The Ghosts Of Her Past (A Completed, Steamy Romantic Mystery)

Part Thirty Seven

"No thank you," I said, and waited for him to answer.

"Alright, I guess we will just dive right in then."  He paused for a moment.

"Cassidy and I met at the homeless shelter and became friends.  After she met Gregory, I played the go-between with the two.  When your family sent her away, she contacted me, and I was the one that told him where to find her, it was my fault they ran away." He looked at Blaine who is expressionless. 

"The night Gregory was killed, it was me that brought her home. He asked me to always look out for her and that's what I did, for as long as I could anyway.  Mr. Bertinelli contacted me and told me he knew about the baby.  He was torn up over Gregory and blamed Cassidy at first.  He wanted to hire me to double-cross your family, but I refused." He said.

"At first?" Blaine asked.

He nodded.  "Yeah, the men responsible for Gregory's death were exterminated, then he focused on Cassidy.  Your head of security helped us with a new identity, she took her trust, and we ran as far away as we could go.  We went to Alaska and held up in a small cabin because we thought nobody would find us.  We were wrong, Bertinelli himself found us before she even gave birth."

Blaine leaned forward.  "He has the child?"

Lance shrugged.  "I don't know where that child is, but Cassidy did and wouldn't tell anyone.  Bertinelli took me to a compound he had in Mexico where I got the hell beat out of me for months, then suddenly released me.  That man has a lot of enemies, and I'm lucky to be here today." He said.

"He just sent you free?  I don't believe it, you sold her out." Blaine said.

"No, absolutely not!  I cared for Cassidy, and we had been through hell together. It was your security that sold her out. The same man that helped us change our identities and found the cabin in Alaska."

I looked at Blaine and it doesn't seem like he is buying the story.

"Where did you go when you were released?" Blaine asked.

"Cassidy and I had a meetup plan if we were ever separated.  We were to meet up in San Francisco where my Uncle lives.  I went straight there and got a job selling cars under my real identity." He said.

"Why the fuck didn't you call us?" Blaine shouted.

Ah-oh, Lance made him say the F-word. 

"Bertinelli has enemies, I was told not to involve any of you.  This man was no joke, Mr. Lowell." He said.

"How did Cassidy get away?" I asked.

He cleared his throat.  "She showed up at my doorstep one day.  She said that Bertinelli warmed up to her and felt the baby was safer away from him.  He was no longer the enemy, so I didn't need to hide my identity, but Cassidy was a target and she feared her baby would be too, so she had help from inside the network.  We got jobs there and started new lives.  I'm not sure what all happened at that compound, but she was paranoid all the time.  I was shocked when she invited you to live with her, Cora.  We played our friendship off as just being coworkers and you know the rest from there." He said.

"Where was she when she had the baby?" I asked, because I don't want Blaine to snap.

He shrugged.  "All I know is that she was not in Mexico."

"So she hid her identity so nobody would find her baby.  Can you think of anything that might help us find the child?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, she was tight-lipped about it and never dropped any hints.  All she said was that we are safe and there was no need to hide any longer, but she wasn't ready to take Bertinelli's word."

"Who helped you from inside the network?" Blaine asked. 

"All I know is it was a woman named Ciara." He said.

A cold chill ran through me, and I looked at Blaine who seems like he is about to explode.

"Lance, thank you for all your help.  We will be.." I paused when Blaine got up and left, slamming the door behind him.

"I'm sorry, obviously we need to leave.  We will be in town for a few more days, please call us if you think of anything that might help.  You still have my number, right?" I asked.

"Yes, and I'm sorry we had to deceive you." He said as I stood and walked toward the door.

"Well, it is what it is now, Lance.  She's gone and her family is suffering.  We need to find this baby." I said as I opened the door and heard Blaine's angry voice yelling into his phone.

"I wish I could help more." He said.

"Please call if anything comes to mind." I gave him a quick hug and walked toward the SUV.  Blaine is walking around with his phone to his ear, and it doesn't take much to figure out who he called.  His ex-wife knew everything all along and could have told him.  I climbed into the warm SUV and just waited. I have a bad feeling the rest of this trip is going to be miserable.

This was confirmed when he got in and slammed the door shut.  I looked out the other window and just let him have his space.  There aren't any words I can say right now to help, and I wouldn't touch anything to do with his marriage with a ten foot pole.

He has every reason to be pissed, and to be honest, I am too.  She could have told Blaine that she was involved.  It's not like he would have ruined anything Lisa put in place to hide her child.  At least the family would have known she was okay, and they could have worked something out to see her before she died.  His mother lost her chance to ever say goodbye to her daughter. 

Ciara isn't the only problem, his own security betrayed all of them.  This makes me wonder if I'm really all that safe.