Beautifully Broken (22 page)

James walked into Oscar’s lab and Cali waited at the door.

“Hey James what are you doing here? Did I do something
wrong?” Oscar asked looking very nervous as he took his
head phones off his head.

Oscar looked like a teenager who spent all of his time
playing video games, not a big time computer software
developer. He had long, shaggy, red hair and green eyes
that were covered by goggles. He had on grey track pants
and a ripped t-shirt. He was short and scrawny and he
looked very tired like he had been up for days.
“Oscar you are not in trouble, I need a favor,” James said
looking at Oscar. “I need the wiz kids computer hacking
skills and it needs to be a secret like if the board stopped
by tomorrow and asked if I was here you would have to
say no, can you help me out?”

“Ya if you’re giving me permission to hack into networks
and actually have some fun, I’ll help you out, no problem,”
Oscar said smiling with a look of excitement in his eyes. “I
just have one question, who’s the hot chick standing in my
door? I am assuming she’s with you because pretty girls
don’t usually come down here to see me.” Oscar laughed
as he was checking Cali out.

“Cali, come in,” James said to her, as she walked into the
lab. “This is Cali and she needs your help, Cali this is
Oscar the wiz kid, and if anyone can find out the
information you need to know, this is guy,” Cali put her
hand out to shake Oscars hand and he grabbed her and
kissed her hand, making Cali feel uncomfortable.

“Nice to meet you,” Cali said trying to be polite as she
pulled her hand back.

 

“The pleasure is all mine,” Oscar said smiling at her with
creepy eyes.

 

“Ok Oscar settle down, this is my girlfriend,” James
reminded him.

“Ya ya they all belong to you,” Oscar whispered under his
breath. “Well Cali, what is it that I can help you find?”
Cali stood there looking into his eyes and she froze. She
couldn’t find the words or the courage to tell this kid what
she did and what she needed him to do for her. Cali’s
palms started sweating and her face flushed. She started
biting her bottom lip. James could tell she was nervous. He
put his arms around her to help calm her down.

“We need you to hack into the police data base and find
out all the information on a girl named Veronica Burns,
we also need to know all we can about her parents,” James
said and then looked over at Cali. “What were their names
again?”

“Katie and Harold Burns,” she whispered still shaking
from the nerves.

“If possible can you hack into the FBI database and find
out any information they have on Veronica Burns as
well?” James asked.

“Now we’re talking! This is going to be so much fun. My
boss is giving me permission to hack into the FBI
database. This is the best job ever!” Oscar said laughing to
himself.

He spun around in his black computer chair, facing his
eleven different computers and he frantically started
typing.

“You two might want to pull up a chair because it’s going
to take a while,” he said turning around and looking at
Cali and James.
James left the room to get some chairs and Cali watched as
Oscar continued to type. She was amazed at how fast he
was. He was breaking through fire walls and breaking
down codes to get into restricted areas.

James came back with two chairs and they both sat and
watched the wiz kid work.

James held Cali’s hand as they waited in anticipation. She
watched everything Oscar was doing; he moved from
computer to computer looking up different things and
breaking through different security walls. Within only ten
short minutes, he had some answers.

Oscar turned around and looked at James and Cali who
were anxiously waiting to hear what he had to say.

 

The computers behind him were beeping and flashing.

“I am still waiting to get into the FBI database, it’s going to
take a while to break through all their security walls, but I
can do it,” Oscar said as something started printing out of
one of the printers. He slid across the room in his chair to
the printer and grabbed the pages. “I found some
information on Harold Burns. He was killed just a few
weeks ago, he was an upstanding citizen he didn’t even
have a parking ticket. It says he was a lawyer and he
graduated from Sanctify University but when I went
through the schools database there is no record of a
Harold Burns so I dug a little deeper. Harold Burns is a
made up name, his real name is Jeff Bower and he has a
long list of criminal activity, including drug trafficking,
robbery, rape and murder. Jeff Bower was married to a
Mary-Lou Bower and together they were quite the little
crime couple. The police could never track them down
which makes sense if they used different aliases.”

Oscar’s computer started going off and he turned around
to work on it. Cali was in shock, her father really was a
murderer but she was even more shocked that her mother
was his partner. Ever since her mother died Veronica
always thought that her mother never knew who Harold
Burns really was or she would have never left her alone
with her father. Cali tried to hold back the tears the best
she could. Oscar turned around and looked at Cali and
James.

“I need to know something very important,” Cali said
looking at Oscar with tears in her eyes. “Can you find out
if Kate Burns or Mary-Lou ever gave birth to a baby girl?”

“It may take me a few minutes but I’ll see what I can do,”
Oscar said as he turned back to face his computers.

Cali was shocked and over whelmed by the thought that
her mother was a criminal too. Was she even her actual
mother and if not where did she come from? Cali was
waiting in anticipation. She was slowly going crazy
wanting to know if she was born into that family of
monsters or not. James looked over at her and she was as
white as a ghost, he moved in close to her and gave her a
hug.
“Cali can I get you anything, a cup of coffee, a snack,
anything?” James asked wiping tears from her face.

“Ya sure a cup of coffee would be great,” Cali said
sniffling.

 

“Oscar I’m going to get a coffee do you want anything?”
James asked as he stood up and looked at Oscar.

 

“Ya sure a coffee,” Oscar said waving his hand at James;
he was so busy focusing on what he was looking for.

James left the room and some more pages started to print
out of the printer. Cali could feel every muscle in her body
tense up. Oscar grabbed the printed pages and slid across
the room. He was right in front of Cali with the information
in his hands. Cali was moments away from finding the
truth.

“So I found doctors records of Mary- Lou Jones pregnant
two times, both mischarges. She only made it to about 12
weeks. But then I found a couple years later in a different
city under the name Katie Burns she was pregnant and
carried full term and she gave birth to a still born.
According to the doctors’ reports Katie went ballistic and
they had to sedate her. They told the husband she wasn’t
stable enough to go home but he took her out of medical
care, which was not advised.” Oscar read.

“Was the baby a girl or a boy?” Cali asked as tears fell
down her face.
“The still born was a baby girl,” Oscar said. “I didn’t find
any other records showing that she ever had a baby that
lived. I found out some more information about these two
criminals. Here is a list of all the different aliases they
used.” Oscar handed her another piece of paper with
several different drivers’ licences with her parent’s
pictures on them. Oscar turned around to give Cali a
moment and he went back to working on his computers.
Cali sat there looking at the paper as tears fell down her
face. She was shaking and having trouble breathing. If
Katie and Harold Burns weren’t her real parents, then who
was? And why did they have her for her whole life? James
walked back into the room. He set the coffees down on a
table. When he saw that Cali was crying he walked over to
her and picked her up from her chair and he held her in
his arms. She held on to him and she cried hard in his
arms.

“Let’s go for a little walk then we’ll come back,” James said
holding her hand, Cali nodded her head in agreement and
they left the computer lab. As they were walking through
the building Cali started to talk.

“I don’t know who I am or where I came from,” she said as
tears fell down her cheeks. “I am not Veronica Burns,
those people that raised me are not my parents, and I had
no idea who I am. Even when my dad told me I wasn’t his I
thought that Katie was still my mom, but she is not. I don’t
know who my real parents are.”
“Cali we will find out the truth,” James said, as he stopped
walking. He looked into her eyes as he touched her face
and kissed her forehead. The gesture made her feel safe.

“The last thing my dad said to me was that the truth was
even more horrible than I could ever imagine,” Cali
whispered. “I didn’t think that was possible, but maybe he
was right?”

“I am here with you through all of this, you have me,”
James said hugging her.

They walked back into Oscar’s lab and he was sitting there
waiting for them, drinking his coffee. James and Cali
grabbed their coffees and took a seat.

“Well this is what I have found out about you” Oscar said
pointing at Cali. “You are Veronica Burns and you are
wanted for the murder of Harold Burns. What I found out
was that you killed your father but that’s impossible
because Harold Burns and Katie Burns didn’t have any
children. Now it was odd to me that the FBI would be
interested in you for killing one man but Jeff Bower has
been a wanted fugitive for twenty years but that is still not
why you are wanted by the FBI,” Oscar paused and took
another sip of his coffee. “The FBI is investigating a
kidnapping that happened over seventeen years ago and
you are believed to be the girl that was kidnapped.”

Cali sat there looking at Oscar shocked, she didn’t know
what to say or do.
“Well who is she? Who are her real parents?” James asked
very anxiously. “Are they still alive?”

“Well that’s where the trail ends. It’s not in the system, I
can’t find it anywhere. All I can tell you is the leading FBI
agent in regards to this case is a man named Laurence
Quinn. If you want answers, he’s your guy. Sorry, that’s all
I could find.”

“Thank you for all of your help today Oscar,” James said
shaking his hand.

 

“Here I put all the information I found in this file folder so
you can take it with you,” Oscar said handing it to James.

 

“Can I ask you just one question?” Oscar asked looking
directly at Cali.

 

“What do you want to know?” Cali asked wiping the tears
from her face.

 

“Are you innocent, did someone set you up?” Oscar
asked. “You don’t seem guilty to me.”

“No Oscar I am not innocent but I am not Veronica Burns,”
Cali said as she got up from the chair she was sitting on.
“Thank you for your help today,” Cali shook his hand.
James held her hand and they left Oscar’s lab.

They took the elevator up to the lobby, walked through the
building and went outside. There was a car was waiting for
them. James and Cali didn’t speak the entire car ride back
to his house. They walked through the lobby of his
apartment and waited for the elevator. They got into the
elevator and a tall blond girl wearing a tight red dress got
in with them.

“Hi James how are you?” the girl asked giggling and
touching his arm.

 

“I’m fine,” James said trying not to pay attention to the
pretty girl.

“You haven’t been over in a while, have I done something
you didn’t like?” the girl said leaning in close to him
bending over so he could she down her dress.

“That’s enough,” Cali snapped. “I’m sorry but do you not
see me standing here holding James’ hand? Have some
respect and a little class.”

“Excuse me?” said the blond girl. “Who the hell are you,
talking to me like that?”

 

“Lacy I’d like you to meet my girlfriend Cali,” James said
smiling.

 

“Girlfriend?” Lacy hissed, her eyes narrowed, “But you
said you didn’t believe in relationships.”

 

“I didn’t before I met Cali,” James said holding Cali in his
arms.

The elevator came to a stop and Lacy stood there looking
Cali up and down. “Typical” she said as she got off, the
doors closing behind her.
“Cali I’m so sorry,” James said looking into her
heartbroken eyes.

“I am starting to get used to it,” Cali said annoyed. “Why
would anyone think someone like me could be with you? I
don’t even get it.”

“What’s not to get? I love you. It’s as easy as that.”

The elevator came to a stop; they got off and walked to his
apartment. James clapped his hands and turned on the
lights, as Cali sat down on the couch. The light was
flashing on his answering machine and he pressed play.

James, it’s Carl. You need to check your emailnow; the
presshave been trackingyouagain.

 

James grabbed his computer and sat down on the couch
beside Cali as he opened his email.

There were pictures of him and Cali at the lake house and
of them on the yacht. Cali’s face was blocked out in the
pictures and the headline read;
Who’s James Vex’s new

conquest?
James shut his computer down and put it on
the coffee table.

James turned and looked at Cali. He opened his mouth to
speak but Cali gently presses her lips to his and then
slowly she pulled away.

“I am kind of tired, do you mind if I lay down for a little
while?” Cali asked. He wanted to hug her and comfort her
but he could tell she needed time alone.
“Of course, if you need me I am here.”

Cali lay down in James’ bed, thinking about her life and all
of the new information she had found out today. She
drifted into a restless sleep.

Chapter 24

Cali woke up and started thinking about her life and all the
things she had been through. She thought about her
mother, the one person that she looked up to, the one
person she loved most in the world and she was bad too.
Cali was shocked that her parents were criminals. As
much as she hated the man who tortured her and raped
her for years, she still didn’t think he was capable of
murder. Cali got up off the bed and went to the bathroom.
She looked in the mirror at herself. Her eyes filled up with
tears. She always thought she had her mother’s eyes but
the truth was she didn’t know who her real mother was.
Cali washed her hands and face and she took a deep
breath. While she was leaving the bathroom she heard a
faint noise coming from her bag. Cali opened her bag and
found her cell phone; there was a text message for her
sister.