“Hmm… I hope you’re right. Under your picture it says, Live-in girlfriend, Allison Flores, no longer lovey-dovey.”
“Allison who? What rag are you reading, anyway?”
“TheBoston Telegraph. And, um, here’s the part you might want to sit down for…”
“Oh, no. There’s more?”
“Just about the name.”
“Yeah, what’s with that? She must have made one up.”
Her father cleared his throat. “Or been very psychic. Allison Flores was your birth name.”
Merry dropped back onto her pillow with a thump. Shockwaves rendered her temporarily speechless.
“Honey? Are you there?”
“Yes,” she said in a small voice. “How on earth could some reporter know that?Ididn’t even know that!”
“Well, it’s true. We liked the name, Allison, but not with MacKenzie. Allison MacKenzie sounded kind of long and clunky. We looked at your tiny smiling face and the name Merry popped into your mother’s mind. Merry MacKenzie felt right. So, when we changed your last name, we changed your first name too.”
“Oh.”Allison.She had always liked that name. AndFloreswould explain her Latin features. She had never thought about having had another name since she was adopted as an infant. But how the hell did someone learn about her other name?
“Dad, do you think the records have been unsealed and someone has been trying to find me?” It might be a long shot, but what else could explain it?
“Or maybe theyhavefound you but aren’t ready to introduce themselves yet. Either way, I’d like you to keep me informed.”
“Sure. I’ll let you know if anything comes of it.” Merry let that roll around in her mind for a minute. Should it feel creepy that someone might know who she really is but isn’t willing to reveal themselves to her? Regardless of whether it should freak her out or not, it did.
“You know I love you, Pumpkin. If you need me, I’m right here for you.”
Uh-oh. She was regressing into little girl mode and he sensed it. Time to put on her big-girl panties and deal. “I know that, Dad. Listen, I’m going to talk to Roz. She might know how to approach this.”
“Rosalyn Wells? That’s right, she’s a lawyer, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, she does both criminal and civil law. I think adoptions are done in civil court.”
“Talk to her. And let me know if she needs my help to figurethis out.”
Jason hadn’t expected a P.I. to have a nice office in a high rise downtown. He had thought a shabby store front in the seediest part of town was likely where he’d find his sleuth. What was probably true, though, was that he’d watched too many detective shows on TV.
He rode the escalator to the second floor. Not much of a view from there. Preoccupied with what he would say to the P.I., he almost missed seeing Merry on the opposite escalator, going down.
“Merry!”
She looked his way, frowned, and faced forward.
Huh? What’s her problem?“Merry!” he yelled as she moved further away.
At last, she swiveled and yelled back over her shoulder, “Blow it out your ass, Falco.”
What the hell?She had seemed fine yesterday. More than fine. Warm, cuddly, and responsive. He sighed.
Women! I wonder what I’ve done now.
He thought about turning around and catching up with her. Would she tell him what was on her mind, or would she give him one of those “If you don’t know what you did wrong, I’m certainly not going to tell you” responses?
Maybe he should let her cool down. After all, she had admitted to PMSing recently. Whatever minor infraction he had committed, she’d probably feel foolish about it as soon as her hormones returned to normal.
