Page 126 of Lee

Now that Lee knew he could find the details on his own, he gave a single nod for the man to proceed.

“Your birth name was Bradley Ricardo McDaniel.” Peter went on to give his birthday, which aligned with the one he’d been raised with, so at least the Halversons had kept that the same. And it seemed like they’d tried to keep his name similar too.

“Your brother was Ian McDaniel. Named after the man who fathered you. He was five and you were three when everything went down.”

“How sure are you about this?”

“Very. Using the information you gave me about your DNA relatives, I looked at their families. Soon, I discovered their mutual connection to Ian and Valeria McDaniel. That sent me down another road, which is where I discovered that both their sons had died.” Peter picked up his mug and took a sip. “Though all signs pointed to you being one of their sons, I was still surprised when I discovered that his birthday was the same as yours.”

Lee didn’t want to accept what the man was telling him, but how was he supposed to argue against it?

“I’m sure this isn’t what you wanted to hear when you hired me to find your family.” The man’s expression was sympathetic, but it didn’t do much to ease the shock that still reverberated through Lee. “If you’d like my advice, I would suggest you put this all aside and just focus on your future.”

Lee stared at him incredulously. Put it all aside? A bomb had just gone off in his life. There was no putting it aside. His heart had been cratered. There was no way to ignore the impact of learning about his birth parents.

This was the worst-case scenario.

He’d figured that whatever he learned wouldn’t be good, but this… this was far worse than anything he’d imagined. His brain struggled to understand and accept what Peter had told him.

He had a brother…

His parents were murderers…

The world believed that he had been murdered…

“Are you sure that my brother is dead?” he asked. “They didn’t do the same thing for him that they did for me, did they?”

Peter’s gaze was sad as he shook his head. “He was dead when the police arrived on the scene. You “died” in the hospital.”

His stomach tightened at the words. Did the Halversons know? Did they know that the little boy they’d let into their home had experienced such trauma?

Why didn’t he remember any of it?

He tried to search back into his memory for a time before he joined the Halverson family, but there was nothing. He couldn’t recall a time when they weren’t his family.

Peter slid the envelope toward him. “Here’s all the information I found.”

Lee's hands trembled slightly as he reached for the envelope.

"How do I... How do I not remember any of this?" Lee's voice was a whisper, barely audible over the coffee shop's background noise.

“The human mind has ways of protecting itself from traumatic memories, especially in young children,” the detective explained, his voice gentle. “It's possible you've repressed those memories.”

Lee nodded, struggling to process the maelstrom of emotions. Anger, sadness, betrayal.

"Thank you," he managed to say, his voice stronger than he felt. "I think I needed to know. Even if it's... this."

Peter offered a sympathetic nod. "What you do with this information is up to you. Some might find it helpful to seek therapy, to talk about it. Others might prefer to focus on building the life they chose, not the one that was handed to them. Either way, remember you're not alone."

Unfortunately, for the first time in his life, Lee felt absolutely alone.

“If you need to talk, just give me a call.” Peter reached across the table to pat Lee’s hand. “I think I might need counselling after this.”

“Sorry,” Lee said, feeling bad that he’d inflicted the horror of his past on the detective.

Peter held up his hand as he shook his head. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

Lee appreciated him saying that, but he still felt bad. “Do you think they did the right thing?”

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