Anna heard the baby cry before she reached the laundry room.
It was the sharp, breathless cry that made a mother move before she had time to think. She hurried down the narrow hallway with one hand gripping the doorframe for balance, expecting to find Noah tangled in a blanket or hungry again. Instead, she stopped so suddenly that her shoulder struck the wall. Claire was standing beside the old utility sink, one hand deep in cloudy water, while Noah screamed against Anna's chest.
“What are you doing?”
Claire jerked her hand back.
The expression on her face was not annoyance at being interrupted. It was fear. Real, immediate fear. Water dripped from her fingers onto the cracked floor tiles as she stared at Anna. For several seconds neither woman spoke.
“I asked you what you were doing.”
Claire glanced at the baby.
“Anna, put him somewhere safe.”
That answer made Anna tighten her hold on Noah.
“Why?”
“Just move away from the sink.”
Anna took one step backward. Noah's little fists were clenched against her shirt, his wet cheeks shining under the harsh ceiling light. He had been crying for nearly a minute, but now his cries had become strangely uneven.
Claire reached toward him.
Anna pulled away.
“Don't touch him.”
Claire froze.
“You think I hurt him?”
“I don't know what to think.”
The laundry room smelled of detergent, damp cotton, and something metallic underneath it all. An old washing machine rattled beside the wall. A basket of clothes sat overturned near Claire's feet, but the clothes scattered across the floor were dry. Only the sink was wet.
Anna looked at the water.
Gray liquid filled the basin almost to the top.
A child's sock floated near the drain.
She recognized it immediately.
It belonged to Noah.
Her eyes moved from the sock to Claire.
“Why is his sock in there?”
Claire swallowed.
“I found it beside the crib.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“I was washing it.”
“With what?”
“Water.”
Anna stared at the sink.
“Then why is the water that color?”
Claire looked down.
“I don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“No.”
Anna stepped closer.
The cloudy water had a thin film across its surface. Something dark clung to the bottom of the basin. It wasn't lint. It wasn't mud. It looked like tiny flakes of black paint.
Noah cried harder.
Anna turned away from the sink.
“I'm taking him upstairs.”
“Wait.”
Claire caught her wrist.
Anna immediately pulled free.
“Don't.”
Claire released her.
“You need to listen to me.”
“I've been listening.”
“No, you haven't.”
Claire's voice cracked.
“Someone was in this room before I came down.”
Anna stared at her.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
Claire pointed toward the back door.
“I heard it open.”
Anna looked.
The door was closed now.
Its lock was still turned.
“Did you see anyone?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know someone was here?”
Claire hesitated.
“I found this.”
She reached into the pocket of her cardigan and pulled out a small silver key.
Anna recognized it.
It belonged to the cabinet beneath the laundry sink.
“Where did you get that?”
“It was on the floor.”
“That cabinet is locked.”
“I know.”
“Then why do you have the key?”
“I told you. I found it.”
Anna stared at the key.
Her husband Daniel had given her that key years earlier. He had said it was for an old storage cabinet containing plumbing supplies. Anna had never bothered opening it.
She suddenly wished she had.
Noah's crying softened.
Claire looked toward him.
“Has he been sick?”
Anna hesitated.
“Not really.”
“Fever?”
“No.”
“Vomiting?”
“No.”
“Then why was he crying like that?”
“I don't know.”
Claire looked frightened again.
Anna hated that expression.
Not because she didn't believe Claire, but because she was beginning to believe her.
She carried Noah into the kitchen and placed him in his portable crib. His crying stopped almost immediately. Anna crouched beside him and examined his arms and legs.
There was a faint red mark around his left ankle.
She touched it gently.
Noah kicked.
Anna frowned.
“That wasn't there this morning.”
Claire stood in the doorway.
“What's wrong?”
“His ankle.”
Claire came closer.
Then she stopped.
“I didn't do that.”
Anna looked up.
“I didn't say you did.”
Claire's face tightened.
“You were thinking it.”
“I was thinking that someone did.”
A silence settled between them.
Claire looked toward the laundry room.
“Anna, there is something in that cabinet.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
“Then let's open it.”
Claire shook her head.
“Maybe we shouldn't.”
Anna stood.
“You just told me someone was in our house.”
“I know.”
“And now you're telling me not to look?”
“I don't know what's inside.”
“Neither do I.”
Anna took the silver key.
Claire followed reluctantly.
The cabinet door was swollen with age. The key resisted at first, then turned with a hard metallic click.
Inside were old cleaning bottles, spare hoses, folded rags, and a cardboard box.
Anna pulled the box forward.
It was heavier than it looked.
“What is that?”
Claire leaned closer.
There was writing on the lid.
Not a brand name.
A date.
Twenty-two years earlier.
Anna looked at Claire.
“Why would something this old be hidden here?”
Claire didn't answer.
Anna opened the box.
Inside was a bundle of envelopes tied with faded blue thread.
The first envelope had no name.
The second had a hospital logo.
The third had a handwritten word that made Anna's stomach tighten.
ADOPTION.
Claire whispered, “Close it.”
Anna looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because that's not ours.”
“How do you know?”
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I put it there.”
Anna went completely still.
“You?”
Claire nodded.
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Why?”
Claire looked toward Noah.
“Because Daniel asked me to.”
Anna's breath caught.
“My husband?”
Claire nodded.
“He told me never to open it.”
Anna picked up the envelope.
“Then why did you?”
“I didn't.”
“You just said you put it there.”
“I moved it.”
“From where?”
Claire's lips trembled.
“From Daniel's office.”
Anna felt something cold move through her.
“Why would Daniel have adoption papers?”
Claire didn't answer.
Anna tore open the envelope.
Inside was a photocopy of a birth record.
The mother's name was unfamiliar.
The father's name was blank.
And the child's birth date was exactly the same day Noah had been born.
Anna stared at the paper.
“No.”
Claire whispered her name.
“Anna…”
“This is impossible.”
The document listed a hospital three hours away.
A second page contained a handwritten note.
ONE CHILD WAS RELEASED. THE OTHER RECORD WAS DESTROYED.
Anna's hands began shaking.
She looked at Noah.
Then back at the paper.
“What does this mean?”
Claire wiped her eyes.
“It means you need to ask Daniel where he was the night Noah was born.”
Anna looked at the clock.
Daniel was supposed to be home in less than an hour.
She suddenly wasn't sure she wanted him to come home.
Click Here to continue read next: PART2: Anna Waited for Daniel With the Old Birth Record Hidden in Her Pocket, but Claire’s Next Confession Made the Paper Far More Dangerous
The Water in the Laundry Sink Wasn’t Dirty From Clothes, and One Small Discovery Made Anna Realize Someone Had Been Hiding Something
Part 1 of 8
