I rested my head against the cold window of the police car, watching in silence the cityscape passing in front of my eyes. It was still dark outside but the first morning people started to wake up and I could see lights piercing through the building's windows. Some of them already walked in the streets, heading to the subway. They were clenching their coats around their body, trying to fight against the gloomy weather. 

I was replaying the scene of Jake's arrest in my head again and again. Was it really over? Was it real? I had just met him, and he was leaving me again. The worst thing was that I knew he wouldn't come back. 

I raised my hand, took the soft fabric of Jake's t-shirt and lifted it up to my nose. I closed my eyes while inhaling his scent. I hugged myself tighter thinking that, if I focused as hard as I could on his smell, I could live the memory of our brief moments together again. I remembered everything, his burning touch on my skin, his hot breath tickling my neck, his deep voice enchanting me, his gray-blue eyes making me shiver each time he looked at me and his reassuring warm embrace. 

I fell in love with him without meeting him and his texts only would be enough for me if that meant he was safe. The sting of guilt in my chest was even more present than usual. I couldn't help but think I was partly responsible for Jake's arrest. If I didn't look for him in the first place he would have time to run away sooner. It was because of my selfishness he got caught. 

I opened my eyes, Alan was glancing at me in the rearview mirror with a worried look on his face. I decided to ignore him and focused on the scenery behind the window. We had left Colville and were now driving in the countryside. The sun started to rise and I could see the shy ray of light struggling to pierce the thick cloud layer. The gloomy light gave a weird vibe to the landscape. Everything was green and gray, but soon we approached Duskwood's forest and the dark shadows of the trees engulfed us. 

I detached my gaze from the window. Seeing all those trees gave me the creeps. It felt like the Man Without a Face was about to appear any time between the tree trunks. I knew it wasn't possible. But still, my body stiffened instinctively as if a great danger was approaching. 

I turned myself toward Alan and raised my gaze up at the rearview mirror, trying to catch his eyes. "How did they find him?" I spoke in such a cold, raspy tone because of the lump in my throat and my dry mouth that I hardly recognized my voice. 

The man didn't remove his gaze from the road while answering, "FBI received a phone call indicating where he was, and with who."

What?! I couldn't believe this. Someone betrayed Jake? Who could it be? Soon, some names came to my mind as Phil or Dan. But I chased these thoughts from my mind, my friends wouldn't do that to me. Plus, how could they know where we were? I let out a deep sigh and put my head on my hands. "Who called them?" my voice was muffled because of my hands in front of my mouth. 

"An anonymous source," Alan simply replied. But I was sure he knew more. I wanted to ask more about it but I didn't notice we were already in Duskwood until Alan turned into a small street. He parked in a small car park behind a building and I soon recognized it was the police station. 

Alan opened the door and I had to wait until he came to the side of the car where I was sitting before I could get out of it. He gave me a sympathetic look, put a hand on my shoulder and pushed me softly toward the backdoor. 

The place was quite empty as it was still early in the morning. Of course, the night staff was there, but they were about to leave and their colleagues hadn't arrived yet. I walked in front of Alan, who was guiding me thanks to his hand on my shoulder. 

He made me stop in front of a door and opened it. The inside of the room was equipped with two metallic chairs and a table. There was nothing on the wall except a huge one-way mirror on my left. I slowly approached one of the chairs and sat on it. Alan left the room, avoiding my gaze, this time he hadn't asked me if I wanted a coffee.

I waited, and waited again. I stared blankly at the mirror lost in my thoughts. I was still thinking about Jake. I wondered where he was. Was he hurt? Scared? Had they already brought him to prison? Could I see him again? Then I thought about Lilly. I had to warn her! I was about to stand to call for someone when the door opened loudly. 

I expected to see Alan entering, but instead of him I saw a man dressed with a black suit walking in the room. 

My stomach twisted immediately, I knew for who this man worked, and to say I was scared was an understatement. 

The man approached the table and sat across from me. He didn't look at me and showed too much interest in the files he was reading. I felt more and more nervous, my mouth was even drier than earlier and I cursed myself for not asking Alan for a glass of water. 

Suddenly, the man started to talk with a cold voice, "So…" he peeked at the files in front of him, "MC. I bet you know why you're here?" He stopped and looked at me, waiting for an answer, but I was so stunned that I couldn't talk. 

The man sighed, he gave me a smile which looked everything but friendly, "We're looking for something. Something Jake stole from us. Did he tell you about it?" I didn't have a clue about what that man talked about. Was he referring to the evidence Jake and his friend had gathered? 

"Come on, MC. I know he told you about it," the man asked again. But I still remained silent. As the man asked me again and again the same question I decided to stare at a point above the one-way mirror. I tried to ignore as best as I could the man who got angrier with each question. 

At first the man was calm but little by little he was losing his patience, and he started to threaten me, "MC. If you don't cooperate, you'll be judged as an accomplice of that man. Is it what you want?" he sighed again and opened the files, "drug traffic, illegal sales of weapons, sex trafficking including minors…  that monster was involved in all of this!" 

Without noticing it my eyes looked away from the point above the mirror to focus on the man. What? I started breathing faster. Jake couldn't be involved in this. He was a good person and I knew it. 

The man saw it upset me and a light smile appeared on his face, "What is it MC? You didn't know about all of this?" I frowned, I knew it was a new strategy to make me talk. But I wouldn't. All those things he was accused of, either it was a lie or it was the things he had discovered and said he didn't want to tell me about. 

I stared again at the spot above the one-way mirror, trying to regain my composure. From the corner of my eyes, I could see the face of the man reddened. He obviously started to lose his shit. With a face distorted by anger he yelled at me, "So you decided to let this little piece of shit drag you down with him?!" The man slammed angrily his fists against the table, making me jump on my seat. 

"Damn MC! You can't protect a criminal! I swear if you don't tell me what you know, I'll send you in jail for the rest of your miserable life!," he stood up, flipping his chair over the ground. "Where did he hide the files?" The man leaned over me and I could feel his hot disgusting breath on my face. I winced and opened my mouth ready to reply but nothing came out. 

We stared at each other for a moment, until knocks on the door cut the heavy silence between us. "What?!!" the man shouted, turning his head to his right. Another unknown man, also dressed with a suit, opened the door slightly. He said nothing but gestured to the man who was interrogating me to approach. Both men stepped out of the room, leaving me alone. 

And here I was, waiting again. I felt so exhausted that I ended up folding my arms on the table and resting my head on them. I didn't know how much time I stayed like this, hours maybe? I started to be hungry and my mouth and throat were hurting because of dehydration. 

I heard the door open again. I reluctantly lifted my head up to see Alan standing at the door frame. "MC, come on you're free to go," he said with a calm voice. 

I looked at him without understanding what he just said. "How?" I managed to whisper loud enough for the policeman to hear me. 

Alan shrugged, "I don't know. They said they had what they wanted and they just left." 

My eyes widened. Most people would feel relieved but not me. The fact they let me go meant they had what they needed to charge Jake, and it was terrifying me. "MC, come on," Alan repeated, "Lilly's waiting for you."

At the sound of my friend's name I slowly stood up. My legs were shaking but I still had enough strength to walk. I followed Alan until we reached the waiting area next to the entrance of the police station. 

Once there, I quickly walked to the water cooler, took a paper cup and filled it with cold water. I drank it in one go, and poured myself another glass of water. 

I felt someone gently poke my shoulder. I turned around to face Lilly. She had red eyes from crying, and it looked like she was staring at me without seeing me. As soon as I saw her I wrapped my arms around her. Lilly rested her head on my shoulder and cried. I bit my lip trying to stay strong, but it was too hard. I hugged my friend tighter and cried with her. 

I saw a police woman walking in the room. She had brown curly hair and to my surprise, she carefully approached us and stopped right next to Lilly, a cup of warm coffee in her hand. My friend slowly pulled away and took the cup the woman handed her. "Thank you Chloe," she said with a sad smile on her face. 

"Anytime," the woman answered, "I mean it Lilly… You know I'm here if you need to." She took Lilly's hand and squeezed it. Lilly nodded, grateful. And then, we both watched the brown-haired girl go back to her office. 

"She's a friend of yours?" I quietly asked. 

Without looking away from the woman Lilly answered, "No…yes. I mean, we've known each other since school, but we've never been that close." Lilly's voice was only a whisper. 

When the police woman was finally out of Lilly's sight, she let out a deep sigh and looked back at me, "We should go. Jessy is waiting for us at her apartment. They all are" 

I raised my hand to my face and wiped the tears from my face, "Let's go, then." We both turned around and headed to the door, relieved to finally leave this place. 

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