The Brother No One Knew
Chapter 04 - The Brother No One Knew
Claire left the hospital room feeling as if she had aged ten years in ten minutes.
Eli was sitting beside Marcus, swinging his feet beneath a plastic chair.
When he saw Claire, he stood.
“Is she going to be okay?”
Claire looked at him.
Her grandson.
No.
Not exactly.
Her son’s brother.
A child who had carried the truth to her in a dented bucket.
“She’s very sick,” Claire said.
Eli nodded as if he already knew how to live with bad news.
On the ride back to the hotel, Claire asked him about his family.
His parents had been Adam and Rachel Bennett.
Adam, Nora’s nephew, had been eleven years older than Eli. He had adored his little brother. When their parents died within a year of each other, Adam had become Eli’s legal guardian.
Then, two years ago, Adam and his wife were killed by a drunk driver.
Eli moved in with Nora.
Claire stared out the window.
Adam.
The name felt wrong only because she had never been allowed to know it.
“What was he like?” she asked.
Eli smiled for the first time.
“He made pancakes shaped like states. Texas always looked like a boot.”
Claire laughed before she could stop herself.
Eli looked pleased.
“He could fix anything. Cars. Sinks. My bike.”
Claire’s breath caught.
Daniel could fix anything too.
“Do you have a picture of him?”
Eli reached for his phone, an old model with a cracked corner. He opened a photograph.
Claire took one look and covered her mouth.
Adam had Daniel’s dark eyes.
But he had Claire’s smile.
She turned away.
Eli’s voice became small.
“Did you know him?”
Claire could not lie.
“I think I was his mother.”
The car went silent.
Eli stared at her.
Claire expected disbelief.
Instead, he whispered, “Nora said you might say that.”
Claire turned.
“What else did she say?”
“That I shouldn’t hate you.”
Claire felt tears rise.
“Why would you hate me?”
“Because she said you didn’t know.”
That answer hurt more than accusation.
Back at the Whitmore Grand, Claire took Eli to a private suite and arranged for a staff member to buy him clean clothes and toiletries. He refused everything except a toothbrush.
“I’m going back to Nora tonight.”
“You can stay here.”
“She’ll wake up and think I left.”
Claire nodded.
“I understand.”
A knock came at the door.
Marcus entered with a sealed envelope.
“This was delivered to the front desk for the boy.”
Eli frowned.
“For me?”
The envelope had no return address.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Claire read it first.
Then her face hardened.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE PAST BURIED.
Below the sentence was a photograph taken less than an hour earlier.
Eli.
May you like
Standing beside Claire outside the hospital.
Someone had followed them.
