If Only She Knew

3. Pieces of Her

Present time, London...

As she waited, Ariana decided to take advantage of that bottle of water in front of her.

Since she worked as a detective and had interrogated people, she knew what to expect next.

A top-tier London detective, most likely, was going to enter through that door and start interrogating her while she was tied down like a criminal.

She wanted, most of all, to ask about Joseph.

Where was he? Was he alright?

In the time she'd spent here, in this holding cell, she had heard rumours... It was funny how she ended up being the last one to know.

And that, after two years of being with Joseph and a head detective on the entire Big B. serial killer conundrum...

When the door finally opened, slowly, she was dumbfounded to look up and watch the detective they sent in to interrogate her.

It was Jacob Holmes.

Jacob, her coworker, teammate, buddy and unofficial fashion advisor.

After working for so long on the Big Bucharest murders cases with Ariana, the UK Forces remarked his talent, and he had been promoted to Chief Inspector.

Given the fact that he was only a year older than Ariana, 27, it was quite an achievement.

At that time Ariana hadn't seen him in a month or so, and she had wondered if she'd see him again ever since being apprehended.

But here he arrived, tousled hair and inquisitive green eyes.

He was wearing a black tuxedo, and looked like any other suit otherwise.

He was no longer the refined, blunt teammate you could smoke with.

"Jacob," she said softly, carefully.

"Miss Johnson." Miss Johnson? She wondered.

The new apellative was cold, distant. A leg stretcher.

"Where goes calling me Ariana?" she inquired hesitantly.

Jacob smelled that hesitation. It was unlike her. She was scared.

"They sent me in to ask you questions," he murmured and looked kind of apologetic as he sat down across from her.

"I'm sorry but I can't be informal here and now," he explained, but all Ariana could see was something on a deeper level.

Was that really the case? Was that really the reason?

"What happened to Joseph? Do you know anything?" Ariana was pressing her elbows on the table as she looked up at him.

"I'm sorry. I can't speak about anything in here for the sake of the investigation. Maybe after this, they'll tell you anything you need to know. "

Ariana couldn't believe this.

They were keeping her tied and keeping things that concerned her away from her...

Her face was lost and it was like she was back in elementary squinting her eyes at the math exercises the teacher had scribbled on the blackboard.

"Ariana," Jacob's voice seemed to bring her back.

It was as if he was aware she was drowning in a sea of uncertainty.

"If you're alright, we'll start now," Jacob said and opened a portfolio to read something.