112

Crying bitterly, I kept walking down the beach, not intending to even turn to face him.

Not because I didn't really want him, but because I knew I couldn't have gone any further otherwise and he, he deserved a strong woman. One who could have helped him through it all. Not me...

I was panicking just thinking about this video and at the same time I was incredibly sorry for making him feel like I was scared of him.

Because I didn't have that. In no way! Ever since the situation with Carlos, I've had a very strange perception of fast movements and put it down to the fact that I just hadn't found the time to process the whole thing in any way for myself.

"What are you doing," I whispered in pain into the silence around me, wiping some of the tears from my face while my gaze wandered up to the dark sky again and again.

When, after a while of tireless walking, I arrived at a road, I turned around and stared into total darkness as if caught in an agonizing trance.

The beach was dark, the sea even murkier, and what shrouded me in darkness the most was the realization that I couldn't see him anymore. I ran too far away. The distance is now too big...

But when I finally wanted to run on sobbing, I was suddenly overcome with a feeling that could not be described in mere words.

Suddenly, as I slowly began to think about all this quietly under the black night sky, Emilio's actions no longer seemed as cruel as I had felt them before. As if the distance had helped me see things from the outside. My vision got clearer...

More and more, the bitter realization crept into my mind that this pendant was meant to represent protection rather than control, and also that this woman was certainly not entirely innocent in her death.

But was it even permissible for me to justify a murder?

I stood there pensively, one foot still in the sand, feeling all over me that an unrelenting battle was being fought inside me that made me feel like just a silent spectator.

My mind kept trying to tell me that what was shown on this video was unacceptable. That it would be unforgivable to foist something like a tracking device on someone.

But my heart... it was beating so wildly against my chest that I was overwhelmed by the idea that its powerful beating was desperately trying to get me to listen to it and not give in to my sanity.

It was literally screaming at me that I shouldn't be blind. That Emilio was exactly the person he showed me and not, as my mind would have me believe, just an actor hiding his true identity behind a constructed facade.

And I knew one thing for sure in that moment of silence!

My heart was the side I would choose because now, standing here and sane, I knew I'd rather go down with him than leave him alone if it wasn't too late.

I resolutely put my second foot back in the sand and, through tears of regret, wanted just one more thing.

To him and explain to him how sorry I was for my hasty reaction. I had experienced too much in too little time, which certainly wasn't an excuse for my behavior, but it was simply the truth. Added to this was the fear of his father, but even if I had this fear, it shouldn't determine whether I would stay by Emilio's side or not!

My heart should decide that - and it has decided long ago...

I was about to run when I suddenly heard someone behind me and the next moment I felt a hand on my arm, squeezing so hard that I held my breath in shock and turned around, wide-eyed.

"Isalie Parker?"

I stared into the eyes of a bearded policeman and for a moment didn't understand at all what he wanted from me, but after I just silently nodded my heart-pounding agreement, he took a photo from his jacket pocket and held it right in front of my face.

"I'm sure you know him," he said sternly, and I suddenly stared at Carlo's face, which made me panic. At the same time, I wondered how this policeman knew exactly where I was and who I was.

Without replying, I glanced past him to the street and saw a small, white van, but no police car anywhere, which made me raise a skeptical eyebrow.

"Yes, I know him. Why? Has something happened?" I pretended to be ignorant and inconspicuously looked at this police officer, where I noticed something again.

The guy wore a fancy tie under his dark jacket, but no cop, except for a detective, would walk down the beach at night in a jacket.

So if I put two and two together, he must have been watching me for a while and it certainly wasn't about Carlos!

Carlos was single and lived alone. After only a few days of his absence, why would the police be looking for him on the beach at night?!

They probably already knew exactly what happened but didn't report it because they were on to something bigger.

Or rather, to someone bigger...

"Please get in," he said suddenly, but I immediately shook my head in the negative, trying to free myself from his grip at the same time.

"No! I haven't done anything wrong and I know my rights!" I reprimanded him, but without even really listening to me, he grabbed my arm again and just yanked me towards the van, making me gasp in panic . My heart was racing and I wanted to scream for help, but who would help me when my kidnapper was a police officer.

Regardless of me, he opened the back door of the white car and shoved me inside, where I surveyed the many small monitors with huge eyes.

"This can't be true," I whispered to myself, and when I suddenly saw photos of Emilio taped to one side of the wall, the tears welled up in my eyes again and I regretted more than anything that I had left our safe home... our sanctuary...

"Sit down!" the policeman ordered me rudely, pointing to a small stool next to the monitors, which I reluctantly sat down on, while suddenly a second man entered the van.

"Do you actually know which people he's dealing with?!" the bearded man asked me scathingly, but I just looked down and didn't intend to give him any answer to any question.

"Jaime," he said suddenly and held a picture in front of me again, on which I recognized a smiling man wearing a baseball cap and holding a little girl in his arms.

"He was shot in front of his daughter! An anonymous tip came in," the police officer explained, putting the photo aside to show me another one.

"Sergio! Father of three daughters! Found dead with multiple stab wounds!"

As I tearfully looked at each of these faces, I noticed the two of them scrutinizing me intently. Surely they thought I had such a relationship with Emilio that I should know about all this.

But even if I did, I certainly wouldn't say a word!

"I don't know anyone about it," I said calmly, concentrating on barely showing a reaction even though inside I wanted to break down.

"But you know the man who did this to those families," he replied, looking at me so intently that I felt like I couldn't hold his gaze any longer, but I did it anyway, for no apparent weakness to be noted.

"You're wrong. I don't know anyone here. I just moved here!" I said decisively and got up from the stool. "And now I will go!"

To my amazement, the tall one immediately avoided me so I could run to the back door of the car, but the other one suddenly cleared his throat, drawing my attention back to himself.

"I'll tell you one thing, Isalie. Dead bodies leave a mark. Even if it's just a tiny drop of blood between the wood chips on the floor. Or a single, barely noticeable hair. Who knows what we'd find in your apartment if you don't volunteer to help us."

I turned to him in disbelief and wanted to say something brave in return, but I just stared at him while my whole life was now out of my control.

"And if you continue to seek closeness with him, you will be considered an accomplice from the moment we find solid evidence."

"I've got nothing to hide," I said quickly, hurrying out of the crappy car to take a deep breath and head home.

I had to come up with a plan and warn Emilio without them raising suspicions.

While the truth was in those photos in that car, even as they were shown to me, something became clear that I hadn't really realized before.

Those were Emilio's hands, but Ernesto's actions...

And he would pay for that! Just as I atoned for leaving Emilio alone for a moment of weakness...