NOTE: Updated to add some bits, and to remove the “tell him his big brother wants to see him” line, which fits better in a later scene.

Terry Mortenson sat in the kitchenette of his studio apartment and spoke into his cell phone. “Aaron, I think we found the kid who was claiming to be your brother.”

“Tell me.”

“He was freaking out at a library. Something about a news story he looked up. My guess is that he was trying to find something about his past.”

“That sounds right.”

“Anyway, whatever he found sent him over the edge, naturally. The police had to be called to calm him down. A friend of mine on the force told me about it.”

“Did your friend get the kid’s name?”

“Well, that’s where it gets weird,” Terry said. “At first he insisted that his name was Jeremy Crowther.”

“Jeremy,” Aaron said. “Did they get his age?”

“Twelve years old.”

“Twelve. I don’t have a twelve year old brother. So even if he’s a Forgotten, at least he hasn’t been replaced.”

“Apparently not.”

“Well, that’s a good sign,” Aaron said. “You said ‘at first’ he gave his name as Jeremy. What do you mean, ‘at first?’”

“Later he called himself Toby Iverson.”

“Toby Iverson?”

“Right. I wrote it down.”

“Do you know why he changed his story?”

“My friend thinks it was after his grandfather came to get him.”

“His grandfather?” Aaron sounded alarmed. “What grandfather?”

“Foley. The grandfather’s name is Page Foley.”

“Who the hell is Page Foley? I don’t have any grandfather named Foley. Both of my grandfathers are dead.”

“Like I said, that’s when it got weird. Foley said the kid’s family had been killed in a car crash in Chicago a year earlier–”

“Chicago!?”

“That’s what he said. The mother and a brother and sister were killed a year earlier. Foley and the kid convinced the police that the kid was just off his meds.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“I know. Jeremy–or Toby–fit the pattern right up until the grandfather showed up.”

“That guy is not the kid’s grandfather.”

“Are you sure? We keep seeing new variations of the pattern, even now.”

Terry listened to dead air on the phone.

Finally Aaron said, “Yes, I guess you’re right. Something new.”

“So what do you want me to do now?”

“Where is Jeremy now?”

“Patty– My officer friend watched him walk off with the old man. She said something didn’t seem right.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jeremy and Foley were acting kind of squirrely as they walked off. They kept looking back at her over their shoulders. Like amateur conspirators.”

“Like they hadn’t been entirely forthcoming.”

“Something like that. She was suspicious.”

“Did she see where they went?”

“No. They walked down the street out of sight. Then she heard a car drive off.”

“Okay. Do you have this Foley’s address?”

“Yes, do you want me to give it to you?”

“No, just go see if the kid is at his ‘grandfather’s’ house.”

“Okay. And if he’s there?”

Again Terry heard a long silence.

Finally, Aaron said, “Just let me know if he’s there.”