Chapter 4: The Name She Was Never Supposed to Have
For three seconds, nobody moved.
Renee was staring at me.
Derek was staring at the photograph.
And I was staring at the empty space where Aaliyah should have been.
“What do you mean her name was on the test?”” I asked.
Renee shook her head violently.
“I didn't say her name was the father's name.””
“You just said it.””
“No. I said the name on the DNA test was Aaliyah's.””
“That's not an answer.””
Derek stepped toward her.
“Renee, tell him everything.””
She looked at him with fury.
“You don't get to tell me what to do.””
“You lost that right when you let her get taken.””
Renee flinched.
I grabbed the phone from Derek.
The photograph was still open.
Aaliyah sat inside the black SUV, her graduation dress visible beneath a jacket someone had thrown around her shoulders.
She was alive.
She was conscious.
And terrified.
I zoomed in.
There was something in her lap.
A white envelope.
My mother's envelope.
The one I had just been holding.
My stomach dropped.
“She took it.””
Derek nodded.
“Apparently.””
“Why would she take it?””
“Maybe she knows what's inside.””
I looked at Renee.
“Does she?””
Renee didn't answer.
“Renee.””
Her shoulders collapsed.
“Yes.””
The word was barely audible.
I stared at her.
“She knows?””
“She knows part of it.””
“How much?””
“I don't know.””
“You raised her.””
“Yes.””
“You know how much she knows.””
Renee wiped her face.
“She found out about the name change last year.””
I felt the room tilt.
“What name change?””
Renee looked toward the window.
“When Aaliyah was born, her name wasn't Aaliyah.””
My voice dropped.
“Then what was it?””
She swallowed.
“Amara.””
I repeated it silently.
Amara.
It sounded unfamiliar.
But somehow it felt like a name that had been waiting somewhere inside our family for years.
“Why did you change it?””
“Your mother did.””
“My mother?””
“She said the original name was connected to someone dangerous.””
“Daniel?””
Renee shook her head.
“No.””
“Then who?””
She looked at Derek.
Derek's face tightened.
“Say it,” he told her.
Renee whispered, “Elias.””
I frowned.
“Who is Elias?””
“My brother.””
I stared at her.
“You have a brother?””
Renee nodded.
“Elias was born before me. He disappeared when he was twenty.””
Derek interrupted.
“He didn't disappear.””
Renee closed her eyes.
“He died.””
“When?””
“Twenty-four years ago.””
My blood went cold.
That was one year before Aaliyah was born.
I looked at the photograph again.
“Why would a dead man have anything to do with my daughter?””
Renee's voice shook.
“Because Elias was the biological father.””
The room went silent.
I couldn't even process the sentence.
“You said Derek wasn't her father.””
“He wasn't.””
“You said my father wasn't.””
“He wasn't.””
“You said Daniel wasn't.””
“He wasn't.””
I stared at her.
“Then you're telling me your dead brother was Aaliyah's biological father?””
“Yes.””
My laugh came out broken.
“That makes no sense.””
“It does if you know what happened.””
“Then explain it.””
Renee sank onto the bed.
“Elias was involved with people he shouldn't have been involved with. He borrowed money. He stole from them. He became a witness against them.””
“Against who?””
“I don't know.””
“You don't know?””
“I was twenty-four, Marcus. My brother was already living another life. He wouldn't tell me anything.””
Derek crossed his arms.
“But you knew he had a daughter.””
Renee looked at him.
“I knew Renee had a baby.””
“You knew it was Elias's.””
“I suspected.””
I turned toward Derek.
“Why would you suspect?””
“Because Elias told me.””
I stared at him.
“You knew my daughter’s biological father?””
“I knew a man named Elias. I didn't know he was related to Renee.””
“That's impossible.””
“Not if you understand how all of this started.””
Derek pulled out his phone again.
“I met Elias through your father.””
My entire body went rigid.
“My father?””
Derek nodded.
“Samuel Hale wasn't an only child. Daniel was his brother. But there was another man connected to them.””
“Elias.””
“No.””
Derek looked at me.
“Your father's business partner.””
He opened a photograph.
Two men stood outside a warehouse.
One was my father.
The other was a stranger with dark hair and a scar across his cheek.
I stared at the picture.
“I've never seen him.””
“You weren't supposed to.””
“Who is he?””
“Victor Cross.””
The name meant nothing to me.
Renee covered her mouth.
Derek noticed.
“You know him.””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“You just reacted.””
“I know the name.””
“From where?””
Renee stared at the floor.
“Elias used to talk about him.””
I felt my heartbeat pounding.
“What did Elias do for him?””
“Nothing.””
Derek laughed bitterly.
“That's not true.””
Renee looked up.
“He was forced.””
“Into what?””
“Smuggling.””
The word sat heavily in the room.
I looked at the photograph again.
My father.
Victor.
A warehouse.
A secret DNA test.
My mother's letter.
Aaliyah.
None of it seemed real.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?””
For a moment, there was only breathing.
Then a man's voice.
“You've been asking the wrong questions, Marcus.””
I stood.
“Where is my daughter?””
“She is safe.””
“Put her on the phone.””
A pause.
Then Aaliyah's voice.
“Dad?””
I nearly dropped the phone.
“Aaliyah! Where are you?””
“I'm okay.””
“Are you hurt?””
“No.””
“Who has you?””
Silence.
Then she whispered, “I came willingly.””
My stomach tightened.
“What?””
“I needed to know.””
“Know what?””
Another pause.
“Why Grandma Evelyn changed my name.””
I closed my eyes.
“Sweetheart, listen to me. Whatever they told you—”
“Dad.””
Her voice broke.
“I found something in Grandma's box.””
“What?””
“She left me a letter too.””
Renee gasped.
Derek looked at me.
Aaliyah continued.
“It said you weren't supposed to raise me.””
My chest tightened.
“What?””
“It said you were supposed to leave.””
“Why?””
“I don't know.””
“Aaliyah, where are you?””
She started crying.
“I think the people who took me are looking for something.””
“What?””
“The original DNA test.””
I looked at Renee.
She had gone completely still.
Aaliyah whispered, “And Dad…”
“I'm here.””
“There wasn't just one test.””
The call suddenly went dead.
I stared at the screen.
Derek stepped closer.
“What did she say?””
I looked at Renee.
“She said there were multiple tests.””
Renee's eyes filled with tears.
“No.””
“What?””
She shook her head.
“There was only one.””
Derek stared at her.
“That's what you told me.””
Renee whispered, “Because that's the only one I knew about.””
I felt something cold settle in my stomach.
“Then who ordered the others?””
Nobody answered.
My phone buzzed again.
A message.
A location.
And beneath it:
*Come alone, Marcus. Bring the second test.*
I looked at Derek.
Then Renee.
Then the photograph of my daughter.
I knew immediately what I had to do.
But before I could move, Renee grabbed my wrist.
“Marcus.””
I looked at her.
Her eyes were terrified.
“If you go there, ask them one thing.””
“What?””
May you like
She swallowed.
“Ask them why Samuel Hale had a second family.””
