My eyes drifted between my mother and Russell, but then immediately moved to the dozen red roses on my desk.
Russell must have noticed my reaction. “Looks like your boyfriend sent you flowers, Rory.”
Jerking my eyes back to him, I pierced him with my eyes. If I’d had the power to shoot daggers I’d have launched them at this asshole.
“Boyfriend? Rory, are you seeing someone?”
Shifting my attention to my mother, I walked into the room and set my purse and briefcase on my desk. I leaned down and smelled the flowers while closing my eyes. When I opened them, I shot a dirty look at Russell before smiling and turning to my mother. “Mom, what brings you into my office?”
“Mr. McCormick has brought up a few issues which concern him.”
“I see,” I said as I sat down on the sofa next to my desk. “Would this be me leaving early yesterday and perhaps me coming in late this morning? Which I might say was the first time I have ever been late?”
“That, and he feels as if you are not…focused.”
Oh, that dirty rat bastard. He sat there with a smug, victorious smile on his face. I couldn’t wait to slap it the hell off.
“Is that so?” I asked with a fake smile.
“I tried to speak to you about this earlier, Rory, but you stormed out of here before I could.”
Standing, I walked up to my desk and reached into my bag for my laptop. Paul had sent me the pictures of Bryn Dierks and her sister, Casey Stevens, as well as some information on both of them. It had been so easy for him I had to wonder how our investigators here at the firm hadn’t found the connection after I’d brought up Bryn Dierks name.
Opening my laptop, I glanced over to Russell. “Did you try to speak with me before or after you said I walked in this morning with a just-fucked look on my face.”
My mother jumped up. “What?”
Russell looked between both of us with a stunned expression. That’s right, Mr. McCormick, I have claws and know how to use them when needed.
“You did not say that to my daughter.”
His mouth fell open. “I…she…Let me explain.”
Holding up my hand, I started talking. “We have more important things to discuss than Mr. McCormick’s wildly inappropriate remarks. While Mr. McCormick thought I was out playing hooky, I was actually meeting with a private investigator I hired because I had a gut feeling there was a connection between Bryn Dierks and Mr. Long’s accuser, Casey Stevens.”
Russell rolled his eyes. “Rory, I’m not sure why you insist on this. There is no connection. You’re reaching.”
My mother slowly turned and glared at Russell. I imagined if she could have, she would’ve shot fire from her eyes. “Go on, Rory,” she said, clenching her jaw. I knew she was still angry about Russell’s “just-fucked” remark.
“Well, Russell, it turns out you’re wrong and my hunch was right.”
Spinning the laptop around, I showed them a picture of Bryn Dierks at her wedding with her maid of honor standing by her side.
“Is that Ms. Stevens next to her?” my mother asked.
“Yes,” I said with a nod. “It’s from Bryn’s wedding blog, which is still up on the Internet. She has Casey tagged in the picture, which warmly reads, ‘My best friend and little sister.’ The investigator was able to find school records that has the two of them living in the same house, with the same parents listed and same address. Bryn’s maiden name also happens to be…” I looked over at Russell. “…Stevens. Bryn Stevens.
“I interviewed an old neighbor of theirs before I headed back to the office, and was told Casey idolizes the ground her older sister Bryn walks on. Casey was very sick when she was younger, and Bryn’s the one who saved her. Donated a kidney to her. My best guess is Casey feels like she owes her very life to Bryn, so when Bryn wanted to get revenge for Robert Long turning her down, she went to Casey and came up with this plan to take him down. She probably figured with different last names, no on would put two and two together.”
Pride washed across my mother’s face. “And they wouldn’t have, if you hadn’t made the connection, Rory.”
Russell stood there staring at the picture. He finally looked up and said, “Yes. Thank goodness Finn Ward and you were at that library that day.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw my mother look at me. “Finn? Why were you with Finn?”
My heart started racing as my newfound confidence quickly came tumbling down.
“Well, isn’t it obvious from the flowers, Mrs. Adams? They’re dating. Even though I strongly urged her against it.”