Page 21 of Innocent Intent

Tia placed her glass on the coffee table and scooted closer to Cassidy, placing her hand over the clasped ones resting in Cassidy’s lap. “Hey, let me handle this. You have enough to worry about, and anything else you need, you just tell me, and it’s done. What about funeral arrangements? How does that work?”

“I plan on doing something small. No service or anything. I’ll get that taken care of. He doesn’t have family or friends I know how to contact.” Cassidy shook her head, annoyed that she hadn’t pushed the issue to gain more insight into who her husband was previously. Now, she was paying the price—a very steep one that could cost Cassidy her freedom.

“Makes sense. Well, whatever you need, I’m here. You just call, okay?”

“Thanks, Tia. I appreciate you.”

“Shit, Cass. I really can’t believe this. I just can’t.”

“Neither can I, but I guess I will have to wrap my mind around this at some point.”

Tia glanced at the watch on her wrist and then peeked at Cassidy. “Maybe I should cancel my plans for tonight. I could hang out for a while . . .”

“No, absolutely not. Like it or not, this is my life now. I have to figure this out, and you have a date waiting for you.” Cassidy delivered a genuine smile. Her life was falling apart while Tia’s was coming together. She wouldn’t get in the way of someone else’s happiness. “I do appreciate the offer, and I hope that I get to meet him soon. Maybe when things settle down.”

“I promise you will.” Tia stood and lifted her purse. Cassidy stood right after, and Tia caught her off guard when she pulled Cassidy into a hug. It was the first real physical contact she’d had with anyone in days, and her heart clenched with the reminder that she was once again alone.

“I love you, Cass. You’re gonna be okay.”

Tia hugged her tighter, and Cassidy allowed her to. When the two separated, Cassidy walked Tia to the door. She promised again to handle all of Cassidy’s upcoming commitments for the rest of the month. Then she was gone.

And Cassidy was alone.

Again.

Cassidy pulled up CJIS—Criminal Justice Information System—grateful that she had decided it was worth keeping. She quickly keyed the name in question, knowing that if anything were there, it would be a closed case. She couldn’t access open cases, but anything was worth a shot. Her first instinct was to call in some favors to gain access to the case file, but that would mean providing information on her husband’s alias and herself. Instead, she decided to use paid databases to gather anything she could. It still amazed and disgusted Cassidy that anyone willing to pay could have access to just about anyone else’s personal information. Doing so made her feel every bit of the criminal Davis believed her to be. She was a suspect, and, based on the way Davis handled the questioning the day prior, she was the only suspect. If not the only one, she was most certainly his main focus.

He thinks that I did this.

That I murdered my husband.

I need to change that.

After the third paid search for Jerrod Williams, all Cassidy learned was that his New York license was valid and that he had two known addresses attached to that name: the address where he was murdered and a small one-bedroom in Brooklyn.

There was no criminal record. However, two phone numbers and a personal credit report were attached to the same name. She was baffled as to how that was possible, considering there was no known job history or business ownership listed for Jerrod Williams.

Fake identification with a perfect credit score.

How fucking ironic.

Cassidy drummed her fingers on the sleek desk surface, running through what she knew of the man her husband was pretending to be. Apparently, Jerrod existed a year before Niles, but neither had existed before six years ago. The first known record for Jerrod Williams dated back eight years, whereas Niles Anderson’s had only existed for a little over five. He and Cassidy had only been married for three years.

Yet another mystery. Niles Anderson hadn’t existed until a few years before he and Cassidy met. She couldn’t stomach the reality that the man she’d married barely existed before their union.

She mentally ran through the months after she’d first met Niles. He was handsome, smart, and charismatic but very closed off with his life. He later explained that it was because he had always been a loner. With no family in his life or anyone he could truly rely on, Niles found it easier to employ solitude. Losing his parents had made it hard to trust lasting bonds or that people would stay around. Cassidy related to that side of him and felt it brought them closer. Gave them something unique that very few others could understand.

Fear of trusting and then being left alone.

What if that had been a lie too? It seemed so real, but thinking back with what she now knew of the man, Cassidy hadn’t truly known him. What if he had researched and used what he knew of Cassidy’s life to get close to her? To gain her trust and make her believe she could feel safe with him.

She closed her eyes, embracing a memory. Cassidy could see his handsome face and feel the warmth of his breath as it whispered across her lips when he promised he’d always be there. That she could trust him to be her one constant.

“We’re all we have, Cass. That’s why we have to make this work. No one will ever understand me the way you do or you the way I do. This is forever, Cass. Forever.”

Another round of nausea raced through her system. Cassidy’s bio was online. Bits and pieces about who she was had been easily accessible. She had also spoken publicly in interviews about her life, her trust issues, and how those flaws had helped throughout her career. She channeled those flaws to become better at her job, more efficient. Cassidy analyzed what was most overlooked repeatedly, searching for anything that felt off or uncertain. It was what she had done early in life, trying to understand why her parents couldn’t love her the way other parents loved their children. She picked apart her earlier years piece by piece, analyzing every detail, and still nothing. Even if she never got the answers she was searching for when it came to Jana and Donald, she’d found answers in the cases she worked on, which had become her passion. Her vice of choice.

She had even done that with Niles and believed in him, believed he loved her. She was now beating herself up for missing so many essential things.

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