Chapter 9: The Woman Who Knew His Blood
At 9:47 the following morning, Wesley parked outside the abandoned records annex of Peachtree Memorial Hospital.
The main hospital had been renovated years earlier, but the annex remained a squat brick building behind a chain-link fence. Several windows were boarded up. A faded sign hung above the entrance, and weeds pushed through cracks in the asphalt.
Wesley checked his phone.
No new messages.
Brielle sat in the passenger seat, staring at the building.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”” she asked.
He gave her a tired look.
“Do you have another way to find out who my biological father is?””
“No.””
“Then yes.””
She nodded.
Neither had slept much. Wesley had spent the night reading his mother's letters until the words blurred. Brielle had called her mother repeatedly, but Monica had not answered.
At 9:58, a silver sedan turned into the parking lot.
An older woman stepped out, wearing a cream coat and carrying a leather handbag.
Monica Thompson looked smaller than Wesley remembered. Her hair had gone almost entirely gray, and she moved carefully, as if her knees hurt. But her eyes remained sharp.
When she saw Brielle, she stopped.
“You shouldn't have brought her.””
Wesley stepped out of the SUV.
“She came because she has a right to know what her mother did.””
Monica's jaw tightened.
“You don't understand what happened.””
“Then explain it.””
She glanced toward the building.
“Not out here.””
Wesley followed her through the entrance. Brielle stayed close behind him.
Inside, the annex smelled of dust and damp paper. Rows of metal shelves lined a narrow corridor, most of them empty. A single fluorescent light flickered above a table in the central room.
Monica placed her handbag on the table.
“I have spent most of my life regretting what happened to Denise,” she began.
Wesley folded his arms.
“That's a start. Keep going.””
Monica looked at him with a mixture of sorrow and apprehension.
“Your grandmother believed Denise was making choices that would ruin her future. She was determined to control the situation after Denise became pregnant with Simone.””
“So she arranged for someone to take the baby.””
“She believed she was arranging a private adoption.””
“Without Denise's consent.””
Monica lowered her eyes.
“Yes.””
Brielle stared at her mother.
“You helped her do that?””
“I thought I was preventing a scandal.””
“You helped take a child away from her mother because you were afraid of what people would say?””
Monica flinched.
“I was young, Brielle. I believed the adults around me knew what they were doing.””
“You were twenty-eight.””
Monica had no answer.
Wesley stepped closer.
“What happened to Simone?””
“I don't know where she is now.””
“That's the same answer everyone gives me.””
“Because it's the truth.””
He slammed his palm against the table.
“You have letters from my mother. You have hospital records. You know about a second child whose identity was changed.
You sent me a message telling me to ask my father about my biological father. You don't get to stand here and act like you know nothing.””
Monica looked at him for a long moment.
Then she reached into her handbag and removed a sealed envelope.
“This contains the original hospital transfer record from the night you were born.””
Wesley stared at it.
“Why do you have that?””
“Because I was there.””
He took the envelope.
Inside was a carbon copy of a transfer authorization, complete with the hospital's old letterhead. The document listed Denise Carter as the mother of a male infant.
The child's name had been left blank.
Under the section marked Authorized Recipient was Monica's signature.
Wesley's hands began to shake.
“You signed this?””
“Yes.””
“You tried to take me.””
“I was told the transfer had been approved.””
“By whom?””
Monica looked away.
“Your grandmother.””
“Did my mother agree?””
“No.””
The answer came so quietly that Wesley almost missed it.
He stared at her.
“You knew she didn't agree, and you signed it anyway?””
Monica began to cry.
“I thought I was helping. I thought your grandmother had legal authority. When Calvin found you, I realized what I'd done.
I wanted to tell Denise the truth, but your grandmother threatened to expose my involvement in Simone's adoption. She said I would lose my job, my reputation, and my family.””
Brielle looked at her mother with horror.
“So you kept quiet.””
“Yes.””
“You let Denise believe you were helping her.””
“I know.””
“And then you raised me to believe that doing the right thing meant keeping family secrets.””
Monica bowed her head.
“I made a terrible mistake.””
Wesley looked down at the transfer record.
The signature was real. The date was real. The hospital had documented an attempt to move him without his mother's permission.
But it still didn't explain the question that had haunted him since the previous night.
“Who is my biological father?””
Monica wiped her cheeks.
“I don't know for certain.””
Wesley made a furious sound.
“Then why did you send me that message?””
“Because Denise eventually discovered a discrepancy in the birth records. She believed the hospital had recorded the wrong father, but she couldn't obtain the original file.””
“Who did she believe was my father?””
Monica looked directly at him.
“Marcus Bell.””
Wesley frowned.
The name meant nothing to him.
“Who is Marcus Bell?””
“A physician who worked at Peachtree Memorial when you were born. He knew Denise before she married Calvin.””
Brielle gasped.
Wesley stared at Monica.
“Are you telling me my mother had an affair with a doctor?””
“No. I'm telling you Denise believed Marcus might be your biological father. She never told me the details of their relationship.””
“Where is he now?””
“He died twelve years ago.””
Wesley felt the air leave his lungs.
“Then how am I supposed to find out?””
Monica opened her handbag again and removed a second document.
“This is a copy of the original laboratory request. It was filed after Denise questioned the hospital records. The results were never released to her.””
Wesley took the paper.
At the bottom was a reference to a sealed paternal identification report.
The report number matched the number on the disputed record he had found in Calvin's office.
His fingers tightened around the page.
“Where is the report?””
Monica pointed toward a locked metal cabinet against the wall.
“Inside.””
Wesley turned toward it.
“You brought me here to show me the records, but you didn't bring the report?””
“The hospital transferred the sealed records to this annex before it closed. I worked here for a short time when the archives were being reorganized. I knew where the files were stored.””
“Then open the cabinet.””
Monica reached into her handbag and withdrew a small key.
She unlocked the cabinet and pulled out a thick folder.
Inside were several pages sealed in a clear plastic sleeve.
Wesley removed them carefully.
The first page identified the patient as Denise Carter.
The second page contained the laboratory reference number.
The third page listed the individuals involved in the review.
He read the names.
Denise Carter.
Calvin Carter.
Marcus Bell.
Then, beside the heading Paternity Determination, he found a typed notation.
*No conclusive determination authorized. Original sample unavailable.*
Wesley stared at it.
“What does this mean?””
Monica's face tightened.
“It means the test was never completed.””
“You told me there was a report.””
“I told you there was a laboratory request.””
“You let me believe I was about to find out who my father was!””
“I thought there might be more in the file.””
Wesley threw the papers onto the table.
“You brought me here to give me another dead end!””
“No,” Monica said urgently.
“There's another document.””
She pulled a folded sheet from the back of the folder.
“This is the original registration form. It was amended after your birth.””
Wesley snatched it from her.
The form listed his date of birth and the name Wesley Carter. Calvin was recorded as his father.
But beneath the amended entry was a handwritten note.
Original paternal designation removed at request of attending physician.
Wesley looked at Monica.
“Why would a doctor remove the father's name?””
“Because the original designation may have been incorrect.””
“Or because somebody wanted to hide it.””
Monica didn't answer.
Brielle picked up the form and studied it.
“Wait.””
Wesley turned toward her.
“What?””
She pointed to the attending physician's signature.
“Marcus Bell.””
The room seemed to stop moving.
The doctor who might have been Wesley's biological father had also signed the document that removed the original paternal designation.
Wesley looked at the signature again.
Then he noticed a handwritten reference in the margin.
See secondary registration, file 27-B.
He turned to Monica.
“Where is file 27-B?””
Monica hesitated.
“I don't know.””
“Don't lie to me.””
“I don't know where the physical file is. But I know it existed.””
“What's in it?””
“A second registration record. Denise told me it contained information about the child born before you.””
Wesley stared at her.
“Simone?””
Monica nodded.
“Your mother believed the two records were connected. She thought the same person who arranged Simone's adoption had manipulated the hospital records when you were born.””
Brielle looked at her mother.
“Why didn't you tell me any of this?””
“Because I was ashamed.””
“You had thirty years to stop being ashamed and do something.””
Monica began to cry again.
Wesley didn't feel sorry for her.
He had spent his entire life paying the emotional price for choices made by people who claimed they were protecting him. He was done allowing remorse to stand in for accountability.
“Where can I find file 27-B?””
Monica hesitated.
“There may be a record of it at the county archives. The original file was transferred before this annex closed.””
“Then that's where I'm going.””
“Wesley, there's something you need to understand.””
He turned.
“I'm listening.””
“Denise didn't just suspect that someone had changed your records. She believed the change was connected to Simone's adoption. She thought the person responsible had a reason to make sure certain children could never be traced to the same family.””
Wesley felt his stomach tighten.
“Why?””
Monica looked at Brielle.
Then she looked at Wesley.
“Because if the records were connected, it could reveal that the person who raised one of those children had no legal right to do so.””
Brielle went pale.
Wesley slowly turned toward her.
For the first time, he understood that the mystery might not be about whether he and Brielle shared a parent.
It might be about whether either of them had been told the truth about their own birth.
He folded the registration form and placed it in his pocket.
“I'm going to the county archives.””
Monica reached for his arm.
“Please. Whatever you find, don't assume that the person named on a record is the person who raised you.””
Wesley pulled away.
“I already know that.””
He walked toward the exit, with Brielle following him.
Outside, the morning sun had broken through the clouds. Wesley stopped beside his SUV and looked at the documents in his hand.
He had come looking for his biological father.
Instead, he had discovered that his birth records had been altered, that Monica Thompson had helped arrange an unauthorized transfer, and that his mother's missing daughter might be connected to the same scheme.
Brielle stood beside him, silent.
Finally, she spoke.
“Wesley, whatever happens next, I need you to know that I never chose any of this.””
He looked at her.
“I believe you.””
Her eyes filled with cautious hope.
“But believing you didn't choose it doesn't mean I know what to do about us.””
She nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks.
“I understand.””
Wesley opened the driver's door.
Then his phone rang.
The caller ID showed an unfamiliar Georgia number.
He answered.
“Hello?””
A man's voice came through, strained and hurried.
“Is this Wesley Carter?””
“Yes. Who is this?””
“My name is Daniel Brooks. I'm a records supervisor with the county archives. Someone contacted us about a file that may concern your birth.””
Wesley gripped the phone.
“File 27-B?””
There was a pause.
“Yes. But there's a problem.””
“What problem?””
“The file was accessed yesterday afternoon. Someone removed the original documents.””
Wesley felt his chest tighten.
“Who?””
“We're reviewing the access logs. But there was a note left in the folder.””
“What did it say?””
The man hesitated.
Then he read the words aloud.
If Wesley Carter comes looking, tell him the woman he calls his mother was not the only woman who gave birth that night.
Wesley went utterly still.
Brielle stared at him.
The phone trembled in his hand.
“Who wrote that note?”” he whispered.
May you like
Daniel Brooks answered with a sentence that made Wesley's blood run cold.
“We believe it was signed by your father.””
