Page 83 of The Lie Maker

Lana blinked. “Fuck me, you’re not serious.”

“I’m serious.”

“Never saw that coming. But now, with everything else you’ve told me, I can see why they came to you.”

“No, it’s got nothing to do with my dad. They’ve hired me to write backstories for the people they’re relocating. They didn’t even know about my dad when they asked me to do this.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No one was more surprised than my contact, Gwen. So I write these backstories. Well, backstory. I’ve only done one. Someone with a new identity can’t be telling their own life stories in detail because it could trip them up. I come up with a kind of character profile for them to learn and remember.”

“Why you, if not because of your personal experience?”

“Some people in the program read my books, thought I’d be good at it. It’s not just me, apparently. They have several writers doing this.”

“No wonder you couldn’t say anything.”

“Seriously, you can’t tell a soul about—”

She raised a hand. “Don’t worry.”

“But here’s where it gets interesting,” I said. “When I told Gwen about my dad, I asked if she could put us together. She didn’t have to tell me where he is, or what his name is now, but I wanted to be able to talk to him.”

“About?”

“Well, first off, I wanted to know if he was okay. What with the coronavirus, something might have happened to him. I haven’t heard from him since the pandemic started.”

“Okay. And why else?”

I paused for a few seconds. “Us,” I said.

“Us?”

I nodded. “I wanted to tell him about you.”

“Why did you want to tell him about me?”

I shrugged. “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe that I love you like crazy and I want you to spend the rest of your life with me. Something along those lines. If you get my meaning.”

The words hung out there for a moment. “Oh,” she said.

“Sorry. That was a very roundabout way of bringing up something we haven’t really talked about.”

“I see.”

“I was thinking maybe something more formal at a later date. But you know how sometimes you want to take someone home to meet your folks? I’ve got no home, and I don’t have much in the way of folks, either. But he is my dad, and if I could find him, I’d like him to meet you.”

Lana took a moment to gather her thoughts.

“It would seem to me,” she said slowly, “that if this Gwen can set up a meeting, it might make sense for me to come along, too. Then you wouldn’t have to tell him about me. I could tell him about me.” She paused for a moment. “God, it feels sort of weird, meeting someone like your dad. I mean, you know. What he did and all.”

“I know. I’d like to tell you there’s more to him than that, and there is, but that’s a hard climb. I get that.”

“Still... if it could happen, yeah, I would like to go with you. I want... I want to know everything about you. Who you are and who made you what you are.”

“But there’s a problem.”

Her eyebrows popped, as if to say Another one?