Undercover Lovers |Aaron Hotchner|

Chapter Fourteen: The Phone Calls

Aaron was calm in the morning, which instantly made me feel the same way. He was confident in my plan and the one he concocted himself but didn't share with me. He pulled me in to kiss me and reassured me that everything would be fine enough if it all went as planned.

If.

I started to feel anxious as soon as he was out of sight and since I didn't want to suffer all day, I decided to keep busy. I washed the dishes by hand instead of loading up the dishwasher, dusted, swept, mopped, and vacuumed all before lunchtime. I made myself a salad and sat down at the table. Sitting still wasn't a good idea. I wasn't doing anything, so I couldn't distract myself from thinking about the terrible things that could possibly— but probably wouldn't— happen.

I needed something to do to keep busy. I looked through the cupboards and found all the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, so I decided to make them. It wouldn't take long, but it was better than sitting idle.

I ended up making six dozen cookies in one go, which was more than we could ever eat. I decided to deliver them to other people, but I remembered that I didn't have a car. Wherever Craig took it, I hadn't gotten it back.

I got dressed, packed the cookies up, and heard a knock at the door. When I opened it, it was exactly what I wanted to see. Stephen stood on the porch and my car was parked in the driveway behind him.

"We found this a few miles east, so I thought you might want it back." He said.

"Wow, yes, thank you. Here, take some cookies." I offered, handing him two plates. "I was going to drop them off at the station for you, but you saved me the trip. How's Julie doing?"

"I was just up there last weekend and they're all really good. The babies are getting so big already and they barely even cry."

"Really? I hope it stays that way." I laughed. His partner beeped the car horn suddenly and motioned for him to go back.

"Sorry, we must've gotten a call. Thanks for these." He said over his shoulder as he made his way back to the car. I went to my own and checked it out. There was no blood, nothing torn up, and no sign of a kidnapping. If this were the car that Craig took me in, I would've been able to tell. Where was it then? Who took it? Did someone steal it just to annoy me?

I got in and drove to Claire's house. Her door opened before I could even knock on it.

She gasped. "Olivia."

"I didn't mean to scare you, I was just trying to drop these off." I handed her the cookies.

"Thank you, they look delicious. What's the occasion?"

"Zachary's recovery. How's he doing? How are you doing? You seem a little frazzled."

"He just fell asleep, so I was going to go the store in the meantime and I wasn't expecting to meet anyone on the porch." She laughed weakly.

"I could go to the store for you and grab whatever it is that you need."

"It's okay, really. Some fresh air will be good for me. Thanks again for these." She said, obviously dismissing me. I took the hint and went back to my car. I wanted to follow her to see what she was going to do, but decided against it. I was probably just overthinking.

I went to the nail salon to make an appointment for the weekend, but they said they had an opening right then. I sat down in one of the chairs and let myself relax as the technician started working. I chose a light blue that Aaron said he liked when we were passing a shirt in the mall a few weeks ago.

I noticed the technician's face before I realized what was wrong. She was disgusted by how much gunk somehow ended up under my nails. As I looked closer, I saw that it wasn't gunk. It was someone else's blood— more than likely Beatrice's. I tipped double the usual and headed to the mall.