The Girl Named Mirage

Montana, USA

Inside the office of Don Augustus at Esquibel estate, he was meeting with detective Ivan Wright, a private investigator who worked for the Don.

It was time to inform him about their newest lead and investigation.

“I’ve got some information and I think this is it.”

The man said in his usual professional manner. His voice held an edge of professionalism but also had an air of excitement. He was so excited, it almost didn’t seem real as he spoke. The two men sat facing each other on the couch.

Don Augustus looked up from his computer screen.

“Please tell me what you have,” he requested.

In response, Detective Ivan opened his backpack that lay next to him and took out a file. He laid it on the coffee table between them. It appeared as if the document wasn’t even in order. But it doesn’t matter.

” We’ve finally found the family of the late Alejandro Vernon. We got our hand to one of his siblings that was processing the title of their land. He said that his family went back to the province after Alejandro died. We’ve been looking at Alejandro’s province but we couldn’t find them. We tried to look at his wife’s province, but they weren’t there either. It was his daughter-in-law’s province all along. ”

” His daughter-in-law’s name has many similar names that it takes forever to point out that she’s the one we’ve been looking for. We’ve been out there for years and finally we found her province. And we are hundred percent sure that it was really her this time. ”

The detective exhaled dramatically as this assignment was 25 years old already. Alejandro Vernon died 10months after he switched the babies. And one week after his internment, his family left without anyone around them knowing where they’re going. They traced their respective names but having little information about them, it took so long for them to find out where they were.

It was really next to impossible as they have common names, they’ve got a lot of people with the same names. They found hundreds of thousands of similarities to everyone, and they were led to different places and they almost flipped every stone in the whole country just to find clues.

The money wasn’t a question as Don Augustus is so willing to pay. It’s just that the system isn’t much help and some people really don’t have the luxury to even register their names or let alone write their names correctly. That’s poverty for you.

” So what did you find out about my granddaughter’s past and her foster family? ”

Don Augustus was overwhelmed. Everything was going well. It seems the puzzle pieces were falling into their rightful places.

” Her foster father died from heart failure when she was 5 years old. She has a sibling who was 1 year old at that time. They’re mother has a small store that provides for them and she works part time as a store crew at a convenience store at night. Her children were left in their grandmother’s care when she’s working.”

The old man closed his eyes. A sigh escaped his lips. The detective wanted to say something, but he knew better than to interrupt the Don’s train of thought.

After a few seconds, Don Augustus tells him to continue speaking.

” Ms. Esquibel graduated from Senior High and hasn’t got a chance to pursue college because of financial problems. She works a lot of part time to help their mother and her younger sister’s studies. She’s now a professional teacher. While Ms. Esquibel owns a small boutique which she started when she resigned from working as a coordinator in a small clothing company. She resigned when she got married and got pregnant. ”

The old man stood up from the couch, walked towards the window and looked outside. A wave of sadness swept through Don Augustus. He can’t imagine the hardships that his granddaughter has gone through. If only he could turn back time. He won’t let her suffer like that.

He then turned around towards Detective Wright.

” How about her husband? ”

‘ He must be suffering right now losing his family like this.. ‘ the Don thought to himself.

This caused Don Augustus to take another deep breath. His hands were tightly clenched as he stared at the detective. There was an awkward silence between them for a moment. Finally, the detective broke it.

” We are still looking for more information about him, sir. ”

There was no emotion detected in his voice and the tone of his voice was neutral as always. Even though the last sentence was not true.

Don Augustus nodded his head slowly. He knew better than to ask more questions. He knew this would take longer than expected.

” Alright. Please tell me as soon as possible when you get his information. Thank you Detective. ”

Ivan Wright got up from the couch and walked toward the old man and shook the Don’s hand with a contemptuous smile. He can’t disclose Elven Sanford’s information right now.

” I’ll get going sir. ”

Don Augustus just nodded and stared outside the window behind his office table as the detective made his way out of the room.

Detective Wright excused himself and closed the door behind him.

The detective heads out to the staircase a couple of rooms from the Don’s office. There he met Nicolo who was leaning on the railings beside the stairs with his arms crossed at his chest while looking at the door the detective comes out from.

Nicolo was one of the few people who knew everything about everything.

The detective has known him for years and although the detective’s job is to investigate Mirage and report to Don Augustus, Nicolo knows about these investigations better than the Don himself.

” What is it?” Nicolo asked. His voice sounded indifferent.

” Here’s the information about Mr. Elven Sanford, sir Nick. ”

The detective said as he gave a folder to Nicolo Esquibel. Ivan smiled slightly.

” This came in this morning. I’m supposed to deliver it to your grandfather.”

Nicolo grabbed the folder from his hands and read its content, his expression changed as he read it.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.