Cy nodded slowly. "Have Crimson pull a background check. Not just on Brody, but Meredith too. Get an official one on Luke while you're at it. We need to know what dirt we're diving into. See if Teal can hack the school and get me Faith's records. That needs to be on the down-low, though. I wanna see what her teachers are saying about her, and if there's a pattern of her grades to Brody's presence."
"On it," Violet said, standing. "What else?"
"Luke needs an attorney," I realized. "I'll handle that."
"We still giving him a job?" Cy asked.
"Tomorrow," Violet said. "He'll think it's a trap if we bring that up today, but let's work on that theory."
"Yeah," Cy said. "And I'll file a report with the cops. Won't do shit, but it'll be on record. Something for CPS to use to get her away from that man and give Luke custody."
Violet grabbed his arm. "You ok to drive down to the police station?"
He nodded. "I'll make sure of it, Vi. Everything else can wait, right? Well, then I'll make it wait."
"Let's make miracles happen," I breathed as I turned for my own office, grabbing my phone from my pocket.
I quickly scrolled through my contacts, aiming for the Cs. Finding the one I was looking for, I pressed it just as I closed the door behind me. While it rang, I powered up my laptop, but the line was picked up just before the third ring.
"Cessily Blackburn," the woman answered.
"Chartreuse. Magenta," I said.
"I need two minutes to get out of this meeting," she told me, and immediately muted the call. My laptop was barely booted up before she was back. "I'm all yours. What do you need?"
"I have a thirteen-year-old girl, her mother's getting married in less than a month, and Cyan has seen signs of grooming by the stepfather. Mother is unaware. Her real father has partial custody - alternating weekends and other times the mother approves. The agreement was made before the child was born, hasn't been updated since. Father wants custody, but his former attorney said that there were complications."
"What's our tie?" Cessily asked.
"Luke Barrett, formerly of Southwind."
"I'm all in," she assured me. "Cy will need to call the police and make a report."
"He's already notified CPS and is headed to the police station shortly," I assured her. "He was at the house on a meet and greet with the parents. Luke had him starting sessions with the girl, so she's a patient. Cess, the stepdad has a picture of the girl in nothing but her panties. She's getting fitted for a dress, but it's a full frontal."
"Fucking asshole," she grumbled. "Ok, so Luke is the closest next of kin. That means custody will go to him. Texas, right?"
"Yep, local," I assured her. "The problem is that he gets a trailer on a ranch in exchange for caring for the cattle. He was told that because his job and his house are tied, it's not stable. He's also single, while the mother is getting married. Plus, it's Texas. Moms always get custody."
"Not in a dangerous situation," Cessily assured me. "Ok, is this the guy Cy wanted to hire? I approved the request for a farmhand just the other day."
"Yeah," I said. "Same guy."
"Then we got this. I'll write up a contract for employment - "
I broke in. "Cess, that doesn't help with the tie between his job and home. If he quits the other place, he'll get kicked out."
"And Violet will put him up at Southwind," she corrected. "The trick is how it's written, Ash. Contract for employment. A separate contract for renting a couple of rooms. The rent will come from his monthly check, and youwilltake it out. Put it in a college fund for the kid for all I care, but do not wave that away. That proves that he has a stable lease, he's paying rent, and he has a record to show that his living arrangements are stable. He also has a job. If the two things are at the same place, that's fine, so long as one doesn't control the other."
"Gotcha." I was making notes. "And the custody? CPS won't do a site visit for two weeks."
"Shit." Hearing the profanity in her cultured voice made it sound even more harsh. "Ok, then we file to update the custody agreement. I'm going to need to talk to the father to get his personal information. I'm with a client today, and I'll be in court tomorrow, so if I don't answer, we'll do this after hours, ok?"
"We're pulling in Teal and Crimson as well," I warned her.
She chuckled softly. "Having a private investigator build a case will only help us. He's in Fort Worth, I think. Is that close enough?"
"Couple of hours away," I said. "We'll make room for him at Southwind if he needs it."
