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Chapter One
~ Sariah ~
This would not be a day like every other day in my life. Ithadstarted out just as usual. I drank coffee while reading a book on my apartment’s balcony, got dressed, took a walk, then headed into the library for work.
Boring. The same old same old. I excelled at that, but I desperately longed to break free. Be more exciting. Do something…unexpected, but I couldn’t seem to break out of my rut.
Andthiswas unexpected, even if I’d had no part in making it happen.
I stared at the dark-haired security agent, a Mr. Archer Reed from a place called Bolthouse Security, who claimed I wasn’t who I’d always thought I was. Apparently, after my name had popped up as someone’s relative after I took one of those genealogy DNA tests, his agency had been hired to check into me.
According to him, he urgently needed to speak to me this morning. I’d agreed after I’d looked at his credentials and done a search on the company he claimed to represent.
“So you see, when you were almost two, you disappeared. I have photos of you from before then, as well as of your twin sister—you with her and of her alone after that time. If you’d like to see them…?”
I had a sibling? A twin? I’d grown up as an only child.
“Yes,” I croaked, my throat having become as dry as sandpaper. My voice emerged as a faint, barely audible rasp, in the quiet of the small study room of the library where I’d agreed to meet him.
He pulled a manila envelope from the satchel he carried then handed it to me. “This is yours to keep. It has a write up about your immediate family members, who they are and what they do. There’s contact information for all of them, as well as details about your older sister’s wedding next week. They’d very much like you to attend, and they’re all eager to meet you.”
I nodded woodenly, still so shocked that the ultra-religious, ultra-judgmental couple who’d raised me weren’t actually my parents.
“I don’t… I… Are you saying I was kidnapped?”
My mother and father were odd ducks. They didn’t understand why I marched to a different beat than they did—in fact that marching was too much like dancing, which wasn’t allowed—but they weren’t bad people, even if they’d disowned me due to my choices. When I’d turned eighteen and not wanted to go to the equally religious college they’d chosen, they’d kicked me out.
Even so, I didn’t want them getting in trouble. Maybe, it was my upbringing, but I wasn’t vindictive that way. I certainly couldn’t imagine them kidnapping me. They didn’t even drink coffee or swear. Snatching a kid seemed way outside their wheelhouse.
“My agency did some checking, and honestly, we’re not sure what happened. All records show they legally adopted you from a reputable agency. How you landed with them is murky at best.”
I stared at the envelope, my hand to my throat. It could be a cobra for as much as I wanted to touch it. But I had to. I needed answers.
Biting the inside of my lip, I nodded. Trepidation kept me from ripping into it right away.
“I’ll look over everything later.”
Maybe, after I finish a giant glass of wine. Or two.
That was another way I was different from the people who apparently weren’t my birth parents.
“I didn’t even know I was adopted…”
Mr. Reed appeared uncomfortable, as if he didn’t know how to handle this part of the proceedings. Maybe, the security agents where he worked weren’t really trained in remediation after dropping bombshells.
“Do you have any questions for me?” he asked.
I shook my head. Then I nodded, changing my mind. “These people…” I tipped my head toward the envelope. “You checked them out? They’re legit, right?”
“They are. Our boss never takes on a case without doing a background check.”
He rose, throwing the strap of the satchel across his body. It seemed totally at odds with the dangerous air he exuded. He struck me more as the type to have a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist. The shoulder-holstered gun I’d glimpsed when he moved proved that point.
I followed to my feet and held out my hand to shake with him.
“It was…um…nice to meet you. Thank you,” I said for lack of anything else to say. Even so, the words sounded inane to my ears. What did you say to a guy who tipped your world upside down? Thank you didn’t exactly seem appropriate, but politeness had been hammered into me—sometimes with corporal punishments.
We shook briefly. “There’s a card in the packet with my information. You can contact Bolthouse if you have any questions, and we’ll be happy to help you out as we can.”
