"Why the hell does he want to meet you?" I asked, worry filling my tone.

"I don't know. Declan called and said that Hunter wanted a meeting," Eric sighed and crossed his arms. "He didn't say the reason."

"Damn it, Eric. I knew this was a bad idea," I said, putting my head in my hands.

"It's going to be okay, Em," Eric said softly as he sat next to me. "Refusing to meet with him won't be the best idea, after all."

"Yeah, but everything with the painting is over," I argued. "What could possibly be the reason behind this?"

"I don't know." Eric sighed. "I guess we will get to know about that today when I meet him."

"When are you going to meet him?" I asked, sighing.

"Two hours from now," Eric said. "I guess I should go."

I knew he was also worried so I didn't add anything, I just closed the gap between us and hugged him. I really had a bad feeling about this.

"Just be careful, Eric," I said softly when we broke our hug. "Please."

"I will." He smiled at me before he grabbed his car's keys and left the apartment.

Worry pinched my gut. I knew something was wrong with this whole thing.

><><><><><><

Today was the day, everybody was a little bit tense. We had to arrest that guy today, there was no chance for mistakes.

"Agent Parker, everything is ready," an agent who was responsible for preparing the mission declared.

"Okay, then. We leave now," I said as I stood up, putting the jacket of my suit on. But as I was about to leave my office, my phone rang, it was Emma.

"I will take this call quickly, and then I will follow after you," I said and the agent nodded before he left me alone.

"Hey, Emma," I answered the phone, excitement dripping off my tone.

"Hey, Jake," she said, her voice indicating that there was something off. "You seem very excited today."

"Yeah, I have got something important to do soon, which will make a lot of progress in the case I'm working on," I explained to her, smiling to myself a little.

"That painting's case?" Emma asked in a serious tone.

"Yeah, we might catch the seller today and that would lead us to the thief, eventually," I said, and she didn't comment. Yeah, something was obviously wrong with her.

"Hey Emma, are you okay?" I asked, feeling concerned.

She cleared her throat before she spoke up. "Y—Yeah, just tired. So, I was just checking up on you. I should probably leave you to your mission now," she said, a bit uneasily. Maybe I would ask her about it later.

"Yeah, I should go too," I said.

"Okay. Good luck with your mission, Jake," she said quickly before she hung up.

That was strange and totally not like the Emma I knew. I wonder what was wrong with her.

><><><><><><

"Shit, shit, shit!" I kept repeating as I typed Eric's number as fast as I could and then I begged him to answer quickly.

Earlier, something inside of me urged me to call Jake. I didn't know why, but when I did, I found him preparing for a mission which was actually a freaking ambush to arrest my brother!

"Hey, Em," Eric answered the phone, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Don't go!" I shouted through the phone.

"Why, what happened?" Eric asked, confusedly.

"It's a freaking trap!" I yelled again, not being able to remain calm.

"Emma calm down. I don't understand you," Eric said, firmly.

I took a deep breath before I spoke up. "Jake is preparing a trap for you. If you go, you will be arrested."

"Are you sure?" Eric questioned with a surprised tone. "How did this even happen?"

"I don't know, I think Declan got arrested," I said. "That doesn't matter now, just turn over and get back here."

"Damn!" my brother shouted angrily, and I heard him hitting the steering wheel. He then took a couple of deep breaths before he spoke up. "I'm coming back." With that, he hung up.

"Shit!" I mumbled again to myself, now sitting on the floor, already lost in thought of what could have happened if I hadn't called Jake. Eric would have gotten arrested and the same would have happened to me in no time after Jake connected all the pieces together.

Jake wasn't an easy opponent. But I was right, getting close to him was the right choice, after all. This whole thing has reached a very dangerous level; I could never go back now.