Justice Falling (Falling #3)(70)

Then I realized I hadn’t looked at my father’s information. I flipped back a couple pages and read the name.

Father: William Robert Devereaux, Age: 30, Status: Living

That would make my biological father fifty-three now. I scoured the page showing my father’s last known address. He was in New Jersey of all places. Same city I grew up in. Why would he not have raised me? I scanned the information about William Devereaux, noting he had the same name as my new friend Tripp. Small world.

As I continued reading that world got a whole helluva lot smaller. William Devereux was married when I was born and had two additional children now. Marcus Devereaux was currently playing football at Michigan State University, present age, 20. Tripp Devereux was working as a model for AIR Bright Enterprises and bartending, present age, 26. Last known address, downtown Manhattan.

Holy shit.

My body tingled. Panic ripped through the edges of my vision, turning the once blue sky a faded black. My eyes rolled back into my head. The last thought I had before the world went black was that Tripp Devereux was my half-brother.



***



I slammed through the hospital doors into the emergency department. “Camille Johnston, my fiancée! Where is she?” I roared to anyone and everyone who would listen.

A petite mousy woman dressed in scrubs came up to me. “Calm down. Right this way.” The nurse led me and Tanner through throngs of emergency personnel and beds separated by drapes. His little feet tripped in my haste to get to Camille. I pulled him up and onto my hip. He clung to my neck but kept silent. Finally the woman pulled a pink drape back and I saw my girl.

“Precious, baby, what happened?”

“Mommy!” Tanner cried reaching out his little arms to his mum. I set Tanner on the bed and he scrambled into her arms. She held him tight and kissed the crown of his head. I cupped her face and she smiled. She looked fine until I grabbed the back of her head and she winced.

“What happened?” I barely contained my rage. If someone hit my girl, they were going to be dead.

“I fainted. Hit my head on a park bench in Central Park.”

“Why?” I shook my head not understanding. “Why did you faint?”

She shrugged. “I think I had a panic attack.” The words hit me like a punch to the gut. She was so stressed out about what I did, the files on her, that she couldn’t handle it. I knew I shouldn’t have let her leave alone.

“I’m so sorry. Camille.” I kissed her lips. “It’s all my fault. I should have never had Johnny investigate you.”

My sweet girl shook her head and then grabbed at the back of her head. I looked behind her and felt the nasty bump she had.

“I’m fine. Really. It wasn’t what happened. It uh…it was what I read in the reports that overwhelmed me.” She bit her lip and I sat on the side of the bed.

I slid my hand along her calf and knee. “What was it?”

“You’re never going to believe this. I’m still not sure I believe it.” She shook her head.

“Try me.”

She licked her lips again and I got the cup of water sitting on a table near the bed and poured her a glass. She took a sip. “I have two siblings.”

My eyes widened. “Really? Did you find out who your parents were?” I knew that was something she’d always wanted to know but could never get the information.

A sad smile stole across her face. “Yeah. My Mom is deceased. Died while giving birth to me. She was young; only nineteen.” I could tell the information had wounded her. Even when you didn’t know your family, finding out they were gone before you could know them had to hurt.

“I’m sorry about your mum. What of your Dad?”

Camille nodded and pinched her lips together. “That’s the crazy part. He’s alive and living in New Jersey.”

“That’s bloody fantastic! We’ll look him up, ring him!” I said happily.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe. There’s more. His name is William Devereux.”

I scratched at my goatee and the scruff on my cheeks. I hadn’t had a chance to shave before our argument and I was beside myself while she was gone. The name was familiar though. Our mate shared the last name, but that was pretty common. “What else?”

“I have two brothers.”

“And how is that a problem? Precious, this is amazing news! You wanted siblings. Now we can find them.” I didn’t understand why her face seemed so concerned.

“Nate, one of my brother’s name is Marcus. He’s a college football player in Michigan.”

“Excellent sport! We can go see one of his games. What of the other brother?” She didn’t seem quite herself. I would have expected this news to have her shouting through the rooftops not sulking in a hospital bed. And why did she have a panic attack? This was incredible news not something to panic over.

Camille took a deep breath. “Nate, my other brother is Tripp Devereaux.” At that moment, my head literally spun on its axis.

“No f*cking way!”

“Daddy! You promise-did no more cusses. Mom says those are f-bombs and you cannot have any bombs. No a-bombs, b-bombs…” He kept going until he got to the right letter in the alphabet. Our little man was a true comedian. “Mommy says f-bombs are the worstest ever!”