Chapter 6 - The Name on the Birth CertificateWe drove to Memphis before sunrise.
Russell refused to explain anything in the car.
Samuel followed separately.
The safety deposit box was at an old bank in a neighborhood I barely recognized.
When the clerk brought the box, Russell stood behind me.
“Open it.”
My hands shook.
Inside was a bundle of documents tied with blue ribbon.
A photograph.
A hospital bracelet.
A birth certificate.
And a handwritten note.
I opened the certificate.
The first thing I noticed was my mother's name.
The second was mine.
Then I saw something I'd never seen before.
My full legal name was not Linda Carter.
It was Linda Elizabeth Hale.
I stared.
“What?”
Russell said nothing.
I turned toward him.
“Why does it say Hale?”
“Because Carter wasn't your original name.”
I looked back at the certificate.
Father:
Michael Hale.
My biological father.
Dead eighteen months before my accident.
Mother:
Margaret Hale.
Mama.
I remembered Mama telling me my father abandoned us.
She had said he left when I was three.
But his name was on an official birth certificate.
“What happened to him?”
Russell answered softly.
“He didn't abandon you.”
My throat tightened.
“What did Wayne tell Mama?”
“He told her Michael was violent.”
“Was he?”
“No.”
Samuel stepped closer.
“He was investigating Wayne.”
I stared.
“My father was investigating Wayne?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Samuel said, “Because your father had discovered the same network.”
The papers trembled in my hand.
“What network?”
“Infant trafficking.”
I felt nauseous.
The hospital bracelet inside the box had my name handwritten on it.
BABY GIRL HALE.
I stared.
Then I saw another bracelet.
BABY GIRL CARTER.
My heart stopped.
I looked at Russell.
“Why are there two?”
He closed his eyes.
“They were switched.”
“What?”
Samuel looked at the bracelets.
“One belonged to you.”
“One?”
“The other belonged to Emily.”
I couldn't speak.
Two babies.
Two bracelets.
Two identities.
I looked at the birth certificate again.
Then at the photograph.
It showed Mama holding a newborn.
But Mama had once told me the baby in that photograph was me.
Samuel pointed to the corner.
“Look at the date.”
I did.
It was three days after my birth.
I was supposed to be in that hospital.
But the hospital record said I had been discharged the day before.
My heart pounded.
Someone had falsified everything.
I unfolded Mama's note.
Only one paragraph.
Linda,
If you are reading this, then Wayne cannot hurt you anymore. But there is one truth you must understand before you search for Emily.
You were never supposed to be the girl who lived.
I stared at the sentence.
A second note was hidden beneath it.
Three words.
ASK THE NURSE.
Samuel went silent.
“Which nurse?”
Russell whispered the answer.
“Mrs. Bell.”
“Where is she?”
He looked at me.
“She still lives in town.”
“Then we're going.”
Russell grabbed my arm.
“No.”
I pulled away.
“Why?”
May you like
His face filled with fear.
“Because Mrs. Bell disappeared last week.”
