Duskwood Mysteries

Part 7

Jake was behind a mask as well but he never hid his true nature from me. I stared at him for a long time and he met my gaze. His eyes still seemed to burn with determination. We stared at each other for a second too long. I had to break the gaze. I stood up and said, "Richy was the one who mentioned that the matchbox from Aurora was found at the crime scene. He said that could be a reason why Phil was involved." 

Jake flinched. He really did not like Phil I guess. Neither did Richy. Maybe they could bond over that. "You thought it was a coincidence." He muttered under his breath. "Yes because Phil is a smart man. Why would he leave an obvious clue at a crime scene? It was either placed there to trap him or the attacker could have been to Aurora before." I said as a matter of fact. The matchbox clue was too easy to be plausible. "Well depending on the amount of gullible women Phil has wrapped around his fingers I can believe he is smart enough to fool some women. Maybe that's what caused him to be cocky enough to make a mistake like leave the matchbox or not clean up after himself?" Jake said. Ouch that hurt a bit. Was Jake calling me gullible or stupid or both? I narrowed my eyes at Jake. "What are you implying?" I asked sternly. "I just don't want anything to cloud your judgement." He said. "Is that all? Are you sure it has nothing to do with the fact that Phil invited me to Aurora?" I pressed. "Absolutely not. But you said Yes which is.. how do I say it. It is intriguing." He replied but he did not look at me.

"Are you serious? You are still stuck on that? Look Jake I was just building a rapport with Phil. You also realize I did mention that I don't think he was completely honest with me." I grumbled. Jake sighed, "Jade I'm sorry I just can't stand that man. Its just that all my life I have lacked the confidence and the easiness to trust that guys like Phil have in abundance. Its charming to some people." He responded slowly. At some level I understood what he meant. It wasn't just jealousy that caused him to imply what he said. Phil was the exact opposite of Jake. More outgoing and charming, yes but it had its problems too. Everyone hated his guts. On the other hand Jake's secrecy probably made him to be disliked by others as well. Could it be the case? That Phil was the culprit and had just gotten careless. Breaking the tension in the air I said, "We need to know why Phil was arrested and who ratted him out. Too many things aren't making sense." "But how? Jessy asked the cops and they didn't tell her anything." Jake said.

I looked at Jake, "Do you think you can find out? I mean wouldn't it be in the system? The case file I mean." Jake stared at me, "You want me to hack into the police database?" "Well you can, can't you?" I asked. "I can but not now." He said. "Why not now?" I asked. "Do you think hacking into a database that too a police database is like swishing the magic wand and saying magical words that will unlock it?" He snapped. "Oh come on Jake. You know the magic word Mr. Potterhead." I smirked, "I bet you have the blu ray collection of all movies?" "Please. Hard bound books. I read a few then watched the movie and hated it. I just remember some parts." He said sheepishly. "Fair enough. So, you can't do it?" I asked again. 

"No, its not that I can't do it. Look its risky to snoop through a database when I am in close proximity to a location without the right virtual network. And I also don't have the resources to properly mask my IP address right now. Its all back at my home. Snooping in and accessing the data from you guys' phone is different. Doing that with the cops is a lot more difficult, time consuming and risky." He concluded. "And definitely illegal. So, it's a dead end then." I said yawning, "sorry". "Illegal only if you get caught. Looks like a dead end for now. But we can pursue it later for sure." He said "Did you sleep at all?" he asked looking very concerned. "No between Richy's disappearance, driving to Duskwood, talking to your sister and your sudden arrival, I've not had the time." I replied. "Well, I think you need to rest. I think being here is probably keeping you alert with the attacker on the loose. Plus, I probably think Richy's video call will probably give you nightmares." He said. 

"Is this your way of convincing me to take rest by taunting about Richy's nightmare. No Thank you. I guess I can stay up a while Jake. I think...." "No, you need to sleep. And I am not trying to scare you. I meant to say that nightmares about his safety probably wouldn't let you sleep. Neither would the constant thought of the attacker on the loose for which I am going to keep a watch on so that you can sleep peacefully. You need to be at a 100% to be able to help me alright? Besides, we have a lot to talk about." He said cutting me off.

"Yeah, I guess I didn't even think that we would meet like this. It hasn't just set in you know. We haven't had the chance of talking about us or anything like that in a long time." I said. "Ummmm I was talking about the bracelet, the police chief Alan and Ted Madruga who Lilly mentioned about but sure we can talk about us definitely. There is a lot I would like to know." He said winking at me. I blushed. Royally embarrassed. "I think I'll take the nap you suggested." I finally said walking towards the bedroom. "Sure. I'll be waiting right here till you wake up. Maybe even think over the questions I would like to ask." He said all nonchalant. "Haha. I am pretty sure you know enough. After all you found my pictures online. And anything else online is still a piece of cake for you." I faked laughed nervously and wished I was invisible. "About your digital presence yes. But nothing about you personally," he said. "Says the guy who literally hadn't told me anything except his hair color and name. And that too I had to extract it out of you." I snarked. "Ok I'll make you a deal. I will tell you everything you want to know about me if you go to bed right away," he offered. "Fair enough. And for each detail you tell, I will tell you something personal about me that is not digitally present. How about that?" I countered. He nodded and I looked away and smiled. Finally, I would know something of the mystery of Jake.