I looked at the photograph again.<\/p>\n
The baby was wrapped in a white hospital blanket.<\/p>\n
The name written on the back belonged to someone I knew.<\/p>\n
Someone who had attended birthdays, funerals, Christmas dinners and family gatherings.<\/p>\n
Someone who had never once told me the truth.<\/p>\n
Claire stared at the photograph.<\/p>\n
Then she whispered, \u201cOh God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow you understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201cI understand that you want me confused.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur struck the table with his palm.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas picked up the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you get this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know where.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho gave it to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cEdward?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou still believe Edward was the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWasn't he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur's expression hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cEdward was the distraction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas's face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur looked at Daniel.<\/p>\n
My son stood near the wall.<\/p>\n
He looked smaller than I had ever seen him.<\/p>\n
Vanessa stepped toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell your mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already told me everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur lifted the gun.<\/p>\n
Daniel flinched.<\/p>\n
I stepped between them.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeave him alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou still protect him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is my son.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is exactly what we've been trying to prove.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Thomas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is she talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas said nothing.<\/p>\n
I turned to Daniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He did.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you my son?\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn't my question.\u201d<\/p>\n
He swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words hurt more than any accusation.<\/p>\n
I sat down.<\/p>\n
Claire spoke quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret, there's something you need to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor how long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSix months.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cSix months?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was investigating a property issue for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd found this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI found discrepancies in Daniel's birth records.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas interrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire, stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe deserves the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur raised the gun.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou will all hear it when I decide.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective was still outside.<\/p>\n
I knew they were listening.<\/p>\n
I needed to keep everyone talking.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you want the lake house?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it contains evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe locker already had evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed toward the fireplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cBehind the stone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never found it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you didn't know where to look.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa knelt near the fireplace.<\/p>\n
She removed a loose stone.<\/p>\n
Behind it was a narrow metal compartment.<\/p>\n
Inside sat an old cassette recorder.<\/p>\n
Thomas stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad's.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered it.<\/p>\n
Thomas had owned one just like it.<\/p>\n
He had used it to record interviews for his business.<\/p>\n
Arthur placed a tape inside.<\/p>\n
A man's voice filled the room.<\/p>\n
Thomas's voice.<\/p>\n
Recorded decades earlier.<\/p>\n
If this recording is being played, Arthur has found the archive.<\/p>\n
Thomas closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
The recording continued.<\/p>\n
I made one mistake. I trusted the wrong person with the truth.<\/p>\n
The voice named Eleanor Hale.<\/p>\n
Then another name.<\/p>\n
Daniel.<\/p>\n
I looked at my son.<\/p>\n
The recording said Eleanor had given birth to a boy.<\/p>\n
But that boy was not Daniel.<\/p>\n
The infant had been transferred under false records.<\/p>\n
The reason was money.<\/p>\n
Arthur had been running a network that moved vulnerable newborns between wealthy families and fraudulent medical institutions.<\/p>\n
My hands shook.<\/p>\n
\u201cChildren?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur was selling identities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel covered his mouth.<\/p>\n
The recording continued.<\/p>\n
One baby had been selected for us.<\/p>\n
Not because he was orphaned.<\/p>\n
Because someone wanted him hidden.<\/p>\n
The baby was the child of a woman who had discovered Arthur's financial operation.<\/p>\n
She had threatened to expose him.<\/p>\n
Arthur took her child.<\/p>\n
That child was raised under another name.<\/p>\n
I looked at Daniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was his mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
The tape gave the answer.<\/p>\n
Eleanor Hale.<\/p>\n
I felt my chest tighten.<\/p>\n
Thomas had been telling the truth about Eleanor.<\/p>\n
But then the recording said something else.<\/p>\n
The woman did not die.<\/p>\n
She was forced into hiding.<\/p>\n
Her child was raised by the Collins family.<\/p>\n
I looked at Claire.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew Eleanor was alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe contacted me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf Arthur?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf what he would do if he learned she was alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was always afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective's voice sounded outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur, put the weapon down.\u201d<\/p>\n
He laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou've been listening.\u201d<\/p>\n
The loudspeaker continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know Claire is alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen come inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective refused.<\/p>\n
Arthur pointed the gun at Daniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell them what happens if they don't.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour entire life has been built on lies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel's face hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou lied to me too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave you a family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou used me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wanted the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted my mother's approval.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Vanessa looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wanted everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel turned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was the first honest thing he had said all night.<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were.\u201d<\/p>\n
He began crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa's expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're pathetic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel moved away from her.<\/p>\n
She grabbed his arm.<\/p>\n
He pulled free.<\/p>\n
Arthur raised the gun.<\/p>\n
The detective shouted.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrop it!\u201d<\/p>\n
A shot exploded.<\/p>\n
Arthur's bullet struck the ceiling.<\/p>\n
Police rushed through the windows.<\/p>\n
Vanessa ran toward the rear door.<\/p>\n
Claire dropped to the floor.<\/p>\n
Thomas tackled Arthur.<\/p>\n
The room became chaos.<\/p>\n
I pulled Claire behind the table.<\/p>\n
Daniel grabbed Vanessa before she reached the door.<\/p>\n
She screamed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou idiot!\u201d<\/p>\n
He held her until officers secured her.<\/p>\n
Arthur was arrested.<\/p>\n
The detective immediately checked Claire.<\/p>\n
She had a cut above her eyebrow but was conscious.<\/p>\n
Thomas stood in the center of the room, breathing heavily.<\/p>\n
For the first time since I had seen him, he looked old.<\/p>\n
I walked toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Daniel wasn't biologically ours.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEighteen years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
My eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew for eighteen years?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always choose fear.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought loving him was enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn't trust me with the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought if you knew, you'd hate him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI could never hate him for something he didn't choose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas lowered his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective returned with a sealed evidence bag.<\/p>\n
\u201cVanessa had this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside was the missing laboratory envelope.<\/p>\n
The second DNA report.<\/p>\n
The one she had threatened us with.<\/p>\n
I stared at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective did.<\/p>\n
The result showed that Daniel was not biologically related to Thomas.<\/p>\n
But there was another line.<\/p>\n
Maternal match.<\/p>\n
Eleanor Hale.<\/p>\n
I looked at Daniel.<\/p>\n
He stared at the report.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother is alive?\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe asked me to keep her location confidential.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire looked at me.<\/p>\n
I understood.<\/p>\n
She gave him the address.<\/p>\n
Daniel left with an officer.<\/p>\n
I remained with Thomas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about the baby photograph?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked toward the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was another child.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur's daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVanessa?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at Claire.<\/p>\n
She answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cVanessa had a sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered Vanessa once saying she had no siblings.<\/p>\n
Claire continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe died as a teenager.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur had used her identity records to cover one of his earliest transactions.<\/p>\n
The baby in the photograph was not Daniel.<\/p>\n
It was the child Arthur had stolen from another family.<\/p>\n
He had kept the photograph because it was evidence.<\/p>\n
Thomas looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to the original child?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe're still investigating,\u201d the detective said.<\/p>\n
I looked at the lake through the window.<\/p>\n
The house was no longer mine.<\/p>\n
But suddenly that seemed irrelevant.<\/p>\n
The truth was larger than the property.<\/p>\n
The detective approached.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found another file.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt concerns Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n
He handed me a folder.<\/p>\n
Inside were surveillance photographs.<\/p>\n
Thomas had been followed for years.<\/p>\n
The pictures showed him entering hospitals, libraries, courthouses.<\/p>\n
Always alone.<\/p>\n
Always watching.<\/p>\n
One photograph showed him outside my house on the morning after his funeral.<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou came back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn't stay away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou watched me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo make sure Arthur didn't approach you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could have told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was afraid Daniel was working with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed the folder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you should have trusted me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
The detective interrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere's something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur's financial records show that someone has been transferring money out of the accounts for the last three months.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVanessa?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEdward?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said you believed he was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found his remains this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNear the old ferry road.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas went pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApproximately two weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who was at my cottage?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn't Edward.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
She placed a photograph on the table.<\/p>\n
The man in it had the same face as Thomas.<\/p>\n
But his hair was darker.<\/p>\n
His jaw was different.<\/p>\n
A small scar crossed his chin.<\/p>\n
Thomas whispered one word.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is Ethan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy other brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me there was one twin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were three of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cTriplets?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you never tell Margaret?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Ethan died when we were children.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the photograph.<\/p>\n
He did not look dead.<\/p>\n
Thomas took a breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same year Edward supposedly died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Arthur knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt another piece of the puzzle move.<\/p>\n
The man at the cottage had claimed to be Edward.<\/p>\n
He knew details only Thomas should know.<\/p>\n
He had Thomas's watch.<\/p>\n
He had Thomas's scar.<\/p>\n
But he had never been Edward.<\/p>\n
Perhaps he had not been Thomas either.<\/p>\n
Someone had been moving through our lives wearing the faces of dead men.<\/p>\n
The detective's phone rang.<\/p>\n
She answered.<\/p>\n
Then her expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Collins.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found Ethan Collins.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective looked at Thomas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the same town where Daniel just went to meet Eleanor Hale.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the photograph again. The baby was wrapped in a white hospital blanket. The name written on the back belonged to someone I knew. Someone who had attended … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7655","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\/7655","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=7655"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7675,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7655\/revisions\/7675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}