A/N: a chapter you've been waiting for. What happened the day Cara's parents were killed and why she has issues with people leaving her.
Chapter Thirty Five
C A R O L I N E
The private investigator was not what I was expecting. I expected a man in his thirties, with dark hair and aviators over his eyes, with a thick mustache, dressed in almost all black. That's what all the private investigators in the movies and TV shows wore. But that is a stark contrast from the one sitting in front of Dominic and I.
"Mary Stanford," the woman greeted, holding her hand across the table as she set her briefcase down beside her. She was blonde, with dark caramel highlights, and tanned skin. Her blouse was a light pink, matched with a grey high-waisted pencil skirt, and white blazer. "I believe we have a killer to catch, yes?" This was directed at me with a wicked smile and I knew immediately that I was going to love her.
I shook her hand first. "I'm Caroline, but please call me Cara. It's a pleasure to meet you," I responded.
Dominic shook her hand after me, appearing slightly startled as well. "You're a Shifter?" I asked Mary politely.
"My father was and my mother was human. I am not as powerful as the regular Shifter, but I do have many of the same qualities. It also helps me blend in, as I'm sure you noticed," Mary answered. Which was true, usually I could tell Shifters and humans apart pretty quickly, but it was much more difficult to read with Mary. She turned to her brief case and popped it open, revealing a thick stack of papers that was begging to burst out of its manila folder. "Dominic informed me of the little details, enough that I was able to go to the station and find all of the records. Since it was a cold case and hadn't been touched in years, they let me take every single item. Which I did. Normally, I prefer to make copies, but in this case, I think you've discovered the cops to be unreliable."
"Yes, ma'am."
Mary pulled the papers out and set them in front of me, turning so I could read them and passing me a red highlighter. "I believe you when you say that they didn't believe in your story. It's a common act with a station that is mostly comprised of Shifters, because they think they know better. So first things first, we are going to read through this all together and you, Cara, will highlight in red everything you know to be wrong. In yellow, mark what you have mixed feelings about." The second highlighter was set next to me.
I frowned. "Right now? We're starting this right now?" I quizzed, looking over at Dominic curiously, who gave me an encouraging smile. "This seems pretty quick-"
"Sugar, maybe you shouldn't question the expert-"
"We don't teach women not to question authority," Mary cut in, grinning wisely. "I want you to ask me questions, hon. Yes, this is a fairly quick start, but I have been doing research on this for about a week straight and have spoken to Dominic a couple times already. I believe in this being step one because I want to start off with the correct facts. Does that make sense?"
In that moment, I realized one thing that gave me hope in finding my parents' killer. Mary Stanford was a badass.
~ ~ ~
Four hours and two fifteen minute breaks later, I completed marking up all of the papers. It was exhausting work, but not the bodily type. My emotions were wiped out. The investigators mentioned me quite a few times, saying I was hysterical, that the fear was causing me to have lost my mind, that I couldn't be trusted as a witness.
