Chapter 3 - THE BOY WITHOUT A LAST NAME
Emily and Lucas were taken to St. Matthew’s Children’s Hospital.
I rode beside my daughter while another ambulance transported Sarah.
Detective Ortiz followed in an unmarked car.
During the drive, Emily held my hand with both of hers.
She did not ask whether her mother would survive.
She asked whether Jason knew where I lived.
I promised there would be police outside my house.
The promise sounded weak even to me.
At the hospital, doctors found dehydration, bruising, and signs that Emily had been given sleeping medication.
They found the same substance in Lucas’s blood.
Sarah had been exposed to a much larger dose.
A social worker named Dana Reed sat with Emily while doctors examined her.
I stood in the hallway, staring through the narrow window in the door.
Every few seconds, Emily looked up to make certain I was still there.
Ortiz approached with a folder beneath one arm.
“There is no Lucas connected to Jason Bennett.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means Jason Bennett may not exist.”
She showed me a photograph recovered from one of the contractor bags.
It pictured Jason ten years younger beside a blond woman and a small boy.
The handwriting on the back read:
Rebecca, Daniel, and Lucas Mercer.
“Daniel Mercer married Rebecca Vale thirteen years ago,” Ortiz said.
“Rebecca reported years of controlling behavior.”
“She attempted to leave with Lucas.”
“Then her car was discovered beside a lake.”
“Rebecca survived.”
“Lucas disappeared.”
I stared at the photograph.
“How long has that boy been under Sarah’s pool?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Ortiz opened another evidence bag.
Inside was a red child’s sneaker.
“Rebecca told police Lucas was wearing shoes like this when he vanished.”
The hallway seemed to tilt.
“Why would Jason keep him alive?”
“Control.”
“Punishment.”
“Leverage.”
“People like Mercer rarely need a logical reason.”
She explained that Jason had used several names.
He married women with property, savings, and children.
He isolated them from relatives.
Then mortgages appeared.
Bank accounts emptied.
Medical records changed.
Police reports accused former husbands of harassment.
My stomach turned.
Sarah had accused me of harassment twice during our custody dispute.
Both complaints had been dismissed.
At the time, I believed anger had made her reckless.
Now I wondered who had written the statements.
Dana stepped into the hallway.
“Emily is asking for you.”
I went inside.
My daughter sat beneath a white blanket with a paper cup of water between her hands.
“Daddy, I didn’t lose the book.”
“What do you mean?”
“I gave him the wrong one.”
She touched the hem of her blue hoodie.
Then she pulled a tiny memory card from a tear in the inner seam.
May you like
“Lucas said this was the only thing Jason was afraid of.”
Before I could respond, the hospital lights went out.
