Chapter Eleven - Part Three

as I do. And with protection from the Council, I think I can actually make that happen. Addy, I thought you wanted change –”

“And I do.” My friend insisted, cross. “But that’s not the issue.” She looked away for a moment, trying to catch and hold the last of her patience. “I trust you, Mimi. I trust you when you say that my father’s job is safe within the Leadership, just like you trust me when I say that I would never narc on you to your grandfather. But I don’t believe – not for one second – we can trust Tidus. You know, he used to be on the Council once. Do you even know why he’s not anymore?”

“No.” I answered, feeling slightly uncomfortable. I hadn’t wanted to ask. The possibilities of his answer had been too ominous.

But Adelle’s sweeter nature prevailed, and she took pity on me. She exhaled sharply instead, shaking her head at my ignorance. And rather than continue into an argument, she pulled out her phone and engaged herself in a text conversation with Collin. I was relieved. We had disputed animatedly the whole of the afternoon. Adelle was convinced that Eve was plotting, and that her plan would backfire and cause us a ‘shit-ton of mayhem and disaster’ in her words. But I chose to stick dogmatically to my newfound assumption that ‘innocent until proven guilty’ was still relevant and practical. I had made no strides to coming out with a definite yes or no on the issue. But even then, somewhere deep inside, the stirrings of a decision were already coming to life. I couldn’t say out loud what it was that I would decide to do, but I still knew what it was that I needed to do.

The lights of Claire’s dusty blue car were approaching now from the distance. Addy and I watched as she disappeared round the side of the building and into the alley. And it wasn’t long before we saw her making her way toward us, silently, from the far side of the building.

“You didn’t tell me you had an accomplice.” Claire said, affronted, from behind the opalescent lenses of her huge sunglasses. A short black dress, black handbag, and a black scarf about her head and throat effectively gave her the look of some cliché housewife from a 1950’s detective movie.

“She isn’t an accomplice – she’s a business partner, Claire.” I said with a grin.

“Pleased. Awfully.” said Adelle, and she extended her hand.

Ignoring Addy, and glowering at me, Claire eased her way around us and led us to the building’s front, swiftly unlocking it’s heavy, glass doors. We followed her inside the darkened building, and with our wolf’s eyes we watched her figure running clumsily in the dark, using her cell phone for a light. Her heels clacked loudly across the floor as she scrambled to get to the company’s alarm system stashed behind the information desk.

“Should I be worried?” Addy whispered, with her arms tucked across her chest.

“This place is owned by a bunch of Vampires – none of which are on the Council. But if we get into a scrape, I have a feeling Tidus could take care of it.”

“Hmph.”

After punching in the necessary numbers, Claire came striding back across the empty hall, gasping slightly.

“There was a security code.” she said in between breaths. “I had to enter it in thirty seconds or it would have automatically dialed the police.”

“Why?” Addy asked with a sneer. “The sharks aren’t satisfied with lock and key?”

“Proctor and Sool take their business very seriously. They aren’t just a bunch of monkeys in business suits, you know.”

“Well then, lead the way.” I said firmly, ignoring Adelle’s chortles. So Claire gave a last, resolved sigh, and we followed her into the elevators, back to room 4A. And swiftly, with keys quietly jangling, Claire unlocked the doors to the main waiting room, and then the sliding glass doors into Franks’ personal office.

Claire dug in her purse and tossed me a handful of keys before pulling out two pocket-sized flashlights. But Addy smirked and I shook my head no when Claire offered them.

“No thanks chica.” Adelle said. “We won’t be needing those.”

“Oh…kay.” And Claire looked to me with eyebrows raised in puzzlement as she clicked on her own flashlight. “Every key on that ring opens up something in this office, you just have to find the right one. The only thing you won’t be able to find in here is his briefcase, but any copies of documents relevant to Paris Noble would be in here too. I made sure of it.” Claire said, and shined her beam around the darkened office.

Mr. Franks’ workspace consisted of a sturdy, oaken desk where his computer and monitor were displayed. Behind this, along the wall space that was not taken up by law books and the shelves they sat on, were various awards and framed photos of Franks’ greasy, smiling self. I used the keys to unlock the drawer at his desk, then tossed them to Addy, who opened the metal filing cabinet at the opposite end of the room.

I sifted through rubber bands, pens, old, crumpled receipts, and gum wrappers but to no avail. I hadn’t expected to come across anything of value in there, but I still knew of the importance in being thorough. So finding nothing at his desk, I moved on to a filing cabinet of my own, and began rummaging through useless folders, full of equally useless documents.

“What you’ll be looking for is probably in a folder in one of the filing cabinets.” Claire remarked, peeking through the blinds of Mr. Franks’ window, at the silent world four stories below. “It’ll be marked by last name.”

“So,” I said, as I searched through more files. “Mind if I ask you something, Claire?”

“Sure, why not?” she replied idly, still looking out the window.

“Why are you with him? You have kids, Franks has a family, and you clearly aren’t in love…”

Claire let go of the blinds and faced me with neither shame nor resentment. For ten grand she could be candid when speaking the truth.

“When I first got this job, I was at a dead end. I had just broken up with my abusive, asshole boyfriend after having our second kid, and I was broke. So I bought a paper and scanned a few jobs that were hiring, and I found this place. Jeremy hired me because I was good looking and I could type fast – I didn’t question it.”

“So that’s it?” Adelle asked, looking up too. “You screw him once a week and he throws you extra benefits on the side?”

“Sorry if my life-style doesn’t exactly fit your standards princess, but I’ve got bills to take care of.” Claire retorted, angrily twisting the ends of her scarf. “But, yeah, I screw him once a week and I’ve got money to afford my kids’ braces. They don’t need the free lunch program, they get new clothes three times a year, and I can even set aside for their college – and I do it all as a single mother so you can take all that judgment and just shove it!”

“Hey, why don’t you simmer down there Sally Salisbury?” Addy shot back. “It’s not like I’m disagreeing with you. Prostitution happens to be a very lucrative business –”

In a swift move I grabbed Claire and yanked her back before she completed her lunge at Adelle.

“Have a seat.” I growled, directing her forcefully into the chair behind Jeremy’s desk.

“And you.” I said, jabbing a finger at Addy. “Quit instigating. We’ve got a job to do, so let’s just finish it.”

Amidst the grumbles of the two other women, we returned to our work and within minutes the task was completed. Addy located the file with the correct label and quickly spread it across the desk for the three of us to examine. My heart began to beat unpleasantly fast, and I was glad when Addy took it upon herself to open the folder. Taking a deep breath, I jammed shaking hands into my jeans pockets, lest my nerves betrayed me.

The first page was a copy of my birth certificate, which I merely glanced across, passing it over instead for the copy of the deed to my father’s house. Strangely enough, my first and last name were captured in yellow highlight all throughout. And the next document was a summary of my father’s assets, a short but thorough list.

I smiled.

There was nothing here yet to suggest they had anything of significance. All they had were useless papers to support a case that I was growing confident they wouldn’t win.

“Naomi, babe.” Adelle said slowly, and passed me the birth certificate again. “I think you should take a closer look at this.”

“What?” I asked, scanning the paper. “What is it?”

But I soon discovered what – and a very powerful what it was indeed.

Talimer. My last name was actually Talimer.

“I’m not really a Noble.” I said, looking down at the document in faint disbelief. My entire life I’d been known by Naomi Elizabeth Noble. There had been no other names, save insults or the nickname Mimi on occasion. But at the end of the day, “Noble” had been what defined me. It reminded me who I was. And now this stupid, simple, petrifying piece of paper was trying its damndest to convince me otherwise.

“Naomi Elizabeth Talimer, born January 12th.” I said, reading the words and yet still unable to process them. “I don’t understand. If I carry my mother’s maiden name, then why did I grow up in the system as Noble? Why wasn’t I ever referred to as Talimer?”

“Sometimes, when parents put their kids into the system, they leave them with pseudonym.” Claire answered. “It’s to protect the families. I had a cousin in foster care once.”

“It’s funny…” I said, feeling oddly weak and disorientated. “I never thought to ask myself or anyone else when my parents decided to get married. I didn’t think it would ever end up being this important, but it is. Talimer wasn’t really the pseudonym – Noble was. They didn’t want anybody to know that my last name was Talimer, which is why they asked for it to be changed when they gave me up.”

“I knew it. You’re Paris’ daughter.” Claire said, staring at me with renewed interest. “You’re from that family.”

Adelle and I ignored her.

“But why?” Addy asked. “Why would Paris and Jack do that?”

“I don’t know.” I said pensively, and then looked at Claire. She had the last few papers in her hands and was combing through them with interest.

“What do those say?” I asked.