She looks for a moment like she might press the issue, then takes the seat she was in before and starts flipping through the information Vera gave her. I watch her, wondering what in the hell just happened.
When I woke up this morning, my life was all stop signs and red lights. I was waiting for something to happen, waiting for my turn to move forward, questioning if I’d ever get a shot. And then a pale, blond little pixie walked into the office and quietly made me care about something other than how fucked-up my life is. I try to pin down the one thing she said or did that made me actually want to give a shit about something in this world and I can’t come up with it. Maybe it was a lot of little things that added up and before I knew it she’d given me a reason to get out of bed tomorrow.
I told her I’d do my best. I don’t have a best. I sure as fuck don’t have any experience in finding a missing person. How in the hell am I going to live up to that promise? I’m a total and complete idiot. I meet the first chick to make me look twice and I fall on my face trying to impress her. Impress her with what? I don’t even have a bed or a place to live. I don’t have a car. I don’t have a job or the hope of one. What was I doing telling her I’d help her? What a fuckwit.
Cora goes through the photos of Vera’s sister, Marie. “What do you think of Vera’s story?”
“What do you mean?”
“You have a pretty accurate bullshit detector.”
“So do you.”
“Yup, and I’m asking you what you think.”
I drop into my chair and put a hand out for the papers and pics. She gives them to me and I leaf through them slowly, studying each one, practically memorizing them. Vera’s handwriting is precise. All of the letters are the same at the bottom, like she used a ruler to keep them in perfect line. If I’d ever taken a handwriting analysis course I could probably tell a lot about her from her scrawl. Control. Vera wants and needs control. I got that much from meeting her. The meticulousness of her lettering confirms it, but while she tries to keep her writing neat, it swirls unexpectedly, slipping past that control. I’m going to have to Google what that means.
“Well?” Cora’s impatient for my answer.
“I don’t think it’s bullshit, but I also think she didn’t tell us everything she knows.”
She nods, confirming her own suspicions. “Do you really think that’s her sister?”
“Yeah. I do.” Vera had a strong emotional reaction to the photos of Marie. They’re connected for sure.
“Well, I guess it’s time to find out if our hunches about her are correct or not.”
“What do you mean?”
“We run background checks on all of our potential clients. They ran one on me when I first came to them about you.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. We need to make sure she’s on the up and up and that we’re not putting the person she’s looking for in any potential danger. Abusive husbands sometimes use PIs to find their wives. We want to make sure we’re not setting this Marie up to be victimized.”
“I don’t think—”
“She might not be who she says she is. She might’ve come here helping someone else out. She seems harmless, but you never know. We have to be sure. I want you to run a background check on her. We need to know that Vera’s legit and that we’re not putting this girl in harm’s way.”
I glance up at my sister. She’s serious. Vera didn’t strike me as someone who would purposefully hurt someone else, not when she’s been so badly damaged. Taking on this task would give me the opportunity to learn more about Vera, and that’s something I definitely want to do. But it also feels like a betrayal. I know what it’s like for people to know everything about me without actually knowing me. I’d essentially be doing the same to Vera.
“I don’t know.”
“It’ll have to be done whether you do it or not. Please. I could really use your help.”
I can’t say no to Cora. She could ask me to cut off my right leg and I’d do it. She’s done more for me than I could ever repay.
“Leo’s coming down today,” she adds. “He can help you.”
She’s tamping down her excitement, but I see it in the smile that won’t be confined. Her boyfriend coming down to visit from UCLA means I’ll be sleeping with pillows piled on my head tonight. I don’t mind. Much. Leo makes my sister happy, and that’s pretty much all I need to know about him. If it weren’t for him taking on my case and helping Cora get trained in private investigation, I’d still be sitting in a cell and Cora would still be spending all her time and money trying to get me free. I like the guy, but it’s part of my job as Cora’s big brother to make sure he does right by her.
“You can do this,” she says, correctly reading one of the reasons for my reluctance. “It’s easy.”
Cora’s faith in my Internet searching skills is out of proportion with the couple hours I spent today learning how to do it. And as much as I don’t want to pry into Vera’s background, I also don’t want anyone else to do it.