“No one but you three, and Carlos of course. He was the one that picked me up after all,” Travis answered. “I’d like to keep it as such for now, if at all possible. Cody will not take kindly to my return.”
“He doesn’t take kindly to anything,” I muttered.
“No, he doesn’t,” Travis agreed easily. “But I do have a few things that need to be discussed, and they pertain to you, Avidya if you want to hear them.”
“Of course I do,” I said with an eye roll, which for some reason caused Zachariah to let out a small laugh at my display.
“She’s very capable of handling a lot of things,” he laughed beside me. “She’s not the same girl you may have known before you left.”
“Shouldn’t have expected anything less,” Travis said. “Cody will hate how you are learning the ways of life. And I can’t wait to see his reactions when he sees you again.” He gave us both a pleased smile with thoughts of what was to come.
“Pretty sure he’s hated me all his life, but what else is expected from someone that doesn’t even share the same blood as me,” I said, head held high. As the days went by, I was glad that Cody wasn’t my father. I had no ties left to that worthless man who thought he could control my life. I still wondered if he killed Lynn before she was able to get away since I had yet to hear anything of her whereabouts.
“So, you know, then?” Travis asked surprised.
“That I was kidnapped as a baby?” I answered with a question. “Yes, Travis. I know Cody and Lynn aren’t my real parents, yet I haven’t found out who are. Everything is such a mess. Then you turn up here and make more of a mess on top of it.”
“How am I making more of a mess? That was why I left in the first place. I overheard Cody talking about your mom, and how he got you to be in his house. I went to track down your real parents, with some luck,” Travis replied.
“Shall we take this to the living room so we can at least sit?” Jonas hinted. “Sounds like this could take a while.”
“After you,” Zachariah said towards me. “Jonas is right, it could take a while. I’m sure we all will have questions.”
I looked up at Zachariah, trying to read his expression, which he kept carefully blank. He gave me an encouraging smile before nodding his head towards the living room.
What was I about to find out? Would it change my life more? Or would it be nothing I haven’t already found out on my own?
Zachariah pulled me into his lap as he took the chair while Jonas and Travis took a seat on each end of the couch. Zachariah’s arms pulled me against his chest. I was growing to love being on his lap with him holding me. There was nowhere else I loved more.
“Where should I start?” Travis asked himself, rubbing a tattooed hand down his face. I couldn’t see what the black ink was exactly, but it looked as though it went from his knuckles up to his sleeve-covered arm.
“I found a little over a year ago who my biological parents were,” he spoke after a moment. “I knew I was adopted, and it was never a secret growing up. My parents loved me and were always opened about the subject. Of course, growing up, I asked a number of times about why I was adopted, and who had given me up.
“It wasn’t until I turned nineteen that I finally got the answer of who gave me up. I learned through the years that my biological mother gave me up for adoption after being arrested for drug use. My father didn’t want anything to do with me, as he was a teenager when I was created.
“My real mother has since passed away, but she had a younger sister, who I was able to track down. My father – Aaron Hartwell – was not so easy to track down. I did find out that Lori, that’s what her name was, passed away from a drug overdose when I was ten,” he went on.
“Aaron was this huge big shot in school, and every girl wanted him it seemed. A number of hisflingsclaimed to have children with him just to get some of the old money that his family had. It never worked. Ever. Even after DNA testing where the tests came back positive, his lawyers still somehow turned it around to where he never had to pay a cent to his offspring.
“He sure isn’t living the best now, though,” Travis laughed out. “Once I tracked him down, he had the balls to ask me for money, which he didn’t get. Although, I did get to talk to him a bit and find out a bit of information that I wanted.”
“You said you went on this trip because of something Cody said,” Jonas reminded him.
“Oh, yes,” Travis replied. “A couple of weeks before I left on this little trip, I overheard Cody talking to a man in his office. Now, that wasn’t all that abnormal for him, as he seemed to always be talking to someone. But what I heard that day changed how I thought of him, and you Avidya.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never wanted anything from you, sweetie,” he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and looking straight at me. “I knew of Cody’s . . . placement. That was no secret to Zach nor his family. Or to me either since I work closely to Zach. I thought I would maybe have a chance to talk to you more, get to know you and see what your life was like living with Cody, but he never gave me that chance.
“Anyway, that day I just happened to stop by, mostly to see if you were there by chance, and I overheard him talking to a man, Gemini, about marrying you secretly to get you out of the way. I’m not sure why you needed out of the way, but Cody seemed determined to get you away as soon as you turned eighteen.”
“So, Cody did plan for me to be kidnapped, then,” I summed up, really not all that surprised. “But so did Lynn.”
“Yes,” Travis said. “That was why I had to check on you when I got back. I heard in the newspapers that you were missing for a few days and then returned back perfectly fine. That didn’t add up to me one bit.” He shot a look at Zachariah before continuing on. “But it seems as though I did not need to worry.”
“Gem gave her to me,” Zachariah said with a shrug, his voice hard at the thought. “He’d dead, by the way. Shemoli was behind it too, but not sure who was the main brains behind it all. I’m assuming it was Gem and someone else, though. I plan to marry this girl, and she has nicely agreed to do so.”
“Why haven’t you taken Shemoli out yet, then?” Jonas asked out.
“I haven’t gotten what I need from him yet,” was Zachariah’s answer. “Go on,” he mentioned to Travis.
