Chapter 4 - THE NAME WRITTEN IN THE DEAD MAN'S FILE
The gunman never fired.
Marcus had survived the crash.
He appeared from behind the wrecked SUV and shot the man's weapon from his hand.
The next ten seconds were chaos.
Dominic heard Evelyn screaming.
The boys crying.
Gunfire.
Metal.
Footsteps.
Then silence.
When it ended, three attackers were down.
One had escaped.
Marcus stood beside the vehicle, breathing heavily.
“Everyone alive?”
Dominic looked toward the back.
Eli and Noah were crying.
Evelyn pulled them against her.
“Yes.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
For the second time that night, he almost lost them.
He hated how quickly the world could take everything.
He had learned that lesson once.
He had not forgotten.
The surviving attacker had been captured.
Marcus dragged him from behind the truck.
Dominic looked at him.
The man was bleeding from the shoulder.
He was young.
Maybe thirty.
Dominic recognized him.
Not personally.
But from his father's old network.
“Name.”
The man said nothing.
Dominic rolled closer.
“Name.”
Still nothing.
Dominic nodded toward Marcus.
Marcus pulled out his phone.
“Should I call the police?”
The man's face changed.
Dominic smiled faintly.
“That's what I thought.”
The man looked at him.
“You won't kill me.”
“No.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“I'll let the police take you.”
The man swallowed.
“You think that scares me?”
“No.”
Dominic's eyes became cold.
“But I know what happens to men like you in federal custody.”
The man went still.
Dominic continued.
“You'll be charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, conspiracy, and whatever else the government can attach to you.”
The man said nothing.
“And then,” Dominic said quietly, “your former employers will make sure you never reach trial.”
The man's face turned pale.
Dominic watched the fear appear.
“Unless you talk.”
The man looked toward Evelyn.
Then toward the boys.
“What do you want to know?”
Dominic's voice was calm.
“Where is my son?”
The man swallowed.
“I don't know.”
Dominic said nothing.
The man quickly added, “I swear.”
“Who does?”
“The people who raised him.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
The man shook his head.
“I never saw them.”
“Then how do you know he exists?”
“Because your father paid for everything.”
Dominic felt a cold anger move through him.
“Paid for what?”
“The child's care.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Who does?”
The man hesitated.
Dominic looked at Marcus.
“Call the police.”
“Wait.”
The man's voice cracked.
“I know a name.”
Dominic stopped.
“What name?”
“Adrian.”
Dominic stared at him.
“Adrian who?”
“Adrian Cross.”
The name meant nothing.
Evelyn suddenly gasped.
Dominic turned toward her.
“What?”
She was staring at the man.
“I know that name.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“From where?”
Evelyn's face had gone white.
“The hospital.”
“What hospital?”
“The one where I gave birth.”
Dominic stared at her.
“What about him?”
“He was a nurse.”
Marcus looked at the attacker.
“Adrian Cross was a nurse?”
The man nodded.
“He worked for Dr. Crane.”
Dominic's mind moved rapidly.
Dr. Crane.
Adrian Cross.
The missing baby.
His father's secret.
The pieces were beginning to connect.
“Where is he now?”
The attacker shook his head.
“Gone.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere in Oregon.”
Dominic looked at Marcus.
“Find him.”
Marcus nodded.
“Already doing it.”
The attacker laughed bitterly.
“You won't find him.”
Dominic looked back.
“Why?”
“Because he knows the truth.”
“What truth?”
The man looked toward the boys.
Then at Evelyn.
“He knows which child is really yours.”
Evelyn froze.
Dominic stared.
“What does that mean?”
The man smiled.
“Your father didn't take the third baby because he was the third baby.”
Dominic's voice became dangerous.
“Then why?”
The man looked at the boys.
“Because one of the babies in that hospital was switched.”
The world went silent.
Evelyn stopped breathing.
Dominic stared at the man.
“What did you say?”
“One baby was switched.”
“No.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
The man continued.
“Your father wanted one specific child.”
Dominic looked at the twins.
Both boys were identical.
Both had silver-gray eyes.
Both were his sons.
Or were they?
He felt something break inside him.
“Which one?”
The man smiled.
“I don't know.”
Dominic turned toward Evelyn.
She was staring at the boys.
Her face was filled with horror.
“Evelyn.”
She immediately pulled both boys closer.
“No.”
“Evelyn.”
“No.”
“Look at me.”
She didn't.
Dominic's voice softened.
“Look at me.”
Slowly, she did.
He saw the fear in her eyes.
Not fear of him.
Fear of losing one of her children.
Dominic understood.
No matter what the truth was—
Both boys were hers.
Both boys had been loved.
Both boys had been raised together.
There was no test in the world that could change that.
He turned toward the attacker.
“Who knows which baby was switched?”
“Adrian Cross.”
“Where is he?”
“I told you.”
“Oregon.”
“That's all I know.”
Dominic looked at Marcus.
“Get us a plane.”
Evelyn immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Dominic turned.
“Why?”
“If someone switched the babies, then they may still be watching them.”
“Exactly.”
“You can't take them.”
“I'm not leaving them.”
“You need protection.”
Dominic looked toward the boys.
“I know.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“You're going after the baby.”
“I'm going after my son.”
“And what if both boys are yours?”
“Then we find out.”
“And what if only one is?”
Dominic looked at her.
His voice was quiet.
“Then both come home with me.”
Evelyn stared at him.
For the first time since she returned, she looked at him not with fear.
Not with guilt.
But with something else.
Something dangerously close to the old love.
Dominic looked away.
He couldn't afford it.
Not yet.
They reached a safe house before dawn.
The boys were asleep in one bedroom.
Evelyn sat in the kitchen.
Dominic was across from her.
A doctor had treated the cut on his shoulder.
The pain was manageable.
The questions were not.
“Tell me about the birth.”
Evelyn looked down.
“I was in labor for almost a day.”
“Who was there?”
“Dr. Crane. Adrian Cross. Two nurses.”
“Names?”
“I don't remember.”
“You don't remember?”
“I was in pain.”
Dominic nodded.
“What happened after the birth?”
“They took the babies.”
“All three?”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“I woke up later.”
“Where were they?”
“Two were beside me.”
“And the third?”
“The doctor said he had died.”
Dominic stared at the table.
“Did the babies look identical?”
“They were newborns.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Evelyn's hands began to tremble.
“Yes.”
“Could you tell them apart?”
“Not immediately.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“How did you know which babies were yours?”
“I didn't.”
The words struck him.
“What?”
“I didn't know which baby was which.”
Dominic stared at her.
Evelyn continued.
“The nurses put bracelets on them.”
“Names?”
“Baby A. Baby B. Baby C.”
“And later?”
“Two bracelets.”
Dominic felt cold.
“What happened to the third bracelet?”
“I don't know.”
He stood silent.
Then Marcus entered.
“Sir.”
Dominic looked up.
“What?”
“We found Adrian Cross.”
Evelyn stood.
“Where?”
“Bend, Oregon.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
“Does he know about the baby?”
Marcus nodded.
“He says he knows everything.”
Dominic stared at him.
“Get the plane ready.”
Marcus hesitated.
“There is one more thing.”
“What?”
“Adrian Cross asked for a specific condition before he talks.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“What condition?”
“He wants to meet the twins.”
Evelyn shook her head immediately.
“No.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Why?”
“I don't know him.”
“Neither do I.”
“Then why would he want to meet them?”
Marcus answered.
“He said he needs to see their eyes.”
The room became silent.
Dominic looked at the boys' bedroom.
Silver-gray eyes.
The same eyes as Evelyn.
The same eyes as him.
The same eyes that had apparently been important enough for his father to steal a child.
Dominic's voice was low.
“Tell Adrian Cross we'll meet him.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“Dominic.”
He looked at her.
“We've spent three years believing our son was dead.”
His eyes hardened.
“I'm not going to spend another day believing anything.”
Outside, the sky began to lighten.
The city was waking up.
But somewhere in Oregon, a man who had been hiding for three years was waiting.
And he knew the secret Dominic Vale had been searching for his entire life.
May you like
One of the children was not who everyone believed.
And the person who had switched the babies had done it for a reason.
