Page 4 of Special Agent Isabella

Then, as if the universe decided to be nice, Isabella arrived to replace him. She never knew why the skinny girl had stepped in to take over caring about her. It took a long time and a lot of patience for Bella to get her trust and finally her love. But the already shitty foster home became even worse after Tanner aged-out, and so they’d endured together. In the next few years, they’d become a unit and had never looked back.

Once they too aged out, within months of each other, if Bella hadn’t already gotten set up with a job and a place, her future would have been much different. But Bella had been there on Demi’s last day, waiting for her with a key in her hand, insisting they stick together. Without that small, cheap bachelor pad and the promised job, she’d most likely have let their relationship go.

Instead, she’d gotten hired at the same restaurant as Bella. Working the same shifts, saving every penny they could, especially their respectable tips, they became a unit again. Moving in together in the cheap rental, they’d managed to save enough for Bella to go to college, and for Demi to enroll in some psychology courses.

Then Isabella shocked her with the announcement that she wanted to go to a university out of town and focus on getting a law degree. At that point, Demi hadn’t been sure of her own future, but she knew it had to be a career where she helped others.

Bella had been thrilled for Demi and supportive in every way she could be. But it meant that for the first time in her life, Demi would be on her own. Oh, Tanner periodically showed up to remind her of his existence and Bella called often, but life had been scary and empty.

Being the only one in the trio who didn’t feel as if she had the drive or aptitude to follow in their educational footsteps, she faltered for months. Hadn’t she struggled to finish high school? In those days, the only interest she’d had were the courses in community care. Therefore, it didn’t surprise anyone for her to be hired back into the system she’d grown up in.

Life took on a role where she tried to mentor kids not much younger than herself. Day after day, she’d worked hard to understand what mattered most to the kids in her care. Since her own role had been so different from the norm, she had to spend a lot of time listening. At night, she read everything the library had on their shelves about social work and mentoring teens in need.

Then, because of the strangest circumstances, she hit it lucky. She’d hired on to a place similar to Fulton House only not near as clean or safe. She’d had a tiny office there where she slept, away from the kids who came night after night for shelter.

Someone she’d welcomed into the home, a younger-looking girl who appeared dazed and scared, with straggly dark hair, her body thin to the point of being emaciated, came knocking at Demi’s door in the dark, begging for help.

After Demi let her into her room, the street girl shoved a bulky backpack at her, begging Demi to protect it. Her thin voice beseeched, “Please, take this.”

It had been late, and Demi had been half asleep, so all she remembered the next morning was a whispered appeal, “Can you look after my bag? It’s all I have left in the world. I’ll come back. But if I don’t, keep it all. Never, ever let anyone know where it came from and don’t give it to the police. Promise me.”

“You’ll come back though… right?”

“I’ll try. It’s quite likely I won’t. Promise me you’ll keep it and do some good with it.”

“Of course. I promise.”

“Bless you.”

And she’d done just that. Kept the pack safe, never disturbing the insides, feeling a kind of responsibility to the unknown owner and her pleading. Finally, after waiting for more than a month with no one coming to claim their gear, she pulled the bag from the back of her closet and opened it to find more cash than she’d ever seen in her life.

Terrified to be responsible for that much money, which after she counted turned out to be over two hundred thousand dollars, she’d felt as if she carried the weight of the world on her thin shoulders.

The fact that Tanner kept in touch, even bought her a second-hand cellphone so they could be connected, made her trust him with her life… and now her secret.

Being that he’d chosen the FBI as his life’s goal made her proud and even more eager to get his opinion. She’d called and he’d answered at once.

“I need your help, Tan. There’s a backpack here filled with cash, over two hundred thousand dollars, and I want you to look into it.”

“Seriously? How did you get it?”

“A girl gave it to me. I’ll tell you all about it when you’re here. Can you get time off to visit?”

“I’ll be there later today. Will you be okay until then?”

“Yes. That’s fine.”

And he’d kept his word. He’d shown up with a hug and soft words of support and concern. “Show me.”

She pulled the bag over and pointed at it for him to look. When his shocked silence filled the space, she told him the story.

“Demi, listen to me. Get that cash out of the shelter as soon as possible. You never know who might break into your room and come looking for a few bucks. If they find that stash, it’s gone.”

“But it’s not mine.” She pushed the backpack his way. “Here, you take it.”

“No way. The girl gave it to you. She wanted you to be the one. My guess is she’d been to the house before and knew how much you cared about these kids. Do you remember her at all?”

“I’ve wracked my brain, but I can’t say I do. There’re so many youngsters that come into the place seeking sanctuary, I try to help them all as best I can, but no one person stands out.”

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