Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
It was in the middle of the night when Nova was awakened by Stella loudly proclaiming, “Got it!”
“Huh?” Nova asked, jerking up from her blankets on the floor.
Beside her, Steph stirred to life, too.
Elsewhere in the large room in Stryker’s house—where they’d had an impromptu sleepover while Stella made use of the powerful computing power—Katie, Trixie, and Kelsey stayed asleep.
Nova rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stretched. “Is everything okay?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Have you been asleep?”
“Nope. Been working on this.” Stella cast a wry glance over her shoulder.
“And it’s insane!” Her nose crinkled as a sheepish expression shaded her face.
“When I get going on something—especially computer stuff—I can’t let go.
As weird as it sounds, this was kind of fun for me because I don’t get to do stuff like this much anymore.
” A serious look replaced the others. “But, eh, like I said, this is crazy. You might want to call your Daddy.”
Nova thought about asking her to just spill all the details now, but the look in Stella’s eyes told her that perhaps she should call Daddy.
That’s exactly what she did.
It was nearly one in the morning when Nova, Kelsey, Trixie, Stephanie, Katie, Stella, Leah, and their respective Daddies, along with Bo, gathered in the community center.
On the large TV mounted on the wall were several little squares, each one a thumbnail. Nova couldn’t wait to see where Stella unveiled, but she waited as patient as she could as everyone took their seats.
“Sorry. I know it’s late. But this is big,” Stella told them.
Nova grabbed Daddy’s hand and felt a bit better as his thumb rubbed hers gently.
“I’ll get right to it,” Stella said. “The police in Vegas are right to think it’s Nova doing all this.
In a way, it is. But… well, just watch.” She used the remote to activate one of the thumbnails.
The image moved to take the full TV and then came to life, a video of Nova—or someone who looked a lot like her—walking into the Bellagio.
“I found this footage as I was building a digital trail.”
Nova tore loose of Daddy’s hand and stood quickly, pointing at the screen. “That’s not me!”
“I know,” Stella said.
“But it looks like me,” Nova said in a quieter tone. “Sort of how I dress when I’m not wanting to be recognized. Messy bun. Sweats. Sunglasses.”
“Yeah. This person goes around town quite a bit like that. Sometimes in a ball cap. Sometimes in a mask, like they’re protecting themselves from germs. Hoodies are frequent too.” Stella pulled up some more video, all of them showing the same woman who was a dead ringer for Nova.
Nova gasped. “I’ve never seen anything like it! It’s almost as if I’m looking in the mirror.”
“Well, there’s a good reason for that. Are you sure you want me to tell everyone everything?” Stella asked.
Nova sat back down and grabbed Xavier’s hand. “I’d rather you did. Whatever I’m about to hear, I’d rather be with Daddy and my friends.”
“Okay,” Stella said. “I realized there’s only one way we could be watching you on these videos without watching you. So, I did some more hacking and digging and accessing… well, long story short… Nova, you have a twin sister.”
Nova wasn’t the only one in the room who gasped.
Xavier put both arms around his Little, and the hug he gave was comforting. But she was still in complete shock from the bombshell Stella had just dropped.
A full minute passed before she said, “A sister?”
“Her name is Kim Folger. At least, Folger is her adopted last name.”
“You mean, she was… adopted?”
So many thoughts rushed through Nova’s mind. Why were they split up? Why was she never told about her sister? Why was Kim adopted and she never was?
“You were never told about her, but she must have put two and two together when you became famous and your face was suddenly everywhere,” Xavier proposed. “And that triggered something in her.”
John stood. “That’s as good as theory as I can come up with.”
Nova wiped tears from her eyes. “Why would she stalk me? We could have been friends! She’s my… s-sister!”
Violent sobs racked her body and she collapsed into Daddy’s arms. Her friends gathered around them, comforting her and rubbing her back and holding her hands.
Five minutes later, she’d composed herself enough to continue the conversation.
“Should we turn this over to the police?”
“We could,” Stella said. “But we might have to answer some tricky questions about how we obtained all this info.”
“Oh yeah,” Nova said. “I didn’t think about that.”
“But we will, if it means clearing you and keeping you safe,” Stella added.
“I don’t think it’ll come to that,” Leah stated.
“I say we go on with the operation we had planned. You spread the word on social media that you’ll be partying at a certain club or at a casino or something.
Then, the police will show up since they want to talk to you about all this.
But the stalker—I mean, your sister—will most likely take the bait and show up too.
Then, everyone we need in the room at the same time—law enforcement and this person—will be there. ”
Nova thought about it for a few moments. “That’s a great idea! What do you think, Daddy?”
“It was what I was going to suggest too” he replied.
For the first time since hearing the earth-shattering news a few moments ago, Nova felt better about the situation. She wasn’t sure how it would all shake out; her sister needed some major help, it sounded like.
But the plan was a good start.
“And we’ll be there too,” Dax said. “You’ll have plenty of friends supporting you.”
Nova smiled.
Even though she’d found out she had a biological sister, something told her true family were the people right there in that room.
“Daddy, you’re sure this is all good with you?”
“It’s our best option,” he said. “Now, you need to get some rest. We all do. Because we’re going back to Vegas…”