Last Seen Alive

Chapter Twenty-One

Michael's mind was still spinning, even after he'd taken the night to think through everything he'd discovered from Pam's findings.

Was it crazy that he suspected Lily Evans might have been after Amanda because he'd seen an alias in Amanda's "blackbook" that had once been used for her by someone else?

Yes.

Was it far-fetched to think Lily had enough dark secrets to warrant featuring in Amanda's black book?

Maybe not. 

Lily did have a checkered past and not too long ago, she'd proven that she'd do anything to protect her secrets. If she could leverage her daughter's life, what was to stop her from killing a complete strange if her reputation was threatened?

He got ready for work, his mind still preoccupied with his thoughts. Pam had promised to arrange the folders by date so he'd know the most recent thing Amanda had been working on. If Lily's folder wasn't recent, then he could put her on the back burner and focus on the other aliases for the time being. It was more likely that someone she'd been looking into at the time of her death was responsible for it.

His phone rang for the fifth time that morning and after staring at his mother's caller ID for a moment, he answered it with a sigh.

"Hi, Mum," he said.

"Michael! Oh thank God, you finally answered," she cried in relief and he felt a pang of guilt that he'd been ignoring her. "I thought you'd never speak to me again."

"Are you okay?"

"I am now," she said, wistfully. "I'm sorry. I hate it when we fight, it's just..."

"I know," he replied. "I'm sorry too."

"Will you come and see me today? Please?"

"You're back from your trip already?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Your father..." She trailed off and cleared her throat. "Something came up and we had to cancel the trip."

And just like that, his heart sank. It took everything in him to bite back the accusation that she was calling him because his father had abandoned her, just like he'd predicted. "I'm not sure if I'll make it today, maybe another time?"

"Oh," Amelia said, forlornly. "It's okay."

He almost changed his mind at the sadness in her voice but caught himself before the words could find their way out of his mouth. "I gotta go, Mum," he said, then hesitantly added. "I love you."

That simple phrase made all the difference and she happily replied, "I love you too!" sounding less forlorn.

***

When he got to the station, he was surprised to find Kelsey waiting for him outside his office. Ever since he'd found his father in there, he'd taken to locking it to avoid more nasty surprises. Although seeing her there was definitely a surprise, it was more pleasant and--as much as he was reluctant to admit it--very welcome.

She had her headphones on, backpack strapped to her back, and a clear plastic bag of cereal in her hands. When he approached her, she lifted her head and met his gaze, then flashed the biggest smile at him.

A warm, pleasant feeling spread from his chest, coursing through him until he felt it tug his lips up into a smile. 

Was that what it felt like to have the sun shining only on you?

She pushed her headphones down to her neck as she stepped aside and said. "I think it's time you gave me a key to our office, partner, now that I'm always beating you here."