Chapter 117: Chapter 117

"She was stabbed with a poisoned knife in the chest to the left, but according to the doctors that her checked, they found out she has Dextrocardia. Which means her heart is to the right side of her chest. Her heart wasn't injured, but the poison had started to get into her system, she had an antidote already, but we are waiting for it to take effect. She told me never to give her any medications no matter what happens, as they would complicate the effect of the antidote. So, I am waiting until she regains her consciousness," Lucien explained with pained expressions.

He was against the idea of waiting, but he was also afraid to disobey her orders, which clearly showed she knew what she was doing, although weakening. His instincts strongly demand him to follow Anna's words.

Andy and Lucien walked side by side to stand by the foot end of the bed. Andy stared at her face. Lucien walked closer, but Andy froze in his stand. The Michaelson's, Lucien and Leandro, noticed him behind, so they turned to look at him.

"What is it?" Asked Leandro.

Andy could not speak for a while. He blinked his eyes a few times to ensure what he was looking at. Then he murmured.

"She looks so familiar."

Andy's words were low and soft, but as the room felt like covered in thick silence, Leandro and Lucien heard him. Lucien could not help walking back at his Grandpa Andy to ask curiously.

"Do you know her, grandpa?"

Lucien had grown like Andy was his grandpa Leandro's brother, so he had always regarded the General as his second grandfather ever since he could remember.

"I'm not sure, but she looks like someone I knew," Andy was still frowning as he tried to recall. "What's her name?" Andy turned his eyes to Lucien. Leandro walked closer to the two, Adny and Lucien, as they seemed to be talking in hushed tones. He was afraid he would miss any detail.

"Brianna Peters. I call her Anna," Lucien replied hurriedly.

"That name doesn't ring a bell," Andy's frown deepened. He wasn't sure where he saw this girl. And he wasn't even sure it was this girl he saw. That was a long time ago. There was no way she could stay young while Andy turned old. Although he was already in his mid-thirties when he met that lady in a forensic lab, Elizabeth Patel, one of the forensic experts in the military, she was too famous as her colleagues labeled her as the "forensic goddess." She was a genius. Her expertise as a forensic psychologist scientist was pretty remarkable. Andy had a case he needed her to help solve before she decided to quit her job to settle down. He has heard her husband was also a marine, but Andy did not ask about the name, or if he had, he no longer recall the name of the man she gave up her career to be with.

Lucien sighed. Then he turned his gaze to Anna on the bed.

"Send me the file you found about Anna's background," Leandro spoke to someone over the phone. Lucien and Andy turned their gaze at the old Michaelson. He felt the need to explain himself.

"I wanted to know her background. She seemed too good at what she does, and I am curious, so I ask our IT men to dig anything they could find," Leandro spoke softly. He did not mean any harm, doing such a background check on her. It was even the opposite. Soon they heard his phone make a notification sound. He handed his phone to Lucien.

"Here, you check on it," Leandro ordered. He sat on a sofa chair next to Anna as he watched her sleep.

Lucien took his grandpa's phone and quickly checked the file in images sent to him. Lucien could tell his IT men were said to give him something he would easily have access to check with the limited ability and knowledge to use a smart and small-screened gadget. Leandro can easily zoom in and out when he cannot see the images clearly if they are too small. When they are sent to him as a picture file while sending him an email would be chaotic to the old man.

Andy walked closer to Lucien. He was also looking forward to what he was going to find out about this so-familiar girl. He was near being convinced he knew her somehow. He was just not certain about some things. Her information would be of great help, aside from her name alone.

"What does it say?"

Lucien was engrossed in reading every detail in her file. Their men from the IT department seemed to have found the same article Jack Foster had found. But actually, Jack shared the information he had when the IT team of the Michaelson's reached out to him. He did not resist knowing the Michaelson's were going to assist Brianna and her team to rescue their family being taken as hostages.

"It says her dad is Leith Peters, a well-decorated Marine officer," Lucien stated.

Andy and Leandro looked at each other. Andy asked.

"What about her mom?"

Andy was hoping to hear a name he knew. There was a slim chance of it happening as people could sometimes look alike despite not being blood-related, but he still wished for it.

"Her mom is Elizabeth Patel, a..." Lucien's words were cut off as Andy finished what he was about to say.

"A forensic psychologist scientist," Andy gasped as he walked closer to Anna. His face turned pained and sorrowful.

"We have been searching for you, Little Liz."

Lucien was beyond shocked to hear his grandpa Andy speak so sadly, and he could even see his eyes clouded with tears.

"Grandpa Andy, what do you mean?" He asked with so much emotion. He was happy that Andy seemed to know something about Anna, but he could also feel the grave sadness it came along.

"Her parents were murdered when she was just five. Her parents were alone at home as the old Peters wanted to have her a few days earlier than that year's Thanksgiving holiday. Her grandparents picked her up from her parents' house two days before the holiday and planned to be sent home with her parents after the family gathering. But Lieth and Elizabeth were found dead in their home. Then the old Peters was also found dead, with Brianna went missing. We tried to find her, but we could not find her no matter how we spread her pictures and even on broadcasting companies. Not even her body if she died or killed. It's almost two decades now. Her parents' case were not closed. They are among unsolved cold cases now. The ones who attacked them were too good to leave any loop to start a trace and crack the puzzle.

"How come you know all of these?" Leandro asked with astonishment. He does not doubt Andy even in the slightest. He was even amazed he could disclose such information the best in his IT team could not find out. "My mean could not find anything about her background."

"It's because they were concealed at first, only people with high-security clearance could have access to them, but last time I checked on their case file, the data were all erased. Not just hidden but totally removed from the system. It was like someone did not want anyone to find out whatever was in that file," Andy explained.

"I was there on her first birthday, and we call her Little Liz as she resembled her mom so much. She was like the miniature of her mother. Her mom was the one who helped me solve my case where I almost died, thanks to this old pal here," Andy pointed his chin towards Leandro.

"You mean that one single night I helped you?" Leandro chuckled. They always try to avoid that topic as Andy would get too emotional, but it was different this time. Or Andy became emotional for a different reason this time.

"Elizabeth Patel helped me tracing the men who had me beaten to death, from the evidence she was able to extract from his clothes that night. I was already in my mid-thirties when I got my justice. I was even hopeless as it had been years. I just heard about her from a colleague and asked her help to help me with my cold case. I don't know how she gave me full detail of what I needed. She denied telling me," Andy shook his head as he stated.

"It says here Leith Peters established his own Private Investigator business. Could he be the one to dig the information you needed?" Lucien asked with a proud smile.

"I asked Liz about my favor before she quit her job, that means before she got married, and I heard her husband resigned from duty to do business. I didn't know what kind of business, though," Andy added. "I was thankful to Liz that I did not want to cause her any problem or bother her again. But I made sure to respond when she would call or invite me for any occasion and attend when I could. I may have met her husband, shook hands, but that's all. Until I got the news of her death."