Page 7 of Building What's Meant to Be

“Father was giving you an opportunity that he didn’t have.”

I want him to be wrong. But we both are. We’re both wrong. We’re both right. The Humber family is complicated, and I feel like I was run over by a bus, a plane, and a car making my thoughts scramble.

John takes a step forward, ushering me out the door like an unwanted guest or a stray dog. He opens the garage anda cardboard box sits all alone in an empty bay flanked by my father’s nautical blue Maybach and mom’s diamond-white Mercedes convertible.

From my pocket comes the distinct tinkle of my cell phone, finally ringing. Relief sweeps through me like a masseuse working out the tension in my back. Finally, someone cares. Without looking at the caller ID, I answer.

Chapter Two

AIDEN

This is the part of my job that I hate. Put me on the ground, in the thick of things, and undercover, I’m your man. However, I dread doing reports, which amounts to heaps of paperwork and cold call follow-ups.

I dial the number and the woman answers on the first ring. I make a mental note that she doesn’t sound like she just woke up. My mother used to call me “Lil Sherlock” because I’d always notice details, find lost items, and solved my first crime when a neighborhood lawn mower was stolen. Little does she know that I got into the right profession.

“Hello, this is Agent Fuller,” I say.

“What was that? Hello?” a bubbly female voice asks.

“Hi, this is Agent Fuller,” I repeat.

“No, this isn’t the Bagel Father. That’s in Little Italy, on Grand at Baxter Street, I believe. If you hit Canal, you’ve gone too far and will end up in Chinatown.”

The lines between my eyebrows crimp—the other day my sister Mae said the furrow was so deep, it reminded her of the Grand Canyon. Yeah, well, this case just keeps getting more and more complicated, not that she knows anything about it.

“Is this Tinsley Humber?” I ask, trying a different approach.

“How would I know if you got the right number? Who are you trying to call?”

Either an elderly woman with a youthful voice needs to adjust her hearing aids, this woman is messing with me, or we have a bad connection.

I repeat my name, following protocol to properly identify myself in this situation. Neither my parents nor my sister have ever heard the Agent part attached to the last name Fuller.

“Sienna, is that you? Sounds like you had a late night. I promise you mine was later. As wild as they come. Wait until you hear the story.”

“Miss, I am an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and would like to discuss—”

“Wait, this isn’t Sienna. Who’s calling?”

“I just said—” I start but my own voice echoes back to me, suggesting something is wrong with the cellphone network. I pace the office, repeating introductions, but with each attempt, the conversation gets more garbled.

“I’m going to hang up and try calling back,” I say.

“If you’re asking if I’d wear off the rack, no. Designer only.”

I hang up before trying to decode what she means. I count to ten, taking deep breaths. Then I count backward. When my blood pressure still feels like a geyser about to erupt, I decide to calmup—it’s a method my mentor taught me. My mentor being Aslan. Yes, fromthe Chronicles of Narnia. During a rough patch almost a decade ago, I read the books by C.S. Lewis. The lion really spoke to me about purpose and how the big are meant to protect the little, among many other things.

He’s also a lion, which is a big cat, so I turn to kittens to center myself and refocus when I feel like kicking the can down the street and then running for the hills. Instead of calming down, I do something to elevate my mood.

I swipe to the internet search page and typeCute kittens. My smile is immediate. There are three orange and white long hair kittens in a basket, eyes wide, looking all around. My chest drops and my shoulders relax.

Works every time.

I dial Tinsley Humber’s number again. She answers right away.

“Hello, this is Agent Fuller with—”

“Don’t mess with me, Ferris Bueller is fictional and would not be calling me this early anyway.” Like a federal attorney, she continues to outline her case against me being the movie character in great detail.

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