Crimes in Caster

Escapade: The Hunt For Cassidy, Part 1

    A crisp morning scent filled Tevin’s nostrils—the sound of chirping birds barely audible over the city’s bustling traffic. Gentle taps against the hard concrete sung their way to Tevin’s ears. His face remained neutral as the rhythmic taps continued, they were from his own feet, of course. 9:50 was the time, and while not quite the planned arrangement, a gentleman was always early.

    The Cassidy building towered before Tevin, large and overbearing. The building’s shadow left no room for sunlight. And despite the August heat beating down, it could barely be felt beneath the building’s chilling presence. He could feel the hairs on his arms standing so high, that they brushed against the inner lining of his tuxedo.

    Suddenly, Tevin felt nauseous. Annoyingly unexpected. He tugged at the fabric of his tuxedo, silently begging for the feeling to go away. Being here again, he thought he’d be able to handle it better. Those butterflies in his stomach continued that game of tag against his insides. “Cut it out!” With not enough force to wind him, but hard enough to hurt, Tevin punched his own stomach.

    “And I thought I was weird…”

    Tevin whipped around to be met with the feisty redhead from the night prior. Once again, he found his face in solidarity with the color of her coat. “I’m one thousand percent not nervous!” A silent blink accompanied by the sway of her hips. “And excuse you missy, you’re late!” ‘Turn it on her and maybe the embarrassment will fade,’ he thought in a panic.

    “It’s ten o’ five, how is that late?”

    “I said ten, anything past that is obviously late!”

    She brought a hand up to her mouth and snickered, a smile had cracked on her face. “Okaaaaaaaay. Let’s just get on with the heist, yeah? What’s the game plan?”

    Game plan, ah yes, the plan Tevin had put frivolous thought into. But no, it wasn’t frivolous; he had put so much thought into it. It was thought out, clever, and dare Tevin assume, genius. He wore a confident smile, “you sneak in and make a distraction; I’ll go up to Cassidy's office and do the deed!” Now Tevin’s entire being had been sparkling with confidence. He bounced back and forth on his toes, like a child begging for their parents’ approval.

    Teddy, however, seemingly was not having it. She crossed her arms and tapped a finger just above her elbow. “You went to go out of your way to catch a thief, just to use her as a distraction?”

    “Look at you,” he gestured to her whole self, “you’re all flashy, it’s like you’re begging to be the distraction.” He cast an impish grin Teddy’s way. She only returned the sentiment with an eyeroll. “Plus, this handsome face would garner the wrong kind of attention.”

    She smirked and fell into her hip, “credit where credit is due, you are very pretty.”

    “I am aware.”

    “However,” she brushed past Tevin, making sure to shoulder him on the way. “I’m prettier,” she dragged a hand under her neck to pull her ponytail out from under her coat. With added force, it went so high it smacked Tevin in the face.
He blinked a few times to process the events, an uncomfortable nose tickle overwhelmed his thoughts. It had felt like multiple spiders had been prancing around just above his lip. “Don’tsneezedon’tsneeze,” he pleaded with himself.

    Tevin, being too busy with phantom spiders to follow, Teddy was now far beyond Tevin’s line of sight, her voice becoming a mere echo as she shouted, “come on, we have a heist to catch!”

    Tevin started the attempt of skipping off after her, but it wasn’t long before a distraction in the form of a window had plucked him away. The windows of the Cassidy building were large and overbearing, sure, that didn’t mean they didn’t make for great mirrors. An adjustment of the tie, finger brush through wavy golden locks, and a quick wink to himself, time was easily lost staring into his own reflection. ‘Being this handsome should be a crime.’