Facade of Love (Yvette Scott and Idris Young) novel Chapter 451

The name Chandler hit me like a bolt of lightning. Kobe's last words to me included a badge number I had ignored because I never thought twice about it. Kobe was not a cop, but he had been using Chandler's name all along. Everyone in the mountains had been convinced he was one of their own, a policeman. It had thrown me off completely. Why did he do that? Why had he taken Chandler's identity?

In the video, Kobe kept on with his story, telling us how he and Chandler hit it off and became inseparable. The more time they spent together, the more Kobe got to know him. Then, out of the blue, Kobe discovered Chandler's big secret: he was an undercover cop sent to the border to sniff out evidence against Kenneth and his crew.

The two buddies were in trouble, but Chandler, who had been playing the long game undercover, was always careful. He had managed to dig up a bunch of dirt on Kenneth's shady dealings.

No one saw it coming when Kenneth almost bit the dust in a drug deal gone wrong at the border five years back, with the cops closing in. After that close call, Kenneth got wind of a snitch in his circle and started hunting for the mole.

Chandler was more than capable of handling it. However, Kobe, with his heart of gold and a conscience as clean as a whistle, just could not stand by and watch someone else take the fall for him. His slip-up ended up dragging Chandler down too.

Kenneth's goons put them through the wringer. Chandler knew a ton about Kenneth from his years undercover, but the boys had not had the chance to pass on what they knew. They made a run for it.

However, in the thick of their escape, Chandler took a hit for Kobe and did not make it. With his last breaths, he handed Kobe the intel, making him promise to get it back home at all costs.

He even asked Kobe to look after his wife and kid back home.

Hearing Kobe talk about Chandler's family, I froze, my mind racing. I turned to Gregory, my eyes wide with shock, hardly able to believe what I was hearing.

Gregory nodded and slid an old, faded photo across the table. It showed a young mother with her little girl. Even though the picture was from years ago, the girl's features were a dead ringer for Alice’s today. The photo might have been old, but there was no mistaking that face.

Chandler was Alice's dad. The news hit me like a ton of bricks. Mom had talked about Mary’s past once, how she fell head over heels when she was just a kid, got pregnant young, and had to quit school. The guy she was crazy about turned out to be a total flake, vanishing into thin air before the baby even arrived. All those years, it had been just Mary and her daughter making it on their own. After Alice was all grown up, Mary finally moved on and tied the knot with someone else.

I had always seen Alice's dad as a lowlife or deadbeat. I never, ever pegged him for a hero.