Open Case File [COMPLETED]

The Past

"Okay," Mason said. "I hate to say this because complimenting people gives me acid reflux, but that was brilliant. I didn't know how you would pull it off but you did."

"Thanks," Carter murmured. "I'm going back to the hotel. Let the others know they can go break up a drug deal."

"Will do."

Carter cut her way through the streets, jostled by pedestrians yet feeling utterly alone. Her mind took her back to the restaurant, replaying every detail. None of it got easier to take the second time.

By the time Carter stepped into her hotel room, she felt raw. She sat down before her computer and fired it up. She knew she shouldn't but it didn't stop her. Using the FBI database, she searched her mother.

She found basic information, the man she'd married: Darrell Wainwright. The fact that he was divorced and had a daughter, Bridgette, who lived full time with her mother. Carter found that Darrell's previous wife had passed away three years ago. They had moved to New York around the same time. All of it filled the gaps in the story.

Carter leaned back in her chair, gazing out on the cityscape. Her mother must have married Darrell not thinking she was getting a full step-daughter. But only a year after the wedding had a full-time one.

Carter covered her mouth, trying to keep her emotions in check. Her mother didn't seem to mind having a daughter now. If the smiles and happy glint were any indications, she enjoyed it. Carter thought about Bridgette. She was blonde, blue-eyed, and pretty. At thirteen she'd worn a neat pair of slack and silk shirt with a Peter Pan collar. As a package, she presented a sweet, girlish persona. A persona Carter's mother held. One Carter didn't.

Carter jerked out of her chair and left the room. She knew where she was going, knew it was stupid to go there but had to do it.

It had been hours since Carter had been at the restaurant when the taxi deposited her outside a three-story walkup on the Upper Eastside. She stood on the sidewalk across from the house. Lights burned in the windows, giving a homey glow to the place. Shadows crossed curtained windows. A family getting settled for the night.

Hating herself for needing to do it, Carter crossed the road, climbed the steps, and rang the doorbell. She waited. Each second that passed, she told herself to leave, that she didn't need to be there, that she didn't need any of this. But her feet stayed planted.

Darrell opened the door. He was a decent-looking man in his late forties with a trimmed beard and grey eyes.

"Can I help you?" he asked, uncertain, taking in Carter's attire.

"Is Erica home?" Carter asked, hating how small her voice sounded.

"Yes..." Darrell looked ready to close the door on Carter.

"If you tell her that the girl from the restaurant is here, she'll come."

Carter said that but didn't know if it was true. Would her mother even care to see her?

"All right...give me a second."

Darrell shut the door and Carter waited, again wondering why she was here, why she was being stupid. When her mother appeared, Carter took a step back. Her mother looked cautious and nervous.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked.

Carter wanted to say no, she wanted to walk away but stepped inside. It was a simple foyer with a staircase curling up to the second story. Carter stood there not sure what to say and wanting to yell all at once. Before either of them could get a word out, Sofie came halfway down the stairs and leaned over the banister.