Unexpected Beginnings

UNEXPECTED BEGINNINGS

Deborah Lee Lott

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2019 Deborah Lee Lott

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******** CHAPTER ONE *********

Bridget was trying to calm herself down after what she had just done, so she quickly picked up a magazine and started thumbing through it. She knew that if she got caught, she could be in terrible danger. But it was her only way out, so she was willing to take the risk. She had gotten into bad situations before, but she had never done anything like this.

She was grateful that someone had left a magazine on a nearby bench at the bus station. Reading it helped her to divert her thoughts away from her present situation, but she found herself jumping at every sound or sudden move. She had been scared when she first ran into the bus station looking for a place to hide and to calm her nerves. She was constantly looking around her and watching the door, hoping she hadn’t been followed inside. She didn’t know what made her come into the bus station. She wasn't planning on going anywhere and hadn’t bought a ticket. That is until she turned the page of the magazine and saw a photo of a woman that she couldn't quit staring at. There was an article about the woman who was a best-selling author and Bridget couldn't help but feel that she had met her before and that she actually looked a little bit like her. She needed to occupy her mind, so she read the article to the end and decided to do further research on the author simply because there was something about her that seemed familiar. Lately, she had been questioning her family background because she was all alone in the world now and was hoping that somehow she had a living relative somewhere. Her mind started to wander and although she knew she was being ridiculous, she even asked the person sitting next to her if the woman in the photo looked like her. The young man surprisingly said that the woman in the photo looked enough like her to be her sister, maybe even a twin. Although, her parents had never said anything, she had often wondered if she was adopted because they didn't have any pictures of her before the age of three. She always thought that was strange because she was not only their first child, but their only child. Usually, the first child gets lots and lots of pictures taken of them, especially when they are a baby. Her parents always came up with an excuse or a reason as to why there were no baby pictures of her. Although she never questioned them, for some reason, she never completely believed them.

As she sat there thinking, she became more and more curious. What if there weren’t any pictures because her parents didn’t have her when she was a baby? What if they weren’t really her biological parents? What if she was adopted and had another family somewhere? And what if she was somehow related to this author that she resembled? She laughed to herself knowing that was a long shot.

Lately, she had become fed up with the life that she had been living and needed to change it and maybe, just maybe, she would find a new beginning for a new life. She just couldn't continue with the kind of lifestyle that she had been living. She checked her phone to find the location of the nearest library, hoping that someone there would be able to help her find the information that she needed. She found the nearest one, but it wasn't within walking distance so she picked up the small suitcase and went out to find a taxi. During the taxi ride, she called the hospital where her parents said that she was born to request a copy of her birth records, but she was told that she had to fill out a request form first so the hospital would be her next stop.

Something was stirring in her and she was now on a mission to see if she might possibly have another family or any relative somewhere.

While at the library, she was able to find information on the woman in the magazine article plus a lot of additional information that she hadn’t expected to discover. She gathered up her notes and the copies that the librarian had made for her then she took another taxi to the hospital. The woman in the records department of the hospital was quick in finding her birth certificate. After looking it over, she knew where her next stop would be. She was going back to the bus station, but this time she was going to buy a ticket.

******** CHAPTER TWO ********

Tom Mattley sat slumped at his desk in a dingy, gray office. At least he had a window, even if it was so dirty that you couldn't see well through it. He was tired and the case he was working on was really taking a toll on him. It was a missing person case and he usually didn't mind them unless, like this case, it was children that were missing. This case was giving him nightmares and keeping him awake at night. They had no leads and it was getting more and more frustrating every day.

I may have just made your day. His partner announced as he barged through the office door.

Please tell me that you found a lead in this case.

I did. We found the dad of the missing children and he's being brought in for questioning right now. He’s actually being considered as a suspect at this time.

That's great! You really did just make my day. But why don't you take the lead on the interrogating? I’d like to have a profiler stand at the window with me and observe his actions.

His partner was surprised and wondered if there was something wrong. It wasn’t like Mattley to let someone else take the lead. He was always more than eager to do it himself.

Mattley and the profiler stood outside of the room with the dark tinted window and watched as his partner questioned the suspect. He could tell by the suspect's body language that he was lying as he swore up and down that he didn't know the whereabouts of his children. The profiler agreed with him. And, as usual, the suspect's lawyer showed up just when they thought they might get something out of him. He was glad for the distraction of his phone ringing. He was a little startled when he heard the voice on the other end of the call. It was a voice that he hadn't heard in years.

Well, it's been a while. I haven’t heard from you in a few years. What can I help you with?

It has been a while and I was really hoping that it would be a while longer, Detective Mattley. There are a few of your officers already here, but I wanted to request that you come handle the situation yourself since you've always been so discreet in the past.

Mattley was already walking out the door while talking and struggling to put on his suit jacket. He was actually glad to have a new case to work on. He didn't bother to tell his partner where he was going, but he knew he could explain things to him later. Right now he just needed to get out of there. Lately, he found that he was having a hard time with coming in to the office. He didn’t know what was going on with him, but he seemed to be losing his drive and didn’t have any sense of direction right now. His cases no longer motivated him and he thought that perhaps he might need a change, but he had no idea what kind of a change he needed.

It was a short drive to his destination which really didn’t give him much time to think about what to do. As he arrived, he was grateful that he had gotten prior information about what he was walking in to. He didn't like showing up at a scene completely unprepared. As he walked into the hotel, he knew exactly where he needed to go as he had been in the manager's office in the past. The woman at the reception desk stopped him before he even got to the manager’s door and immediately directed him to the ninth floor where she said he would find the manager, hotel security and a few police officers. He had already seen the ambulance parked in front of the hotel entrance when he arrived and hoped that he wasn't walking in to a big, bloody mess. He had definitely walked in to his share of those and was hoping he didn't have to deal with one today. He found himself getting more and more tired of the big city cases that his career had been brought up on. He thought about how nice it might be to have a position as a chief of a police in a small, quiet town; a town where someone running a red light would be the highlight of the month. Well that wasn’t going to happen, so he had to focus on what was at hand.

He got into the elevator and went up to the ninth floor where he easily found the location that he was looking for.

****** CHAPTER THREE ******

Amanda had arrived on time, but there was already a line waiting for her. She immediately noticed the woman at the front of the line who seemed strangely familiar to her; to the point that she walked over and asked her if they knew each other.

We don't know each other, yet. The woman responded smiling. But we will soon. I was wondering if we could talk after your book signing, if you have some time.

Although Amanda knew she would be tired by the end of the book signing, there was something about the woman that made her want to stay and talk to her. She was also curious about why the woman thought that they were going to know each other. That was just a strange comment to make upon meeting someone. She hesitated a moment before responding to her, but at the very least, she didn't want to disappoint a fan who was early enough to be the first in line.

It's going to be a few hours before I'm available, but I will have a little time after the book signing if you don't mind the wait.

I don’t mind at all. It will definitely be worth the wait.

The book signing was going very well and it was as enjoyable as usual. Amanda's assistant always made sure of that and she was always very personable with Amanda's fans. Tricia had set up the book signing all on her own this time and had done a fantastic job of it. Usually, it was Amanda's publicist who assumed the responsibility of setting up her book signings, but Tricia wanted a chance at doing it herself because she had a great time setting them up and she liked the exposure it gave her. Although Tricia loved working for Amanda, she was very motivated to move her career in a new direction.

The signing table was set up just inside the front entrance of a book store in the city's largest mall at mid-morning on a Saturday, which was the perfect day and time for a signing. There was also an additional table next to the signing table with a coffee pot, Styrofoam cups, cookies and a box for signing up to win a gift certificate to the store. They even had a large sign displayed outside the store in the mall and also outside the mall’s front entrance advertising the book signing and drawing. They really knew how to get people into their store.

Tricia had been cautiously watching the woman who was talking to Amanda and wasn't so sure that Amanda should wait around to talk to her. She sometimes felt like Amanda’s fans had ulterior motives whenever they wanted to talk to her outside of a book signing. She was hoping the woman wouldn't come back and she was going to try to get Amanda out of there immediately after the signing was over.

The last hour seemed to drag, not because she wasn't busy, but because she was so curious and looking forward to meeting and talking to the seemingly familiar woman. Amanda wondered if she might possibly know her already.

After she had signed the last book, two more fans showed up and even though her time was up, she waited for them to come up to the table. While she was waiting, she was looking around for the woman who had wanted to talk to her. She was surprised at how disappointed she felt when she didn't see her anywhere.

She turned to her assistant.Tricia, do you remember that woman who was the first one in line?

Yes, she kind of stuck in my mind because she resembled you a little and seemed to know you. I thought maybe she was some sort of relative. It wasn’t a lie. The thought had crossed Tricia’s mind while she was watching the woman, but her natural distrust of people got the best of her.

I don't know who she was, but she just seemed so familiar. Have you seen her anywhere? She wanted to talk to me after the signing, but she doesn't seem to be here now.

No, I haven't seen her since she left the signing table. Maybe she just didn't want to wait that long. I really don't think we should hang around here and wait for her too long, though. We both have a lot to get back to. I know how much you love your fans, but you need to be careful. There are a lot of nut cases out there.

Amanda helped Tricia load the boxed books onto her small pull cart. Tricia always brought extra books to the signings just in case the book stores should run out. She never wanted that to be an issue. Even though they had a good turn out today, the book store had ordered plenty to have on hand and the extras weren't needed at all.

Amanda looked around,