ᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴅᴏᴛꜱ

"So, what's up? Or what's wrong?" Aspen asked Soo-ah, "You look like you're trying to crack a case right now. You look SO confused."

Soo-ah looked at her, still confused. He was in a process of thinking when he blurted out, "Well, Marley said she left at 8, but I've been awake since 5. I didn't see Marley come down the stairs once. She slept upstairs, right?" Soo-ah slouched a bit, staring at the floor while trying to think.

"..Yeah.. she slept in the second guest room right next to Liam's room, I remember directing her to her room yesterday," Aspen replied, she became as confused and Soo-ah was. "But Liam checked in her room, right? And she wasn't there, so…" Aspen sat down on the outside chair. Now Aspen was trying to figure this out. She stared at her shoes while she let her thoughts come and go.

Aspen's thoughts were rudely interrupted by a stupid comment made by Soo-ah, "She could have jumped out of the window! You know, that's the only thing I can think of without any debunks!" Soo-ah said, thinking he just solved the mystery. Soo-ah started bragging about how he was smarter than Aspen when Aspen debunked it easily.

Aspen shook her head. "Heck no, the house is so tall she would've broken bones or possibly died. There. That's the debunk," she said as she stared off into the distance. Aspen went into this state of silence where she blocked out all noise and just listened to her thoughts. They came and went, the more she thought about it the less it made sense. Aspen could see Soo-ah in the corner of her eye struggling, but she ignored it.

"This is too confusing, I'm just going to think about it overnight…" Soo-ah said as he gave up on thinking about it. "You staying out here or coming inside?" He asked, holding the door open. Aspen sat in her chair, thinking. Soo-ah stared at her, waiting for a response.

She looked up and made eye contact with him, "I'll be in in a minute, I just need to think for a bit." She paused, "I can tell why you were confused about this, I'm more confused than ever," Aspen said as she threw a laugh in at the end of her sentence. Soo-ah shrugged, as he stepped into the house closing the door behind him.

There's no way Marley jumped out of the window, she would at the very least bleed. But she couldn't have left her room, since Soo-ah was awake during that time. Hmm.. Marley could've been quiet..? It's the only reasonable explanation. Maybe Marley was trained for stealth. Meh, she looks like a toddler, there's no way that happened. Other than that, I think I shou- Her thoughts were interrupted when she looked up. She just stared for a minute until new thoughts entered her mind.

Aspen looked at the sky, it looked like it was approaching noon.

I have a mission, I'll think about this later. Aspen opened the door, she stepped in. As she walked inside of the house she called for Soo-ah. "Did you find his location yet?" she yelled as she strolled into the kitchen. Aspen grabbed an apple.

"Yeah, it's actually north, not south. Can you believe that? I thought it was south too until I found out he bought a passport before his last murder," Soo-ah replied with a smile.

Aspen's jaw dropped, "Damn! I was so positive it was south due to his last murder over there." Aspen paused, "Is it by Ashington Gardens?" Aspen asked as she stared at Soo-ah, who was sitting at the table with his laptop.

Soo-ah looked up from his laptop and made eye contact with Aspen, "Yep, exactly in the middle, too," Soo-ah said as he closed his laptop and stood up. Aspen started walking outside to the car with Soo-ah trailing behind her. "There's no one there too, isn't that perfect?" Soo-ah added.

Aspen ran outside to her door. As she opened the drivers door she added, "Dang, that's really perfect. This might be our easiest mission yet, too simple," she smiled as Soo-ah nodded in agreement. He opened the passenger door, and got into the car.

As soon as he sat down in the passenger seat he yelled "Ouch!" He started to rub the back of his head.

Aspen sighed, "Not even going to ask because I already know," Aspen smiled at the end of her sentence, and Soo-ah laughed as she started the car up. They backed out of the driveway, as they headed off to Ashington Gardens.

Aspen stopped at a stop light. "Hey Aspen… remember our first mission? The disaster one…" Soo-ah asked, as his voice lowered at the end, "Remember, that girl?" A feeling of sadness and overwhelm filled the car. Everything was awkward now, like the whole world stopped.

Aspen sat quiet, as the light turned green she continued driving. After a few seconds of silence, she answered, "Yep…" Aspen answered in a whisper, the feeling of sadness grew. It sounded as if the whole world was silent for a whole minute. "I'm sorry, I really am. I don't kill innocent people. I apologize everyday. It was a mistake, she just looked like the person I was going to kill..." Aspen paused, "Then I saw that.. Her face was way different from the girl I was supposed to shoot," her voice completely broke, as she was holding back the lump in her throat from almost crying. The horrible memory made her feel guilty.

Soo-ah kept quiet, realizing that bringing that up was a horrible idea. He probably shouldn't bring up the bad moments right now. Aspen might crash if she gets sidetracked by horrible thoughts. "Hey remember our good mission?" He asked, attempting to brighten the mood. Sure enough, the mood was brightened from Aspen bragging about how smooth her kill was and how bad the person deserved it. Aspen kept her eyes on the road. They continued driving, until they reached the Ashington Gardens.