Chapter 3
Cassie
"Okay, everyone, I’m glad you could come," I say with a smile.
Quinn and Lincoln stare at me as if I’ve grown two heads. They’re sitting in their chairs in the PI office, looking like police officers waiting to hear their assignments for the day. I hand out color-coded folders. It took me all morning to prepare them.
Everything I know about my acting career back in New York is inside; how I was hired, who the show's producers are, and their connection to me. I’ve even included the main interactions we shared or anything that might have offended them.
"This is about finding out what happened back in New York. I want to know why my career ended."
Lincoln's eyebrows raise as he looks between me and Quinn. We never discussed bringing Quinn in on this, but I think it's time. She has shown herself to be a true friend, and I know she’ll want to help me .
"Are you sure we should dive into this right now?" Lincoln sounds uncertain.
"Why shouldn’t we? It’s not like we have a lot going on otherwise." I shrug. "Not yet, anyway."
I haven’t told Lincoln or Quinn about the email we received last night. This morning, a new email from Meredith confirmed she would be at the office at noon, which is in less than an hour. I prepared all I could for the case earlier. Before we get into the new case, I’m eager to see their reaction to my efforts at organizing my own case.
"So, what do you think?" They both flip through the folder, skimming the information.
Quinn is the first to speak. "I think this is a great start, Cassie. I can poke around and pull the names of everyone Gary worked with in the past year. Maybe we can find a connection to someone who had a problem with you."
"That is a great idea, Quinn. See, this is why I need you guys to help me with this."
Lincoln is frowning down at his folder like he tastes something bad. I’m not sure what’s up with him lately.
Yesterday, he brought me a pizza from a place he never buys from. The takeout containers in the trash he takes out of the truck once a week are always the same. Lincoln is a creature of habit. The pizza smelled like an apology, though I’m not sure for what.
I check my watch. Discussing my case may have to wait. "Speaking of things going on, we have a new client coming to talk to us this afternoon. She’s coming at noon."
Lincoln shakes his head. "I’m sorry. Client? What’s that all about? "
Quinn usually takes client requests or calls for our services. I offered to help her monitor the company email because it seemed like something I could do during the downtime between cases.
"Meredith Thornton is her name. She reached out to us specifically to talk about our services." The reaction to who that is will hit them at any moment.
" Meredith Thornton ?" Quinn’s tone goes up a notch. "Why would the Thorntons need anything from us?” She claps her hands together. “I mean, if it isn’t a scam, it’s perfect. Exactly what we need to put some extra life into this place.”
“Are you sure it’s from Meredith Thornton?" Lincoln’s voice is strained, and he narrows his eyes. "That’s strange." He looks oddly pale, as if he sees a ghost behind me.
"Why would it be strange? They are the most influential family in town. If we can help them, the word will get around, and we’ll have cases pouring in just like the old days."
"I don’t know. It just seems… sudden." He was a downer about the necklace case, too. Maybe Lincoln’s overly cautious nature when accepting cases is holding us back from fulfilling our potential.
"Come on, Lincoln, why are you being so weird about this? You know we need a new case as well as I do." We’ve kept up with bills, riding on our savings from the past couple of bigger cases we completed, but it won’t last forever. We have to do something new or run into the same problem Lincoln and Quinn had before I stormed into their lives.
"You’re right. Never mind I said anything." Lincoln shakes his head .
“As intrigued as I am about Meredith Thornton needing our help, I can’t be here for the meeting.” Quinn stands up and adjusts her glasses, glancing at the clock above the door.
"What do you mean you can’t be here? Where else do you have to be?" I’ve gotten used to Quinn attending all case meetings and compiling everything we need to know in her organized folder system.
She blushes. “If you must know, I have a lunch date."
"A date? Who is it? Someone we know?” Even Lincoln perks up, crossing his arms over his chest. His voice has a threatening note to it, a protective strain for sure. “I should meet him first, make sure he’s not a fraud.”
“No. No one is meeting him or finding out his name so you can stalk him. I have a good feeling about this one and want a chance to start it right before the two of you come in, guns blazing.” Quinn shakes her head as if this is the most obvious thing in the world.
Lincoln huffs. “We both know your problems with dating are not because we are protective. If anything, it’s because we’re not protective enough."
Quinn rolls her eyes and punches Lincoln’s shoulder as she passes. “I’m capable of making my own dating decisions, whether or not the two of you like it.”
I hold my hands up in resignation. “All right then, go ahead. We’ll interrogate him later when you’re ready to introduce us. Lincoln and I have the meeting covered, right, Lincoln?"
He’s still frowning at the folder I’ve put together.
"Huh?" He looks up .
"That you and I can handle the meeting with Meredith Thornton?"
Why has he been so worried about this since he found out her name? I can’t figure it out. I notice the hunch of his shoulders, the light strain in his face, and how he puckers his lips as he surveys the information on Meredith.
"Right, right. Yes, of course. No reason why we shouldn’t." He’s trying to sound casual, but his reassurance doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Why do you say it like that, like you don’t want to do it?” We are partners, after all. I don’t want him to feel like I’m bulldozing him to get more clients.
“You wouldn’t understand…”
“I wouldn’t understand? What do you mean by that?” My tone grows agitated as the clock’s hand ticks closer to twelve. We’ve got to get on the same page before she gets here.
Quinn laughs. “And I’m the one who needs to work on my relationships? I’ll leave you two to figure it out. Seems like you’ve got it under control."
She hurries out of the office without giving us a chance to respond. Once she’s gone, Lincoln closes his case folder. The crease in his forehead is still there, and his good leg is tapping on the floor a hundred miles a minute.
"Cassie, I’m not worried about Meredith Thornton. I’m worried about your case and your job. I’m not sure we should be poking into all this stuff willy-nilly. Judging by the phone call you got, this is some serious business. What if we stumble onto the wrong thing and all get in over our heads and bite off more than we can chew?"
His topic change is a one-eighty, and I tense, trying to figure out if he’s really concerned about my case or using it as a reason not to discuss why he seems uncomfortable about our meeting with Meredith.
What’s changed that he doesn’t want to look into my career? I push back my immediate defensive reaction. I consciously relax my shoulders, and keep a neutral smile.
"So, you’re saying we should just leave it in the past?" I hate that my voice squeaks at the end of the question. He fully supported me in discovering what happened with my career a few weeks ago.
"I wouldn’t say leave it in the past. I’m just saying maybe we should wait until we can address this in a slower, more cautious way." Lincoln sits forward ever so slightly, and his tone drops, as if he’s trying his best to convince me.
"I’m not trying to address this in a slow and cautious way. I want to know what happened.” My heart beats faster. He can’t understand how much it bothers me to have everything ripped out from under me with no warning.
“What happened to wanting to be my partner here at the office, figuring out crimes, moving on with your dad’s legacy?" His jaw clenches, and he sets down the two folders I gave him.
Lincoln's mention of my desire to walk in my father’s shoes for a bit is surprising—and a bit insensitive.
"I’m doing that, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want to know what happened in the past and at least have some sort of closure with my career,” I argue. “Do you have any idea how much work I put into becoming an actress and how hard it was to star in that show? I put my heart into that role. I lived for that role, and now it’s just gone with no explanation. I don’t think I can move on from this without having some answers. You said you would help me figure out what happened, right?"
A surge of emotion presses up my throat, and I’m momentarily afraid I might cry.
"You’re right.” He doesn’t look any happier about it. “Sorry, I guess I’m just a little out of my head today. We’ll figure this out. Just promise you’ll tell me everything as you run across it. We don’t want to be blindsided by anything unexpected."
"Sure." I smile. "That’s what partners are for, right?" My tone is snarkier than intended.
I didn’t mean to dig at him with the partner comment. Regret flashes in his eyes.
Does he wish we chose to be something more? It was a mutual decision… right?
Before he can respond, the little bell above the door rings as it opens. A woman steps through—Meredith Thornton. I've never met her in person, but I've seen plenty of pictures of her in promotional material for her family's businesses.
She’s taller than I expected and wearing a little skirt suit that is just her size. It’s the type of dress that has just as much skimpiness as she can afford without looking intentionally provocative. Her makeup is flawless, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she got it done professionally at a salon instead of doing it herself.
I've heard people talk about her like she’s a celebrity. In a way, she is.
She's a lawyer, and from what I hear, she spends little time in town but a lot of time handling high-profile cases all over the country. She is sort of a legend. And now she's standing in our PI office, asking for our help. This could be a huge break for us.
Link
Cassie is starstruck from the moment she lays eyes on Meredith. I never would have thought Cassie would be so affected by a small-town legend.
I'm more cautious. Neither she nor Quinn has the information I do. Phineas asked me to find Nathan Thornton, who is obviously related to the woman standing in front of me now. I’m more curious about this case than Cassie knows, and for all the wrong reasons.
"Right this way. Have a seat," Cassie says, leading Meredith over to the little sectional couch we replaced two weeks ago. She’s proud of that now. It’s all over her face. She enjoys having somewhere presentable to interview potential clients.
Her enthusiasm is cute.
Cassie pulls up a chair, and I gingerly sit in my new one. Despite my lack of praise for it when they presented it to me, it’s starting to grow on me—especially after I found my old battered-up desk and chair set up in the garage. I’d suspected that Cassie wouldn’t actually get rid of it.
"So, Miss Thornton, tell us what we can do to help you," Cassie starts, holding a little notebook and looking as professional as possible.
"Please, call me Meredith." Meredith tucks a strand of her perfectly-styled chestnut hair behind her ears and smiles in a way that reminds me of a cat considering a mouse and how it can end its life.
"Well, Meredith, we’re here to help you. We’d love to hear more about your case and what we can offer."
Meredith nods in agreement.
"I need you to find someone," she says in that honey-sweet voice. She holds two files that look eerily similar to Cassie’s from just an hour ago. She passes one to me as well.
"Her name is Anita Silverman. She’s a journalist—self-proclaimed, really. A popular blogger.” Meredith wrinkles her nose, barely noticeable, but it’s there when she says blogger.
“What happened to her, and where did she disappear to?" Cassie is scribbling furiously in her notebook. I have no idea what she’s found to write down but leave it to her to write something. She loves her checklists and plans.
Meredith puts on an expression of worry, but it looks like a mask to me, not something genuine. I’m adept at reading people’s intentions, and hers don’t seem so truthful.
"To be honest, I have no idea what happened to her. It’s a little embarrassing to admit. She applied for an open job position in California. We have a couple of businesses over there. When she got turned down, she took it very personally.”
“What do you mean by personally?”
“She came up with this vendetta to dig into our finances. We have nothing to hide, but she wants to publish lies about our family. She came here to Pinecrest to find dirt on us by going to the source.”
“That’s terrible.” Cassie is empathetic with injustice, no matter who is on the receiving end, and she relates with Meredith more with every detail of this story.
“If she goes through with what we think she will, we’ll have no choice but to sue her for defamation. It would be a nasty business that no one wants. We only want to settle things outside of court before she embarrasses our entire family. I would think you can understand that."
Cassie nods, looking sold on Meredith’s story, hook, line, and sinker. I can’t believe it’s a coincidence that Phineas is looking for Nathan and Meredith is now looking for someone. Perhaps the two are connected, and I’m just not able to see it yet.
"Of course, I would be more than happy to pay a generous sum to your establishment," Meredith continues, looking around the office with something close to sympathy.
Her disdain toward the office makes my hackles rise. Cassie worked hard to make it look so nice. I’m proud of our little establishment and don’t need someone like Meredith looking down at it, regardless of her status as a mini-celebrity in town.
“If you’d like, consider it a personal favor.” Meredith tilted her head.
What could we possibly need to do her a favor for?
“From what I’ve heard, Corey had something to do with you getting hired back in the day,” Meridith continues.
I am fighting the urge to open the door and invite the snobby Meridith to leave our office. Cassie didn’t need any help getting a job, and this statement grates against my nerves. What does this woman know about Cassie, anyway ?
“I am very grateful for Corey Thornton’s interest in my career.” The way Cassie’s shoulders tighten makes me think Meredith bringing it up bothers her a little, too.
I can’t be sure because Cassie goes on to gush about how happy we are to take on the case and says we’ll send her updates periodically about our progress. It seems she won’t be asking me about my thoughts on the matter.
Meredith stands and shakes both of our hands. "It was such a pleasure to meet you both, and I can’t wait to work together."
"It was a pleasure to meet you too, and we will get started right away," Cassie reassures her again. "If you think of anything else regarding Anita or need to contact us for any other reason, please don’t hesitate to reach out."
Meredith smiles at Cassie as if she’s aware of the power she holds over her. Warning bells ring in the back of my head, but I can’t put my finger on why.
"Thank you. You really are such a sweetheart. You’ve met all my expectations for this office. I knew your father, you know," Meredith adds. "I met him a couple of times. I can see why he spoke so highly of you."
Cassie’s demeanor shifts to curiosity. "You knew my father?"
"Yes, he was a good friend of our entire family. I am sure he would be pleased with the work you’re doing here."
I feel like this woman is invading Cassie’s privacy as if she is trying to seem like a part of Cassie’s life, and I don’t like it at all. I also think it’s a slimy white lie, a way to get Cassie’s empathy because I never once heard her father mention Meredith Thornton.
"Thank you. That really means a lot."
Cassie and Meredith continue to exchange pleasantries. Cassie leads her to the door and watches as she goes down the steps and back to her fancy car, which looks entirely out of place in the lot below the office.
Once Meredith is gone, Cassie turns with a squeal and a huge smile. "Can you believe it? We have a case from the Meredith Thornton! I can already imagine what this will do for business.”
Her eyes sparkle with excitement, and she paces, full of energy as she speaks, until her gaze falls on me. She stops in her tracks. “Did you even see her? You were so quiet during the entire meeting. Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing’s wrong. I just...” I can’t keep the frown off my face and sigh. “When it comes to the Thornton family, it’s best to proceed with caution. We don’t know much about them, except that they are very influential, and influential people with a lot of money don’t always tell the truth about things."
Cassie’s excitement turns to a frown, and she shakes her head.
"You think there’s something weird about the job she wants us to do? She just wants to settle something outside of court and not bring bad press to her family. As someone who constantly had people writing bad things about me, I can understand where she’s coming from."
Cassie sits down, folding her hands, her eyes on me, waiting for me to explain myself.
"It’s not that at all. I just think we need to be careful moving forward," I say .
"Right. I mean, it’s not like we’re best friends or anything. I’m just excited we finally have a case. Not to mention, it seems like she will pay well too. Maybe even more than our normal fee," Cassie adds, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Do we have a normal fee for finding people? I wasn’t aware of that." Chuckling, I flip open the folder on Meredith, double-checking to see if I missed anything.
"Yes, we do. It’s all in the computer." She nods toward the new system she and Quinn recently set up. I haven’t touched the thing, nor do I want to.
Before, we got by with one beat-up desktop, and now the place has two—my beat-up desktop and the brand-new fancy one with the flat screen and all the flashy lights. It’s not that I’m ancient, but I like things to stay the same. Change is not something I enjoy, and I avoid it at all costs.
Hopefully, Cassie is correct, and the job with Meredith will go well. The office certainly could use the success. But I don’t know if the success is worth dealing with the likes of the Thornton family.
Everything about Meridith Thornton leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth… especially considering they may be tied to Phineas, though in what ways, I don’t know.