chapter twenty

                                    

                                          

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*  2.08 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
'why are you smiling like that? have you got gas issues or something? 'cos I'm not getting in a car with you if you're about to shit yourself'
✧༺♥༻✧
Sitting in the dingy Sheriff's office was not how Lottie thought she'd be spending her evening, yet there she was, stuffing her face with two of her favourite men. Stiles and Papa Stilinski. She watched on with a smirk as Stilinski lifted his burger to his mouth, only to frown in disgust when he took a bite. 
"What the hell is this?" He spat, looking between his son and his best friend. 
"It's a turkey burger." Stiles offered with a sheepish grin.
"I asked for a hamburger." 
"Turkey's healthier." Stiles replied looking to Lottie for help. 
"I'm staying out of this. If you want some of my nuggets though Noah, you're more than welcome to tuck in." Lottie offered her share-box of nuggets towards the man, laughing as Stiles smacked the box away from his dad. 
"Why are you trying to ruin my life, Stiles? Why can't you be more like Lottie eh?" He asked, sending a subtle wink to the girl. 
"I'm trying to extend your life. And everyone knows Lottie is one of a kind. Can't repeat perfection. Now eat it and tell me what you found." Stiles told the man, unaware of the compliments he'd just paid Lottie and the effect he had on her as she choked on her food, a blush coating her cheeks as Stilinski looked on with a smile. 
"I'm not sharing confidential police work with a couple of teenagers. Stop looking at the board, both of you." Stilinski instructed the pair as they peered around him and looked at the crime board behind him. 
"What are those arrows pointing to the pictures?" Lottie asked curiously, pointing to the pictures of the crime scenes. 
"All right, okay--I found one thing. Will you stop if I tell you?" When he received nods from the duo, he continued. "The mechanic and the couple who were murdered all had something in common." 
"All three?" Stiles queried.
"All three. And you know what I always say. One's an incident. Two's a coincidence." Stilinski continued. 
"​​Three's a pattern." Stiles and Lottie chirped in sync. 
Stilinski clasped his hands together on the desk in front of him as he continued. "The mechanic, the husband, the wife. All the same age. All twenty four." 
"But what about Mr. Lahey? Isaac's dad wasn't anywhere near twenty four." Stiles interrupted, thinking aloud.
"Good for nothing, waste of good air." Lottie mumbled, a rage like no other filled her as she remembered what Isaac's dad did to her friend.
"That's what made me think either Lahey's murder wasn't connected or the ages had to be coincidence." Stilinski offered, looking between the two before pulling out a file labelled: LAHEY. "Until I found this..." He showed the file to the duo as they leaned forward with keen interest. Stilinski pushed the file over to them, showing a picture of a young man in an army uniform. "Isaac Lahey had an older brother named Victor."
"Died in combat. God, could poor Isaac catch a break. An abusive father and a dead mother and brother." Lottie read aloud, feeling a new level of sympathy for the boy. 
"If he was still alive today, guess how old he would be?" Stilinski asked the pair. 
"Twenty-four?" They asked at the same time, sinking in the chairs when Stilinski confirmed they were right.