Hey everyone! Lovesjak here I'm sorry I've been so M.I.A. but schoolwork and my health have been preventing me from writing. However, I love reading all of your reviews and seeing as it's summer break again and I'm waiting to get my work authorization before starting at my new internship (#internationalstruggs), I'll do my best to keep up with the writing!

Also, please review! I live off of reviews…

-lovesjak

Disclaimer: If "The Finder" were mine, it would've gone on. But it hasn't.

Recap:

Willa looked at the piece moved. "But chess isn't a one sided game. Obviously your opponent could use a number of pieces to counter this opening," Willa remarked.

Grigori chuckled. "Well said, Cassandra. Black can use a lot of different moves.

Every chess piece plays a significant role in the game. Do not lose sight of that."

Chapter 5: The First Case

When Willa woke up the next day, it seemed like an ordinary day. She woke up, dragged herself into the shower, got dressed, and went down to the kitchen. She got the coffee machine started and waited until the miracle drug was produced. After she had a cup (or two) and made a second pot (caffeine was in high demand in such establishments with college students), she started on breakfast.

She toasted thick slices of bread and drizzled them either with olive oil or honey. On top of the ones with olive oil, she added either thick slices of mozzarella cheese and a mixture of chopped tomatoes and onions or a dollop of ricotta cheese and some prosciutto. For those drizzled with honey, she added a fruit salad of apples, peaches, and nectarines on top and garnished with slices of almond.

"Cass, you grow more and more beautiful each day, I swear," Giovanni exclaimed as he saw the food. He then found the coffee and pretended to wipe tears from his eyes. "Lord, I must've done something right in my past life, to be treated so," he sniffled.

Gavin rolled his eyes. "Stop being such a drama queen, G" he murmured. G stuck his tongue out in response. "Now you're just being childish," Gavin muttered, before gulping down some coffee.

"Who's being childish?" Stan asked as he entered. He paused and sniffed the air. "Coffee?"

Willa rolled her eyes. "Here" she said, as she handed him a steaming mug.

"Coffee," Stan repeated with a dazed smile as he sat at the table.

Adriana saw this and smirked. "Yes Konstantine. Coffee. And this is what they call food," she teased as she took one of the fruit salad covered slices of bread on to her plate.

Stan was too sleepy to register the sarcasm that coated Adriana's words. He finished the mug that Willa handed him, had another, and went for one more before his eyes started to show signs of comprehension.

"Long night?" Gavin asked sympathetically.

Stan nodded. "I was trying to find some precedent for a case we're arguing in Reichenhall's class," he explained.

"Man, you slave over that class," Gio noted.

Stan sighed after nibbling on one of the prosciutto covered slices. "I know. I'll be interning with her this summer so I need to work hard. I've heard that if you screw up once, in her mind, you're a screw up for life."

Gio shuddered after finishing his third slice of bread. "I've never been so glad to be a biochemistry student. At least you have the mysterious forces of nature to blame occasionally."

Adriana finished putting her plate away and returned to sit on Gavin's lap and finish her coffee. She took a sip and savored the caffeine rushing into her system before speaking. "So Cassandra, ready for work?"

Willa shrugged. "It's work," she said, "but Tiffany makes it worth it."

At 9 AM Willa found herself at Tiffany's again, making sure that the little piles of pastries were straight, the signs were just so, and the refrigerator had the required amount of lemon, cold water, and fruits for the day. Although she had loved Leo's fatherly comments and (although she would never verbally admit it) Walter's snark, working at Tiffany's was a lot easier for her as she didn't have to make anything, except for the drinks. Tiffany also provided some much sought after female company. Isabel had been nice at times, but sometimes Willa felt as though Isabel's problems were even more complicated than her own. She shook her head to stop thinking about her past life and focus on the incoming rush of customers.

"Can I get a baklava and an iced coffee please?"

Willa's eyes flashed to the speaker. Officer Benjamin Stanton was at the bakery café again.

"Not again Benjamin!" Tiffany complained off to the side.

Benjamin laughed. "If you want me to eat something else, take it off your menu or mess up the recipe ma'am!"

Tiffany rolled her eyes and smiled. "Cassandra?" she prompted.

Willa jumped into action. "Of course" she hurriedly remarked as she went to put a baklava in a bag and whip out the iced coffee. "Milk or sugar?" she asked.

"No thank you" Benjamin replied. "I'm in a bit of a rush" he admitted as Tiffany rang him up.

"Is everything alright?" Tiffany asked.

Benjamin sighed and shook his head. "There was another break in nearby. Someone got into Santangelo's last night and stole everythin' in the register and completely destroyed the kitchen."

Tiffany gasped. "Poor Nicola!" She turned to Willa. "Nicola Santangelo is one of my very good friends. She runs an Italian restaurant nearby. Tiffany turned back to Benjamin. "This is the sixth incident?"

Benjamin nodded. "It's gettin' real tough. We don't have any leads and people are gettin' restless. Not that I can't blame them."

Tiffany nodded. "Good luck Benjamin."

Benjamin tipped his hat to her. "Thanks Tiffany. Make sure to be careful yourself," he said before exiting.

Willa turned to Tiffany. "Break ins?" she asked.

Tiffany sighed. "Unfortunately there seems to be a thief in our community. Big Mama's Diner, The Barn Bistro, The Missou Café, Sweet Treats and Desserts, Planter's Coffee Shop and now Santangelo's have all been broken into and robbed. And as Benjamin mentioned, the kitchens have all been utterly ruined."

"And the police have no clue who could have done it?" Willa asked, her curiosity piqued.

"I'm afraid not my dear," Tiffany said with a sigh. She wiped the counter with a rag and then turned to Willa. "You seem awfully interested in this."

Willa shrugged, attempting to feign nonchalance. "Back in Florida I had a friend," she explained, inwardly both cringing at and wondering how Walter would react to her mentioning him as her "friend". "He would solve mysteries and sometimes asked for my help."

Tiffany was intrigued. "What kind of cases did he solve?"

Willa again shrugged. "I don't know if you would call them cases, per se," she replied. "He didn't like thinking of them in that way. If you asked him to find something, he would find it for you." She smiled. "You couldn't get him to find you money though."

"Do you miss him?" Tiffany asked gently.

Willa tensed slightly. "I try not to think about it," she responded.

Tiffany recognized that the topic was a sensitive one for her newest worker and shifted the focus of the conversation. "How is living with everyone here?"

Willa smiled. "It's great. The guys are all really funny and nice. Grigori's teaching me how to play chess," she said, thinking back on her first chess lesson.

"And the girls?" Tiffany enquired.

Willa made a face. "Adriana's nice," she explained, "But I think Deanna has it out for me."

Tiffany laughed. "Don't take it personally," she advised Willa. "I think she is feeling slightly threatened by your presence."

Willa raised one of her brows. "I can get why she might feel that way, but I'm pretty much a stray that Stan picked up from the road."

Tiffany nodded. "I know but emotions make us do irrational things my dear."

Willa flashed back to a pair of blue eyes that she had sworn to try and forget. "Yes they do, don't they?" she murmured.

After wiping down the counter once more, making sure to swat Gio's hand away from the fresh batch of baklava, Willa hung up her apron and turned to Tiffany. "I'm off now," she announced, "Unless you need anything?"

Tiffany shook her head. "I will be fine now. Go off with this rascal," she said, gesturing at Gio.

Willa rolled her eyes at Gio's protests. "Alright."

Gio stopped spluttering indignantly and turned to Tiffany. "Make sure you're careful grams," he warned, "These break-ins have been nasty."

Tiffany chortled. "I will be perfectly fine Giovanni. I've been working at this shop for longer than you've been alive." "You be careful yourself and don't break some other poor girl's heart," she warned.

Giovanni swept his hand through his hair and gave Tiffany a look of tortured despair. "I can't help it," he said. "All of these girls just want a piece of me."

Willa snorted. "Yep," she said, "All of these imaginary girls." She then laughed and scrambled to avoid Gio's outstretched arms as he chased her for her comment. And for a moment, everything seemed okay.

While he was sure that his mother had locked the bakery, Theodore Papadakis was also sure that he had just heard noise from downstairs and decided to go down to check. En route, he ran into his mother, who also looked rather puzzled and troubled. He put his pointer finger to his lips in the universal sign for silence and flung open the door.

"Who's here?" he shouted.

There was a slight noise from the back and Theodore and Tiffany ran into the kitchen, only to catch a glimpse of a figure fleeing through the back door.

Dun dun DUN. Are you excited for Willa's first case? Cause I am!

Please review!

-lovesjak