Page 52 of Under Their Watch
“Do you want to know who your father is?” Logan asks.
“Yes,” I say without hesitation. “Of course. Yes, I want to know who he is.”
“Arthur Genesis,” Casey says.
“Backup,” Rowan says, sitting up. “Arthur? I have known him since I was nineteen. I have never heard him mention having a daughter, let alone a missing one.”
“I’d imagine that would be painful to talk about,” I say. “Can you call him, Rowan?”
“Don’t tell him over the phone,” Theo says.
“He will know the moment he meets her,” Quinn says. “She looks a lot like her mother.”
“I don’t know how I feel about you saying that,” I remark.
“I’ll just tell him to come over,” Rowan says as he puts his phone to his ear. “Hey, Arthur… Do you have time to come by the house? … No, It’s important… No, the detectives are here… Yeah… Okay… You know the gate code… Bye.”
“So?” I ask.
“He was driving home from the office, so he was about to pass by in a second anyhow. Are we completely sure about this?” Rowan asks.
“Yes,” Logan confirms.
“Was I declared dead?” I ask.
“No. It was offered to him, but he refused,” Casey says. “He wanted your case to remain open so no one would stop looking for you. There are some cold case detectives that picked it up last month, so this was probably on it’s way to being discovered anyhow.”
“Do I have to go by Rachel now?” I ask.
“You can go by whatever you want to,” Theo says, and I nod.
“We wanted to let the two of you know first, because she is being charged with kidnapping as well as a whole host of other charges related to your abuse,” Logan says. “The moment she is charged, it will hit the news. It was a big story back then and it will be even bigger now. We didn’t want you to find out that way.”
“I appreciate it,” I say. I get nervous when I hear Rowan’s phone go off to indicate that the gate was opened. When we hear a car door shut, we all stand up.
“Hey,” Theo says, taking my face between his hands. “Are you okay?”
“I… I am so relieved, and I don’t know why,” I say. “I feel like… Like I am getting a piece of myself back that I never knew was taken from me.”
“Just pace yourself,” he suggests. “Don’t force yourself to have a relationship with him if it doesn’t feel natural.”
“Okay,” I say softly.
“Hey,” Arthur says to Rowan when he comes in. He shakes his hand before turning to do the same with Casey and Logan. He hasn’t looked at me yet. He greets a few others before his eyes lock with mine. He freezes and you can see the thoughts running though his head.
“This is Rhea,” Rowan says. Arthur says nothing. He just keeps staring at me. I can see decades of pain surfacing as he starts to realize.
“Arthur,” Casey says, grabbing his attention.
“Is she…”
“She provided DNA to rule her out of some items that were surrendered. That is the same reason we have yours, to rule you out as a potential suspect,” Casey explains. “Her DNA came back as a positive match to Rachel Genesis.”
“No,” he says tearfully. “That means she… Oh God.”
Arthur turns to me, and I can see that he is trying not to come to me, but he is falling apart. I glance at Theo to see if I’m about to make the right decision. When he nods, I take a small step toward him, and he rushes across the room to wrap me in a hug. Emotion crashes down on me when he starts sobbing and I am dragged down with him. Someone leads us over to sit on the couch and Arthur pulls away to hold my face between his hands.
“I’m so sorry, Rhea. I tried so hard to keep you away from her. I tried to find you. They shouldn’t have let you go with her,” he says tearfully. “I should have been there to protect you.”