Chasing Football Dreams (Diner Girl #2)

Chapter Four

“I heard you played detective while I was out of town,” Eliza noted, wiping the sweat from her brow.

I nodded. “Yeah, I got this weird dream a week back where it felt too real for me to ignore,”

“So, you followed your instincts?”

“I did,”

“And?”

“Everything they told me was a lie,” It was still hurting to think about it. “The accident, who I am, and how they could possibly be covering more cases like mine,”

Eliza looks shocked. “What?”

“Not my words,”

“Do you think that they could go that far by kidnapping kids from their families?”

I shrugged. “The file they created. It’s all fake, Eliza. There is not a medical document of me when I arrived. If I was in such a severe accident then someone would have had to alert them about my injuries. Even the accident scene is fake,”

“What are you going to do?”

"I am not sure yet," Duncan and I haven't gotten a chance to talk about the next step. Going to the police with not much evidence was pointless and no matter how eager I was to find out if I was Coach Shane's daughter: I had to be cautious with my findings. Things could go terribly wrong if we take hasten and irresponsible tests.

“I am proud of you,” Eliza said, bumping my shoulder with hers.

“For what?"

"Finally following your gut. Breaking into the office and jumping out of a window. I wish I was there to see it,"

“I was thinking about the kids at the orphanage. Hoping that none of their stories are as horrendous as mine,"

"Getting left behind by the person who is programmed to love you, is as horrendous as getting kidnapped,"

I felt guilt tugging my heart when I saw the remorse blazing in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. You are right. I am being selfish,"

She shook her head at me and pulled me into her arms. "The only selfish person is the man who took you from your family and as selfish as it sounds. I am glad I got to meet you and grow up with you. I have a sister I would have never had if you were Shane Martin's daughter,"

Dread filled my head as I thought about the possibility that Shane Martin could be my biological father. "What if all of this is a misunderstanding and I am not Zoey Martin? Her body was found and they had to bury her four-year-old body,"

“What if the girl they buried wasn't Zoey Martin? If they could have faked your birth certificate. Someone could have falsified the blood tests and lied about the girl being her. The only way we can sort out this mess is revealing the truth,"

"What if the truth hurts Shane and Angela more than it's going to hurt me?"

She rolled her eyes. "You are also a human being who needs answers. You've been lied to by people you learned to trust because they clothed you and raised you. You are also a victim in all of this. You were taken from your parents and drugged to forget who you are. They can't be mad at you for seeking answers,"

I smiled. “I missed you,” I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and hugged her.

“Not that much since Duncan has been keeping you occupied,” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.

“Would you stop?” I muttered.

She snickered when I blushed. “It’s fun, huh?”

“You are not going to stop, are you?”

She shook her head. “I finally have something to make you feel uncomfortable with,”

“Thanks,” I said dryly and followed her out onto the street.

She gave an evil laugh but it got stuck in her throat when a black and slick Ducati rumbled beside us and pulled into a parking.

Eliza doesn’t always admit it out loud but she likes a man with a bike. She calls them daredevils. And she has always been attracted to the bad boys.

I found Duncan leaning up against his SUV. Xander and Freddie by his side. I frowned when I saw them pushing up from his SUV and walking to where the guy parked his Ducati.

“Finally got your wheels back,” Freddie remarked.

I glanced over my shoulder when the guy started to remove his helmet.

Eliza gasped while I just stared at him with wide eyes.

“Andrew?”

He shot me a grin. “Hey, Zo,”

“What the hell?”

“My bike was in for repairs and after putting some fire under their asses I finally got my baby back,”

He shifted his attention to the girl standing next to me.

He looked determined when he smiled at her. “Good to see you are finally home,”

“How’s France?” His confident strides even left me flabbergasted.

“It was nice but it doesn’t compare to home,”

“Why’s that?”

“They have beautiful art and it’s the place to be for a striving artist like myself but they don’t have an Andrew,”

I just shook my head at her and walked towards Duncan who was smiling at me. “Hey, how was yoga?”

“It was fun,”

“Do you have anything to do with Andrew showing up?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Freddie let it slip that Eliza was back and that you had gone out with her for yoga,”

“So, he just had to show up with his bike and woo her?”

“It worked—don’t you think so?” He pointed with his jaw over my shoulder.

I turned and watched Eliza talking to Andrew. “She loves bad boys,”

Duncan chuckled. “He is no bad boy. He is too good to be taken for a rebel,”

“We all have a rebel inside of us,”

“Yeah, I almost forgot that you broke the law miss-goody-two-shoes,”

“You make me feel like superwoman when I have your support,” I walked my fingers up from his side and paused my hand over his chest.

“You just have me to remind you that you are capable of anything. You were a superwoman before I even met you,”

I shrugged. “Every superhero needs love and encouragement from time to time,”

“And a dose to remind them that they are also just human,” Duncan pointed out.