Fin could tell already from her pose outside her front door that she wasn't happy about the situation. Tough he just thought to himself and walked up to her. She reluctantly held up the door to him as she used her key and then stepped inside. He followed her to the elevators and they rode up to the fifth floor under silence. He'd never been inside her house or apartment and he felt strangely curious to see her domains. He wondered if her place had that southern charm he heard about or if she'd have a dream catcher around. He would soon find out he thought as the elevator made that well-known sound of final destination reached. He let her step out first and he didn't miss how she looked both ways with a somewhat suspicious eye before she took the first step towards her apartment. He wondered if this was a regular habit or if it was caused by the night's trials. She had the apartment to the right at the very end of the corridor. Fin tried to orientate himself and figured that would give her windows to the street and maybe to the alley to the next housing.
–I haven't cleaned. She muttered as she open the door and reached for the light. He didn't know how to answer that and just kept quiet. She flung the door wide open so he could pass her as she leaned towards the wall to get her boots off. He stepped in and found himself in a small but yet airy hallway thanks to the high ceiling. He closed the door behind him and kicked of his shoes on the doormat that said "welcome home". She caught him looking at it and muttered 'My mom' and he saw her roll her eyes as he looked up at her. She'd gotten her boots off by now and tossed them on the floor even though there was a shoe rack by her side. A shoe rack with only a pair of running shoes and a pair of flip flops on them. She got her jacket off and hung it on a knob by the other wall. He followed her lead and did the same but used another empty knob for his jacket. Other then the shoe rack there wasn't much in there except for the door mat, the knobs and a small frame with what looked like a butterfly made by a couple of hands and the letters A + J written beneath. It wasn't big but seemed to have great value to her since it was the only thing put up really.
She'd taken a few steps into the apartment when he'd hung his jacket and she seemed to be waiting for him. She'd crossed her legs and was balancing on one foot as she wobbled her knees a bit. She'd crossed her arms slightly in front of her. The previous almost hostile pose had changed into one that seemed almost sheepish. She looked uncomfortable and a bit embarrassed. –Casa Rollins. She said while he made his way over to her and she gestured to the room in front of him. He looked around and saw a rather spacious living room, again maybe cause of the high ceiling , but with very little decor. She had what looked like a very comfy large couch, a couch table and a big flat screen TV. A rug underneath the couch and table. The two windows were spacious without either curtains or plants. The light button by the door had turned on both the hallway light and a cluster of smaller light bulbs just hanging straight down from their strings by the couch. He liked that detail a lot. The room looked nice but it lacked a personal touch. There was nothing on the walls and in the corner behind Amanda he saw two moving boxes still unpacked and by them a stack of books looking like they were longing for a place to sit in.
–Living room. She said and gestured to the room in front of them. –Kitchen. She pointed to his right. –Bedroom and bathroom in there. She gestured to the door that was almost closed to her left side. –And that's it. She closed her hands in front of her. –Nice. Spacious. He said. –If you call this not cleaned though I'm never inviting you over to my place. He looked at her with a curved eyebrow. Sure there was an empty glass on the table and magazines both on and off the table but it was far from untidy. There was a blanket neatly folded over the couch arm and two pillows in one corner. –Well it's been worse. She whispered still clearly uncomfortable with having him there. –Look I'm really in the need of a shower. If you need to use the bathroom before… she left it open for him to answer and he shook his head. –I'm good for now. He said. –Okay. She squirmed a bit under his gaze. –Feel free to what little I have in the kitchen. The remote is over there. She pointed to the flat screen. –And I'll be out with a cover and a pillow for you when I'm done. –Great. He said and he got a brief smile from her before she turned to retreat into her bedroom. She closed the door behind her.
He let his eyes rest a while at the door that had just closed. He was usually calm by nature but right now he just wanted to know what was going on with her. He let his eyes wander around the room again. He couldn't believe she'd lived here since she moved to the city. He had more junk than her. Robinson Cruise had more junk than her. Probably even Dalai Lama or Gandhi or some other ascetic soul out there. He walked around the room. He peeked out onto the street. It was still. He looked into the kitchen from where he was standing. It was one of those open floor designs. A counter with a huge window above it almost all the way to the roof and a wide opening to its left. It was dark in there. He walked over. He found the light switch and a row of lights underneath the counters lit up the entire room within a second. It looked fresh. Light counter tops, a new stove, refrigerator and sink in a nice design. The back panel was draped with dark grey stone mosaic. Only a few items were left out on the counters. A closed lap top was charging by the window.
He saw some things on the refrigerator and walked over in hopes he'd get a glimpse of Amanda Rollins there. He found an old ticket to an Atlanta Hawks game, a yellow post-it with just a phone number on it and another one with a past date and time on it and another date and time that was still ahead. All of them held up with Coca-cola magnets. When he looked closer though he saw it actually said Co-cola on them but the color and design was the same as the original. There was plenty magnets left alone and he wished he'd been able to see photos or something underneath instead. He wasn't sure what the last post-it was about. His curiosity got the better of him regarding the other post-it though and he put the digits into his phone for a search in the morning when he was back at work. He looked inside the refrigerator and found she hadn't been kidding about the 'what little'. She had a couple of beers in the back. On a shelf he saw a peanut butter jar, a bag with some kind of nuts and some sad looking blueberries in an open plastic container. On the shelf below he found a stack of some weird looking grapes. He picked one and slowly put it in his mouth ready to spit it out if it was not eatable. But it was strangely delicious. Sweeter than any grape he'd ever tried, not that he was an avid grape eater but still. He took another one. On the door he found a can of Coca-cola and a small, unopened syrup bottle.
He grabbed a beer from the top shelf and closed the refrigerator. He twisted the cap of and went to hunt for the trash dispenser as he took a slug. He found the trash were it usually sat and he saw at least two takeout boxes down there. He also noticed she recycled. Papers in one dispenser and a couple of jars in a second one. The third one empty and since he hadn't recycled a thing in his life he didn't know what that one was for. I should really start to recycle he thought to himself. He took a look in the kitchen cupboards. She really didn't have much in there either. Four plates, four bowls, a couple of glass and five mugs in different designs. In one he found like five different kinds of ice-teas and sugar. Lots of sugar. Who had ice-tea in New York he asked himself. The girl from Atlanta of course he thought to himself and smiled. As he was about to walk out he noticed another little frame with something handwritten on it. He hustled over. He had to read the words a few time over since he had a hard time grasping them. "The gods avenge not on the son the deeds done by the father. Each, or good or bad, of his own actions reaps the due reward. The parents' blessing, not their curse, descends." He didn't get it. Around the words were some splashes of color. He recognized a fingerprint in one of the colors and figured it was painted by hand. He wondered if Amanda was the creator. He didn't recognize her handwriting though. She usually wrote more plain but then again this had probably been done in no hurry.
His thoughts were interrupted by his phone buzzing. He saw Olivia's last name on the screen and flipped it open quickly. –Hey. He said. –Hey. I didn't interrupt? –Never. Have you been? –Yeah. I'm still here. I can't really tell where she got attacked and I can't find anything usable. She sounded bothered about this. –But /her voice got a happier tone/ there is a traffic camera just across the street which means we might have footage of her in the street at least. –Great. –Yeah. I'm gonna go by the station just to put in a request for it. Maybe we'll have it by tomorrow already. –Great. But then go home and get some sleep Liv. –I will. I'll just do a quick search on the name Jade in her files though. How's she doing? –She went straight to the shower. Haven't been able to talk to her. –Okay. Fin stood in the door between the kitchen and living room and gazed around the room. –What? Liv asked when the line went quiet and she figured he was thinking something. –Her apartment is just so… I dunno. It's like she hasn't really moved in. –Well maybe she hasn't? –She's been in this flat since she got her Liv. She should be more… he wasn't sure what to say. –Say it. Liv urged him knowing sometimes you got to the core by just voicing whatever was in your head. –Her furniture is new. Which isn't surprising when moving that distance I guess but she also still has unpacked boxes in her living room. Empty cupboards. It's like she'd be ready to get out of here if needed. Liv thought about what he was saying. –Well maybe she is? –I don't like that thought Liv. –I know you don't. Neither do I but with all that's gone on tonight I'm not sure what to think Fin. What you just told me makes me think even more that she knows this guy. –Yeah I'm right there with you. –Okay I'm gonna get out of here. Make sure the two of you get some sleep too. Let me know if you need me to cover for the captain tomorrow. –I haven't really thought of that. I don't think we can stop her from going to work though. –Probably not. But you'll let me know? –Sure. Be safe Liv. –Will. Night. –Night. Fin shut his phone.
He remained in the door for a while. He could just barely hear her shower running from where he was standing. He took another stroll around the room. Checked the street again. If she knew the guy he might know where she was staying. He could be out there. Amanda had staked out the hallway as she left the elevator. Since he hadn't seen her walk up to her building he didn't know if she'd done the same outside or not. He walked back to the hallway. He wanted to take a closer look at that framed picture. As he walked in there he noticed the door. It had two security chains. One was usual but two? He looked closer at them. One was new he could tell. It was placed further down on the door. The chains were left hanging and he let them be like that for now as a test. He turned around to look at the framed butterfly. The butterfly seemed to be made by paint by the side of someone's hand that had been pressed against the paper. The two sides were slightly off in size and the color palette was just slightly different which made him think the wings were made by two different people. The A + J written below hinted to that same conclusion. He touched the left side of the butterfly that was smaller and with a more orange tint to it. He wondered if that was Amanda's hand. The other side went more in a green shade and the fingers in the upper wing were more visible. He had to smile at himself when he caught himself looking if he could maybe get a partial fingerprint in the drawing. In the detective mode constantly.
He looked at the J written below. Jade? He could still hear the shower running so he dared to lift the frame off the wall. On the back he found a year written. He tried some quick math in his head and figured it would make her about seven at the time that the drawing were made. Could that make Jade a classmate? A sister? He tried to recall an interaction he had with Amanda while at the hospital during a case. Didn't she say something about a sister having some mental issues? Or was it drugs? Or was it a friend she talked about? He wished he'd paid more attention back then. He should know if she had siblings or not he thought to himself. Seeing how he himself didn't like talking about his past he preferred to stay in the present with friends and colleagues. He put the frame back on the wall and walked back to the living room. He decided to try the couch and TV out while he waited for her to be done so he hopefully could get to talk to her some. He found she had plenty of channels. A lot of sports channels he noted. He flipped by the sports channels though, he enjoyed a basketball game every now and then but for light entertainment he preferred a music channel. He settled on MTV and an old episode of Jersey Shore. He'd already seen it but he didn't mind.