Chapter I75: Multiple Identify Cards
Chapter 175: Multiple Identify Cards
Camilla
I spotted the second twin shooting me a small smirk at my reaction but I was more so curious about what had been uncovered behind the board that was now useless as it dropped to the ground.
"Yes, it definitely looks like something you…" Avan starts but stops as her head tilts at the plastic baggy she picked up. I caught her eyes looking over to her twins but she didn't stop me as I took the item from her to look at what was inside.
My mouth parted slightly in surprise as I opened the top, multiple of identity cards filling it, all with my father's face repeatedly across the cards. Thomas Davis, Vincent Ranger, Robert Aific, Lucas Brown. I had to look twice at the last name, seeming familiar but I couldn't quite pin why.
I can see why the twin's eyes had widened at this because it was a discovery l hadn't expected. My father's life was always a mystery to me but seeing how many different lives he has lived was almost a shock to my senses. I thought back to all those days when we spoke in my car, the phone number he gave me was still hidden away back home in a place I was certain no one would find. His visit was something I was asked to keep secret and I doubted he wanted anybody to find out about this either.
"Is this your father?" Kate, the second twin asked, appearing at my side as I instinctively closed the bag but didn't bother trying to hide it.
"Yes, he has been missing for a while now, I hoped that maybe I would be able to find some sort of clues here but this isn't exactly a huge surprise to me." I lied, trying to play things off as best as I can.
"He led a pretty secret life so a few of identity cards aren't exactly far fetched when it comes to him."
Their faces school themselves into neutrality but I saw the look Avan shit her sister in something that looked suspiciously like recognition. I made a mental note to ask Gregorio about that when I get back home.
Feeling the plastic clenched between my tensed fingers, l know there has to be more here. More things that I can't have an audience when discovering. Although I may be good at sneaking out of places, these two were better trained than I could ever be and would be tracking me until I am back in Domenico's arms. I suppose the real question now is how do I get that privacy another way?
"So which man is the real him then?" Avan asked with a tilt of her head, her curiosity clearly as piqued as mine.
She would catch my lie so I just prayed this was information safe to speak.
Vincent Ranger is the man I know to have raised me until I was old enough to hold my own." I said, realizing that thinking about my father made me miss him a little. It helps to know he is alive but that didn't always make things easier.
"This is actually bringing back a lot of hard memories. Do you think I can have a little bit to myself?" At the reluctant looks I get, try to really play on my sadness.
"I know it is your job to make sure I am safe, but is there any way you can do it from a distance for a little while so I can get the closure I need?"
I made sure to add just a subtle bit more emphasis on the word closure, knowing it is likely what Domenico told them I was here for considering what I have explained so far. I was betting on the fact the twins didn't want to feel like they were interfering with the whole purpose of my visit, well aware all three of my men would do what was needed to give me what I came here for.
"We will stray far." Kate said and I recognized her tone was one of understanding but also one of hesitance.
With a nod of gratitude on my part, I waited until they were genuinely gone, no longer being able to feel their eyes on me. My chest grew a little higher with them gone but I still didn't know what to do about the bag Avan found or if I should continue to keep this a secret. I agreed to silence because my father asked me to but that was before I began to trust my men with my life. They would never betray me and their resources through the mafia could help assuming they would be okay with it.
My father had given me a business card right before he disappeared from my car, claiming it was the number of someone who could help me with my finances and clearly hinting that there was money left to me under my name. I have been too much of a coward to call because if it is as much money as he is making it out to be, it feels like a goodbye I am not ready for.
He had wanted to make sure I was taken care of and I feared that meant he believed there was a chance he wouldn't be coming back like he promised. These were all thoughts I try my best to down out and shove away but it makes it hard when my every instinct tells me to dig. I don't know how Avan knew which board to tug at, my memory of Kate saying to check the couches popped into my mind as I stared at the furniture to my left.
It wasn't a horrible idea so I moved there next, my footsteps sounding lightly against the cold floor. Goosebumps had managed to form in a light covering along my arms, but I forced myself not to scream as more bugs scurried away at the tug of the first cushion, quickly tossing it to the floor. Nothing was under that one so I proceeded to the next one and the next one and the next one.
My heart was racing at this point but each time I pulled away a part of the couch, all I was met with was the dust covering something across the wooden frame that kept it together. Even now, I didn't know what I was looking for, however I was hoping for something a little better than this. I am tired of being kept in the dark and I nearly sink to the ground in defeat before I get an idea as the brown coloured cambric catches my eye.
It could be a stretch but there wasn't much I had to lose at the moment. Pulling the dagger Susan bought me as a gift from my jacket, I dropped into a slight crouch in front of the first piece of furniture. I have made good on my promise to her ro carry it with me and I couldn't be more thankful for it now.
Cutting a precise slash through the fabric covering, my mouth parted as I realized my theory had been correct. Two dust covers were built into the deceiving old and battered couch. The first one being a fake and the second acting as a secret net to hold more things than I know how to process. If I thought the fake identity cards were bad, the sight before me makes those just the tip of the iceberg.
Here, there are contracts, health records, blue prints and photographs. All things which shouldn't surprise me but do. I didn't even know where to begin so I simply reached out to the first thing I saw, an ultrasound picture dated 1995. I was born in 1997. My brows remained furrowed at the image but there was still so much more for me to look at so I put the photograph in the back of my mind.
Setting it down, I then looked at the blueprint to a building I didn't recognize as well as a few houses as it seems as well. There were a thousand questions spurring in my head right now, however there was one thought that battled out over all the others, the one fact I wished wasn't true, I really don't know my father at all.
Although my instinct was to cover everything around me up, I didn't trust that the twins wouldn't come back to poke around in my father's things. I like them but I don't know who they are or the reasoning behind their reaction when they saw my father's multiple identification cards in that bag. I had hidden those back behind the wall considering they already saw them but everything else was stuffed into my coat pocket in a way that made it look like they were empty. My business here was done but my guard was up now.
As I stepped out of the barn, the feeling of eyes tingled the back of my neck yet again but the twins didn't bother to remain hidden this time. I told them on the walk back that I had tried tearing open the bottom of the couch but didn't find anything and I think I put on enough of an act that they believed my need for silence was due to disappointment rather than millions of questions continuing to form.
There was a lot I needed to figure out but I could only get through it step by step. Although my mother's house wasn't home by any means, I really just wanted to get into Adriano's t-shirt I stole for the weekend and curl up on the couch.
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