It was a cold and long night. Several times, she saw James calling her but Jennifer refused to pick up the phone. She needed some time alone. By the next morning, Jennifer woke up to see the whole town had descended into chaos. Jennifer snuggled into some corner of a dark alley and saw the police in the streets, scouring the town for her. Everywhere, everybody was searching for her.
Several prizes had been introduced. The police was on full alarmed mode. It seemed like Jennifer's father had put the entire town to work. "I need to hide." Jennifer thought to herself. But where? There was no place she could go. She had been on the streets all this time. Jennifer thought and thought but no place came to her mind, except the hospital where Adrian was admitted. It was the only place where people looked forward to her presence.
Jennifer's eyesight went to a piece of cloth lying on the streets. She picked it up and tore it into small pieces. She tied one piece on her face as a mask so that no one can recognize her. Jennifer hurried towards the hospital. Inside the hospital she saw two boys standing the gate. They both were talking something like, "Boss really loves her!"
The other one said, "Yeah! One can see love in both of their eyes. I'm already rooting for both of them." Jennifer could only pick up this much of the conversation. When she reached in front of the room where Adrian was admitted. She heard something that chilled her to the bones. "So this is what happened.. Adrian killed Abby in cold blood."
What! Adrian killed Abby! No. This was a lie. Adrian as a soft and nice boy….but… he did burn Kurt's casino. What if dad was right? What if he was actually the part of a mafia. Only a big and powerful mafia can do this and get away without getting arrested. Is Adrian hiding something from me?
"Oh Jennifer, you're here. Come." Jennifer realized that she had unintentionally pulled off her mask and now everybody could recognize her. What if someone had already did and reported to the police. Jennifer got really scarred. Jennifer crouched down and covered her face in the collar of her jacket.
"Why are you hiding?" James asked her. "I need to hide from the police. My dad has employed the entire police force and other people as well to find me." She whispered. James couldn't think if anyplace where she would be safe as well as away from the eyes of the police. Until he thought of one place. "Oh god! Adrian is going to kill me."
James entered the room where Adrian was admitted to consult him about it but found him sleeping. Jennifer was closely behind and urged him for a quick solution. "Hurry! I don't have much time." "Sorry buddy. I know I am robbing you of your right to explain but difficult times demand difficult solutions. I really hope she will understand you." James placed a hand on Adrian's legs and turned to Jennifer with a grave expression.
"There is one place but I need you to promise me that you are going to listen." Jennifer was confused by this sentence. What did James mean by listen? Listen to whom? Why? All these questions apart, Jennifer was desperate. She had no choice but to agree if she wanted to live. "Okay." She told him. James went away for a second and then returned. "Come, I'll take you to someplace safe."
Jennifer followed James into a car. It was the one she had never seen before. "Is this yours?" She asked. "No. It belongs to the group." Group? Which group? What group? "I…" Jennifer was about to speak when James spoke before her. "You promised you would listen." "Yeah I did but at least tell me where are we heading?" Jennifer asked.
James replied nothing more than, "You'll see." as he drove to god knows where. James stopped in front of a familiar café. It was the café where Jennifer and Adrian went for their coffee date. "You can't expect me to hide in a café. The police will find me." Jennifer told James as she stepped out of the car. "No. It won't. Just wait and watch." James was looking somewhat different, like in a positive way. Something had changed about him but Jennifer couldn't put her finger on it.
Jennifer followed James into the café to see that it was entire deserted. James led the way towards the washroom of the café. Jennifer followed closely behind. She was getting paranoid by the second. She trusted only Adrian enough to follow him anywhere. "Can you please speak something about where we are going! Your silence is killing me!" she huffed out impatiently.
James stopped in front of an ordinary looking wall and took out a pencil from the nearby stand. He inserted the pencil in the hole that was hidden behind a vase placed on a thin wooden platform. To Jennifer's surprise, the wall now seemed like a sliding door. "Come on in." James told her as he steeped into the secret room.
The room was dimly lit, covered in all sorts of racks that were locked with passwords. It looked like a big garage or locker room. "What's this?" Jennifer asked him. "This is a secret place. When Adrian gets up he will explain you the rest of the story. For now, you can hide here. The police won't come here." James told her. "How can I hide here? It's too dingy. There are no windows." Jennifer told James.
"See, Jennifer until unless you don't want to go back home, stop acting like you are the daughter of some multi-millionaire." James didn't want to be rude with her but Jennifer was not in a correct shape to be of any help, he was stressed about Adrian, he was grieving about his dead girlfriend Abby. Plus, Jennifer was complaining. He just took out some of his frustration on her unintentionally.
After hearing those words, Jennifer stopped speaking immediately. These words sounded rude but they were true. James was correct. She wasn't a multi-millionaire, her dad was. She couldn't go back to her previous lifestyle. "I'm sorry." She told James. "You don't need to be sorry. Take your time. Make yourself home here." James said as he hugged Jennifer.
James looked at her one more time before he stepped out of the room. Jennifer was making her bed in a sleeping bag that was offered to her by James.