Sunflower fields & The Bad Boy

Sweetheart

- CHAPTER TWENTY TWO -

           

The next two week went by slowly but uninteresting. The boys held me at an arms-length away after the recent thieving. I tried to creep and listen in on their conversation but they were too smart, eventually I just gave up. They would include me if they wanted to know. But my burning itch for knowledge was becoming almost unbearable. I worked with Rosa in the garden. Worked the boundary fence with the boys most days. Somehow I managed to make a new friend in the sixty-something year old – John. He was an old man with peppered grey and black hair and a permanent stubble. He hard warm brown eyes that almost blended in with his tanned skin from too many years in the sun. Further evidence was the deep wrinkles and sun spots. Just by speaking with him you could tell that he valued the farming trade, and that he had dedicated a lot of his life to it. I enjoyed the mornings I spent with him. John shared all kinds of stories, he'd worked with the O'Connor family for years. Of the good and bad times, he had a real story-teller voice that managed to hook you right in. Although he was only on the farm for two days of the week and I had to spend the rest of my time either with Rosa, Mia, the boys or by myself.

I still wasn't sure if Rosa turned a blind eye to the boy's nightly activities or simply didn't know. Over the two weeks I noticed how comfortable Mia was with me, slipping into my bed with me when she had a nightmare. Even Blake was starting to warm up to me, no progress on Elijah's part. He either completely ignored me or just stared me down. I hated it so much, it makes me feel as though I'm Mia's age.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Matthew sat in the grass beside, me. I was sprawled out on the ground, trying to get rid of the sock tan before it became permanent. That was one of the good things – I have tanned so well. The grass was itchy on the bottoms of my feet as I ran my feet along the ground, pulling my knee's to my chest.

"Hey Matthew." I whispered, the air held a peaceful silence that I didn't want to interrupt. He hummed in acknowledgment but didn't lift his eyes from the computer in his lap.

"How did you get my sealed records?" As I spoke his fingers faltered and hovered over the keys as if he was surprised, but surely he would have guessed that I'd eventually ask about it.

He gave me a guilty side glance before shifting closer to me so that our shoulders brushed gently. He looked back at the screen pulling my gaze with his.

"It's a software that I developed. It works like...um... a robot to skim through passwords till It reaches the right one that would open any locked computer or files." He looked nervous as he watched me out of the corner of his eye. I turned my head towards him warily. Taking in the side features of his face, his sharp nose that held black-rimmed glasses and his jumping eyes.

"Look Amelia, I'm sorry for breaching your privacy." I was shocked at his apology; he shouldn't hang around with the rest of the boys. They were nothing like him.

"Okay on one condition." I whispered

He looked up at me with anxious eyes, no doubt expecting the worst.

"You show me Elijah's record." His entire face when slack and his eyes widened so much I thought they might just roll straight out of their sockets before he began to shake his head.

"Oh come on, please!" I begged my voice rising.

Matthew muttered something under his breath before turning back to his laptop, opening a folder and then a document. A digital copy of Elijah O'Connor's criminal record. I took the laptop from his lap and laid it on the grass in front of me. The Apple laptop shining in all its wealth under the midday sun. The screen at its brightest still required me to squint at it to make out the letters.

I took a deep breath as I scrolled onto the second page. I had a copy of his fingerprints, and full details on his address and birth details. Elijah's a May baby. My face turned to a scowl as I tried to scroll to the next page, only to find that there wasn't one.

How could he not have any record? Murdering Father Turner had obviously not been the boys first crime, and yet his record was squeaky clean not even a speeding fine. I gaped at the screen as a shadow cast over me and the laptop. I was too involved in what I had just discovered to pay attention at the new arrival. The cogs in my brain working hard to make sense of the records. How was it possible?

"Oh Sweetheart, I never get caught."

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A/N:

Hey guys,

Hope you all had an amazing Christmas and New year! I took a short break of writing, just so I could really spend time with my family over the period but I am back now!

-A