- Friday, May 27th, 2016 -

– 4 months after the disappearance –

I gesture for the cops to take a seat at the couch, while my dad is getting them the coffees they asked for after he asked them if they wanted a drink. I'm really nervous about this, since the cops have been a bit inactive in Finnley's case lately because they're occupied with other cases. I have no idea why they are here or what questions they want me to answer.

Both of them took a seat on the smaller couch, one grabbing a notepad, the other taking in the living room we're in.

"My name is detective Carl Barnes, and this is my colleague Hussein Buyuk. We're sorry to interrupt dinner, but it couldn't wait."

"I wasn't hungry anyway," I mutter, shrugging to signal I really don't care about dinner being interrupted. My temporary phone buzzes in my jeans, alerting me I got a new message. I retrieve the phone from my pocket to read it.

Unknown number:

Operation revenging Godzilla is a go. Remember; oblivious. Don't talk to ANYONE.

At first, I laugh out loud because someone is also calling Mike Godzilla, before the actual content of this text starts to become clear to me. This might be Finnley, since he uses words only he would use, like Godzilla and oblivious. But why isn't he texting with his own phone number?

"Can we agree on no distraction during this conversation?" Carl sounds annoyed by the interruption of my phone.

"Eh, yeah, sure." I mutter, turning the phone off to prevent them from catching Finn's name on the screen.

"What is this about?" My mom takes a seat next to me, staring at the officers with an air of annoyance around her. She obviously dislikes the fact they interrupted dinner, probably because of the conversation we had until they rang the bell.

"It's about Finnley Lund, like we told Cristian already. We have a new lead that we're investigating." Detective Barnes – Carl – took the word, while his colleague clicks a pen. "Is it okay if we write down your answers?"

"I guess." I shrug, staring at the two of them, mostly Barnes. First of all, these aren't the detectives that had been investigating Finnley's case in the beginning, but that could be explained by the lack of team members in working the case due to other cases. But second of all, Carl seems really familiar, I just can't pinpoint exactly where I've seen him before.

"This couldn't wait until after dinnertime, or tomorrow?"

"'Mam, we have reasons to believe Finnley might be in danger and we don't want to lose time right now."

"What new lead?" I wonder if any of this has something to do with Stan and Finnley both not answering their phones and someone telling me not to talk to anyone. Does that mean I'm not allowed to talk to the cops either?

"Someone told us your name and told us you might know more about Finnley's disappearance, and maybe even his whereabouts."

"I don't know where Finn is." I really don't; it's not even a lie.

"Who named Cris?" My mom intervenes again.

"Mom, I'm eighteen. I can handle this." I send her a reassuring look. "But yeah, who called my name?"

"Last night Alexander Moreno was taken into hospital with severe injuries. Alexander had been missing for about a year and his case is much similar to Finnley's case..."

"Alexander?" My eyebrows fly up at the realisation this could be the Alex that was staying with Finnley.

"You know him?" Both Carl and Hussein are eying me suspiciously.

"Eh, heard about him, don't know him." I admit. "Since he was missing too I've heard his name once or twice... like you said, because of the similarities..." I should stop talking now. Don't make them suspicious over the fact I know too much. Short answers will have to do the trick. Besides, I still haven't figured out why Carl seems familiar. Can I trust these guys, even if they showed me their badges when I answered the door? Did I take a good look at the badges? What if those were fake?

"Well, Alexander hasn't said much yet, but he told us some concerning things about his situation. We have reasons to believe you know more than you're willing to let us know." Carl shuffles in his seat, staring at my dad, who's putting down the coffee in front of them.

"We know about the threats." Hussein jumps in, a foreign accent seeping through his words, making it harder to understand him, since he's also quick with words.

"What threats?" My mom snaps, grabbing my hand tightly. "What are they talking about Cris?"

"From the information we've got from Alexander, we know Cris has been threatened, not directly maybe..."

"I really don't know... I..." I do know, right? "I am fine..."

"So, nobody has threatened or harmed you in any way recently? No fighting during nights out or at parties?"

"You got beaten at that party. The birthday from that guy... what was his name again?" My mom stares at me. "You need to tell them, they're here to protect you."

I think about telling on Mike, before realization hits me and I suddenly know why Carl seems so familiar. He's the guy that was with Mike the other day, picking up Emma and Arianna in school. This guy is friends with Mike.

I nearly freak out when I realize the enemy is in my house, pretending to be a cop, talking to me and my parents casually. Why are they here anyway? Did they hope I was home alone, so they could harm me?

Finnley obviously knew someone was on their way to take revenge. But how did he know?

He asked Nathan to get to me even though he was working tonight so I guess this might be a serious threat.

"No, no." I shake my head, sending my mom a warning look. "No fights other than trivial fights with other teenagers. You know... boys being boys. Fighting over stupid things..." I lie, trying to sound casually. "Nothing to worry about, no threats received." And now shut up Cris, don't overdo this.

Hussein squints his eyes suspiciously, very shortly, before scribbling something down. Carl looks taken aback by my answer.

"I'm going to be honest here, Cristian." Carl leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands intertwined and supporting his chin. "You are obviously not surprised Finnley is still alive, while others seem relieved to hear us tell them Finnley is still out there."

"Which leads us to believe you already knew he was still alive and out there." Hussein joins in.

"Did you, in the last four months, have contact with Finnley, or got any clues about his wellbeing, or his whereabouts?"

I take in a deep breath, closing my eyes, realizing I kind of fucked up in this part. "No, I did not." I manage to keep my voice steady, sounding calm and collective. "I wish I had, though." I'm pushing my luck here. But maybe if I act innocent they'll leave me alone for now.

"We're not here because you're in trouble, Cristian." Carl pushes me to answer his question differently. "We understand you've been threatened and might have been too scared to reach out for help. But we need you to tell us everything you know. Don't' feel afraid to share everything. Even the small things could help us to find Finnley."

"I don't know anything, I mutter, staring down. "Nothing besides the things I know from his parents or you guys..."

"You are aware we can take you in for questioning, right?" Hussein sounds annoyed, Carl turned his head to stare at him knowingly.

They can take me in? Yeah right... I look at the handcuffs Hussein is playing with now, wondering if I really know for sure these guys aren't actual cops. Am I 100% positive Barnes is a friend of Mike?

"One more time, did Finnley contact you in the past four months? In any way?"

"No, he did not." I repeat my previous answer.

"We can arrest you for obstruction of justice if we find out you've been lying. I need to remind you we're here to find Finnley, not to get you in trouble."

"Excuse me." My mom sits up again. "I don't like any of these accusations towards my son. If he says he didn't hear from Finnley, he didn't."

"Your son isn't being completely honest with us." Carl retrieves a phone from his pocket, putting it on the coffee table next to his coffee, pressing the play button.

"Yeah Finn! I know I fucked up! We're not all as smart as you are. Although you are a freaking fool for not listening..."

It's Stan's voice sounding in the room, obviously addressing Finnley with his words, since he called his name out loud in frustration.

"Oh shut it."

Finnley snaps back at him, his voice all too familiar. I remember these words very, very faintly, and the groan in the background is definitely not a good sign for me right now.

"Shit, Cris? You awake?"

"Finny..."

Carl ends the recording after my voice sounds, very much recognizable for me and both my parents.

"You saw Finnley?" My mom jumped up, staring at me in disbelieve.

"Maybe..." I have trouble breathing since I'm slightly panicking. How did they get that recording? Did Mike set us up that night? What the hell are they trying to do right now?

"Cris, start telling the truth." My mom snaps, sounding upset with me. "Did you, or did you not have any contact with Finnley?"

"Besides that one time... no... and I was wasted and I got beaten, remember? I didn't remember it until now..." I feel like these lies aren't helping my case, at all. Hussein got up, Carl following his lead.

"We're arresting you for obstruction of justice." Hussein gestures for me to stand up and that's when I actually panic.

"Cris, just tell them the truth." My dad sounds like he's about to cry, which hits home pretty hard because he never cries. "Don't make this any harder for any of us..."

"I am telling the truth." I feel Hussein closing the handcuffs around my wrists after he pulled my arms behind my back.

"You know you're lying." He whispers, while Carl cleared his throat, gaining my parents attention in the meantime.

"Everything will be fine, as long as Cristian is willing to work with us. We're taking him in for questioning but as long as he tells us the truth, we won't press any charges."

This is complete bullshit and I want to shout at my parents not to trust them, but I don't think that right now, after being caught in my web of lies, they will believe me. I don't want to go with these guys. I might get in a lot of trouble once they take me away from my parents.

But they just stand there, watching me being pushed towards the front door.

"We'll call a lawyer, Cris, as soon as you need one..." My mom started crying, obviously confused about what to do right now.

"Mom, I'm telling the truth..." I beg her to do something, but she doesn't. And why would she? As far as she knows, I'm taken by actual cops.

I just wonder where the hell they will take me.

* * * * *

"Where are you taking me?" I snap, the second the doors of the car closed behind them and Carl starts the car.

"Just shut up and you'll be fine."

"I didn't do anything," I hiss in anger. "I didn't tell anything..."

"But you beat up Mike."

"I did not!" I shout out., fighting the handcuffs around my wrist, which are burning slightly. "I knew you guys where fake..."

"That's exactly the reason you're in this situation right now." Carl shouts back at me, steering the car onto the road. "Because you might not have told anything you know tonight, but you would have if actual cops asked you those questions."

"How did you know?" Hussein sounds impressed because I was on to them. "When did you figure it out?"

"Your buddy Carl over there. I've seen him with Mike once or twice." I nod my head in his direction. "I knew I shouldn't trust anyone close to Mike."

"I told you I wasn't the best one for this?" Carl sounds annoyed now, but not nearly as impressed by my observation skills as Hussein.

"Why are you doing this? Solely because Mike got beaten up?"

"He was supposed to make you forget about any of this. But we didn't know you were that strong." Hussein chuckles. "Mike said he'd easily could handle you on his own. You sure proved him wrong."

"Stop sugar-coating this." Carl snaps. "You got yourself and Finnley in a shitload of trouble, you hear me? You should have stayed out of this, let the cops investigate and fail like they always do."

"You picked the wrong guy to mess with."

"Who, Finnley?" Hussein chuckles. "He's a mere shadow of who he used to be. They all break down eventually."

"Finnley won't." I refuse to believe them, shaking my head.

"Could you just shut up or do you want me to fuck up your head even more?" Carl sounds angry enough for me to slump down in the back seat a little, closing my mouth, remaining silent for a while.

"Here, drink." Hussein turned around, offering me a bottle of water. "It's gonna be a long ride, so you better be thankful I'm offering water."

I roll my eyes, before I let him pour the cold liquid into my mouth, swallowing thankfully; my throat felt like sandpaper by now.

The rest of the ride I feel weird, a little like I'm floating, reminding me of the side effects from my painkillers, wondering what was in the water he gave me. I refuse any more sips of water, trying to keep my eyes open, yet failing to take in every moment of the car ride because every so often I drift off a bit.

I'm woken by Carl yanking me out of the car rather painfully. I tumble forward, falling to the cold hard concrete in front of an old building.

"Get up." Carl pulled me up by my shirt, preventing me from falling again by holding onto one of my arms. "We're here. Excited to finally be here?"

"Where is here?" I'm slurring my words a bit still fighting the need to sleep, while both of them drag me inside and up a flight of concrete stairs.

Carl opens a door with a key, throwing it open, crashing it into the wall with a loud bang.

"For fucks sake, I'm trying to sleep!" An angry voice shouts through the small apartment we're in. "I swear, Liam, if it's you and you're drunk again..." The voice dies down as soon as a guy notices us, watching with suspicion while Hussein forced me into a room, letting me fall onto a couch.

"Wow, you guys are quick to replace Alex." The guy doesn't even sound impressed or worried.

"Shut up Jason." Carl snapped, standing in front of me, looking down while I'm blinking my eyes rapidly. "Are you alone?"

"Nah, Finn is asleep. Liam is out, yeah."

Finn is asleep.I repeat his words in my mind, feeling at least a little happy that Finnley is here. But also understanding I am now in the same shitty situation Finnley is in.

Well, fuck. Now what do I do?

"Take care of him." Carl grumbles, waving a hand in my direction. "He only had a couple of sips, so I guess he'll be fine in no time."

"Ai, ai sir." Jason's smile is awkward. He pulled me up from the couch, putting an arm around his shoulder. "Let's get you to bed, okay?" He chuckles, helping me out of the room, down a hallway and into another room.

There's three mattresses on the floor, clothes littering the empty floor space around them. The mattresses look pretty comfy, but I think in my current state even those piles of clothes could be considered comfortable enough to sleep.

One mattress is taken by the guy I've been trying to reach all day; Finnley.

I watch him, curled up on a mattress in the corner of the room. He has yet another black eye, a new bruise on his jaw and a cut along the right side of his face. Since he isn't wearing a shirt, I notice scratches, bruises, cuts and all sorts of other small injuries on his body. His arm is wrapped in some bandage, cradled close to his body. He is sound asleep and seems peaceful despite his surroundings.

Jason let me fall on the mattress furthest away from Finnley, while I was hoping he would drop me on the mattress next to him.

"We're going to leave again, make sure Cris knows the rules by tomorrow."

"If he's not too fucked up I don't think that will be a problem." Jason keeps staring at me ever since he heard my name. He's frowning, taking me in with a weird look on his face.

"He's not allowed to go out yet."

"Sure thing." Jason slowly nods, still watching me.

"If there's anything wrong..."

"I'll warn..."

"Let's go, dude. We're on a tight schedule right now." Hussein starts to pull Carl out of the room, both sending us a warning look before actually disappearing, leaving me behind with a passed out Finnley and a guy I don't know and don't really think I like that much.