Mara dialed the number before anyone could persuade her not to.<\/p>\n
Daniel stood beside her outside the bus terminal, silent.<\/p>\n
Thomas and Margaret waited several feet away.<\/p>\n
The phone rang four times.<\/p>\n
A man answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara could not speak.<\/p>\n
The voice was ordinary.<\/p>\n
Middle-aged.<\/p>\n
Slightly impatient.<\/p>\n
A stranger\u2019s voice belonging to someone whose first five years had overlapped her own childhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this James Bellamy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name is Mara Bell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Not confusion.<\/p>\n
Recognition.<\/p>\n
James said, \u201cEvelyn\u2019s daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara\u2019s knees weakened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know the name.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stepped closer.<\/p>\n
Mara put the call on speaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
James exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wondered when somebody would call.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara looked at Daniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Evelyn contact you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMany times.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst time I remember? I was sixteen.\u201d<\/p>\n
That would have been around 2000.<\/p>\n
More than a decade after the disappearance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat she knew my birth mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara\u2019s chest tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said she was your birth mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer surprised her.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe told me my biological parents were dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
James continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said she had known them and felt responsible for how I ended up with the Kellers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you believe her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Marianne Keller hated her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour adoptive mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say about Evelyn?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Evelyn was dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel whispered, \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
James heard him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel Bell.\u201d<\/p>\n
The line went completely silent.<\/p>\n
James finally said, \u201cThat isn\u2019t funny.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stepped toward the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not joking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently the boy who grew up using your name.\u201d<\/p>\n
James breathed slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara explained as carefully as she could.<\/p>\n
Nathan.<\/p>\n
The hospital.<\/p>\n
The switch.<\/p>\n
Samuel.<\/p>\n
The forged identities.<\/p>\n
Evelyn following the abducted Daniel to Oregon.<\/p>\n
The Kellers.<\/p>\n
James listened without interrupting.<\/p>\n
When Mara finished, he said, \u201cYou have it backward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stiffened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn didn\u2019t rescue me from Samuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara said, \u201cWe didn\u2019t say she did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re implying it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
James\u2019s voice hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe brought me to the Kellers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas moved closer.<\/p>\n
Mara asked, \u201cYou remember that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Marianne told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Evelyn do that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she wanted me gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
James laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe not from where you\u2019re standing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara said, \u201cCan we meet?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJames\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent twenty years getting that family out of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re part of that family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer came immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Kellers raised me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara felt the rebuke.<\/p>\n
She understood it.<\/p>\n
Blood did not erase a childhood.<\/p>\n
Daniel of all people understood.<\/p>\n
Mara softened her voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found records suggesting you were born Daniel Bell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another silence.<\/p>\n
Then James said, \u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara stared at the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn told me in 2011.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel swore under his breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew where you were the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t she bring you home?\u201d<\/p>\n
James laughed without humor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the question, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara felt anger toward Evelyn rise again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat bringing me home would have put two children in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich children?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe never named them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel said, \u201cMe and Mara.\u201d<\/p>\n
James heard him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Samuel wasn\u2019t after Mara by then.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara glanced at him.<\/p>\n
James asked, \u201cWho said that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
The silence that followed was different.<\/p>\n
James\u2019s voice changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas is alive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPut him on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas took the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cJames.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know Evelyn sent me away?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know I existed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Daniel existed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas struggled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew there was a boy called Jamie around Ruth and Evelyn. I didn\u2019t know he was Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
James breathed sharply.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou remember Jamie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas stopped.<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at him.<\/p>\n
Thomas corrected himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to determine.\u201d<\/p>\n
James said, \u201cYou people don\u2019t even know which child was which.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cruelty of the sentence came from accuracy.<\/p>\n
Mara took back the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we need to meet.\u201d<\/p>\n
James refused again.<\/p>\n
Then Daniel spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t owe us anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara looked at him.<\/p>\n
Daniel continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t owe Evelyn. You don\u2019t owe me. You don\u2019t have to call yourself Bell or care what happened in Greyson.\u201d<\/p>\n
James remained silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut somebody used both of us,\u201d Daniel said. \u201cAnd the man who did part of it is still alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that name too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarianne kept letters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom Samuel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom Evelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did they say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat if Samuel ever found me, Marianne was supposed to call a number and say Nathan had died.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret made a broken sound.<\/p>\n
James heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara answered, \u201cMargaret Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
James went silent again.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s Nathan\u2019s mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cJames, did Marianne ever tell you whether she knew Nathan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice trembled.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she ever mention my name?\u201d<\/p>\n
James softened slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret covered her mouth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat you deserved better than what they did to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret began crying.<\/p>\n
James was quiet.<\/p>\n
Then he said, \u201cSeattle. Tomorrow. Noon.\u201d<\/p>\n
He gave them the name of a caf\u00e9 near Lake Union.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll bring Evelyn\u2019s letters.\u201d<\/p>\n
The call ended.<\/p>\n
Daniel sat on the terminal bench.<\/p>\n
Mara joined him.<\/p>\n
For several minutes they said nothing.<\/p>\n
Then Daniel said, \u201cYou\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo are you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou called him family without knowing him five minutes ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was before I heard his voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara understood.<\/p>\n
A person was more frightening than a record.<\/p>\n
A record could be investigated.<\/p>\n
A person could look at Daniel and ask why he had received the childhood that belonged to someone else.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t steal anything from him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Daniel stared ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re still defending her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m refusing to convict her before we know why.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe sent her son away and raised somebody else\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that\u2019s what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat explanation makes that okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara let the answer sit.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut explanations still matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
They drove back to Evelyn\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
Thomas and Margaret followed.<\/p>\n
Nobody wanted to stay at Ruth\u2019s while Ruth remained missing.<\/p>\n
The house felt different with Margaret inside.<\/p>\n
She moved through the kitchen slowly, recognizing objects.<\/p>\n
The blue flour tin.<\/p>\n
A ceramic rooster.<\/p>\n
A chipped green mixing bowl.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn had that before you were born,\u201d she told Mara.<\/p>\n
Mara looked at the bowl.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow close were you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret smiled sadly.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas searched Evelyn\u2019s desk for letters to the Kellers.<\/p>\n
Daniel went upstairs.<\/p>\n
Mara followed after several minutes.<\/p>\n
She found him in his childhood bedroom.<\/p>\n
The wallpaper had changed, but Evelyn had kept the wooden height marks inside the closet door.<\/p>\n
Mara.<\/p>\n
Daniel.<\/p>\n
Years and inches.<\/p>\n
Daniel ran his finger down them.<\/p>\n
At age five, one line had been crossed out.<\/p>\n
JAMIE.<\/p>\n
Then rewritten:<\/p>\n
DANIEL.<\/p>\n
Mara stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas that always there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
The line was dated August 24, 1989.<\/p>\n
Three days after the supposed switch.<\/p>\n
Mara felt cold.<\/p>\n
Someone had measured a child.<\/p>\n
Written Jamie.<\/p>\n
Then changed it to Daniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis supports the switch,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Daniel nodded.<\/p>\n
But below it was something stranger.<\/p>\n
Another mark.<\/p>\n
DANIEL \u2014 42 inches.<\/p>\n
Same date.<\/p>\n
Two measurements.<\/p>\n
Two Daniels.<\/p>\n
One at forty inches.<\/p>\n
One at forty-two.<\/p>\n
Mara called Thomas.<\/p>\n
He examined the markings.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo boys were here on August twenty-four.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the records say the real Daniel was already in Oregon by the twenty-third.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara\u2019s pulse quickened.<\/p>\n
The timeline contradicted itself.<\/p>\n
Either Chase\u2019s notebook was wrong.<\/p>\n
Or Evelyn had returned from Oregon with the real Daniel.<\/p>\n
Then sent him away again.<\/p>\n
Margaret found a photograph album downstairs.<\/p>\n
Inside, behind a picture of Robert\u2019s birthday, was an undeveloped film envelope dated August 25, 1989.<\/p>\n
The negatives were still inside.<\/p>\n
Thomas held them toward a lamp.<\/p>\n
Two boys.<\/p>\n
Evelyn.<\/p>\n
Robert.<\/p>\n
Ruth.<\/p>\n
Mara.<\/p>\n
All at the Bell house.<\/p>\n
Daniel whispered, \u201cBoth of us were here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara felt the mystery shift.<\/p>\n
Samuel had taken one boy August 21.<\/p>\n
Evelyn followed.<\/p>\n
By August 24, both boys were back.<\/p>\n
Which meant Evelyn had recovered her biological son.<\/p>\n
She had not failed to bring him home.<\/p>\n
She had brought him home and then made a second decision to send him away.<\/p>\n
The question became worse.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
Mara searched the film envelope.<\/p>\n
A note was tucked inside.<\/p>\n
Robert\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n
Evie\u2014<\/p>\n
We cannot keep both boys here after what Samuel did.<\/p>\n
If he learns which one is Nathan, he will come back.<\/p>\n
If he learns Daniel returned, he will know you followed him.<\/p>\n
One boy must leave under the Keller name.<\/p>\n
It cannot be Nathan.<\/p>\n
Mara stopped reading.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not Nathan?\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued.<\/p>\n
Samuel has his blood type, hospital details, scar, and photographs. He can identify Nathan eventually.<\/p>\n
Daniel has no mark Samuel knows.<\/p>\n
If Daniel becomes James Keller, Samuel will believe the trail leads to Nathan and stop looking for our son.<\/p>\n
Mara\u2019s stomach turned.<\/p>\n
Robert had agreed.<\/p>\n
They deliberately sent Daniel away under Nathan\u2019s false identity to protect both children.<\/p>\n
Not because Daniel mattered less.<\/p>\n
Because Samuel could identify Nathan.<\/p>\n
Daniel read the final paragraph.<\/p>\n
I hate this.<\/p>\n
If Marianne agrees, Daniel will be safe.<\/p>\n
When Samuel is gone, we bring him home.<\/p>\n
We do not tell Mara until then.<\/p>\n
We do not let Nathan believe he was unwanted.<\/p>\n
This is temporary.<\/p>\n
Daniel lowered the letter.<\/p>\n
\u201cTemporary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara knew the rest.<\/p>\n
Temporary had become thirty-seven years.<\/p>\n
Something prevented them from bringing James home.<\/p>\n
Margaret whispered, \u201cSamuel didn\u2019t go away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe vanished officially in 1998.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Evelyn knew he was alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara remembered Ruth\u2019s words.<\/p>\n
Evelyn discovered Carter\u2019s identity six years ago.<\/p>\n
Maybe she had not known before then.<\/p>\n
Maybe Samuel\u2019s false death in 1998 should have ended the danger.<\/p>\n
Yet James remained with the Kellers.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
Daniel found another note inside the film envelope.<\/p>\n
Only one sentence.<\/p>\n
Evelyn\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n
Robert says we can bring Daniel home when Ruth returns from Portland.<\/p>\n
Ruth never came back alone.<\/p>\n
Mara frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
A knock sounded downstairs.<\/p>\n
Everyone froze.<\/p>\n
Thomas moved first.<\/p>\n
He opened the door carefully.<\/p>\n
No one stood on the porch.<\/p>\n
A package rested on the mat.<\/p>\n
No postage.<\/p>\n
No courier label.<\/p>\n
Mara carried it inside.<\/p>\n
Inside was Ruth\u2019s missing framed photograph of Evelyn and Robert.<\/p>\n
The glass had been removed.<\/p>\n
Behind the photograph lay another picture.<\/p>\n
Ruth.<\/p>\n
Younger.<\/p>\n
Standing in Portland in 1989.<\/p>\n
Beside her stood Marianne Keller.<\/p>\n
Between them was a five-year-old boy.<\/p>\n
James.<\/p>\n
On the back:<\/p>\n
August 28, 1989.<\/p>\n
I made the choice Evelyn could not.<\/p>\n
Mara stared.<\/p>\n
Ruth had not merely transported Daniel.<\/p>\n
She had decided he would stay.<\/p>\n
A second note had been added recently.<\/p>\n
If you found this, Samuel found me first.<\/p>\n
Do not believe I abandoned you.<\/p>\n
Ask Marianne what I traded for Daniel\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
Daniel read it twice.<\/p>\n
Then Mara noticed a dark stain along the package\u2019s inner cardboard.<\/p>\n
Not ink.<\/p>\n
Blood.<\/p>\n
Mara dialed the number before anyone could persuade her not to. Daniel stood beside her outside the bus terminal, silent. Thomas and Margaret waited several feet away. The phone rang … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10887,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10867\/revisions\/10887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}