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“Yes, I am,” he said.
“No, you’re not. The signs have been there all along. I brushed them off. The Batman phone you’ve got hidden. The calls when you’ve got to leave. The deliveries. Are you some secret agent leading a double life?”
He actually laughed at her. “Do I look like some secret agent to you?”
“Brent. A lot of work went into hiding my identity. If you found me, others could. I need to know how. I need to call my lawyer.”
“You said you aren’t in danger.”
“Only to my peace of mind. It’s been so many years and time eases memories. But with the documentary coming out again…” She ran her hands through her hair. “That’s it, isn’t it? You saw on my computer what I was reading and then you dug and dug and put it together, right?”
“I will admit that I didn’t think people hid things well enough. Vivian is your great-grandmother’s name. Getman your grandmother’s maiden name. That was sloppy. But no general internet search would ever lead someone to what I found.”
“It was my decision,” she said, lifting her chin. “I didn’t have to change my identity. I wanted it. I didn’t or don’t want to be known as Christian’s daughter. I don’t want anything to do with the man. Not then and not now. My mother thought he walked on water and chose him over me. That life is behind me.”
“So this wasn’t something that the government felthadto be done?”
“No. It was my choice. My grandfather knew the best lawyers who knew the right people in the government. It was a high profile case and everyone felt it was the wisest decision in the end.”
He nodded like he could accept that answer and it only pissed her off more. “If you loved me why didn’t you tell me? I’ve asked about your life before and you brush it off.”
“I haven’t lied to you. I omit. I have the right to do that. Alexa doesn’t exist anymore. She can’t. And you didn’t answer me, Brent. I want the truth. You’re pissed and I can see it. You think I lied and I didn’t, but something tells meyou’relying. We’ve both made comments about secrets and you need to fess up yours. There is no way you found this information out without having some crazy high level government clearance.”
He stared at her. She crossed her arms and he said, “You can’t tell anyone. My family doesn’t know. Rob didn’t even know.”
“You’re asking me to keep your secret?” she asked. “That’s kind of laughable, but I suppose I don’t have much of a choice since you’ve got mine.” Tears filled her eyes. “Or I have to leave. Start over somewhere else. I don’t want to leave. But I’m not sure if I can take the chance someone else will find out.”
“No one will know,” he said. “I covered my tracks when I got the information.”
“That’s something at least. I suppose I’ve got to trust that was enough.” She wiped the tear from her cheek. She didn’t know what to think or believe. How could this be happening? “The bigger question is why you felt the need to even look into me like that and if this is the first time you’ve thought to do it.”
He wasn’t answering her and she was getting ready to turn and leave when he stopped her. “I’ve wanted to look, but I haven’t. You’ve given me no reason to other than curiosity. I don’t do well around people and reminded myself that you’d tell me things if you wanted me to know.”
“That’s right,” she yelled at him. “I’d tell you if youneededto know. If it made one difference in how I felt about you or our relationship.”
He opened his mouth and closed it. “You aren’t who you say you are,” he said.
“Are you kidding me? I’m the same person you’ve always known. The same person anyone in the past thirteen years has known other than my grandparents. When I tell you I’m alone in this world, you have no idea what that means. What it’s like. You can’t possibly understand how it feels to know you can’t call up a childhood friend. How it felt to have people turn against me because of what my father did. To have to move across the country and hope you never run into anyone that might cross paths with something in your past.”
“When the client came to your shop from California,” he said, “that started this again, didn’t it?”
“I’ve always tried to see if there was anything in the news on Christian. Because that is who he is to me, not my father. But I haven’t in a long time. There was no reason to. Then Courtney came in and started talking and it got me nervous. I did a search and found out about the documentary. I worried if someone would be looking for me and called my lawyer. They said they’d know if someone was and it’d lead them back to them and they’d tell me. They didn’t.”
“That’s right,” he said. “Because I covered my tracks. I saw the name of the firm that did the work. It didn’t mean much to me though. I moved past it. If he didn’t contact you then no one knows I was there.”
“That’s something. They assured me they’d know right away,” she said. “The bigger issue is trust. I can’t trust you. You can’t trust me. You can’t have a relationship like that,” she said, crying, and walked out the door.
29
You Were Wrong
“Dude, you messed up big time.”
“Leave me alone, Rob,” he said.
“You haven’t shaved in over a week and look like shit,” Rob said.
“Bite me.”
