"Anything useful?" Eric asked. It was dark outside and they had spent the whole afternoon and evening on research. Candice felt like her eyes were about to cross from having to decipher her mom's writings. So far, all she got was grocery lists, her mother's random ideas for new business, and snippets of conversations and gifts to return. It solidified her knowledge that her mom wasn't a very exciting person.

"Let's take a break," she suggested. Eric nodded eagerly and the two trotted back downstairs in search of food. It was then that Candice realized she had a problem.

She couldn't cook to save her life.

"Soup?" Candice suggested, holding out a can of ready-made soup but Eric shook his head. He reached for the pasta and a can of tomato sauce and tuna. That looked simple enough, but she had no idea how long the pasta needed to boil for.

Eric turned towards her with the pasta, and he caught the expression on her face. "Wait, have you ever cooked?"

Candice froze. She could lie, but that would just mean a disastrous dinner. So she shook her head.

"It's okay, just do exactly what I say," Eric said calmly. Candice relaxed; admitting it wasn't so bad.

"How kind, sir," she said in a mock British accent, then it occurred to her that she didn't even know his last name. "Hey, we've literally spent the last 2 days together and I don't even know your last name."

Eric laughed, filling a pan of water and putting it on the stove. Candice couldn't remember the last time it was actually used. He turned up the heat of the magnetic touch and pulled out another pan before answering, "it's Goodman."

"That is a name that matches you perfectly," Candice said and for once she was sincere. That succeeded in making him blush.

"You know what, let's get to know each other better," Candice said, suddenly feeling rejuvenated at the prospect. "Let's play twenty questions."

Eric eyed her uncertainty as he opened the can. Despite saying that he would make her help, he was doing everything solo so far. "Are we still in middle school?"

Candice rolled her eyes. She could already think of a million questions to ask Eric! "Come on, it'd be fun. And you have to be completely honest."

After a few minutes of begging, Eric finally relented. By then the pasta was in the hot water and he was simmering the sauce.

"I'll go first," Candice spoke before Eric had a chance to object. "When was your first kiss?"

Eric grimaced. Candice waited patiently, knowing that he would spit out the answer. "Thirteen."

"That's it? You have to tell me more!" she pressed. Eric rolled his eyes at her good naturally before relenting, "it was a spin the bottle dare and we never spoke again."

Classic! Candice laughed inside. Thirteen was quite old for a first kiss, but he did seem like the shy type. "Okay, your turn," Candice prompted. Eric fell silent and she wondered what he would ask her.

"What do you want to do? In life?" he asked. The seriousness of the question took Candice off guard.

"To continue the family legacy," Candice responded almost instinctively. That was all she ever wanted to do. She'd delegates, of course, her time was precious after all. But there was no doubt that she'd be in charge.

"Is that what you really want to do?" Eric prompted, looking at her in a way that made her uncomfortable. It was like he was feeling sorry for her.

"Of course," Candice shouted. How dare he question her! This was all she ever wanted to do since she was a little girl, to make sure that her family continued. She would also need to find a husband who was willing to take her name or let their child do so, but that's further down the line.

"Okay..." Eric held his hand up in surrender. Candice took a deep breath and close her eyes. Don't let him get to you, he doesn't understand how much this means, Candice reminded herself. Now she was going to make sure the next question hit the spot.

"Are you here because you want to have sex with me?" Candice asked and watch in satisfaction as Eric's face flushed. He started stammering incoherently until Candice coughed.

"No—no!" he insisted, unable to meet her gaze. The way he was squirming was adorable, and though she found it hard to believe, it was difficult for Candice to doubt him.

"Then why are you so willing to help me?" Candice asked. But Eric had recovered enough to shake his head and wiggled his finger at her.

"That's two questions. My turn," Eric said. Candice pouted at him until Eric gave in.

"You remind me of my sister," he finally said. Candice's eyebrows shot up; that was kind of the opposite of what she was thinking.

"Oh?" she prompted.

Eric smiled and shook his head at her. "Her name is Eva, and you two are like peas in a pod. You'd like her a lot."

Candice smiled. She might have met Eric's sister if they weren't attacked b random strangers. Thinking about that night brought back the stress.

"I'm going to go back up to look at the notebook some more," Candice declared, standing up abruptly. Eric seemed to sense the mood shift too and nodded, returning his attention to their dinner.

Candice took the staircase up two at a time. The knowledge that Eric was helping her because she reminded him of her sister was like a punch to the gut. She let that weird feeling fueled her quest to go through her mother's journal.

She had made it through half of the content, making a list of unusual activities, which so far turned out to be nothing after a few rounds of googling. Her mother had considered getting a dog, it seems, and there was a surprise party for one of her charity foundation friend. Boring.

She was starting to think that this was all a waste of time when she finally found an out-of-place entry.

Meeting with Charles Schwab

Their family had been with Wills Fargo for years. Though her parents had other accounts, they usually picked oversea banks with country-specific privileges. Charles Schwab was based in San Fran, too.

Logging into her mother's computer, Candice pulled out her online diary to check the date. The meeting wasn't listed on it, but the whole three-hour window was blocked with their lawyer's name. The lawyer who was in charge of the will, who was also based in San Francisco.

"Dinner is ready!" Eric shouted. Candice massaged her temple and jolted the new discoveries down. It seemed like they really should head to San Francisco, even if they had sent whoever was going after her there.

Needless to say, Eric wasn't thrilled at the idea.

"They are going to be crawling all over the city. We need to give them a few days to realize that we aren't there and move on," Eric reasoned. He was giving her a large helping of pasta, and Candice was already mentally calculating how many calories it would be. She preferred to reserve those for chocolate or particularly tasty snacks or deserts.

"But this is the first solid lead we have," Candice argued. There was nothing wrong with Eric's logic, but she couldn't bear to sit around for a few more days in uncertainty. "What about I call my butler to check in?"

"How much do you trust your butler? Besides, I won't be surprised if all the calls to your house will be taped and tracked," Eric said. Candice grimaced and stabbed at her plate of pasta, her appetite waning. Eric was right, not about Nelson, but about the calls.

"If we expose where we are now, surely they will come running?" Candice suggested. The more she thought about it, the better the idea sounded. Eric frowned at her over his pasta.

"That's probably doable, but how are you planning on doing it? Besides, wouldn't you want at least a day's rest?" Eric asked. Candice was tired, but she was also anxious to find out what happened to her parents and why did they leave that weird will condition.

"The faster we finish this, the faster we can get back to our lives," Candice said. Eric looked torn, so she added quickly, "but one night doesn't hurt. I'll need time to come up with a plan anyway."

Feeling triumphant at getting her way, Candice dug around for the remote and turned on the TV so they could watch something. However, Eric seemed to have other ideas and switched to the news channel.

"I have Netflix," Candice tempted him but Eric didn't seem to hear her. He turned up the volume and set the remote down next to him, his eyes glued to the screen as the news presenter reported some natural disaster in Asia.

"Onto news closer to home. Everyone is still reeling from the tragedy of the shooting three days ago. While the police department had refused to comment, we have caught up with the chief detective of the case."

The screen cut outside the police department that they were just at yesterday and Candice leaned forward to get a better look. Detective Eddison was just exiting when the reporter caught him.

"Detective XY, do you have any new information regarding the charity ball robbery shooting?" the reporter asked. Detective XY tried to dodge the microphone that was shoved in his face but gave up after a few seconds.

"The investigation is still ongoing, but we believe that this is an isolated incidence. The public has nothing to worry about," he answered. Isolated incident. That didn't give much away, did it?

"Why do you think the charity ball was targeted?" the reporter asked, chasing the detective as he tried to jog down the stairs. He muttered something that wasn't very audible, but the words 'rich people' and 'gathered' could be picked out.

The news segment ended as quickly as it started. The detective had given nothing away, and Candice wondered if they should return to Sacramento as well. Her parent's body were still there and their autopsy report wasn't included in the files that she had photographed.

"We'll get back there," Eric said, seeming to read her mind on the matter. They finished the dinner in silence with the news still playing in the background.

Candice couldn't sleep that night. She wasn't as exhausted as they were when they arrived at Bianca's, and the thoughts swirling inside her head wasn't helping.

She must have eventually fallen asleep. When Candice woke up again, the sun was peeking out the window. She got up to look out the window; it was just after dawn, and she knew that Nelson would be awake.

Instead of using the phone in the house, Candice grabbed her prepaid phone and headed out of the house. It was still quiet so Eric must still be sleeping. Candice knew he wasn't going to like this, but he didn't have to find out.

Dialing her home number manually felt odd, and Candice could feel her heartbeat quickened as the familiar dial tone filled her ears.

"The White residence." The familiar voice of their butler sends a wave of relief through her body. Nelson was like the uncle she never had, and she knew he'd help her.

"It's me, Candice."

"Where have you been, little lady? We've been trying to reach you for days!" Nelson's gentle but stern voice was like aloe vera on the sun-burned skin. Candice wanted to tell him everything, but the possibility of this phone call being taped stopped her.

"I broke my phone," she heard herself said. At least she was still good at covering up her own track. "I'm really swamped in school but I want to ask more about the will. Did Mom and Dad changed it recently?"

Nelson was silent for a minute. He rarely ever had no response for her and it made her nervous.

"Why would you think that?" Nelson asked. There was a strain in his voice that Candice wouldn't have picked up if she wasn't focusing on it so hard.

"The condition, it's so specific..." Candice trailed off, hoping Nelson would get her gist. He always had.

"I—Miss Candice, I think it's best if you just come home. The situation is, well, complicated," Nelson said. Candice opened her mouth to ask him what he meant when the phone call was disconnected.

Candice sighed and pulled the phone from her face. Nelson had never hung up on her before. And what he said was weirdly cryptic as well. Come home. Complicated. Boy didn't she know already.

---------------------------

I think I'm dragging this too much perhaps? I'm considering dropping this for a while so I can have some distance to think it through, and the World Beyond seems to be beckoning~