Page 35 of Save Me
He chuckled, then frowned. “That’s what your birth certificate says.”
“My birthday is in August,” she said, shaking her head.
He tilted his head and tried to pull up the image of the certificate in his mind. “Your birth certificate on file says January second. I’m sure of it.”
She stepped back out of his hands. “Show me.”
He thought of all the trouble he could get into for showing her anything from her sealed file, then he shrugged those fears off and walked over to open his laptop.
After opening her file, he showed her the copy of her birth certificate on file with the state. “I was right, January second.”
She leaned closer and scanned the file. “This isn’t mine.” She waved her hand. Then she stood up, disappeared into the back, and a few short seconds later came back carrying a piece of paper. “This is mine. See, August eighteenth.”
He held up the document next to his screen. They were identical except for the date and the fact that her mother’s name was missing on her copy. “Your copy doesn’t even have your mother’s name.”
“My dad said he erased it after she took off.” Crissy shrugged. “Still, I’ve never needed to show it to anyone so…”
He examined the copy in his hands a little closer and instantly knew that it was fake. Which made him wonder if the one the police had scanned and put in her file was fake too.
“These are fake,” he said to himself.
“What?” Crissy jerked next to him.
“This one for sure.” He showed her the paper. “There’s supposed to be a state seal here.” He ran his fingers over the spot where the paper was flat. “I can’t tell on this scanned one if the seal is there.” He zoomed the image in, but it was too fuzzy to tell. “I can request a copy of it to make sure.”
“Why would my dad have a fake birth certificate for me?” she asked.
He spoke without thinking and instantly wished he hadn’t. “Maybe he’s not really your dad?” Crissy slouched next to him, and he had to reach around and hold onto her. “Hey,” he said, pulling her closer. “It was just a thought.”
“I…” She shook her head. “How can we find out for sure?”
“Did they fingerprint you?” he asked after thinking for a moment. “When they found you?”
She thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. “Why would my fingerprints be linked to anyone other than me?”
“Okay, so you said your mom took off shortly after you were born. What’s the earliest memory you have?” he asked her.
She shifted on the sofa slightly and was quiet for a moment. “I had a friend.”
“Name?”
“Jade,” she said with a smile. “She was my best friend. We did everything together. I used to ask my dad about her all the time, and he would tell me she was made up.” Crissy frowned. “Then later, when I’d ask about her, he’d slap me.” She shrugged. “So I stopped asking.”
“Jade?” he said with a frown. “That’s a pretty unusual made-up name for a fake friend. How old were you?”
“Maybe three or four?” She shrugged. “It’s why it’s important that I give Emma happiness at this point in her life. Soon, she’ll be making her first memories.”
His heart did a little happy twist at that thought. How cool must it be for a parent to mold their kids first memories?
“What about you?” She interrupted his thoughts.
“Hm?” he asked, focusing again.
“What’s your first memory?” she asked.
He smiled. “Going down the water slide at the water park in Orlando. My folks took me to Disney for my fourth birthday. Besides a ton of pictures, none of which were of me on that slide, I remember so much of that trip.”
“How wonderful. What a great first memory.” She was quiet and he watched her eyes move up to the loft.
