Maxx (Part 2) *rewritten*

   "Why are we doing this?" I asked.

   I figured I was not going to get a response, because Carmen was busy staring intently at the computer screen. It took a moment, but then she spoke. "We're looking for you, Maxx."

   "But you said I'm not in your database."

   "Not in our database. But there are other databases."

   I frowned at her. "I thought we were solving a robbery."

   She glanced at me with a look that said, duh. "Solving your mystery will solve our mystery."

   I didn't say any more. I just watched her scroll through pages and pages of names. Then she clicked.

   I held my breath as she murmured, "There's you, Maxx."

   I squinted at the grainy image on the computer screen. It was a photograph of a newborn baby, red and still screaming. "That's me?"

   She nodded. "Your mother died when you were born."

   I felt as if I'd been slapped across the face. All this wondering came down to this. I breathed sharply. "Go on."

   She'd been watching me carefully. "Okay. You were adopted by a couple. Named Pierre and Dakota Batelli."

   "Where are they now?"

   Carmen typed something, then the screen came up with one word in fat red print that read ERROR.

   "What does that mean?" I asked.

   She looked up at me warily. "That means there are no Pierre and Dakota Batelli."

   "But how is that possible?"

   I watched Casper, Wyoming roll by. The hot summer sun scorched the sidewalk, the cars, the buildings. The brightly colored cars were blinding in the sunlight, making my head throb for a brief moment before I pulled my eyes away.

   Children played in the leaf-dappled streets. The green canopy provided shelter from the sunlight. Their laughter startled me. Had I played like that as a child? Had my laughter rolled out into the streets for all to hear? I had no memory of my childhood.

   "They must've been under an alias," Carmen said unhappily. Her sympathy for me was evident in her voice, her upset mood. I was almost bitter at her pity, but then I realized she felt sorrow because I felt sorrow, and then I was grateful for her caring.

   "Who does that?" I asked.

   Carmen blinked. "I've seen a lot of strange things in my day as a detective. But an alias just to adopt a child? That's odd."

   I nodded. Then it was silence.

   Sitting in the front of the police cruiser was bliss. The wind washed over my face and through my hair. And sitting next to Aphrodite wasn't too bad, either.

   "Where are we going now?" I finally asked.

   "I found this address in your file."

   "Who lives there?"

   Carmen gave me a small smile, and it filled me with hope. "Your mother."