S.P.Y.

Chapter 17: PAST

Sylis searched the name Lilith Cozbi into his laptop which made its way unto Sylis' legs once again. Piper Mind Image stood next to him, tears flowed down her rosy cheeks like waterfalls. In the pit of his hardened heart, a part of it hurt, but this was work and he had to do his work no matter how much it hurt.

The question popped into his head: was this really a part of his job? His first priority was to catch Shadow and his contract with the Cozbis came second, but now Shadow was connected to the Cozbis—he had the letter in his briefcase to prove some connection—and he didn't know all the facts.

"Piper, it's okay." He tried to comfort Lilin's daughter, but she seemed to be inconsolable.

"It was a secret and I said it." Her hands were covering her face in shame—if not fear—and her peanut bag was discarded somewhere back at home. Though she could probably stop the Mind Image, she had yet to do so. "Tia is going to be angry."

Sylis scrolled through the many profiles that came up for the name Lilith Cozbi. He then typed another word to shorten the world search to Germans. "Piper, you're not going to get in trouble. We can just..." He found a picture that looked similar to Lilin. The woman had a slight fringe on her face but had the same black hair and brown eyes. Lilith's hair was a short bob that didn't curly around her ears but instead fanned out into spike-like strands. She didn't look comforting. "...keep it a secret." No, she looked familiar.

At this time, Piper piped down her crying and uncovered her face. "Really?" Sylis pried his ocean eyes from the screen and looked at his client's daughter.

"Of course..." He slowly nodded his head.

Piper walked over to him from the doorway after wiping the last of her tears. She sat next to her peanut papa. The two sat next to each other as Sylis researched Lilith Cozbi.

Relatives: Lily Cozbi (deceased)
Liam Cozbi (deceased)
Lilin Cozbi (older sister)

Occupation: Civil servant of the German ministry

Sylis didn't realize until Piper said the paternal title that she was attempting to hold his hand. "Papa, is Mama going to be okay?"

Sylis tried to smile, but the emotion wasn't with him at the moment. "She will be, but now I have to protect her from two people. Her ex and Shadow."

"Why does Tia Lilith matter?"

Sylis ignored the question; something in his gut told him that Lilith Cozbi was an important piece to this supposed mystery he was solving. The only question was how? "I don't know, but if Lilin is so adamant in keeping this a secret then it must mean something."

"Papa...you have a secret." Sylvia looked down at the little girl. Her pointer fingers were rung around each other as she awkwardly played with them. "I know that it's not nice to look at people's memories, but I was curious." She looked up from her hands. "I hope you don't mind."

So much was happening and Sylis sort of felt lost in the ocean of unconnected information. Being someone of his occupation he should be able to control his brain but it wasn't working that day. The day was getting shorter, it seemed as if an internal bomb was ticking in his mind.

"Piper, I have to work." He didn't say anything about what she said. It mattered a lot but at that moment it didn't matter at all. Nothing seemed to matter except Lilith Cozbi with her uneven bangs and tiny cowlick.

Piper pouted and disappeared out of nowhere. "Mama will be expecting you."

Now that she was gone Sylis was completely alone. The noise of the street was his music and the sun was his clock. There were a few hours before it was time up.

"Lilith Cozbi...Lilith Cozbi. She's an orphan and the younger sister of Lilin Cozbi. She was protected and provided for by her older sister. She is a Civil Servant in a ministry. Wait, which ministry?" Sylis checked, scrolling back to her occupation.

Civil servant of the German ministry.

Germany. That was where he was from. How old was Lilith? He checked. She was old enough to be a part of the war.

Memories of the war flashed in front of his eyes. The bombs falling from the sky, the broken buildings that littered the country, and finally one of the most traumatic, watching his mother get flattened by a falling building. They were searching for food when it happened. She pushed it away in a sense of self-sacrifice. Silvan dug her out, throwing the bricks out of the way. He found his mither a bloody mess as he cried upon her dying cadaver.

Both Lilin and Lilith would have been old enough to be a part of the war as children and even younger than himself. How did they even survive, he didn't know, but he did know one thing. If a spy could go into cover as a detective then they could easily get a cover job as a civil servant. He was even offered the job but declined it.

Sylis wondered if what he thought was true or if it was him projecting. He had never met another spy before outside of his agency. What would it be like?

But wait, what about Lilin? She didn't seem like the type of person to massage people as her job. What did she do as an occupation?

A thought popped into his head. It was silly but if it was true it would change everything. In books and other media when someone gives someone else a message it is a friendly way to say that they murdered them. Could she be an assassin? Did Lilith know about Lilin's supposed job and used her position as a spy to protect her? So much was still in the air and yet it was time for him to leave.

What was he going to do now?