Classified ☑

[ chapter 38 ]

"You ready?" Dante asked me, his eyes tracing over my face as we stood in front of Rosemary bank.

I gulped, trying to control the nerves that ran rampant through my body.

Answers to my past were possibly somewhere inside the building the loomed in front of me. I just had to go inside. It was simple, but the racing beat of my heart said otherwise.

"Nina," Dante said, drawing my attention once more.

I'd completely forgotten he'd asked me something. "Yes?" I asked.

He narrowed his eyes at me, his lips turning into a frown. "You sure you're up for this?"

I nodded my head. "I need to do this." I had to do this.

He held his palm up for me to put my hand in his. I took it and we walked into the white stone building together. We pushed open the golden colored doors and people crowded the large lobby, running around with files in their hands. All you could hear were incoming phone calls and the noise of people talking.

Not only were the employees dressed to the nines, inside the floors were made of gleaming marble that matched the pattern of the stone that covered the building. Gold trim lined everything else, giving the bank a look that screamed rich. Just like the rest of this town.

Dante and I both looked down at our ratty clothes, noticing just how out of place we were there. After the last few days we'd had, we hadn't thought about how we looked. At this point we were just trying to survive.

Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones to notice how out of place we looked because a gentleman headed our way as soon as he spotted us.

Instead of looking at us like we didn't belong, he smiled at us. It was warm and inviting, deepening the lines on his face. "Hello, how may I help you two?"

The earlier lump in my throat came back and suddenly it felt hard to speak. There was a gentle squeeze around my hand and I glanced up at Dante who nodded his head for encouragement. I looked back at the man, opening my mouth to speak. "I'm here for a lockbox."

The gentleman nodded his gray head of hair. "Follow me."

And we did. He led us away from all of the craziness going on in the lobby and down a much quieter hallway and into an office. The man closed the door once were inside and sat in the chair behind the desk.

Dante and I sat in the two chairs on the other side of the desk and I could see a name plate that read Richard Gates.

"So, who's lockbox are you here for?"

"My dad's," I finished for him. "He passed away. We were told to come here to get whatever was inside of it."

Mr. Gates dipped his head. "I'm sorry for your loss. Let me grab some paperwork. I'll of course have to have his name and the code he gave you to access it."

"Clint Evans," I squeaked out.

"What's your name?" Mr. Gates asked, frowning, probably from sensing how uncomfortable I was.

"Nina Evans."

I couldn't help but smile just the tiniest bit. When I first came to this town I had to go by Nina Jones. Saying my real name for once felt good. It felt free in a way.

"You're his daughter, correct?" Mr. Gates' pen was poised over some paperwork as he filled it out.

"Yes sir."

"And who is this young gentleman sitting next to you? Any relation?"

I looked at Dante and could see he fidgeted in his seat. "No," I said almost too quickly.