Page 32 of Joey

“Again, you’re missing the point. And I didn’t set this location. I’m happy to see Maisy in the city, if that is better suited for the Kane family security concerns.”

So much dead air sits on this line I finally say, “Are we done here?” half expecting him to have hung up.

“I will contact your lawyers then.”

“Great. You do that.” I end the call.

“Who was that?” Wald asks. He’s still in the kitchen, now making a sandwich.

“Fucking Kane security.”

“Why do they need background checks?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“They want to stop you by digging up dirt?” he asks.

“Probably.”

“You shouldn’t dismiss this so easily. If we do end up in court they will run those checks.”

“I know,” I say.

“Are you worried about her?” Wald nods his head to the terrace where Huck and Brooke are probably talking social media strategy.

“Aren’t you?”

He nods. “Yeah, she’s definitely got a secret history. I already ran her background check with our own security.”

“What did you find?”

“She’s real. And it’s her pic on all the documents. So… I don’t know. She either knows some very powerful people who can fake everything in every database, or she really is Brooke Alder.”

“Which one do you think it is?”

“Powerful friends.”

“Why can’t it just be her real name?”

“Because Brooke Alder has no police record. Not even a speeding ticket. Brooke Alder grew up in Ocala, Florida and never had a job. Not a single job, Joey. She has no footprint at all. This woman is not her.”

“It could be her.”

“If it is her, then she does not make sense.”

“Just ask her,” I say.

“It’s fake.”

Wald and I both turn to see Huck and Brooke standing in the open terrace doorway.

“My record?” she clarifies. “Brooke Alder was my best friend growing up. She died thirteen years ago.”

“So…” Wald begins. “You stole her identity?”

“It’s complicated. But… yeah. You see, she moved out of the country when she was sixteen. Her dad ran some agricultural research station in Ocala and got transferred to Europe for a big project. Brooke got sick and died a year later.” Brooke shrugs. “And when I decided to leave everything behind when I came to the city, I used her as my new identity because there’s no record of her death here in the US and her father is dead now too.”

“Well, that’s fuckin’ sad,” Huck says.