Little White Lies

Chapter 11

Eva's arrival had brought a sense of life back into the house. She was full of energy, wanting to be good friends with everyone already. Candice felt both a little better and a little jealous. She used to be the life of the party, it didn't feel good to be replaced.

"David, can you get me an extra monitor?" Eva chirped and Candice's supposed cousin was out the door in point one second. He sure fell under her charm in no time. Eric was already under the desk, helping his sister to sort out the wire situation. She was setting up an impressive computer arrays to do the research, claiming that it was best to sharpen the tools before the work begins.

Candice sat to the side of the study, unsure how she could help. Her computer skills stopped at online shopping, and the words that came out of Eva's mouth sounded alien to her. While the set-up was looking more impressive by the second, she couldn't help but wonder if this was all necessary. Or was she just plain jealous?

"I need all the information you have," Eva said after the computer deck was done. She clasped her hands together and looked from Eric to Candice to David, then back. Candice looked towards David since he was the one with most of the information.

"It's all here," David said, handing a thumb drive to Eva with reverence. His somber look cause a wave of unease through Candice, making her doubt their plan. But Eric was right; they had no one they could turn to who wouldn't blab for the right price. Besides, Eva was here, and she was willing to help.

"What did you tell her?" Candice whispered to Eric as Eva began to work. David had left too since he was still employed by White Jewelry and had to go to work. Eric stole a look at Eva, who was staring intensely at the computer and gestured for Candice to go outside.

"I told her that my girlfriend is in danger and I need her help," Eric replied with a suspicious blush. A bubble of hope appeared in Candice's heart, but her mind told her that now really wasn't the time.

"Thanks," Candice said. Eric gave her a tight-lipped smile and stalked off to the kitchen. It wasn't the response that Candice expected, but she was too preoccupied with over analyzing her feelings to ponder over it.

With Eva doing all the work, there wasn't much that Candice could do. She managed to get her hands on a laptop, so she could do some research of her own. Candice knew that she wasn't as resourceful as David or as savvy as Eva, but surely she would be able to find something.

Then she remembered: Nelson. Father had told her their butler even when he was a boy. Which meant that he knew Robert and Ronald White. He might even know what happened between the three brothers. While it wasn't clear whether her call to him last time had been the reason she was found, it was still too much to risk with her staying at David's. Though her supposed-cousin didn't tell them where this house was, it was clear that they were within driving distance to San Fransisco.

Which meant she was less than a day away from White Falls.

The urge to make a run for it was strong. She wanted desperately to believe everything David said, but a small part of her still wondered if it was all just an elaborate hoax. Like that series the Impostors.

"Guys! I found something!" Eva shouted, pulling Candice out from her thought spiral. She shook her head, hoping it'd clear it a little, but no such luck. It was like her brain had become a tangled bunch of wires, unable to untie the mess.

Somehow, Candice had beat Eric to the room. Eva's eyes were glued to the computer monitor, and Candice walked over to stand beside her. There were four screens in total, two of which were running lines of codes in that black and green/white text. The remaining two were displaying a folder and a browser, and Candice found her eyes looking towards the latter.