Thanks for all the reviews.

I just read the eighth book-

And it seems that Amy and Hamilton

are not working as a team anymore.

Boo.

Two more books.

Ah well.

Time will tell.

Ian or Hamilton?

-:

``Charm is a way of getting the answer yes without asking a clear question.``

-Albert Camus

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-:

The blue water lapped around Hamilton, and his sunk his head into the cool, cold sea. He was in his element, right here, where he could just be himself. No more clue hunting, no more of that "crazy Grace" stuff that he had to deal with. No, it was just himself, the sea, and Amy. Shy but beautiful Amy, who made him feel needed and wanted, and who made him feel like it was okay to be Hamilton Holt. She wasn't nerdy, she wasn't strange-ultimately, she was pretty cool.

"Hamilton!"

He smiled. Was she calling his name?

"Hamilton!"

Hamilton swam upwards, his arms parting the water. Once his head reached air, he took a gasp and brushed his blond hair back. He was about to crack a joke about Amy being uptight, but as she yelled for him once again, he heard the urgency in her voice and panicked. He quickly dashed across the large, sandy plain and over to Amy's side as her scream rang in his ears. His first instinct was to see if she was okay, and not hurt. However, all his worries dissolved and were replaced by anger once he saw exactly what Amy was screaming over.

Ian Kabra.

Hamilton saw him make a hand gesture at the sleek limo, adding a slight nod of the head to dismiss the chauffeur. Ian then locked eyes with Hamilton, smirking as he jumped over the picket fence and threw his loafers and socks onto the sandy beach, walking in bare feet. Overdressed in a dark suit complete with a tie, Ian kept his sophisticated but cool demeanour as he trailed his way over to where Amy and Hamilton were.

Hamilton glared at Ian. What was he doing here? How did he know that they were here, in a beach in Australia? With these unanswered questions in Hamilton's mind, Ian just kept walking, until he was a mere foot away from Amy. He rolled up his sleeves and gave a quirky, lopsided grin while placing his fingers under Amy's chin. Hamilton instinctively walked in front of Amy, gently shouldering her back, while keeping his look of composure for the sake of irritating Ian.

"Why, hello Precious. Haven't seen you and your brother for a while. How are you doing-and, uh, where's Dan? You've never been seen "

"Kabra. How have you been doing lately?"

Ian smiled at Hamilton serenely, a slight sneer falling from his lips.

"Ah, it's been good. Of course, I've been working around Mother's office with Natalie. Being trained to become the heir to a company worth billions at a young age can really teach you the tricks of the trade, such as reading stocks. However, some stocks in the States haven't been very good lately, especially stocks revolving around your hometown of Milwaukee-perhaps you'd like to switch towns, you know, to support that rather…poorer… family of yours."

Amy gripped at Hamilton's arm, reminding him not to feel offended.

"Mmm. Thanks for letting me know-but I don't play around with stocks like those of the wealthier lineage do. Perhaps you have too much free time, like now?"

Ian frowned, but regained his coolness under pressure.

"Yes. You see, I'm here today, because-

I don't like it when other people toy with my girl."'

-:

-:

He said "I'll love you till I die",
she told him "You'll forget in time"
As the years went slowly by,
she still preyed upon his mind.

Kept some letters by his bed
dated nineteen sixty-two
He had underlined in red
every single "I love you."

-He Stopped Loving Her Today, George Jones

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-:

Amy's head snapped up.

"I don't like it when other people toy with my girl."

She stared at Ian, whom was locked in a conversation of tension with Hamilton. Hamilton was doing a fine job of keeping his stoic composure for even this long, when he was known to be rather hot-headed. Hamilton seemed to be thinking for a couple of seconds, and Amy watched his thoughtful expression. Suddenly, she felt a tugging at her fingers and felt her hand being grasped by Hamilton's. Hamilton had pulled their interlocking fingers together and raised it in front of Ian's face.

"Too bad this isn't you, right?"

Hamilton directed a sunny smile at Ian while Ian looked upon in shock, trailing his brown eyes over to Amy. How Amy used to love those brown eyes. How she used to love it when those brown eyes were looking at her, and only at her. Except, now she didn't want those eyes on her-she wanted them looking away at something else.

"Is it true, Amy?"

She used to love that voice too. His voice, talking to her, used to make her feel a zing trailing up her spine. But it was different this time. Taking a deep breath, Amy mustered all the courage she could.

"Yeah. Is there a problem?"

Amy felt Hamilton nudge at her arm, and looked up, seeing him give her a wink and a grin. She looked back at Ian, glaring. She wanted to say how she hated him for betraying her. If he didn't like her, he could have just said it. He didn't need to tell her that she disgusted him so much that he made up plans to throw her in shark pits. She knew that she wasn't the prettiest girl, but he didn't have to rub that in her face. It wasn't like she didn't think about this matter every single day of her life.

"Kabra, I believe that if you don't have any more business here-"

Hamilton smirked, knowing that he had won this round.

"You might want to leave."

Amy took one last look at Ian's face. He still looked uncaring and blatant-except for one thing. It was those eyes, those eyes, that made Amy know that something was different in this situation. Whenever she saw him, she always looked as his eyes, dark as night, but his weakness. They always betrayed Ian's standoffish, sardonic, and playboy attitude, especially towards Amy. However, Amy couldn't quite believe what she thought Ian Kabra was thinking. After all, hope really didn't seem to be on her side lately.

But, even though she might not know now, it was possible that hope was only waiting for a different person.

-:

-:

Ian's heart was racing.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

He had everything. Looks and an inflated ego that rivalled those of Narcissus and Casanova, mansions dotting acres of land, wealth that could make even Bill Gates jealous, and a sharp sense of style-not to mention the hordes of girls that followed him everywhere. However, even with all these things, he couldn't have the one thing that really intrigued him, and that was Amy Cahill. She was very different from the rest of the girls he was used to.

She stuttered, she loved books, and she was unaware of her own physical beauty. She didn't try to push herself onto Ian, and she didn't ooze extreme self-confidence-she was more modest, and extremely shy. But that was what made her interesting. The whole fact that she didn't try to change herself into a whole Natalie Kabra (one was enough, thanks) was already attractive enough.

So how come he, the boy who had everything, couldn't get her?

There was no way that she liked a blond jock with brains of mush. A sports junkie really didn't seem like Amy's type. Besides, Ian knew that Amy was interested in him, or at least had been interested in him. He was smart. They could go to the library or something and read large, thick books together-and he would understand every word, while that bratty, All-American athlete would have chucked the thing towards his football friends. Perhaps he was a major playboy, but people could get second chances, and he could change. However, somewhere in his heart, he knew that the whole situation was much more complicated.

Really, what just happened?

How come he had done everything to win, but in the end, he felt like he'd just lost?

-:

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Author's Rambles

Thank you. I was smiling so much (25 comments for my first chapter!) that my jaw was starting to hurt.

I'm very, very, V E R Y sorry for the mistake in my summary. Hamilton is not a her. I read it over and was very, very, V E R Y angry at my careless mistake and couldn't believe that I had actually done that. Once again, many apologies. I am also really, really, R E A L LY sorry for the crazy hiatus on this story. I was having major writer's block-I didn't really know where to go with this. Your reviews have helped me a lot, so thank y'all for making my day and making this story off hiatus. I will try to update at least once every two weeks. However, I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, though. I'd prefer to stick to the main storyline of collecting clues, but, then again, that wouldn't be very fun, huh? Guess I'll have to put it some action and stuff pretty soon, or my story's going to become pretty boring.

Thank you~

*The very gracious and thankful Jamie*

Also-It has NOT been decided whether this is an Amy/Hamilton or Amy/Ian story. So, right now, Amy/Ian fans can stop crying, even if the favor seems like it's on Hamilton's side right now. :)