“Is everything okay?” My head slowed and I was scared he was going to tell me some bad news.
“Betty and I found some more papers in the file.” Sidney’s voice was slow and I heard him sighing. “I told Betty we should leave this alone, but she told me we needed to pass it along, and so I did, well now I know we were wrong.”
“What are you talking about, Sidney? What’s wrong?” My face paled and I clutched my stomach as it churned.
“We shouldn’t have given you Noah’s paperwork.” He sighed. “I don’t think you should contact his mother.”
“Why do you say that?” I turned onto my side and closed my eyes.
“Noah has some notes, in the file. I wasn’t being nosey, but the file fell and I saw them,” Sidney continued.
“I see.” I was scared to talk because I was sure I was going to throw up.
“Zane’s mom ain’t good people, Lucky.” He sighed. “There’s a lot of shit in Denmark, excuse my language, dear, and let’s just say she lives in the smelly part of Denmark.”
“What does it say Sidney?” My heart stopped as I wondered what Noah had found out.
“I can’t say, Lucky.” Sidney’s voice was firm. “Noah gave me this paperwork for safekeeping. He didn’t want me to share.”
“But Noah’s dead now, Sidney.” I sighed and took a deep breath. “ And Zane’s still here and he’s hurting. His mom rejected him, Sidney. He needs to know why.”
“What are you talking about, Lucky?”
“We were in Paris and we went to visit her and she turned us away. She turned her own son away, Sidney. Zane has a right to know why.”
“I don’t think Zane gonna want to know this.” Sidney’s tone was firm. “I don’t want to be involved no more.”
“You don’t have to be involved. Please, can I just get the files, Sidney?”
“Noah gave them to me for safekeeping.”
I heard Betty in the background hissing something that sounded like “tell her, tell her,” and I felt myself growing angry.
“Sidney, I think you need to tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s not my place. I gave my word.” His voice was obstinate. “I don’t break my word. No one will ever say that Sidney Johnson breaks his word.”
“Zane needs this Sidney, please.” I felt the bile rising up my throat and I wasn’t sure what was going on. I felt so emotional and tense, yet I had never had this reaction before. I had never been so upset that I wanted to throw up.
“He’s at the police station, right?” Sidney’s voice sounded excited. “I heard that he helped catch Braydon and Angelique.”
“Yeah, he …” I paused. “Wait, how did you know about Braydon and Angelique?”
“Child, when you get to my age, you know everything.”
“What’s going on, Sidney?”
“All shall be revealed in due time.” Sidney’s voice sounded funny and rushed. “I guess now that the case is over, it doesn’t really matter that you called his mom. He was bound to find out anyways.”
“You’re not making sense.” My voice rose with frustration. “Please explain to me what you’re talking about.”
“Lucky, do you remember I told you that nothing is always as it seems? Well sometimes, even though everything in life points you in one direction and to one conclusion, that conclusion is not correct. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I have no idea what you’re saying, Sidney.” I frowned into the phone and my head started aching.
I rubbed my temples and I thought about his words for a moment. But as I was about to respond to him, I threw up. All over the leather couch. I groaned at the sight of my puke, but then I felt immediately better. As I stared at the bile on the leather couch and thought about his words, I realized that I understood exactly what he meant. My feeling sick wasn’t due to a cold or the change in temperature. The signs had all been there, but I had ignored them. “I think I understand.”
“All will be revealed in good time, Lucky.”
“He was so hurt, Sidney.” I stood up slowly and cringed at my bile on the chair.
“But he has you, Lucky, and maybe now that the case is over, everything else in his life will come back together as well.”
“Yeah.” I wasn’t really listening to him anymore, because I was feeling shocked at the realization I had just made.
“I promise it’ll work out my dear. It’s like my mother used to say, just when you think you’re down to your last bag of rice, Jesus gon’ come and make a miracle.”
“Thanks Sidney. I’ll talk to you later.” I hung up the phone and buried my head in my hands, half-happy and half-shocked.
I made a mental checklist, I was feeling sickly, I had weird food cravings, my br**sts felt swollen and tender. I had to be pregnant. But it didn’t make sense. I got my period. Just because you got your period doesn’t mean you couldn’t still be pregnant, a little voice in me cried out. You should have done a test. I grabbed ahold of my stomach and I suddenly knew. I just knew. I didn’t even need to go to the doctor.
I heard the front door opening and I stilled. Zane was home and I wasn’t sure how he was going to feel. With all the emotional turmoil he had been through recently, I wasn’t sure if he was in a good place to be a father. I didn’t want it all to be too much too soon. I stood there debating what to do when I heard a car pull up in the driveway. As I heard his footsteps, I looked up, ready to tell him that I thought we were going to have a baby, but no words came out of my mouth.
Zane was standing at the front door staring at me, but my eyes weren’t on him, they were on the man standing next to him. The man who looked so much like Zane, only different. The man who looked like I imagined his brother would look. I rubbed my eyes, not knowing if I was hallucinating or what.
“Lucky,” Zane walked towards me slowly. “I’d like you to meet my brother, Noah.” His words tripped out of his mouth smoothly and innocently, and as I stared at the other man’s familiar, wide smile, I felt myself feeling woozy and then fell to the ground.
***
“Shit, man, is she okay?” I heard a male voice say, but I was unable to open my eyes.
“I’m sure she just went into shock.” Zane’s voice was worried. “Help me pick her up.”
“I would have thought you’d be the one to faint, not the girlfriend.” The voice was silky and warm. “And bro, you never told me she was hot.”
“Eyes off, Noah.” Zane’s voice held a warning.
“Come on now, bro.” The guy laughed. “I’ve been back a day, I don’t think I’m going to try and steal your girlfriend.”
“You couldn’t steal her even if you tried.” Zane laughed. “And what do you mean a day? Why did I only find out today?”
“Paperwork.” The guy sighed. “You know how it is.”
I felt two sets of arms pick me up and carry me. “Shit bro, what’s this on the couch?”
“I don’t know.” Zane’s tone sounded worried again. “Fuck, maybe I should call the doctor. Maybe she’s sick.”
“Yeah. You don’t want to take a chance.” The other voice sounded worried as well. “Where should we take her? She’s not exactly a feather.”
“Upstairs.” Zane’s voice was firm and I slowly opened my eyes.
“Hi.” I stared up and he was looking down at me with an extremely concerned expression.
“Lucky, are you okay?” He continued staring at me as they walked up the stairs.
I nodded slowly. “I think I fainted.” I looked towards my legs and saw the other voice smiling at me. “Are you, Noah?”
“Indeed, I am.” He grinned at me and I saw that he had the same blue eyes as Zane, only his hair was darker and he was bigger built.
“But you’re dead.” My voice was accusing. “How can you be here?”
“Don’t upset yourself, Lucky.” Zane looked at me and pursed his lips as they set me down on the bed.
“So this is real?” I propped myself up on the pillows and looked at them standing together. “I’m not in some weird funky dream of yours.”
“This is real.” Zane nodded and came and sat down next to me on the bed. “This is my brother, Noah.”
“But how?”
“I guess this is where I come in?” Noah walked towards the bed and looked down at me. “I was in witness protection.”
“Huh?” My head was aching and I stared at him in confusion. “I thought you jumped off of a roof?”
“Have you met Angelique?” He grimaced and I nodded. “Do you think anyone would kill themselves over her?”
I laughed slightly, but saw Zane’s furious expression and I knew he didn’t think it was a joking matter. “But that’s what Braydon said, and the police and even Angelique believed that, and—and even Zane.”
“That’s what I needed everyone to believe.” Noah looked at his brother slightly and then back at me. “We needed everyone to believe I was dead.”
“You should have told me, Noah.” Zane’s tone was angry and he stared at his brother. “You should have f**king told me. Do you know what I’ve been through?”
“Dude, I couldn’t tell you.” Noah looked miserable. “It wouldn’t have worked if you had known.”
“I would have gotten the information.” Zane’s face was obstinate and he shook his head. “You f**king don’t pull that shit on me, Noah. You don’t make me think you’re dead.”
“It was the only way. It wasn’t my choice.” Noah pleaded with his brother and I held my hand up and waved it.
“Sorry to interrupt the love-fest, but I have no idea what you guys are talking about.” I frowned. “And I very much want to know.”
“Yes, Noah, why don’t you tell Lucky your little story.” Zane stood up and walked to the door. “I’m going to go and get myself a stiff drink. Anyone want anything?”
“I’ll have some whiskey, on the rocks.” Noah nodded and I shook my head.
“You sure, Lucky? No wine?” Zane studied my face and I shook my head.
“No thanks.”
“Okay.” He left the room and Noah looked at me awkwardly.
“Do you mind if I have a seat?” He patted the side of the bed and I shook my head, not believing that I was seeing Noah, alive in the flesh.
“I’m glad you don’t take any nonsense from my brother.” He grinned at me and I stared at him in astonishment, surprised at his words.
“Zane’s always been a bit of a worrier, he won’t admit it, but he is. He’s overprotective and thinks he knows everything. He needs a strong woman like you.”
“I don’t know what to say.” My mouth dropped open.
“Don’t say anything.” He laughed. “I just want you to know I’m glad my brother found you.”
“I love him.”
“I can see that.” He looked around the room and sighed. “I couldn’t tell him, you know? You can’t fake heartache and pain, no matter how much you want to. And for him to bring down Braydon and Angelique, he had to be believable.”
“You knew?” I frowned, not really understanding what was going on.
“Yeah.” He ran his hand through his dark hair and he reminded me so much of his brother that it was uncanny. “I got caught up with Braydon and Angelique. Not doing any hard stuff, just smoking some weed, but I guess you could say I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We went down to Mexico City one weekend, and let’s just say I saw some things I shouldn’t have seen.”
“Oh yeah?”
“The guy in charge, Sanchez, ordered a hit on one of his dealers that had given the police some information on a shipment from Colombia.”
“Oh, my God.” My face paled at his words.
“I was sitting in the toilet in the next room as he ordered it.” Noah shook his head. “I wasn’t meant to overhear any of it.”
“What did you do?”
“Well, as I sat there, I planned to tell Braydon that we needed to hightail it out of there, but then I heard his voice.”
“Braydon’s voice?” I gasped.
“Yeah, he was the one Sanchez was telling to order the hit! I nearly shit my pants. I thought we had just gone down for some good weed, I didn’t think all that was going down.”
“So what did you do?”
“I kept my mouth shut and pretended like I hadn’t seen or heard anything. When I got back to L.A., I called a number I found online and ended up speaking to someone in the FBI who was investigating Sanchez and Braydon.”
“Wow.” I looked at him with shocked eyes. His story sounded like something from a movie, and it was all I could do to not make loud gasping sounds.
“Yeah, it was pretty crazy.” He looked at me with direct eyes. “I didn’t want to go away you know. I knew Zane would take it badly, but the Agent told me it was the only way to guarantee my safety and bring down the cartel.”
“Why is that?”
“Braydon found out I went to the cops.” Noah sighed. “I didn’t realize Angelique was involved so deeply, I told her some things. She told Braydon, and when I told the agent at the FBI, he set it up so that everyone would think I died.”