Emilia ✔️ NOW PUBLISHED!

64

Emilia

Thomas drops his weapon, the metal clanks against the hard concrete. He holds his empty hands up, "I'm not the bad guy. I need you to trust me." He looks to Aiden's raised gun. "Both of you."

I scoff, "No!"

He speaks more lies, his pleading voice making me nauseous. "Your father wasn't who you think he was."

My voice shakes. "Don't speak to me about my dad."

Aiden holds me behind him as I lurch forward. "Don't go near him." Aiden orders me.

I look to Leo, searching his face trying to figure out why he came into my life.

"Your father was my friend." Thomas deadpans.

I laugh, terrified and hysterical. "Are you drunk?" It's possible, that's what he is. A drunk.

"He brought you a single yellow rose every week." I cover my ears, he speaks louder. "Your mother and him went dancing every Thursday evening. You-" I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

"You're stalking us." I decide, shakes raking through my body.

He begins to reach into his back pocket and Aiden yells at him to stop, aiming his gun between Thomas's eyes. He doesn't flinch. He retrieves a photo from his pocket with a note attached. Aiden snatches it from his hands and brings it to me, his eyes never leaving the two men in front of us.

In the photo is my dad, his arm slung around Thomas's shoulders. Next to them, a little boy sits clutching onto a stuffed animal. I recognize the grey eyes. Leo.

My hands shake as I bring the photo to Aiden's eyesight.

"How did you know my dad?"

"Your father wasn't a street cop, Emma. He was a detective." He breaths deeply, "and my partner."

The words rush through me, but they don't make sense. He worked on the street, I saw his pins and medals. I tell this to Thomas. "It was all a charade. He was the best undercover detective in the city, the police chief hid things from the public to keep him safe."

I unfold the aged letter. 'Dean,' I look to Thomas, Dean must be his real name. I continue reading my father's sloppy but perfect handwriting. 'I wish you could meet Emmy. She's so big now, she just won her first spelling bee. I'm so proud of her. Pamela is perfect, as always. I wish we could all get together; I think our kids would get along just fine. I can't wait for you to return from visiting Leo, how is he? Bring me back something from Greece.

Sending my best, Patrick Banks.'

My heart sinks at the realization, but I'm so confused. "I don't understand, why didn't he tell us? Why did you go to jail?"

"We worked undercover on a lot of different cases. From sex trafficking to drug operations and finally to the one that became his downfall, the mafia. Helping the city was your father's life's work. That night, we were both deep in operation, the mafia in our city..." He's hesitant. "They were doing unspeakable things. Someone found out about your dad being undercover, and they killed him. There were three of us, I'm the only one who made it out." He looks at me pointedly, "He would never have wanted my cover to be blown, so I took the fall for his murder even though the only 'crime' I committed was ending the life of the low life who killed him. The operation trusted in me fully after they thought I was the one who killed the 'nark.' I was able to work from inside prison and sweep the city of the plague that was the operation because of your father's sacrifices."

Aiden doesn't look convinced. "That's a huge secret to bear, and five years you'll never get back."

"He was my best friend, not only for being my partner but also for saving my life on numerous occasions." His eyes travel to a distant memory. He clutches Leo's shoulder. "He was like family to us."