Daniel did not remember deciding to stay.
One moment he was following the paramedics toward the front door, and the next he was standing still, staring at the bathroom. Mara had already taken the baby outside with the medical team, but Daniel remained behind. Evelyn stood beside him, rigid and pale.
“What was that?” he asked.
Evelyn did not answer.
Daniel walked into the bathroom.
The drain cover sat crookedly against the porcelain. The small white object Mara had noticed earlier was gone.
He crouched.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“You said something was caught under there.”
“It was.”
“What was it?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying again.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Daniel pulled the drain cover aside.
Nothing.
Only a narrow opening filled with dirty water.
Then he saw the mark.
A dark streak ran along the inside edge of the drain, as if something oily had passed through it. He touched nothing. He simply stared.
His phone vibrated.
Mara.
He answered immediately.
“How is he?”
“Still being checked. His oxygen level is good.”
Daniel exhaled.
“But there's something else,” Mara said.
“What?”
“They found traces of something on his skin.”
Daniel looked at the drain.
“What kind of traces?”
“They're running tests.”
“Did they say he was poisoned?”
“No. They don't know yet.”
Evelyn stood behind him.
Daniel covered the phone.
“Did you put anything in the water?”
“No.”
“Did anyone else?”
“I don't know.”
“Who was here?”
Evelyn looked toward the front door.
“Your brother.”
Daniel froze.
“My brother wasn't here.”
“He came this afternoon.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“He asked me not to.”
Daniel stood.
“What did he want?”
Evelyn's silence was enough.
“Mom.”
“He wanted money.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead. “How much?”
“I don't know.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel looked at the dirty bathtub again.
The ambulance had already taken the baby away. Mara was with him. Daniel suddenly realized how badly he wanted to be there, but another thought held him in place.
His brother had come to the house.
His mother had hidden it.
And now his newborn son had nearly stopped breathing in a bathtub that should have contained clean water.
It was too much to call coincidence.
“What's his name?”
“You know his name.”
“I want you to say it.”
Evelyn looked down.
“Thomas.”
Daniel's stomach tightened.
Thomas had been gone for three years.
Not dead.
Not missing.
Just gone.
He had left after a bitter argument with Daniel over their father's estate. Since then, he had appeared only occasionally, usually when he needed money.
“Why was he here today?”
“He said he needed help.”
“What kind?”
“He said someone was looking for him.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I don't know!”
Her sudden anger surprised him.
Then she began to cry.
“I should have told you.”
“Yes.”
“I thought I could handle it.”
“No, Mom. You couldn't.”
Evelyn looked toward the hallway.
“I was afraid.”
“Of Thomas?”
She shook her head.
“Then who?”
Before she could answer, Mara called again.
“Daniel.”
He picked up.
“What?”
“Come to the hospital.”
His heart dropped.
“What happened?”
“The doctor wants to speak to both of us.”
Daniel was already moving.
He grabbed his keys.
Evelyn caught his arm.
“Don't tell them about Thomas.”
Daniel pulled free.
“I’m done protecting people who won't tell me the truth.”
At the hospital, Mara stood outside the examination room with her arms folded tightly across her chest. Her face was exhausted.
Daniel approached.
“How is he?”
“He's sleeping.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Doctor says his breathing has stabilized.”
“Then why did you sound scared?”
Mara looked at him.
“Because they found something.”
The doctor joined them a moment later.
“There are no signs of severe poisoning,” she said. “That's encouraging. But the baby inhaled contaminated water. We're keeping him here for observation.”
Daniel nodded.
“What contaminated it?”
“We don't know yet.”
Mara glanced at him.
“They found residue on his skin.”
The doctor held up a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a tiny dark fiber.
“It resembles synthetic cord material,” she said.
Daniel thought of the hose.
“Could it come from the bathroom?”
“Possibly.”
Mara looked at him.
“Then why did you leave the bathroom?”
Daniel hesitated.
“My mother told me someone had been there.”
Mara's face changed.
“Who?”
“Thomas.”
She stared at him.
“Your brother?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I found out five minutes ago.”
The doctor stepped away to attend to another patient.
Mara lowered her voice.
“What did your mother say?”
Daniel told her.
Mara listened without interrupting.
Then she said, “There was something else.”
“What?”
“When they examined the baby, they found a faint pressure mark around his ankle.”
Daniel felt cold.
“What kind of mark?”
“Like something had been wrapped around it.”
He remembered the black hose.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody tied anything around him.”
Mara's eyes narrowed.
“Did you see him before your mother put him in the tub?”
“Yes.”
“Was he already wet?”
Daniel thought.
“No.”
“Then someone touched him after you left.”
They looked at each other.
Neither spoke.
The hospital corridor seemed suddenly full of distant voices and rolling wheels.
Daniel's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Hello?”
No response.
“Who is this?”
A breath.
Then a man's voice.
“You should have stayed out of it.”
Daniel froze.
“Who are you?”
The call ended.
Mara watched his face.
“What did they say?”
Daniel looked down at the phone.
“They knew where we were.”
Mara stepped closer.
“Call the police.”
“I will.”
He dialed.
But before the call connected, his phone received a message.
One photograph.
Daniel opened it.
His blood ran cold.
It was a picture of their house.
Taken from across the street.
The bathroom window was visible.
And beneath the photograph were six words:
YOU'RE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE.
Mara stared at the screen.
“Daniel…”
He enlarged the photograph.
In the reflection of the bathroom window, someone was standing inside the house.
Someone who had not been there when they left.
Click Here to continue read next: PART3: The Photograph Revealed a Hidden Figure Inside the House, but the Detail in the Background Changed Everything
The Water Was Turning Cold When Mara Realized Someone Had Been Hiding the Truth From Her Family
Part 2 of 8
