Episode 43
If you miss the character recap at the beginning of chapter 42, here is it again:
Annemarie â In band with Megan. Best friends with Asher, and Megan. Was the first person Lily befriended at school. Her dad is a forensic scientist.
Asher â Dyed, silver hair with green eyes. Gay. And is Annemarie and Meganâs friend. Crushing on Ian.
Al â Another FBI agent. On the same team as Demitri and Skylar. Only mentioned once before when he was suppose to watch out for Bradlee and Lily when they went to the park together. He also chased the âkillerâ and saw that the blonde hair was a wig.
âI-I, umââ
âExcuse me, Sir. My daughter here,â Al stepped in, as I heard the smile in his tone. His hand gently sqÂŁÂŁzed my shoulder, letting me know he was here for me. Even though I barely knew Al, his strong protective demeanor, instantly calmed me down. âAs, you can see, sheâs quite shock to be discovered so quickly. Avery is her real name, and Lily is just her stage name,â he quickly made up. âTo be honest, we were hoping to start fresh in this town.â
He tilted his head, his hands wobbling on his cane. âA stage name?â
Al smiled. âMy daughter is quite the star, you see. Sheâs the lead actress on this webtoon show she started and her stage name is Lily.â
âOh! I didnât know such a famous actress lived in my neighborhood. Annemarie will be stoked about this!â the old man announced happily. âDo you perhaps know a guy named Bradlee?â My ears perked up hearing Bradleeâs name, as my pulse skyrocketed in my chest. Scratching at the back of my hand, I tried not to make it too obvious I was nervous as hell.
âUm, yes. Heâs my co-star,â I told him when I found my voice. âI didnât know Annemarie was a fan of mine.â
âShe is! My daughter has a ton of pictures of her favorites entertainers in her bedroom. Iâm guessing theyâre all from your little webtone.â
I couldnât help but cover a grin when I realized he pronounced webtoon as webtone. âProbably. May I see this collection of hers?â I asked, as I heard the quiet gasp from Al. âIf sheâs such a fan of mine, Iâll love to sign the picture she has of me.â
His brown eyes widened. âReally? Youâll do that?â
âOf course!â I chirped happily. âAnything for a friend of mine. Iâm surprised she didnât say anything to me sooner.â
âAnneâs pretty shy like that.â He chuckled. Opening the door wide enough for us, he welcomed us. âCome in, her roomâs this way.â
Al went in first, making sure everything was safe, before he grabbed my wrist, bringing my body close to his. Clutching the side of his coat, I walked forward, making sure I let the video camera Iâd attached to my b—-tâs pocket see everything. Every evidence I could get on this girl, the better.
Making our way up to the staircase theyâd in their entrance way, Annemarieâs father stopped at the bottom of the staircase and looked at us.
âHer room is on the second floor. Just go right on up, and Iâll meet you there,â he said. âIâm going to take the elevator up since these old legs of mine donât function like they used to be.â
âOkay, Sir.â
He smiled kindly at us. âPlease call me, Jim.â
âOkay, Jim.â I smiled back at him.
He lowered his head at us, saying his goodbyes, as he made his way slowly to the elevator. When he was out of earshot, Al turned to me.
âCome on, Avery. Letâs hurry before he gets up there. I want to scope out the place before we go into her room.â
âSure thing.â As we ran up the two flights of stairs, we saw pictures of Annemarie with her father and mother. While Annemarieâs father looked to be in his sixties, her mother didnât look a day over forty. By the pictures alone, I could tell Jim wasnât Annemarieâs biological father. There were no baby pictures of Annemarie, and there were hardly any pictures of her growing up. Seeing the last picture, I knew for a fact, Jim was her second father. Annemarie stood smiling next to her mother and father on the day of their wedding. She looked to be around ten years old with her round cheeks, and her black hair tied up in a ponytail.
âThereâs no way she killed those people . . .â I mumbled under my breath, staring at her kind eyes. Knowing that the car used to take Ashleigh was parked in this houseâwas nerve wracking. I guess the old saying was rightânever trust anyone.
Looking away from the pictures, I ran towards where Al was standing. I let him inspect the floor in peace, before we heard the elevator door opening.
Jimâs face brightened up, as he headed straight for us. It took him a while, but we eventually met him halfway when we saw him struggling.
âHer room is this way.â He pointed to the door furthest away from where we stood. âYou can go in first, if you want. Iâm sure she wonât mind.â
âAre you sure?â I asked.
âOf course.â He smiled, the wrinkles in his face more prominent. âI donât want to hold you, youngsters back. Just leave the door open, and Iâll be there soon.â
âNonsense,â Al said. âWeâll help you out.â
He looked taken aback by that offer. âReally? Itâs not everyday someone in your generation helps an old guy like me out.â
âPlease, youâre hardly old.â Al chuckled, grabbing the hand Jim wasnât using. He placed his other hand on his mid-back, steadying him.
Jim waved his hand at Al, dismissing his compliment. âOh please. I just retired from my job after fifty years in the business. Compared to you guys, Iâm old.â
âYou donât say.â Al raised his brows, making small talk. âMy dad just retired from the police force specializing in DNA profiling just earlier this year.â
âWhat a small world! I just retired from that industry as well.â
It was Alâs turn to be shock. âDid you specialize in profiling as well?â
âI didnât specialize in that, but I did analysis scientific evidence whenever an investigation came up.â
âSo, like a forensic scientist?â
âCorrect, my boy,â he answered with a grin. âMy daughter actually wants to follow in my footsteps and become a forensic scientist too. Sheâs been asking me so many questions lately, I could hardly keep up.â His eyes twinkled with delightâcompletely unaware of the fact that his daughter was not the person she said she was. Stopping in front of her door, Jim twisted the doorknob, allowing Al and I to go in first. âIâm just so glad, sheâs finally getting over the shock of her motherâs sudden death.â
âIâm sorry to hear that,â Al said, his eyes downcast, as I glanced around her room. It looked nothing like I thought it would be. Besides the random trash thrown across her room, it looked completely normal. Nothing was out of placeâand I didnât see any of the pictures her dad mentioned on her wall. They were pretty much bare save for the letters that spelt out her name above her bed.
âIf youâre looking for the pictures, theyâre in her desk drawer. I put them there this morning when I was gathering laundry in her room.â He pointed to the bottom drawer, that was aligned opposite of her bed. âThereâs pens on her desk you can use to sign your name with.â
Thanking him, I left Al and Jim by the door to converse quietly amongst themselves. Stepping over some of her old homework on the floor, I made my way to the drawer her dad was talking about. Pulling it out, I saw my picture. From the picture alone, I knew she wasnât a fan. It was picture taken of me recentlyâwith my brown hair, and glasses. It wasnât a picture of me as âLilyâ.
Slowly taking it out, I tried not to make it obvious I was going through the many different photos she had. Spotting Bradlee and Ashleighâs photos, I knew for a fact Annemarie was behind the kidnapping.
Looking in the corner of my eye, I saw Jim still in deep conversation with Al, giving me the freedom to freely look through the pictures. Seeing a tiny white piece of paper sticking out slightly in one of her textbooks, I quickly pulled it out. The blood drained from my body as I saw the blonde-haired girl. It was Alyce Bryantâthe recent victim from a few weeks ago.
Knowing, I didnât have much time, I tucked the picture back in place, and quickly pretended to sign my name on the picture. Shutting the drawer, I looked up, trying to act normal in front of her dad. There was no way he could be this obvious to his daughterâs crimes, right? I mean, he was a forensic scientist for crying out loud. . . not to the mention the amber alerts.
They were issued for Bradlee and Ashleigh earlier this week, twenty-four hours after they disappeared. He couldnât have missed those, right? I mean, unless Annemarie answered the call, he shouldâve heard about those. If I remembered correctly, the call was issued mid-eveningâthe perfect time to intercept the call. Was Annemarie really playing her dad in this? Was she really this good at covering up her tracks? If she was, why did she lead us straight to her house? Did she make a mistake or something . . .?
âAvery, you okay?â Al asked me, snapping me out of my train of thought.
âYeah, Iâm fine,â I lied. âI was just thinking about something.â
âYouâre always spacing out.â Al laughed. âDaughters, right?â Al asked, turning to Jim.
He agreed, nodding his head. âThanks for signing my daughterâs picture of you. I canât wait to tell her when she comes back from school today. Sheâs going to be so happy.â
âMaybe you shouldnât tell her,â Al advised quietly. âLetting her find out by herself is much more of a surprise. Sheâll be much more excited that way.â
âYou think?â
âJust ask, Avery.â Al directed his eyes at me. âWhen I brought her that puppy, I kept shut about it until I heard her screaming in her room.â
âAnd?â Jim asked now looking at me.
âAnd, I was totally surprised. I hugged the life out of my dad when I saw it.â
âSee.â Al grabbed my hand. âJust let your daughter be surprised first.â
âThanks for the advice, young man.â The man lowered his head in thanks, his bald spot on full display. âIâll do just that. And also, welcome to the neighborhood. I hope to see you again, someday.â
âWeâll be glad to show up once in awhile,â Al said cheerfully. âI have a feeling weâll be visiting you guys very soon.â
âGreat!â He grinned. âMake sure to bring that wonderful wife of yours the next time you come. Iâll love to taste her famous oatmeal cookies you were telling me about. My daughterâs been trying to bake oatmeal cookies for this friend of hers. She said it was his favorite.â My eyes narrowed down in thought. Was he talking about Asher? Could he be behind this too?
âI can probably write that recipe down if you want.â Al shrugged. âShe practically drilled the recipe in my brain that I actually memorized it.â
His eyes widened. âThatâs so kind of you. Are you sureââ
ââIâm sure.â Al turned to face me. âAvery, can you get a pad of paper and a pen from Annemarieâs desk?â
I bit my bottom lip, wondering exactly what he was up to . . . why did he want me to look at her desk once more? I already video taped all the evidence I needed. I even made sure to get the letters that spelt out her name so people knew exactly whose room we were in.
Deciding to trust Alâs instinct and direction, I did exactly what he instructed. Seeing a sticky note placed neatly on her desk, I was about to grab it when I saw a small device sitting on her desk in the corner of my eye. Could this perhaps be why Al wanted me to go back and look?
Taking a glance at it, I saw the lately message that appeared on the screen. Blocking, what I was doing with my body, I pretended to be busyâas I tried to look for something to write onâwhile I really got closer to device. Leaning over it, I eyed it quickly, reading the maximum words her preview mode would allow.
This b—h keeps whining about his missing sister. I think we should . . .
Seeing the contactâs name, work flash across the top screen, I knew that this was in fact the mastermind behind everything. The real f—–g killer.
Hopefully everything is less confusing now xD Just letting you know, if you still donât get it â donât worry. Everything will make sense in the end. Trust me, Iâm not dumb. I know what Iâm doing with this story.
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