Identity of the Heart (A Hidden Hearts Novel Book 1)

by Mary Crawford

  Tristan generously offered Isaac a ride back with us on the plane. Tristan and Isaac are developing some sort of law enforcement bond. This is fascinating to me as well because I know that Tristan is some sort of highly paid consultant, but as far as I know, he doesn’t really have any law enforcement training. Yet, Isaac has accepted him as if he’s one of his own police brothers. Come to think of it, I’m not exactly sure what Isaac does. He’s very mysterious—it’s easy to see how all of those rumors got started about his past.

  I realize that I’ve lost complete track of the conversation when Ivy pokes me in the chest, and points to Isaac’s calf, “Marcus! You’re never going to believe this in a million years! It’s just too freaky!”

  I snap to attention as I look down at Isaac’s calf. “I’ll be damned—” I marvel as I examine it.

  “You’ll have to excuse me, I’m a little lost,” replies Isaac as he looks at all of us with an expression of befuddlement.

  “It’s okay, Padre. This is going to take a little bit of explanation,” Rogue says as she takes a drink of Dr. Pepper.

  Ivy nods in agreement as she adds, “…and an open mind.”

  “Marcus is my supervisor at his tattoo shop, Ink’d Deep. As part of my apprenticeship, he had me do a cover tattoo for him in which he gave me complete artistic freedom. He told me a meaningful story from his childhood and I came up with the tattoo you see on his arm,” Rogue explains.

  Ivy picks up her drawing pad and shows Isaac her tattoo design and continues the explanation, “As Tristan and I were driving to the tattoo shop, before I ever set foot inside, I drew this as an idea for a tattoo I might get if I ever get brave enough to get a tattoo.”

  It takes Isaac a few moments to compose his emotions and he has to swallow a couple times before he can speak. His words are rough with emotion when they finally emerge, “Since I was never able to bury you girls and your mother, this tattoo was my way of saying goodbye.” He traces his finger around the black and gray dragonfly with the script. ‘True love comes with a price, always be prepared’. “It was my way to remind myself to never be caught away from someone I loved ever again. I’ve never forgiven myself for leaving Rosie alone while she was pregnant. That decision has haunted me every day of my life.”

  At the end of his impassioned speech, tears are streaming down everyone’s face— mine included. The one flight attendant on the plane discreetly hands a box of tissue to Tristan who takes one and passes the box around to the rest of us.

  Rogue untangles herself from Tristan’s lap and goes over to kiss Isaac on the cheek. “Padre, I’m so sorry you were robbed of your family. It just seems so unfair. But, you can forgive yourself now. We are all alive and well. You could not have predicted what was going to happen. No sane person could. So, we’ll all just have to move forward from here.”

  “It’s true, Padre. We’ll just have to build our lives from this day forward.”

  “Isaac, come on…sit. You’re going to wear a hole in your shoes. I never thought I’d meet somebody who paces more than me. It’s going to be fine, I swear. I’ve been through several of these sessions already. I seem to be the one waiting out here most of the time. Tristan and Rogue are pretty good at explaining things.”

  “They’re good together aren’t they?”

  I nod. “Yeah, I’m really happy she found somebody. She deserves it more than anybody I’ve ever met.”

  “Rogue tells me that you guys have been friends for years. Why didn’t you end up dating her?”

  I shrug. “I don’t know. Rogue has always been more like my little sister. She is truly my best friend.”

  “I take it you feel differently about Ivy?”

  “Yes, sir. I know it sounds weird because they’re identical twins, but my feelings for Ivy in no way resemble what I feel for Rogue. In fact, unless they’re having one of their spooky twin moments I rarely think of them as identical twins. I love Ivy very much.”

  “Spooky twin moments?” Isaac asks, seeking clarification.

  “It’s something you’d have to witness to understand but it’s along the lines of the dragonfly tattoos and the nickname they had for you as a child.”

  “I’m sorry if I overstep my bounds here, I haven’t been a dad for very long and I know she’s already got one, but Ivy said she’d like to change her major to something to do with the arts. Are you going to be able to support her with both of you being artists?”

  “It’s quite all right, sir. It’s a valid question. I choose to live below my means at the moment because I’ve been helping to support my family and some charities that I care deeply about. When the time comes to step up for Ivy, I’ll be more than capable of doing that. Ink’d Deep does quite well.”

  “With all due respect, why the hell aren’t you paying Rogue enough that she doesn’t have to scramble to do fourteen jobs to be able to go to school?” Isaac probes.

  I laugh out loud at his question. “Isaac, believe me I’ve tried to pay your daughter more, but she has a stubborn streak a mile and a half wide.”

  “She gets that from her mother,” he quips.

  “Rogue has gotten it into her mind that she doesn’t want to take advantage of our friendship. She won’t allow me to do anything more for her than she perceives would be done for any other apprentice. It was difficult to persuade her to take any wage at all, let alone a decent one.”

  “So, you’re saying that if I want to help out my daughters, I’m going to need to be crafty?”

  “Like a Secret Service agent,” I respond.

  Isaac grins. “That I can do.”

  My phone chimes and when I check the inbox, it’s a message from Ivy.

  “She says that Mama Rosa is in a little bit of shock but wants to see you,” I report to Isaac, filtering out the goofy emoticons.

  “Maybe I should’ve just left well enough alone. What if I cause her terrible pain?” Isaac asks, panic coloring his voice.

  “Isaac, the last time I was here, she spent several minutes showing me pictures of you and waxing poetically about your love story. I’d guess that missing you forever would be much more painful than the momentary shock of finding out that you’re still alive.”

  “Really? She still talked about me after all these years?” Isaac pushes.

  “Yes, she did, quite openly and affectionately. If I had to guess, I’d say she still carries a torch for you.”

  “Well, I’m not a man opposed to praying for miracles. But, I feel like I have had more than my fair share already. My wife and my daughters are alive and well. I hesitate to ask for more.”

  “I’m not sure you actually have to ask for this one. I think it just is. I don’t think she ever fell out of love with you.”

  “I hope you’re right, son. I know I never fell out of love with her.”

  “Well, let’s go see the love of your life, then,” I instruct as I sling my arm around his shoulder and escort him to the front door.

  We don’t even make it all the way to the front door before Mama Rosa swings it open and runs out at a dead sprint and lands directly in Isaac’s arms. He swings her around in a big circle. She is sobbing as she whispers, “Isaac, mi cariño” into his neck. “Is it really true? Is my heart finally back?”

  I sit down on an Adirondack chair on the porch and I pull Ivy down on my lap. Together we watch the joyful reunion.

  “Yes, Rosie it really is me,” he responds laughing as she rains kisses all over his face.

  “You’re about twenty-three years too late for dinner. The enchiladas are cold,” she scolds, tearfully. “Where have you been?”

  “Rosie, they told me that all of you had died when you went into premature labor. When I could get loose from my job, I went back to the old house and there was not a trace of us there, so I had no reason to believe otherwise. I was so devastated I nearly lost everything. I wanted to follow you all into the grave. The only thing that saved me was my job,” Isaac admits, his voice cracking with emotion.
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  “Someone called and told me you died too. Yet, I never believed them. I knew that I would feel it in my heart if you died. Still you never told me what was so important about your job with a moving company. All those years and I never understood—”

  “You couldn’t understand my job because I couldn’t tell you what my job really was. I had a job similar to what Tristan here does except I did it for a now-defunct government agency. We were in charge of tracking the flow of cash and collateral in and out of the drug cartels.”

  “When I saved you from the car accident I was actually deep undercover and shouldn’t have even intervened. Yet, I couldn’t let you suffer so I had to break cover and rescue you. But, I was not allowed to tell you who I was or what agency I worked for, or even that I knew how to use a computer.”

  “Even after we got married? I was no security threat to you. I was born in Arizona. Just because I speak Spanish doesn’t mean I’m not an American.”

  “Rosa, it wasn’t about that. All agents, regardless of who they’re married to or even if they aren’t married, were not allowed to discuss their jobs. It’s for operational safety. If we were to open up about our jobs, it would make both you and us potential kidnapping targets. Believe me, there were many times I wanted to tell you what I was doing, but I was just keeping you safe. I was so devastated when they called me in on the last operation and I was away from you while you were pregnant. I will never forgive myself for that as long as I live.”

  Rosa frowns at him as she replies, “Well, trust me, it wasn’t a popular call with me either. But, if I would’ve known all of the facts, I would’ve probably understood better. It really hurt thinking that you were abandoning me to help move somebody’s couch and ottoman.”

  “Oh, Rosa I have missed you so much. I’ve especially missed your wonderful offbeat sense of humor. You’ll be happy to know that I’m retired from the agency that no longer exists. There will be no more clandestine missions. I am free to be at your beck and call. I’ll even take those dancing classes you wanted me to take back in the day.”

  “What makes you think you have a license to waltz in here and pick up right where you left off?” Rosa demands, with her hands on her hips. “After all, you’ve been gone for more than two decades, a woman has the prerogative to move on, you know.”

  “Of course you do, but, you didn’t,” Isaac states confidently. “I have about a hundred lipstick prints on my face that tell me that. Even if you did change your mind, I would spend the rest of my life trying to change it back because I’ve never, ever fallen out of love with you, Rosa Roguen.”

  “You never let me go by that name before,” Rosa comments with surprise.

  “It was for your own safety. But, now Rogue or Marcus can tattoo it on your forehead if you choose.”

  “You’re so silly! But, I was thinking about a nice pretty dragonfly like Rogue made on Marcus. I thought it would look really nice on my shoulder. I just have to work up the nerve. Needles are not my favorite thing.”

  “It must be a family thing,” I murmur into Ivy’s ear.

  Ivy giggles softly. “Hush, you’re going to ruin a sweet family moment.”

  “What? You don’t have a tattoo. Rogue doesn’t have a tattoo. Your mom doesn’t have a tattoo. The only person brave enough to get a tattoo is your dad. I’m just saying that I sense a pattern here, that’s all.”

  Rogue hears me from across the yard with her bionic-like hearing. “Hey! I didn’t say I was afraid of needles. I’m just delaying my tattoo work until I’m done with the modeling gigs, remember?”

  “You’re going on modeling gigs?” asks Isaac with alarm. “Do you know how many of our cases had to do with girls going on those jobs? People advertise for false modeling jobs all the time. I’m not saying you’re not pretty enough to be a model, but very few of those listings are actually legitimate. You could be putting yourself in real danger.”

  “Padre Pop, I’m really careful to screen clients carefully before I meet anyone and I always meet clients in a public place. I’m very cautious. I know how to tell the difference between the scumbags and the real clients.”

  “I’ve heard that line from the majority of families that I interview. Most of the victims were pretty confident that they could tell the good guys from the bad guys.” Isaac looks at Rogue and then over at Ivy. “Please, you girls are so beautiful and so young. You need to be especially vigilant. I know you found each other because of the dating site. As a dad I’m really worried about that too.”

  Ivy and Rogue glance at each other as Rogue comments, “Okay, Padre Pop, I don’t think that will be a problem. I don’t think that Ivy and I are going to be needing any dating services anytime soon anyway.”

  AS SOON AS I WALK IN THE door, Jade tosses a pile of mail in my direction. “I was just telling Marcus the other day that he needs to put in mailboxes and start charging a fee. First it was all the tattoo artists and then the photographers who always seem to tag along with them, and now it’s all of you guys too. At least you don’t ask me to text you and let you know you’ve gotten a letter. There’s one chick that worked here five years ago who still wants me to text her every time she gets a piece of junk mail. Hasn’t she ever heard of going to the post office and getting a forwarding address?”

  “That’s just weird. I don’t even do that to my mama,” I comment as I rifle through the mail.

  “I think it’s funny that you and Iris are getting the same mail. Do the companies automatically do that when your twins?”

  “Ivy,” I correct absentmindedly. “Her name is Ivy and as far as I know, there’s no tendency for companies to send out matching mail, although I really haven’t officially been a twin long enough to figure that out for sure.”

  Jade shrugs as she says, “It must just be a coincidence that you guys both got the same letter from The RCBR Trust.”

  “Yeah, it’s probably one of those financial aid scams, Because it’s not from one of the scholarships I applied for.”

  I open the ivory parchment paper envelope. It certainly doesn’t feel like typical junk mail. It’s the kind of material they use in wedding invitations, diplomas and fancy stuff like that.

  “How is this even possible?” I mumble under my breath as I read the letter to myself.

  “How is what possible?” Jade probes impatiently. “How am I supposed to properly gossip if you don’t tell me what’s going on?”

  “This says I’ve been awarded a scholarship to the college, university or program of my choice to advance my higher education renewable each year until I graduate contingent upon me making demonstrative progress toward my degree.”

  “What? That’s totally amazing! That’s like the answer to your prayers!” Jade announces as she starts dancing wildly and high-five-ing the other people in the shop.

  “Wait! Stop!” I instruct sharply. “Don’t you all think it’s incredibly strange that I never applied for this scholarship, gift, endowment or whatever the heck you want to call it. I don’t even know who this ‘RCBR Endowment for Higher Education’ is. They could be nothing more than a few hackers posing as a huge scholarship company to try to get my personal information or something—or they could be the front for some criminal enterprise. All I know is that I never applied for any grant from this place and I’ll bet you dimes to dollars that Ivy didn’t either. Something smells more than a little fishy here.”

  “But, what if it’s real.” Jade pushes back, “Wouldn’t that be the coolest thing ever. It would be like those people at the ball games who have nothing to lose and launch a ball from behind the three-point line. It’s the largest gamble that they ever take. But the payoff is so sweet when they finally exceed the expectation of the audience and make the basket. Maybe this is your ultimate three-point basket.”

  I start growling deep in my throat as I try to smile at Jade. “It’s possible, but very, very, very unlikely. I strongly suspect my mysterious beneficiary lives a few hours away and has an odd fascin
ation with all things chess and the National Spelling Bee.”

  Jade’s eyebrows shoot to her hairline as she says, “You think Tristan, the guy who still takes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to work and mows his own grass suddenly got a wild hair up his butt and started handing out cash? You have met the man, right?”

  I smile as she recounts Tristan’s quirky behaviors. “Mmm hmm,” I acknowledge, as I nod. “He also recycles his grocery bags as garbage bags, but he wouldn’t think twice of paying for my tuition, Ivy’s tuition and probably the tuition of everybody I care about if I would let him.”

  Jade looks a tad gobsmacked. “Really? I wish I could find a guy like that.”

  I shrug as I continue, “It’s a good thing that I love the man because right now, I’m ticked at him. We’ve talked about this several times. I don’t want him doing things like this for me.”

  Marcus looks up from the massive back piece he’s been working on and makes an observation, “Are you sure that Super-Secret-Spy-Guy isn’t going to view this as just one more example of doing something nice for you. When you’re used to dealing with multimillion dollar corporations and stock deals that are worth billions of dollars, is a few thousand dollars a year in tuition money really that much of an expense?”

  “Gee thanks Marcus, I don’t know if I feel better or worse,” I respond.

  “I’m sorry Ro, I’m just trying to make you feel better. Tristan is trying really hard to make your world a happier place. Don’t you think you should at least hear the guy out before you decide that he’s guilty and send him to the hanging gallows?”

  Deep down, I know that Marcus is right. Tristan has never been the kind just to indiscriminately throw around his money just to show me that he can. If he’s ever spent large sums of money on me and it’s been for a specific purpose to relieve some urgent need in my life. He has, for the most part, honored his pledge to treat me like a regular girlfriend. His one notable exception was to help me throw a block party in my neighborhood on New Year’s Day. My poor local Panda Express franchise didn’t quite know how to handle an order that large. Needless to say, Tristan and I are their new favorite customers because I think he probably single-handedly quadrupled their quarterly profits. But, I’m not sure my neighborhood will ever quite be the same.