Teresa continued.
“I thought Mr. Bennett was the boy’s father.”
I looked up.
“Ryan?”
She nodded.
“He visited often. Eli calls him Daddy.”
Dawson made a terrible sound.
Teresa’s eyes filled.
“But I found paperwork last month. Old hospital documents. Another father’s name.”
She looked directly at Dawson.
“Yours.”
Teresa handed us a copy of a birth record.
It listed the child as Elliot James Mercer.
Mother: Megan Mercer.
Father: Dawson Mercer.
The document did not establish what had happened afterward, but it confirmed that Megan had given birth to a live child.
Dawson touched the name.
His fingers trembled.
“Elliot James.”
I remembered how proud he’d been when they chose it.
James was his late father’s name.
He stared at the paper for so long that Teresa finally looked away.
Then I asked, “Why did you send me the photograph instead of contacting Dawson?”
Teresa swallowed.
“Because I found your name on some mortgage papers in Ryan’s study. I searched for you and discovered that you’re his wife.”
Her voice shook.
“I realized there were families who didn’t know what was happening.”
“Why now?”
She looked frightened.
“Because they’re planning to move Elliot again.”
Dawson sat straighter.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
She opened her handbag.
Inside was a small toy dinosaur.
Blue plastic.
One leg broken.
Teresa placed it on the table.
“He left this in my car yesterday.”
I stared at it.
My mother had seen him drop a blue dinosaur at the hospital.
