Chapter Three
Lisa had a hard time believing what her ears fed her brain. The disgusting vile truth about the father she’d spent so much time searching for. How could her mother have loved this vile creature? Oh sure, his looks might have reeled her in, but anyone with eyes and a brain could see his heart had grown hard and cold.
And to think she’d reminisced about this adored God for years, dreamed so many dreams about the man she would be proud of and look up to, the kind of person who would welcome her with open arms and show pride in her accomplishments.
All the time she’d planned to find him, as a budding reporter, she knew she needed proof before claiming her rights as a daughter. Of course, she’d done her homework, or at least tried to. Her mother flipped her off with the same storybook romantic BS she’d given her as a kid asking questions.
“God, Lisa. I’ve told you the story so many times. Kane and I were young and in love. We went too far, and when I found out I was pregnant, he’d already moved on. That’s how things happen sometimes to girls who follow their hearts and not their brains. Just don’t ever let it happen to you, little girl. Make sure you build a career for yourself before finding a man to share your life with. Because if he leaves you, the struggle for independence won’t be so hard.”
Stubborn and unwilling to give up her fantasies of a romantic reunion, she’d tried looking him up online and there was surprisingly little about the man called Kane Lambert. How someone in today’s world could be so unaccounted for was hard to believe. The only lead she had happened by accident when she stood on the street corner, waiting for a bus.
Working, gathering information for a piece about homelessness, she’d scoured a poor neighborhood nearby, talking to anyone who was willing to share their story.
A loud voice caught her attention. “Hey, Kane. Kane Lambert. I can’t believe it’s you, man.”
Her ears had perked up, and she’d turned in time to see a dark-haired, good looker stop. Totally flustered, she’d still had the presence of mind to follow them that day until they’d wound up at one of the local restaurants. She’d sat as close to the men as possible but couldn’t hear what the conversation covered.
While there, she’d watched as he’d taken a piece of gum from his mouth, fold it in a napkin, and drop it on the saucer. After Kane departed, she went to the table and whisked the napkin behind her purse before anyone stopped her. Walking a few paces behind him, she thrilled when he didn’t get into a car and drive away. Not wanting to leave him without knowing where he lived, she’d followed on the other side of the street to a small, dilapidated house where he’d disappeared inside.
Since he’d taken a key from his pocket to unlock the door, she was positive that he must live there. Waiting for an hour to see if he left again, she determined he was home and headed back to the bus stop before it got too dark. After all, that neighborhood wouldn’t be the place she’d want to be lurking around once the night sky turned black.
Excited beyond anything she’d felt in a long time, she’d enclosed the gum along with her own sample according to the instructions for DNA testing and sent it away. Then on pins and needles, she’d waited.
When she’d finally gotten the confirmation letter, she’d spent days building up her nerve to face him. To see for herself what kind of man had kept her mother’s devotion for all the years she could remember.
Peering again through the crack in the door, she asked herself one more time how this creep could be that man? Lock away a woman’s heart for so long?
Growing up as a child and seeing her mother refuse the attentions from so many admirers forced her to approach Baba, her old Polish grandmother. This woman who’d been there her whole life listened to the question that continued to faze her. “Why don’t I have a dad, Baba?”
The tiny four-foot, ten-inch lady had shaken her head sadly. “Sometimes, Sunshine, a woman meets one man meant for her. Your mama, she too smart for fakers.” Her soft round eyes wide with sympathy, she’d patted Lisa’s hand and added, “You be good gel. Help you mama. She no need worry for you.”
Knowing that her Baba referred to her recent and ongoing run-in with the principal at her school, she bowed her head, hiding her disgusted dismissal of the stupid rules they tried to force on her. She’d gotten into trouble because she wouldn’t listen without questioning everything. Why should she? She had a right to answers, didn’t she? That’s what she’d always been brought up to believe.
In those days, her mother and grandmother had almost given up on her. She’d been a handful – curious and unforgiving. But love and faith won over her temperamental rejection.
Working hard, she’d brought her grades up and had ended up on the principal’s honor roll. Once she’d gotten in the college of her choice, taking creative writing and journalism, her world had evened out slightly. The questions were still there but working with a newspaper like the Washington Post had been the perfect place for her skills and her continuous seeking of knowledge and truth. Starting in a lowly position didn’t bother her because she knew through hard work and determination, she would eventually achieve her goals.
Those dreams led her to this moment… when she needed to face the truth. Her dad was a Grade A creepy asshole, and she didn’t want to have anything more to do with him. As far as she was concerned, she’d write a piece that would get her recognition with her peers at the paper and then take her knowledge to her FBI mother and let her deal with this mess.
Pervs like him and his buddies shouldn’t be allowed to roam free, wreaking havoc on an innocent world. In a panic, her insides rebelling, she stomped around the space. On a bedtable close by she saw a book, picked it up, and read the cover. No doubt, “The Doctrine of Fascism” would be required reading for someone like him. Throwing it on the bed, she checked the area and noticed a window in the corner. Very carefully, she checked to see if she could open it.