Concealed Affliction (24 page)

“Just don’t tell anyone I’m here, not even Laura. Does anyone else have the code to the gate?”

He takes a sip of his coffee before responding.

“Laura and my brother.”

I think on that for a moment.

“If there’s any chance they could stop by and let themselves in, do you think we could change it? The less people who know I’m here, the better.”

As per usual, Jimmy is accommodating.

Within an hour he has changed the gate codes and picked me up a new burner.

“You know, I’ve had the same code for years. It might be hard trying to remember a new one.”

I look over at my handsome friend. He dressed in his usual; black boots, ripped and paint stained jeans, and a short sleeve shirt.

“Oh yeah, what’s the new code before I lock myself out of here?”

“654321”

I can’t help it, I laugh.

“The last code was 123456, so you’ve just reversed it and you’re worried you won’t remember?”

Jimmy looks offended.

“Hey, many-o-drunken nights I could punch that in blind.”

I shake my head at him. Only something so simple could give him such a complex. I move my attention back to the new phone in my hand, punching in Cabe’s number. It rings four times before he answers.

“Rodriguez,” he says in an all business voice.

“Cabe, its Elle.”

Jimmy eyes me from the other side of the island. I told him last night what name I used while I was down there, I’m sure it’s just a little different for him to hear it since it’s been so long. My grandmother always called me Elle, from the time I was born. If I was in trouble I got the full ‘Jayne Elle O’Connor’. Granny was not a woman to mess with, but I didn’t always do as I was told so I heard the full name more often than not.

“Good to hear from you, is everything okay?”

I’m sure he’s keeping tabs on me for Ryder, not just himself. But I answer him truthfully.

“Yes, I’m fine. Any new info for me?”

“Yes, I think I found him.”

My heart and my breathing stop, waiting in anticipation for what he’ll say next.

“I searched for everyone born around that time with the last name ‘Roberts’ and got nothing. There was no record of what hospital they were born in and no record for Lucille Roberts ever giving birth to any children.

“I searched for males based on the birth date of Andrew Roberts, which the grandmother had listed on his school records as March fifteenth. I came up with twenty-two hits based on males born that day at hospitals within a fifty mile radius of Bakersville.”

“Jesus Cabe, go on.”

“You can Google it Elle, but I’m pretty sure this is our guy. His name is Shawn Flynn, born the same day as Andrew.”

“Oh my god, okay why am I googling?”

“Because if you search for ‘Baby Boy abandoned at Cornwell Clinic’ you’ll find out that he was a twin. The mother took off with one baby and left the other one behind.”

“Fuck me, how could someone do that?”

“The only answer I have for you Elle is that the boy, Shawn, was in an incubator, fighting for his life. He was much smaller than Andrew and it sounds like they didn’t see much in terms of the future for him.”

Wow. This is a lot to take in.

“I hacked into the hospital records and got a little more information on him.”

“Of course you did, and thank you.”

“No problem. Sounds like the Doctor at the time was concerned with possible fluid in the brain, meaning she was most likely stoned for some or all of her pregnancy on god knows what. Long story short, it sounds like she kept the stronger of the two and dropped him off at her mothers, never to return again.”

“Wow, I don’t know what to say to all that.”

“I know, it’s a lot. He was in the hospital for over a month, at which time he was placed into Child Services Care. He was given the name Shawn Flynn and spent the next eighteen years of his life in different foster homes.”

“Okay, and where is he now?”

It’s rather silent in the background and I realize Cabe must have his hand over the telephone mic because I can hear mumbled voices.

“Cabe?”

“I’m here, sorry. I’m looking for him. He hasn’t popped up on anything since shortly after university which was almost ten years ago. He did renew a driver’s license, but the address he has listed is not where he lives now since it has since been turned into an arts building.

“I have his picture Elle, I’m surprised they are identical because he does look quite different. Although you can’t mistake the fact he is his brother. Shawn is smaller. He was held back a year in school and he definitely looks like a lost little kid. He too went to the University of Toronto for computer science.”

This is so much to take in. I never recognized Andrew, therefore if this twin doesn’t exactly look identical there’s a small chance I may remember him.

“What do you want me to do, Cabe? What can I do from here? Because I have to say, I’m feeling a little fucking useless right now. Aside from looking at the photos you found to see if I recognize him.”

“I’ll send them, but I don’t think there’s much that you can do, Elle. The mother is dead, and from the short amount of time he spent in the last few foster homes, I would guess they never learned that much about him. His longest stay was six years, but the woman looking after him died from a severe stroke when he was sixteen. So his last two years were spent in three different homes.

“I’m still digging, I haven’t stopped. This is just what I’ve found out up until you called me. Give me some more time. Can I call you back on this number?”

“Yes, you can. I don’t want to hide here forever, so please no matter what time of day or night, you find something, you call me.”

“You have my word.”

“Thanks, Cabe. I appreciate it.”

“No problem. Take care of yourself, Elle.”

I hang up the phone, and look at a straight faced Jimmy.

“Is that the guy?”

I lean my head into my hands.

“No, that’s one of his minions. A talented tech guy helping me out.”

I relay everything Cabe told me over the phone to Jimmy.

“Damn, Jay. That’s a pile of shit to take in. I want to ask say how the hell Shawn is unable to be tracked down, but I guess if you lived off the grid for almost a year now with a new name, he could be too.”

I nod my head up and down, knowing it’s definitely possible. I’m living proof.

My phone dings with a text from Cabe. I open up the app to view the attached photos. The first one is a university student photo of a kid I don’t know. The second is a driver’s license photo. I study them both, hoping for recognition to hit. Sadly, it never comes.

I study the brown hair, like Andrews. His eyes are also the same color. I can only see from the shoulders up in the photos, but I can already tell Shawn is definitely not as big as Andrew. He’s thin. Sort of lanky looking. His face still looks boyish and his eyes are completely innocent, a stark contrast from the evil in his brothers.

I hear the rustle of grocery bags and set my phone back down on the counter.

“What’s all that?” I ask Jimmy, opening up the shopping bags he now sets on the counter.

“You’re making me stew tonight, since I’m kind enough to harbor a wanted woman.”

“You drink MGD. I need Guinness, so I guess the stew is out.”

Jimmy decides at that point to bring the large paper bag up off the floor, pulling out a six of Guinness, and three bottles of my favorite wine.

“So, I’m making the stew, and you’re getting me drunk?” I ask.

A big grin spreads across his handsome face.

“Now you’re talkin’.”

Chapter Twenty-two

“Damn, you have no idea how much I missed your cooking.”

I watch Jimmy, on his third bowl of stew. I made enough so he can eat it for a week, or freeze it for leftovers.

“Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea.”

I gesture to the garbage can that’s now full of takeout containers from every restaurant in town. His fridge art is the menus to said restaurants.

“You know I can’t cook shit other than waffles and bacon.”

“Yes, so you can make me breakfast in the morning when I’m hungover.”

Which I very much plan to be. A good drunk with Jimmy, hopefully a good sleep and then regroup with Cabe in the morning.

* * *

“You are so full of shit.”

“No, I’m not. It’s over, Jimmy. Leave it alone.”

Jimmy brings his laptop out, setting it on the island in front of us. He spends time clicking away and before I know it a photo of a beautiful brunette pops up on the screen.

“Who’s that?”

“That, is Claudia Becker.”

My heart makes a ridiculous flutter and then the anger starts to build. I hate that I feel anything looking at her photo right now, I prefer the numb. She’s an attractive woman, unfortunately. She has chestnut colored hair and brown eyes. Her skin is quite pale and she has high cheekbones with a small nose. She’s wearing a cream colored sheath dress and nude pumps. She’s the complete opposite of me while she stands there in the photo—on the arm of Ryder Callaghan.

She looks like someone who’d get along well with Ryder’s ex fiancé Anna. They look like they’d run in the same snooty circles, with their pearls and diamond encrusted clutches. Not that Anna could afford diamonds, unless her sugar daddy bought it for her. Much like Claudia, who has most likely had everything handed to her on a silver platter.

I wonder after seeing these two, if this is Ryder’s type; a more refined looking woman and not the kind who dresses in black, spending her spare time beating the shit out of a punching bag. The one who drinks way more wine that what’s considered healthy and smokes too many cigarettes.

Maybe I was like the dirty little secret?

The woman on the side that makes you feel good and feeds you well. Just not the kind you would escort to a public event or put a rock on her finger. I look at the date. It confirms what I thought: it was the night before he came back to the cottage. Still dressed in the clothing he wore to the fundraiser the night before, with
her.