Poison Ivy
Ch 7
Abe
Abe hadn't heard the name Hathaway in over twenty five years. He opened up the file that his son handed him and what was inside turned his world upside down. He excused himself and hurried back to his office and locked the door behind him.
He had to know if this was really his Janine. At first glance everything seemed to match. The age and the name was so close to Janine, it had to be her. He came upon a couple of pictures and couldn't believe it. Right there in front of him was indeed his Janine. She looked exactly the same as she did when she left him only a bit older. Same fair skin, same blue eyes, and the same fiery red hair of hers that matched her fiery personality. His heart sank when he saw what was in the bottom of the picture. It listed her birthdate and the date of her death. It couldn't be true, she was so young. He began frantically searching the file until he found her death certificate.
Irene Hathaway died on May,16 2018. She died at St Vladimir's hospital here in Philadelphia. He couldn't bear to think that she was so close and he never knew. He had searched for her all those years and here she was right under his nose.
The next picture made him do a double take. It was a picture of "Irene's" daughter Rose. He couldn't help, but notice she was the perfect blend of him and Janine. Looking at her birthdate and doing a little math, he now knew why Janine had left. He always knew she didn't like what he was doing for money at the time they met. He wasn't exactly proud of it either, but he had a son to take care of. He eventually left most of that life behind to start a legitimate business. But not without making a reputation for himself.
He didn't know what to make of having a daughter, especially one he never knew about.
He was devastated because he knew why Adrian was working on this for Detective Croft. Croft had come to him from time to time for help. He was a detective that always went by the books. When he asked for help Abe knew it was something big.
Adrian had filled him in on what he was working on. A dancer named Rose had been assaulted by her ex boyfriend and he was on the run. Said ex, Jesse Zecklos, had a record a mile long. His family had money and always bailed him out of trouble.
To say Abe was furious was an understatement. He was going to find that bastard himself. But first he needed to talk to Adrian.
Adrian
Adrian knew something was up with his dad. He was acting strange and nervous. His dad was never nervous. Heck he had a reputation of being a snake, some people even called him Zmey. When he pulled him out of the meeting he knew something was wrong.
He asked him all sorts of questions about what he was working on for Detective Croft. Adrian couldn't figure out why he was so interested in the case. He thought maybe it was because of the Voda family. Adrian knew how corrupt they were, that's why he was more than happy to help Croft.
The more he talked to his dad the more he got the feeling it wasn't about the Voda's. He was concerned about Rose and Irene, but Adrian couldn't figure out why. He had to admit to himself that when he first heard the last name Hathaway it sounded familiar. When he looked at their pictures he couldn't shake the feeling he had seen Irene somewhere before.
Adrian got even more concerned when his dad left in a hurry with Pavel. He had known Pavel all his life, he was his dad's bodyguard/personal assistant/best friend. If they were going somewhere together it wasn't good. He decided not to go back to the meeting and follow his dad.
He followed them all the way to New York City. He knew when they arrived at the apartment building exactly what his dad was doing. The only question is why? Why did his dad care so much about Jesse?
Thank you for sticking with this story. Hopefully this answers some of your questions.