Chloe Peterson.
Hearing Izaak say her name like that stunned me into silence the rest of the meeting. My mind was racing too much to even pay attention to Clo's caning or the chit chat that followed. I was stuck on remembering the yearbook picture... a blonde girl from Lansing, Michigan, with a slight smirk and high school grades that reflected what could be the work of a con artist.
[[right now I'm in shock and denial. It can't be her, can it? What are the chances?]]
The pieces connected – Clo’s curiosity about the case, sneaking in when we visited Sage, all those "good deals" she got us in Seattle, giving in so easily to me spanking her, the story about her criminal father…
Goddammit. There were so many signs and I never saw it!
[[I'm feeling stupid, like the evidence was so obvious, right there in front of me, and my dumbass didn't see it. Right under my nose the whole time... how did I not see it? But I'm also feeling conflicted... because really? Sweet innocent little Clo? But now the evidence is pointing straight to her. Did she talk to Sage at all? I was so caught up in my anger towards her that I hadn't even noticed...]]
As soon as the family left, I bolted to my room, snatching up my laptop to make sure I wasn't going crazy. I opened the folder where I'd saved information I’d gathered about Chloe Peterson. First, I pulled up the yearbook photo and compared it to a photo on my phone I'd taken of Clo in Seattle (which now that I thought about it, she hadn't been too keen on me taking it in the first place). My heart skipped a beat as I noticed the resemblance, though I wasn’t quite ready to believe it yet.
I stared at the images side by side, letting my investigator's eye kick in, scrutinizing every detail. The yearbook-style black and white photo showed a teenager with shorter, wavy blonde hair, youthful features sharply defined. In the picture I’d taken, Clo had longer, straighter hair, slightly darker in tone. The shape of her face, the arch of her eyebrows, and the subtle upturn of her nose were consistent, reinforcing my suspicion that I was looking at the same person. But her lips looked kinda different, definitely Clo’s were fuller than the high school photo, and Clo’s chin wasn’t as sharp and angled. But then those eyes, unmistakable vivid blue, stared back at me with the same intensity in both photos. It reminded me of the FetLife profile I’d found the night Gabe had asked if I wanted to do the case.
[[Now I'm just in full logic-investigator mode. Are they the same person? They look sort of alike... but maybe not? My heart is beating quick... adrenaline? If this is the same fucking person, I'm going to beat the shit out of Clo.]]
I opened another folder with a plethora of screen shots and recordings from the profile, comparing the shot of “seductive sapphire eyes” to Chloe and Clo. Before getting too attached to the idea that they were from the same person, I decided to check out the profile again, see if she had added anything since a few weeks ago.
But no search results came up: We could not find anything related to LittlePattieCake.
[[Ok, now my heart is beating even faster. I must have written something wrong. Let's try again.]]
Weird. I looked back at the screenshots and typed in the direct link.
Page Not Found
Error Code: 404
We can't seem to find the page you're looking for.
A pit formed in my stomach — had she deleted it after realizing I was investigating her? Add another reason to be suspicious…
[[Yes, pit in my stomach, like an "oh shit" moment. It must be her. She must have deleted her profile. She knows that I'm looking for her. I'm such a fucking idiot... how did I not see this sooner? Everyone's going to think I'm a dumbass... Gabe is going to regret ever hiring me. How did I not see it? I should've known. Fuck fuck fuck. Part of me wants to slam the laptop shut and go to Dominic's. Coke sounds really good about right now.]]
Ignoring the drug cravings that arose, I clicked back to the Chloe Peterson folder. Next to the yearbook photo was a copy of her school records. I skimmed through the data, looking for anything that might give me a hint about this mysterious woman. She maintained a B-average through most of school, except for a few low grades in 5th grade (when she apparently switched school districts) and again during middle school (but who does well in middle school anyway?). Her high school grades looked a little too good to be true, and I wondered if that was part of her con artistry.
I scrolled back up to the guardian names listed on record. The early years had Melvin Harris and Nancy Peterson, who I assumed were her parents. Later in middle and high school her emergency contact was listed as Esther S. Harris. A stepmother?
[[I, the author, do not like these two paragraphs. This whole part about investigating Chloe is too much. Maybe I can figure out a way to make it flow better, idk, this is probably the hardest part to write.]]
With shaky fingers, I opened my internet browser, making sure proper safeguards were up before typing in her dad’s name. I didn’t have to dig deep to find a headline from 2009: Detroit Man Receives 20-Year Sentence for Multi-Million Dollar Scandal. Melvin had orchestrated a sophisticated scheme, siphoning millions from his company into hidden accounts, living a lavish lifestyle that nobody suspected was funded by stolen money.
[[Remembering Clo talking to me in Seattle about her dad being a con artist. Why did she open that up to me if she knew I was investigating her? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's not her. But what are the chances that this Chloe Peterson also had a con-artist dad? God, I hope I'm wrong and it's not her. I owe my life to Clo. Or maybe she's not the actual person that conned Winters... even if it is one of the few names I'd narrowed it down to. Seriously, what are the chances? So fucking nervous right now. And mad. And fucking coke cravings coming up but not wanting to face Toby's disappointment and Gabe's wrath.]]
Reading through the article and eventually the court records with investigation details, I saw the same cunning and manipulation that Pattie Cake employed. Melvin used his charisma and deep financial knowledge to exploit trust and systems, much like Pattie used her fabricated persona to exploit vulnerabilities in her targets. Both preyed on the trust and resources of those around them, leaving behind a trail of betrayal and financial ruin.
It struck me how both of them targeted high-profile entities, drawing less suspicion due to their seemingly credible positions. The impact on their victims was devastating, going beyond financial loss to inflict deep emotional scars – another signature move that echoed between Melvin and Pattie.
[[ok, now I'm mad. The similarities between their con artistry is too similar (at least it should be lol I really have to rewrite this whole part). And if they're the same person, that means Clo has been lying to me... to all of us!... this whole fucking time. I ought to go over there and confront her right now. And mostly I'm mad at my fucking self for being tricked into believing she was such an angel. Izaak and Clo had both basically warned me before that she isn't necessarily who she appears — at the first family meeting. I thought she was such a good girl. And now this. What the actual fuck. Now my body is hot, my fists are clenching, my heart is racing, my throat is closing up. I'm ready to fight. I'm ready to give up everything I've worked so hard for because people fucking suck and I hate her for lying]]
Seeing the resemblance between the two criminals sent a jolt of anger through my system, and I slammed the laptop shut, ready to throw it at the wall. I stood, pacing for a moment. "What the fuck, bro," I said aloud to no one. "After all we've been through together and now it feels like I don't even know you." I paced faster wondering what to do, feeling a fire in my chest, a tension in my shoulders, ready to punch someone. Am I going crazy? "I trusted you. I opened up to you! Told you my darkest fucking secrets. Because I thought you were part of the family. But you're fucking not!" My hands balled into fists, trying to take over. I knew I needed to talk to someone... needed Toby or Molly to calm me down, or Izaak to play sports against, or Gabe to cane me again. But it was the middle of the night, even Molly was sleeping. "You're a fucking con and don't deserve to be part of our family. Jokes on me for fucking trusting you."
My vision was getting blurry and I needed to do something, quick. My mind flashed to Dominic’s – a drink, a line of coke, a poker game… my usual go-to solutions. Instead, I snatched up the tv remote and launched it against the wall, causing it to shatter with a loud crash. I heard the faint yelling of my downstairs neighbor: "go to sleep!"
[[the sound of the crash and the neighbor's yelling snapped me back into reality. I must've been pacing pretty hard and yelling loudly enough to annoy the people downstairs. My heart is still pounding but I need to fucking chill. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Chloe isn't the one who conned Winters. I wish anyone was up right now to help me through this, but I also don't want to count on anyone because if Clo really conned me, it proves I can't trust anyone.]]
With a grumble, I took a deep breath and plopped back down on the recliner, muttering a "sorry" that my neighbor couldn't hear. Not that it mattered, all he wanted was for me to sit the fuck down.
[[deep breaths. Let's be logical. Let's keep looking for evidence.]]
I pried my laptop open again and the high school picture of Chloe Peterson stared back at me with a deceitful smile. Part of me didn't want to keep researching — after all, Clo had saved my ass with Andy a few weeks ago. Back when I thought she was becoming my real friend. But another part of me wanted revenge. And the only way to really get her back was to do the job Gabe had hired me for.
I needed a fuller picture of Chloe Peterson’s life in order to really connect her to Pattie Cake’s crimes. There were more articles and videos about Melvin Harris. The first record of an arrest was in 2002, when Chloe would have been 10 years old. There was a list of things he was accused of, but only convicted of a misdemeanor theft, and subsequently placed in jail for violating his probation. In 2004 he was arrested for felony theft, but he had a hella expensive lawyer who somehow got him out of all charges. It wasn't until 2009 that Melvin was finally caught and put in a federal prison.
Chloe’s mom, Nancy Peterson, yielded no interesting results. She was named as a survivor in obituaries from the early 90s when her parents, Chloe's maternal grandparents, died. Marriage records showed that Melvin and Nancy married in 1990, right after they graduated high school. There was no newspaper announcement of their engagement or anything, which was kinda weird for that time period, especially since when I searched Melvin's family, they seemed generationally wealthy.
He had 6 siblings and all of them had children with social media pages, but no photos of Melvin, insinuating that he was the black sheep of the family. I could only find one photo of Melvin's mother, Esther Harris (a name I remembered from Chloe’s school records – so I guess that’s who took care of her while Melvin was off doing his crimes), surrounded by children in the late 1990s, one of them standing out amongst the others because of her dirty blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. The photo was posted by one of Chloe's cousins last year with a caption about wishing she could have known her grandma better.
I went back to the general information I had about the case. Winters and Pattie Cake allegedly met in 2013, which would have made Sage 15 and Chloe's real age as 21. Pattie had claimed to be 16 or 17 and wanted a "father figure" to discipline her as she needed (which would make sense if she, like “Clo,” had a criminal father and an enabling grandmother). Was she trying to set a trap for pedophiles? The blackmail video that Winters had shown me had been delivered only 6 months after they'd met, which was when Pattie had drained his bank accounts, using her "age" as a reason for him not to press charges. And it had worked. She could've gotten away with it. Why did she have to try to destroy his company later? Why did she feel the need to forge documents and go to the media about it? What happened earlier this year that made Pattie turn against Winters?
[[A part of me also kind of admires this bitch, whoever she is. Clo definitely has it in her. She's hott as fuck, can play off that innocent act. She definitely conned me into believing she's angelic. I'm just putting the pieces more together, and they're fitting. I still don't want to believe it. But if it is Clo, she's fucked. And I don't want to fuck her in that way. Goddammit. Now I'm mad again.]]
My anxiety kept me occupied all night, hunched over my computer in the dark, typing away madly on my keyboard. There had to be some kind of explanation for all of this.
Before I knew it, birds were chirping outside, a signal that the sun was rising, and I'd slept exactly zero hours and zero minutes. I wasn't even tired, fueled purely on adrenaline.
Ratting out Clo was the last thing I wanted to do — she'd saved my life at Dominic's and been loyal to me during the short time we’d been acquainted. I couldn't turn her in for this shit. In fact, I owed her. Winters probably deserved everything she did to him!
[[all this time has passed and I didn't even realize it. Somehow I managed to subdue the coke cravings enough. My brain is all hazy now and I don't know what to do. But it's finally a decent enough hour to get Molly's help. She'll know what to do. I trust her. She's always been here for me, no matter what.]]
Staying in my room was not helpful, so I rolled out of bed and went to make breakfast. Actually, my appetite was nonexistent so I cooked for Molly; I was about to wake her and she absolutely hated being woken – at least a fresh egg sandwich would tame her rage.
The scent of bacon filled her room after I pushed through her beaded curtain, then tiptoed to her bed, sitting on the edge. "MollyPop... I need you."
[[you know I'm desperate if I'm waking you up at the ass crack of dawn with food as an offering. I'm prepared for the monster to attack me, but it's worth it in order to get help with my shit.]]
She groaned, torn between indulging me for a bite of the bacon, egg, and cheese bagel or continuing to sleep. "What the fuck, VyVy." One eye popped open and gazed at the sandwich, then she licked her lips. "What time is it?"
I leaned the plate closer to her nose. "Early. But I just need you for as long as it'll take to eat."
Both eyes were half-open now, and she pushed herself up, pausing to glance at me. "You don't look so great." Then she snatched the sandwich-half off the plate, stuffing her face and sitting up against the wall.
[[Thanks Molly, I know I don't look fucking great. I'm panicking and pissed off and ready to snort coke.]]
"I haven't slept. Something's worrying me."
She nodded for me to continue as Crackers stirred next to her, stretching out her paws and sniffing the air as if the feast was for her.
I told Molly about the info I'd gathered, probably sharing way too much in a too disorganized way for my sleepy friend. I shouldn’t have been surprised when Molly responded, "Have you been using again?" Crackers meowed, trying to get her mom’s attention.
[[This pissed me off beyond belief. All the cravings I've been pushing down all night, and you have the nerve to just believe I don't have that willpower? Fuck this, I can do it on my own, I don't need her help.]]
My anxiety turned to rage. "Are you fucking kidding right now? Where did that even come from?" I pushed myself up from the bed, sitting the plate in front of her (much to Crackers’ delight), ready to walk away before saying something I'd regret.
She immediately took back her words. "Sorry, you just sound kind of paranoid. Are you sure you got the information right? Chloe? Like, what are the chances? Maybe you just need to look over it again with a clear head."
I let out a heavy groan, walking towards the door.
"Wait, don't leave,” Molly said quickly, and I turned back to her in time to see Crackers pawing at the bagel. “You came for my advice, even made breakfast and woke me up, so at least let me give it to you. I just need to think.” She picked the plate up away from Crackers, feeding her a tiny piece of egg while she munched, then looked at me. After swallowing, she said, "Okay, so maybe you did find Chloe in her high school yearbook, but that doesn't mean that she's the person you're looking for."
"Why would she lie to us about her last name?"
[[This is what I needed... Molly to argue with me, play devil's advocate. I can't sit with this info on my own. I need her. I need someone to snap me back into reality]]
"Maybe it's a typo."
I shook my head. "Gabe wouldn't have hired her without the proper paperwork... why would she have a social security card with a different last name? The government doesn't make typos like that and any normal person would've sent it back to get the proper spelling..."
Molly nodded. "Okay, sure. But do you really think Chloe would stick around after finding out you're working for Winters? And wouldn't they have seen each other at some point? Wouldn't Winters have pointed her out?"
[[ok this helps. maybe it's not her. maybe it's going to be okay.]]
Shrugging, I said, "It's been like 5 years since they would have seen each other last, she probably changed." I tried to think back to last time Winters was in the office, faintly remembering how Clo had gotten food poisoning and needed to go home early. Could it have actually been anxiety about seeing Winters?
[[ok now I'm back to maybe it is her?? God I'm so fucking confused and no idea what to do and Molly's not helping at all, she's just making me more confused and maybe I should just talk to Gabe about it...]]
"And going with you to Seattle seems risky. Wouldn't she have tried to get out of that trip? Or wouldn't you have noticed something between her and Sage?" Molly sighed. "I dunno, it just doesn't feel like enough evidence." She stifled a yawn, breaking off a piece of bacon for Crackers as she chewed her mouthful of food.
[[now I'm just getting mad again. Mad and tired and confused and craving drugs]]
"So you think I need to get more evidence before bringing this to Gabe and Winters?"
"What do you think would happen if you don't?"
I considered it for a moment, feeling the angry static pulsing through my veins. "Well Winters is a dick. If he had the name of someone who even remotely resembled Pattie Cake, he'd probably just go with it, use all of his money and power to fuck her over, even if she wasn’t the one to do it. He's desperate… just waiting to throw someone under the bus so he doesn’t lose his company. Not to mention he didn’t even do anything wrong, and Gabe would do whatever it takes to make sure his clients don’t get fucked."
Molly nodded as she ate silently, seemingly deep in thought.
My mind was racing all over the place, getting tired of waiting for her non-answer. Could she at least try to point me in the right direction? Finally I spat, "So you don't think Clo is Pattie Cake?"
"I didn't say that. I just don't know. It seems like you don't have enough against her yet to accuse her. And the stakes are too high to just turn her in like that without knowing for sure. So many innocent people are accused of crimes all the time and the system doesn't give a fuck about them."
[[ok that settles it. She's right. I can't talk to Gabe yet. Gabe doesn't give a fuck about the little guy, he's too busy saving corporations who have plenty of resources. Now I'm questioning my whole job with him and if I even want to do this shit anymore. Why am I helping him make corporations stronger? Fuck that.]]
I didn't mention that most of those people weren't pretty white girls, because Molly found a new place for my anger to go — the system. It wasn't time to turn Clo in yet... I didn't have real proof... the system wouldn't be fair, it never was.
“Just keep looking for evidence first. Make sure it’s her before telling Gabe and Winters. Don’t lie to them, just… stall.”
[[I'm content enough with Molly's response. But I still want drugs. This has fucked me up beyond what I could have imagined. I've done so well without coke for this long... and now I'm about to fuck it all up because of this job I thought I could do. Now I'm missing Vic. Maybe he would be better at pointing me in the right direction. But maybe he'd say the same thing Molly did. Fuck I just need to sleep now. My heart has finally stopped pounding so hard and now my body just feels heavy and exhausted.]]
I sighed. “Okay, yeah. I’ll wait. Not enough evidence. Buy more time. Got it.” I started walking again towards the door, wishing for more clarity. Maybe doing a deep dive into the rest of the potential suspects I’d found would help eliminate Chloe Peterson as even a possibility.
When I reached the beaded door, Molly called out, "Wait again!"
Rolling my eyes, I stopped and looked at her. "What now?"
She reached into her drawer and came out with a disposable vape pen and tossed it to me. "Use that for your anxiety and take a nap before work. Tell them you're sick. I'll vouch for you."
[[confused again. why is Molly giving me drugs? Also, I was just in Seattle and had plenty of this stuff. I don't even like weed that much. Is Molly okay? Probably not, but I don't have time to deal with that right now. Hopefully the others are looking after her. I have to figure out this case before I worry about anyone else. I know it's selfish... but Molly would ask for help if she needed it, right?]]
"Thanks," I muttered, a little confused. Not only would Gabe disapprove of this, but something just seemed off about Molly. First asking me to get her adderall (which I still needed to do) and now prescribing THC to the person who’d just gotten over a drug addiction? One problem at a time though. At least the weed would help me sleep.
"Don't be impulsive. Think before reacting," she recited when I was already out of her room.
I took a hit off the vape pen, piney taste burning my lungs and causing me to cough profusely. Molly was laughing in the background. But within seconds, I felt the tension release from my shoulders and back and my thoughts finally slowed down. I kept walking to my room, hitting it again when I got in bed.
[[ugh finally some relaxation and calmness. This is exactly what I needed. I don't need coke. I just need to sleep. Hopefully Gabe won't be too pissed.]]
Coming in late cuz sick. Molly will vouch. I texted it to Gabe and then took the last hit before closing my eyes and finally drifting to sleep.
x-x-x-x
[[it felt fantastic to sleep, but sucks being awake now. I only got a few hours, and now Gabe is all up my ass which is pissing me off. He doesn't know what I'm going through, he doesn't get it, he's just all about work and bullshit and saving his rich ass clients. I don't even want to tell him now because he sucks at listening to me and having empathy for anyone. Plus now I have no desire to stay with Izaak over the weekend with the stick he has up his ass.]]
"Being unable to sit comfortably isn't a viable excuse to come in late to work, and Molly is not a doctor to write you an ‘excuse’." Gabe was following me around the office trying to figure out why I'd missed the first half of the day, and so far I hadn't been indulging him.
"I told you already, I wasn't fucking feelin' well."
He stopped me. "What the hell is wrong with you? Was last night not sufficient?"
"Fuck off," I responded with an eyeroll, trying to walk away, thinking about how he would probably love to defend his wealthy client against poor little Clo.
His fingers wrapped around my upper arm and he jerked me back towards him. "You're about to end up bare-assed over the desk again if this attitude doesn't stop." His voice was low and threatening, creases in his forehead showing how serious he actually was.
"Whatever, can I just get to work now?"
"Any progress on Winters?"
I groaned again and pushed him off me. "When there's progress, you'll know."
He didn't follow this time, allowing me to go to the conference room. “I expect an update on Monday!” Gabe shouted after me as the door slammed shut. I leaned against the wall, grabbing the vape pen out of my bag. Molly wouldn't have given me this unless she truly believed I'd benefit, so I took a couple of hits, almost instantly feeling the stress melt away.
[[ok now that I've had a little weed, I can handle this situation more. Maybe it wasn't Chloe Peterson. Maybe Chloe and Clo are the same person, but one of the other girls I found might be Pattie. They all have stories and lives that could add up as nicely...]]
In a haze, I plugged in my computer and booted it up, digging up info about the next suspect. As I watched a “Cheaters” clip about her dad's affair, I was thinking about Clo and spending the weekend with her and Izaak. How would I be able to prove my hunch that it's her? So far I didn't have any hard evidence… But maybe that would change soon.
[[none of the others add up as nicely... either they have current social media that doesn't look similar to Pattie's (like none of them ever had blue hair?), and they don't have as compelling of a backstory (no other known con artist parents), or it's kind of clear where they were (not Chicago/Detroit area) when the crimes were being committed. It's becoming more clear that Chloe Peterson probably is Pattie, unless I'm just way off...]]
[[And maybe it'll be fun staying with Izaak and Clo this weekend. Maybe I can figure out more about Clo. Maybe I can just ask her directly if she's Pattie. And if she is, maybe I can help her out. We could figure out a way to get her out of trouble. She could retract the false studies. We can get her out of trouble. I don't have to be an asshole to her. Also, if she's Pattie, does Izaak know? He must, right?]]
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