Chapter 5 - The Mother Who Finally Spoke
Celeste had avoided public interviews about Eli for years.
At first, she gave them constantly.
She appeared on local television holding his photograph.
She described his little dimple, his blond curls, and the silver locket he wore when he disappeared.
She begged anyone with information to contact the authorities.
But as the years passed, interviews became harder.
Reporters asked whether she believed her son was still alive.
They asked why investigators hadn't found Ellen Price.
They asked whether Celeste had considered the possibility that someone in the family was involved.
Eventually, she stopped answering.
Now those questions had returned.
But this time, Eli was alive.
And Ellen was still trying to control his story.
With guidance from investigators and her attorney, Celeste released a short public statement confirming that authorities were investigating a possible connection to her son's long-standing abduction case.
She asked people not to approach the children, publish their locations, or interfere with the investigation.
Then she did something she'd avoided for years.
She retrieved the original missing-child posters from storage.
She found copies of police correspondence.
She located photographs of herself and Daniel handing out flyers at train stations.
There were dated notes describing every lead they'd followed.
Letters to investigators.
Receipts from trips to other states.
And a worn notebook in which she had written down each of Eli's birthdays.
Some entries were only a sentence long.
On his fourth birthday:
"I hope somebody is holding your hand today."
On his seventh:
"Theo lost his first tooth. I wondered whether you lost yours too."
On his tenth:
"I don't know what you look like now, but I would know you anywhere."
Celeste sat on her bedroom floor with the notebook open.
For years, she'd kept these things hidden because she didn't want Theo to see how broken she had been.
Now she understood that hiding the past had left both boys with unanswered questions.
That afternoon, she brought copies of the notebook and old photographs to Eli's next supervised visit.
She didn't expect him to believe everything immediately.
She simply wanted him to see that the years had existed for her too.
Eli examined a photograph of Celeste holding two babies.
He pointed to the one on the left.
"Which one am I?"
"You."
"How can you tell?"
Celeste smiled faintly.
"You always grabbed your brother's sleeve."
Eli looked closer.
The baby in the photograph had one tiny fist wrapped around the other's clothing.
He touched the picture.
"I used to think I was bad."
Celeste's smile vanished.
"Why?"
"Because Ellen said there had to be a reason you kept him instead of me."
Celeste moved her chair closer.
"There was no reason like that."
Eli stared at the table.
"You liked him better."
"No."
"You knew him."
"Yes," she admitted. "I got to raise Theo. And I didn't get to raise you. That wasn't fair to you."
He looked up.
"But I didn't choose it."
For a long time, he didn't speak.
Then he asked, "If they let me go home with you, what happens if I do something wrong?"
Celeste felt her chest tighten.
"You'll have rules, just like Theo. If you make a mistake, we'll talk about it. There may be consequences. But you won't stop being my son."
"Even if I break something?"
"Even then."
"Even if I get mad?"
"Especially then, we still have to figure things out together."
Eli considered her answer.
Then he slid the silver locket across the table.
"Can you hold this for a minute?"
Celeste picked it up.
It was the first possession he'd willingly placed in her hands.
She treated it as carefully as if it were made of glass.
Meanwhile, investigators uncovered records showing that Ellen had rented the Beacon house using an assumed name.
The purported custody documents contained details inconsistent with the original birth records.
A neighbor also provided a statement describing how Ellen had restricted the boy's movements and discouraged visitors.
Then police located the black sedan at a private garage outside the city.
The driver agreed to cooperate after investigators contacted him.
According to his statement, Ellen had hired him to find a boy she claimed had run away from home.
He provided the location where he'd last dropped her off.
Detective Reyes contacted Celeste that evening.
"We have enough information to pursue the next step," he said.
"Have you found Ellen?"
"Officers are moving on the address."
Celeste looked toward the living room.
Theo was doing homework, his pencil tapping softly against the table.
She thought about Eli waiting at the hospital.
About all the birthdays she'd missed.
About Ellen telling a child that his mother had chosen not to love him.
Then the detective spoke again.
"Celeste, we've also received preliminary information from the laboratory."
Her hand tightened around the phone.
"Is he my son?"
"The final verified report is being released through the appropriate channels. I don't want to give you an answer before it's confirmed."
Celeste closed her eyes.
After nearly nine years of searching, she was once again waiting for someone to tell her whether the child she'd held in her arms belonged to her.
May you like
But this time, she knew where he was.
And no matter what the report said, she would not allow him to face the truth alone.
