The same small mark above the right eyebrow that Daniel had seen in his own childhood photographs.
"Are you Michael Carter?" Daniel asked.
The young man's expression changed.
He immediately tried to close the door.
Daniel stopped it.
"Please. I'm not here to hurt you."
"Get away from my house!"
"My name is Daniel Carter."
Michael froze.
Daniel took out the photograph of the two newborn babies.
"I think we're brothers."
The young man stared at it.
Then he stepped backward.
"No."
Daniel lowered the photograph.
"Michael—"
"My name is James Miller."
"That's not what the records say."
James shook his head.
"I don't know what records you're talking about."
Marcus stepped forward.
"We just need to ask you a few questions."
James looked at Marcus.
Then he noticed the police badge.
His expression turned to anger.
"You brought the police?"
Daniel quickly explained.
"Listen, I don't know what they told you, but something happened twenty-eight years ago. Someone took you from our family."
James laughed bitterly.
"You think I don't know that?"
Daniel stopped.
James walked toward a small cabinet and removed an old photograph.
It showed a woman holding a baby.
"My adoptive mother told me the truth before she died. She said I was adopted through a private arrangement. She never knew who my biological parents were."
He looked at Daniel.
"But she also told me someone paid to make sure I would never find them."
Daniel felt his throat tighten.
"Who?"
James placed another document on the table.
A bank transfer.
The payment had been made by a company connected to Saint Mary's Hospital.
The account holder was listed as Richard Hayes.
Before Daniel could respond, a car stopped outside.
James looked through the window.
His face turned pale.
"How did they find me?"
A black vehicle was parked across the street.
Its headlights were pointed directly at the house.
Marcus reached for his weapon.
"Daniel, get down!"
The first gunshot shattered the front window.
Daniel pulled James to the floor.
Marcus returned fire.
Glass exploded across the room.
A second shot struck the wall above them.
"There's a back exit!" James shouted.
They rushed toward the kitchen.
Daniel pushed open the rear door.
But before they could escape, a man appeared in the garden.
He was wearing a dark jacket and holding a weapon.
Marcus shouted.
"Police! Drop it!"
The man fired.
Marcus fell behind a concrete wall.
Daniel pulled James toward the side entrance.
They ran through a narrow passage and reached the street.
A second vehicle was waiting.
The driver opened the door.
"Get in!"
Daniel hesitated.
"Who are you?"
The driver looked directly at James.
"Your sister sent me."
Daniel immediately understood.
Rebecca.
They climbed inside.
The vehicle sped away.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at an abandoned warehouse.
Rebecca was waiting inside.
Her face was bruised, but she was alive.
Daniel rushed toward her.
"Where have you been?"
"Trying to stay alive."
James looked at her.
"Who are you?"
Rebecca approached him slowly.
"My name is Rebecca Mitchell. Your father has been searching for you for twenty years."
James looked confused.
"Why would your father search for me?"
Rebecca's voice broke.
"Because your biological father wasn't the only person who lost a child."
She took out a photograph.
It showed two young boys.
One was Daniel.
The other was James.
But there was something else.
A third child stood behind them.
A little girl.
Daniel recognized her.
Rebecca.
The photograph had been taken at Saint Mary's Hospital.
James stared at it.
"That's impossible."
Rebecca nodded.
"We were all connected."
Before anyone could speak again, Rebecca's phone rang.
An unknown number.
She answered.
A man's voice spoke.
"Tell Arthur that his children are together again."
Rebecca froze.
"Who is this?"
The man laughed.
"Someone who knows what happened to David."
Then the call ended.
Daniel looked at her.
"David?"
Rebecca slowly lowered the phone.
"My brother."
For the first time, Daniel realized there were more missing children than anyone had imagined.
And the person behind everything had just revealed that one of them might still be alive.
The warehouse became their temporary hiding place.
Daniel, Marcus, Rebecca, and James sat around an old wooden table covered with documents.
Outside, the city continued its ordinary routine.
Cars moved through the streets.
Restaurants remained open.
People went to work without knowing that a twenty-year-old criminal network was slowly being uncovered.
But inside the warehouse, the truth was becoming impossible to ignore.
Marcus had returned with a damaged shoulder. The bullet had grazed him, but he refused to go to a hospital.
"We can't trust medical records anymore," he explained.
Daniel placed the photograph of the children on the table.
"We need to find David."
Rebecca nodded.
"My father knows where he was last seen."
"Then we need to get Arthur out."
James looked at them.
"How?"
Daniel had no answer.
Arthur was being held in a secure detention facility under the authority of Captain Hayes.
Any attempt to remove him would immediately alert the department.
Then Marcus spoke.
"There might be another way."
He opened his laptop and accessed an old police database.
"I've been keeping copies of internal reports for years. Every time a case involving Saint Mary's appeared, it was transferred to the same office."
Daniel leaned forward.
"Which office?"
Marcus pointed at the screen.
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT.
Daniel recognized the name.
The unit was responsible for investigating corruption, organized crime, and misconduct within the department.
It was supposed to be independent.
"Who runs it?" Daniel asked.
Marcus hesitated.
"Deputy Commissioner Robert Collins."
Rebecca frowned.
"He's one of Hayes's closest friends."
Daniel felt his stomach tighten.
"How many people are involved?"
Marcus shook his head.
"Enough to make sure nobody talks."
At 9:00 a.m., Daniel received a message from an unknown number.