
I stared at him.
“What happened to her?”
“Not tonight.”
Elena’s voice sharpened.
“We get Thomas first.”
Mercer laughed.
“You’re still calling him Thomas.”
Emily had named him.
I had named him.
Whatever a DNA test eventually said, the child in front of me was Thomas until somebody proved otherwise.
“Yes.”
I stared at Mercer.
“And you’re going to give him to me.”
“No.”
A branch cracked behind the cabin.
Mercer’s head turned.
Tiny movement.
Half a second.
Caleb moved.
Fast.
He came from the side.
Mercer saw him too late.
Caleb hit his gun arm.
The shot exploded.
My mother screamed.
I lunged.
Mercer lost his balance.
Thomas slipped.
Everything slowed.
His blue blanket opened.
His tiny body rolled sideways.
I dove.
My forearms hit the porch.
Hard.
My hands closed around the baby.
I pulled him against my chest.
Rolled.
Another gunshot.
Wood splintered above me.
Elena came out of the darkness.
“DROP IT!”
Mercer turned toward her.
Caleb hit him again.
The pistol flew across the porch.
Elena kicked it away.
Mercer went down.
Caleb pinned him.
My mother backed against the cabin wall.
I heard nothing.
Not Elena.
Not Caleb.
Not Mercer.
Only Thomas.
Crying against my chest.
I held him.
“Hey.”
My voice shook.
“You’re okay.”
I checked his head.
Arms.
Legs.
No blood.
No visible injury.
“You’re okay.”
I kissed his forehead.
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
Emily should have been here.
She should have been holding him.
I pulled the blanket around him.
Then Mercer started laughing.
I looked up.
Caleb had one knee against his back.
Elena was securing his wrists.
Mercer laughed harder.
“What?”
I demanded.
He turned his head enough to see me.
“You soldiers.”
“What?”
“You think if you win the fight, you win the war.”
I stood carefully.
Thomas against my chest.
“You lost both.”
“No.”
Mercer smiled.
“You still don’t know which baby you’re holding.”
My stomach tightened.
“Shut up.”
“Ask Margaret.”
I looked at my mother.
She looked terrified.
“Mom.”
Her eyes dropped to Thomas.
“What is he talking about?”
“I don’t know.”
Mercer laughed.
“Margaret.”
“Stop.”
“You really want to keep doing this?”
“William, stop.”
“What is he talking about?”
I stepped toward her.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“Is Thomas my biological son?”
“I don’t know.”
The answer hit harder than a no.
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“You told me Emily gave birth to him.”
“She gave birth.”
“To this baby?”
My mother looked at Thomas.
“I thought so.”
“You thought?”
Caleb stood.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Margaret began shaking.
“Laura handled the delivery.”
Elena looked up immediately.
“Laura Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
My mother hesitated.
“Private clinic.”
“Name.”
“Bellweather Women’s Center.”
Elena’s expression changed.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
She pulled out her phone.
No signal.
She walked toward the edge of the porch.
“Marcus needs that name.”
I looked at my mother.
“What happened after Emily delivered?”
“I wasn’t in the room.”
“Who was?”
“Laura.”
“Anyone else?”
“A nurse.”
“Name?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then what?”
“Laura came out with a baby.”
“This baby?”
“Yes.”
“You’re certain?”
“I…”
She stopped.
My stomach dropped.
“You’re not.”
“She said it was Emily’s.”
“Did you see a bracelet?”
“No.”
“Did you see Emily holding him?”
“No.”
“Did you see them together at all?”
“No.”
I closed my eyes.
The missing hospital bracelet.
The missing birth records.
The hidden medical room.
The altered corpse.
Every lie was connected.
Emily had told me about the birthmark.
Red.
Star-shaped.
Left shoulder.
I looked down at Thomas.
My heart began pounding.
I loosened the blanket.
Pulled the tiny shirt carefully away from his left shoulder.
Nothing.
I checked again.
Smooth skin.
No birthmark.
My hands went numb.
“No.”
Caleb moved closer.
“What?”
“Emily told me something in the basement.”
I checked the right shoulder.
Nothing.
“She said Thomas had a birthmark.”
My mother whispered.
“What kind?”
“Red.”
I swallowed.
“Shaped like a star.”
Mercer laughed again.
“There it is.”
I looked at him.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“WHERE IS MY SON?”
The baby in my arms began screaming.
I stopped instantly.
Guilt cut through me.
This baby had done nothing.
Whoever he was, he was innocent.
I held him close again.
“I’m sorry.”
His cries softened.
My chest hurt.
I looked at Mercer.
“Who is this child?”
“Lawyer.”
“You were talking thirty seconds ago.”
“I changed my mind.”
Elena returned.
“State tactical units are twelve minutes out.”
Mercer’s face changed.
“Federal notification is already underway.”
“You have no federal jurisdiction.”
“Kidnapping across a military family.”
“Medical fraud.”
“Possible interstate trafficking.”
“Fraudulent identity records.”
She looked at him.
“We’ll find jurisdiction.”
Mercer said nothing.
Elena turned to me.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“Emily said the birthmark was present immediately after delivery?”
“Yes.”
“Then we treat this as a possible infant substitution.”
Possible.
I hated that word.
It meant Thomas might still be somewhere.
It also meant the child in my arms belonged to someone else.
A mother somewhere might be searching for him too.
I looked down at his face.
He had stopped crying.
His fingers were wrapped around mine.
“Who are you, little guy?”
My mother began crying.
I looked up.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“Nothing.”
“You recognized something.”
“No.”
“Mom.”
She wiped her face.
“His ears.”
I stared.
“What about them?”
“He has Richard’s ears.”
Caleb frowned.
“Dad’s?”
“Yes.”
I looked at the baby again.
Tiny ears.
Meaningless to me.
But not to her.
“What are you saying?”
Margaret stared at him.
“I think I know who he is.”
Nobody moved.
“Who?”
She whispered.
“Caleb’s.”
Caleb stepped backward.
“What?”
“I think Laura used your sample.”
“No.”
“You said you donated years ago.”
Emily had told us.
Caleb shook his head.
“That was fifteen years ago.”
“St. Catherine kept everything.”
My mother’s voice cracked.
“That was the point.”
Caleb stared at the child.
“No.”
I looked between them.
“You told Caleb this baby was his because you believed it?”
My mother nodded.
“Laura said the genetic markers matched.”
“Then why did you let me believe he was Thomas?”
“I didn’t know what else to do.”
I almost laughed.
“You could have tried the truth.”
“I was trying to keep the family together.”
“The family?”
My voice rose.
“You kidnapped my wife.”
“You helped fake her death.”
“You put Caleb’s biological mother in a coffin with my wife’s face.”
“You stole at least one baby.”
“And you’re standing there telling me this was about keeping the family together?”
My mother flinched.
I stepped closer.
“You didn’t protect this family.”
“You destroyed it.”
She started sobbing.
For once, I felt nothing.
Elena crouched beside Mercer.
“Where is the other baby?”
He smiled.
“What other baby?”
“The one with the birthmark.”
“No idea.”
“Laura knows?”
His smile faded.
That was enough.
Elena stood.
“We find Laura.”
My mother whispered.
“She won’t be at home.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You know more than you’re saying.”
“She disappears when things go wrong.”
“Where?”
“I said I don’t know.”
Mercer laughed.
“Margaret was never important enough to know.”
My mother stared at him.
Something broke in her face.
Decades of loyalty.
Reduced to one sentence.
She looked at Elena.
“There’s an office.”
Mercer stopped smiling.
“What office?”
“Margaret.”
She ignored him.
“Under St. Catherine.”
“The clinic is closed.”
“Above ground.”
Elena’s eyes sharpened.
“And below?”
May you like
My mother looked at Thomas.
“Below ground, it never closed.”
