Cassie

By Leigh Santoro

Luke Montgomery and his family were on top of the world. He was married to the love of his life. They had two healthy and happy children. He ran a hugely successful business. But it all came to a crashing halt after a bizarre wreck. This gripping and suspenseful novel will hold you captive until the shocking revelation. Leigh Santoro really delivers with this unique thriller.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Sep 25, 2017
• ISBN: 9781532032462

Leigh Santoro

This is Leigh Santoro’s fifth novel. Myself, is a psychological thriller. Goodbye and its sequel After are published under Leigh Semler. Leigh Santoro is a two-time cancer survivor. She lives in the South with her precious dog and beloved horse.

Book preview

one

L uke walked into the formal living room. He’d been searching their home for his wife. He stopped in the entryway when he saw her standing in front of one, of three, wall length windows. She stood shockingly still, head slightly hung, and shoulders slumped. The sight of her in such distress, physically caused a deep ache in his heart. Luke called this her worry spot . He wasn’t aware if anyone else in the family knew of this label. He knew this was where she went when she had a tough decision to make, when something bothered her, or when she needed time to be totally alone. She didn’t come to this spot often, so when she did, it was of great significance. The formal living room was only used on special occasions and on certain holidays, so the traffic was minimal, at best. Most of the time they could all be found in the family room or the play room, rec-room , damn it! He corrected himself quickly as whenever he slipped up, the children were relentless in reminding him that they found the old reference a direct insult. They were, after all, nine and s even.

Before a smile could sneak upon his face, he regained his focus on his wife. Seeing that she hadn’t noticed him standing in the entryway; he slowly walked up behind her and gently wrapped his arms around her. He rested his chin in the curve of her neck, as he was so often apt to do, and let out an inward sigh. She immediately sunk into his body. Despite his six-foot athletic frame and her petite small frame, they were a perfect fit, as if their bodies had been made to equal a complete whole when the two halves melded and sealed. He began to slowly sway their bodies from side to side, knowing that she would need a moment to get her thoughts aligned and her feelings gathered before she could communicate them to him.

The reason for her uncharacteristic melancholy was the fact that, as they stood at their window, two of their beloved neighbors were simultaneously moving. The Robertson’s were moving because Thomas Robertson had been laid off for more than a year after working for the paper plant for well over seventeen years. They had been forced to sell their longtime home and move into some much smaller confined quarters until he landed another job. And at his age, who was kidding whom, about him landing another profession. Thomas and Beverly Robertson would be greatly missed. They always had fun stuff to do on the 4th of July, Halloween, Christmas, and Easter for all the children on their street. Not having had children of their own, they quickly became honorary grandparents to all the youngsters. Both the children and the adults were thrilled with the arrangement. Not many children these days had the luxury of having both a set of parents and grandparents in such close proximity, honorary, or otherwise.

The other neighbor who was moving is Ms. Irene Brock. She had been widowed at an early age and had recently lost her son to heart disease at the tender age of fifteen. She couldn’t stand the constant reminders on every wall, and in every room, of her only child. Her pain was so great that she sold at an incredibly bargained rate just to be away from the relentless torment. Ms. Brock, as she was called by young and not so, was similar to the Robertson’s as she was loved by everyone. She was always concocting some recipe or another and sending it off to one neighbor after the other insisting that she simply had to share her latest creation. Needless to say, that was one well fed street.

Despite having said their goodbyes the previous day, it was still a tough blow to be losing two such wonderful friends, family really, at the exact same time. The Montgomeryes had lived in their home for almost eleven years and were considered the newbies on the block.

Luke knew how copiously this had rattled Kendra Montgomery. She was the pillar of their family. Kendra handled all the children’s disasters, cleaned up all of their messes, and restored order whenever there wasn’t.

Lucas and Kendra had been married for twelve years, come September. He knew from the moment he laid eyes on her that he would be proposing to her. Kendra wasn’t the sort of woman who fell in with the whole love at first sight, as seen on the Lifetime Movie Channel; but she was a firm believer after she met and fell for Lucas. The two were always on the same page with each other and had the mysterious ability to communicate silently. It unnerved their families and friends that they never had cross words, let alone had never fought. They didn’t experience any of the awkwardness or difficulties of the dating ritual, the game, the dance, nor the anxiety of expectations. Nope, from their first moment together, and ever since, they had a stalwart connection that clicked, solidified, and remained in such a solid union. And because of this close, intense connection, they had decided to be selfish and wait a year or two to start a family. It ended up being exactly two years. To the day.

Kendra turned in Luke’s arms and faced her husband. She tried for a faint smile and failed miserably. Luke pulled her in and gave her an embracing hug that portrayed his immense love, concern, and compassion for what she was feeling at the moment. He felt similarly and knew it would be some time before things would again return to the new version of normalcy. Kendra kissed his chest and made her way to the kitchen to start supper. Lucas lingered at the window as he stared at the now empty street that, only moments ago, harbored two large moving vans. With a grim face, and after a few more protracted minutes, he made his way to the kitchen to help his wife cook supper. Inside he was very thankful that all was well with his family.

two

C assie Montgomery had been playing on the side of their house when the moving vans had taken their leave, and while her parents consoled each other over the immense losses to the neighborhood. She was innocently oblivious to the ramifications of how the beloved neighbors would impact the remaining families. Especially with what was to come. Soon. She had been too engrossed with the attempted capture of a salamander, who thus far had been able to elude his de mise.

Cassie Montgomery was only seven years old. She was exceedingly bright for her age, had a saccharinely angelic disposition, and the patience, tenacity, and perseverance of an adult.

She also had the astonishing capacity to understand things far beyond her young age. She was exceedingly excellent at making others in her surrounding vicinity laugh. She was treasured by both of her parents, loved greatly by her older brother Ben, and was always amongst friends. Everyone loved Cassie, yet she was not spoiled, coddled, nor ever an impudent child. Her sunny personality made it impossible to ever be cross with her, which was ideal as she was an extremely well-behaved child. Most would think it would be detrimental to have so much attention concentrated on one child. With regard to Cassie, it only brought out an abundance of love, joy, and happiness to her, her family, and all who knew her. There was just something very special about Cassie Montgomery. Three days later their world would never be the same.

three

L ucas Montgomery was in the prime of his life at the young age of thirty-seven. He had married the love of his life, had two beautiful children who were both healthy and happy, and was one of two partners in a widely successful business. M & M Advertising Agency had been opened by Lucas, and his partner Christopher ‘Mitch" Mitchell, the day after they graduated from Cooper Quake University twelve years earlier. The two close friends had been braced for the nail biting and worrisome trials and tribulations of starting a brand-new business; but such bothersome occasions never happened to either of them. They had landed their first account, from a fellow tenant in their office complex, and their business took off from there. They now owned their own building and private parking lot.

Bright and early Monday morning, Lucas was sitting at his desk. He was getting his final thoughts together and making a few notes to himself for the presentation he was about to give to his partner and staff. The account he was to present at their weekly staff meeting was for a nine-partner law firm in downtown Evanstonville. It was guaranteed to bring in a seriously large cash flow. Luke had taken the lead, instead of Mitch, as he was the more corporate of the two; and it had garnered them a position of being one of the two agencies left in the running. Luke had worked hard all weekend to put the polished touches on the final presentation and was ready to present it to the Team today, and then the clients the following day. He added the folder with his wife’s work to his pile. Kendra is their graphic design artist. She had done, what they thought was, a preliminary workup for the client; but the clients liked it so much that nothing was added or changed.

He was uncharacteristically relieved to be at work today. He truly loved his wife with all his heart; but the situation with the moving neighbors was so heartbreaking to her, that she had become melancholy and inconsolable all weekend. Despite their constant attempts to cheer her up; and even Cassie had little, to no, effect on her despair. That made it problematic for him to function. It was so rare for Kendra to be downhearted and for such an elongated period of time.

Luke perused his weekly planner to mentally check himself and set in motion the course of his week and where it would take him. He was always prepared, proficient, and didn’t care for surprises, especially when it pertained to his and Mitch’s agency. These character traits made the two men completely compatible as both co-owners of a thriving business and close friends. He was exuberantly stoked about this project and had spent a great deal of time tweaking words, sentences, and phrases. He thought it was an exclusive creation and a bombshell of a successful pitch. His mood was stellar and his confidence high as he knew Mitch and their team would be blown away by his ingenuity and creativity on this project. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he failed to hear his ringing phone.

Glory Henderson, his personal assistant of twelve years, stuck her head inside his office doorway and asked, Mr. Montgomery, do you want me to get that? It’s your personal line.

Luke looked up at Glory with a stunned expression, somewhat startled awake from being deep in thought. The only thing that really registered in his mind was that she still called him Mr. Montgomery, after all these years, and personal line. She was adamant about being the consummate professional at the office and refused to call him anything else.

Only outside the office would she address him by his first name, and that was on a very rare occasion. Glory was a single parent of a nine-year-old daughter, Lexi. She had been married; but when her ex-husband found out she was pregnant he high tailed it out of town and was never heard from since. Luke had helped her get a special divorce after waiting seven years. It had been difficult for her to manage at first; but she and Lexi had a very close relationship; and together they had made the best life they could, given what they had. Despite Lexi being two years older than Cassie, they were great friends and enjoyed their playdates immensely. Lexi usually spent more time at Cassie’s house than vice-versa, as the Montgomeryes had a pool and more toys to keep the girls entertained indefinitely. Both were good girls, good friends, and had a grand time in each other’s presence.

Mr. Montgomery, do you want me to answer your personal line, Glory asked again, this time in a higher pitch with a more direct sense of urgency.

Thanks, Glory, I’ll get it myself, Luke finally answered as Glory made her way back to her own office. She never lingered in her boss’ office and was especially hasty when it was his personal line that rang. After all, his personal line was exactly that. Personal.

Luke looked at his phone for a second as his left hand reached for the receiver. He couldn’t imagine who would be calling him as most everyone knew they had their weekly staff meetings at this time every Monday morning. It certainly couldn’t be Kendra as she knew his schedule better than he did, and only second to Glory. The incessant ringing was so annoying, he answered the call in a rather impatient tone.

Mr. Montgomery? Mr. Lucas Montgomery, the male caller asked. His voice was rich with a deep gruffness and astutely businesslike in manner.

Y-yes, this is Luke Montgomery, Luke stammered as he was caught off guard as to whom the caller was, why he was calling on his personal line, and why he had repeated his name, not once but twice. The hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up as his gut instincts kicked in and warned him this call was not in the least bit social. No lunch date would be forthcoming with this one.

"Mr. Montgomery, this is Officer Rex Timmons. I was wondering if I could have a few moments of your time, right now," the officer asked in a profoundly booming voice. He didn’t like that his voice was so outrageously loud as he was a gentle giant of a guy. A big softy, a giant teddy bear at heart. One wouldn’t get that from a first impression, however, as Officer Rex Timmons was six-foot three, and two hundred and seventy-five pounds of solid muscle. In short, one massive man. He was heavily involved with the elementary schools and several children’s programs. After getting over their initial shock at his vast size, the children came to love their buddy and he became known as Officer Rex, both by the children and the schools’ staff.

W-what is this about Officer? I was just about to head into my weekly staff meeting, Luke stammered, yet again. He had a sense of dread, for some odd reason, and he had asked the question rather reluctantly. He was quite certain he really didn’t want that particular question to be answered. Floating in the back of his brain was the sinking thought, this guy surely wasn’t calling to sell tickets to the Policeman’s Ball.

Mr. Montgomery, this cannot wait. I need to speak with you right now. As a matter of fact, I’m standing in the lobby of your building, Officer Rex replied. He stressed the latter sentence with great emphasis, hoping to implicate the seriousness of his visit.

If you would kindly tell me what this is in regard to; I’m sure we could set up a time to talk. As I stated before, I’m about to head into a very important meeting with my partner and staff, Luke emphatically offered, trying to placated the officer. It was as if he was stalling for time; but for what reason, he couldn’t fathom.

"Mr. Montgomery, we need to talk, and we need to talk right now. I really need you to hear me on this. Do you understand," Officer Rex asked even more firmly this time.

O-okay. Do you need me to meet you or may I just buzz you in, Luke surrendered. He felt deflated, confused, and a growing sense of dread was building inside his gut. He was overcome by an overwhelming sagacity of self-preservation. It was not a good feeling.

No, Sir. I can find my way to you. I will be there in just a minute, so sit tight, Officer Rex assured him.

S-see you soon, Luke stuttered as he hung up his phone. He hadn’t even noticed the stuttering and stammering; but was well aware that his palms were sweaty, his hands were shaking, and his heart was beating so rapidly he thought it would burst through his chest and explode.

What seemed like only one second, which in fact had been three minutes, there was a knock at Luke’s door. He was about to stand to go open it, when Glory came bustling through the door with a big burly man on her heels. She looked frazzled, scared, and very confused all at the same time. This did nothing to calm Luke’s already enervated anxieties. Glory searched his face to try and ascertain the meaning behind the sudden appearance of this enormous policeman. It was all Luke could do to stare back at her with a helpless, reckless licentiousness, as he was grasping to try and control his own rising trepidation.

Getting control of his faculties, Luke nodded to his assistant, neutralized his expression to hide his own distress, and said with what he hoped was encouragement, it’s okay, Glory. Please tell Mitch to start without me and that I’ll be along shortly. He had said this with far more conviction that he actually felt. More like wishful thinking.

Y-yes, Mr. Montgomery, I’ll see to all that and I’ll make sure y’all are not disturbed, she stammered to her boss. She seemed on the verge of tears as she hastily made her way around the hefty policeman; all the while trying to maintain her professionalism and not resort to running out of his office.

Luke was visibly upset that his valued assistant was so distraught over the presence of this policeman. He was protective of his employees and thought of them more like family rather than staff members. It was only then that he noticed with certainty the huge man as he approached his desk. Luke was standing; but was still on his side of his large chestnut work-station. He wasn’t sure he trusted his own voice at that moment so he just stared at the officer as he stood not four feet away from his own face.

Officer Rex cleared his voice and said, Mr. Montgomery, I’m Officer Rex Timmons, as I told you on the phone. I’m sorry to have to disrupt your day like this; but there are some very important things we need to discuss. And as I also told you on the phone, they unfortunately cannot wait. As he was speaking he held out his badge with his left hand for Luke to inspect. He didn’t bother with the customary handshake as this wasn’t his first time giving bad news and he was acutely aware of Luke’s deteriorated present emotional state. Having been with the police department for five years, he’d seen and heard a lot of disturbing things during that tenure.

Luke sensed that he was somehow not acting normally, cleared his throat and motioned for the Officer to take a seat. Once Officer Rex was seated, he, himself, sat back down in his chair. When he spoke, it was with a thick voice, "so, what exactly do we need to talk about Officer Timmons?" It didn’t come out sarcastically; but more that of utter dread.

Please, everyone calls me Officer Rex, he began, or just Rex, whichever you most prefer.

When he saw that Luke seemed prepared to discuss what he’d come for, the Officer continued, Mr. Montgomery, do you own a, and paused as he pulled out his notepad, found the page and pursued with his question, a 2015 Lexus RX 350?

Luke almost visibly shook with relief that the Officer was here about his car and not some other ominous misfortune. He answered eagerly answered, why, yes, yes I do. Actually, my wife and I each own one.

Oh, I didn’t know you owned two of them. I’m referring to the grey one, Officer Rex stipulated after consulting his notes again to make sure he remembered the correct color of the vehicle in question.

My wife owns the grey one. Mine is silver, Luke specified with hesitation. Why is he questioning me about Ken’s SUV? Why isn’t he asking her, it’s her vehicle? The hairs were standing up on the back of his neck. Again.

Mr. Montgomery, have you spoken to your wife within the past hour, Officer Rex questioned.

No, I last spoke to her before I left home to come to work. What is this about Officer, um, Rex, Luke demanded ardently. His unease was increasing at an alarming rate.

Having a great deal of experience dealing with high stress levels, unabridged emotions, and uncontrollable actions, Officer Rex took a long breath and released it slowly. He wanted Luke to see that he was calm, cool, and collected in hopes that he would corral his wild thoughts and get himself under control. The desired effect was not forthcoming. Luke started lightly tapping his fingers on his desk with unconscious awareness. Officer Rex pointedly looked to the tapping fingers and then to the face with whom they belonged. Luke was still unconscious of his finger tapping. His eyes were glued to the face seated across from him. He appeared to be mentally willing the policeman to offer him some reassuring words of encouragement and not what his gut told him was coming next.

Would you mind giving your wife a call, Mr. Montgomery, Officer Rex asked softly.

Call me Luke. Why do I need to call my wife? The informal invitation was second nature to Luke, who liked to keep things low keyed. The question, however, was asked with borderline suspicion.

Mr., I mean, Luke, we believe your wife’s SUV has been stolen and was just involved in a traffic accident, he responded. He watched Luke’s face carefully for any signs that this was not, in fact, news to him. Just a well-trained eye from years of experience from the seasoned policeman.

"Wait, what? Ken’s been in an accident? Why the hell didn’t you tell me that sooner," Luke demanded. He was suddenly quite angry. Angry at the cop in front of him for lollygagging around and not getting straight to the point of his visit, and angry at the possibility of his wife being hurt.

"Luke, we’re not sure your wife has been in an accident. Her vehicle certainly has; but we are not sure that she was in said vehicle," Officer Rex tried to explain; but was interrupted.

How in the hell is that even possible? If my wife’s vehicle has been in an accident then who else could have possibly been driving it, Luke blasted. This dude couldn’t pour water out of a boot with the instructions on the heel.

Luke, let me finish, Officer Rex pleaded as he held his hand up to stop Luke’s train of thought. Only when he settled back in his chair did Officer Rex continue, the accident occurred roughly an hour or so ago. It took place in the middle of the intersection of Mayfield and Lorrie Road. We have a preliminary report that an equipment truck failed to adhere to his stop sign and slammed into the front end of your wife’s Lexus. We know for certain that it’s your wife’s vehicle as we were able to run the plate. We think your wife’s SUV was stolen as there weren’t any passengers in the Lexus when we got to the scene. He stopped talking at that point to let Luke wrap his head around the situation he had presented to him.

So, you want me to call my wife and see if she’s still at home, right? Why didn’t you just call her yourself, Luke asked as he was beginning to see where this was headed and was incredibly relieved to hear that Kendra was not in her vehicle when it was struck. His mitigation was so overwhelming that his hands began to quiver.

As the accident occurred just two blocks from here, I offered to come over and speak with you in person, Officer Rex replied. Then added, "Mr., uh, Luke, would you please call your wife now so we can move forward with our investigation."

Luke picked up his phone and hit the speed dial pound one to call his wife. His eyes clouded as he put the receiver down and said shakily, it went straight to voicemail.

Is that unusual or something, Officer Rex got a bad feeling from the instant shift in Luke’s demeanor. He was on high alert as he continued to watch Luke’s face as it crumbled.

Something is terribly wrong here. The only time I’ve ever heard my wife’s voicemail is when she recorded it. We’ve been married a long time and I’ve never not been able to reach her. I know that probably sounds like a farfetched exaggeration; but it’s true. Ken’s never not picked up her phone. Luke was starting to babble as the magnitude of possibilities started spinning out of control within his imagination.

Mr. Montgomery, let me take you home. We can check and see if there’s anything suspicious looking in your garage. You know, like if anything’s been tampered with, okay, he offered as he got to his feet fully expecting Luke to follow him. Luke neither noticed that he was now back to being Mr. Montgomery nor the fact that the policeman was standing by the doorway. Rex looked back and queried, "Um, Mr. Montgomery? We need to get going. Right now."

four

O fficer Rex Timmons had driven Lucas and himself to the Montgomerys’ home in his police car. They spoke very little during the drive. Each lost in their own thoughts. Officer Rex was certain all would be well at the Montgomery household, in spite of that fleeting moment of uncertainty back at Luke’s office. Good thing he wasn’t a gam bler .

Luke, on the other hand, was filled with an abundance of trepidation. He knew deep in his gut that something was specious. He wasn’t quite willing to give it a name, just yet; but he would have staked his life savings on his feeling of something being incomprehensibly fallacious. He had to strain to keep his overactive imagination in check. Ordinarily, he was a very positive and level-headed guy. This didn’t feel like normal times. This felt pernicious. Luke was fearful that something pestiferous had happened to his wife.

As they had pulled up in front of the Montgomerys’ house, still in the patrol car, Officer Rex had explained what he wanted Luke to look for inside the home while he took a look around the garage and the surrounding area. Luke went into the house first and pointed out the door leading to the garage. He opened the cabinet door of the table in the foyer to check for Kendra’s handbag. It was not there. Nor were her keys in the bowl on top of the table. He made a quick sweep of his children’s bedrooms and noticed that Cassie’s stuffed pet monkey was missing. So that was affirmative conformation that Cassie was not home. She never left home without her monkey, BoBo. They always teased her that she should have called him American Express. Ben must have taken the dog out for a walk as neither of them were home, either. Luke was making his way to the garage to report these findings to Officer Rex when