A Father's Legacy

Chapter 1

"Who are you?"

"Zoe Blackburn, sir."

"Blackburn?  Get out."

"Sir, with all due respect, I have a real case here.  I've been recording files for months-"

"I don't want to hear another word about the 'Afton Case.'"

"Would you please just look at these records, you'll see this explains all the murders and missing person reports.  Just give me a chance."

"Fine.  You have ten minutes.  Impress me."

"Thank you, sir.  You won't regret this."

- - -

"One month.  One month!  And you just had to blow it and get yourself kicked out of law school."

I slumped onto the park bench.  All around us students streamed past, eagerly discussing the day's events.

"Zoe!"  Yena snapped her carefully manicured fingers in front of my face.  "Are you even listening?  This is a big deal!"

"Of course I'm listening!  Do you think I meant for this to happen?"

"Sure looked like it from my seat."

I rolled my eyes.  Yena could be a fantastic friend.  She could give great advice, knew all the right people, and was practically a queen in every way.  She even looked the part with her exotic India appearance.  But the girl could be so dense!

"You've got to get back in his good graces," Yena said.

"And how do you expect me to do that?"

"I don't know, bat your eyelashes at him or whatever. Plead insanity. Whatever it takes!"

I put my head in my hands. It was hopeless. Another one of Yena's flaws was that she believed in the power of a girl's looks in any situation. Maybe it wasn't obvious to her, but not all of us were as gifted as her in the feminine world. Take me for example. I've got super pale skin, irritating black hair, and freckles all over my nose. But Yena always described me as having ivory skin, onyx hair, and an adorable sprinkle of freckles. Like wording it that way made any difference! She was also continuously trying to redesign my wardrobe and take out "all of that mucky black."

"Is one of you Zoe Blackburn?" a man asked. Yena elbowed me and I glanced up.

A man was standing in front of us. He looked about college age, blond hair and chocolate eyes. He was wearing a black leather jacket and ripped up jeans.

And, as Yena would have helpfully added, he was smoking hot.

"What's it to you?" I asked. Yena shot me a warning look.

"I take it you're her. I need your help with something. Could we, uh, do you have somewhere quiet we could talk?"

"Sure, whatever."

I stood up and slung my backpack over my shoulder. Yena winked at me.

"Good luck!" she told me.

I rolled my eyes. She could be such a pain sometimes! But I loved her for it.

"I'll meet you at the dorm, ok?"

"Sure, whenever you finish."

Mystery man and I started walking down the school road. He glanced over his shoulder at Yena.

"Friend of yours?" he asked.

"Yeah, we've got the same dorm. How about the library? It's nice and quiet."

"I didn't actually need a quiet place. I just didn't want her to overhear this."

"Well, I'm all ears now. How did you even find out about me?"

"You're Zoe Blackburn, daughter of Riggs Blackburn, the best lawyer in the country. I guess I'm just hoping you inherited some of his skill."

He stopped walking, forcing me to stop alongside him. I folded my arms and waited. He wouldn't meet my eyes.

"You know you're really intimidating when you do that, right?" he finally said.

"It's a lawyer tactic. Just spit it out."

"My name's Michael Afton. People just call me Mike. I'm looking for my dad, and I'm hoping you're the person who can help me do it."

"Why didn't you go to the police?"

"Because he's not missing. Look, I'll even pay you. I've got plenty of money. How much do you want? Ten thousand dollars? Twelve?"

"Twelve thousand?" I almost chocked on my surprise.

"Not enough? How's fifteen thousand, final offer."

This guy was rolling in the cash! Was he serious? If he was so rich, why did he need help finding his dad anyway?

"I just help you find your dad, and that's it?"

"That's it. Think you can handle it?"

I ran it through in my mind. How long would it take? Probably not long at all. Look at some missing person reports, check the phone book, bam. Done and done. If the guy was so rich there would probably be news about him everywhere.

"Alright, I'll help you. Let me just grab my laptop and we'll talk."