Life of Lies

Chapter 12-Andrew Wolff

Elizabeth POV

A month had passed, and I was still working alongside Dad. I do have great news. My theory paper was accepted, and I am on my way to becoming a Master's graduate from the Forensic and Legal Psychology at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia! I am very excited and relieved that I will fulfill my dreams of becoming a forensic psychologist. Who knows? I could become an FBI agent, maybe. My day started as expected. I arrive at the Bureau and head to Dad's office. The team was in a frenzy. A woman by the name of Georgia Madchen had committed suicide in her oxygen tank. I had heard of her because she was accused of killing a doctor named Dr. Donald Sutcliffe and her best friend, Beth LeBeau. Her M.O was that she killed her victims by trying to peel their face-off like a mask. Georgia suffered from Cotard's Syndrome, a rare mental disorder in which people hold a delusional belief that they are dead (figuratively or literally), do not exist, or have lost their blood or internal organs. While all of that sounds gruesome, her disorder was severe. Officials believe that Georgia killed herself, but she exploded in her isolation chamber, and nothing had remained except her charred body. I head over to the examiner's office and see that Beverly, Jimmy, and Brian are finishing the examination. It was determined that Georgia hadn't killed herself but that she was murdered. Will was relieved knowing that Georgia didn't kill herself. Dad wanted me to wait in his office, so after doing some snooping, I leave. As I'm walking to my Dad's office, I accidentally bump into one of the interns, knocking down his box of office equipment. 

"Oh my-! I'm so sorry about that! I'm very distracted right now. I didn't mean to-" 

"No, no. I'm sorry. You don't have to apologize-" 

At that moment, our eyes locked. He was so handsome. He had the face of an honest and kind man. We were still staring at each other when we lifted from the ground after picking his equipment off the floor. 

"I-I'm sorry. My name is Andrew Wolff. And you are?" The man asks me. 

I was speechless but not that speechless. Pull yourself together, damn it!

"Elizabeth Crawford. But you can call me Liz if you want." I say with an embarrassing smile. I felt so ridiculous. 

He chuckles and says, 

"If I call you Liz, then you can call me Andy."

We both chuckle. I help Andy place his equipment in his box. 

"So, you weren't sacked, were you?" I ask inquisitively. 

"Oh no, I wasn't sacked. I'm moving desks. I was with forensics and pathology, but they decided to move me to the Behavioral Science Unit since my degree plan is Criminal Psychology and Behavioral Studies. I finished my undergrad a few months ago, so I'm working on my master's courses."

Holy shit, he is pure gold! I know that I'm going to mess it up.

"Do you work here?" Andy asks me. 

"I'm interning as well, but with my father," I respond. 

"Oh, that's interesting. Who's your father?" Andy asks. 

"Jack Crawford," I reply. 

Andy looks at me in disbelief until I hear, "

"Elizabeth!" 

I turn around to see who called me, and it was Dad. 

"Hey. It's Andy, right?" Dad asks. 

Andy looks stunned. Not like 'Chilton' stunned, but more like 'Dad was his hero' stunned.

"It's such an honor to meet you, Special Agent Crawford," Andy says, in awe. 

Dad chuckles and says, 

"Please, save the formal stuff for the gala. You can call me Jack. Now that both of you are acquainted, you two can look forward to working with each other in the future. Both you and Andy will be assigned to me as interns since I'm the top dog. Just don't tell anyone I call myself that." 

The three of us chuckle. Dad clears his throat and says, 

"Sweetie, I have to run an errand, but we can talk later. I'll call you if I need you, alright?"  

I nod politely, and Dad turns to Andy, 

"Andy, you start tomorrow with us, and I can have Elizabeth here give you the tour. You kids have fun!" Dad says while walking away. 

I blush in embarrassment. Andy chuckles and says, 

"I'm going to go ahead and head to my new cubicle. I'll see you tomorrow, Elizabeth." 

Andy extends his hand, and I shake his hand. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, Andrew." 

We both smile at each other and go our separate ways. As I am walking away, I turn to look back. Simultaneously, Andrew did the same thing. We smiled at each other for the last time. I head to Dad's office and sit in his chair. I take out one of Dad's many KitKat bars from his drawers and start munching on it while checking my school email. My mind is still on that guy I met: Andrew Wolff. God, he's so handsome. Snap out of it, Elizabeth! 

My thoughts were interrupted by Dad, who rushed into his office. His face was in absolute horror. 

"Will Graham just kidnapped Abigail Hobbs."