Cassidy, Monday

Lying in bed on her left side, Cassidy was covered in only a light pink cotton sheet from the waist down, resting her head on a pillow over her outstretched left arm. A contented smile passed over her lips as she looked down at the tiny slumbering form nestled in amongst the long strands of her loose hair.

The night had been spectacular and they had slept late.

Reaching out with her right hand, she teased out a single hair, tracing its tip over his little nude body.

“Don’t,” he giggled, turning away and feigning he was still asleep.

“Are you ticklish?” she asked, teasing him some more.

He rolled again, green eyes wide, huge smile, “I’ll never tell and surely you must know tickling has been formally outlawed as a form of torture,” he joked, reaching up and batting at the hair she held over him.

She laughed, “You tickled me first,” she said, “When you slid down inside my shirt.”

He shook his head, “It was purely incidental and without intent, I was caught in your gravitational pull, I had no choice,” he protested. “Whereas you are acting with malice of forethought,” he accused, actually grabbing hold of the strand with his right hand as she brought it back down.

“Hey,” she said, grinning.

“I’ll pull it,” he warned, cocking his head.

“You better not,” she replied, face mock serious, lifting the hair up, pulling him up onto his feet.

There was knocking sound coming from the front door of her apartment.

Turning her head toward the open door of her bedroom, “What?” she asked.

“You expecting someone?” Tom asked, relinquishing his hold on her hair.

“No,” she replied, moving him off a bit and sitting up in bed.

The knock repeated.

Flicking a glance at the clock on her bed table, Cassidy shook her head and stood up, walking to the closet and taking out a housecoat.

Tom scampered across the sheets toward the side of the bed she had just vacated.

Putting on the robe, “You wait here,” she encouraged, pointing a finger at Tom and arching an eyebrow.

Rolling his eyes, he spread his arms and fell backwards onto the sheet, heat from her body still lingering in the tangled folds.

Exiting the bedroom, Cassidy tied the robe and made her way to the front door just as another set of knocks sounded. Peering through the peephole built into the door, there was a woman standing there, attired in a very smart business suit, super dark hair and penetrating blue eyes holding a case down by her side in her right hand.

Opening the door a crack, Cassidy kept the security chain in place, “May I help you?” she asked.

“Miss Lane, my name is Serena Hall, I am an attorney representing the Lindholm family in regards an accident in which you were one of the primary responders to this Saturday passed. I was hoping maybe I could get a moment of your time?” she asked.

“Um, could it maybe be later?” she queried.

Serena smiled, “Unfortunately, the wheels of justice grind at their own pace and I really need to collect a statement from you. It shouldn’t take too long or be too painful. I promise,” she said with a smile.

Cassidy frowned and shook her head, lawyers. She had had to deal with them in the past, providing statements, but none of them had ever tracked her down to her home before. “Alright, but can you give me just a moment to freshen up?” she asked.

Closing the door, she cinched up her robed and glanced back into the apartment. She had left Tom on the bed, so he should be alright. Disengaging the chain, she opened the door.

Serena smiled and extended her hand in offer of a handshake, “Pleased to meet you,” she said.

Taking the hand, Cassidy shook it politely then released it, inviting Serena to enter. As they walked toward the table in the dining area, Cassidy regretted the decision to invite the lawyer in. Not only was there the popcorn mess in the living room, Tom’s habitat was sitting right on the table.

“I’m sorry, the place is a mess,” Cassidy said, embarrassed.

Serena shook her head, “Not to worry, I showed up here out of the blue,” she said, setting her case on the table.

“How were you able to get into the building without me buzzing you in?” Cassidy asked, curious.

“One of your neighbors actually held the door for me as I was walking up,” she explained with a smile, opening the case and withdrawing a yellow legal pad and setting it on the table.

Cassidy frowned.

“So, I’ve already spoken with the young lady you attended to so there are just a couple of things I need to clear up,” Serena said, taking out a pen from the case.

“Sure, I guess,” Cassidy said.

“So,” Serena started, locking her light blue eyes on Cassidy’s hazel ones, “I’m sure in your experience you’ve seen a lot of different things, anything unusual about this one? Bear in mind I’ve have an opportunity to depose young Miss Lindholm,” she inquired, bringing the pen down to the paper.

“Tom?” Cassidy asked.

“Sorry?” Serena replied.

“What?” Cassidy countered, shaking her head.

“Did you say Tom?”

Thinking perhaps she might have made a tactical error, “I said hmm, I was thinking,” the nurse replied quickly, touching a finger to the side of her head.

The lawyer’s eyes narrowed. Serena had spent a fair amount of time extracting statements and cross examining witnesses in her career. It was a lot like playing cards, learning how to recognize when someone was being evasive of less than truthful, and she was an expert. She already knew Janine was hiding something, and now the nurse.

Cassidy glanced toward the hall leading to the bedroom before shaking her head slowly, “No, I don’t think so,” she said.

The questioning didn’t take very long, maybe a quarter of an hour, Serena also making mental notes as she jotted down the responses.

After they were finished, she flipped back through the pages just to make sure she had what she needed. Cassidy also encouraged her to take a look at the notations made in the nurses’ log for additional information.

Placing all of her materials back into the case, Serena got up, shaking Cassidy’s hand before the nurse escorted her back to the door. Cassidy saw the lawyer off before returning to the bedroom. Untying the robe, she let it slide down her body, the friction of the soft tickling her flesh as it fell. “Whatever shall we do with the rest of the day?” she asked coyly, sucking her lower lip into her mouth.

In the corridor outside the nurse’s apartment, Serena checked her watch before starting off. The bits and pieces of information that were filtering in weren’t aligning in any cohesive fashion. The nurse had definitely said the name Tom. Why? Who was this? How was he relevant to the situation? Entering the elevator, she pulled out her cell phone, calling up Lina Lindholm’s personal number. Time to start fishing.