Stolen Time

by S. A. Ichigo

  “Whoho!” he shouts throwing his hands in the air.

  Then he holds her up and twirls her around a few times, planting a soft kiss on her cheek.

  Mia chuckles.

  “Your brother is one of a kind,” she says, amused.

  “I hope you still like the other Russel better.” I tease.

  She smiles.

  “I love the other Russel if that counts,” she exclaims.

  Wedding is amazing. Mia certainly put the work in – everything is spot-on. She really worked hard for the past couple of weeks to make this happen. She is the best. No wonder her company grows so quickly.

  “May I have this dance?” Caleb asks her, completely ignoring my presence.

  Mia laughs and kisses my cheek, then motions to the dancefloor with my brother.

  Caleb is a good dancer, but Mia easily keeps up with him. I watch her swing over the dancefloor. She’s barely touching the ground. She looks like an angel. My angel. I smile to myself. I still can’t believe she’s mine. But moments like this remind me she’s real.

  Her smile.

  Her laugh.

  Her scent.

  I love her more with every passing day.

  I head over to DJ and ask him to play a song for me. I tip him and go back to where Mia and Caleb are dancing. Once their dance is over, I reach for her and grab her hand.

  “This song is for us,” I whisper into her ear.

  Slow piano music plays and I drag her closer.

  “Just listen,” I whisper.

  She sends me a questioning look and I kiss her softly. I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long. She knows I love her, but I want the world to know. I want everyone to see she is my everything. My reason to live. My reason to breathe. I want her to know that I have no doubts. I want her to know I’m scared as hell, but I want this to last. I want her to know I’m all in. I watch her expression as the singer sings ‘Running home to you’. It’s the most romantic song I’ve ever heard. I see tears threatening in her eyes when she listens to the words.

  “Can’t say how the days will unfold,

  Can’t change what the future may hold

  But, I want you in it

  Every hour, every minute”

  We dance like there is no tomorrow, glued to each other. She holds me close like she’s scared to let me go. Once again, Caleb was right. I want more than this. No matter how bad I feel about letting Lisa go – she’s gone already – but I’m not. I’m here. I know I’ll never forget about her – she was my first love. Maybe in another life, we would grow old together – but in this one fate took her away from me. Maybe it all happened for a reason. The reason I didn’t know existed just a few months ago.

  Mia.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Mia

  Present

  It’s been the most magical half a year of my life. I couldn’t ask for more. Waking up next to him every single morning and falling asleep by his side is my favorite part of the day – not counting kisses, cuddles and earth-shaking sex.

  Kai made me realize that together we can overcome everything. He’s my rock when I have bad days – and yes, I still have them. I still overthink too many things. There is a part of me that’s afraid to move on. Even though I love Kai, there’s something holding me back. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to chase away the demons from my past. But I’m trying.

  The last two weeks have been hard though. This time of the year is always tough for me. Just a few more days and it will be six years since my parents died. Already six years and I still feel like it was yesterday. In my head – it’s still way to real – the images of their faces did not fade away. I still see it clearly. I still hear their screams. And the more time is passing, the more I miss them.

  Kai is the most supportive man I know. He’s there for me whenever I need him – whether I want to cry myself to sleep or I have no strength to get up from the bed. He’s holding me tightly. Night after night. He’s chasing away my demons when I have no strength to fight them, despite he’s got his own omens to battle. And for that, I am forever grateful.

  Tonight is special. It’s half a year anniversary and we’re going out for dinner. I have no idea where he’s taking me, but judging by the way he’d said “Wear something sexy, but not too sexy.” it’s going to be some fancy restaurant. So first thing after I come back from work, I take a quick shower and style my hair in a simple updo. I put some makeup on, I’m not great at it, so I decide on matt golden-rose eyeshadow and mascara. No lipstick. Kai hates lipstick unless we’re home and I kiss him whenever I want.

  I put on a navy off-shoulder dress and black strappy heels. I glance at myself in the mirror and curl a few loose pieces of hair. I smile. I never thought I can be so happy again – yet here I am – everything is perfect. It feels surreal, but I love this feeling. I love being loved by someone. I love having a place to call home again.

  I hear a doorbell ring and run I towards the door taking two steps at the time. Kai was about to pick me up at seven, so I’m a little surprised, cause it’s barely five. I smooth the dress, I grab a door handle and push open the door. And I freeze.

  It’s not Kai.

  I know this man though. I would never forget his face. Although I didn’t see him a while, he hasn’t aged a day. Black suit, a tie and a pair of matching glasses. He’s got a few more wrinkles on his forehead and his dark hair turned a little grey on the sides. His voice is as professional and ice-cold as I’d remembered it.

  “Special agent James Miller, FBI,” he says with a harsh voice and shows off his badge.

  I feel dizzy. Not again. I beg. Not now. I shake my head in disbelief.

  “Miss Wood, I need to ask you a few questions. There was a breakthrough in your parents case.”

  And just like that, all the air I had in my lungs gets sucked out. Hearing my real name after such a long time feels strange. Eden Wood is dead – I want to say, but words get stuck in my throat.

  “Do you mind if I come inside?” he asks.

  “Yes, please.”

  I step aside to let him through. My head is spinning and I feel like I’m going to pass out. My hands are shaking. Million of thoughts collide in my head. My parents case. A case that had been solved and closed six years ago. FBI caught their killer and brought him to justice. So what now? And more importantly... why now? Why not six years ago?

  I stare at Agent Miller as he takes a seat in the living room. I offer him a drink, but he refuses. Me on the other hand, I go to the bar and pour myself a glass of whiskey.

  “I’m sorry for coming without notice,” he says briefly and stares at me. “But it’s urgent.”

  I stare at him, my heart racing like an F1 car. What might be so urgent after so many years? Isn’t it too late to change anything?

  I look at him. His expression is stone cold and hard to read. No emotions. His gaze fixed on me. He frowns.

  “Miss Wood,” he starts.

  “Please call me Mia,” I say with a shaky voice.

  I’m not used to hearing my old name anymore. It sounds strange and brings back way too many bad memories I want to keep away. I take a deep breath.

  “What is it, Agent Miller, that you pay me a visit after six years?” I ask.

  “Yesterday evening a woman showed up at Los Angeles Police Department caring a package addressed to you, that had been sent to your parents home address,” he explains. “The envelope contained a pen drive and a hand-written note.”

  I stare at him shocked, not knowing what to say. I take a sip of my whiskey and shake my head in disbelief.

  “It can be a joke,” I say.

  “Our criminal technicians analyzed the note and a flash drive,” he looks at me. “I suggest you take a seat, Miss Wood.”

  I frown and take a seat on the sofa, suddenly feeling like I’m going to pass out. My head is spinning, my blood is racing in my veins and my heart is beating so fast it hurts.

  “Handwriting on the note belong
s to your mother, Miss Wood,” says Agent Miller.

  “It’s impossible. My mother is dead. I saw her death with my own eyes.” I say and my voice breaks.

  I feel like dark clouds are gathering above my hand again. And if God exists, I’m cursing him for doing this to me. I can’t go through it again. I just can’t suffer and lose everything I built again. It will be the end of me. I shake my head and take another sip of whiskey.

  “She’s dead,” I repeat more to myself than to him.

  He hands me a small envelope. I take it with shaking hands and open carefully. He was right, it’s my mother’s handwriting. I feel tears gathering in my eyes as I start to read the note she’d written. The paper is stained with tears. My mother’s tears.

  My Dear Beautiful Eden,

  If you got this note, that means both me and your father are dead. I wish I could tell you everything, but there was just no time and I feared to let you inside this dangerous world – the world you should never be a part of. So I kept you in the dark, hoping you will be safe.

  But I was wrong.

  Now listen to me carefully, Eden. I need you to hand over these files to the FBI, they will know what to do with them, but they need you to access them. Don’t contact LAPD, trust no one, and once you hand over the flash drive. Run. As fast as you can, as far as you can. Cause the people who killed us will try to hunt you down.

  I’m so sorry I let you down. I hope one day you will forgive me.

  I love you, my sweet baby girl.

  Mom.

  Tears fall down my face like a waterfall. They knew. All along. They knew. I let out a loud sob and squeeze a note in my hand. I can’t believe they’d been lying to me. I can’t believe they risked my life for whatever they’d been doing. And I hate them for that with all my heart. I lost my life because of their lies. I lost my love because of their secrets. And now that I finally found my peace, someone is trying to steal it away from me again.

  All my life has been a lie. Whoever my parents were – they sure as fuck weren’t the people I knew – or I thought I knew. The only question that remains is why I got the files now, not six years ago? I look at Agent Miller and ask with a breaking voice. “What now?”

  He takes a deep breath.

  “I will need you to come with me to Los Angeles as soon as possible. We need to access these files,” he says.

  I grit my teeth and throw a note away.

  “Why now, Agent Miller?” I sob. “Why not six years ago?”

  I’m a mess.

  People I trusted the most had betrayed me. They traded my life for whatever was more important than keeping me safe. People I trusted most made me lose everything I loved. I can’t believe they could do something like this to me and it hurts like hell. It hurts to know they chose to lie to me instead of telling me the truth. It hurts to know I was their second choice.

  “Your mother left this envelope to someone she trusted,” he explains. “On the envelope, there were only five pairs of fingerprints. Your mother’s, postman’s, two people from the post office and...” he looks me deep in the eyes. “Matthew Richmond’s.”

  I left Kai a message saying that something came up with work and I’m sorry, but I need to cancel our date. Lies. After all, I’m my parents daughter. It’s not like I’m much different from them. I’ve been lying to someone I care about as well.

  The whole journey to Los Angeles feels like a blur. I travel by private plane with Agent Miller and a few more Federal Agents to protect me. It’s all going to go down the hill again, – I feel it. Whatever’s on this tape isn’t good. Whatever my parents discovered, cost them their lives. And mine - I remind myself.

  The flight is tiring and I’m barely holding on my feet. I’m not sure whether it’s my lack of energy or shock. I still can’t cope with the thought of Matt hiding the tape from me. I can’t believe he would do something like this. He loved me. There must be some kind of mistake. He couldn’t be the one to post this letter.

  Agent Miller provides me with three private bodyguards and books me into a hotel under another false name. When I step inside the room, I fall directly to the large bed and cover myself with the duvet. I’m shaking though it’s hot outside. The warm, lazy sun brightens the room, but I feel like darkness is slithering to my life again and it’s taking over my happiness. I feel like the walls are closing on me.

  My phone beeps.

  Kai: I hope I didn’t wake you. Just wanted to say I love you and can’t wait to have you home again.

  I let out a sob.

  Home.

  A place I thought is forever lost for me.

  Me: I love you too. I’ll see you in a few days.

  I press send and drift away to sleep.

  The next morning, I’m on my way to the LA FBI office. I’ve never been so stressed in my life. I’m scared to know what’s on that tape and I’m not even sure I want to find out. All I know is, it will hurt. It will hurt to see my parents after so many years. It will hurt to learn the truth about them. It will hurt to hear the truth after being fed only lies. It will wreck me.

  Nothing’s changed here over the past six years. White walls, grey flooring, bright lighting. The building is as dull as all those years ago. I still recognize a few faces here and there. It feels odd to be here. I don’t belong here anymore. Los Angeles isn’t my home any longer. It’s too noisy, too busy, and I feel like I’m suffocating. The amount of people walking down the streets is overwhelming.

  Agent Miller leads me to a bright room with a few people inside and I take a seat next to him. I can barely breathe. My heart is pounding like crazy and I feel like I’m going to pass out. Someone hands me a glass of water.

  “Miss Wood, are you okay?” Agent Miller asks.

  I nod and take a deep breath.

  “This is Agent Thomas Brown.” He points at the tall man in a suit with a laptop in his hands. “He is part of our technical support team and will help us today.”

  “Eden Wood,” I greet him. “Nice to meet you.”

  It feels so strange to use my real name. Hearing it coming out of my mouth is even more bizarre. From the day I abandoned everything and ran away I never used it again. I buried Eden alongside my parents. It feels like being back from the dead somehow. Only that I don’t want to go back. I found my safe haven.

  “The files are encrypted and the only way to open them is the sound of your voice, Miss Wood.” says Agent Brown.

  He opens up the laptop and places a flash drive in the nest. A window pops up. The caption is a riddle, but I already know the answer. My mother used to ask me this question when I was small.

  Why are ghosts bad liars?

  “Because you can see right through them,” I whisper under my nose.

  And then it hits me. Whatever it is they’d been doing, they were working on it longer than I thought. Maybe even all my life. I’m scared to find out what the flash drive contains. I don’t want to know. I want to remember my parents as they were before – a loving couple who always put me first. I don’t want to find out my whole life was based on a lie.

  “Do you know the answer, Miss Wood?” Agent Miller asks.

  I nod.

  They hand me a laptop and I say the words, pressing a button below the riddle.

  The screen goes blank.

  And then I see her. Tears start to roll down my cheeks as I inspect her. She made this recording no longer than a month before their murder. Her hair is a mess, she’s got dark circles under her eyes and she looks ten years older than I remembered her. Like a shadow of herself.

  “My sweet baby girl,” hearing her soft voice makes me burst into tears. “If you’re watching this, that means both your father and me are dead,” her voice breaks. “I’m so sorry for not telling you the truth earlier, but you need to hear it now. So listen carefully, baby girl, because I need your help.”

  She takes a deep breath and tears start to roll down her face.

  “We were a part of a secret organizati
on called ‘The Underground’ for years. Their main goal is fighting corruption, drug, and sex traffic in the USA.” She explains. “Apart from being lawyers, for many years we’ve been helping the organization gather information about people involved in these precedents,” she points at the printed files next to her. “This box contains all the files, your father and I gathered over the past few years.”

  I let out a sob.

  “We’ve been working on a drug cartel case for the past five years and we gathered a lot of information about people involved in drug smuggling. Politicians, police officers, even customs officials.” She says. “They’re all listed in these files,” she explains. “Lot of powerful people are involved in this. Even people we know personally and it’s hard to believe it, but these are the facts,” she gasps.

  “Working undercover was never easy for us and hiding it all from you was even harder, but we couldn’t tell you without putting a target on your back.” Her voice breaks. “But someone knows about this now and there is no other choice. Someone betrayed us and now it’s only a matter of time before they’ll try to shut us down.” She takes a deep breath. “So listen closely, Eden. These files contain names of very powerful individuals who will do anything to protect their business. We overstepped some boundaries and now drug cartel is after us. Someone from the inside of the organization had betrayed us. We don’t know who or why, but it had been corrupted.”

  I cover my mouth with my hand trying to suppress a moan.

  They knew.

  “Trust no one, Eden. Don’t make the same mistake we’ve made.” she frowns. “Once the video is over, you will access the database of all our research. There are a few copies in case this one gets destroyed, but we hid them well enough nobody but you can find them. They’re in the places you loved as a little girl,” she pauses.