Chapter 6: The Price of Being His Son
The passage was barely wide enough for one person.
I could hear shouting upstairs.
A chair crashed.
My mother screamed.
I turned around.
“Mom!””
Someone grabbed my shoulder.
Dad.
He pulled me deeper into the passage.
“Don’t.””
“She’s up there!””
“I know.””
“We have to help her.””
“We will.””
“How?””
He pointed to a steel door.
“Through here.””
We entered a dark garage beneath the house.
A second vehicle was waiting.
Dad unlocked it.
“How did you know about this?””
“Your mother showed me the plans five years ago.””
I stared at him.
“You knew this place existed?””
“Yes.””
“You planned this?””
“No.””
He opened the passenger door.
“I planned for the day somebody came looking.””
We drove away as sirens appeared in the distance.
I watched the house disappear behind us.
“What happened up there?””
“Your mother triggered an alarm.””
“Is she safe?””
“She got out through the other side.””
I exhaled.
Then my phone rang.
Vanessa.
I answered.
Her voice was shaking.
“Marcus?””
“Where are you?””
“At my apartment.””
“Are you safe?””
“I think so.””
“What happened?””
“My mother came to my room last night.””
I gripped the phone.
“What did she say?””
“She told me I had to sign something today.””
“What?””
“A transfer authorization.””
My father looked at me.
“Don’t sign anything.””
“I haven’t.””
“Where is it?””
“She took it.””
Arthur whispered, “She still has access.””
I looked at him.
“To what?””
“Everything.””
Dad accelerated.
Vanessa started crying.
“Marcus, I found something else.””
“What?””
“There’s a safe in my father’s office.””
“What’s inside?””
“I don’t know.””
“Can you get to it?””
“I’m standing outside the office now.””
“Open it.””
“I don’t know the combination.””
I remembered the documents in the red box.
“Try your birthday.””
She did.
A click sounded.
The safe opened.
“What do you see?””
Vanessa went silent.
“Vanessa?””
“There’s a passport.””
“Whose?””
She started breathing faster.
“It has your name on it.””
I looked at Dad.
“What?””
Vanessa kept going.
“Different photograph. Different birth date. Same name.””
My stomach tightened.
“Read the date.””
“August 14.””
“That’s my birthday.””
“No.””
Her voice trembled.
“It says you were born in another state.””
Dad pulled the car to the side of the road.
“Give me the phone.””
I handed it over.
“Vanessa,” he said, “what else is there?””
She cried softly.
“A hospital bracelet.””
Dad closed his eyes.
“What name?””
“Evelyn Bennett.””
He looked at me.
I stared back.
My mother.
Alive.
My father’s lies suddenly seemed larger than I could understand.
Dad took the phone again.
“Vanessa, get out of that apartment.””
“What?””
“Now.””
A loud crash sounded through her phone.
She screamed.
“Someone’s here!””
Arthur shouted, “Get out!””
The line went dead.
I grabbed the door handle.
“We have to go.””
Dad looked at me.
“Marcus.””
“No.””
“Listen.””
“I’m not leaving her.””
He stared at me for a long second.
Then he started the engine.
“Neither am I.””
We sped toward the city.
When we reached Vanessa’s building, police cars already surrounded the entrance.
I jumped out.
An officer blocked me.
“Sir, you can’t go in.””
“My fiancée is inside.””
“Which apartment?””
“Penthouse.””
The officer hesitated.
Then he looked at another officer.
“Someone has already cleared it.””
My heart dropped.
“Cleared it?””
“They’re gone.””
I pushed past him.
Dad followed.
The apartment door was open.
Inside, everything had been torn apart.
Drawers pulled out.
Glass shattered.
Documents scattered across the floor.
I shouted her name.
No answer.
Then I saw something on the dining table.
A white envelope.
My name was written on it.
I opened it.
There was no letter.
Only a single key.
And a handwritten message.
*Ask your father why your birth certificate has two different names on it.*
I turned around.
My father stood in the doorway.
For the first time in my life, he looked afraid.
“Dad?””
He didn’t answer.
I held up the note.
“What does this mean?””
His eyes dropped to the key in my hand.
“That key opens a safe.””
“What safe?””
“The first one your mother ever used.””
“Where?””
He looked toward the police outside.
Then back at me.
“Under the church where your mother and I got married.””
I stared at him.
“What’s inside?””
Arthur took a breath.
“Everything I never wanted you to know.””
Then a police officer rushed into the apartment.
“Mr. Bennett!””
Dad turned.
“We found Ms. Cole.””
My chest tightened.
“Vanessa?””
The officer shook his head.
“No.””
He handed Dad a photograph.
“Your wife’s mother.””
Arthur studied it.
Then his face went completely still.
“Diane.””
I stepped closer.
“What happened?””
The officer looked at me.
“She was found at the airport.””
“Alone?””
“No.””
He paused.
“She was carrying a ticket for a flight to Switzerland.””
Dad’s fingers tightened around the photograph.
The officer lowered his voice.
“And she wasn’t running from us.””
May you like
He pointed at the second line of the report.
“She was traveling under the name Evelyn Bennett.””
