“He’s a language officer.”
“What’s that?”
“He works in some capacity for the federal government as a translator. We’ve never really discussed the intricacies of his position. I don’t think he’s supposed to talk about it because some of the work he translates is classified.”
Fuck me, does this woman believe her brother is some sort of super spy?
“What language does he translate?”
“Lev is a polyglot.”
“A polyglot?”
“It means that he’s prolific in over five foreign languages. Let me see if I can remember them all.” Her eyes look up to the ceiling as she recalls. “He speaks Romanian, Russian, Ukranian, Hungarian, German and, of course, English.”
“Your brother knows all of those languages?”
“Yes.” She smiles proudly.
“But he’s American, right?”
She hesitates to answer.
“I’m just asking in case there’s a passport number I can track down.”
“Oh… well, there should be. He travels a lot for work.”
Translator my ass.
The man who kidnapped me and ruthlessly slit my throat and the impressive guy she’s describing sound like two very different people to me. Although I can definitely see how the Consortium would benefit from having someone who could speak so many languages. He’d be an asset.
“Where did he learn all of these languages?” I ask, still unconvinced.
“Lev and I have the same Mother and different fathers, which is why we look so different. I’m not sure how Lev’s dad and Roxanne met.”
“I’m not following… Roxanne?”
“Our Mother.”
“Oh, okay, continue.”
“Lev and I were in different foster homes. So at some point, I think when he was nine or ten-years-old, Lev’s dad found him and pulled him out of foster care. Then they moved overseas to Russia for a while and I think the Ukraine. His Dad found decent work as a mechanic.”
“I bet Lev stuck out like a sore thumb over there.”
“He doesn’t talk much about his time living in Europe, but I would imagine it was better than being in a group home in the US.”
She probably has a point.
“Do you know his father’s name?”
“No, Lev always used our mother’s last name, and I never met his Father. He’s still in Russia.”
“Did your dad ever find you?”
“No,” she says solemnly.
“And so you and your brother kept in touch over the years while he was overseas?”
