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lyon-amore · 4 months

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Time Trial Chapter 15-The martyr

Chapter 14

When the police arrived, they separated us for questioning. The forensic experts even came to investigate the scene that the arsonist had left in the living room. Albert gave them the necklace without resisting, he wanted to collaborate in everything he could. His expression was terrified, thinking that he might be arrested. I would not be surprised if they did, I had heard them say that the person who threw that Molotov cocktail at us could be someone who simply wanted justice and that Albert left the apartment with the intention of hiding the necklace.

Then they took us to the police station and right now Albert is being interrogated in another room, while I hear rumors of the police coming and going while I wait in the chairs, with a police officer watching me. I think they do it with the intention that I can be afraid and speak, tell the truth. But there is nothing to tell when we are innocent.

Agent Connors approaches us, a folder in his hand. His look is that of someone he is worried about.

“How are you son?” He asks me calmly, resting his hand on the doorknob.

I get up from the chair, still under the watchful eye of the police officer. I do not know why, but Connors' presence calms me more than any other police here.

“I am worried about my friend, if I can be honest.” I try not to sound tired of this situation, but it seems that we are going to continue ending up in the police station until the culprit is arrested.

He makes a throat sound as if assisting, thus opening the door and letting me enter first. I sit in the chair and Connors in the one opposite, then looking at the policeman who was watching me.

“Why don't you bring us some water?”

"I am not thirsty," I try to stop him and look at them both "I do not… I do not need it."

"Alright." He motions for him to close the door and then looks at me. “At the moment they are analyzing the blood from the necklace that your friend found.”

"They threw it at us," I respond, annoyed, "it was a trap."

“What does it mean?”

I know Sally said not to tell, but what if I tell him? Connors does not seem like the typical police who points you guilty without all the evidence, and maybe he can even help us. Although well... it could also get Sally into trouble with the files she has been finding, which, it is more than clear, are from the police and her father. It would only bring bad consequences.

“The street cameras” I begin to say, remembering how important that detail was “, they were off when I went down to the street to catch the person who threw that bottle at us, but they turned on after a few seconds.”

“According to what they told me, you were supposed to have ordered some pizzas before what happened.”

Something hits me then, as if making contact. I look at Connors who looks at me like he understood.

“How long did it take between receiving the pizza and going after the attacker?”

“Maybe a minute or two.” I answer seriously.

“Did you manage to see him leave? Any bikes from the pizza company?”

“Was he still in the building then?” I ask rhetorically “Were they in cahoots?”

“There is no doubt that there is something strange with this case” Well, I am surprised he noticed it "And I'm sure you can help me with this, Jake." I keep my eyes on him. Have he noticed? Does he know anything about what I am doing?

The door opens, and a man in a suit enters. He looks at me and then at Agent Connors, rather cold.

cold.

“There is no reason to question him anymore, we have the murderer of Bianca Fetcher and the kidnapper of Katherine Beinh.”

“Have they found him?!” I ask between excitement and relief.

Connors raises a hand as if telling me to calm down, frowning.

“Chief Schneider Is that true?” He asks him as he gets up from the chair.

“He has not yet confessed where he is keeping Miss Beinh, but all evidence indicates that Albert Fisher is the culprit of both crimes.”

“No!” I exclaim, getting up from the chair “That is not true! Albert has not been!”

“Jacob Miller, please calm down” the voice of this man, Schneider, sounds completely frozen. His words do not seem like he really wants me to calm down “, there is no evidence against you, but if you value your freedom, you better realize that your friend has been deceiving you all along.”

I look at Connors, seeking his help. They cannot do that to Albert, accuse him falsely. He looks away from me and looks back up at his superior.

"Fine." he says while nodding. Are they just going to let them arrest him? “Although the necklace they found has not yet been analyzed, it may not be the victim's and they may have simply placed it to accuse him.”

"For now, he'll be in custody, Connors," Schneider says again “If no more evidence is found that it wasn’t him in a week, I will give the judge permission to fill out the documents so that he can be admitted to Maydol prison.”

He nods and leaves, then looks at me.

“We're done, Jake.” he picks up the folder and leaves the interrogation room.

It is not until the policeman who was escorting me comes in to tell me to get out. I had not realized that I had been standing there thinking about how terrible the situation was right now.

“Can I see my friend?” I ask, worrying about how nervous Albert must be.

"I'm sorry, but no," he answers dryly “he can only see his lawyer or his family.”

“I am his brother!” I exclaim quickly “I was living in his house when I was a teenager, his parents took me in—“

“Did they adopt you?”

<<No… they did not.>>

I shake my head slowly. They could not do it. With the divorce on the way, sadly they left me alone to live in their house. Although they never let me be adopted to separate us.

"I'm sorry then, but you can't see him at the moment." He makes a gesture inviting me to leave the room.

Resigned, I nod slowly, if these are the rules, I cannot do anything. It is enough that one of the two is arrest, if they arrest me for disobedience, we will only complicate it and we will not be able to do anything. I cannot let this happen to Albert, I am going to have to convince Paul to help us clarify a little more about everything he knows about all of this.

I know I would not have to return to my apartment for research, but how could I leave my computers for research? I told them that I had to go to my apartment to get my study material because it was important, luckily, they do not seem to have looked at anything I am doing ―or so I think―. I have sent a message to Jeremy to let me stay at his house at least until they finish. I quickly go on Facebook, sending a message to Sally telling what happened so she can see it tomorrow, but her quickness to respond surprises me. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sally What are you saying? How did they arrest Albert? There is no evidence to blame him! I have seen it!

Jareth Well they have done it. According to them, Bianca’s necklace is important evidence.

Sally Necklace? Okay, okay, let me think… I’ll be looking at it

Jareth While I will talk to Paul in the morning. It is more than decided now.

Sally Didn't you plan to talk to him a few hours ago?

Jareth Let me say that if he did not collaborate, I would find another way. But after this arrest, it is now personal. They arrested the person I call brother, I cannot leave him in jail.

Sally That's very noble of you, Jareth.😊 We're going to get Albert out of jail, I swear ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wanted to thank him, but she disconnects. I sigh and began to disassemble the computer, putting it in a suitcase, while the laptop in it own suitcase. I pick up a few more things, like all my books and another suitcase for some clothes, and I take everything down to the car. I do not know how long it will take to finish the investigation, so I have tried to get the necessary clothes for at least a week.

Jeremy's parents gave me the guest room, along with some words of encouragement. It is a good thing they do not think it was Albert either. I put my clothes in the closet, while Jeremy sets up the computer on the floor. Only place where I can put it.

“Have you been able to see Albert?” His voice sounds sad.

“No, they do not let me if I am not a family member or their lawyer,” I answer while I finish placing the last piece of clothing that remains. “But do not worry, he will be fine, he is not in a major prison at the moment.”

“He must be scared right now.” I nod at his words “Okay, it's ready.”

I approach sitting on the floor. It is uncomfortable, but I cannot let it go. Not now. I turn on the computer and as soon as I can, I connect the transmitter to the tower and run the program, returning to work on the code.

“Do you need help with anything else?” I react to Jeremy's voice, I had forgotten he was here for a second.

“No!” Jeremy's scream surprises me “That guy hates us, do you think he's going to help us?”

“Sally has found something important,” I look at him, frowning “I know you did not like what he implied about you, neither did I, but if he have any information about what is going on with that website, If you know anything else or know someone, you should help us, whether you like to collaborate with us or not.”

“If the police find out—“

“Right now, I do not care about the police.” I clench my hands tightly. “If my brother is in danger, I have to help him.”

“Yes, okay.”

I promise everyone that we will return to having a normal life like before. We will get through this.

We wait in the car until we see that Paul arrives. Everyone is talking about Albert's arrest and I do not want to have to hear how the accusations continue. Surely the rumors that already existed about him are starting to get bigger and false testimonies are coming out. Some sneak glances at my car while I try to work on my laptop.

“Jake,” I receive small taps on the shoulder from Jeremy, “there, he approaches.”

I lower the screen and look in the direction my friend is looking. Paul was arriving while he was talking to his group of friends. I leave the laptop hidden under the car seat, leaving quickly. I walk quickly up to them and they stop, looking at me like I'm trash.

“I heard about Albert,” Paul smiles. His smile is one of pride. “Are you going to go see him in a vis to vis?”

His friends laugh, they even high-five. Where did they come from with this attitude? They are simply ridiculous.

"We should talk." I control myself so as not to get angry. It is not the best option to fight now after promising Sally.

“No.” Paul walks past me, pushing me.

I put a hand on my shoulder, a little sore.

<<Well, I have no choice.>>

“I know about your video.” I say out loud, turning around so he can hear me.

I see him stop and I see a little movement, as if he had trembled.

“He's talking nonsense again,” Christian laughs at me. “Let's go-“

"You go." Paul tells them with a little tremor in his voice "I'm coming now."

His friends shrug, telling him they will see him after class, leaving only Paul, who turns quickly towards me, holding onto my sweatshirt.

“What do you know?! You know nothing!”

“Jake!” Jeremy screams and tries to separate him from me. Although I am calm “Leave him alone!”

“No!” My friend manages to separate him from me. His voice is now full of fury, although his eyes say otherwise, it seems like he is about to cry "Do you think you have the right to say that?!" He raises his hand, pointing at me “You know nothing! You only said that to confuse me! It's not my fault that your bastard friend is responsible for Katherine's kidnapping and Bianca's death! He deserves to have been arrested!”

Seeing him now gives me a certain moment of nostalgia. It is like seeing a scared child cornered. It is not that he was the mature young adult he seemed before, but this reaction does not seem like that of someone scared either. By naming them, I have seen something in him. Fear. He really care, so why fake it by telling us stupid things? I take a deep breath, noticing the looks and murmurs of the students who arrive, we are drawing too much attention.

“If you really care about Katherine, we better talk about it,” I say calmly, “because we do not have much time until they kill her.”

“Kill her?” blinks confusedly “What are you talking about, Jake?”

“Let us talk somewhere else, alright? “I look everywhere, curious people make me a little nervous.

“Paul!” the powerful voice of a man makes us distract ourselves.

Mr. Fetcher approaches us in a hurry. His cold gaze passes over the two of us. He places a hand on Paul's shoulder, then smiles at him.

“They have arrested him!” he says happily “They finally arrested Bianca's murderer!”

Paul does not say anything, he just looks at us nervously, squeezing his hands tightly. Fetcher coughs, trying to get his attention, to which Paul looks at him, but with a little aversion in his gaze.

"I'm going to meet my wife now to talk about it. Why don't you come with us?" Fetcher's friendly tone makes me even more nervous. He now places his hand behind his neck, as if he wanted to force him to stop talking to us "We know how important Bianca was to you, even though you were no longer friends—"

“I have something important to do, Arnol,” Paul cuts in, swallowing hard. He has been quite noticeable “Shall we talk later?”

"Sure, but don't hang out with this guy too much," he looks at me up and down, with contempt, "your parents wouldn't like to see you with such poor people."

<<Every time they say something like that, I feel like they hve stepped out of an old movie or book.>>

“I won't do it.”

He nods and with a look of hatred, uttering an insult under his breath, turns around with contempt towards us. Or maybe just me, since I seemed to be his great attention. Paul raises a hand for us to wait, watching the man leave. Once he has entered the building, he lowers his hand and looks at us.

“I know.”

It seems that mentioning Katherine's fate has made him react, so he must really care. Sally was right about naming the video, but I do not have to suffer the consequences if Paul gets angry and wants to kill Jeremy and me. I walk to my car, with them following me. Jeremy gets into the passenger seat and Paul behind me. El The only place I can think of to go to talk now is in that old hospital and it is supposed to be safe to go there in the end. But let us avoid going up to the roof so as not to be thrown by Paul. Before starting the car, I send a message to Alice to come too, I have not told her about Albert yet, but she must have heard from her co-workers.

We arrived at the abandoned hospital after a silent journey, Alice's car was already parked and she was waiting leaning against the wall. I park next to Alice's car and she approaches with her arms crossed. She has a bad face.

“Hello,” I greet and she hugs me. I respond to the hug carefully “Do you know anything about Albert?” I ask after separating from her.

She also greets Jeremy with a hug and then looks at me.

“No, I wanted to see him, but they wouldn't let me,” she shakes her head and lets out a sigh. “His parents were there with the lawyer, I hope they manage to get him out soon.”

I see her trying to look behind me at Paul. She frowns, confused. I hope there are no problems and no one argues, that is the last thing I need today.

“What is he doing here?” She asks, annoyed.

“I'm supposed to help you,” Paul answers, approaching us, “but if you're going to treat me badly, maybe I can tell the police that you're in on the whole thing too.”

"It is not going to happen," I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to calm myself, "we are here to cooperate, that is all."

We hear a cell phone. Alice takes hers out of her pocket, reading. We wait and I see how impatient Paul is.

“It's Sally, she wants to listen to the conversation.” she answers, while looking at me as if she wanted my approval.

"Should not she be in class?"

“Wait.” she quickly writes and we hear another message arrive “Well, it seems that she is in the bathroom, with the excuse of— Oh, well, she doesn't want me to read this to you” she lets out a laugh, although more than fine, she sounds tired “She says whe won't participate, that she will only listen and send me messages if she listen it as important. Is that ok with you?”

I know we agreed that she would be present, but since Albert was arrested, I had to advance the conversation with Paul and I did not think she would be. I nod slowly, although not very confidently.

“Only if she ask for the notes from the first class later.” I finally answer, pointing to Alice as if it were her.

She laughs and starts writing. I think she should understand that I want her classes to be important.

“Well, she agrees with that rule,” finally, Alice looks at the three of us, with her cell phone in her hand pointing towards us “I'll remove the speaker for her, so her identity will be more secure.”

"I'm a little lost," Paul looks at us still angry. "Who are you talking about?"

“She's a researcher.” Jeremy answers quickly.

“She is focusing on the documents that Bianca left.” I now answer. I do not want Jeremy to say too much about her.

“Look, she says 'Hello Paul, I'm glad to finally meet you, I hope you can collaborate with us without going after Jareth's jugular to make you come or you'll have serious problems.'” I hold back my laughter when I see Paul's annoyed expression when he hears Alice speak “She also says where is Jake, that there should be five of us—“

“Um… He is with Albert's parents right now.” I hope I do not seem nervous when I answer.

“But what are you saying? You’re—“

“We enter?” Jeremy stops him, pointing to the door.

Paul looks at us strangely at our behavior. I forgot to tell him that I hide my identity to avoid problems. If the police know that the missing girl's boyfriend is investigating, they might look at him strangely and think I am doing it to cover my tracks.

“I will tell you later.” I whisper to Paul as we walk inside.

One by one we enter the building, still with its dirt and dust. I hear Paul cough and cover himself with his shirt, I guess he must have a dust allergy.

We look for a room where we can more or less sit without worrying about touching any material that could hurt us. Alice sits on the floor, placing the cell phone in front of her. We also sat forming a circle. The air in the room is heavy, and it almost becomes a little impossible to breathe. Or maybe I am nervous about what Paul might tell us, maybe we will not find anything important.

"Ma— Sally asks if you can tell us first about your relationship with Bianca," Alice reads the screen, then looks at him, "she want to know first."

"Okay, but first, I'll tell you that after this I don't want to know anything more about you, is that clear?" He looks at us almost defiantly. I nod, it is not like I want to talk to him again “Our families know each other: Bianca's, Katherine's and mine—“

“She says that at the moment nothing about Katherine.”

“Fine, just Bianca,” he nods while biting his lip. Are he nervous? “We used to always be together, playing, sometimes eating at each other's houses, we even had pajama parties.”

“You? At a pajama party with two girls?” Jeremy asks him, arching his eyebrow, not quite believing it.

It is true that if you think about it, if you look at Paul now, he does not seem like he has that aspect of having that kind of relationship with girls.

"Before... Everything was easier." His voice breaks as he looks at the ground.

“So you all got along well?” Alice reads the screen again “Was there never any problem?”

“No, never,” he takes a breath and lets it out, seeming distracted “I stopped going to their houses after that video of me sleeping.”

"Was it..." Alice struggles when she speaks, as if she had a hard time saying what she was reading "Just a video of you sleeping?"

Paul continues to avoid our gazes, doing something I did not think he would ever do. He seemed to be picking up stones on the ground, like a little child. Still distracted by thoughts of him.

"I don't remember that moment... And I'm the kind of person that if I heard a sound, I woke up quickly." He looks at us uncomfortably, as if it were his fault "In the video I'm sleeping, yes, but it cuts off when a gloved hand grabs my face." He swallows saliva and his eyes look everywhere nervously “That website reached me by email that our parents and my friends only knew about, and when I ran to show it to my parents, there was nothing to indicate that it had existed, no matter how much I turned forward or backward, that webpage didn’t exist. Just like email…”

We remain silent, even Alice shakes her head saying there is no question from Sally. We let Paul take his time to talk. That's when he looks at us with crystalline eyes.

"They didn't believe me, they thought it must have been my imagination, but it wasn't." He continues playing with the pebbles on the floor, I notice that he has even placed some of them in a row “I didn't recognize which house it was because they only focused on my face, so I stopped seeing my friends, until Bianca got worried about me and I told her everything I had seen.” let out a little laugh “She had always admired her mother and her work, how she investigated her reports, so she decided to help me by investigating, looking for any information that her mother had about any reports that something similar had happened, but she found nothing.”

“Yes, like you,” I hear Alice say as she reads her cell phone, I wonder what Sally wrote.

“What happened next, Paul?” I ask in a calm tone, avoiding making him nervous.

He shifts in place, as if he wanted to sit better.

“I had a lot of nightmares,” he destroys the row of stones, now frustrated “there was not a night that I didn't have them, I tried to forget it also by taking refuge with my friends, but as I grew up, there was only one thing that calmed me down.”

“Drugs.” I remember when we talked to Buster “But why was Bianca the one who ended up having the most problems?” I want it to be told to me and not just emphasized by Bianca's documents.

"Because she continued investigating even though I didn't know." he throws his head back, tapping his finger on the floor “When she told me, I decided to accompany her. At that time I was starting to date Katherine, but I didn't tell her anything, I pretended that everything was going well.” I hear him growl, annoyed “Sadly, the more I helped her, the nightmares returned and the drug use became more and more necessary, until I forgot what was right and what was not, I just needed to forget it.”

“Which brings us to Buster.” I name and he nods, looking at me.

“You’ve done your homework,” he says with a laugh “I messed around quite a bit that night, I admit… Y arruiné para siempre mi amistad con Bianca.’’

But in the end it did not turn out that he ruined it. Bianca continued investigating on her own, she wanted to know what was happening, managing to find a lot of testimonies and gather them, and had even gotten into trouble for him getting into things she should not have. All to help a friend. I look at the cell phone expecting a question from Sally and for Alice to represent her, but it seems she is focused on something else in that conversation. Jeremy looks at Paul without showing any pity in his eyes, I know how much he hates him and that does not change the fact that he was a dick to us. But when I see him, it is like seeing someone lost. He received no help and they did not believe him. True, he should not have gotten into those problems too, even so...

“Bianca did not think the same,” I say firmly, looking into his eyes “she continued looking for information and investigated that page, she had a private account that was going to come to light once she had all the complete information. A person like her did not seem like the type to give up and with you she did not decide to do so.” Paul's eyes shine, it is like he is going to cry “Maybe he figured that if he continued to be with you, you could attract attention and get in trouble, since you were the one affected, if someone else knew that you were investigating—”

“You probably would have ended up with the same fate as Bianca.” I see Alice reading her cell phone "I have continued investigating Bianca's documents, and she even talks about the fact that there could be an organization behind it, one with powerful people." She slowly reads those words, looking at all of us “Hey Sally, I don't like this... If that's true—”

“You are in danger reading those documents,” I say quickly, moving a little closer to Alice, but she picks up her cell phone “I want you to stop looking at it now.”

I wait a bit for Alice to read her response. She looks at me a little fearful.

"She says no..." I snort, annoyed. "She says that if it's as dangerous as it seems, she wants to destroy those people."

“No!” I get nervous thinking that this is already getting a little murky and we are sitting here on the floor while I could, who knows? Maybe some gangster or a politician wanting to find us “Sally, you have to stop now!”

"She hung up... But..." she reads the screen again. "She says okay, but don't yell at her again, you're not her father."

I turn back to my seat, releasing the heavy air that had entered my lungs. Later I will ask her to pass those documents to me so I can take care of them, if they have to go after someone, let it be me.

“Anything else to tell us?” Jeremy asks with more determination. Until now he has remained silent.

Paul looks at him in a bad way too, looking like a 'Who looks worse' contest. But by his hand, I see that he controls himself not to get up. The last thing he needs is for us to be on different sides now.

“No, I have nothing to say.” he answers through clenched teeth.

Alice's cell phone rings and she quickly answers it.

“Sally asks if you can tell us about Bianca and Katherine's parents.”

I arch an eyebrow curiously, why are she asking about them? It is clear that they have also been investigated, especially if Bianca’s parents are divorced, even though she is an adult, It is important to find out if it was for some reason in relation to your daughter.

“Katherine's father spoke to us about you as if he did not know you all his life, rather, only about how badly you behaved with Katherine.” I answer, crossing my arms.

"I guess he’s never liked me." he shrugs, annoyed "I'm sure se's happier that you're dating her."

I get nervous hearing him say that. For Sally, it is Jake who is dating Katherine, not Jareth. He is just a friend. I look at Alice hoping that Sally has not put any pieces together, and I see her a little nervous too.

"I... I guess I should have told you..." Alice speaks looking at the phone. "Katherine and Jake's relationship is quite complicated, don't worry.

<< But what are you saying? >>

I look at her without understanding her. Or maybe not wanting to do it. Sally will probably ask me why I lied to her. The fear of being judged.

“He says to continue, Paul.” she orders him with a nervous voice, looking at me surreptitiously.

"You are all very strange, you know that?" Paul looks at us strangely, but after clearing his throat he continues “Katherine's parents are good people, although when their daughter turned eighteen, they began to distance themselves because of their jobs, but they always took trips as a family, at least until I remember.”

“How did Katherine's parents treat Bianca?” I hear Alice say, without taking her eyes off Paul.

"Good, no problems." he says without much concern "Well, they were best friends after all, inseparable."

“Even with you in the middle?” Jeremy asks, narrowing his eyes.

“I had never separated the friendship they had, it was girl stuff, you know.”

"Yeah, me neither." Alice says, I think she is talking to Sally.

I guess like everything, there are things that they did not want a boy to find out. I would not want Alice to find out about the things Albert and I talked about either. Or like Hannah, I clearly did not tell her how in love I was with Katherine because I was embarrassed, just that there was a girl I liked. If I say her name, I am sure she will not stop talking about her to make me nervous.

“ ‘Well, let's get to the topic of Bianca's parents’ ” we see Alice reading carefully. “ ‘What can you tell us about them?’ ”

Paul avoids looking at us when naming Bianca's parents, almost as if it were automatic.

“Ugh…” he scratches the back of his neck, nervous. “The truth is… her parents were always busy. More than Katherine's. Her father is a banker and her mother is a journalist. At that time, you could say that the roles of the mothers were reversed, Bianca's mother was almost never at home for reports.” I nod listening attentively “But although her father was always busy, I think there was not a day that he did not buy her something new. She was his “princess”. ”

“And you saw that they got along well?”

“How to tell you? Not that I have an opinion on what I saw, but yes... Or...”

He shuts up and starts thinking. The three of us looked at each other waiting for his response. Alice looks at her phone telling Sally that she does not know what is going on either. He must have remembered something important.

“Sorry, I was thinking about something that happened,” he answers at the end, “Bianca didn't really like her gifts, according to her, it didn't compensate for his absence.”

“Children simply want to spend time with their parents, nothing more.” I answer while remembering those days when my mother was tired from work and had no time for me.

I did everything I could not to disturb, studying or reading. When I played, I tried not to make noise because I knew she had a hard day and I only wanted the best for her. Maybe that's also how I started taking care of us both, cooking the simplest things. One time my mother got angry, telling me that it was her role to take care of me, not that I had to take care of her, but what could I do? I was a child who did not have many friends and we were always moving, I wanted to do something for her.

“Before we had our emails, I remember we sneaked into her father's office.” Paul looks to the side, remembering “We were just playing on the computer on gaming websites and Mr. Fetcher stormed in, throwing us out of the office. The next day he bought his daughter a computer.”

“ 'It's funny that you tell us this.' ” Alice continues reading “ ‘When we went to Bianca's altar, Mr. Beinh told us that Mr. Fetcher didn’t want an altar for his daughter, something contradictory to a father who gave everything to his daughter'. ”

“I don't know what their relationship was like during adolescence,” Paul shrugs “I have that time quite blurry and when we stopped talking, I didn't go to her house as much, so the relationship between Mr. Fetcher and Bianca could have deteriorated because of his daughter's problems.”

“Are you blaming Bianca’s father?” I look at the cell phone as I ask Sally.

We wait for her response. I think I know why she does not answer.

"Alice?" I look at my friend and she sighs, understanding what I mean by calling her.

"Are you blaming Bianca's father, Sally?" she asks this time.

After a few seconds, we hear that a message has been received.

“Okay, she says she simply wanted to ask about the relationship with her parents, since she was simply curious.”

Of course. She wants to act adult for one thing, but she acts immature after being told that what she was doing was dangerous.

“And now that?” Jeremy asks us, looking at the four of us, “Have we gotten any interesting information?”

"I do not know, it seems to me the same as what we read in Bianca's document." and it is true, I do not find anything different. It is the same story, just extending Paul's version with his own words.

“According to Sally, it has helped a lot.” Alice looks at me, tilting her head a little. “She says that she has noticed something in your voice that has made her quite interested.”

“What do you mean by something?” I have not noticed anything and at times he did seem nervous, but I think it is normal when telling what you do not want to remember.

“I admit that my voice has shaken at times, but I don't think I've done anything strange.” Paul shifts in his seat, starting to get nervous again.

“She want to ask something else,” she focuses on her cell phone again, shaking her head. “I'm not going to ask that, you know it doesn't make sense.”

“What question?”

Alice takes a deep breath while we wait for what she is going to say. Now what did Sally think of saying? Knowing her, probably nothing good.

“Do you know the ‘Master of Ceremonies’?”

I frown without understanding that question. The 'Master of Ceremonies' is not someone who would easily appear in public, nor do we know who he is. But looking at Paul, looking in his eyes I can see fear.

“Who is the Master of Ceremonies?” Paul asks confused.

We remained silent after that strange question. If asking him about what happened in the past had not helped us much, it does not help us much now. I do not think the Master of Ceremonies is a guy who likes to show his face, quite the opposite. He hides in the shadows with a lot of dangerous people behind its screens betting human lives.

“Well, Sally says goodbye now.”

“It seems like we communicated with a spirit the way you said.”

Jeremy's supposed joke makes Alice look at him seriously.

"More ghost than you, it sure isn't."

She gets up and we do the same. I guess the conversation is over, but what have we learned of importance? I will have to talk to her to draw conclusions, she must have noticed something.

I go to go after Jeremy, but Alice stops me. I turn to look at her and she crosses her arms, still holding the cell phone in her hand.

"Don't take it badly abMout Sally," she tells me slowly, "I'm sure that if you calmly explain to her why she should stop investigating, she'll understand."

“She has behaved like a child—”

"Because she's only sixteen, Jake," Alice lets out a snort, "that age is the hardest of all, you think you can do everything."

“I know…”

"Just remind her tactfully, she... She hasn't had a very good time with some people reminding her, she's received very harsh words."

“Are you asking me to be soft with someone who has ignored me?”

“I ask you to be careful,” she looks at me, frowning, angry. The situation with Albert has us too tense “She wants to help us, if you go against her, she will do it on her behalf and that will be much worse because we are not her parents.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, unable to believe what I am hearing. Now that is being irresponsible to treat it as if it were not a serious issue. She have seen something bigger than a simple web page and she want to treat it as if it weren't something dangerous.

“And what are we then?”

“The only friends she has right now.”

“You do realize that what you say is wrong, right?”

"It's wrong, but if you treat her as an equal, she will listen to you, as long as you set the limit, everything will be fine."

I nod slowly. Okay, treat her like a friend, but do not be one so that she thinks I am okay with her having those documents in her hand. Maybe I should take control of Bianca's account and block her from Twitter and also from accessing the documents after it comes to her senses that she has been enough help.

As I leave the building, I see that Paul and Jeremy are on either side of the car, not even looking at each other. Alice and I approach, and Paul looks at me, arms crossed.

“I need to know what the hell is going on with that chick.” he points his head at Alice. “Who is Sally, why do you call yourself Jareth... Am I getting into something shady?”

"Unfortunately and unintentionally, you already are, Paul," I answer, avoiding getting bothered by his way of speaking, "you have been involved since you were little and you did not know it.”

“Damn,” he rubs his chin, nervous, “Can you answer me? Or would you rather I call the police and tell them what you're doing?”

"Jake?" Jeremy has turned to see me, leaning on the car. "Don't do it, don't play into his game, if you tell him he'll do it anyway, you know how he is, it's enough that he's already told us what she wants.”

“Shut up, Jeremy.” Paul turns his face a little to answer her and then looks at me. “Well?”

I look at the two and then at Alice, she shrugs her shoulders not knowing what to say or do. I already broke Sally's promise a long time ago and Paul has helped Sally... In some way or another that I don't know about.

“Fuck…” I hear him sniffle, while he runs a hand through his hair. “So Kat is in trouble with those people.”

“Now you understand how serious this is and why we had to talk to Sally.”

"You just screwed up, Jake." Now he's the one who looks at me harshly, tapping me in the chest with his finger "Yes, you were suspicious at first, but using a fake name isn't going to help you." I bite the inside of my cheek, turning my face away “It will only make you look more suspicious if she finds out—”

“And she will never know.” I open the door of my car, wanting to get in it once and for all to get out of here and talk to Sally about everything that’s happened "Jareth will disappear from her life once we are done, I will not contact her again."

I hear Alice make a throaty sound, although I could not tell what kind: disappointed? Understandable? She and I know that we only talked to find out the truth of all this and now we have it. There is no need to think about it any further, and it is better for her to finally get her life back.

“Do you know what I have been through, where everyone looks at me as if I were also the culprit?” I looked at Paul, frowning “That everyone was talking about me at the university? What did they murmur when I passed by them? That the whole city looked at me badly?”

"Believe me, no one would really judge you, no matter how much I did because you were with Kat, the looks went to your friend now arrested," he tilts his head, twisting his lips in thought “but... Surely your image as an orphan martyr has made you think that way.”

“Paul!”

“Leave it Jeremy,” I get into the car, sitting in the driver's seat. “Let us go to classes.”

I close my eyes trying to calm down. Better not to cause an accident. Alice leans over to the window and hears Jeremy get into the car as well.

“If I find out anything new about Albert at the police station, I'll let you know,” she tells me worried.

“Yes, please,” I put the keys in and start the engine. “Hey Alice...”

“Yeah?” she bows again.

"Albert... Forget it, he will tell you when we take him out of jail."

“Okay,” she nods, walking away again. “And you let me know when you have the signal of the place.”

I start by walking away, straight towards the road. It was lucky that no patrol showed up for us, I guess people do not usually come here this early.

I thought the way back would be silent, but…

“And is that Sally hot?”

Paul's question make me almost lose control of the car. Thinking about it has scared me or maybe because he does not know who she is and we do.

“Not at all,” Jeremy answers quickly.

“No,” I get pitch voice when I say it.

"She's not even interested in having a partner."

“Exactly, she is more interested in her work.”

“What Jake says is true, VERY focused.”

“Completely.”

“Well, what a boring girl.” Paul loses interest and goes back to his cell phone.

Jeremy and I looked at each other, breathing a sigh of relief. Maybe he does not like the idea that a teenager is helping us and at the same time, we prefer to keep her away from this guy. Even if he hinted about Jeremy, I do not know him well enough to know his tastes. Better to protect her from these types of men, knowing them will not do her any good in the future, they will only cause her problems.

I park in front of the university, letting Paul and Jeremy get out. The first one approaches my window, serious.

"I hope I really helped, Miller," his voice sounds calm, something that seems strange to me, "I don't want Kat to die, I... I couldn't bear it."

I nod understanding his concern. I could not either if something happened to her. I would feel like I have failed to find her.

“You did well,” I respond, looking into his eyes, trying to get a little sympathy, “you sure helped Sally.”

“Good…” he taps on the edge of the window. “Still, you're not my friend.”

"Do not worry, I do not want you to be either."

“Perfect.”

He walks away adjusting his backpack. We just have a truce until we find Katherine. Then everything will return to normal. I adjust myself better in the seat, ready to go.

“You're not coming?” Jeremy asks me, looking out the other window.

“No, I want to finish fixing the device.”

"You're missing a lot of classes, Jake..."

“If she skips it to investigate, then so do I,” I look at him and smile. “Plus, I can ask for notes later, do not worry.”

"I'll ask one of your classmates for it for you," I blink in surprise. “Just this once I'm your messenger, all in all, I'll do the same for Albert, he'll have a lot to study when he gets back.”

“Thank you Jeremy, you are a great friend to both of us.”

“Yes… I know…” he lets out a sigh, sitting up. “See you later.”

“See you later.”

I start the car towards his house. His parents are not there, so I can rest easy, thinking about everything that has happened so far.

I make coffee and sit on the floor, placing the device and laptop on the computer to transfer the work I have done so far. I take a sip and wipe the excess from the corners with my tongue. There is no need to waste the drops. I put on the headphones and start listening to the music on the player. I need to relax while I work, after our talk, I feel like everything has gotten worse, I do not know why, it is a feeling I have and it never happens to me. Whoever made this broadcast program seems more expert than me, but he does not know that I can achieve it, it is not for nothing that I am working in security.

“Shit, work,” I say through gritted teeth. I have not done anything in a long time. I hope Malcolm does not kill me for not attending to my work. Maybe he let it go because he knows he cannot lose me and he wanted to offer me a better position.

I get a notification from Facebook and look at the time. She should be in class after our conversation. I sigh and open Facebook on the computer. I guess it is time for her to stop. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sally I’ve noted about Katherine and Bianca’s parents. I wanted you to know because I will send you an email with everything I have achieved. Also a summary of what I have read from the interrogation of his parents. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I bite the inside of my cheek reading her messages. They were ending with a period, something I had never read from her until now.

<<She is alright?>>

I do not know whether to dare ask her, since she will tell me that I am neither her father nor her brother and, therefore, I should not worry about what she does. But at least I am like a guardian, since she is under my supervision. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sally Well that's it.

Jareth What is wrong?

Sally ?

Jareth You seem angry.

Sally Oh Do I look like it? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, I feel like I screwed up by asking and quite possibly got myself into trouble. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jareth Alright. I better not ask more.

Sally … Are you running away?

Jareth You said it was just to let me know about the email, right?

Sally For God’s sake, Jareth! Of course I’m pissed! WITH YOU! How have you been able to hide it so well?

Jareth You are talking about Katherine and me. Right?

Sally Look, you have done well hiding your feelings through messages, I admit it, you have fooled me well Maybe you didn’t want to tell me that you were secretly dating because Katherine was cheating on Jake Or what do I know? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hiding my feelings by message? I think the only thing I have hidden was my name. But it is a relief, I thought she had me caught.

<<Although it is not something to be happy about...>>

But why put herself this way? She should have no reason to be angry about this. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jareth Sorry. I guess I did not want you to judge me badly.

Sally Look, I don’t care what you and Katherine had, okay? If she cheated on him or you betrayed your friend I don’t care at all I only care about finding her It is clear?

Jareth Clear. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a feeling that at some point she is going to reach across the screen and punch me for lying to her and for betraying my friend. Clearly, no one wants to hear a topic about infidelity from an acquaintance or friend, it would be like feeling complicit in not being able to do anything.

“Although her reaction is quite strange,” I say while raising an eyebrow, curious. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sally Clear… Well it’s clear… Very clear… Super clear

Jareth Sally?

Sally What? 😠 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Almost instinctively, I actually move away from the screen. Yes, she is very angry. I try to calm down before I can screw up again. I wanted to ask her why she is not in class, but I am sure if I ask her, I will end up dead instead of punched through the screen. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jareth I wanted us to talk about Paul's testimony.

Sally Wow, the only smart thing you've said so far

Jareth What do you want me to do to calm you down?

Sally I’m fine Very calm Okay, let’s talk ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I breathe a sigh of relief. I know she is not, but at least she is agreed to talk, I thought she was not going to. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sally I liked seeing another side of him Not the one who is an idiot

Jareth Yes me too. I thought he would not help us.

Sally You named the video, right?

Jareth Yes, that made him react. Although it was not until I talked about Katherine being in danger that he agreed to talk.

Sally He is still in love with her, I know I’ve noticed His voice sounded like he was smiling

Jareth Well, he did not.

Sally But yes emotional… I would have liked him to have given us details of the video But I know it would have been hard

Jareth Do you think he could have hidden it on purpose?

Sally No, his voice had a slight tremor. I know he was afraid to remember it and… Well, I have to draw the line because I'm not professional, maybe we could have even caused a problem for him

Jareth I think he already have it. He take drugs to forget it.

Sally Yes, but… I’m not a psychologist, I have to be careful when asking him Do you understand it?

Jareth Yes, I understand.

Sally But I have noticed something else He became nervous when talking about Bianca’s father

Jareth He came up when we were talking at university. He wanted him to go with him to see his exwife and celebrate that Albert has been arrested.

Sally Well, he should calm down, the case is still not closed until there is a ruling It wasn’t Albert I’m sure

Jareth I do not believe it either. He is not capable of harming anyone. Well… If it is not to defend someone, of course.

Sally I want to continue investigating this matter a little more

Jareth No.

Sally What? How not?

Jareth I think we have gotten everything we needed. Bianca’s documents. That is now important.

Sally But I haven’t achieved anything yet! I have to continue! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reading her words partly makes me sad. I know she wants to continue helping, but I cannot continue with this. Not knowing that there are possibly big names in the document. Names that can make her go for it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jareth I know and understand it perfectly. But think you have already done a lot, Sally. You have helped us :) I am proud of you. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wait for her message. A simple question that seems innocent. I feel bad for her, although I am not lying to her, I just need her to stop searching. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sally Really?

Jareth Yes, you have done enough. I will take care of the rest. Remember that I am a computer expert ;)

Sally What… What do you mean?

Jareth I will keep Bianca’s account protected. But it is time for you to stop looking. I worry about your safety.

Sally And what do I do then? I don’t want to stop investigating…

Jareth You have gotten information before without putting yourself in danger. You can continue doing it. Until we find Katherine. But I keep Bianca’s things under safekeeping.

Sally Why do you want to keep me away? After everything I’ve done?

Jareth You are still young, you have to keep living. So you better come after me if something happens. Someone has to save Katherine and one must be alive if something happens. What do you think of my answer?

Sally … You're an Idiot…

Jareth ¿?

Sally I want to look at something I will stop following Bianca Take care of everything that has to do with computers and websites I of information I’ll pass you on to Bianca

Jareth Good. But be careful with investigating that information, please.

Sally I will ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She disconnects and I take care of everything I have to do. Log into Bianca's account, wait for the documents to be emailed, and read the new ones about Bianca and Katherine's parents. I check that there is no one on Bianca's account and indeed, the follower counter is at zero. I am glad she listened to me.

After a long time working on the program, I receive emails from Sally. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [email protected]

For: [email protected]

Subject: Notes

Here’s what I promised. Please don’t be offended by reading it, okay? You simply deserve it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I open them, I let out a low growl. It seems that she is angry enough with me to put me back in the notes.

“Really?” I ask quietly to myself.

Anyway, I will let it go and look at the rest of the notes while I work on the code. There is something strange in the code I have seen while waiting and I hope it is the hacker's hallmark.

Jake's notes 3

Chapter 16

#duskwood #duskwood jake #duskwood mc #duskwood game #duskwood everbyte #everbyte game #everbyte studio #duskwood fanfic #fanfic

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