Classified ☑

[ chapter 22 ]

We were back at her two small bedroom house. It was bare and empty besides a few random pictures here and there. A grandfather clock rang and it gave me the creeps as I waited for my grandmother, Lucille, to come back.

"Here we are," she said, setting down an old and warn box covered in dust on the coffee table. She sat back down across from me, wrapping her cardigan tightly around her thin frame.

I watched her for a couple of seconds before reaching into the box. Pictures of a dark haired woman, who looked like a younger version of Lucille, filled the majority of the box. There were pictures of a younger looking Joseph, my dad and the dark haired woman, and a few with a toddler girl.

Lucille tapped on the photo in my hand. "That's you and your mother."

All sorts of emotions stirred in my stomach. The photo was of my mom kissing me on the cheek as I smiled right at the camera, laughing. I don't remember the kind of joy shown in the picture. Most of my life I've felt lost and confused.

Empty.

I set the picture down on the table and intertwined my fingers together nervously. "What happened to my mom?" I choked out. I'd never really thought about her. My dad never talked about her and when I did bring her up, he shut it down right then and there. So I assumed she was never in the picture.

Lucille looked uncomfortable with the question as her eyes darted away from mine. Who's to blame her though, I asked about her daughter. It had to be a sore subject. "As far as I know she was murdered." Her voice is distraught, but she straitens herself in her chair. "The agency she work-"

"Agency?" I interrupted. "Like the CIA?"

She shook her head no, her eyes clouding with sadness and judgement. "You father never told you?"

"I know he had a double life or even triple life," I said sarcastically even thought it was probably true, "but he never talked about it. My Uncle and I know he used a fake drivers license. He also taught me how to fight which I assumed he learned somewhere because Joseph can fight too, but I figured it was secret service or something like that?" I rambled out. It felt good to finally talk to someone about all the thoughts that had been swirling in my head.

She chuckled, shifting in her seat. "Well, your father and mother met working for TIA, Torqueo Intelligence Agency. Torqueo is a Latin word meaning torture."

Blood drained from my face. "My parents tortured people?"

Lucille licked her lips and let out a huff. "They did when it was necessary. Part of the job. But they only did it to people who deserved it. TIA took care of foreign internal affairs happening inside of the United States. Other countries send their assassins here in the US and TIA agents take care of those people."

I didn't have to ask what she meant by that. I swallowed my nerves and wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans, finding out what my mom and dad did for a living was pretty gruesome. "How do you know all of this?"

A small smile flitted across her face, one of pride. "I worked there once. Grew up at the agency just like my parents, who founded TIA, and just like your mother and father did. You were supposed to grow up doing what we all did, but one day your father took off with you. You were about five years old at the time."

I didn't like the fact that it seemed my parents had chosen a career path for me before I could even walk, but I guess they wouldn't have known any better since they were raised like that. "He just took off with me out of the blue?" She nods her head. "What about Joseph? Why would my dad leave him?"

"From what Joseph has told me, it seemed like your father took off with you around the time your mother's body was discovered. At least, that's what the agency thinks. They don't know if your father murdered her or if it was an accident, all they know is she was dead and then your father was gone, along with you."

I didn't want to think about what that meant, but I had to ask her. "Do you think he killed her?"

She shook her head. "No, I do not."

I let out a sigh of relief and she returned it with a sad smile. An emotion clouded her eyes, but was gone before I could decipher what it was.

"I believe he took off with you because he didn't trust someone or even the agency possibly. I was retired before all of this happened but he loved your mother, Joseph, and you dearly. Anyone could see that. But the only reason I could see him taking off with you and not Joseph is if someone told him Joseph was dead, otherwise your father never would've left without him."

Her words soothed me. I never wanted to think of my dad as a monster, abandoning Joseph even if it was to save me didn't sound like my dad. He always did what he could, never giving up without trying. "What happened to Joseph after we disappeared?"

"Him and I talked every day, but he stayed with the agency until he was eighteen and then quit. We've stayed in touch over the last four years. My husband died in the field before either of you were born and Clint's parents died before you two were born too, resulting in Joseph and I only having each other."

I nodded my head, taking in the information. I knew Thomas' and my dad's parents had died, one had a heart attack and the other had cancer. "What has Joseph been doing since he left the agency?"

She seemed ready for my question, answering quickly. "Oh, he looked and looked for you guys. That's all he wanted to do. He ended up stumbling into that town your Uncle resides in. He's alway kept a picture of your father and when he saw your Uncle, he knew they were related somehow. He got to talking with Thomas, Thomas contacted your father to let him know that Joseph had found him, and then your father headed to meet him."

"But he never made it," I finished for her. She dipped her head in acknowledgement.

Bringing up how my dad died caused memories to flash back into my mind and for the first time they didn't feel haunting. They felt more like clues. The chain tattoo around Dante's wrist when he dropped my dad's arm. Admitting in the convenience store that my dad had trained him. Jospeh saying that they'd grown up together.

"Do you know Dante?" I blurted out.

Her back went rigid as she tilted her head, staring at me. "Dante?"

I nodded my head quickly. "He tried to kill me the other night." I don't mention the way he let me get away and helped me get on the train to get out of town, just to see her reaction. "I got out of him that he knew my dad and he admitted to my dad training him. Joseph also said he grew up with him. So Dante has to be from TIA, right?"

Lucille hummed, tapping her chin as she thought. "If I remember him correctly, tall lanky boy with tattoos?"

"Yes."

Her eyes glassed over with a look. "Your father trained both Dante and Joseph until the age of nine, then he took off with you. Dante and Joseph continued to train together until eighteen. As you know, Joseph left but from what I can recall, Dante stayed."

"So, Dante's either a double agent or TIA is after me and possibly killed my mom?" I voiced my thoughts without hesitation and it seemed to startle Lucille.

She eyed me closely. "You are one smart cookie, but I'm going to go with the double agent theory. TIA wouldn't kill their own, that I am sure of. I'll have to contact a few of my colleagues and see if Dante's still part of TIA."

"Good." If we find out who Dante works for, maybe we can find out who is behind all of this.

"Now, enough of this depressing talk. I'm going to make some tea and snacks, and you're going to get full. Understand me?"

There were still so many questions I had for her. Like what the chain logo meant, the one my father had drawn on the piece of paper and the same one that matched Dante's tattoo in a way.

But I didn't. She looked exhausted as it was, probably from having to relive through everything.

If anything though, I was one step closer to finding out the truth.

A/N: Thoughts on Lucille?