Caveman

Caveman

V.B. Andrian
 

DEDICATION

To my family who always supports me no matter what my crazy plans are. Mom, you still aren’t old enough to read this!

M
y phone rings incessantly. I click the button on the Bluetooth device before resuming snapping photos.

“Cassandra Hale.”

“Since when do you answer with your full name?”

I smile at the sound of my best friend’s voice. “Since I’m on the job. What’s up, Layla?”

“Shit, sorry, Cass. I thought you’d be done by now.”

“Nope. Still need to get a good picture.” I click my camera several times. Come on. Take off another piece of clothing and get down to business.

“And you’re sure you can’t tell me who you’re investigating or what it’s for? I bet it’s someone famous, right? Someone who’s cheating on his wife, right? Right?”

I shake my head because she’s really good at guessing. The only part she has wrong is that my case is a woman and not a man. “You know I can’t tell. You will have to settle with guessing.”

“Oh, fine. I should have taken that job as your assistant when you had first offered.”

“You should have. Now it’s too late. Jeremy is doing a great job and he’s the one who gets to know all the details to my cases.”

“I know, I know. Anyway. You need to come over for dinner tonight. Your niece wants you around and you need to bring that delicious chocolate soufflé with vanilla ice cream! She’s craving it.”

I laugh at her foolishness just as the couple on the other side of my lens finally remove their underwear. I get into snapping my evidence, more than happy to finally wrap this case up. I’m fed up with investigating cheating spouses. I’ve learned more sexual positions from cases such as this than from my entire sex life. Not that my sex life is anything much but still. I need a real case.

“Is my nephew craving it or his mommy?” I tease Layla.

She huffs. “Cass, how many times am I going to tell you? My baby will be a girl and she’s going to be born with a giant soufflé-shaped mark on her tummy if you don’t bring me my dessert!”

The couple in the house is getting too hot too fast and I’m out of here. I have enough pictures to prove the Mrs. as a disgusting cheater. “Fine. I’ll bring the damn soufflé but I’m telling you. That baby is a boy. I know it in my gut. And I’ve never been wrong.”

“She’s a girl! Don’t say things like that. She’ll hear you and have a personality complex when she comes out.”

I laugh again. “You know, all this could be solved rather simply. You can ask the doctor to tell you the gender.”

“Nonsense. She’s going to be here in less than two months and everyone will see what a cute little girl she is.”

“But what if it’s a boy?”

“It’s not!” she insists stubbornly.

I shake my head as my call-waiting alerts me of another incoming call. “Layla, I need to go. I’ll see you for dinner, okay?”

“Okay. Don’t forget about the soufflé and the ice cream!”

“I won’t,” I say in amusement before I answer my call-waiting. “Hello?”

“Where are you gorgeous?” Jeremy’s voice comes through. “I have a new client waiting.”

“Jeremy, I’ve told you not to let anyone wait. I’m on my way but what if it had taken me longer?”

“Honey, you don’t need to tell me twice. But Mr. Sawyers insisted on waiting for you.”

“Mr. Sawyers? That name reminds me of someone. He’s not an ongoing client?”

“No, he wants you to take a new case.”

“Okay. I’ll be there in fifteen.”

When I get to my office, my mouth nearly drops open. When Jeremy said the name, I hadn’t imagined he actually meant Cole Sawyers, the youngest billionaire and voted sexiest man alive. Too bad for all the fan-girls in the world that he is happily married to his high-school sweetheart. He has inherited his father’s security software development company, the most successful business of the twenty-first century. And he’s as handsome up close as on the covers of the magazines, with dark, short hair, deep green eyes and a body to drool over. The moment I enter my office he stands from his chair and walks up to me.

“Cole Sawyers,” he says in a deep voice.

“Cassandra Hale,” I say as I shake his hand. “I’m sorry if I kept you waiting. I was out on a job.”

He waves me off. “Of course. I didn’t wait long anyway.”

“Have a seat, Mr. Sawyers. How can I help you?” I ask as I close the door.

“I need you to find someone for me, Miss Hale. I need you to find my brother.”

My eyebrows reach my hairline. According to all the gossip magazines, Cole Sawyers is an only child. The part of me that isn’t shocked about this little revelation is jumping excitedly at the prospect of doing some real detective work. The only thing better than finding a missing person is solving a murder. And since in this case there are no dead bodies, I’m thinking maybe this actually
is
the best kind of case.

“Tell me about him,” I say as I take my seat behind the desk.

He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Whatever I tell you is strictly confidential, correct?”

“Of course,” I reassure him.

He nods. “Alright. My brother is two years older than me. Today he should be thirty one, if he’s still alive. He disappeared seven years ago on my twenty-second birthday without a trace.”

I open my notepad and start writing down. “Did you have a fight?”

He shakes his head. “No, but… He and my father had always been fighting over everything. He had it rough growing up, especially compared to me. My father had always a soft spot for me while he was especially hard on Damon.”

“Tell me everything you can remember about the day he disappeared.”

“As I said, it was my birthday. Though Damon and my father were always fighting over something, my brother and I were pretty close. That day, though, he was distant. He didn’t want to be around me and even got violent when I insisted he told me what was up. I’m afraid though that’s all I can tell you. I didn’t see him again that day and, by the time I realized he was gone, no one could remember seeing him. It was like he fell off the face of the earth.” He stands and shoves his hands in his hair. “I tried locating him. I’ve hired more investigators than I can count and everyone has come back with the same answer: my brother is probably dead though no one can find proof even for that. But I don’t believe that. And I’m not willing to unless we find a body.”

“Calm down, Mr. Sawyers. I never said there is no hope but you have to admit you haven’t given me much.”

He takes his seat again and leans forward, desperate. “I can bring you the files of every other investigation. I will give you the names of everyone who was close to him back then. The only person you can’t talk to is my father who died two years ago but anything else, anything you might need…”

I nod. “I will take the files and the names. I will also need access to account information and anything from his ID to how often he used the bathroom. Anything you may think of, even if it comes to you in the middle of the night. You need to either write it down or call me immediately. My assistant can give you a written list of what we need. And I will need to remind you that you shouldn’t keep anything from me. If he had a girlfriend, how long they were together when he disappeared, if she cheated on him and with whom or if it was the other way around… Everything.”

He frowns. “You’re thinking he left because he was heartbroken or love-struck?”

“Of course not. At this point, I don’t think anything. He could have been abducted by aliens for all I know. But the point is I need every piece of information you have. No matter how insignificant to the case it might seem to you, it could be what eventually helps us find him.”

“Right. Of course. I will give you everything you need. Everything I have.”

“Auntie Cass!” Layla squeals before pulling me in an awkward hug. Awkward because I think I’m squashing her belly. When she pulls back her blue eyes are actually sparkling. “Did you bring me my dessert?”

I hold in front of her face the box with the soufflé and the ice cream. “I think you’re happier to see the box than me.”

“True,” she says in earnest as she opens the box. “I think I’m drooling. Am I drooling?”

I laugh. “You’re drooling.”

“Jesus, baby,” Dean says as he comes to greet me in the hallway. “People will think I’m not feeding you enough.”

I hug him and plant a kiss on his cheek. “Too late for that.”

“Oh, God. There’s a good chance I might go into labor it’s so good,” Layla moans as she takes a spoonful of chocolate delicacy coated with vanilla ice cream.

“Baby, there’s a good chance you’re giving me a hard-on with the way you’re moaning.”

I grimace and pull back. “Didn’t need to know that, Dean. TMI. Where the hell did she find the spoon?” I ask in equal parts amused and astounded.

“Oh, I had it with me,” she informs me matter-of-factly. “I knew you wouldn’t forget about me and I had a spoon at the ready.”

Dinner with my two best friends is as always filled with laughter. Layla says she’s eating for two but I think she may have a whole soccer team of babies in there with how much she eats. Inevitably, the discussion once again revolves around the baby’s gender.

“She’s a girl.”

“But what if it’s not?” Dean and I ask in unison for the hundredth time.

She huffs and waves us off. “Okay. I’ll give. In the 0.00001 off chance it’s a boy, I will be equally happy. It’s why I didn’t want to know the gender in the first place. I only want my baby to be healthy and strong. Other than that, I don’t care if it’s a centaur.”

Dean grins wolfishly. “That’s an innuendo for my size.”

“Oh, ew!” I grimace in disgust, throwing him a bread roll that hits him square in the middle of his wide chest. “Fuck off, Dean. I have three words for you. Too. Much. Information. Do you actually want me to hurl all the delicious dinner you just fed me?”

Dean laughs hard, not in the list sorry for what he said.

“Speaking of hurling and cocks,” Layla starts pointedly, “when will you be having a baby, girlfriend? I thought our children would grow up together. You kinda need to get started already for that to happen.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault you got knocked up before I even found a man. How am I supposed to stay pregnant? The white lily only worked once you know.”

“What about Austin?” Dean asks with a smirk.

“No!” Layla and I say in unison. “Are you fucking nuts?” Layla asks incredulously. “The guy is so boring I think I’ll fall asleep just by saying his name.”

“Yeah, forget the matchmaking, Dean. There’s a reason only women are good at those. Besides, I don’t have time for relationships right now. I’m swamped with cases. Got two new ones today and I still have three others ongoing.”

“Ooh! Tell me!” Layla says as she claps her hands excitedly. I’m never going to say it to her but she reminds me of a penguin clapping its fins! Or a seal!!!

“You know I can’t tell you, Layla,” I chastise her.

“Oh, please? I’m not going to say anything to anyone.”

“You might without realizing it. Besides, it’s a matter of principals.”

“Oh, come on!” she whines. “Please? For the baby?”

I laugh softly. “No. Well, I guess I could tell you about one. But no telling. Nothing. It’s not exactly classified but it’s not known either.”

“Yes!” she claps again. “Tell me, tell me!”

“Cole Sawyers came to the office today.”

Her jaw drops. “
The
Cole Sawyers?” she squeaks.

I nod. “The one and only.”

“He’s wife is cheating on him?” Dean asks sounding bored.

“No,” I reply with a smirk. “He wants me to find his missing brother.”

“What?” Layla screeches as Dean’s blond eyebrows reach his hairline. “Cole Sawyers has a
brother
? When did
that
happen?”

“Apparently two years before he was born.”

“Oh my God! There are two of them?” She fans her face dramatically.

“Honey,” Dean says with a dark look, “stop daydreaming about other men or I’m going to have to spank you.”

“Dude!” I yell, throwing another roll at him. He catches this one and continues looking at his wife with dark promise.

“Tell me more!” Layla bounces on her seat, ignoring her husband’s comment and hard looks.

“Well, I don’t have anything more, yet. Mr. Sawyers is going to e-mail everything to Jeremy and I can work from that. Apparently, he has already hired plenty other PIs and none has succeeded.”

Helen’s eyes turn dreamy. “Awesome! I bet you’re the one to find him! I bet he’ll even be hotter than his brother. I bet he will fall in love with you and you’ll be married and having a baby before mine turns eighteen months old! Oh, how romantic!”

“Baby, you’ve just married your best friend to a total stranger and have already given her a baby without her even realizing it.”

“Thanks, Dean,” I say with a nod.

“I’m telling you,” Layla insists. “This is fate. When you find the man – because of course you’ll be the one to find him – he will be so fucking gorgeous that you won’t have a choice but to fall for him. And he, of course, will fall for you because you’re just gorgeous
and
awesome and you will finally have your happily ever after.”