The Canary Series: The Hunt

Chapter one

October 31 2020

 2AM

Amelia Stoker

Amelia stood under the spray of the showerhead, the haunting image of the man's dead stare burned into her mind as she stared at the back of her palm that was pressed up against the fogged up showers door. The skin there paled in comparison to the crimson droplets running down the glass surface, tainted by the man's blood, the same blood that was caked under her finger nails. How it had managed to get under there was a mystery to Amelia, but then the man's blood had managed to get on her clothes and in her hair as well.

Amelia's eye lids slid closed of their own accord, exhaustion pulling at the corner of her mind, as his screams echoed in her mind's eye. Amelia's knees shook, threatening to overtake her, as images of the murder came to the front of her mind, a murder that she had just helped to cover up. Why did this man have to die?

Amelia's back hit the wall as she slid down it, stomach bile worked its way up her throat and onto the slower floor, because she knew the answer. He had to die, in order for her live. If Tavarez believed he'd killed the mole then he wouldn't come looking for her, she'd be safe and able to continue on with her mission undetected.

Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand Amelia set her shoulders before sitting back, allowing the water to wash away the bile, CaLixTa had been right. Amelia realized with a rueful smile she leaned her head back, I can't protect anyone, and I'm becoming one of the monsters.

   ***

September 17th 2017

  10PM

Amelia's hands cradled her head as she sat at the old oak desk, numerous papers laid scattered between the desk and floor. Defeat did not begin to describe how she felt, everything was out of Amelia's control, her life was a mess like the room before her. A tired sigh escaped her parted lips as she lifted her head to take in said mess, when I had told my mom I'd take care of dad's office I had no idea what that meant. Amelia realized, reluctantly she lifted one of the sheets of paper before her, her eyes scanned over the unimpressive document.

Amelia couldn't make head or tails of the numbers on the sheet of paper, banking information, finances, she realized, but whose? Amelia licked her lips, in truth she didn't know enough about her dads business to be here cleaning out his office. "Why the hell didn't he have an assistant?" She wondered aloud, of course she did know the answer to that, Stephen Hartzell ran his own business from this loft he had been renting for years.

Her gaze shifted around the room, every inch of it was her adopted father. From the style of the brown leather furniture, to the tall bookcase and the pictures of different types of birds that littered the office, to the actual living little red canary nestled in the corner near the furthest window, on occasion said bird would let out a squawk to remind Amelia it was still here.

This had been his home, before he had married her mother, and it was that fact that had given Amelia peace of mind, if only for a few seconds. Of course, that was before she had realized that she had no idea of where to begin with closing his business.

It had been a month, and still she didn't feel any closer to solving that issue.

A single beep had Amelia turning to the computer, puzzled she realized that the blinking tab at the bottom of the screen was a message. Someone was messaging her father, Amelia frowned did the person not realize her father was dead?