Leaning against the ceramic sink, I took in my reflection in the mirror. On the surface, nothing seems to have changed. It was the same pair of eyes, the same smooth face, the same nose and mouth that stared back at me. That was what everyone saw when they looked at me. But I saw the gloom that followed every blink of my eyes. I saw the scary apprehension that shadowed my whole expression every single time I let myself think of my recent discovery.
I would be lying if I said I never knew there was a dark side to my dad’s dealings. I had always known it, just like I had always known I loved lending my voice to charity. I was far from naive, so I knew his sudden travels, subtle calls, ever-changing bank accounts, and dangerous expressions in the presence of certain people pointed to his dirty business. It’s just that I never knew what it was. But, since my discovery, I knew he was in trouble. Huge debts, most likely.
I still remember that night like it was yesterday and not several months ago.
“I’ll be fine. It’s just a headache, Pee,” I pointed out, chuckling as I undid my seat belt.
“Yeah, a headache is usually the beginning of other things,” he argued as he got out of the driver’s seat.
Peter was one of my dad’s longest-serving staff; he had been around since I could remember. My dad said I had given him the ‘Pee’ nickname when I was in elementary school. He used to drive me to school when I was younger and, even now, he drives me around whenever he isn’t out with my dad—sometimes even when I insist on wanting to drive myself. In many ways, Peter was the big brother I never had—the much older, big brother.
“This one is the beginning of nothing,” I declared as he opened my door. “It was probably all the microphone noise in the hall. Nothing a good night's sleep can’t solve.”
“Alright, ma’am,” he joked. “See you tomorrow, then.”
“Goodnight. Thank you,” I answered, turning around and heading straight toward the double doors.
Once inside, I tossed my bag on the nearby couch and took my heels off.
“Feels good to be home,” I whispered to myself as I picked the shoes up and went to the spiral staircase.
The sound of my dad’s voice made me stop in my tracks as I got to the hallway. I wasn’t scared; I knew it was his voice. But I was quite stunned. I thought I was home alone. I took another step before I noticed something that made me stop again.
He was practically whispering.
Why would my dad, whose voice fills the largest of rooms on a normal day, be whispering in his own house?
Curiosity made me silently move closer to his office door.
“No, not immediately… You can rest assured, it’s not a cargo you won’t like... Ah, I know you…We’re talking millions here; even I don’t have the luxury of time. These people will ask for it anytime now.”
He was clearly on a phone call.
Whoever he was talking to was definitely not one of the foundation’s sponsors, I was sure of that.
And what cargo is he talking about?
“Don’t worry about that, I told you…No, not because she’s my daughter. Come on, I’m not blind. I see how men drool over her here in Russia.”
I practically stopped breathing when his words echoed in my head, realizing I was the daughter he was talking about.
“Not until I have an exact amount. I can’t sell her off and then find out about some other lingering debts. What would be the point?”
I slapped my empty hand over my mouth. I couldn’t trust myself not to cry out in shock.
Sell me?!
“So, you see where I’m coming from….Alternatively, you could sell her off from your end, you know, to make even more money,” he went on, a low laugh emanating from him like a man discussing the sale of furniture. “Yes, I just wanted to layit out…not for another year or more…exactly, it depends on that…okay, then…have a good night.”
Although I didn’t hear the sound of his chair shifting, I backed away from his door, not wanting to risk being caught.
I didn’t know this man anymore. I couldn’t be sure the monster I heard talking about selling his only daughter wouldn’t strangle me if he caught me eavesdropping. I wasn’t sure of anything concerning him anymore.
Not until I was in the safety of my room, behind my locked door, did I collapse on the bed and cry into the pillow.
Since that night, I had started sneaking into my dad’s office in his absence, gathering evidence about his shady operations. From making transcripts of his calls that I covertly recorded, to making copies of documents. In essence, everything I didn’t understand. I saved them all in soft copies on a thumb drive since I couldn’t leave a trail that might implicate me.
I wasn’t compiling evidence against him to sell to anyone; I was gathering it for leverage.
