Page 84 of Clap Back (Carter Brothers)

I did, and we were out the door moments later.

When we arrived at the police station in Sunnyvale, my stomach was in knots.

Germaine met us at the door, and as a group we headed inside.

We were led straight to the captain’s office.

He gestured for us to take a seat, but I offered him my hand. “My name is Maven.”

He was a tall black man with a short-cropped beard.

He had eyes the color of toffee and reminded me of someone I couldn’t quite place.

“Wow, you look exactly like Shemar Moore off of SWAT,” Athena said.

That was why he looked so familiar.

SWAT was one of Athena’s favorite shows.

“I get that a lot,” he said. “My name is Brooks Kurosaka.”

“Chief Kurosaka,” Auden held out his hand for him to shake. “We have a dilemma, and I’m not quite sure what to do with it.”

We spent the next fifteen minutes explaining everything.

Well, Athena and Auden explained. I sat there numbly and listened to them speak.

Abducted.

I’d been abducted.

“Let me see what I can find,” Brooks said.

Five minutes later he was leaning back in his chair, eyes on the screen.

“Marina Semyonov,” he said. “Close to Maven.”

My brows rose as a niggle of memory struck me for a half a breath before it slithered away.

“Age three. Abducted from Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Parents, Josey and Wayne Semyonov. Grandmother, Jessa. Siblings—Nastya, Shasha, Milena, and Dima. Went missing while on a family vacation in Gatlinburg,” he read, then his head turned toward me, then back to the screen. “Yeah, no denying who you belong to.”

He twisted the computer screen until I could see, and my breath caught.

Not only did I look just like my ‘mom’ but I looked like I could be twins with Nastya and Milena. Though they were quite a few years older than me.

“Was I the baby?” I wondered.

“Yes,” he continued to read. “By about five years.”

Wow.

That sucked.

“How do we make this official?” Athena asked. “I know that we’re going to have to do another DNA test and all; they’re not going to trust mine.”

Brooks reached his arm up in the air and rubbed the back of his neck.

“DNA test needs to be done ASAP,” he said. “Through official channels.” He looked at Auden then. Auden, who I just realized, had a hold of my hand and was squeezing it tightly. “We can’t go accusing the chief of the Dallas Police Department of kidnapping without having proof.”

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