The Stranger

15. The Box

It's about four in the morning and I sit up in the bed. Adam let us sleep in his guest room. My thoughts are so loud and I'm unable to sleep. I feel Elliot grab my hand, "Amelia, are you still having trouble sleeping too?"

 I calm my breathing down and look at him. "I just feel so, I don't know..., angry or sad maybe. I want to confront Kevin but I know I can't. Do you believe what he said?" Elliot thinks about it for a moment and glances up at me. "I'm not sure.., I've grown up knowing my dad as just a cop. If it's true then what did he do? And who is he?"

 Adam comes to the door frame and lightly knocks. "Hey, I know this is hard to take in but you both really do need your rest." I look over at him and rest my head on my fist. "I know, it's just hard. Everything has just been flipped upside down.

"Elliot sits up with me and puts his head down a little. "I know one thing, if this is all true.. we can't leave you alone with my dad either Adam." Adam pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes. "I would rather you stay at Trevor's during the day to be honest. You can't come with me at night, it's too suspicious. If you continue to be with me at all times it'll be too obvious. For now, just try to get some sleep." 

We all try to sleep but can't, so we get up for the day and eat breakfast. When we are done we all get dressed and go to the station when the sun rises. I glance at the clock on the wall and then at Adam. "Wow, has Kevin ever been this late?" Adam shakes his head. "No, but no one usually gets up for another hour in the village. You're usually asleep at this time though so you wouldn't know that. I'm the only one that's usually up at this hour." 

It's quiet for a bit and I remember something. I glance at Elliot, "Hey, do you think that box could have any answers inside? I mean, he doesn't want anyone looking in it." Elliot's eyes widen a little bit and he nods his head. "I completely forgot about the box. Amelia you're a genius..., it could but I don't know how we'd get it." 

Adam clears his throat to get our attention. "What box are we talking about here?" We both look at Adam and Elliot speaks. "He has this box that he keeps on a high shelf in his closet. He hasn't ever shown me what's in it and he gets defensive whenever I've asked about it. So I stopped asking at some point." Adam nods and paces a little for a second. "Yeah, that sounds fishy.." 

I stand up, "Well, we could go get him since he's late. Elliot, you can tell him you're changing your clothes or something because it's been a couple of days. When he leaves we can get the box and Adam can distract him while we hide it. Tonight we can take it back to Adam's house and open it." Elliot gets up and kisses my cheek. "You're so smart. It's a good idea."

 Adam nods and jumps in, "It could work. I can watch you two from the door and when he gets here I can send him out and you can hide it in my desk." Amelia chimes in one last time, "No, we can just take it back to your house Adam. I mean, he knows we stayed there last night so it wouldn't be suspicious. And like you said, we can't stay with you the whole time." 

They nod in agreement. Once we all have the plan me and Elliot head over to Kevin's house. When we get there Kevin is in the living room and looks like he's about to leave. "Hey dad, I came to change my clothes. It's been a couple of days and I feel gross. Oh, Adam said to tell you that you're late by the way." Kevin smiles when he sees us. "I've missed you at home but I understand why you're not."

 He glances at me before he continues. "I over slept a little. Oh well, I'm on my way now. That's all that matters." He walks passed us and leaves. Elliot waits a minute to make sure he didn't forget anything. Once it's clear he goes down the hall to Kevin's room and carefully goes through the closet. When he gets the box they head to the door and Amelia grabs his hand. "Wait, you need to change. It'll be suspicious if you don't after you said it."