Chapter 7. Did You Miss Me

One of the prison guards opened the heavy door and handed Olivia a large envelope filled with letters.

"Thank you."

She started driving back to the city fast and stopped to get gas and a redbull. She noticed she was 10 minutes away from Noah's brother's house, and the town wasn't that bad. It had everything they needed. A gas station, a cute grocery store, some good looking restaurantsa couple of kichty boutiques, a theater, a Starbucks, and at the edge of main street was a driveway with a for sale sign at the end. She was curious, so she stopped and pulled down the long gravel road. Hidden behind large beautiful trees was a farmhouse with a wrap around porch, rose bushes filled with large blossoming flowers, and a porch swing. It was breathtaking. The old man, who owned the house, was coming out of the garage.

She parked the car and got out.

"Can I help you," He asked.

"Ah…saw your house was for sale. It's beautiful. Can I get more information about it?"

"Sure. My wife and I lived here for 50 years. We had four kids. All grown. Those were her rose bushes. She passed two years ago. I'm down sizing. You got kids?"

"I…do."

"Oh, how many," he sweetly asked.

"...six," it fell out right out of her mouth. She'd never said it before. Had never been asked. Had never thought she would consider his children her own in that way, and then like it was old hat, she said it. "Six kids, mostly grown, a few grandkids….hoping for more," she smiled, tears formed in her eyes and she shook them away.

"That's lovely. This is the perfect home for kids and grandkids. Has plenty of rooms, and a tire swing in the back. My grandkids love to play in the woods and down by the creek in the back."

"That's…lovely," she smiled.

He then gave her a full tour of the inside of the house and handed her a lemonade.

"Well, here. The realtor gave me this brochure. I guess you have to call her if you want to buy."

She nodded, beaming with delight. "I will. Thanks for the lemonade."

Before heading home, she stopped at the precinct and dropped the letters over to Fin and Bruno, and then picked up Noah from the dance studio.

It was night by the time they reached their apartment. Noah opened the back door and flicked on the lights. There were boxes everywhere. Elliot had moved in with them, because they were all supposed to move to a bigger apartment, but life was so over scheduled that neither one of them had time to think about apartment shopping. And the few places they did look at, quickly turned into a fight over what was wrong with the location or the balcony or the security or the size of the bathrooms and closets. So Elliot's things remained scattered throughout their home and smashed in every inch of closet and storage space that she had.

"I'm going to my room. I've got homework."

"Hey, Noah," she stopped him. "I looked at a house today…..close to your brother's."

"And?"

"And, what if we moved there?"

"No."

This wasn't the reaction she thought he would give her.

"Well...that's not what I thought you'd say. No? Why?"

"Because I have friends here, and I just got into the competition group in my dance classes. And I actually like my teachers this year. So. No."

"We could still do dance competition, and I'm sure you'll have great teachers in Mount Kosic."

"Mount Kosic? No, Mom. Hasn't there been enough change! I just want things to go back to normal. This is all bull shit!"

And with that he slammed the door.

Had she not already lived through hell and back, she might have forced him to talk it out, but she had nothing left to give. She walked into her dark bedroom. Turned on her bathroom light, stripped naked and stood in the hot shower for what seemed like an entire hour. Her whole body ached. The water felt glorious. She missed Elliot so badly. As the scolding water beat against her back, she thought about Elliot's hands on her body

Flashback

"Hey," Elliot said as he poked his head into the steaming shower.

She jumped.

"Jesus! You scared me."

"Sorry, just got home. Can I join you?"

"Sure," she gave him a glance and smirked as he slipped into the water and pulled her wet body against his.

"Mmmm," he murmured as he nuzzled his face into her neck and let the water rinse the day from his skin. "I missed you so much today."

She stopped soaping herself and nuzzled and kissed the side of his head. "I missed you too."

His hands ran up her back and he pulled her lips to his and sucked the water gently from them. He immediately pulsed hard between her legs.

She would have loudly moaned if they had lived alone, but she held her ecstasy back, bit her lip, and pulled his hands up to her breasts. He wildly kissed them and touched her. His fingers knew exactly how to please her now. Around slowly and then inside.

When she couldn't take the foreplay any longer she pushed him inside of her and they wrapped around in each other wet and wild and writhing.

Flash to present.

Olivia softly released her urges and thoughts, alone in the shower. She pulled her hand away from her body, and then leaned her forehead on the cold tile wall and cried. She wanted him back in her arms so badly she was sick to her stomach.

She turned the shower off and walked back into her bedroom. This time turning a light on. She hadn't noticed that the window was open before. She couldn't remember opening it.

She wrapped her towel securely around herself and grabbed her glock near the bed. The click of the safety went off, and she peaked outside and then in her very full closest. Nobody was there. She quickly closed the window and her curtains, and then changed into jogging pants, a bra, and a t-shirt.

Her body trembled, and she hoped Noah was still in his room and oblivious to her fears.

Slowly she crept out of her room. She could see Noah's door was still closed and the light was still on. She crept around the corner to the kitchen, and all of the cabinets had been pulled open. Her food and pots and pans were thrown about the ground. They hadn't come in the front way so they didn't notice the kitchen had been broken into.

She was on high alert, but didn't want to scream for Noah in case the intruder was still there.

Around the corner was the living room.

"NYPD. If you're in there. I have a gun, and I will use it. Show yourself."

She said it again. Louder now. Another window was open and her curtain was wipping around in the wind.

"NYPD!"

And then Noah's door opened.

"Mom? You okay?"

"Noah, stay there, lock your door, and call Fin," she trembled.

"Why?"

"Now, Noah."

Slowly she walked to the living room and peaked around the corner.

The living room was also destroyed and in the middle of the broken lamps, picture frames, and side tables was a figure sitting on a chair in the dark.

"Hello?"

The figure didn't move.

"Who's there?," she asked, and then turned on the ceiling fan light.

In the middle of the room was a woman with blonde hair. She was tied to a kitchen chair. Her mouth was duck taped. She had burn marks on her face and arms. Her blood was everywhere. A bottle of empty Vodka lay next to the body and she was sliced in several places.

Olivia knew what this scene was exactly. It was her worst nightmare. The burns, the blood, the vodka immediately triggered her.

"AH…," She sucked in air and turned her face and leaned on the wall.

"Okay," she breathed in. "Okay, okay, okay. Lewis is dead. Breathe. Breathe."

She turned back to the woman and checked her pulse. There was none. She pulled the tape from her face and lost all air.

"Amelia," she whispered and then backed away.