I was in my office finishing some paperwork related to a case I just closed when I heard a knock on my door followed by an agent stepping inside.

"Agent Parker, you are needed in the conference room as soon as possible," he said once he entered my office.

"Why, are there any problems?" I asked.

"No, but I believe it's something related to the Metropolitan Museum's case," he answered.

I didn't wait for him to say any more words, I quickly rose up from my seat and rushed out of my office. It has been quite a while since anything new related to that case appeared on the surface.

"What is it?" I asked once I made it to the conference room.

"Apparently, some photographer sent us a video saying that it was taken by mistake when the fake alarm went on," Luke spoke up. "And he said that the thief was there in the back."

"Did you watch it?" I asked abruptly.

"Not yet, we were waiting for you as you were the only person who actually made contact with the thief," another agent replied.

"Okay, I'm here now," I said. "What are you waiting for? Play it."

One of the agents put a CD in the DVD player and the video started. The photographer was recording a video of an instructor analyzing one of the paintings then suddenly, the fake alarm went on. Everyone in the video started to panic and the security guards rushed to where the fake alarm was but there was nothing suspicious in the video, yet.

"Where's the thief, there's nothing," one of the agents grumbled.

I was focusing my gaze on the screen when I noticed someone at the back with dark clothes on.

"There she is," I said pointing at her figure. "Zoom in and try to get her face."

One of the agents nodded and zoomed in. It was her, but her hoodie was on and she was giving the camera her back. Also, she was trying to hide as much as possible so no one would notice her.

"Come on, come on. Turn around," I said under my breath, begging her to turn around. "Just a little bit more."

My heart was starting to beat fast as she started to turn slowly and her face started to be noticed then suddenly, she fully turned and was now facing the camera...

"Stop, that's her," I said quickly making the agent jump a little bit as he paused the video.

The quality of the video wasn't that good and zooming in made it more blurry so her face wasn't clearly recognizable, but it was just a matter of time before our analysts would be able to determine her full features and draw an expected sketch of her face. Although I couldn't see her face clearly or determine her features, she still looked so familiar. Creepily familiar.

Most of the agents left to start working on the photo, I stood there looking at her picture without moving.

"Congratulations, Jake." Luke patted me on the shoulder. "Finally, you can close that damn case."

"Yeah," I said absentmindedly, still looking at her blurry picture on the screen.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked in confusion.

"I don't know, but I think there's something strange about her," I said not taking my gaze off the photo.

"Strange or not," Luke started to say. "It's finally time to put her ass behind bars."

"Yeah, I guess so," I said, looking at the picture for the last time before I left with Luke to my office to wait for the analysis there.

><><><><

"So, how's Emma?" Luke asked.

The two of us were impatiently waiting for the results, and he was trying to kill the time.

"She's great," I answered. A smile made its way to my lips once I remembered her.

"That time when you brought her here with you, there was something weird about her," Luke said.

"What do you mean?" I asked him in confusion.

"When I came to your office, I found her staring at the whiteboard that is dedicated to the Met's case, and she was completely lost in thought," he said, motioning to the whiteboard behind me.

Emma was really interested in that case in a weird way. "She was always interested in that case. I think because it was just related to art and she's really fascinated by art," I explained, trying to convince myself more than I was trying to convince him. I never really found a justifiable reason for her extra interest in that particular case.

Luke nodded but he was still unconvinced. I was about to say something else when I heard a knock on my door followed by an agent entering the office.

"The analysis results are ready," he said, handing both of us a copy of a file. "The expected sketch of the criminal's real features is inside of it."

I opened the file and skipped all the unimportant pages until I got to the sketch. I looked at the sketch in disbelief, my stomach sank, my blood ran cold, and a sudden nauseating feeling crept through my body. The criminal was no one but the girl I fell hard for. It was a sketch of Emma's face.

A lot of thoughts were going through my head that I felt that it might explode. I also felt that my breath was being ripped out of my lungs. The girl I was in love with was no one but the criminal I was trying to catch all this time.

How was that even possible?

"Jake—" Luke's voice cut my thoughts off; I totally forgot he was still there.

"Get out Luke," I said under my breath.

"You need to—" he tried to say again.

"Get out, Luke!" I yelled at him angrily as I hit the desk with my palm, then I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down a little. "Just get out, now."

He looked at me one last time before he stood up. He walked out of the office and left me alone.

All of this time, everything was a lie. Her words, her feelings, and everything about her.

Oh, now I knew why she was very interested in that case. She was just using me for information all this time.

That was why she always avoided too personal questions. That was why she never talked about her past. That was why she was so worried the day we came here.

Now I knew why all of my plans seemed to fail, it was because of her. Also, that mission and that damn call; that was why she was acting weird. The seller also must have been Eric.

Every realization seemed like a stab in the heart.

Damn it. I was a freaking idiot.

How did I let her fool me?

How did I overlook so many things?

Was I blindfolded with her love that much?

I trusted her, I loved her, and she betrayed me. Nothing ever hurt more than being betrayed and disappointed by the one person you thought would never hurt you.

Now, it was payback time. She was going to pay for what she has done. She was going to pay for all of her crimes, and all of her lies.

I was going to bring her in, and arrest her myself...