July 14, 2018
“What exactly is your plan?” I ask Kristy as we step into the Chicago O’Hare airport. I clutch the overnight bag that Kristy prepacked the day our family left the ranch. Apparently Maddox told her to stash a bag for both her and I in the trunk of the car, in case the need were to arise.
I honestly don’t know who these people are. Kristy just shot the man who…attacked me when I was younger and rendered another unconscious. Then, as if one trained specifically for this situation, she dialed our next door neighbor and asked for them to help around our ranch, claiming two thousand dollars is in an envelope in your mailbox, while navigating us to Will Rogers World Airport.
The drive was a long one, however it provided her a perfect opportunity to explain how she had all of this set up. How she arranged help from our neighbors, the Joneses, and how she was able have plane tickets on standby.
“Maddox gave me a step by step list on how to get you out of the country if need be. Adelaide, when I say you are the most important person to him, I’m not lying. However, instead of getting a flight to Rome, I booked us passage to Chicago. I don’t believe you’d wish to sit idly by. Therefore, I hired a private detective who will be meeting us at the airport.” I looked over at her with wide eyes. “Maddox trained me from day one. He taught me what to look at when hiring people…their credentials and their backgrounds. He taught me how to fight and fire a gun. He taught me how to properly change my identity and flee the country. He offered me protection with his body as well as protection for when he was unattainable.”
The drive to the airport afterward was mostly silent, apart from a few questions regarding Cooper and Phoenix. Kristy assured me that the Joneses’ have it handled.
Now, as we walk through the airport, I look at Kristy with my question hanging in the air. “Xavier Gonzales will meet us at Terminal Three and will take us to a safe house he set up. He’ll give us all the information he has gathered on the Cicero Disciples and we will give him what Maddox has told us. He’ll assemble his team, and when they’re confident with their intel, they will hopefully take them down. And then, we will see our family. I hope.”
Kristy looks down at her feet as we walk, biting her bottom lip as if to keep tears at bay. That simple act tells me she fears for their lives just as I do.
“Why hasn’t this been done before? Why haven’t the Chicago police force been pursuing them?” I ask, running a hand through my tangled hair. In the back of my mind, I silently wish for a nice shower, however it is the least of my concerns at the moment. According to Kristy, there is a lot that needs to be done first.
Kristy and I walk toward the doors of Terminal Three and I see a man standing there with a sign in his hands: Crane. I look over at Kristy and she offers me a small nod.
“They’ve never had an inside source before,” Kristy bites out before we stop in front of Detective Gonzales.
He’s a middle-aged man. Wrinkles gather around his dark eyes as he greets us, holding his hand out in a friendly gesture. Kristy is first to grasp his hand, shaking it and returning the greeting. A thick lock of gelled hair falls across the detective’s forehead as he turns his gaze toward me. His hand is warm is it encloses mine.
“Hello, Adelaide. It’s nice to finally meet you, my dear.” I arch an eyebrow and turn to Kristy with questions in my eyes. What does he mean, finally? Do I know of this man? Kristy has a gobsmacked expression flash across her face and I know she’s hiding something. I hear Detective Gonzales sigh. “You didn’t tell her?” His voice is gravelly, trying yet failing to hide his disappointment.
I look over to see his once smiling eyes dull with despair. He’s a very handsome older man, even with his dull, dark eyes. “Tell me what?” I ask. The detective purses his lips and meets my gaze.
“Nothing, Adelaide. All in good time,” Kristy says, placing a hand on my shoulder. “We have work to attend to at the moment.” Even though I know she’s right and my attention is immediately diverted to my family’s safety, I don’t let the present matter fade too far from memory.
I’ll have the answers I seek. I don’t like being left in the dark. I spent most of my life sheltered, I don’t need to return to the isolation.
“Follow me, ladies,” Detective Gonzales says, his voice strong and authoritative as he turns to lead us out to a sleek, black Dodge Charger. I can see the police lights hidden near the windshield and know this is an undercover vehicle. I slide into the back with Kristy by my side, buckling in.
I glance over at the girl who has become my sister with a frown marring my face. She was the last person I expected to keep secrets from me.
Sensing my feelings of betrayal, Kristy grabs my hand and squeezes it. “I’ll tell you everything, Adelaide, I promise. There’s plenty of time for answers. But right now, we need to focus on saving our family, okay?” I see the sincerity in her eyes and know that Kristy is telling the truth.
I guess I can quell my curiosity for the time being.
I lean my head back against the smooth leather seats as the detective leads us away from the busy airport.
The next time I open my eyes I’m being torn from a dream and thrust into reality by Kristy shaking my shoulder. I subtly stretch as I look around my surroundings. We’re in a neighborhood containing small houses and semi-dead grass. I bite my bottom lip and slide out of the car, holding my bag.
Detective Gonzales is already at the front door to the light blue ranch-style house. There is a paved walkway from the driveway leading to the small porch that holds two white plastic lawn chairs. I hear a dog barking loudly from the house to my right, and I look over to see the large black beast standing at a window, staring right at us. I arch an eyebrow, but otherwise ignore it as I walk toward the house.
Once inside, I take in the simple furniture and plain walls. It reminds me of the home I grew up in, and I take a few deep breaths to ease the suffocating fear that begins to creep up. I remind myself that the doors open. That I am able to walk out whenever I want.
I am not a prisoner.
I follow a hallway that leads to two bedrooms. “We’ll be sharing the master. Gonzales will take the guest,” Kristy says to me. I look over at the detective following me, respecting my slow pace. He holds a soft expression as he looks at me, the corner of his mouth twitching up in a smile.
“You’re staying with us?” I ask.
“For your protection, yes. You two will not leave my sight until this is over.” I bite my tongue to keep from voicing my hesitation. I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about sharing a living space with a complete stranger.
Warnings from my mother run through my head. Men are monsters. Never trust men. They will only hurt you.
The old Adelaide would quiver with fear.
I won’t allow myself to do so. I nod my head in agreement and deposit my bag in the master bedroom.
“I had my men stock the kitchen. Would you like me to put a pizza in the oven? Then, with full stomachs, we can begin.” Gonzales doesn’t necessarily wait for our responses. He heads to the freezer and pulls out three large pizzas, preheating the oven.
I turn and hurry into the bedroom to take a quick shower. It will take about twenty minutes to bake the pizzas anyway.
I need a moment with my thoughts. I need to drive away all fears of confinement and reassure myself that I am completely safe.
“Why didn’t you tell her?” I hear Gonzales whisper over to Kristy. I press my back and head against the wall, hardly breathing as I listen to their conversation.
“Adelaide has enough to think about, Xavier. You need to respect my wishes. I know what is best for her at the moment. You don’t even know her,” Kristy hisses.
I hear a loud bang as I assume Xavier slams a glass on the table. “I didn’t even know of her until you contacted me! You tell me she exists and then expect me to watch her from a distance? You have given me a new reason to live, yet I have to merely exist from afar?” Gonzales’ voice is throaty as he speaks and I can’t help but think I hear him sniffle.
Who is this man and why does this trouble him? Who is he to me?
“My parents don’t even know you exist! Aunt Elena trusted only Jeremy with information about you. And he told me. So, yes, you need to merely exist from afar, Detective. Please, understand how fragile she is…for her to learn who you are…”
“Jeremy? Why would she trust my nephew with such information? He was only a child!” Gonzales is getting upset…so much so that his words don’t even register in my mind until I step out of my hiding place and move to stand in front of Kristy.
“Don’t yell at her!” I say, placing a hand on Gonzales’ chest, pushing him back a step.
Surprise alights Xavier’s eyes as he looks at me. He shakes his head, holding his hands up in surrender. “I’d never hurt her, Adelaide. I’d never hurt either of you.”
I look at him skeptically, shaking my head. “Who are you, Xavier Gonzales?” I ask. The older man looks over my shoulder at my cousin, but I step in front of her, cutting off their silent conversation.
I thought I could hold off from answers, but at this moment, I need to know the truth. Whatever is going on seems important, their conversation thick with meaning and secrets.
“Adelaide…you heard your answer. You know who I am.”
“Jeremy’s uncle. Are you Adam’s brother?” I ask, tilting my head to the side. Who would he be to me then? Missy is my mother’s sister…therefore, Adam is only relative by law. Xavier would have no relation to me.
“I am Jeremy’s uncle. And Kristy’s. But I’m not Adam’s brother. I’m not Missy’s brother, either.” My head throbs as I try to make sense of his words. What does he mean?
I look over at Kristy to see a frown deep upon her lips. She drops her head into her hands and sighs.
“Adelaide, look at me.” The strong authority in Detective Gonzales’ voice causes me to snap my attention back to him. His eyes are intense as he reaches forward to grab my hand. “Your mother and I never got married, but I loved her with my whole heart. She was in love with my brother, however, and one drunken night led to the biggest mistake of her life. At least, that’s what she told me before she ran away from Chicago and moved in with her sister…your Aunt Missy. I tried to contact her. I tried to visit, but Adam rightfully kicked me off the property. I respected your mother’s wishes and kept away. When I heard she was brutally attacked and went into hiding, I was mad with anger. I turned to the law and became an officer and then a detective. My sole purpose was to find the men who hurt the woman who consumed my heart. But there was no proof of the Cicero Disciples having anything to do with it, though I knew in my heart that it was them. Adelaide, I promise that I did not know you existed, sweetheart. I—” I cut Xavier off by ripping my hand from his gasp, stepping back. I shake my head as tears well in my eyes.
“No…” I whisper. “No. You’re lying! My mother always told me my father was a monster who defiled her!” Detective Gonzales flinches at my words, as if they severely wound him.
This isn’t possible. I accepted that my father was a cruel man I would never meet. A man I had no desire to meet.
Was this just another lie?
“W-we ne-needed you. W-we nee-eded help! W-where were you? W-why d-did you s-stop looking?” I ask, tears welling up in my eyes. I look at the man before me as a tear rolls down his weathered cheek. He makes no move to brush it aside, instead he steps toward me with determination.
“I used every resource I had to try to find your mother. But she was hiding…she was protected, to keep you safe. Even your aunt and uncle didn’t know!”
No…no… Only my grandfather knew of our location, and I assume members of the government, since we were in protection.
“Adelaide, I want you to look into my eyes right now.” My body shakes as I try to fight his demand. I want so badly to hate him. To blame him for everything that has happened to me. It would be the easiest course of action.
It would be what my mother would do.
I lift my eyes to meet his. They are bloodshot with pain and anguish. “I found out that your mother died a little over a year ago and I was distraught. All meaning I had for living was snuffed away from me. All my efforts to bring the Cicero Disciples down were suddenly profitless. I had lost everything I was living for in a single moment and I didn’t know what to do. When Kristy found me and told me I had a daughter, created by a night of one-sided passion, it was as if everything changed focus. The Cicero Disciples no longer mattered. My sick vendetta no longer mattered. All that mattered was you. Adelaide, my sweet girl…the only reason I am continuing my mission to take them down is because I know what happened to your mother. I know what that monster did, and I know the people you love are in danger. Therefore, if I am only to be the man who helps save your family, then so be it. I will accept that. Because I will then at least be more to you than I ever was to your mother. And I’m okay with that.”
Gonzales’ words tear at my heart. They rip me to shreds. This man is broken and looking at me as if I am the apple in his eye. I want so badly to be able to accept him. To love him as a father. But I don’t know who he is.
I don’t know where to go from here. My mother has damaged my image of my father. She tainted whatever love I could have had for him by filling my head with lies.
I hope Xavier Gonzales can alter my perspective, however, before I leave Chicago. Because I desperately want the chance to have a father.
I swallow my grief and look at the man before me with an expressionless gaze. “We have a lot of work to do, Detective. Please, don’t let me down as my mother has said you have. And…our pizza is burning.”