Chapter 3 - TWO DAYS MISSING
Michael stared at the bracelet again.
“Explain.”
Thomas glanced down the corridor.
“We shouldn't do this here.”
“My wife is in surgery because my mother pushed her down a staircase.”
“My daughter is in an incubator.”
“And now you're telling me I don't know my own birthday.”
Michael stepped closer.
“You're going to explain right here.”
Thomas sighed.
“You were born June fourteenth.”
Michael laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“That makes no sense.”
“I know.”
“My birth certificate says June sixteenth.”
“I know that too.”
Michael looked at the bracelet.
“Where was I born?”
“St. Matthew's.”
“The same hospital?”
“Yes.”
Michael looked toward the neonatal unit.
A chill moved through him.
“Who changed my birth date?”
Thomas didn't answer.
Michael already knew.
“My mother.”
Thomas looked down.
“Why?”
“I only know part of it.”
“Then give me the part you know.”
Thomas sat slowly.
Michael remained standing.
“Your grandfather, William Vance, had very strict ideas about inheritance.”
Michael nodded impatiently.
“The controlling interest in Vance Industries goes to the oldest biological grandchild.”
“Yes.”
“My cousin Daniel was born two days after me.”
“Yes.”
Michael suddenly went still.
Thomas continued.
“According to the official records, Daniel was born June fifteenth.”
“And I was born June sixteenth.”
“Yes.”
“So Daniel became the older heir.”
Thomas said nothing.
Michael's eyes narrowed.
“But if I was born June fourteenth…”
“You were first.”
Michael stared at him.
“Why would my mother give that up?”
Thomas hesitated.
“That is the part I never understood.”
Michael lowered his voice.
“You helped her.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“I drove her away from the hospital.”
“With me?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“To a private clinic outside Richmond.”
“For two days?”
Thomas nodded.
“When she returned, everything had changed.”
“What changed?”
“Your birth date.”
Michael's breathing grew shallow.
“What else?”
Thomas looked toward the NICU.
“Your name.”
Michael frowned.
“My name?”
“You weren't Michael when you left St. Matthew's.”
Michael felt the hallway tilt.
“What was I?”
Thomas looked directly at him.
“Samuel.”
Michael stepped back.
“No.”
“Your father chose it.”
“My father's name was Samuel.”
“That's why he chose it.”
Michael shook his head.
“This is insane.”
“There are records.”
“Where?”
“I don't know anymore.”
“My mother destroyed most of them.”
Michael looked toward the doors.
“Why would Sarah's baby bring this back?”
Thomas didn't answer.
“Thomas.”
“I don't know.”
“You know something.”
“I know Eleanor panicked the first time she heard Sarah say she wanted genetic testing.”
Michael frowned.
“Genetic testing?”
“Sarah told one of the housekeepers she wanted a full prenatal genetic panel because of a condition that ran in her father's family.”
Michael remembered.
Sarah had mentioned it months earlier.
The test had been delayed because insurance records were incomplete.
Thomas continued.
“Your mother overheard.”
“And?”
“She made calls for three straight days.”
“To whom?”
“I don't know.”
Michael looked down at the bracelet again.
Then another thought struck him.
“My father died when I was six.”
“Yes.”
“He supposedly had a heart attack.”
Thomas's face changed.
Michael noticed immediately.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Thomas.”
“I was not there.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Thomas stood.
“Your mother told everyone it was his heart.”
Michael stared at him.
“And you don't believe her.”
“I think you should find the original medical report.”
Before Michael could respond, two police officers entered the hallway.
Detective Lena Ortiz introduced herself.
“We need to speak with Eleanor Vance.”
Michael looked toward the end of the hall.
His mother was gone.
“She was just here.”
The officers checked both corridors.
Nothing.
Michael called her.
Straight to voicemail.
Then his phone buzzed.
A message from Eleanor.
You don't understand what Sarah has done.
Come home alone.
I will explain everything.
Michael stared at it.
Detective Ortiz held out her hand.
“Do not go there alone.”
Michael handed her the phone.
“Can you stop her from leaving?”
“We'll send officers.”
Michael turned toward Sarah's room.
“No.”
“I’m not leaving my wife.”
That answer surprised even him.
For years, Eleanor had trained Michael to respond when she called.
To fix problems.
To protect the family.
To ask questions later.
For the first time in his life, he ignored her.
Two hours later, Sarah opened her eyes.
Michael was sitting beside her.
She stared at him.
Then panic flooded her face.
“The baby.”
Michael grabbed her hand.
“She's alive.”
Sarah began crying.
“Where is she?”
“NICU.”
“Is she hurt?”
“She came early.”
“But she's fighting.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Michael leaned closer.
“I’m sorry.”
Sarah looked at him.
“For what?”
“For not believing you sooner.”
She studied his face.
“Your mother pushed me.”
“I know.”
“I want her away from Grace.”
“She will be.”
Sarah swallowed.
“She said something.”
“What?”
“She said if Grace survived, everything they buried would come back.”
Michael slowly took the hospital bracelet from his pocket.
“Did you find this?”
Sarah looked at it.
“Yes.”
“It was mixed with your old baby things.”
“Why?”
Michael handed it to her.
“Because apparently my family has been lying about me since the day I was born.”
Sarah read the date.
Then looked at Michael.
“What does this have to do with Grace?”
“I don't know yet.”
Sarah stared through the glass toward the distant NICU.
“No.”
“What?”
“She wasn't trying to get rid of me.”
Michael went still.
May you like
Sarah whispered the words.
“She was trying to stop our daughter from being born.”
