Cross

19 | He was here

"You cannot go to the cemetery and ask to be enlightened on matters of this kind, though it would ease my mind considerably if you could." - William Maxwell

Chapter Nineteen

Once again, I came home to an empty house. The lack of my father's presence was beginning to grow on me—a thought which terrified me. It was so easy for me to fall back into the same ol' routine. After living on my own for four years, I guess that it was normal for me to revert to my old habits. To keep myself from conjuring up dark and perverse thoughts, instead I decided to put my energy to use.

From the stroke of midnight to the first light of day, I worked throughout the night, napping rarely for only thirty minutes at a time. I expected myself to feel downright miserable in the morning, but, I felt energized. After spending roughly eight hours trying to connect the dots between Blaze's notes, I didn't get far. The most solid conclusion I could reach was that it was either him hand-delivering the notes to me or having one of his men do the dirty work. Either way, Agent Beta was wrong—the man roaming around the world was not Blaze. The real Blaze was here, in New York city, playing tricks with my mind.

Sighing deeply, I rustled at the sound of my phone receiving a text message. Standing up from the floor, my legs felt like molten lead, aching. Picking up my phone from in between the couch cushion, I sat down and unlocked it. I had received one message from Agent Lam:

"From: Agent Lam (Susana); Just wanted to give you heads up...Rosie is coming over at 9. I won't be coming with her."

After staying awake all night, the last thing I wanted to do was talk to someone I didn't know a lot. Having no other choice, I unbuttoned my shirt and walked into the bathroom. Thinking that a cold shower might clear my head, I took my time inside. Coincidentally, as I finished dressing in comfy pajamas, Agent Maxwell arrived. I opened the door to find a casually dressed Rosie rather than a no-nonsense agent.

"You're punctual," I said, smiling at her. "At last, I meet someone like me."

She laughed. "I'm very fond of punctuality, actually...and it's good to hear you function in the same way."

"Come in," I said, opening the door wider. "We can talk in the living room...unless you're hungry? Then, I can try and whip up some breakfast for you, but no promises if it'll be good."

She chuckled. "No, thanks. I already ate breakfast."

I followed her into the living room. "Wow, so you're an early riser and punctual. Are you a lost species or what?"

"Only you seem to appreciate these things..." she said, smiling widely. "Other people think I'm a nuisance."

My smile faltered at this for a moment. "I know how you feel...but, hey! At least we met each other...we're very similar."

She nodded. "That we are..."

For some reason, I did not like the silences between our conversation. Since we were practically strangers prior to being assigned this case, I did not know how to carry on a casual conversation. So, instead, I hunkered down and became a little more serious.

"So...Susana told me you want to talk about the case?"

She became somber, and pulled out a couple of files, with stacks of paper inside. She placed everything on her lap, and folded her hands on top of them. "Well...I hope you don't mind that I'm bringing up work on our day off..."

I waved her off. She continued, "But...the main reason I'm here is because Agent Hook wanted you to have the last word on the list of relatives we're calling in for interrogation. Since you're the leader of the case and all."