Part 3 Ch.6-2

"I'm sure Valentina has no reservations in doing this." He tries to scowl but a smile wins out. "She never does. I swear, she's more impulsive than you are." "Yeah, she is. She's also pretty cute, isn't she?" His ears redden and he suddenly finds the ceiling very interesting. "Is she? I hadn't noticed." I laugh. "Come on, Paxton. How long have I known you? Just make your move, the worst she can do is throw a plasma blast at you." "I like my face just the way it is." He steps through the portal and turns towards me. "You should make your move too." "My move?" I ask. "The OCIU is not getting any nicer. Any pull you have with that Carson dude will help us." I sober up. "I know. I'm working on it." "Tell me when you have a plan. I'll help." He grins. "Just not tonight. I need my sleep. 'Night, Elenora." "Goodnight." The portal closes and I open another one for myself. I step through my living room a second later. The light from the city reaches all the way up to the twenty-second floor of the Suix Hotel, my home for these past months. Paxton and I decided to move back into the city after Avan left, there was not point in staying so far from it. But the safe-house is still ours to use as a get-away place. He has his own house in some upper-class neighborhood and I have mine here. It's comfortable, I pay handsomely and the owner doesn't ask any questions. With Paxton's words still ringing in my ears,  I head towards my room and open the safe hidden behind the dresser. In there are documents I'll need in case I ever need to go into hiding and a folder. One month ago, I asked Paxton for this and still have yet to look through it. The folder is thick and for the first time, I open it. Mom's and Mateo's picture is the first thing I see. In my hands I have all the information could find about them. I'm about to turn the pages when curiosity fills me and I land on Mateo's section and see a familiar women next to him. It has all of Mateo's information under the photo. His age. Where he currently lives. His marital status- My brother is married to Zelia. For a moment I can't believe it but I reread it again. He's married! A laugh bubbles from my lips and I clap my hands in delight. I can't believe I've never thought that. I look at the picture again and see their slightly older features. Zelia's hair is cut short but she looks the same. My brother has the beginnings of a beard starting to grow. God, it looks terrible. But they look happy. I look at the picture for a bit more and turn the pages, looking at the history of my family, feeling even more like an outsider. I flip through Mama's section, noticing how aged she looks now. She still lives in the same house, working the same job as a secretary in a lawyer's office but there is a seriousness in her eyes that wasn't there before. My stomach turns. First her husband left, and now her daughter. Both were years ago; I wish she could stop looking so sad. I wish she could just forget me. In a way, looking through these, it feels as if I've died and am watching them move on without me. I turn the page and his eyes look back at me. Finally, what I was looking for. Carson Williams. The name brings a shiver down my spine. He went to college and graduated in two years, thanks to the college courses he took in his senior year of high school.  After that, he joined the Academy and graduated in six months. There's a picture of him in his Academy graduation with his family. Paxton must have pulled it out of Carson's social media or something. In it, he's grinning widely. Looking in his uniform like some explorer who's about to brave the world. He's been working as a police officer for a year and a half now. In that time, he's been promoted to the OCIU, his skills must be exceptional now. He was always a quick learner. My smile dies and I frown. Of all the jobs- of everything he realistically could be- why choose the police? He was smart enough to be hundreds of other things. I find a newer photo. In this one it's clear that the person who took this was hiding. I can see Carson walking out of a building, heading towards their police car with his partner, the Marksman. The person who took this snapped it at the moment Carson is delivering a joke. I recognize the crooked smile of his as he's trying to not laugh. Besides him, the partner is caught in the act of rolling his eyes. Years have passed and still his smile is the same. This stupid son of a bitch. He could have been anything and yet he chose to become my enemy.