PART 5: THE LOVE-LOVE JOB - REVELATIONS
Absorbing every word of the text, Cassidy’s eyes squeezed into slits while her teeth found each other in a silent clash.
Utterly senseless… she thought, thumbs flying over the keypad.
My silence on the issue is absolute, her response read. Don’t expect it to break.
If you keep zipped, people are gonna drop. You’re not suddenly into that, are ya?
“Praknopazir!” she cursed, the start of a barrage of curses.
A stream of harsh, biting curses – each one with more force than the last – spilled out. It was as if Cassidy was channeling generations of ire with every sharp consonant.
“Geez,” Rebecca said with a drowsy murmur, “what’s got you swearing like that?”
“It seems Crow couldn’t resist the urge to stab us—” Cassidy halted mid-speech as her eyes widened. She had misspoken; Crow hadn’t betrayed them… “Correction: Lilah couldn’t resist the urge to stab us in the back.”
Rebecca pushed herself up into a sitting position and, while yawning, rubbed her eye. “What’s going on?”
“Crow uncovered something last night, which he refuses to tell me unless I tell him who Ozonnole is.” Cassidy’s hand tightened around her cellphone in a vice grip. “I can almost hear Lilah telling Crow to weaponize whatever he dug up.”
“Wait, wait, wait! If Crow and Lilah are looking to use knowledge as leverage, that means Edward or Andrea are involved in something shady, right?”
Cassidy’s brows leaped skyward. That she had failed to recognize such a fact sooner was pitiful.
This is manageable. She just needed to pinpoint where whatever was going to happen started — most likely with Benjamin, as he had the resources and connections — and persuade them to call off their plans.
While on a ticking clock.
…A clock whose length was a mystery…
Cassidy turned to the familiar comfort of biting her inner cheek. If she was going to shorten the gap between whatever tragedy awaited and her, she needed a shrewd trick—
She stiffened. A shrewd trick to bridge the gap… “We might be moving too fast. You’re not wrong, but we should confirm we aren’t being played first.”
The keypad clicked under her swift inputs.
Why, exactly, should your words carry any weight with me?
You don’t have to take my word for anything. Just be ready to face the “I told you so” moment.
The corners of Cassidy's mouth turned down in a clear scowl.
“Lilah’s the brains behind Crow, right?” Rebecca asked. “Shouldn’t we just confront her?”
Cassidy swiped to her contacts and selected Lilah’s name. She doubted Lilah would answer, but there was no risk in trying.
The phone rang, rang, and rang again before surrendering to voicemail.
“No answer,” Cassidy said, voice flat, “as anticipated. She’s probably laying low.”
“Oh yeah, that makes sense…”
“Nevertheless, your point about focusing on her is valid. We’ll just have to land our blows via Alban.”
With each thump on the keyboard, her message took shape.
I’ve been onto you working for Lilah from the beginning. Tell her that I either get this info now or Sylvia gets it when it’s no longer useful.
Forget Lilah, Crow replied, she’s irrelevant here. This is a duel between us. And honestly, Sylvia knowing doesn’t bother me.
Cassidy’s heart thudded faster, a contrast to the world which seemed to slow around her as her vision sharpened upon reading four innocent letters: d-u-e-l.
“What if Crow and I have a little duel for the truth?”
Cassidy's free hand flew to her mouth, concealing a smile as she fought back a burst of laughter. Despite her effort, a soft, muffled chuckle leaked out.
“Why the laugh, Cassie?”
A smirk sharpened the corner of Cassidy’s mouth. She raised a single finger, silencing Rebecca, before shifting it to her chin, closing her eyes, and weaving together a scheme.
“I know exactly how we’ll proceed,” Cassidy said after a moment, her head held high. “Our ‘thanks’ goes to Wynn’s unfortunate choice of words.”
Rebecca tilted her head. “Huh?”
“I’ll fill you in on the details later,” she said as her fingers swiftly tapped her cellphone’s keypad.
If it’s really just between us, let’s settle it with a physical fight, not a mental one. We can use The Crooked Warden – it’s closed, so we’ll have privacy. Victory will be determined by whoever can take the other’s sash.
Bag the win, bag the truth?
Affirmative.
The rhythm of Cassidy’s heartbeat quickened with each moment she spent gazing at the phone screen, certain that Crow was contacting Lilah.
Will Lilah snap at the bait? It had to be clear that this was the perfect chance to grasp the answers she wanted.
A gentle ping from the cellphone broke the silence.
Sounds like my kind of gig. Count me in.
Cassidy let out a soft, brief snicker before thumbing through her phone contacts to find Wynn. “Rebecca, I need your help with something.”
“What’s up?”
“Go purchase two sashes and take them over to The Crooked Warden.”
“Okay… But why? What’s up?”
Cassidy updated Rebecca while also firing off a text to Wynn.
Surprise! she messaged. I’ve set up your much-anticipated fight with Crow! Meet him at The Crooked Warden, invite him to the VIP room, and have at it!
