Page 14 of Forged in Flames (Made of Steel 2)

"Not with me. Don Roberts has gone dark."

"I don't know what that means."

She rolled her eyes at me and opened up a drawer filled with forks and knives. She shoved the bin holding the utensils to the back of the drawer and pulled out a laptop.

Who keeps a laptop in their utensil drawer?

She set the laptop down on the kitchen counter like what she had just done wasn't weird at all. "I'm talking about this."

I walked around the kitchen island so I could see the screen she was pointing to. It was just the homepage for the Colorado Post. There was nothing wrong with it. "It looks fine."

Her index finger shifted to the line of text that said, "Your search for Don Roberts did not match any results."

I looked back at her. "I know. His record's been cleared. And I guess the case got dropped?"

"No, not dropped. It disappeared. Along with his rap sheet. It all vanished. With him."

"He's gone?" For the first time all day I felt a little hope.

"Yes. I've been watching the feeds all day. He hasn't been spotted on any cameras since last night. I thought he followed you out of the city."

I swallowed hard.

"But then I saw you check into a hotel room like a freaking amateur so I knew you didn't leave." She set her glass down on the counter and stared at me expectantly.

"I'm sorry, Liza. I have no idea what you want me to say."

She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "A thank you will suffice for starters."

"I am grateful for you letting me stay here..."

"Not that. After you left my place last night, I kept digging because I still wanted to help the vigilante once you were gone."

Harsh.

"And do you know what I found out?"

"Something useful I guess?"

"Obviously." She narrowed her eyes at me. "I found out that your identity was stolen."

What? "I don't get it, who would want to steal

my identity?"

"No, you misunderstood me. No one stole your identity. You stole someone else's."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sadie Davis is a real person. And she looks almost exactly like you. Same brown hair and brown eyes. Same height. Same birthday as you, minus the year." She turned her screen toward me.

There was video footage of a woman stepping onto a subway car. It was in black and white and slightly grainy, but I could still make out the similarities. Honestly, if someone had shown me this picture, I might have thought it was me. "I don't..." my voice trailed off. Something seemed to catch in my throat as the woman turned to face the doors as they closed. She looked almost exactly like me. Which meant she looked like my mom. It was like time stopped as I watched the subway car drive away. I knew that my mom had red hair and blue eyes like me. But in this black and white image, the similarities were uncanny. I knew it wasn't her. But it still felt like I had seen a ghost.

"She's one of Don Roberts' associates. I think that maybe they needed a scapegoat if things went south or something. That's probably why he changed your name when he adopted you."

It felt like my veins were filled with ice. "Don never adopted me."

Liza lowered her eyebrows slightly. "Yes he did. In 2012."

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