Bling was standing at the door. "How did she do that?"
"Never mind how she did that," Logan looked at Max. "How did she know that?"
Max was still in shock. "Allan said that she is a bit of a mimic but you didn't tell her anything about Eyes Only, did you?"
Logan shook his head. His face paled in realization and he looked at Max. "Max, where is that card?"
Max picked it up and brought it over to him.
He looked at it and then at Cassi. Pointing at Max he asked, "Cassi, who is that?"
Cassi made the whiskers motion across her face. Logan nodded and Max did the same.
"Meow."
Max finally realized it. "She..."
Logan nodded. She's not talking about a cat she rescued Max....she's calling you...she knows...
Max stared at Logan in disbelief. "You mean..."
Logan nodded his head.
Max went over to Logan's chair where Cassi was still perched on his lap. She looked at Cassi and made the whiskers.
"Meow."
"Meow." Max answered. She knew that she should be afraid of the possible damage (Liability, Lydecker's voice rang in her head.) but she was in awe of this little girl. She hadn't even known her for a week but she felt that she had a connection with her.
Taking Cassi's hand, Max led her to the couch and sat down beside her. "Come sit with Meow." She ignored what she believe to be a smirk creeping across Logan's face. "It seems that you like secrets." With a twinkle in her eye, she pointed at Bling and looked at Cassi. "Who's that?"
Cassi's hand slid lightly over her head as if she too had no hair. Understanding the process, Max repeated the motion. It was an echo of Bling's voice that she heard but in it was a sadness that neither Logan or Max had ever heard. "Don't go." Max watched as Bling swallowed hard and looked at them both.
"If you don't mind, I'd rather not..." He was interrupted by Cassi's movement. She went over to Bling who towered over her. Reaching up, she grabbed his hand and brought him to the couch. Following her lead, he sat down right before she climbed up and nestled herself in the crook of his arm. Max and Logan watched in amazement as the girl got comfortable and took Bling's hand in her own. She gently patted his hand and started mumbling something. Logan strained to hear but Max picked it up right away. "It's ok. Cassi's here. It's ok. Cassi's here." As she said the words over and over, they watched as silent tears began to fall down Bling's cheeks. Without any explanation to them, he sat with his arm around the little girl and cried.
After a few minutes of silence, Bling looked up at Max and Logan. "How did she know?"
Logan looked at Max. "I don't know how she knows these things, do you?"
"No," Max said, turning to look at Bling. "I'm not even sure what she knows about all of us."
"I suppose I do owe you an explanation." Bling said. "I knew another Cassi once. She was my younger sister. We were very close until she died of leukemia at the age of twelve. Both of my parents are gone and I don't have any other family. I've never told anyone about her. "Don't go" were my last words to her before she died and they have been with me ever since."
Logan looked at Bling. They had worked together and even become friends and yet he had no idea of the inner turmoil that Bling had. "I'm sorry Bling, I had no idea."
Bling shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I didn't want you to. Somehow it was easier to keep it to myself and brood about it than to deal with it." Max looked at Logan when Bling mentioned the brooding but she decided it was not the time to remind Logan of his recent episodes. Bling continued, "That's why I reacted like I did when you introduced Cassi. It is not a popular name and I had pushed it out of my mind but this little girl seems to be able to get in there. Any ideas?"
The three of them just looked at each other.
