Chapter 3

Something about that bugged Michael. What were the odds of Archie barking at the gate and a car speeding off immediately after? Archie then calmed down and returned to Michael's side as if nothing had happened. Michael stood still for a few minutes waiting to hear anything else but there was only silence now.

He locked his car and went back into the house with Archie, deciding to brush off the last few moments of the night. He had no actual reason to worry. Nothing had happened. He tidied up after dinner, settled Archie down and was about to go to bed himself.

However, something was keeping him up. He kept tossing and turning and not being able to relax. For some reason, he couldn't get that car out of his mind. As soon as he closed his eyes he was taken back to that moment, analyzing every single thing he heard. He couldn't figure out why he was doing that. When it happened he was stunned at first but then it passed. The minute he relaxed though and was ready to go to sleep the incident kept playing over and over in his mind.

He got tired of overthinking it and to settle his nerves he grabbed his laptop and decided to check the security cameras. The cameras on their gate would certainly have captured something.

After reviewing the footage he almost wished he hadn't because things just got way more serious. Half an hour before he went to his car to leave his stuff, a dark blue sedan parked right across the street from their house. It was dark so when Michael zoomed in to try to see the faces of the two men in the front, he could barely make them out. He had to use some magic that he had picked on from the Nerd and eventually got a clearer image.

He instantly recognised the man in the passenger seat. It was Allen. The man next to him looked like his uncle judging by photos Birkhoff had shown him photos of the private investigator. They sat in the car for about 20 minutes and then got out. It looked like they were trying to get a glimpse inside the house but had no success. They were on the street for a while but when they heard footsteps from the other side of the fence and a dog barking they immediately went back to their car and drove off.

"What the hell?" Michael let his thoughts run out loud. He definitely wasn't getting any sleep that night.

27th August, Saturday 6:30 am

Birkhoff was supposed to pick up Michael around 9:30 but he just needed to talk to someone about all of this so he texted his best friend to come by the house early. The Nerd needed to see the footage of last night and agree with him that he wasn't going insane. He had a valid reason to worry.

While Michael waited impatiently for Birkhoff to arrive, Nikita called. Michael felt awful about lying to her. She could clearly see that something was wrong. Michael lied and said that work was just busy and that he didn't sleep well (that at least was true). He told her that he had a hectic day today and that he wouldn't be able to talk to her until that night. He didn't like it but he couldn't bear to lie to her so much and put on this mask, pretending everything was okay.

Nikita was sad about it but understood. She tried to make the most of their morning video call and even managed to make Michael laugh quite a few times. That was truly a talent of hers. Somehow, without knowing what Michael was worried about, she could still comfort him in the best way possible.

Birkhoff arrived soon after he ended the call. "There better be a good reason why I had to get here this early- what happened?" The hacker could read his best friend's demeanour easily. Something was wrong.

"Sit down" Michael grabbed his computer and recalled those moments from last night while they were watching the footage from the security cameras.

"I told you we should have put them on The Black List" Birkhoff was sure something like that might happen. That's why he insisted on taking all the precautions. "I could have made it so Nikki didn't get an alert. Who knows what they were here for!"

"I have a theory" Michael had the whole night to analyse the footage and come up with any logical reason for Allen and his uncle to come to the house and creep around.

"And what's that?"

"I knew Allen would tell his uncle about getting caught by me and the fact that I now know there is an ongoing case involving Nikita. So I expected some kind of visit from him but not like this" Michael thought the private investigator would have the decency to meet him face to face and have a direct conversation with him.

"Yeah cause it's not normal. Mikey who acts this way? Why all this secrecy? If he wanted to find Nikki just to talk to her there must be easier ways, right?" Birkhoff found all of this ridiculous. It didn't make any sense.

"Not really. He can't find her address nor a place of work because she is not technically a regular employee in the company so…"

"Okay, okay I got it" There was no point in arguing with Michael about this. He was kind of right but still. This is not how you look for someone you want to talk to.

"I think they were here for two things. First - for Allen to show his uncle the house. That's what he was supposed to find out. Second - I told Allen that Nikita was not in the country. Maybe they didn't believe that so they came to see if it was true. Just look at them on the cameras. They were looking for something or rather someone" Birkhoff rewind the footage and watched it back. Michael was definitely onto something.

"I can agree with you on this one. So what are we doing now?"

"We go and get our answers. This is no longer something small that we could brush off and resolve just like that".

"So let's do this shit" Birrkhoff exclaimed. Michael rolled his eyes and got in the car. "You are way too excited for this"

"Come on it's been a while since we've kicked some ass" Not that Birkhoff was complaining. There was no way in hell he would go back to their old life. This was different though so they can lighten up.

"I hope we are not going to be doing that today" Michael had absolutely no idea what they were going to find out but they didn't need to start with the spy stuff right away. They can get what they need without creating trouble hopefully.

The boys pulled up in front of the supposed firm where Brian Miller was working at. Birkhoff had booked them an appointment under a fake name and reason for their visit. He suspected that the nephew would have told his uncle about Michael yesterday, so they needed to create a little cover to get in without any problems. And it was a good thing he did because clearly the private detective was already informed.

"Good morning. We are here to see Mr Miller. We have an appointment with him" They headed for the front desk. Michael talked to the woman there while Birkhoff stayed close behind and took the opportunity to look around. There wasn't much to see. Just a room with a bunch of doors leading to other rooms. Definitely nothing exciting. His lobby at the company was way better.

"Yes, he is expecting you. Second floor, third room on the right."

"Thank you" Michael led the way, having agreed beforehand with Birkhoff that he'll be the one to do the talking. His best friend was a second pair of ears and eyes and if the meeting was starting to go south he was going to copy everything that was on the investigator's computer ensuring they didn't leave without answers.

"Good morning Mr Smith, pleased to -what is this?" Brian Miller recognised Michael right away and was ready to throw them out. "Relax we just want to talk" Michael remained calm and collected. He wasn't leaving without answers.

"Talk? After scaring and threatening my nephew you have the audacity to come here?" Mr Miller wasn't having it. Allen had told him what had happened and he was furious. He quickly found out who Nikita's husband was and was still contemplating what to do. However, when he saw that supposed husband at his office he didn't hesitate and was ready to call security. There was no way he would talk to someone like that.

"I threatened him by telling him the truth? And yes I have the audacity to be here since you feel so welcomed to come to my home late at night" Michael might have reacted a bit too much the other day but everything he had said to Allen was true. Just because his uncle didn't like it didn't mean he was the bad guy. This man had no right to judge him when he was the one parked in a car for 30 minutes last night watching his house.

"He is just a kid." The investigator tried to remain cold rather than angry. He knew better than to let his emotions show that much but it was totally different when it came to family.

"And that's exactly why you shouldn't send him to do your dirty work. Now can we move on to you telling me why you want to know so badly where my wife lives" That was all Michael cared about. Nothing else mattered. He was there to ensure Nikita was going to be safe when she came back.

"I need to talk to her and I couldn't find a place of work. Now please leave my office. I have no business to do with you" Mr Miller answered his question irritably. Hopefully, that was going to make the intruders in his office leave.

Birkhoff just stood awkwardly to the side starting the little device in his pocket that was going to clone the investigator's computer. Luckily the man didn't pay much attention to him.

"Why do you need to talk to her?" Michael asked more calmly now. They didn't need to go back and forth. It was getting them nowhere. "I can't discuss any of my cases" Mr Miller stated and returned back behind his desk in the centre of the room.

Michael and Birkhoff followed and they sat down on the two chairs in front of the desk showing they wouldn't leave that easily. "I am her husband" That should have been a good enough reason. Nikita was his family. She was his everything. Whatever was going to affect her was going to affect him as well.

"That's not relevant here. She isn't my client. She is simply a piece into a bigger puzzle."

"What do you think are your chances of talking to her now after you sent me off with no explanation whatsoever" Michael could sense this man needed something from Nikita so he would want to still talk to her. He wouldn't allow that if he didn't know this guy's motive.

"I can't.." Brian Miller sighed. He had to talk to Nikita and this wasn't a part of his plan. It was clear he wouldn't be able to get to her without going through her husband first. However, he shouldn't share anything with him.

"Well technically Allen also can't be steaking out neighbourhoods and following people but you still make him do it so please don't talk to me about rules and protocols." Michael couldn't stand people like that.

"If I agree to talk with you, you are forgetting about Allen" Mr Miller stated sternly. He wanted his nephew's name out of the matter.

"I have nothing against Allen. As you can see I've come to you not the police so you have nothing to worry about. You can understand why I would be worried though. So let's start from the beginning" Michael felt like they could have a civilized conversation so he extended an olive branch. Mr Miller thought about it for a second and decided that it would be the better thing to do and nodded.

"Michael Bishop. This is Seymor Birkhoff." Introductions were a way to start.

"He's the husband. I am the brother you could say" Birkhoff chimed in. Some humour was definitely needed now. He had finished cloning the computer so the meeting could go either way at that point and it wouldn't matter.

"It's a case I've been working on for a few years now. It's complicated and I really can't share a lot-" The investigator chose his words carefully. There were too many things at play and he couldn't share the whole case for obvious reasons.

"I only want to know how Nikita is involved" That's all he wanted from the start.

"I was hired years ago by a woman, Anh Nguyen. She approached me with a very troubling family story. Her parents faked the death of her boyfriend and two-month-old daughter because they didn't approve of the relationship. She was also 17 when she had the baby. The father, Edward, was thrown into prison and the baby was given to the social services. Anh's mother told her all of this on her deathbed… We got Edward out and cleared his name last year and now I am looking for their daughter. Her name was Nayeli Lee Carter but Anh's parents made sure the name was changed after giving her up. We were able to find out what they changed it to - Nikita. And we were able to find the girl's file and trace her. It led us to your Nikita." That was an extremely short version of the story but it was enough to explain why he was looking for Nikita. That was hopefully going to make Michael understand that it was quite a serious matter.

"What the actual fuck?" Birkhoff couldn't control his reaction. He thought he had heard fucked up family stories before but that was on a whole other level. Parents faking the death of their daughter's baby and the father just because they didn't like it, was beyond horrible and just inhumane.

Michael had the same visible reaction. There was so much to unpack there. Out of everything he thought he would hear, Nikita's real parents weren't even on the list. "And you believe Nikita, my Nikita, is their daughter?"

"Not only do I believe it but I'm almost certain she is. That's why I wanted to talk to her about possibly meeting Anh and Edward and doing a DNA test. Then when we confirmed it we-" Mr Miller stated in a very professional emotionless way that threw Michael off.

"Whoa, whoa hold up. You can't just show up with 'I think you're this person's lost daughter, do a DNA test' " It was ridiculous. He was especially starting to get concerned with Nikita's possible reaction to hearing something like that. Ever since that whole thing with the Richard guy who turned out to be Division Nikita didn't ever want to think about her real parents. She had closed that book then.

"It's better that way for both parties believe me" The faster the procedure was done the faster can everyone move on and either bring a family together or continue the search.

"Okay how about I answer all your questions. I can tell you if it's actually possible or not" There was no way he would watch Nikita go through something like that again, not if he could help it. Michael can easily determine for himself and the detective if there was any real possibility of Nikita being this lost daughter.

"I prefer to talk directly with the person. I can't be certain if there aren't things you don't know about." This had become a very personal case for him and he had to make sure everything was right.

"Okay, so what is your assumption based on? You have to have something to believe that it's possible that Nikita could be their daughter." Michael guessed Mr Miller didn't have much besides a name and Nikita being in foster care.

"I follow every lead no matter how small. Your wife has the same name, and age as Nayeli would be right now and has been in foster care since she was a baby. We have worked hard to trace the little girl's moves and it led us here" That was more than a good enough reason for him to follow up on this.

"Nikita's story is slightly different though. She was told by her foster parents that her mother died after she gave birth to her. The father wasn't on record. She was given to the child services a few days after she was born." Nikita's past was still unclear. She didn't even have a real birth certificate. They couldn't believe anything Division had on her after they found out most of the information was fake. The only thing Nikita was sure about was that she was with the child services since she was a baby.

"Anh's parents were very influential people. They could have easily gotten away with changing all the information about the little girl from name to birth certificate" That's why Mr Miller left no stone unturned. The possibilities were endless and he was not going to give up. He had promised Anh years ago to bring her child back into her arms.

"The only thing we managed to find from the child services was a birth date and they had on Nikita's record that her mother had died while giving birth. No record of who left her or when they left her" Birkhoff decided to add something to their conversation. When Nikita was interested in finding her parents years ago he did anything to help. But because he had deleted all her birth records when she came into Division they had almost nothing to go from.

"I couldn't find an exact birthday. Someone sealed her record pretty well" It was still kind of a mystery to Mr Miller. If Nikita and these other people were normal citizens now why were all of these things in place.

Birkhoff smirked proudly. Michael rolled his eyes at his friend and supplied an answer "January 23rd, 1983" Brian Miller's eyes widened. "Wait really?"

"Yeah that's what is on record and that's what Nikita has known her whole life." Michael couldn't tell what type of reaction that was. He didn't know if the date matched or if it was completely wrong.

Mr Miller rapidly got out of his chair and went to the filing cabinet in the corner, pulling out a huge folder. He set it down on his desk and started looking for something. "There. See that"

He handed Michael a piece of paper that resembled a birth certificate. He instantly knew it was the little girl's by the name. Then he looked at the date - January 23rd, 1983 9:23 am.

"Oh, shit" Birkhoff took a look as well and couldn't believe his eyes. This just got a lot more complicated.

Thank you so much for reading xx

I appreciate you so much3