Cassandra | d. winchester [1]

ONE

Buffalo, New York.
3:00 a.m.

A twenty-one-year-old blonde sat at her desk, mulling over her psychology term paper. She nibbled on her lip as her blue eyes scanned the article she was reading. It was due on Friday, and it was Wednesday night now. She was almost done, and she couldn't wait to be done. She yawned and gave up and shut her laptop before climbing out of her desk chair and into her bed and turning off her fairy lights that hung on the wall. She lived on campus in an apartment, and she loved it there.

Her roommates were amazing, and she didn't have to worry about any parties or random men because none of her roommates were partiers or those kinds of women. She fell right to sleep with her fan on and did not move until she heard a knock on her bedroom door at . . . eleven a.m. She groaned and crawled out of her comfy bed, her long, straight hair a mess now and her large t-shirt that said, LET GOD FIX IT BECAUSE IF I FIX IT, I'M GOIN' TO JAIL with a frazzled black cat on it. It was her favorite shirt to sleep in. She opened the door to reveal her roommate, looking worried.

"Riley, what's wrong?" Cassandra yawned.

"There's a cop here for you."

Cassandra blinked, "Huh??"

"There's a cop here to see you - actually two of them. They're in the living room. FBI agents specifically."

"Wh - " Cassandra shuffled to their small living room to see two very hot FBI agents sitting on the couch as her three roommates crowded around her. She was wide awake now.

"Uh, hi. I'm - I'm sorry, I was up til' three doing homework. What can I help you with, Agents?" Cassandra sat in a chair across the room from them.

"You're Cassandra Hasting?" One spoke. He was tall - extremely. He had puppy dog brown eyes and longer hair. They reminded Cassandra of a dog's eyes. She glanced at the other agent and her heart skipped a beat. His eyes were so green, almost like the Emerald City. They were both ruggedly handsome and it was obvious they were in their thirties. Both had stubble on their faces and were well groomed. Cassandra nodded her head.

"Yes, I am."

"I'm Agent Ford, this is Agent Salvatore. We'd like to ask you some questions about your mother and grandmother." The tall one spoke and her eyes widened. Her heart picked up and she sat forward.

"Are they okay?" She simply asked. Both agents gave each other a subtle look before they glanced at her roommates.

"You might want some privacy." The green-eyed one spoke. Damn, his voice was deep, deeper than the other agent's voice. Man, these were some of the finest men Cassandra had seen or heard in her life. She gulped as all her roommates left to go to their rooms.

"What's going on with my family?" She asked. "Is it my Dad? Did he do something?"

Both agents gave her a confused look.

". . . No. Where were you last night?" Puppy dog eyes asked.

"Here. I haven't left my apartment for two days straight. I don't have class til' two today."

"Really?" The other challenged. "Two days?"

"Yes," Cassandra simply said. "I drove back here on Sunday after work. I don't really do much, but study and sleep and eat."

He was quiet. "Your family was murdered last night," He simply says.

The other one slapped his arm and Cassandra simply stared like he had two heads before whispering, "What?"

"They were murdered at three a.m." He says again and Cassandra could do nothing but sit there before a stupid laugh escaped her.

"You're lying to me. Cops lie all the time and I'll prove it!" She snapped and she marched to her room and snatched her phone off the charger and went back into the living room, dialing the house number. No one answered, then she did her mother, then her grandma. But all three times, no one answered.