Early the next morning, Cass got in her truck, pearl tucked safely in her pocket. Buck hopped into the passenger's seat, and Cass leaned over to crank down the window before driving off to 147 West Run Road.
"Uncle Rick?" Cass called, knocking on the door.
There was no response, and the agent tried to knob, worried when she realized it was unlocked.
Cass loosened her gun in its holster, then cautiously entered the house.
"Cassidy?" a voice creaked.
"Uncle Rick," Cass frowned, rounding a corner and seeing the old man in a recliner with a blanket over his legs.
"I was hoping you'd come along," Rick hummed.
"We found the fortune," Cass said. "I brought you a pearl."
She pulled out the aquatic treasure.
"Ethel used to wear pearls all the time," Rick smiled fondly. "That one's enormous!"
Cass pressed it into his hand and he stared at it.
"Mm, I'm dying," he said calmly.
"What?!" Cass demanded.
"I know it's coming," Rick said, seeming distant. "I have the final draft of my will done. Everything goes to you."
"I don't even know you!" Cass protested. "I want to know you! You can't die now!"
"I'm sorry," Rick sighed. "I was too proud for too many years. I want you to know that I regret never getting to know you. I think that you would have been a daughter to me."
"You would have been a better father than I got," Cass said.
"Goodbye, Cassidy Sherwood," Rick said, looking his niece in the eyes. "I'll say hello to your mother for you."
He didn't speak again.
YOU ARE READING
The Room Upstairs
FanfictionA Criminal Minds Fanfiction. Cassidy Sherwood is psychopathic profiler for the Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico with a farm and a destroyed family. When Spencer Reid accidentally uncovers part of Cass's history, he's determined to solve a long-c...
