Chapter 21

“You’re lying,” I whispered as the food in front of me turned unappetizing.  There was no way that these two people were my parents.  My real parents had abandoned me, had not been ready for the responsibilities that came with having a child.  I wasn’t taken from them.  This wasn’t a fairy tale where the girl finds her real parents, and they live happily ever after.  That wasn’t my life.

Hodge reached forward, trying to place his hand over mine.  I jerked away, not ready for any physical contact.  Hurt flashed in his eyes, and a small part of me wished that I could just accept his words for what they were, that I could just be happy.  I couldn’t though.  I had spent my entire life knowing one thing, that I had no parents.  I had no one to trust, no one to call to when I needed help, no one. 

“I know this may come as a shock to you,” Hodge said in a low tone, “but you are our child.”

I shook my head, denying his words with both gestures and words.  “I’m sorry.  I’m sure it was hard for the two of you to lose your baby.  It’s not me, though.  I’m not yours.”

“Her name,” Caroline said in a hurry as her face went from panic to slight hope.  “Tell her her name.”

“Don’t,” I warned.  “It will prove nothing but the fact that you work closely with Mitch.  He knows my name; it wouldn’t surprise me if the two of you did too.”

An arm wrapped around my shoulder, and I remembered Gabe was sitting next to me.  He was here to bring me comfort, to give me an escape anytime I wanted one.  And at that moment, leaving was the only thing on my mind.  “Just listen to them,” he whispered.

I jerked away from him, not liking that he was taking sides.  Maybe I was acting irrationally, maybe I should have sat there and listened to them while they told me how happy they were to see me, but I couldn’t.  I couldn’t sit here and listen to them tell a story that went against everything that I believed in, everything that I knew. 

“I have to go,” I mumbled while easing out of Gabe’s grip. 

Caroline reached out, holding my arm in a tight hold.  I knew the only way to escape was to hurt the woman, and no matter how crazy I believed them to be, I didn’t want to hurt them.  “Wait,” she whispered, hurt deep in her voice.  “Please just let us convince you that it’s the truth.  We’ll do anything, take a lie detector test.”

“There are ways to cheat a lie detector.  We all learned that in training.”

My words caused a loud sigh to leave her mouth.  “My hair color,” she said with less hope in her voice as earlier.  “It’s black.”

“The most common hair color found,” I argued, making her drop her hold on my arm.  “I’m sorry.  I know how much the two of you wish this was true, but I just can’t be who you want me to be.  I can’t be this long lost daughter you wish would have lived that day.  I’m sorry.”

Hodge stood from his seat, the burger in front of him long forgotten.  “Don’t be sorry,” he said with a small smile on his face.  “We had to try.”

I stood along with him.  I hated that we were leaving on a bad note.  I hated thinking that the two of us would no longer be in contact.  Hodge and Caroline were some of the best people I had met on the job.  It killed me knowing that things would never be the same between us. 

Gabe rose beside me, and as I glanced at him, I noted the sad smile on his face.  “I tried,” Gabe told them with a shrug, “but I don’t blame her.  You two have had longer to process this all.  Give her time too.  Maybe, she’ll surprise you.”

“I don’t need you to speak for me,” I told him with a small smile on my face to let him know that it didn’t bother me.

With a laugh, his sad smile turned happy.  “I know, but I wanted too.”  His eyes shifted to his wrist.  “It’s time to go, though.  They’ll start to worry if you’re gone for any longer.”

Turning towards Hodge, I tried to smile.  “I guess I’ll see you around.”

He reached towards me and pulled me in a hug.  “Whenever you need me, just say the word.”  He paused for a moment as if contemplating whether to say his next words.  His tone dropped, but I could still make out each word as he whispered, “Your mom didn’t get to see you.  I did though.  I held you in my arms and cried for the first time in my life.  You were beautiful, but your hair wasn’t black.  It was blonde.”

He pulled back from me without another word, leaving me standing there with a small amount of shock vibrating through me.  Could he really be who he claimed to be?  My name, that was something that Mitch knew, but my hair had been dyed long ago.  I had learned that blonde hair attracted more, that it was more uncommon than a dull brown.  When Mitch had first met me, it was the same dull brown I always dyed it.  Nobody but me should know the natural color of my hair.

I stared at Hodge as he stared right back.  Maybe, they weren’t lying.  Maybe, the two of them had really found the daughter they thought they had lost so long ago.  There was only one way to find out, ask the one man who knew all the answers, Mitch.

“I have to go,” I whispered, “it was nice seeing you again.”

“You too,” Caroline whispered.  “There’s a card in your pocket.  If you ever need me, just call, and don’t worry, the number in a safe line.”

“Thanks,” I said before nodding at them.  With an awkward glance at the both of them, I began walking away.  I didn’t make it far before a hand gripped mine.  Glancing over, I smiled at Gabe when he held up an uneaten burger. 

“For the road.”

I laughed as we exited the small restaurant.  “You didn’t think about getting a box to put that in?”

“Not when you’re going to eat it in the car.”

“Later,” I said with a smile as I dug into my pocket with my free hand.  “Right now, I need to make a phone call.”

His hand slipped from mine.  “I’ll be at the car, but if you don’t hurry, I can’t promise your burger will still be there when you get back.”

“I’ll hurry,” I said with a small laugh as I pushed him towards the vehicle.  Waiting until he was out of hearing range, I flipped open my phone and dialed the number I knew by heart.

“What is it, Sweetie?” a tired voice answered.

I cleared my throat, trying to keep my voice from betraying me.  “I wanted to give you an update.”

“Proceed,” Mitch mumbled into the line.

“A woman known as Genna was kidnapped, but I found her.”

He made a noise of his own, one that I couldn’t identify.  “Good,” he mumbled, almost sounding disappointed.  “What else?”

“Can I ask you a question?  It may sound a little odd, but I had just been wondering.”

“Go ahead,” he said before mumbling some words she could not understand, “but make it fast, something just came up.”

I shifted on my feet, nerves flying through me.  “What color is my hair?”

“Right now it should be black,” he said with a confused voice.

“That’s not what I meant, Mitch.  My hair color, what is my hair color meant to be.  The color that I was born with.”

I could almost hear the wheels spinning in his mind.  “Why?”

“I think my mission has been compromised.  There was someone who claimed to be family of mine, they told me that my brown hair came from them, that my brown eyes did too.”

He chuckled.  “Then they’re lying.  We both know your hair was blonde when I first met you.”

“Thanks,” I said, a sigh that sounded relieved leaving my mouth.  “I’ll let you go now.” 

My hand flipped the phone closed as my mind raced.  If Mitch had truly met me in the orphanage as he claimed to, how did he know that?  How could he possibly know the answer to my question?  Pushing the phone into my pocket, I walked towards the car, now sure that Hodge and Caroline were telling the truth.  They were my family; family who was taken away from me by the only person who I had thought was on my side.  Mitch would pay for the hurt he caused, and I was going to be the one to take him down.