Psy (Alien Castaways #3) - Cara Bristol Page 0,40
the area and see how she reacted.
He imagined Rosalie had been shocked by the news Cassie’s voice was normal. He’d expected to receive a text with an update but hadn’t. No doubt Cassie had figured she’d see him soon enough and would tell him in person since she preferred telepathy over writing.
He bounded into the kitchen to find Shadow drinking a cup of coffee. “You’re up early,” he said, relieved to see his friend robust and solid. The sublimation episodes were so unpredictable. He had good days and bad days. Fortunately, today appeared to be one of the former.
“I figured you planned to see Cassie this morning, and I wanted to catch you before you left,” Shadow said. “I researched the guardianship last night.” He grabbed a folder and motioned to the kitchen table. “Let’s sit down.”
Psy straddled a chair and eyed the folder. “What did you find?”
Shadow sat across from him and pushed the file across the table. “Take a look.”
Psy flipped it open, scanned the top sheet, and frowned. “Certificate of death?”
“Note the deceased’s name, birth date, and the date of demise.”
“Cassandra LeAnn Steward? Born July 7, 1997, died July 9, 1997.” He looked up. “I don’t understand. Someone else with Cassie’s name died as an infant?”
“Monikers aren’t unique on this planet, so two individuals can share the same name, but I don’t believe that’s the case here.”
“So, what does this mean?”
“I think it means your genmate was given baby Cassandra’s identity. With respect to the guardianship, I couldn’t find any ruling from any court awarding Rosalie guardianship over Cassie.”
“So there’s no guardianship document here?” He glanced at the other two documents. Shadow had printed two copies of Cassandra’s birth certificate.
“There’s no guardianship period. I don’t think it ever existed. Rosalie is not her legal guardian. Take a closer look at the birth certificates.”
One document named Jessamine Steward as Cassandra’s mother and Wayne Alan Steward as the father, while the other had Rosalie Steward as her mother with the father listed as unknown.
“The certificate with the father’s name is the real birth certificate,” Shadow explained. The unknown one is a forgery. It’s hard to tell the difference between the two certificates unless you compare them side by side.”
Psy shifted his gaze from one document to the other. “The government seals are different.”
Shadow nodded.
“So after assigning a dead baby’s identity to Cassie, Rosalie created a fake birth certificate?”
“It appears so.”
Why? Why create fake names and erase a father’s existence? And what was Rosalie’s real name, then? And Cassie’s? Psy studied the paperwork again as he scrambled to come up with an explanation. “Maybe she was hiding Cassie from an abusive father. Maybe that’s why she was so protective and moved them around so much,” he hypothesized.
“Could be. From my research, I learned that sometimes during divorces, one parent will steal the child from the other parent. Sometimes parents lose custody to the other whom they believe poses a danger to the child.”
“I wonder what Cassie’s real name is.”
“I’ll keep digging, but her real name will be harder to find out. I suspect this is why there’s no legal decree—the fake identity documents wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny in court.”
“But why lie about it? Why mislead Cassie about the guardianship? Once she became an adult, her father wouldn’t be a threat anymore.”
“Unless he belonged to a crime family, and they needed to break free,” Shadow suggested. “They might also be in a witness protection program.”
“I have a good idea how Cassie got misdiagnosed as being unable to speak,” Psy said.
“How?”
“There was no diagnosis—at all. Rosalie never took her to any doctors—she only told her she had. Cassie would have been too young to remember and would accept anything she was told. Her mother even lied about the mumps inoculation.” He was sure of it.
“The good news is, Rosalie has no legal authority. Cassie can do whatever she wants. But she’s going to be devastated by the lie.” Psy pushed away from the table. “I can’t thank you enough for your assistance. Can I keep these documents to show Cassie?”
“That’s why I printed them.”
“I’m going to see her right now.” Hopefully, during the ride over, he’d figure out a gentle way to reveal her mother’s betrayal.
* * * *
Cassie cracked the door open, peeking through the gap.
“I’m early, but I needed to see you right away.” He fidgeted, not looking forward to telling her of her mother’s shady actions. “We need to talk. Are you alone?” Marshaling his psychic energy, he