Chapter 13 - THE SON RACHEL HIDJonah Hayes had disappeared from every official record.
Michael spent the night searching databases.
Nothing.
No birth certificate.
No adoption record.
No death certificate.
No hospital file.
It was as if the child had never existed.
Then Daniel brought an old ledger.
“One hospital kept a paper archive.”
“What hospital?”
“St. Matthew's.”
Michael stared.
“That hospital closed.”
Daniel nodded.
“That's why no one looked.”
They drove there before dawn.
The building stood abandoned behind a chain-link fence.
Inside, dust covered the old corridors.
Emily found the maternity archive.
Boxes.
Folders.
Handwritten labels.
Michael searched the year Rachel was nineteen.
There.
HAYES, JONAH.
He opened the file.
Mother:
Rachel Hayes.
Father:
Unknown.
Status:
Transferred.
Destination:
LARKIN CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION.
Michael looked at Thomas.
“Larkin.”
“The same company from the shell accounts.”
They found the foundation's last address.
An old estate outside the city.
The house was empty.
But a child's drawing was taped to the wall.
A sun.
A house.
Four people holding hands.
At the bottom was written:
MOM + DAD + SOPHIE + JONAH
Michael's eyes filled.
Someone had lived here.
Recently.
Then a floorboard creaked.
A teenage boy stepped from the hallway.
Dark hair.
Hazel eyes.
A small scar above his eyebrow.
Michael stared.
The boy stared back.
“Who are you?”
Michael couldn't answer.
The boy looked at the photograph of Rachel.
His face changed.
“You know her.”
Michael nodded.
“She was my wife.”
The boy stepped backward.
“She told me you would come.”
Michael's chest tightened.
“What's your name?”
“Jonah.”
Silence.
Michael slowly knelt.
“I’m your brother.”
Jonah shook his head.
“No.”
Michael's heart sank.
Jonah whispered:
“She said you wouldn't believe her.”
Michael stared.
“What did she say?”
“That if she died, you would think she betrayed you.”
Jonah reached into his pocket.
Pulled out a folded letter.
Michael opened it.
Rachel's handwriting.
Michael,
I know you will be angry. But I hid Jonah because Elliot had already found him.
He wanted Jonah removed because Jonah was the only person who could challenge the trust.
Sophie is the legal beneficiary. Jonah is the biological heir.
If both children are alive, neither can be controlled without the other.
Michael's hands shook.
The final sentence was underlined.
The person who betrayed us is closer than you think.
A sound came from the doorway.
Thomas.
He was holding a gun.
Michael stood.
“Thomas?”
Jonah backed away.
Thomas pointed the gun at Michael.
“You finally found him.”
Michael stared.
“You.”
Thomas's face was empty.
“I tried to keep Rachel alive.”
“You worked for Elliot.”
“I was Elliot's son.”
Michael felt the room spin.
Thomas lowered the gun.
“And now he knows where you are.”
Michael heard vehicles outside.
Several doors slammed.
Thomas looked toward the windows.
“They're here.”
“Who?”
May you like
Thomas whispered:
“Elliot.”
