Agent With a Shotgun

Ten

Amelias' eyes cracked open for a split second before closing them again, trying to rid the sleep from them. She blinked a couple times before opening them completely again. Her eyes wandered around the room, noticing the blinds and curtains were now closed. They were open when she went to sleep.

Colton closed them. She cracked a small smile at thought of him closing the curtains so the sun wouldn't bother her. Groaning in her throat, she rolled onto her back and rubbed a hand over her face. She didn't know how long she had been asleep but she felt so much better than before. Her head turned to the side and caught sight of some photos on the bedside table.

They were all family photos in different frames, but something was off. Colton wasn't in any of the pictures. It was all pictures of his mom, dad, and his younger brother, Colton wasn't seen in any. That caused Amelia furrow her brows, Colton and his family had always been close. He spoke about them all the time when they worked together, all the family trips they had been on and how proud his parents were of him and his younger brother. His brother was only 3 years younger than him so they were as brothers as they were in age. Colton going to every single event at his school that his brother was involved in, the same going the other way. Amelia loved when Colton spoke about his family because how happy he looked when he spoke of them. So for him to not be in a single picture was confusing.

Amelia didn't dwell on it though, it wasn't her business anymore.

After a few for minutes, she managed to drag her body out of bed and made her way back out to the kitchen in search of Colton. Hopefully he managed to find something on the pair of killers.

She found him on the kitchen where she last saw him, hunched over his laptop, his brow furrowed in concentration. He didn't seem to notice her as he was focused on his screen, typing furiously. Amelia stood back in the doorway and watched him for a moment. The new files scattered all around the table, the old ones mixed in as well. Amelias' note were among the clutter, an both Wilkins and what she wrote down to help Colton with the tracking.

Her eyes trailed up to his face next. She noticed the way his eyes moved back and forth across the screen to the way his jaw ticked if he couldn't figure something out. One of his chin was set in the palm of his hand, holding his head up as his other hand scrolled up and down on the keyboard.

She couldn't but find herself admiring him from the doorway. His jaw had gotten more defined over the years and his hair had grown out, falling over his forehead perfectly. The dark brown curls ending just before his eyes. Her eyes then trailed over the muscles of his upper arms which have also gotten more defined since she last saw him. She guessed that he began working out more when she left, seeing that he never really had time when they worked together. Neither of them really ever had time to do much of anything they enjoyed. Which raised another question in her mind, how did he have the time to get to a gym now?

Coltons' eyes glanced at the door for a split second before noticing her. He kept his eyes on her for a second before turning back to the computer screen, "How long have you been up?"

Amelia walked into view more before responding, "A few minutes." Colton nodded his head before a smirk lit up his face, looking back over at her, "So you decided to stand in the doorway and stare at me instead of joining." He said in amusement causing Amelia to roll her eyes.

"Find anything?" Amelia chose to say instead of responding to his statement. Coltons' smirk deepened, "Yes and no." Amelia tilted her head to the side, signaling for clarification.

Colton motioned her to come closer and look at the screen, "The signal from Dickens' phone bounced from multiple cell towers close to the city. There are two particular cell towers where the signal bounces off the most," He points to a specific point on the screen where two dots were blinking multiple times, "I have managed to narrow it down to a 10 block radius on the outskirts of the city, but these buildings are way too small for him to be able to hid another person for five years in. They're also in a very public area for being this close to city limits."

Amelias' eyes darted over the screen and saw that he was right. Both of the places where the signal pings off the most are small apartment buildings, there was no way that Dickens could've been hiding Wilkins in either of these places. Someone would've surely seen him.

"Well, Wilkins isn't stupid," Amelia said, "he more than likely told Dickens to turn his phone off every time he went to the hideout." Colton nodded his head in agreement.

"I figured that as well," He told her, leaning back in his chair with his arms folded, "this is the only viable lead we have right now. We could head out there and start talking to people in the area, see if they possibly saw Dickens recently. Or maybe if they knew where he was going." He began to stand up and put his jacket back on when Amelia stopped him.

"I agree with you but uh," Amelia fiddled with her fingers, looking down, "can we go a little bit?" Her eyes wandered everywhere except for Colton, almost embarrassed.

Coltons' brow furrowed, "Why not go now-" realization then struck him and he smiled, amused, "you're hungry aren't you?" He let out a loud laugh when Amelia nodded her head sheepishly.

"Stop laughing," She said with a small glare, "I haven't eaten since Thursday afternoon. Didn't have time to make anything before my shift at the bar Friday either." Colton continued to laugh softly at her glare before nodding his head, "Sit at the table and I'll fix something." Amelia sat down in the chair at the end of the table while Colton placed his jacket back down. He turned around and began opening the cabinets to find what he needed but Amelia didn't pay attention to what he was pulling out. Her attention was focused on the filed scattered about before her. More specifically, the newspaper clippings.

They couldn't take the actual clippings because those had to be taken into evidence at the precinct so the best they had were photographs of them. Amelia picked up the picture of the second clipping where the majority was blacked out except for some letters here and there.

Her eyes skimmed over the clipping, taking note of the specific letters left alone. The same letters were repeatedly left alone by the black marker and it didn't take long before she figured out just exactly this meant. She had had a hunch the first time she was shown it but now that she could really look at the article and see the contents, she knew she was right.

Her heartbeat quickened and her face paled once again. There was no way he could possibly know this but yet here it was, right in front of her eyes. For what felt like hours, she stared at this picture before her, not blinking. This didn't make sense. How did he know?

"Here you go," she was snapped out of the dilemma going through her mind when Colton placed a bowl in front of her. Mac and cheese. "I hope this works, it's all I could find." He smiled sheepishly as he sat down in the chair next to her.

Amelia looked up at him and blinked a few time to remind herself to try and look normal, "Oh, yea. This is fine." She quickly looked at the bowl and put a spoonful into her mouth, chewing slowly.

Colton eyed her suspiciously, "You okay?"

"Huh," Amelia looked back up before nodding her head, "yea I'm fine." Looking back down to avoid his face, she continued eating.

Colton wasn't convinced but he let it go, "Do you have any idea what this second article could mean? He wouldn't have left it if it didn't have some type of relevant meaning."

Thank god Amelia was a skilled liar.

"No," She said, "I was trying to figure it out just now but nothing came to me. Maybe he left it to throw us off or something."

"But to leave it with the baby," Colton brought up, his brow furrowed once again, "that seems like a lot to go through just to throw us off."

"He is a smart killer." Colton agreed with that and let the subject drop, turning back to his computer. He began to type on the keyboard once again, leaving Amelia to eat in silence.

She might've been quiet but her mind was speaking so loud.

How did he know?