The Stranger

23. Buried Secrets

Elliot hands him another picture. "I'm sorry that happened to you..." He takes the picture, it's the mug shot. Amelia chimes in softly. "You can do whatever you want to with that... Don't worry Samuel... we will all work together to fix this..."

Amelia's eyes widen for a second and she pulls a couple of pictures out from her pocket. "I almost completely forgot. Kevin gave me these before he threatened me.. I didn't even get the chance to look at them. He said they were for you Elliot."

She hands them to him and they look at them together. His eyes widen a little and his facial expression is sad and happy at the same time. "That's my...mom.." The first picture is of his mother when she was pregnant.

He looks at the second one, which is of his mom and him when he was a toddler. He notices that they're both ripped down the middle and the other sides are missing. Elliot furrows his eyebrows. "Why are all of the pictures of my mom torn? I don't understand..."

Samuel leans forward a little and speaks softly. "Can I see them?" Elliot hands them to him and nods. He looks at them for a moment before handing them back. "I wonder why he hid them from you."

Elliot shakes his head. "I don't know... but whatever else he's hiding we're going to find it. Tonight we are going to follow him when he's on patrol. I want to see where he's going and why."

Amelia gives him a concerned yet intrigued look. "I'm surprised you want to do that. We need to be very careful. It will be really bad if he sees us." He glances at her and replies. "The skinny stranger is dead. It's safer to go in there now. You can wear my outfit again so you're not so easily seen."

As the afternoon passes and they've all eaten Elliot gets everything ready to go. Amelia changes into his outfit and puts her hair back. "I'm ready." She says. Elliot nods and they head for the door. "Sam, we won't be long."

Samuel gives them a worried look. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Elliot shakes his head. "No, it shouldn't take too long." They leave and make their way towards the station.

They don't get too close and wait for Kevin to come out. After a few minutes he leaves the station and starts walking in the direction of Amelia's house. They both crouch down and stay silent.

Once he's passed a little they trail behind him a bit away. They see Kevin get to the edge of the woods and glance around before he enters. They both exchange a confused look and follow him in.

It feels like they've been in the woods forever and he stops once they're deep into the woods. Amelia and Elliot hide behind some bushes and watch him. The wind is blowing, making the trees sway and the leaves fly.

She whispers to him as quietly as possible. "What is he doing?" He shrugs and they watch him confused. Kevin grabs a shovel that was hidden in a hole in a tree. They exchange another look and keep watching.

Kevin starts talking to himself as if he's answering somebody. "I know... shut up." and "That's not going to happen." and "She won't get in the way much longer." He says as he's digging.

He drops the shovel and gets on his knees. Kevin pulls out a small box and looks through it for a moment. He pulls out a small book and writes something in it before closing the box and burying it.

Kevin gets up and hides the shovel again before walking back towards the village. They stay crouched down until he's a little far ahead. They slowly follow him back out and see him head back for the station.

Elliot and Amelia stop in front of her house. "What the heck was that about?" She says. Elliot shakes his head and furrows his eyebrows. "I have no idea. I've never seen that box before. I've never heard him talk to himself either..."