The Truth Behind It All

A/N: I realized that some people might find the time line confusing so let me break it down for you k? It starts in April 2007 and in some chapters it flashes forward to July/August 2012. 2012 is the present, 2007 is the past. I'm not changing tenses erratically and this story does make sense. There are flashbacks that explain the situations the characters are in, get it?

April 7, It started out with a look. A quick glance that seemed insignificant but in reality, it said a million words. Adam sat across the waiting room, unsure of what exactly those words were. She was a pretty girl, in her early twenties, her long hair was pulled back in a side pony tail which let him know that she was a structured woman. Her round eyes let out a sense of sensuality as she stared at the screen before her. Her hands were manicured, assuring him she was immaculate in some form. She wore scrubs but he knew she wasn't a nurse for she was in the reception area assisting the patients who entered the office. Maybe she was the nurse assistant, nothing medical, she just aided the nurse or doctor with the paper work. No ring on her finger, he noticed. She probably didn't have a serious boyfriend, but she had one none the less. The pink gloss on her lips, her soft peachy cheeks and the slight make up on her eyes were the evidence of that. Her eyebrows furrowed as she was writing on the clipboard, she didn't like whatever she was writing.

"How much longer?" he heard Brian beside him. He didn't answer right away. The girl looked at him and smiled, leaving him with a sense of confusion. He was good with reading people but she was somehow illegible. Her eyes seemed to be telling him, this is who I am, but her smile told him that whoever she was, she was undecipherable.

"We've been in here just to ask him a simple bloody question, not to find a heart donor, " Brian complained.

But Adam wasn't listening to a word he was saying, or he was but he gave it no importance. The girl left the clipboard to the side and went back to her typing. She paused and drank from her water bottle. Interesting, he thought, a water bottle clearly made out of recycled material, the tag was taken off, and it seemed like she had that bottle for days, even weeks. Could it be that she was a miniscule form of what was called, a hoarder? Or she detested getting rid of things, for the fear that it was a waste to throw a perfectly useable bottle? By the deteriorated pen in her hand that has seen better days, he concluded with the second option.

"Adam?" he heard Brian clearly frustrated.

"Sorry, you were saying?" he said nonchalantly.

"I was saying that if this Yankee comes and says he knows nothing of the subject I will break his nose."

"You wouldn't call him Yankee, because A. He is from a Hispanic descent, seen in his last name, Gutierrez and B. We are on the south of United States so close to the border that it is hardly considered a Yankee state, being also that it is not part of the original thirteen colonies, and lastly, your hand is too small for it to actually break anything, " he replied without removing his eyes from the woman at the desk. The woman broke into a smile, maybe remembering something, or maybe she was eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Listen, lad, just because you are a bloody. . ."

"Brian Sims, " the woman interrupted. "Doctor Gutierrez is ready to see you." They both stood and walked towards the doctor's office. "Excuse me, " the woman called out, making them both stop. "You both can't enter the room. Sorry."

"It's alright, we are not patients, " Brian responded and took a step forward.

"I'm sorry, " she stood from her chair, "Even if you are not here for medical purposes, you both can't enter the room. It's part of a confidentiality clause."

Brian's eyes rolled to one side. "Fine, " he turned towards Adam, "You stay here."

Adam didn't hear him, his eyes were tied on the young woman's face. Interesting, he thought, she knew how to impute authority but she was careful not to lose her temper, or sound angry at all. With the simple act of standing, make people like Brian, who has a big problem with women telling him what to do, see that she was not inferior to anyone.

"Forgive him, " Adam apologized. "He has anger issues."

The woman smiled. "You are not from around here, are you?" she asked noticing Adam's accent.

"What gave it away?"

The woman laughed, very feminine like, he noted. "Your outfit. Let me guess, England? London, is it?"

"Good guess, " he said impressed. Not because she was right, anybody could tell he was from London because of his accent, but because she was so tranquil.

"I love London, " she said almost dreamily, as she walked to the other side of her desk and leaned against it, facing him.

"You've ever been?" he asked.

"Yes, well, back when I was fifteen, we went to London in a family vacation; I fell in love with it. What brings you to Phoenix? Business or pleasure?"

"You can say both."

"You mean, 'work at what you love and you'll never have to work again' theory?"

"Precisely."

"What do you do?"

He spoke slowly, "I work for the police."

"You are a cop?"

"I am more like a private detective."

"Really? But you said you were here for business, isn't Phoenix out of your jurisdiction?"

"You are very curious, aren't you?"

"I am. What really brings you to Arizona?"

"I needed time off, get London out of my lungs."

"So you decided to come to the driest state of the United States of America, " she replied with a slight smirk on her lips. She walked back behind her desk and sits. "Who is Mr. Sims?"

He smiled to himself, was she interrogating him? "He is a colleague, my flat mate, a loyal friend."

"All that, huh?"

"Yes." He took a deep breath and looked at his watch, what was taking Brian so long? "Where do you recommend we go, while we are here?"

"Erm, " she studied the wall like searching for the answer. What beautiful eyes she had, he observed, a rare brown shade. "How about, the Fair? It comes every spring and you are just in time for it. Of course, if you want history, there is the Desert Museum, but I don't recommend it though, it is full of dead animals."

Adam laughed; he couldn't remember the last time he had spoken to a woman so freely.

"I'm Ana Marie by the way, Ana Marie Cain." She smiled and extended her hand.

"Adam Hayes, " he replied accepting it noting her incredibly firm shake. "Pleasure to meet you, " he admitted.

* * *

July 22, "Adam?"

Adam opens his eyes and he is at the place he dreads the most, his office. Everything was the same every day. He even had the thought of remodeling it, maybe paint it a green color. But he knew that wouldn't make a difference. He is still working inside the office most of the day. He isn't meant for this. He was meant to be out and about on the streets of London catching bad guys, not work at an office filing paperwork.

"Yes?" he responds with a bored tone in his voice.

"Mr. James wants to see you, " replies the woman in her very ugly dress. Perhaps it was a gift from her husband, and by the look of her hair, she wasn't very happy on having to wear it.

"Thank you."

He walks out towards the corridor, dragging his feet. Even getting out of bed seemed like a bore. He had no purpose, he concluded months ago. Before, all he wanted was to work in an open field, like a house cat when exploring the dark neighborhood. There was always something different, his every day job was an adventure each time, but now, his everyday job was killing him slowly.

"You wanted to see me?" he asked his chief, the creator of London's Private Investigation, or LPI, once he arrived.

"Yes, please have a seat."

Adam notices his shirt tucked in in a lazy manner, his sleeves were rolled up and his hair was not as combed back as it used to be, whatever he had to say, it was important.

"I don't know if you remember the Velez case, the big unsolved one."

Adam snorts in disbelief. "How could I not."

"Well, you see. Velez is back under our radar. He came back from his absence apparently, and he is back to Phoenix, Arizona. There was an incident where twenty people died in Cali, Colombia, due to poison in the water ducts, it isn't certain, but I believe he was the cause."

Adam rubs his eyes trying to push back his thoughts. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I am telling you this because Sims requested your assistance himself. He claims he can't resume with the investigation without you-"

Adam raises his hand, making him stop. "Are you suggesting I return to the case? To Arizona?" At the lack of response from James, Adam stands fiercely. "You said that I was no longer part of this investigation because I became involved, too involved, in fact."

"I know what I said, " James replies rapidly. "But I trust your judgment -"

"You don't think I will not attempt to find her, or even see her, do you?"

"Like I said, I trust your judgment. And, I will come along just to keep a close eye on you, just so you don't make any decisions rashly."

Adam sits dejectedly. No matter what he might say, he will eventually be forced to get back on the case. He rubs his eyes again. He is going back to America, to Arizona.

He walks back to his office deaf and mute. He is no longer owner of his own body. As he sits back at his desk, he absently runs his hands on his chest, what was Ana Marie doing right now? It was four o'clock, plus the seven hour difference, she was probably getting ready to go to sleep, with her husband more likely, reading bed time stories to her children.

He squeezes his eyes tightly trying to push off her image from his head. He grabs his coat, and walks towards the door, he needs to get himself packing for the trip.

April 21, When Ana Marie woke up, she found herself in a hospital bed. She looked around her confused as for where she was, when sudden memories came back to her. The silence in mid darkness, the exasperation in Adam's face. She sat up rapidly. Adam, she remembered. Where was he? Was he okay? She felt her head spin as she tried to stand, he had to be in the same hospital. Wait, she heard a faint sound of a gunshot. He was shot. Twice. Her hands started to tremble at the thought of him being injured.

As she shut her eyes, she could feel those rough hands on her, holding her back as she screamed for Adam over and over again. He was being hit by three or four men, he was unarmed and defenseless. He was trying to fight back but there were too many of them. She kept screaming. Until, she felt a wet rag on her face with a strong stench that made her lose consciousness.

Who were those men? She shut her eyes tightly trying to remember if she had seen them anywhere. When Adam urged her to scape, a big man blocked her track. He wore a black outfit, camouflaged in the darkness; he was a bald man, with a big diamond on his left ear. He wore a bracelet on his right hand, those medical bracelets that informed the public that he had some kind of disease. Diabetes, she recalled, Diabetes type A. His name was. . . she tried to remember as it happened. He blocked her and she tried running the other way but more men started to appear out of nowhere. She was yanked by her arm by the man with the bracelet, she felt his fingers digging into her skin, she looked down at her arm trying to get free, Jim, or Joe, something with the letter J.

"Ana Marie!" she heard a woman cry out. "You can't be up, you have to rest."

"Mom, " she said as her mother started guiding her back on the bed. "Is Adam alright? We were ambushed by a group of men. They started beating him and I tried to stop them, but other men were holding on to me enabling me to move. I tried screaming for help, until I heard shots being fired, two shots, and Adam was on the floor, bleeding and. . ." Her sobbing got on the way, as she saw those images in her head. He wasn't moving, he couldn't, he was losing a lot of blood.

"Honey, you are okay now, you are safe." Her mother tried to console her but she pulled away.

"Where's Adam?"

"The doctor said that you inhaled a very strong drug and that was what knocked you out. You will still feel dizzy but the rest of the drug will wear off in a few days."

"Mom, is Adam okay?"

"Sweetheart, " her father stood on the doorway of her room. "Adam had an accident."

"What do you mean?"

He walked in calmly. "He died at the scene."

"What? You are lying, " she said but she knew that Adam couldn't have survived such wounds. "No, not Adam, " she cried as she felt her world crashing down, like a city in an earthquake tumbling down to ruins.

Jack. The man who chloroformed her was named Jack. He worked for her father. She remembered seeing him at his house multiple times.

"You did this, " she realized. Her father froze. "You sent your men to kill him."

"I know you are angry with the world-" her father started saying.

"No, not the world, just you." she interrupted. "I saw Jack, your 'butler', he was there. So it was you, you killed him."

"Ana. . ."

"Why would you do this to me?" she yelled. "Why would you rip him from me like that? Why would. . ." She couldn't stop her tears. Her own father did this to her. "Get out, " she commanded. Her father stood tacitly. "Get out!" she screamed desperately, she couldn't stand seeing his face much longer. "Get out!!" She grabbed a pillow and threw it at her father, "Get out! Get out! Get out!" Her mother tried holding her down, but the rage had given her an unknown strength. "I don't want to see you again you murderer!" Two nurses rushed in and held Ana Marie down. She kept screaming and crying as another nurse prepared the tranquillizer. When the shot was given, Ana Marie felt tired and woozy. Adam was right. She didn't know her own father at all.

* * *

July 22, "Ana Marie, wake up, " she hears a whisper. She opens her eyes and is surprised to see that it was still dark. "Here drink this." Her mother hands her a mug of hot green tea, she grabs it hesitantly and takes a drink. "You were screaming again, " her mother says with deep concern in her eyes.

"I was?" She always had for the past five years. It comes and goes. Mostly, no matter what she does or doesn't do, it comes. But sometimes, if she was very tired, she would fall asleep the minute her head touched the pillow and she would have a dreamless night. But not tonight.

"Have you considered what I said?" her mother asks.

"Yes, " she responds. She knows her mother is worried about her, and she was extremely thankful for her support, but her mother had come up with suggestions that had become crazier by the minute. She knows she is trying to help but she just couldn't face the fact that there was no solution to what she had.

"So?" her mother offers.

"I am not going to a medium, mom."

"Be open minded, Ana, maybe it's Adam who wants to communicate with you."

"Lucky for me, I am not superstitious. And even if it is Adam, I don't think I could stand with the idea of him not being in peace, it gives me the jeepers." Ana Marie shivers at the thought.

"What if I go for you? Then I will tell you what the Medium says."

"I won't allow you to waste your money in something like that, most mediums are phonies."

"Fine, " her mother sounds defeated. "I was just trying to help." She stands and walks towards the door.

"I know mom, and I am very grateful, " Ana Marie shouts after her.

"Yeah, yeah. Good night."

It was a Psychological Trauma. Every person who has been through an experience like that has this. Ana Marie found this out when she went to see a Psychologist months after Adam's death. The man said that these images were engraved into her subconscious and anything could trigger them. In her case, darkness always brought her back to that day. The doctor had said that with time, these images will lessen, but five years had gone by and she still felt like it had happened yesterday. Ana Marie opens the curtains of her room and lets the moon light pour inside, this is better, she thought. The doctor said that if she still had those nightmares that he would then prescribe her sleeping pills. That is when she decided to not see that shrink again. An idea her mother was never too fond of.

She looks back at the mug her mother had brought. Her mother was a saint. Not only because she was her mother but because she was being so incredibly supportive about everything. She didn't argue when Ana Marie decided to drop her plans of getting a master's degree in Nursing after Adam's death. She encouraged her to move back into her house when things started to fall apart inside her. And within the first week after his death, her mother held her for hours until Ana Marie had no more tears to cry.

She looks up at the moon.

"But someday, " Ana Marie speaks silently, something she started doing five years ago. At first, she tried talking to Adam, but she now talks to herself, because it helps her mind unwind. "Someday, you and I will meet again. And it will be like not a day has come between us." She feels her tears roll down her cheeks, and she looks down at her right hand. The ruby on her ring shines under the moonlight. "You'll see."

April 7, "So? What did he say?" Adam asked once they exited the facility. They walked side by side towards the American car they had rented the same day.

"The usual. He only knows Velez from a project ten years ago, he's had no further contact with him."

"Did you show him the photo where he is having lunch with Velez?"

"Of course I did. He kept denying the whole thing. Let me tell you, I know we just got here but I am already tired of Americans, they are nothing but liars." Brian walked towards the right side of the car then bangs at the window. "Stupid American cars, why is the passenger seat on the driver's side?" he complained.

"Give me the keys. I'll drive." They both got in the car and Adam started it. "Where are we going now?"

Brian pulls out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and reads through it, "To a pub called Jefferson's, at. . . "

"Sunrise Blvd and Cherry Street. I know where it is, " Adam interrupted.

"You do?"

"He is our connection. Jefferson was a detective in the police department at London twenty years ago. Father born in Manchester, mother was born here, in Arizona. He spent most of his life in Manchester with his father. After working for the force, he decided to come see his mother but his mother had died month's earlier. As a result, he inherited a scrapbooking business which he later changed into a pub, now called Jefferson's."

"So, you know him?"

"No, never seen him in my life. He currently has two rooms that he rents out. We will be staying there; he will provide us with everyday necessities and equipment for the case." Adam pulled over in front of a building with a wooden sign in the front written in Celtic font, Jefferson's.

"How do you know all this?"

"It was in the packet James gave us this morning. Didn't you read it?" Adam stepped out of the car.

"I did, and there was nothing about Jefferson's past." Brian hurried next to him as Adam opened the door.

"Oh that. I researched it on my own."

When they entered, the pub was empty. Round tables were scattered around with four chairs around them. The bar was at the front; behind it, were all the alcoholic beverages it offered. A TV was at the corner turned to a basketball game. A man in his fifties was staring at the screen laughing at whatever the commentators were saying. Adam cleared his throat grabbing the man's attention.

"Oh, hey guys!" he stood, "I was expecting you earlier." He shakes Adam's hand then Brian's. "I am Jorge Jefferson, nice to meet you." Adam could hear the American accent taking over the British.

He was a big man, maybe two hundred pounds. He wore Hawaiian shirts. He was balding so he shaved his head instead. He had a pleasant smile and a strong shake. He had a band on his left hand and for the look of it, he had about twenty years of marriage. He had a grandchild of about six years old, for the macaroni necklace he had around his neck, it was pink, so Adam decided it was a girl.

Jefferson made his way to the back. "I closed the place early today just in case you wanted to settle in today. You are going to have to share a bathroom, sorry about that."

As they followed Jefferson, Adam noticed family portraits along the walls. His wedding, his children, his parents, everyone was on there. He came to a halt as he saw someone familiar. It was an old photo, the women had big hair and some heavy make-up. One of those women held a young girl's hand, the girl had a white dress, and she was smiling. He recognized those eyes and that smile.

"Jorge?" A woman's voice interrupted his thoughts. He turns and sees the girl, who was then a grown woman. "Oh, hi. I see you found Arizona's famous bar." Ana Marie walked towards him. Coincidence? He doubted it was.

"Ana!" Jefferson said happily as he came in from the back door. "Mr. Hayes, this is my favorite niece, Ana Marie."

"Yeah. We just met, " Ana Marie smiled. Adam didn't reply. Ana Marie Cain was not in Jefferson's history. "Well, here you go." She hands Jefferson a blue lunchbox. "My mother's enchiladas, she said not to eat too much of it."

Jefferson chuckled as he grabbed it. "Sure, thanks honey." He hugged her and she started towards the exit.

She came to a stop and turned to look at him. "Nice seeing you again, Adam, " she said and exited the pub.

"She's your niece?" Adam asked after a moment of deep concentration, nothing but the photo gave anything of that away.

"Actually, that is one of the reasons I was waiting for you both." That caught Adam's attention. They followed him towards the back, into one of the rooms. Jefferson sat on a chair positioned on the corner of the room.

"Well?" Brian urged as Jefferson took out a handkerchief and wipes his forehead which was perspiring excessively, Adam held his breath, whatever he had to say was going to be big.

"Ana Marie is Velez's daughter."

"Velez has no children, " Brian retorted which made Jefferson sweat even more. "He does. He met a woman named. . . "

"Mary Anne Cain."

"You knew this Adam?" Brian asked in disbelief.

Adam stood and started inspecting the room. "She was mentioned briefly in his biography. She was a stewardess in California, that is where they met, having a short lived romance."

"The romance lasted three years, on and off. Ana Marie was born the last year and that is when Mary Anne decided to break it all off with Velez, for the good of Ana Marie."

Adam noticed the small stove, similar to the one in his flat back in London. He turned a knob testing if it worked. "Does she know her father?"

"She didn't meet him until a few years ago. Velez came to Arizona for her." He wiped his head again, and accompanied it with a sigh.

Adam went towards the bed and sat on it bouncing two times, the bed wasn't so bad. "Tell us what you are so worried about?"

"I just don't want her involved in all this. She has no idea about her father's. . . you know, business."

"Aright, but with one condition. . ." Brian turned to look at Adam in disbelief, he also knew he was lying. "You have to tell us what she is to you."

Jefferson smiled for the first time. "Her mother and I know each other ever since I can remember, I know Ana Marie since she was little, she's like a child to me."

Adam nodded satisfied with the reply. Ana Marie was a Velez; he had to become closer to her, because something told him she wasn't as oblivious as Jefferson tried to make her seem.

* * *

July 23, Adam takes a deep breath and leans back. He is the first on the private jet, as usual. He stares out the window and taps his fingers on the arm rest. He reads through the case.

"Jose Antonio Velez: Born in 1963. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela. Son of popular entrepreneurs. In 1976, they moved to Phoenix, Arizona where his parents opened numerous restaurants. By 1983, Jose left his home, arriving at London, Great Britain where he pursued his plans of becoming a Scientist. In 1989, Velez developed a dangerous drug that if introduced in any way to the body, the body suffers temporary paralysis until it reaches the brain, suffering an altogether shut down of the body functions. The drug, now known as Paragalis, was found in minimum amount in purified water at the outskirts of London, causing up to fifty deaths. Now believed that he has fled to his hometown in Arizona, United States."

Adam throws the packet to the ground, someone needs to update this.

"Are you that angry?" Brian bends and picks the packet and hands it back to him.

He was wearing a white button up shirt; he never wears white, Adam notices. His shoes were impeccably clean, unlike him, and his hair was nicely combed back. He sees his left hand, ring still there, so having another woman was in question. Was Brian having a mistress? And was she going to travel with them? For the look of Brian's fa?ade, she was a serious mistress. "How are you doing Brian?"

Brian sits at the seat across him. "I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"Just curious, you look great."

Brian smiles and adjusts in his seat. "Thanks."

Ah, a sign of confidence. Someone fancies him and he likes it. He has no lover, he was just getting his ritual ego boost with the flight attendant of this plane. Adam should have known this.

"Pathetic, " he thinks out loud.

"Pardon me?"

"How's your wife Brian?"

Brian adjusts himself uncomfortably, Adam smelled guilt. "She is fine. You know, all the same."

"She is a good woman. You are lucky to have her, or that she even preferred you." Adam squints a little at his own words, he was regretting them the moment they were coming out of his mouth.

"Wow, " Brian says in surprise. "You are that bad?"

Adam doesn't reply, Brian could read him like an open book, no matter how hard Adam tried to close that book. He looks out the window, James is barely getting out of his car, and as usual he is late.

"Listen, I am sorry that you are going back, but you know me, I am not good with. . . "

"Americans?" Adam offers.

"Patience. But if you don't think you are capable of separating what happened five years ago to what is going to happen now, then you better get off the plane now."

"I am quite capable, thank you, " Adam responds without looking at him. James is talking on his phone, something came up. He waves his hand in the air and rubs his forehead. He takes two steps to the right, then to the left. He was clearly frustrated.

"Are you sure? Because-"

"I am quite capable, thank you."

"Really?"

Adam was just about tired of his smothering, and he could see that Brian noticed it.

"Good morning lads, " James says as he pushes his baggage above him. "Arizona, here we come."

Adam waits for James to say anything that had to do with the call, but he just sits down and starts rubbing his hands together in deep thought. Adam gives him time.

"I have something to tell you." Both Adam and Brian listen attentively. "Our 'host', was sent to the hospital last night, he got into this car accident. Anyway, we will be staying at Jefferson's pub. He will make room for a third."

At the sound of this, Adam felt sick. He leans forward and starts taking deep breaths, Brian looks at him in concern.

"Now, Adam, I now it will be hard for you, and if you prefer, you can stay at a hotel-"

"No, " interrupts Adam. "I can handle it."

"Alright, but let me warn you, Ana- she will be there often."

"Don't worry chief, I won't let myself be seen, " he says and closes his eyes as he feels the plane lift off.

"Are you sure?" Brian says.

Adam doesn't open his eyes. "Yes, I won't put this case at risk again."