Chapter 7 - The Storage Unit in My Name
Someone had stolen my identity before I ever walked into L'Osteria.
And the man responsible had deliberately refused to pay me.
Suddenly, my entire month of miserable work looked like a trap.
"Gregory wanted me to come back," I whispered.
Ethan nodded.
"Possibly."
"He knew I couldn't afford to lose three hundred dollars."
"Yes."
"He knew I'd show up demanding it."
Ethan's expression hardened.
"And he knew I would be dining there that evening."
I stared.
"You're telling me my collapse was part of his plan?"
"Not necessarily. But he may have wanted you and Sam used as leverage against me."
I looked down at my hands.
For weeks, Gregory had watched me struggle.
He'd complained when I needed to check on Sam.
He'd mocked my boots.
He'd refused to pay for the hours I worked.
I'd thought he was merely cruel.
Now I wondered whether every insult had been deliberate.
The following morning, investigators searched the storage unit while Ethan and I waited at a nearby police station.
I refused to let him send me away.
Not this time.
Detective Sarah Mitchell, a woman with short dark hair and a direct manner, approached us with a folder.
"We found several boxes."
My heart pounded.
"What's inside?"
"Business records, computer equipment, and photographs."
She opened the folder.
The first photograph showed Daniel entering a medical warehouse.
The second showed Gregory speaking to an unfamiliar man.
The third made me stop breathing.
It showed me.
Pregnant.
Walking into a grocery store.
I stared.
"That was six weeks before Sam was born."
Detective Mitchell nodded.
"Someone had been watching you for months."
My hands went numb.
Ethan looked furious.
"Who took these?"
"We're working on that."
Then she showed us another photograph.
Daniel stood outside a church beside an older woman.
I leaned closer.
"Wait."
Ethan turned.
"What?"
"I know her."
"Who?"
"Her name is Evelyn Parker. She worked at the women's shelter where I stayed briefly after Daniel disappeared."
Ethan's expression sharpened.
"Are you certain?"
"Absolutely."
I remembered Evelyn.
She had brought me soup.
Helped me fill out housing applications.
And told me I would make a wonderful mother.
"She knew Daniel?" I whispered.
Detective Mitchell turned the photograph over.
There was a handwritten date.
Three days after Daniel supposedly vanished.
Ethan stared.
Then asked, "Could we speak with her?"
The detective nodded.
"We're locating her."
An hour later, Evelyn arrived at the station.
The moment she saw Ethan, her face changed.
"Oh, God."
Ethan stood.
"Where is my brother?"
Evelyn began crying.
"I told him he couldn't keep running."
My heart stopped.
"You knew where Daniel was?"
She nodded.
"He came to me because he was frightened."
"Of Gregory?"
"Yes. But Gregory wasn't the only person he feared."
Ethan stepped closer.
"Who else?"
Evelyn looked at me.
Then whispered, "Daniel found something inside Hawthorne Medical that was worth far more than stolen money."
My mouth went dry.
"What?"
She reached into her handbag and removed a sealed envelope.
"Before he disappeared, Daniel asked me to give this to Norah if anything happened."
My name was written across the front.
Inside was a photograph of a baby identification bracelet.
The name printed on it was Samuel Davis.
My son.
But below his name was a medical record number I didn't recognize.
May you like
Evelyn looked at me through tears.
"Norah, someone created a second hospital identity for your baby before he was even born."
