CHAPTER 3: THE NAME ON THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE
For several seconds, I couldn't breathe.
I stared at the birth certificate.
Then at Sarah.
Then back at the name printed beneath Father.
Daniel Mercer.
Not Michael Carter.
Not my name.
Not the name I had written on every birthday card.
Not the name Emily had screamed when she was frightened.
Daniel Mercer.
A stranger.
Or at least, that was what I thought.
“Sarah.”
My voice barely sounded like mine.
“Who is Daniel Mercer?”
She closed her eyes.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
She didn't answer.
“When was I supposed to find out?”
Her shoulders trembled.
“I don't know.”
I held up the certificate.
“You let me believe she was mine for ten years.”
Sarah looked at me.
“I never stopped thinking of you as her father.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
“I know.”
“Who is he?”
Silence.
The detective stepped between us.
“Mr. Carter, we need to keep everyone calm.”
I laughed.
It was a strange, empty sound.
“Calm?”
I pointed at the photographs covering the wall.
“My daughter was locked in a dog cage.”
“There are photographs of children all over this basement.”
“There are people hiding behind secret doors.”
“There are bodies in the pool.”
Sarah is tied up in my basement.
And now I find out my daughter isn't even biologically mine.”
I looked at Sarah.
“So tell me who Daniel Mercer is.”
Before she could answer, Lily spoke.
“He's dead.”
Everyone turned.
The little girl stood beside the hidden doorway.
“How do you know?”
Lily looked at Sarah.
“She told Jason.”
Sarah's face went pale.
“What did I tell him?”
“That Daniel died.”
I stared at Lily.
“When?”
“Ten years ago.”
My stomach tightened.
“Where?”
Lily shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Then how do you know his name?”
She pointed toward the photographs.
“He was number three.”
The detective immediately turned toward the wall.
“Number three?”
Lily nodded.
“Jason kept numbers.”
She walked toward the photographs.
She stopped in front of a photograph of a man in his early thirties.
A red number three was written underneath.
“This was Daniel.”
I stared at the photograph.
The man had dark hair.
A narrow face.
A small scar across his eyebrow.
And something about him felt strangely familiar.
Not because I knew him.
Because I had seen that face before.
Somewhere.
I couldn't remember where.
The detective pulled the photograph from the wall.
“Why would Jason keep pictures of these people?”
Lily shrugged.
“Because they were part of the experiment.”
The word made the room go cold.
“Experiment?”
Lily nodded.
“He wanted to know how long people would obey him before they tried to escape.”
I looked at Sarah.
She was shaking.
“Sarah, what does she mean?”
“I don't know.”
Lily stared at her.
“You do.”
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't know what he was doing.”
“You knew enough.”
“Lily…”
“You knew.”
The girl's voice was calm.
Too calm for a child.
The detective crouched in front of her.
“Lily, I need you to tell me everything.”
She looked at him.
“Jason doesn't like questions.”
“He isn't here.”
“He is.”
The detective glanced toward the basement stairs.
“We checked the house.”
Lily shook her head.
“He doesn't come through the front door.”
A noise sounded overhead.
A heavy thud.
Everyone looked up.
Then another.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The detective immediately drew his weapon.
“Everyone stay here.”
Two officers moved toward the stairs.
I grabbed Sarah's arm.
“Where's Emily?”
“In the car.”
“She's alone.”
The detective turned.
“Two officers are with her.”
I nodded.
Then the lights went out.
The basement disappeared into darkness.
Sarah screamed.
Lily grabbed my hand.
“Don't move.”
I could hear breathing.
Everyone was breathing.
Then something scraped across the ceiling.
Slowly.
Like someone dragging a heavy object across the floor above us.
The detective whispered:
“Flashlights.”
Beams of light flickered on.
The room appeared in fragments.
Boxes.
Photographs.
Sarah.
Lily.
Blood on the floor.
Then the detective looked toward the staircase.
One of the officers was missing.
“Where's Officer Reed?”
No one answered.
The detective shouted:
“Reed!”
Silence.
He moved toward the stairs.
Then his radio crackled.
A voice came through.
“Detective…”
It was Officer Reed.
“Where are you?”
Static.
Then:
“Don't come upstairs.”
The detective froze.
“Why?”
A pause.
Then Reed whispered:
“There's someone here.”
The radio went dead.
I felt a chill run down my spine.
The detective motioned for everyone to stay back.
He moved upstairs.
I followed.
He turned.
“No.”
“That's my daughter.”
“We'll bring her inside.”
“I need to see her.”
He stared at me.
Then nodded.
We climbed the stairs.
The house was dark.
The front door stood open.
The living room was empty.
Then I saw the back door.
It was swinging slowly.
Wind moved through the curtains.
“Emily?”
No answer.
My heart stopped.
I ran outside.
The police cruiser was still there.
But Emily wasn't.
I looked around wildly.
“Emily!”
One of the officers ran toward me.
“She was right here.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“You were supposed to watch her!”
“I was.”
I turned toward the yard.
The cage was still open.
The pool was still.
The black bags were still floating beneath the green water.
Then I noticed something.
Footprints.
Small footprints.
Leading away from the car.
They went toward the side of the house.
I followed them.
“Emily!”
The footprints stopped at the wall.
There was no door.
No gate.
Nothing.
Just brick.
I stared at the ground.
Then Lily appeared behind me.
She looked at the footprints.
“She didn't leave.”
“What?”
Lily pointed at the wall.
“She went underneath.”
My heart began pounding.
“What does that mean?”
She touched a brick.
The wall moved.
A hidden panel opened.
Behind it was a narrow passage.
The detective arrived.
“Everyone stay back.”
I didn't listen.
I entered.
The passage smelled like mold and gasoline.
My flashlight shook as I moved forward.
Then I heard something.
A voice.
Emily.
“Daddy?”
I ran.
The passage opened into another room.
Emily was there.
She was tied to a chair.
Her mouth was covered.
I rushed toward her.
“Emily!”
She shook her head violently.
I stopped.
Her eyes were fixed on something behind me.
The detective turned.
Nothing.
Then the lights came on.
Jason stood at the other end of the room.
He was holding a gun.
He smiled.
“Hello, Michael.”
The detective raised his weapon.
“Drop it!”
Jason laughed.
“You're already too late.”
I stepped toward Emily.
Jason pointed the gun at her.
“Don't.”
I stopped.
“You took my daughter.”
Jason smiled.
“No.”
He tilted his head.
“I saved her.”
“You locked her in a cage.”
“To keep her alive.”
“You beat her.”
“I disciplined her.”
“You murdered people.”
Jason's smile disappeared.
“I never killed anyone.”
I pointed toward the pool.
“Then explain the bodies.”
Jason looked almost amused.
“Bodies?”
He laughed.
“Michael, you still don't understand.”
“Understand what?”
He looked directly at Sarah.
Then back at me.
“Your wife has been lying to you for ten years.”
Sarah stepped into the room.
“Don't listen to him.”
Jason's eyes hardened.
“You should have told him.”
“Told me what?”
Sarah began crying.
Jason answered for her.
“Daniel Mercer wasn't Emily's father.”
I froze.
“What?”
Jason smiled.
“He was your brother.”
Everything inside me stopped.
My brother.
Daniel.
I hadn't heard that name in years.
Because my older brother Daniel had supposedly died when I was eighteen.
A car accident.
At least that's what my parents had told me.
I looked at Jason.
“How do you know my brother?”
Jason's smile vanished.
“Because I was there.”
The detective looked confused.
“What is this?”
Jason ignored him.
He stared at me.
“Daniel didn't die in that accident.”
My knees nearly gave way.
“No.”
“He survived.”
“No.”
“He came here.”
“Why?”
Jason looked at Sarah.
“Because he discovered what your family had been hiding.”
Sarah shook her head.
“Stop.”
“What did my family hide?”
Jason laughed softly.
“Ask your wife.”
I turned toward Sarah.
She couldn't look at me.
“Sarah.”
Nothing.
“Tell me.”
Her lips trembled.
“I met Daniel before I met you.”
The words struck harder than any physical blow.
“How long?”
“Six months.”
“Before our wedding?”
She nodded.
I stared at her.
“Was Emily his?”
Sarah looked down.
“No.”
Jason smiled.
“She was yours.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“She always was.”
The room became silent.
Jason lowered the gun slightly.
“Daniel was never Emily's father.”
I looked at Sarah.
She whispered:
“I didn't know what Jason was going to do.”
“What did you do?”
“I made a deal.”
“With Jason?”
She nodded.
“What deal?”
“To protect you.”
I stared at her.
“Protect me from what?”
Sarah began crying.
“From Daniel.”
I felt sick.
“My brother?”
She nodded.
“He knew the truth.”
“What truth?”
She looked at Jason.
Jason answered.
“Your family owns this house.”
I frowned.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You're insane.”
Jason smiled.
“Then why did your father pay me?”
I couldn't speak.
“What did he pay you for?”
Jason's smile disappeared.
“To make sure Daniel never came back.”
The detective stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Jason suddenly raised the gun.
A shot exploded through the room.
The detective fired back.
Jason disappeared behind a doorway.
“GET DOWN!”
I threw myself over Emily.
Another shot.
Glass shattered.
The room filled with smoke.
When I looked up, Jason was gone.
The detective ran after him.
I tore the restraints from Emily.
“Are you okay?”
She grabbed me.
“Daddy!”
I held her.
Then she whispered:
“I knew he would come.”
“What?”
She looked over my shoulder.
Her eyes were terrified.
“He told me if you ever found the basement, he'd come for you.”
“Why?”
She hesitated.
Then reached into her pocket.
She pulled out a small folded piece of paper.
“I stole this from him.”
I opened it.
There was one sentence written in black ink.
MICHAEL CARTER IS NOT WHO HE THINKS HE IS.
Below it was a date.
Tomorrow.
And beneath the date was a name.
DANIEL MERCER.
I stared at it.
“Emily…”
She looked at me.
“Daddy?”
“Where did you get this?”
She pointed toward the hidden passage.
“Jason gave it to me.”
My heart stopped.
“But you said you stole it.”
“I did.”
“Then why did he give it to you?”
She began crying.
“Because he wanted you to find it.”
The detective returned.
His face was grim.
“Jason escaped.”
I looked at the note.
Then toward the dark passage.
And for the first time, a terrifying possibility entered my mind.
Maybe Jason hadn't been trying to hide the truth from me.
Maybe he had been leading me toward it.
One clue at a time.
One photograph.
One locked room.
One terrified child.
And now my brother's name.
A man who was supposed to have been dead for ten years.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Nobody spoke.
I heard breathing.
Then a man's voice.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakably familiar.
“Michael?”
I couldn't move.
Emily looked up at me.
The voice continued.
“I know you just found the birth certificate.”
My hands began shaking.
“Who is this?”
A pause.
Then:
“You need to stop looking for me.”
I whispered:
“Daniel?”
The line went silent.
Then the man said:
“Because Jason isn't the person you should be afraid of.”
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
Behind me, Sarah began sobbing.
I turned.
“Sarah.”
She looked at me.
“Is Daniel alive?”
She didn't answer.
“Sarah!”
She finally whispered:
“Yes.”
My blood turned cold.
“Where is he?”
She looked toward Emily.
Then toward the basement.
And said:
“He's been watching us for ten years.”
Outside, police sirens screamed.
But somewhere in the darkness beyond the house, another sound followed.
A car engine.
Slowly starting.
Then disappearing into the night.
And I knew one thing with absolute certainty.
The man I had mourned for ten years was alive.
May you like
And somehow...
he had been waiting for me to find him.
