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Two. Three. Five. Men and women started filling the room one by one. The last one entering Angie’s father’s office was an attorney. The man looked calm, but his back was rigid and full of strain.

Angie glanced into her father’s office, looking beyond the blinds of men and women surrounding Troy. She pursed her lips together, furrowing at the sight of her father staring down at Troy with all knives around his neck. They hovered over him, observing Troy like a wild animal.

“He’s alone, you know,” a voice said, striking Angie by surprise. Angie glanced to her side, finding a small girl staring into her father’s office as well. “They called this meeting at the last minute.”

Angie stood behind her untidy desk, glancing at the girl again. She wore a sheer black button up, what looked like GAP branded slacks and pointed heels. Angie dulling noted that her height was most likely from her black heels.

“Do you know anything about this?” Angie whispered, looking down at the desk.

“You don’t know anything about this?” The girl blankly stared at Angie. “Aren’t you the detective’s daughter?”

“I’m that black and white extra character in the back of every movie no one pays attention to.” Angie’s voice was thin. She felt like she was only a side story. And she thought about it so much, Angie began to realize it herself.

Angie stared at Troy through the stained window, as she shifted her weight from one leg to another.

“I’m Mikayla, but you can call me Miki.”

“I’m Angie.”

Miki laughed. “Everyone knows who you are.”

Angie made a sour face but hide it quickly. “What did you mean when you said he’s alone?”

“He’s got no family here. Vladimir party of one.” Miki licked her lips, focusing on Detective Finn’s office again. “I heard the kid wanted a position here, but Detective Finn wanted to pull him into questioning before any of that because of his family’s past cases.”

“His family’s cases?” Angie desperately repeated.

Miki’s eyes widened. “You really don’t know a thing around here. What is it that you do again?”

Angie shook her head, pressing a forced smirk across her lips. Her father really did keep everything interesting from her, Angie thought.

“Well for starters, his mother was murdered at the hospital where he was born. It was gruesome.” Miki’s voice started to tighten. “My brother told me, when he interned here back in ‘88, that it shook the entire town because of whom his mother was.”

“Who was his mother?” Angie curiously wondered.

“Detective Ava Vladimir.” Miki looked at Angie carefully. “She was one of the best detectives this state has ever had.” Miki looked at her as if Angie was supposed to know that name. Angie started to blink her eyes hastily, letting Miki continue. “Nothing has been confirmed but some detectives concluded that it was a fixed murder from one of her cases back then, though, some thought it was her husband who killed her.”

“Where’s her husband now?”

“AWOL.”

“That’s,” Angie thought for a hard second, “suspicious.”

“And that’s not it. One of Troy’s brother, Jaxton Vladimir, was murdered at a park not that far from the Vladimir’s old home,” Miki boldly said, flowering the information over Angie. “Jaxton was apparently a love child between Ava and another guy.”

“Spicy secrets.”

Miki’s voice lowered. “That’s how the news about her husband killing Ava surfaced.”

Angie looked over into her father’s office again, focusing on Troy’s apathy expression. Angie watched Troy as he carefully listened to the men and women talk about him, but she noticed that his mind was wandering past the walls. He was thinking past the talk and more into the lines within.

“I’m surprised,” Miki pressed, leaning her weight onto Angie’s desk. “You’ve never talked to anyone rather than Detective Linus? Why don’t you try to get your hands on some cases?”

Angie shook her head. “I started this thing a couple of weeks ago. I usually spend my time in my dad’s office or,” she pointed at the small cubical, “here when he’s in a meeting. How long have you been working here?”

“Two years now.”

How did I not notice her, Angie thought.

“What are you doing here?” Miki asked frankly. “What do you hope to get out of this, I mean.”

Angie shrugged. “I wanted to see what my dad fusses about.”

“What about your mom?”

“I don’t think becoming a surgeon would make me happy.”

Miki grinned. “You’re a ‘searching for happiness’ kind of girl, huh?”

Angie glanced down at her hands squeezing the pieces of paper on the desk. She wanted to say something back or agree with Miki but she couldn’t taste the words.

“Don’t look twice but here comes your guy,” Miki said slowly, eyeing the detective’s office sharply, “with a badge.” She sounded concerned, almost scared of the power given to Troy.

Angie’s eyes trailed across the room, sullenly snapping her attention towards the gold weapon wrapped in Troy’s hands. He graciously shook hands with the people filing out of Detective Linus’s room, nodding at the congratulations said towards him.

“Like mother like son,” Miki laughed, “said no one ever. I wonder if he even has the skills for the job.” Miki trailed off about Troy, staring at him deeply.

As Miki laughed at her own joke, Angie joined along with her, dropping her hunting stares towards Troy Vladimir. Angie jokingly said, “He was probably born with the skills.”