Chapter 15Cassie
Chapter 15
Cassie
My heart aches as I drive the station wagon. My dad taught me to drive the old car, and I haven’t driven it until now. It’s not until the car is moving that the memories start rushing in. Pushing them away, I zone in on Link and what he’s talking to Quinn about.
“You better have a good explanation for why Phineas just told me to say hello to you, and you’d know what he meant.”
Silence comes through the earpiece. Quinn knows Phineas. Somehow, she knows the man we’ve all been terrified of.
“I…”
“Quinn, start talkin’ because this doesn’t look good right now.”
“Fine, I know him, sort of. I met him at a networking event.”
“Are you friends or something?” Lincoln’s voice rose a notch. Most people would describe his emotion as anger, but I recognize something else: protectiveness. I remember a different time when he’d been protective, and it was one of the things that had made my crush as a kid so much stronger.
“I was at a networking event, and everyone had nametags; he didn’t. He was nice, and we started talking. I swear, I kept my distance when I found out who he was.”
“Quinn! Do you know how dangerous he is? He could have killed you and dumped you in a ditch!”
“He didn’t.” Quinn’s voice was low.
“Did he do anything else? What made you stay away from him?”
“Lincoln, nothing else happened. He kept his distance after I told him I wasn’t interested. He was kind and made me feel, um… different than most guys I’ve gone out with.”
Rolling my eyes, I press down a bit harder on the accelerator. Phineas probably tried to charm Quinn into trusting him, but being kind and making someone feel anything but fear and disgust sounds out of character for the man I just met.
“He better have, or I’m going to hunt him down and make sure he never comes near you again. That man knew exactly what he was doing going after you. You might not have known who he was, but he knew exactly who you are.”
“Lincoln.” I give him my best warning look. Maybe Quinn made an honest mistake; not everyone is as paranoid about Phineas as he seems. He’s being just a bit harsh.
“It wasn’t my intention to get involved with him after?—”
“We just have to be careful,” Lincoln interrupts whatever she is about to say. My hands tighten even more on the steering wheel until my knuckles are white. Is Quinn in on whatever he is hiding? She’s been so nice to me; I don’t want to believe it.
“Fine, we’ll talk about it in person later.” Quinn hangs up, and Lincoln puts his phone on the center console.
“Guess she’s a little upset about me scolding her,” he mumbles, his thoughts elsewhere.
“What was she going to say when you cut her off?”
“Nothing.”
“Phineas mentioned something about you two knowing each other.”
“Phineas says lots of things you can’t trust. Turn right here.”
In typical Lincoln fashion, he points to a street just as we’re about to pass it. I turn, barely missing another car that honks as it disappears behind us. Heat surges up into my cheeks.
“You’ve got to stop doing that.”
He chuckles and shows no remorse while I sit, fuming in the seat.
“Where are we going?” I’ve given up on him giving me an address or directions before we head anywhere. Make him drive everywhere if he’s going to be so hard-headed about it.
“Shortcut back to the office.”
“Of course.” The annoyance in my voice is unmistakable. “You know, Quinn isn’t going to tell you things if you light into her whenever you don’t like what you hear.”
He turns toward me, one of those infuriating smirks on his lips. “Really? I figured all young women like a big, strong, handsome man to defend their honor.”
I snort at his description of himself. Despite my outward reaction, my heart melts to a degree. Back in the day, he did offer to defend my honor, which only made me swoon harder whenever he was around after that. I’d come home in this very station wagon, tears running down my face and my eyes red from crying. Ironically, it was the night Vinnie broke my heart at the skating rink.
When Lincoln saw my tears, he was furious. If I had told him who it was, I have no doubt he would have landed Vinnie in the hospital. I never told him or my father who the boy was that night. They’d both made me feel like I mattered. My dad made his famous hot chocolate and listened while I vented. I thought Lincoln had left, but when I was finished, he was leaning against the doorframe, listening to my woes with a dark look.
Afterward, he’d hugged me and told me I’d laugh about that night one day. Laughter hasn’t come yet, but appreciation for how both men in my life made me feel when I was falling apart has always stayed with me.
“What are you thinking about? You’re smiling.” Lincoln is staring at me a bit too intently, and his comment pulls me away from my memories.
“I can’t smile now?”
“On the contrary, I like your smile. You should do it more often instead of that snapping you do.” He grins and avoids a punch I aim his way.
“Seriously, what has you all sentimental?”
“Nothing, I… um, was thinking about my case back home.” The real thing that has me sentimental isn’t coming out of my mouth, even if he paid me to say it. He’d take that vulnerable moment and most likely laugh that I still feel so strongly about something that happened so long ago.
“Really?” His eyes narrow in scrutiny.
I push on, eager to change the subject, and I know exactly what will.
“You know, I was thinking. The secretary, Rosie, might be someone who had a grudge against me.”
Lincoln whips out his phone. My eyes wander from the road once again, and I force them back.
“Are you even listening to what I’m saying?” I demand.
“Yes, yes. Actually, what you were saying just reminded me of something. Make a U-turn up here.” He points to the middle of the street. If I manage to leave town without a couple of tickets, I’ll be incredibly lucky.
“Are we going on another one of your hunches?”
“Yes, we most certainly are.”
His words send a thrill and a streak of caution through my body. I’m not sure if I’m differentiating the two anymore.
Link
“Are you going to tell me where this hunch is taking us?” Cassie bites her lower lip, taking my mind to other places besides her nervousness. I don’t blame her. The road turns to dirt, and the station wagon shakes from the change.
“Actually, yes, I was thinking a little about what you said, but also how Phineas mentioned basement dwellers.”
“So, you weren’t listening.” Her glare is so accusing and yet also so cute. My eyes drop to her lips for a second too long, and she continues to follow my directions down the dirt roads that lead us further from town.
Clearly, she’s gotten used to my chaotic direction decisions and has rightly concluded that changing my habits is useless.
“Fine, I was multitasking, which is a mark of a good P.I., putting together information from several sources and figuring out what's going on.”
She rolls her eyes, and I chuckle at her exasperation. She likes it, I’m certain. She just doesn’t want to let me know that, which I certainly don’t blame her for.
“Anyway, I busted some cybercrime guys a couple of years back, and they were working out of a place like this. Someone told me they’d seen suspicious people out here the other day. If a jewelry theft was organized, this would be the perfect place to hide the stolen goods.”
“Is that so?”
She makes the last turn and pulls up to an old, dilapidated house that looks like it was pulled straight out of a horror film set.
“This looks promising.” Sarcasm drips from her words.
“Let's just look around, and we'll be right back in a few moments. We can double-check if there are any clues.”
“Why would you just be checking this out now if someone reported it to you before?” She crosses her arms and leans back in the driver's seat.
“Because I’m not the police department. It wasn’t of interest to me until now.”
“I'm not leaving the car.” She sounds determined, but fear flashes into her eyes. Maybe I should have come and checked the house on my own.
“You’re going to stay out here?”
“Yes, that place looks haunted.”
“Suit yourself.” I throw the door open and step out, little rocks crunching under my boots as I do. It’s much too still out here, perfectly silent, in an eerie sort of way that makes the little hairs on my arms stand on end. Cassie’s ‘haunted’ comment makes me shiver.
The driver's door slams, and I jump in my boots, recovering quickly enough to hopefully cover it up.
“You’re going to get us shot at again,” Cassie grumbles as she walks around the car to join me.
“To be fair, I didn’t ask you to come in; you said you were sticking to the car.”
The look she sends me is downright poisonous.
“Have you never watched a scary movie? If you get separated in a place like this, you always end up dead.”
My hands raise to a defensive position. “Have it your way, in we go.”
I lead the way, my heart thudding so loudly she could most likely hear it if she came a little closer. The thought of her closer relaxes me a bit. There's been worse places that are much scarier, and it's never stopped me from investigating. The whole necklace debacle may not have been something I was on board with initially, but now the mystery beckons me. I couldn't stop the search if I wanted to, not to mention the bet riding on the whole thing. As it is, Cassie is going to get her way with putting my system on the computer, so I'm hoping to win at least one part of our bet.
The floor creaks as we step on floorboards unused to holding weight. I feel her getting closer to me, little by little, until she's right at my back. A naughty smile slides over my face. Maybe taking her to scary places more often would be a good idea.
The basement door appears in front of us.
“We’re not going in there, are we?” Cassie’s whisper reverberates around the hall.
“Are you scared?” She’s scared, all right, so scared she might jump right into my arms to feel safe again. Banishing the thought, we move forward.
“I’m not scared, just worried for our safety.”
Something scurries across the floor, and she screams, a bloodcurdling-stops-you-in-your-tracks scream. My hand finds her like instinct, and I pull her back, laughing until tears gather at the corners of my eyes.
“Stop!” She stomps her foot but doesn’t release my hand.
“It was a mouse.” The hilarity of the moment is not lost on me as we continue down the steps into a dark basement. All that is down there is disappointment. Little bits and pieces of trash and a few tables make it clear there have been squatters recently, but nothing to indicate a jewel theft gang. Figures, the hunch was a long shot anyway.
Cassie is furious the rest of the way to the car, and every time I catch sight of her face, a chuckle escapes me. A glint catches my eye as we approach the front door—a small box of wires. Leaning down, I scoop it up.
“What's that?” Cassie peers closer as my mind yanks me back to a time I want to bury forever. A very dark time, and a nerve Cassie came just a little too close to when she joked about me having a gambling problem.
“It’s copper wire; you can get good money for this stuff.”
“How do you know that?” The suspicion from earlier, when Phineas started filling her head with nonsense, is back, slamming into me like a fist to the stomach.
“Some undercover work that wasn't done for a TV show.” The joke slides out easily, though I'm not sure it's enough to convince her.
“Oh,” her tone is soft, and thankfully, she seems more preoccupied with leaving the creepy house behind and returning to the safety of the car. “We should get out of here.”
“I couldn't agree more.” The box falls from my hands, making a little cloud of dust as it hits the floor. I'll take the secret of how copper wires would have been a treasure to the old me to my grave.