Not Me ~ A Hamliza Mystery

Francis Kinloch

Eliza got up in the morning, reaching over to her husband's side of the bed. She frowned when she remembered why it was empty. It wasn't a bad dream. Her husband was missing.

She rolled over onto his side and wrapped herself in his blanket, breathing in his scent off his pillow. She sighed as a few tears strayed down her cheeks. She needed him.

She heard her front door open. Odd, she was sure she locked it. 4 stomping feet ran up the stairs and burst into her room. Of course it was her sisters.

Eliza pulled her husbands blanket over her head to hide from the sunlight her sisters just let in. She groaned, trying to hide her tears. Peggy pulled the blanket off her.

"What's with the tears? We have good news!" She said and pulled Eliza up. Eliza looked confused but looked through the door way. Alex was standing there. Waiting for her to hug him. She ran over and-

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Eliza shut her alarm off. It was only a dream... but the worst part was that her husband missing was not the dream part.

She looked up at the door. Still closed. No sisters or husbands. She sighed and pushed herself out of bed, going to the closet to get dressed. She put on leggings and one of Alex's hoodies, just wanting to stay as close to him as possible. Day 2. He was still gone. Their 48 hour window was almost up. What if they can't find him?

She heard her sisters let themselves in. As soon as they did, Eliza smelled muffins. Her favourite To-Go food. They must be in a rush.

She quickly threw her hair in a pony tail and made her way downstairs. Angelica was the first to give her a big hug.

"We will find him, I promise." She said and put a muffin in her hand. Eliza nodded and took a bite, feeling starving since she hadn't had dinner or lunch the day before. Too busy with the investigation.

Peggy grabbed her purse and gave Eliza some eyeliner and blush so she would look "presentable" when they went to see Mr. Kinloch. Eliza didn't mind. She liked not having to do her own makeup for once.

The three sisters piled into Angelica's Honda Civic. Eliza sat in the back, in Peggy's usual spot. She was too worried to fight with Angelica over radio music so she thought it best to sit in the back.

It was only a 20 minute drive to Francis's house, although it felt like forever. They were all dreading it. None of the sisters particularly liked Francis. They weren't sure if anyone liked Francis. Even his husband.

Angelica pulled up front. "Do you want to stay in the car?" She asked Eliza. Eliza shook her head.

"I will be fine. I just don't want to do the talking... he will laugh at me I'd my voice shakes..." she said and got out of the car with her sisters.

The three of them walked up to the door in a pack. Angelica knocked on the door and rang the bell a few times to make sure someone heard. They saw a figure coming towards the door through the frosted glass.

A tall man, probably 6'3, stood in the door. Definitely not Francis. But Eliza knew who he was. "Liam, we need to speak to Francis. It's urgent." Eliza said. Liam nodded and let them in without a word. He  didn't talk much. That's why he was Eliza (and Alex's) favorite of the pair.

Liam called Francis down, and to the sisters dismay, he came down very quickly. "What's going on here? Did you three change your mind about that foursome?" He smirked. Peggy gagged, making sure he saw.

"We just have some questions to ask you. Sit." Angelica said. Francis gulped a bit and sat down on the leather couches he probably stole. Angelica hit record on her phone and started asking questions.

"Where were you at 11:30pm the night before last?" She asked. Francis shifted in his seat, his eyes looking around the room. He took too long to answer.

"Answer the damn question!" Peggy shouted. Francis moved back a bit. Eliza grabbed Peggy's wrist to hold her back

"I was out for a walk in the park." He said and looked at Liam. Liam turned and walked out of the room. "That's the truth. I went for a walk in the park." He said a bit more confident.

"Which park??" Angelica asked. She glared daggers at Francis, either to intimidate or to scare. Eliza didn't know which, she just knew it was working.

"Uh... the one of Mercer I think. It's a 5 minute walk from here." He said. He didn't realize how this made him look to them.

"Do you know Kitty Livingston?" Angelica asked. Francis nodded. Eliza wanted to leave. Or run around the house to see if her husband was here. He seemed like their guy!

"I know her, I've been to her house a couple times. Hers is across from the park." He said. Angelica nodded.

"So you'd know she has security cameras, right?" Another nod from Francis. Boy, they had him! All they needed to do now was take this to the police and they would have their kidnapper!

"Where is Alex!?" Eliza blurted out. Francis smirked at her. She messed up. She let him know what this was all about. Frick!

"I don't know where your husband is. I haven't seen him, although I would like to. I miss him. I'm sure he'd take me over your infertile ass any day."

Eliza left. She had to. She couldn't listen to him anymore. She trusted Angelica and Peggy to be able to finish the investigation on their own. She would just wait in the car.