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I were meant to find it this way.   “Oh no,” I sighed as I pulled the doors open.  The evidence of my offenses hung out of my once secret vault, taunting me in the worst way.
    If the world started ending around me in that exact moment, I wouldn’t have noticed.  My breathing seized.  I didn’t want this to happen.  I knew eventually it would, but not like this.  I didn’t want it to happen like this.  How did this happen?
    I dialed Red again.  It rang three times, three times too many, before he picked it up.  “Red, we’ve got a problem.  It’s Liv.  She knows.”

2006 - Callem
     
     
     
     
    I parked the car in the narrow driveway.  I liked this neighborhood.  It was quiet, clean.  The street was silent as I stepped out, heading for the back door of the car.  I hopped out quickly, opening the door for her before she could do it for herself.  She seemed like the kind of woman who didn’t want me to do that for her all the time.  Her petite frame moved with ease from the leather seats.
    “Thank you again,” Olivia started, “for helping me tonight.  It was more than enough.”
    “It’s the least I could do.  I just want to you know, if I would have known about this all along, I wouldn't have asked you out for him.  I’m just glad I caught it before you had anything to drink at all.”
    Olivia nodded.  She started walking up the drive and I followed.  I don’t know why I followed.  Something compelled me to do so.  She looked over her shoulder at me, probably wondering the same thing I was.   I stood behind her for a moment while she fiddled with her keys and unlocked her door.  I noticed the windows were open and the screen was on the outside.
    “You know, someone could easily get into your house,” I noted, pointing at the windows as she swung the door open.  I leaned over and ran my finger along the seam of the window to see just how flimsy it was.
    “Oh, I don’t usually leave those open when I’m gone.  I must have forgotten,” she responded.  “Uh, do you want to come in for a minute?  Can I get you something for the road?  A water maybe.”  She flicked on the light.
    I smiled, stepping in behind her.  “You know, that would be perfect, thank you.”
    “Give me a minute,” Olivia said before disappearing around the corner.
    A sweet and floral smell hung in the air when I pushed the door open.  The small bungalow was very modest and looked like the kind of place Olivia would live, given the little I knew about her.  It was bright and inviting.  The couches, oversized and plush, just begged to be lounged on.
    I hovered next to the large bookcase, reading the spines that faced out.  There were a lot of thick medical books, probably text books she used in med school.  I found a heavy and quite new edition of Grey’s Anatomy standing alone on one side of the shelf.  It was next to a framed photo of Olivia on her graduation day standing beside a beaming young woman who looked to equal her in age, though they looked very different.
    Curiously, I set the book on its back and lifted the hard cover.  “I couldn’t be more proud of you if I tried.  You did it, Livy!  I love you! – Erin” was scribed in the top corner.  I set the book back up the way I had found it.  On a higher shelf, I was surprised to see a number of books about serial killers.  One was rather thick and titled Serial Killers and Mass Murderers Encyclopedia.  I nearly started chuckling when I looked down on the bottom shelf and found a couple dozen children’s books lined up one right after another.   What a range of reading material she had.
    “Okay, here you are,” Olivia reappeared, handing me a bottle of water.
    “Thank you.  You have a great little place here,” I noted.  “You just need to make sure it’s locked up.”
    She smirked.  “I swear, it normally is.  I was kind of distracted when I left the house earlier.”
    I nodded.  A silence clouded over us.