- backstory -
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Estella Limones was a very kind woman, skilled in the culinary arts, but she lacked in social life. In fact, she spent most of her time alone outside of work. She moved from Mexico to the States to get her education and her parents approved, but they were disappointed at the lack of a son-in-law and possibly some grandchildren. At some point, Estella's mother had had enough and decided to set her up with a man who was related to one of her acquaintances. Alvaro was an orphan and his only grandmother was taking care of him, or used to when he was a child. Now, Alvaro lived in the same place as Estella. He wanted to study there but he eventually left school and started working. He had a job at a car repair shop.
Estella agreed to meet the man but only to shut her mother up. On the day the blind date was supposed to take place, Estella's car broke down. Coincidentally, it was exactly Alvaro who helped her fix up her car. They actually hit it off right there in the repair shop, exchanging contacts and all. Neither of them showed up for the date that evening.
Once they started dating it was a quick relationship. They got married after barely a year of knowing each other, but anyone who had doubts would take one look at them and clearly see their love. Estella and Alvaro wanted nothing more than to have a baby, but they had trouble conceiving. Years of trying and failing led them to consider adoption. They were both in their late thirties. But a chance would have it and they finally got lucky. Estella gave birth to a healthy boy. They decided to name him Felipe after Alvaro's deceased father.
Felipe had a great childhood. By the time he was born, his parents were already financially stable with his father the owner of the garage which he eventually inherited from the owner. The man always liked Alvaro and his own kids weren't interested in repairing cars so he decided Alvaro, his loyal employee, was the best choice. Estella was the head cook in a respected restaurant. They lived comfortably. Felipe was a wanted child. It was a dream come true for the couple and it showed. They didn't necessarily spoil him, but they were very attentive and supportive.
Felipe attended an ordinary public school. At a place like that, it was hard to stick out. There were so many other kids but Felipe had a knack for getting into trouble. He had an especially curious nature and loved to discover new things. It was his childish wonder that led him to many problems. Of course, his parents hardly ever reprimanded him. They understood it was not his intention to do something bad, it was most often just accidents.
By being so curious he would often get into places where he could observe many things. One time, he stumbled upon bullies hurting a smaller kid. Felipe wasn't the kind of person who was looking for problems but he had to do something and something he did. He helped that kid and it made him feel good. It was precisely then that he decided to become a detective. He wanted to help people.
His parents supported his career path, like everything he did. Though they often worried about him. Felipe with his determination quickly made it as a detective. He was good at his job, maybe too good because it was because of this that he got assigned a case of one Malory Hemings.
A string of murders, unrelated at first glance, led him to her. She was a powerful and respected businesswoman. It took Felipe months to get the needed evidence and eyewitness accounts to tie the murders to her. Hemings was going to jail and her illegal trade was over, all that thanks to him and she knew it. The last thing she did before being taken into custody was order a hit on Felipe's parents. The older couple was defenseless and got murdered in cold blood. Felipe grieved but contrary to what Hemings was trying to achieve, it only ensured him that he had to get her to jail. More determined than ever, Felipe carried on with the trial and ended up winning. She would never set a foot out of prison.
However, Hemings' influence in the criminal world remained even if she wasn't directly there. She still had power. When Felipe's partner noticed the car following them for days on end, it was decided that Felipe wasn't safe there.
A witness protection program was the answer. He was stripped of his whole identity, the name his parents had given him, the job he loved. He had to move to the other side of the country and was assigned a new name - Ricardo Navarro. He couldn't be a detective anymore, even in a different city, it would be too dangerous. He missed it but it was something he wasn't able to change. When he thought about what he would do next, an idea came to him. Back in high school, he used to work for the school newspaper and it wasn't half bad. With that in mind, he got a job as an investigative journalist. It's not the same as being a detective but pretty damn close.
He spent two years in Seattle, writing his stories and keeping a low profile. He tried to stay by himself, not dating at all, only let his coworkers close, but he kept that to work only too. One blind date set up by a coworker led to him being discovered by Hemings' people. He had to relocate but did not have to change his whole identity again.
Ricardo is currently in Portland, working as an assistant copy editor.