Chapter 16Cassie
Chapter 16
Cassie
“Do you want to talk about what that was?” I motion toward the old house, disappearing in the rear-view mirror. The way he’d spoken about the copper ran a little closer to truth than fiction, and it has me questioning many things, like what Lincoln really has going on between him and Phineas.
“No. It’s part of the past.” Lincoln’s hands tighten on the steering wheel, and I wonder if I should have given up the driver’s seat.
“Does it have anything to do with your past with Phineas?”
“I don’t want to discuss that with you, Cassie.” His tone turns dark, maybe even dangerous. I tense. What does he have to be secretive about when it comes to Phineas?
“What do you want to talk about?” I watch his reaction carefully. I used to know Lincoln like no one else, I thought. After all, he was part of the three-person team made up of us and my dad. Now, I’m wondering how well I’ve known him. I’ve been gone for years. What all happened during the time I wasn’t there?
“Can we not talk about anything? Let’s go home. I need a breather before continuing this.”
“A breather? We haven’t gotten any closer to solving anything today. We can’t just give up.”
He looks over at me, his expression matching his tone. I don’t know what he’s thinking about, but whatever it is, it has him in a worse than a bad mood.
“Yes, a breather. Sometimes, a case can’t be solved immediately, and we need to take a little break and re-evaluate. That’s how we always did it.” I can almost sense the rest of that sentence: I’d know that if I’d stuck around.
I sit back against the seat with a huff. Fine, we don’t have to talk about anything. Sometimes, he treats me like a partner, someone he wants to solve crimes with, and other times, he treats me like the kid I used to be, and I hate that more than I can let on.
The past was a different lifetime. My dad would let me tail along with other cases, and when I got older, I’d be right there with him, solving whatever came our way. This was supposed to be my life before I’d left town. Lincoln’s callous comment comes to mind. Maybe that is what he thinks deep down, that by not being there to help with the family business, I’d let my dad down somehow.
He pulls down the road that is becoming familiar once more and parks the station wagon in front of the house.
I hold my hand out for the keys.
“I’m borrowing the station wagon. I have some things to do.” There’s nothing urgent for me to take care of, but I’m not about to sit in the living room and wait for time to pass while Lincoln decides he wants to get back on the case.
“What do you have to take care of?” Lincoln fixes me with his suspicious look, his blue eyes sparkling.
“Just stuff. You’re not the boss of me, Lincoln. Give me the keys.” Great, that sounded kind of childish. I roll my eyes as he reluctantly drops the keys into my palm, then scoots over to the driver's seat as he steps out.
“Cassie, I…”
“Don’t burn the place down while I’m out, okay?” I put on my best smile. I don’t need him thinking that his shutting me out hurts my feelings. I push away the remnants of my festering crush. Lincoln is a different person than the one I was in love with as a kid. The feelings growing in my chest over the past few days are purely residual.
“I’ve managed fine for the last four years when you weren’t around,” he grumbles. I still see that little shadow of doubt cross his gaze. He’s debating whether he should stop me from leaving and try to fix whatever’s weird between us. Technically, there’s nothing wrong between us, but we both feel it.
“See you later. Go take your breather.” Turning the key in the ignition, the station wagon carries me from the driveway. Lincoln’s figure grows smaller behind me. The idea of not knowing who Lincoln is bothers me more than I’d like to admit.
My dad’s partner has been such a fixture in my life; everything I know about him makes up a part of me. A sad smile crosses my face. When I worked on my show, I’d often remember cases with Lincoln and my dad. Those details made my scenes come ever so slightly more naturally. There were days I’d go so far as to say the experience from the P.I. office helped me land the role in the first place.
My mind blanks as I try to figure out where to go to. The station wagon moves under my hands, going down random streets while my mind races. Phineas staring Lincoln down, talking about their past together, saying things I have no idea what to make of. There was so much more going on there than Lincoln admitted, and I want to figure out what it is. Perhaps the first way to do that is to solve the case of the missing necklace. Just because Lincoln thinks he’s in charge doesn’t mean there isn’t room for someone else to step in and solve the case, like me.
Where to go? I have no idea. Whether it’s convenient or not, Lincoln is usually the driving factor to what to do next. Nonsense, I don’t need him bossing me around. A new road pops up in front of me, taking me several blocks further into town. The decision needs to happen fast if I’m going to stop wandering randomly.
My thoughts wander as I go. Back when I was a cop on TV, things were so much simpler. Sometimes, it even felt like I was trying to solve a crime, but there was always someone to tell me what to do next, where to go, how to act, what to say. There’s no one to tell me how to handle every situation that faces me now, and for some reason, I miss it.
My fingers tighten around the steering wheel. That’s enough of a pity party. The case needs to be solved, and if Lincoln can’t get his head in the game, that won’t stop me from looking into it. I need to find that woman’s necklace, and then I need to get back on track and save my career. I leave Lincoln behind me at my father’s house. Dealing with him will have to come later.
Link
I flop down on my ratty recliner. Cassie knows how to push my buttons, and she has no idea. I don’t know where she sped off to in the station wagon, but some alone time will do me good. Tensions between us are high, and I’m not sure how to deal with it. My past, well, since her dad died, isn’t a great one. If I told her about the deals I made with Phineas, which are crashing down around me, or about what led me to scrap copper, it wouldn’t make her like me or want to stay in town.
Maybe that would be for the best. Getting out from under Phineas isn’t going to be easy, if it’s possible at all. I don’t want Cassie mixed up in all of that. The way he looked at her by the skating rink was the look of a predator. He’d use her against me at every turn. There’d be no hesitation, and with the position I’ve put myself in, it would be easy for him.
Cassie doesn’t know that the book I’m writing is for more than just saving the place from the bills piling up. If I could make the thing work, it would be to get me out of one of the biggest mistakes of my life, besides starting to fall for my late best friend’s daughter.
Even though Robby was older than me, I’m not sure he’d approve of the relationship, and that bothers me more than I’d like to admit. My head falls to the back of the recliner, and I make a fist.
Cassie left. Where did she go, and is she going to be careful? The answers to either of those questions are probably not pleasant ones.
The framed picture on the coffee table pulls my attention. Robby and I are standing in front of the diner in town. We are both carrying soda cups with huge smiles on our faces. That case had been touch and go for a while. It was one of the many times I let my emotions about a person get in the way, believed in goodness before logic, and it nearly got me killed. Of course, Robby was right there to step in and save the day. He’d been good at balancing the cynical side with the kind, caring side. If I were half the man or the detective he was, the place wouldn’t be the dump it is today. The bills were always paid back then, and new cases poured in like nobody’s business.
My phone rings, and Quinn’s name flashes on the caller ID. I’m tempted not to answer, but we made a rule a long time ago about ignoring each other’s phone calls. It could jeopardize one or both of us in the wrong situation.
“Hello?” I throw my feet up on the coffee table and lean back further, pressing my ear to the phone.
“Lincoln! Thank goodness you picked up.”
“I always pick up.” Tension rushes through me. She sounds stressed, and if I know anything about Quinn, it is that she doesn’t get stressed easily.
“Not always, not the point, anyway. There’s been another robbery, similar to the first one. This time, the old lady got hurt.”
“Where at?” I’m halfway to the door when I remember Cassie has the car.
“Hartman Road, the big gray house on the corner.”
“Yeah, I know the one. Cheryl is hurt? How bad is it?”
“Broken arm, I think. Pushed her down the stairs. Amazingly, she’s not worse. Can you come? We should go case the place and figure out the connection.”
“I’m at the house, but I’ll get there as soon as possible.” Gritting my teeth, I try to come up with a solution.
“Right, I’ll wait for you by the laundromat. Try to hurry.”
“Sure thing.” I hang up and then dial Cassie. Of course, she doesn’t answer. Filling her in on the rule of answering no matter how mad we are at one another would be a good idea. Without a better plan, walking toward the laundromat while trying to call Cassie a million times until she decides to pick up seems like a good idea.
Another case, similar to the first. That can be a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, it means there is more to go off of in case the robber gets sloppy. The bad thing is it means the person is more organized and on top of things than I’d like them to be. Not to mention, Phineas wouldn’t bother with a small-time thing like robbing old ladies of their jewelry. The sun beats down on my back, immediately bringing up the sweat.
I press dial again, but no response.
Right before I call a third time, an unknown number appears on the screen. It’s a video call from Phineas. That’s strange. I can’t imagine why Phineas would be calling me, and over video, of all things.
I press accept, and the last face I want to see pops up.
“Phineas, what do you want?”
He grins. He wants me to see his reaction. Everything Phineas does has a purpose, a reason behind it, no matter how strange it might seem.
“Same thing you do—for everyone to return safely home tonight. You know what I mean?” The camera turns, and my heart plummets. Quinn stares back at me through the grainy camera, her face pale and tight. She looks terrified, and rightly so. I’m not sure Phineas has a soft bone in his body, and if he did, he would have left Quinn out of it. No one hates Quinn, yet even she isn’t immune to his games. Behind her are two men I recognize. They work for Phineas and have a reputation as nasty as his. A flash of a gun near Quinn’s side makes my hand tighten on the phone. Last I knew, Quinn was at the office. They must have gotten to her while she was waiting for me and Cassie.
“What do you want, Phineas?”
“You know what I want.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Then come to the laundromat. It seems like we have business to discuss. Why don’t you bring your new girlfriend? I think she’d quite enjoy this lively discussion.” The laundromat—so they moved her from the office. Of course, Phineas wouldn’t want confrontation in a public place or anywhere I might see as my home front.
“I—”
“Don’t take too long. You know I don’t like to be kept waiting, and somehow, I feel like Quinn here is tired of my company already.” Phineas’ smile is pure evil as he hangs up the phone, and the screen fades to black.
My blood is pumping so hard that I might be at risk of a heart attack.
“Pick up,” I whisper as I call Cassie yet again. I knew this day would come when my friend’s life would be at risk because of my dumb decisions. Quinn wouldn’t hear of leaving the business when things started getting dicey. I’d protected her from most of it, but now I’m not sure I can protect her, or Cassie, anymore.
I just need to get to Quinn, and fast.