Chapter 5 - THE INVESTIGATOR WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
“Daniel Price told me Elena had left the country.”
Adrian's voice was flat.
He was standing in Dr. Mercer's office, staring at the photograph.
“Ten years ago, he showed me a plane reservation, a hotel receipt, and a bank withdrawal.”
I looked at him.
“Did you verify any of them?”
He shook his head.
“I paid him to do that.”
For the first time, I understood how thoroughly Adrian had been manipulated.
His wealth had allowed him to hire investigators, attorneys, and private security.
But he'd relied on people chosen by his sister.
He had resources.
What he lacked was the truth.
Adrian called Marcus.
“Find Daniel Price. Quietly.”
Then he opened Claire's overnight bag again.
The medication records were arranged by date.
Most belonged to Elena.
But several were filed under Benjamin Hayes.
They included behavioral assessments, memory evaluations, and repeated references to identity confusion.
One phrase appeared again and again.
Patient resists assigned family narrative.
I read it twice.
“What does that mean?”
Dr. Mercer looked disturbed.
“It isn't terminology I would normally use in a pediatric treatment record.”
Adrian lifted a page.
“Then why would someone write it?”
“Possibly because the child was being pressured to accept a version of his history that he knew was false.”
We stared at one another.
Benjamin wasn't simply being hidden.
Someone had been trying to change what he believed about himself.
And Noah's accident had brought the boys together again.
Dr. Mercer examined the treatment dates.
“There are entries here from before the accident.”
She pointed to a session.
February 26.
The same date as Elena's photograph.
Beneath the entry was a handwritten observation.
Twin recognition triggered maternal attachment response. Recommend separation until legal transition.
Adrian's expression hardened.
“Legal transition.”
The same phrase appeared on Benjamin's file.
But what was being transitioned?
His identity?
His guardianship?
Or something else?
An hour later, we returned to the Romano estate.
Noah was waiting near the staircase.
He ran directly to me.
“Did you find Mom?”
I crouched beside him.
“Not yet.”
He looked past me at Adrian.
“Did you find Ben?”
“Not yet, buddy.”
Noah's face fell.
Adrian knelt and wrapped his arms around him.
“But we found something important.”
“What?”
“A picture of you and Benjamin with your mother.”
Noah pulled away.
“You saw her?”
“In a photograph.”
Noah's eyes filled.
“She smiled when we held hands.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You remember?”
Noah nodded.
“She said we were brave.”
He paused.
“Then Aunt Isabella got mad.”
“What happened?”
“She told Mom she couldn't keep both of us.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Noah continued.
“Mom said we weren't toys.”
I felt tears gathering.
Children remember more than adults want to believe.
Especially when someone they love is frightened.
Adrian asked whether Noah remembered anything about the accident itself.
Noah shook his head.
“Just the car.”
“What car?”
“The blue one.”
Adrian frowned.
Isabella's car was black.
“Who was driving?”
“A man.”
“Do you remember his face?”
“No.”
Noah looked down.
“But he had a watch like yours.”
Adrian held out his wrist.
A silver watch with a dark blue face.
Noah shook his head.
“Not that one. The old one.”
Adrian stopped moving.
For years, he'd owned a gold watch that belonged to his father.
He'd given it to Daniel Price as payment for a sensitive investigation.
Not money.
The watch.
Because Daniel had once helped the family during a dangerous business dispute, and Adrian considered him a trusted associate.
“Are you sure?” Adrian asked.
Noah nodded.
“It had a little crack.”
Adrian stood.
His father's watch had a crack across the lower edge.
Daniel Price had been driving the car.
Or someone wearing his watch had.
By evening, Marcus located Daniel at a private club outside Philadelphia.
He wasn't hiding.
He was preparing to leave for Florida.
Adrian met him in a quiet upstairs room.
I didn't accompany him.
Instead, I stayed with Noah.
But Adrian later told me every word that mattered.
Daniel greeted him warmly.
“Adrian. It's been a long time.”
Adrian placed the photograph on the table.
Daniel's smile faded.
“Where did you get that?”
“Who is Benjamin Romano?”
Daniel looked toward the door.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“My son remembers a man wearing my father's watch. You had that watch.”
Daniel said nothing.
“Were you driving when Noah was injured?”
Daniel rubbed his jaw.
“Isabella told me the boy was having an episode.”
“What episode?”
“He was trying to get out of the car.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked down.
“Because he saw another boy.”
Adrian gripped the table.
“Benjamin.”
Daniel nodded.
“He recognized him outside a medical building.”
“What happened?”
“The boy panicked. He tried to open the door while the car was moving. I pulled over, but he struck his head against the window.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“You never reported that.”
“Isabella said she would handle it.”
“And you believed her?”
Daniel looked ashamed.
“I was being paid to keep things quiet.”
“What else were you paid to hide?”
Daniel reached into his jacket.
Adrian's security officer immediately stepped forward.
But Daniel only withdrew an old pocket notebook.
Inside were dates, names, and payments.
He placed it on the table.
“I didn't know there were twins at first.”
Adrian stared.
“When did you find out?”
“Six years ago.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
Daniel looked at him.
“Your sister said Benjamin was being protected from your enemies.”
Adrian laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You believed that?”
“I wanted to.”
Then Daniel said something that changed the conversation.
“Adrian, Isabella didn't start this.”
Adrian went still.
“Explain.”
Daniel opened the notebook to an entry dated ten years earlier.
Three days before Elena gave birth.
There was a payment.
A very large payment.
The payer was listed as R.R. Family Trust.
Adrian recognized the initials.
“Romano family trust.”
Daniel nodded.
“The instruction came from someone with authority over the trust.”
“Isabella?”
“No.”
Adrian stared.
“Then who?”
Daniel looked genuinely frightened.
“Your father.”
Adrian's father, Vincent Romano, had died seven years earlier.
But Daniel wasn't finished.
He slid an envelope across the table.
Inside was a photograph of Vincent standing beside a newborn's hospital bassinet.
The baby wore a bracelet reading BENJAMIN ROMANO.
And beside Vincent stood Isabella.
May you like
On the back, Vincent had written:
ONE HEIR MUST REMAIN OUTSIDE THE HOUSE.
