Mason and Starlet arrived at Hayden Investigations five minutes ahead of time. Once he parked the car, Mason killed the engine and took his wife’s hand.

“Don’t be nervous.”

“I’m not nervous, anxious maybe but not nervous.”

“I know you,” he said before getting out of the car and coming around to open the door on her side.

“He probably couldn’t find anything anyway,” she said wryly stepping out of the car.

Mason placed his arm around her shoulder. “Hope for the best, princess.”

As they entered the building, Derrick met them at the door. He lead them to the side room that served as his personal office and told them to make themselves comfortable. When the couple is seated, Derrick reached across his desk and grabbed Starlet’s leather bound journal and three folders. He pulled up a chair and sat directly across from the couple. “Can I get you anything before we get started?”

Starlet nodded her response of no, her attention drawn strictly to the folders in his hand. Mason looked from Starlet to Derrick before saying, “No thanks.” Rubbing his beard with one hand, he reached for Starlet’s hand with the other.

Derrick paid close attention to Starlet and hesitated before handing each of them a folder and beginning to speak. “Let me begin by saying that this has been a challenge and it’s not over yet. Star, I’ve uncovered some interesting things about your family.”

Intrigued she asked, “Like what?”

Derrick fidgeted with the folder in his hand and gave Starlet a sympathetic look as Mason looked on apprehensively.

“Derrick, you’re making me nervous,” she said as her intrigue gave way to an uneasy feeling.

“I’m sorry. Brace yourself. I told you before that these things can change your life forever. It did for me.”

“You don’t have to beat around the bush. Just tell us,” Mason said looking at Derrick with stoic eyes. He was prepared to be Starlet’s strength.

Derrick had rehearsed how he would break the news to Starlet all day. Now he just could not find the nerve. He remembered how he felt when he found out he was adopted and knew this would be much worse for his friend. But this is what she hired him to do.

“The report in your hands has all the information and documentation that I’ve found thus far, but let me summarize it for you. Star, your birth certificate is fake and I can’t find a record of you being born in the states.”

He watched as Starlet sat back in her chair, then opened her folder and began to read.

“How is that possible?” she asked beginning to get a sinking feeling.

Derrick’s eyes reflect sympathy as he continued. “That’s not all. I had a hard time tracing your mother’s family and found out she was born in the Caribbean, but not with the name you know her by. Maxine Richeaux is an alias. Her real name is Debra Cintron and a copy of her birth certificate is enclosed in the file. I managed to get her family traced back to 1820, but I’m not sure that has anything to do with you. I have a friend with the CIA helping me on this. I think you were born there but that doesn’t explain why your birth certificate was faked. In addition to that, I can’t find any information on your mother being pregnant. No doctor’s appointments. No prescriptions on file and as I said before, no birth records. I also can’t find a green card or a social security number for her. It gets even more bizarre.”

Starlet takes it all in without saying a word and Mason sits motionless as Derrick continues.

“Your father doesn’t exist. His supposed social security number belonged to a man that died four years before you were born and never lived anywhere near your mother. Someone went to a great deal of trouble to create an identity for you. I can only think of two reasons that justify faking a birth certificate. The first is that this Debra Cintron bought you. The second is that you were kidnapped. Possibly both. Either way, I think you were taken away from your real parents. And the way the tracks have been covered suggests that they had some help from our government.”

Mason placed his report on a nearby table and put his arm around Starlet as tears begin pool in her eyes and trail down her cheeks. She read a few more pages of the report then looked up at Derrick puzzled. “I don’t understand how this can be.”

“I know how you feel and I’m going to find out what happened. I promise.”

“How can we authenticate your findings?” Mason asked.

“Everything is outlined in the report. I have a complete list of my sources on the last page.”

Starlet held her hands up, surrendering to the research. “So what do we do now?”

“My investigation will continue. I just thought it was time to let you in on where I am. Can you tell me anything about your childhood? Like, who were your mother’s friends? Did she ever talk about any family?”

Starlet let her head fall into her hands. Derrick went to his refrigerator and came back with a bottle of water, which he handed to Mason. He opened it and placed it into Starlet’s hands.

“My childhood was normal. My mom didn’t have a lot of friends but the ones she did have were all from the Caribbean.”

“Can you think of any names?”

“In Atlanta, Mr. & Mrs. Bartibo and Mrs. Delisser, who’s daughter Janet was my friend. There were more, but I can’t remember the names right now. My Uncle Tosh used to live with us when I was younger.”

Derrick scribbled notes on his pad as Starlet spoke. “Your mother was an only child. What was this uncle’s full name?”

“All I can remember is Uncle Tosh.”

“What kind of relationship did he and your mother have?”

“They acted like siblings. He used to take care of me.”

“I take it you liked him?”

“Yeah, he was always nice to me. He even taught me how to play chess. His nickname was Hogo. That’s what my mom called him.”  

“What ever happened to him?”

“He picked me up from school one day and the next day he was gone. When I asked Mom about him, she just said he had to move. A few days after that we moved to Georgia, and I never saw him again.”

“Any idea where he is now?”

“No. I don’t know.”

Mason noticed that Starlet’s hands are trembling and held his palm up to Derrick. “Maybe this is enough for one night.”

“It’s okay baby,” she said looking at her husband.

Watching Mason hold Starlet, Derrick suddenly felt as if he is intruding on an intimate moment. He wanted to comfort her himself. “I just have a few more questions if you’re up to it.” His eyes drifted to Mason, as if asking him more than Starlet. She answered breaking their stare.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Did your father ever live with you?”

“Not that I remember. He died when I was three. Well, that’s what Mother told me.”

“Do you have any pictures of him?”

“No, Mom used to keep one in her wallet, but that was the only one. I buried it with her.”

“What did your mother tell you about your family?”

Taking a sip of the water she sat back closing her eyes to focus her thoughts. “Just that she was an only child and her parents died before I was born.”

“So you never met anyone from either side of your family?”

“Just Uncle Tosh.”

“What did your mother do for a living?”

“She just took care of me. When I left for college she spent a lot of time traveling.”

“Where did she travel?”

“Mostly in Europe, she particularly liked Rome and Paris.”

“How did she support you?”

“My father was killed in a work accident and she received a large settlement,” she paused then added, “Well, that’s what I was told.”

“You were raised in luxury and she sent you to college on accident settlement money?”

“I never questioned her about it. She was my mother.”

“I’m sorry about the interrogation but I hate when things don’t add up and this is not adding up.”

Mason broke his silence. “Princess, are you sure you don’t want to pick this up later?”

Before Starlet can answer, Derrick fires another question. “Your mother died in a car accident right?”

 “Yes.”

“Where was she and did anything out of the ordinary happen before she died?”

“The accident happened in Georgia. I was at Southern but I was coming home for the weekend because she needed to talk to me about some family business. After she died, I found out about the land she owned here and the property in Florida. I assumed that’s what she wanted to tell me.”

Feeling Mason staring at him, Derrick opted to bring the meeting to a close. “Okay, that’s all I have for now. If you remember anything else, please let me know. The smallest details are the ones that break cases like these. I’m really sorry about this. I only waited so long because I was hoping to come to you with more information.”

Starlet was silent the entire ride home. Mason watched as she read and reread the report Derrick had given them less that two hours before. Each time she went over the report, she hoped to find a flaw in the work, anything that would prove Derrick incompetent. She finds no such flaw. Instead, everything is well documented. Slowly she starts to settle into the actuality that this is real. Mason offered her reassurance as he drove, but to no avail. Derrick’s questions had sent her mind whirling, forcing her into all sorts of questions of her own. Why was my mother so overprotective? Why did we move around so much? Why didn’t we ever visit Jamaica? Now she sat in her car searching for answers.

“Star!” Mason said, bringing her back from her thoughts. She looked at him blankly as he placed his hand over hers. “We’re home baby.”

She looked around and recognized their garage. “Okay.”

Mason takes the report from her other hand. “Are you all right?”

“Yes.” She nodded to make her point before opening her door and getting out of the vehicle. Once inside, she walked into the living room and sat on the sofa, sinking into her own thoughts once again. Mason followed her and sat beside her unsure of how to comfort his wife for the first time. Instead, he held her and listened as she began to cry softly.

© 2003 Astrya Richard ~ All Rights Reserved