The Bookworm | ✔️

Chapter Twenty Two - The Sherlock Twins: Reunited!

His eyes darted towards the door and he hesitated before the next part. "When I was still working at the factory, there were a couple of men in a similar position as I, not as dire, but a pickle all the same. They told me they went to an extremely wealthy man a couple towns over and were able to get a loan from him. His name was ... is Dean Landon."

So that's the creepy old guy's name, I thought.

"I went to him and asked for help; we needed money, he could provide the money. He gave me a substantial amount. It was enough for us to get on our feet. We were able to put a down payment on a home, we bought you everything you would have needed as a baby. All I had to do was pay him back the money. But ... he got really greedy really fast. You were only about nine months old when his goons came to our house. They practically burst the door down getting in. Charlotte grabbed you from your playpen and ran up to your room, hiding. They roughed me up a bit and told me that Landon wanted his money in only a couple of weeks."

Adam shook his head and looked at me. "I feared that you and your mother would get hurt for my stupid decision. I thought that by leaving, I would take the trouble with me. But I never lost contact with Charlotte."

Now that surprised me. Mom never made any mention of him keeping in touch. In fact, she only told me that he left.

"I helped support you two up until she was killed. When you were adopted, I knew you would be well taken care of from that point, so I just slipped under the radar. I didn't want you to have connections to me just in case Landon decided to give me incentive."

He smiled sadly at me and shook his head. "I guess that didn't work out too well, did it?"

I shook my head in response, tucking my feet under my body. "Not really, no. Good effort though," I replied, forcing a smile out of myself as well.

A few silent beats passed as I mulled over the brand new information. So my biological father left to protect me from this Landon fellow to whom he owed a great deal of money. Almost like he put me in some witness relocation program. Just ... without the relocation.

I bit my lip, narrowing my eyes at nothing as one piece of information stuck out like a sore thumb. "Wait. You said you basically have some sort of a debt to him, right?" I asked, my eyes drifting over to the desk. The connection between the money and what I found earlier couldn't be coincidental.

"Yes. And the man is stupid enough to keep several copies laying around in various places. Why?"

My mind wondered how in the world Adam even knew about the multiple copies, but I decided to save those questions for later. For right now, I had an answer to his conundrum. Jumping up, I made my way to the desk, beckoning him to follow.

Yanking open the drawer that held interest to me earlier, I pulled the leather notebook back out and held it out to my dad, his hand immediately taking it and opening the first pages.

Wow, I thought, the words striking me for the first time. My dad. My real dad is standing right here next to me. It felt surreal; I honestly never though I would meet him, never in my wildest dreams.

I shook my head and watched as Adam started flipping through the pages, eyes widening. Looking to me, he said, "Do you realize what this is?"

"Sort of. I mean, it seems like he's keeping track of different debts that he has. Right?"

Nodding his head, Adam replied, "Exactly. I bet mine is in here somewhere as well. I can't believe he just left you in here with all his important files."

I shrugged a little, closing the desk drawer. "Yeah, well, apparently standing at five foot one and weighing in at 132 pounds doesn't strike much fear into the hearts of criminal masterminds. I probably looked so innocent that they felt I could be completely overlooked," I retorted, crossing my arms. "Whatever, though. I mean, it worked in our favor, right?"