PART 10: THE GIRL WHO ANSWERED TO ANOTHER NAME
Claire could not take her eyes off the photograph.
The teenage girl stood beside Samuel Mercer outside a roadside café, wearing the silver bracelet marked with the letter J.
Her dark hair fell across one side of her face.
Her smile was uncertain.
But the small dimple in her left cheek belonged to Janice.
Claire knew it as surely as she knew her own reflection.
“That’s my daughter.”
The retired detective enlarged the photograph on his phone.
Part of the café’s name appeared on the window behind Samuel.
CEDAR BAY CAFÉ.
One of the officers began searching.
“There’s only one business with that name within two hundred miles.”
“Where?” Claire demanded.
“A coastal town three hours north.”
The detective turned toward another officer.
“Check traffic cameras for Samuel’s truck.”
Claire called her parents.
Jeremy answered.
“Mom?”
Hearing his voice still felt like witnessing a miracle.
Claire struggled to speak.
“We found a photograph.”
Jeremy remained silent.
“A girl was standing beside Samuel,” Claire continued. “She was wearing a bracelet like yours.”
“My bracelet?”
Claire suddenly remembered.
Her mother had given the twins matching silver bracelets on their fifth birthday.
Both carried the letter J because both children’s names began with it.
Jeremy had buried his bracelet inside Janice’s backpack.
But Janice had been wearing hers on the day she disappeared.
Claire sent him the photograph.
For several seconds, she heard nothing.
Then Jeremy whispered,
“That’s her.”
Tears filled Claire’s eyes.
“Are you certain?”
“She holds her wrist the same way.”
“What do you mean?”|
“When Janice was scared, she covered the bracelet with her other hand.”
Claire looked at the photograph again.
The girl’s right hand was wrapped tightly around her left wrist.
Jeremy had remembered something no investigator could have known.
“Stay with Grandma and Grandpa,” Claire told him.
“No.”
“Jeremy—”
“I waited eight years.”
His voice trembled, but he did not stop.
“She’s my sister.”
Claire closed her eyes.
She understood.
An hour later, Jeremy climbed into the back seat beside Nora.
He carried Janice’s faded blue backpack against his chest.
Inside were the stuffed rabbit, the broken crayon, and his matching silver bracelet.
The detective’s phone rang as they reached the highway.
A traffic camera had recorded Samuel’s truck heading north less than two hours earlier.
Toward Cedar Bay.
“He knows we found Evelyn,” Zane said.
Claire stared through the windshield.
“Then we find him before he moves her again.”
Cedar Bay was a quiet town surrounded by pine trees and gray ocean water.
The café in the photograph stood near an old fishing pier.
The manager recognized Samuel immediately.
“He comes here every few months,” she said. “Always with the same girl.”
“What is her name?” Claire asked.
“Anna.”
The name struck Claire like a physical blow.
Anna.
Someone had given her daughter another name.
“Where do they live?”
The manager hesitated until the detective showed his identification.
“Samuel doesn’t live here,” she said. “The girl stays with an older woman named Helen. She owns a cottage near the northern lighthouse.”
“Helen Mercer?” the detective asked.
The manager nodded.
“Samuel’s sister.”
The cottage stood at the end of a narrow road overlooking the ocean.
Samuel’s truck was parked outside.
Two officers approached from the rear while the detective knocked on the front door.
No one answered.
He knocked again.
“Samuel Mercer! Police!”
A curtain moved.
Then the door slowly opened.
Samuel stepped outside with both hands raised.
He looked exhausted.
His clothes were wrinkled, and a fresh cut crossed his forehead.
Claire rushed toward him.
“Where is she?”
Samuel looked at Jeremy.
His face collapsed.
“You look just like her.”
“Where is my sister?” Jeremy asked.
Samuel lowered his eyes.
“Inside.”
Claire tried to move past him, but the detective stopped her.
“Let us secure the house first.”
Samuel shook his head.
“There’s no danger inside.”
“Why did you run?”
“Because Dean called me.”
Zane stepped forward.
“What did he say?”
“That Evelyn had been found.”
Samuel looked toward the cottage.
“He told me to move Anna before Claire saw her.”
Claire’s voice became cold.
“Her name is Janice.”
Samuel flinched.
“I know.”
“Does she?”
He did not answer.
Claire stepped closer.
“Does my daughter know who she is?”
“No.”
The word barely left his mouth.
Jeremy tightened his grip on the blue backpack.
“What did you tell her?”
Samuel looked ashamed.
“That her parents died in a boating accident.”
Zane lunged forward.
The detective caught him before he reached Samuel.
“You stole my child!” Zane shouted.
“I saved her!”
“You let us bury an empty casket!”
“I was afraid!”
“So was she!”
Samuel began to cry.
“I pulled her from the water. She wasn’t breathing at first. Then she coughed.”
He covered his face.
“She kept calling for Jeremy.”
Jeremy looked away as tears filled his eyes.
“Dean arrived before I could carry her back,” Samuel continued. “He told me Zane would lose everything if the company investigation continued.”
Claire stared at him.
“What did that have to do with Janice?”
“Dean knew Zane would stop fighting.”
Samuel looked toward Zane.
“He knew grief would destroy your marriage, your concentration, and your willingness to expose him.”
Zane’s voice broke.
“He was right.”
Samuel nodded.
“He told me to keep Janice hidden for forty-eight hours. He said he only needed time to force you into signing over control of the company.”
“But you never brought her home,” Claire said.
“After the search began, Dean changed the plan.”
“What plan?”
“He said returning her would expose everything.”
Samuel wiped his face.
“He gave me money, false documents, and the name of a nurse who would treat her without asking questions.”
“Why did you agree?”
Samuel looked directly at Claire.
“My wife was dying. I owed more money than I could ever repay. Dean promised to cover her treatment.”
Claire’s expression remained hard.
“And was your wife saved?”
Samuel shook his head.
“No.”
“So you lost her anyway.”
“Yes.”
“And I lost eight years with my daughter.”
Samuel could not answer.
The front door opened behind him.
An elderly woman stepped onto the porch.
“Samuel?”
Then someone appeared beside her.
A teenage girl.
Claire stopped breathing.
The photograph had not captured how much she resembled Jeremy.
The same dark eyes.
The same shape of the nose.
The same small dimple in her left cheek.
The girl looked at the police officers.
Then at Zane.
Then at Claire.
Finally, her eyes settled on Jeremy.
Neither twin moved.
Jeremy slowly placed the blue backpack on the ground.
The girl stared at him as though she were looking into a mirror that had changed with time.
“Who are you?” she asked.
Jeremy’s voice trembled.
“My name is Jeremy.”
The girl took one step backward.
Something flickered across her face.
Fear.
Recognition.
A memory she could not yet reach.
“No,” she whispered.
Jeremy removed the silver bracelet from the backpack.
He held it in his palm.
Her eyes dropped to the matching bracelet around her wrist.
“Grandma gave us these,” Jeremy said. “On our fifth birthday.”
The girl covered her bracelet with her hand.
Exactly as Jeremy had described.
“My name is Anna.”
Claire could no longer remain still.
She moved forward slowly.
“Someone gave you that name after they took you from us.”
The girl looked frightened.
“My parents died.”
“No,” Claire whispered. “We didn’t die.”
She pressed a hand against her heart.
“We never stopped looking for you.”
The girl turned toward Samuel.
“You said they drowned.”
Samuel began crying.
“I lied.”
Helen looked at him in horror.
“You told me her entire family was dead.”
Samuel nodded.
“I’m sorry.”
Helen stepped away from him.
“All these years, you made me part of this.”
“I thought I was protecting her.”
“You were protecting yourself.”
The girl’s breathing became fast.
“My name is Anna.”
Claire stopped several feet away.
She did not try to touch her.
She did not want her daughter’s first feeling to be fear.
“You don’t have to believe everything today,” Claire said gently. “But may I show you something?”
The girl hesitated.
Then nodded.
Jeremy opened the backpack.
He removed the small stuffed rabbit.
One ear was bent.
A faded blue ribbon remained around its neck.
The girl stared at it.
Her lips parted.
“Bunny Blue.”
Claire began to cry.
“That’s what you called him.”
The girl slowly reached for the rabbit.
The moment her fingers touched it, she closed her eyes.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“I remember a bedroom.”
Jeremy stepped closer.
“Two beds?”
She nodded.
“Stars on the ceiling.”
“I put them there,” Zane whispered.
The girl looked at him.
Her expression was filled with confusion and pain.
Then she turned back to Jeremy.
“I remember someone singing badly.”
Jeremy gave a broken laugh through his tears.
“That was me.”
For one brief moment, she almost smiled.
Then Samuel’s phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
The color left his face.
The detective took the phone from him.
The caller ID displayed a private number.
Samuel whispered,
“It’s Dean.”
The detective answered and activated the speaker.
No one spoke.
Dean’s voice filled the porch.
“Samuel, listen carefully. If Claire has found the girl, take her and leave immediately.”
Claire’s entire body went cold.
Dean continued.
“Do not let Janice remember who she is.”
The girl dropped the stuffed rabbit.
Everyone looked at her.
She stared at the phone, trembling violently.
Claire reached toward her but stopped before touching her.
“What is it?”
The girl’s eyes filled with terror.
“I know that voice.”
Samuel looked confused.
“You’ve never met Dean.”
The girl slowly shook her head.
“Yes, I have.”
“When?”
Her breathing became shallow.
“He visited me every year on my birthday.”
The porch fell silent.
“What did he tell you?” Claire whispered.
The girl looked directly at her.
“He said he was a friend of my real parents.”
She swallowed.
“And every year, he told me the same thing.”
Jeremy reached for her hand.
This time, she did not pull away.
“What did he say?” he asked.
The girl looked at her twin brother.
“He said my family knew I survived…”
Her voice broke.
“…but they never wanted me back.”…
