Game of Secrets and Shadows (Book One in the Covert Operations series)

Eight

"So, what you're saying is that there is no record of my birth anywhere?" I clarified.

I could practically see Lia nodding. "Yes. I have records of your brother's birth but there's nothing on you. In fact, you parents' lived in Florida before abruptly moving to Oregon. When they were in Florida, it was just the two of them with absolutely no record of children but in the span of three months they sold their house, moved to Oregon, and had a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter."

"Oh, my god." It was a very good thing that I was sitting down.

"Exactly."

"Okay, um, what about kidnappings from that year? Is there anything to suggest that my parents took me from my real parents? Or, what about adoptions? Is that a possibility?"

"Kidnappings, maybe. Adoption, not a chance. There would be records somewhere if you were adopted but, Mel, it really seems as if you just showed up out of nowhere."

I ran a hand across my face in exhaustion and aggravation. This clearly was not my day. "Okay. Thanks, Lia."

"I'll keep digging and I'll let you know if I find anything else, but the CIA is really getting on our asses. There's five agents sitting in my living room right now. It's been hard to get a moment alone. The Or—" Suddenly, everything on the other end of the line was muffled. It sounded as if the phone had been stuffed away hastily somewhere.

"There you are," I heard someone say dimly on the other end. The voice, male, was barely understandable but was also distantly familiar. Like it was a voice I'd heard before, sometime long ago. "Your parents are looking for you."

"Sorry, Agent Ortiz," Lia replied. "I just came in here to grab a bite to eat. Talking about my best friend going on a murderous rampage tends to make me a little ravenous."

A muffled chuckle but I barely heard it because every nerve in my body had gone still. "You haven't heard from her yet, have you? I think you'd know better than to lie to us if you knew her whereabouts."

"Nothing. Melanie's a good operative. She would know to stay off the radar."

"Mm. Well, she's an eighteen-year-old girl with little world experience. She'll be in contact soon enough. Now come, let me walk you out."

There was nothing else aside from the gentle treads across a squeaky floor and then line disconnected and I was left staring down at the little shiny black piece of technology is barely-concealed shock. Ortiz. Agent Ortiz. Daniel Ortiz.

Shit.

My head spun and all of a sudden everything that ever made sense about my simple life here in Oregon was thrown into chaos. Daniel's parents were CIA agents and they just so happened to live down the street from where I grew up? Something wasn't right. Something was very, very wrong but I just couldn't pinpoint exactly what that was. There was only one person currently in my vicinity who could provide me with answers.

Daniel.

The thought that Daniel might know something relating to this dangerous world, and potentially the murder of both of my parents, made my heart wrench. He was an old friend, the best one I'd ever had, pre-Oaks. He was the only non-familial person I'd had who I could depend on growing up and now I wasn't quite sure that I could trust him.

My eyes shifted to the desk in the corner where my gun rested. I didn't want any of this to come to excessive force but right now my only concern was getting my brother to safety. At the moment, I didn't know if that included Daniel's house or not.