The Night My Mother Told Me to Run

For seventeen years, I had believed I knew who I was.

I was Pulisic Pulisic. Ethan's son. Sarah's child. The boy who grew up in a quiet house with a basketball hoop in the driveway and a father who taught him to tie his shoes, ride a bicycle, and never trust anyone who couldn't look him in the eye.

Now a federal document was telling me that the woman who had raised me wasn't biologically related to me.

And the man who had raised me had known it from the beginning.

I stared at the report.

"That's a mistake.""

Agent Cole didn't answer.

"Tell me it's a mistake.""

She placed the document on the table.

"We're going to verify the original records.""

"No. You just said the laboratory found them. You said there were three babies.""

"We found a registry entry. That doesn't establish the complete circumstances.""

I shoved the report away.

"Stop talking like I'm a case number!""

My voice echoed through Laura's living room.

Daniel stood beside the window, his face pale. My mother remained seated, both hands pressed against her mouth.

Laura was crying silently.

Three babies.

Two women.

One man who had decided that our identities belonged to him.

I turned toward my mother.

"Did you know?""

She shook her head immediately.

"No.""

"Did you ever suspect I wasn't your biological son?""

"Never.""

"Then why did you keep telling me Dad had my eyes?""

She stared at me.

"Because he told me you were his son.""

"That isn't what I asked!""

She flinched.

"I loved you from the moment I held you. Ethan told me you were mine. He brought you into my room and placed you in my arms. He said the hospital had changed the identification bands during the emergency.""

I felt my throat tighten.

"And you believed him?""

"Yes.""

"Even after everything he'd done?""

"Yes.""

She began to cry.

"I was recovering from childbirth. I was frightened. I had spent months hiding from people who wanted me dead. I wanted to believe the man I loved had finally done something good.""

I looked away.

I wanted to forgive her.

But forgiveness seemed impossible when I couldn't even understand the truth.

Daniel approached the table.

"If Pulisic wasn't Sarah's biological son, then whose child was he?""

Nobody answered.

Laura wiped her face.

"We need the original medical report.""

Agent Cole nodded.

"I've requested immediate access to the archived samples.""

"How long?"" I asked.

"Hours, if the records are complete.""

"And if they're not?""

"Then we'll investigate the chain of custody.""

I laughed bitterly.

"Another investigation. Another file. Another room full of people telling me to wait.""

I walked to the front door.

My mother stood.

"Where are you going?""

"Outside.""

"Please don't leave.""

I turned toward her.

"Why? Are you afraid I'll disappear like everyone else?""

She looked as though I'd struck her.

I opened the door and stepped onto the porch.

The night air was cold enough to sting my face. Somewhere down the street, a car passed with its headlights cutting across the wet pavement.

I sat on the steps and stared at my hands.

I had my father's hands.

That was what he'd always told me.

Long fingers. Strong wrists. A little scar near the thumb from the time I cut myself opening a package.

But if Ethan wasn't my biological father, whose hands had I inherited?

And if Sarah wasn't my biological mother, where was the woman who had given birth to me?

The door opened behind me.

Daniel sat beside me.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

Then he said, "I spent years imagining what my brother would be like.""

I looked at him.

"You knew you had a brother?""

"I suspected. Ethan used to say I had a sibling somewhere, but he never gave me a name.""

"What did you imagine?""

Daniel considered the question.

"Someone who had a normal life. Someone who knew where he came from. Someone who had parents who told him the truth.""

I stared into the darkness.

"I had that.""

"No," Daniel said quietly.

"You had a house. You had a family routine. You had someone who showed up at school events and took you to the doctor. But if he built all of that around a lie, then you didn't have the whole thing.""

I swallowed.

"Did you ever hate him?""

"Every day.""

"Do you still?""

Daniel looked toward the street.

"I don't know. Sometimes I think I hate the man who took my life away. Other times, I wonder whether the man who paid my school fees and taught me to swim was the same person.""

I understood that more than I wanted to.

For seventeen years, I had thought love meant trust.

Now I wondered whether love could survive the discovery that someone had built your entire world on a lie.

Daniel rested his elbows on his knees.

"Whatever the test says, we didn't do this to each other.""

I looked at him.

"No.""

"If you're my brother, you're my brother. If you're not, we still have to figure out what happened.""

I nodded slowly.

Then my phone vibrated.

An unknown number.

One message.

*Come to the old house. Alone. Bring the hospital report.*

A second message appeared.

*Your mother has something that belongs to me. If you want the truth, ask her about the red ledger.*

I showed Daniel.

His face hardened.

"That's Ethan.""

"How do you know?""

"He used that phrase with me once. The red ledger.""

"What is it?""

"I don't know. He said it contained the names of everyone who betrayed him.""

I stood.

"We need to tell Agent Cole.""

Daniel caught my arm.

"Wait.""

He looked at the message again.

"Your father doesn't want the report. He wants you to come alone because he knows you'll do something reckless if he threatens your mother.""

I pulled free.

"He's right.""

Daniel shook his head.

"Then don't give him what he wants.""

I returned inside and showed the message to Agent Cole.

She read it twice, then immediately called her team.

"We're not going to the house," she said.

"We'll establish a perimeter and approach under controlled conditions.""

I nodded.

But while she was speaking, I noticed my mother standing near the fireplace.

She was staring at a small photograph on the mantel.

Laura followed my gaze.

"Sarah?""

My mother reached behind the frame and removed a thin red notebook.

Her hands were trembling.

"I know what the ledger is.""

Agent Cole ended her call.

"Where did you get that?""

My mother held the notebook against her chest.

"Ethan gave it to me before I entered Witness Protection. He said it was insurance.""

"Insurance against whom?""

"Against everyone involved in the investigation.""

She opened the notebook.

The pages were filled with dates, names, account numbers, and short handwritten notes. Several names had been crossed out. Others were marked with red stars.

I recognized one immediately.

Victor Hale.

Another was the name of the supervisor Margaret Ellis had mentioned.

And then I saw Ethan Pulisic.

Beside his name were three entries.

*TRANSFER AUTHORIZATION.*

*IDENTITY SUBSTITUTION.*

*THIRD INFANT — ORIGINAL PARENTAGE SEALED.*

My mother turned the page.

A photograph slipped out.

It showed a young woman standing beside a hospital bed. She was holding a newborn, her face exhausted but peaceful.

I had never seen her before.

But something about her expression made my chest tighten.

On the back, a name had been written in blue ink.

*ELENA CROSS.*

Beneath it were five words.

*Your son deserves the truth.*

My mother stared at the photograph.

"I remember her.""

Agent Cole stepped closer.

"Who is she?""

"She was one of the women involved in the original investigation. She worked in the accounting department at Northbridge. She disappeared before I entered Witness Protection.""

"Was she pregnant?""

My mother nodded slowly.

"She was due around the same time I was.""

I stared at the picture.

"Was she my biological mother?""

My mother couldn't answer.

Agent Cole took the ledger and examined the final page.

A hospital record number had been written beside Elena's name.

She entered it into her phone, then looked up sharply.

"This record was sealed under a separate court order.""

"Can you access it?"" I asked.

"Not without authorization.""

"Then get authorization.""

"I've already requested it.""

She glanced at her phone.

A notification appeared.

She opened it, read the message, and went completely still.

"What?"" Daniel asked.

Agent Cole turned the screen toward us.

The court order had been located.

The record contained a single note.

*INFANT TRANSFERRED INTO TEMPORARY CUSTODY OF ETHAN PULISIC PENDING FINAL PARENTAGE DETERMINATION.*

My mother covered her mouth.

I stared at the words.

Ethan had not simply switched two babies.

He had taken a third.

The room seemed to tilt around me.

"Where is Elena Cross now?""

Agent Cole made another call.

She listened for several seconds, then lowered the phone.

"Elena Cross died eleven years ago.""

I felt something inside me collapse.

"How?""

"Her death certificate lists a vehicle accident.""

"Another accident?""

Nobody answered.

Daniel took the ledger from the table and examined the entry.

"Look at the date.""

Agent Cole leaned closer.

The transfer authorization had been signed on the night we were born.

But the parentage determination had been scheduled for the following morning.

It had never been completed.

Someone had deliberately sealed the results.

"Why?"" I asked.

My mother looked at the photograph of Elena.

"Because if Ethan knew which baby belonged to which mother, he could decide where each child went.""

Daniel shook his head.

"That doesn't explain why he'd take a third baby.""

"No," Agent Cole said.

"But it explains why he needed the records destroyed.""

She closed the ledger.

Then she looked at me.

"We've just received confirmation that Ethan's phone was active ten minutes ago. He's somewhere near the original Pulisic residence.""

My heart began pounding.

"Then let's go.""

"We're not going until the team is ready.""

"What if he leaves?""

"We have officers monitoring the area.""

"What if he hurts someone?""

Agent Cole looked directly at me.

"Then we move immediately.""

My mother approached me and took my hands.

"Pulisic, listen to me. Whatever happens tonight, you need to understand something.""

I looked at her.

"You are not responsible for what Ethan did. You were a child. You didn't choose your identity, and you didn't steal anyone's life.""

My throat tightened.

"But someone else lost theirs.""

"Yes," she whispered.

"And we will find out who.""

For the first time that night, I believed her.

Then Agent Cole's phone rang again.

She answered.

A man's voice came through the speaker.

Ethan.

"Rebecca," he said calmly.

"I assume you've found the ledger.""

Agent Cole put the call on speaker.

"Ethan, where are you?""

"That isn't important.""

"You need to surrender.""

He laughed.

"You still think this is about me.""

I stepped toward the phone.

"What do you want?""

There was a pause.

Then my father's voice softened.

"Pulisic. My boy.""

I closed my eyes.

"Don't call me that.""

"I'm trying to protect you.""

"From what?""

"From the truth.""

I gripped the edge of the table.

"Then tell me the truth.""

His voice grew quieter.

"Your mother has spent seventeen years believing she raised her own son. Daniel has spent twelve years believing his mother abandoned him. And Elena Cross died believing her baby had been stolen.""

He paused.

"Three children. Three mothers. One decision.""

My mother began to cry.

"What decision, Ethan?"" she shouted.

"Tell him!""

My father ignored her.

"Pulisic, if you want to know who gave birth to you, come to the old house.""

Agent Cole reached for the phone.

"Ethan, don't—"

He cut her off.

"Bring the ledger. Bring the original hospital report. And come without the woman who raised you.""

The line went dead.