Trust And Secrets (Phil Hawkins)

Trust and Secrets (Phil Hawkins)

Capítulo 1 ES | EN

Capítulo 2 ES | EN

Capítulo 3 ES | EN

Capítulo 4 ES

Capítulo 5 ES

Capítulo 6 ES

Creo que pronto comenzaré a subir la historia: Comedy. Es un fanfic de Jake que estoy escribiendo, pero la prota está muy chilenizada, entonces las respuestas que ella a las conversaciones siento que son muy yo JAJAJAJAJJA

En fin, que maravilla

Viva chile, mierda.

Somos el mejor país de chile JAJAJAJAJAJ

Trust and Secrets

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Chapter 2 No warnings

I turned off everything and left the house. Another call was coming in, it was Jessy. I answered.

Jessy started a video call, looking very worried. Apparently, they found a woman's body in the forest.

I wrote in the chat about the topic while walking and messaged ??? about the call. Nobody has my number, only Hannah had it, and now the group members. This is strange.

"Is something wrong, Ade?" Phil asked, giving me a big scare.

"Damn it, Phil! You scared me," I exclaimed, placing a hand over my chest.

"Sorry, I've been talking to you for a while," he said. "Will you tell me what's going on?"

"I just… need something strong to drink," I told him.

"I refuse. You don't look well. I can bring you a coffee and something to eat," he offered.

"Okay, a chai tea wouldn't hurt," I agreed.

I went to a secluded table, and Phil brought me a cup of chai tea and some potato chips.

"Jessy mentioned something about a certain 'Adeline' helping with Hannah's case, that she's assisting," he said, making me almost choke on my food. "How is that possible? It seems like they don't even know you're from here."

"And it's better that way," I replied. "I've known Hannah for a while, and I've noticed some strange behavior. I offered her my help, but she didn't seem very interested in accepting it." I took a sip from the cup. "I told her about my line of work, and she confessed that someone was following her, but she didn't want to involve more people. So, I just gave her my card with my number in case she changed her mind in the future," I explained. "I didn't think she would actually use it."

"Why don't you tell the others who you are?" he asked, taking out some chips.

"It's dangerous…"

"What do you mean?"

"I received a threatening call," I clarified. "My presence might be threatening to someone because it wasn't in their plans for me to get involved in the case."

"What are you saying? You can come to my place."

"Are you crazy? What if something happens to you?"

"What would happen to me? Besides, I know how to fight. If we're together, nothing will happen," he said.

"I don't want to drag you into this, but I'll consider it if things escalate," I said, hoping he would leave it at that.

When I arrived home, I let Phil know that I had arrived safely and continued decrypting things.

What I found was a medical prescription, but it wasn't very clear, the resolution was terrible. I sent it to the hacker companion, and he said he would try to enhance the resolution to read it.

As I continued decrypting files, Cleo started messaging me. She began talking about Hannah and mentioned that she wanted to find out more and planned to go to the places where rumors were circulating.

"I can think of three places where rumors run wild: Mrs. Walter, the owner of the motel; Mrs. Sully, the gossip; and Phil Hawkins, the owner of Aurora Bar," she wrote.

The last one could be true; I originally found out about the situation while at the bar.

"The owner of the motel sounds interesting," I replied.

I continued working and found another photo of Hannah. I sent it to the hacker; I knew there might not be anything significant there, but one never knows.

My phone rang; it was a conversation between Jessy and Richy. I couldn't help but smile when Jessy said she connected well with me, although I was very curious about what Richy could say about me. How could he have any opinion if he doesn't know me? That caught the hacker's attention; apparently, he thinks Richy doesn't trust me, or at least that's what he implies.

"Do you trust me?" I dared to ask.

"If I didn't, do you think I would have given you access to Hannah's cloud?"

"But you don't even know me."

"Jessy is not the only one who has connected with you from the beginning."

That answer caught me by surprise.

Cleo messaged me again; she had arrived at the motel, but the owner was not there. She spoke with the boy outside, who happened to be the owner's son.

"I've talked to Alfie ☹️

He referred to me as 'the friend of the dead girl.' I told him Hannah isn't dead and asked who had told him something so terrible.

And he said he saw it.

That the faceless man had taken Hannah to the forest."

The faceless man?

"Maybe he saw a guy wearing a mask."

"It's possible.

There are many ancient legends here in Duskwood. The faceless man is one of them," she explained.

"You should ask Jessy about it."

"Alright, I will."

I went straight to Jessy's chat to discuss it, and she created a group chat to include Richy and have a conversation between the three of us.

I started preparing something simple and quick to eat when I received a call from Cleo.

"I've talked to Mrs. Sully," she told me. "Well, she saw Hannah right before she disappeared when she left the pharmacy. Mrs. Sully was sitting in the Regenbogen café, observing people from there. She always does. It's practically in the city center. But anyway, she said she saw Hannah leaving completely pale, holding something in her hand. Under normal circumstances, she probably wouldn't have thought much of it if she hadn't been so startled. She told the police, but I guess they didn't care much. That's all."

"What did she buy at the pharmacy?" I asked.

"I don't know, she didn't seem sick."

Night falls.

I prepare a cup of coffee and watch the conversation between Jessy and Richy. She was briefing him about the whole situation when Jessy starts a call.

"Alright, here we go… The legend of the faceless man is as old as Duskwood itself.

They say he lives deep in the forest and roams the streets of Duskwood at night. He marks the doors of those who have committed grave sins with a raven's sign, and on the night of the first new moon of the year, he returns to the marked houses to take everyone—men, women, children, guilty or innocent—into the forest, never to return."

Chilling, isn't it?

File detected!

It was a photo, but it seemed to be from the forest, some sort of cave. I sent it to the hacker.

The next day, I started chatting with Jessy, and she told me a bit about her family.

Angela and Phil are her step-siblings; Angela lives in Colville, and Phil is the owner of Aurora Bar, which I already knew.

Phil took over the bar after the previous owner left a year ago.

As I continued decrypting, I saw Thomas and Dan having a somewhat suspicious conversation. Apparently, there was a strange deal between them, and I wasn't the only one who found it strange.

The next conversation I saw was between Dan and someone named Poke; it was just as peculiar as the previous one. Were they talking about drugs? I didn't recognize any Poke involved in drug dealing.

The hacker sent me the enhanced version of the medical prescription photo. It said "ISRS," an antidepressant.

"Does Hannah have depression?"

"I don't know.

No.

It doesn't fit.

I'll be back later."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes.

Everything's fine."

Clearly, something was off, but I didn't want to push it.

File detected!

I sent it to the hacker and went straight to Cleo's chat. She mentioned that she was going inside Hannah's house, hoping to find something useful there.

The phone rang. I answered the call.

Cleo started walking through the house, showing me every detail. She went upstairs and showed me the entire second floor when we heard a noise.

"What was that? Someone's at the door!" I could see the door starting to open, and the connection was lost.

I immediately called her back, feeling nervous, and the fact that she didn't answer didn't help. Then she messaged me, saying everything was fine and that it was Thomas who had entered. What was he doing there? He had been missing since they found a body.

Comedy

Chapter 2: The new work No warnings

I lay face down and looked at my phone. Cleo was messaging me. She sent me more pictures of Hannah and shared her theories. Then Thomas messaged me again. He didn't seem like a very talkative person, or at least not one who initiates conversations. He gave me details of when the hacker, Jake, contacted them. He forwarded me the audio he had sent them. I couldn't help but get up and go where Jake was.

"Didn't it occur to you to use a creepier voice synthesizer than that?" I said to him.

"Excuse me?" he replied.

"You sent them an audio with a ghostly voice; I'm sure that gave them nightmares," I commented.

"Oh, they told you," he said.

"Thomas sent me the audio," I explained.

"There's a reason behind it, I swear," he said. "If it were different, they could easily clean up the audio and recognize my voice."

"I understand now, that explains a lot," I said.

"Do you think you can analyze Hannah's cloud?" Jake asked.

"I'm not the hacker here," I said.

"I'll give you access to her cloud. It's just about finding something that might be useful while I monitor the rest," he said.

"Well, if you give me access, I can do it," I agreed.

"Perfect, the new feature should appear on your phone now."

My phone started ringing; it was Dylan.

"I have a job for you," D said. "Or rather, a list of job proposals. I filtered them according to your interests."

"That's why I adore you, D, but I'm sorry to say that I'm not accepting jobs until further notice," I replied. "The last job left me in a bit of a predicament, so I'm trying to keep a low profile. I'll let you know when I'm back in circulation."

"Is everything okay, R? Do you need help with anything?" D asked.

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. It's just that the last job was quite flashy, so I had to move around a lot. I'll take this time to relax and go on vacation."

"Well, you deserve it. Let me know if you need anything. I know you have your contacts if you need anything, but I'm not just your partner, I'm your friend, and I'm here for you," he said.

"Thanks, D," I ended the call.

I sent a couple of additional messages to some people and focused back on the rest. I checked Hannah's cloud until I came across a photo. I approached Jake and showed it to him.

"Look, I found this," I said, extending my phone to him. He took it and started examining the photo.

"Did you find it in Hannah's cloud?" Jake asked.

"No, it was next to my semi-nude photos," I replied. "Clearly, I found it in Hannah's cloud."

"You don't have semi-nude photos on your phone," he stated, and I opened my mouth in indignation.

"So, you've already explored my photo gallery?" he opened and closed his mouth several times while shaking his head.

"I didn't see anything; it's just… I assumed… well…" I saw him take a breath and then release it slowly. "What I mean is, I don't think you're the kind of person who keeps that kind of photos in their phone gallery. You seem smarter and more cautious about those things, especially considering the short list of contacts you have and how careful you are with your appearance to avoid being discovered."

"Besides being a hacker, are you a psychologist?" I asked. "Anyone would think you've known me all my life, and it's not like I'm an open book."

"Do you want me to be your psychologist?" he raised an eyebrow.

"If you're into that kind of role-playing, count me in," he blushed completely and focused his gaze on the computer screen. "I think I've found a new hobby."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, I've discovered that I love making you nervous and blush."

"You know it's dangerous, right?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Being associated with me is dangerous; I remind you that the government is after me," he replied.

"My world is equally dangerous, and I've been alone for a long time. I only allow myself to be close to my contacts, and even then, I can't really be close to them. I wouldn't mind having a partner to escape from the world," I smiled.

I left the place to get some food, and when I returned, I served dinner for Jake and me. While eating, I looked at the messages.

Thomas: Hey, am I bothering you?

Rebekah: No, what's up?

Thomas: I was thinking. Now you're part of the group. I thought I'd give you more photos of Hannah. I want you to get to know her as much as possible under the current circumstances. When I think about it now, it sounds just as dumb as it does now…

Thomas's way of writing made me understand how nervous he was. Surely, this whole situation must be taking a toll on him.

Rebekah: Send me the photos.

Thomas: Now I regret it. Regret offering them to you. I was thinking. Maybe it will help you remember. The image you saw of Hannah wasn't the best. And besides, I have her number saved as yours. Many people forget names.

Rebekah: Yes, I do too.

Thomas: All the more reason to send them to you. So, I'll upload them to my profile.

I went to his profile and saw the photos. It was definitely the same Hannah I had met in the forest.

"Jake, should I mention that I saw Hannah in the forest? Or should I keep it to myself?" I asked him.

"It's probably best not to say anything yet. We don't want them to suspect you when you're innocent. It would be a waste of time," he said, and I nodded in agreement.

I continued looking at my phone and came across another photo that caught my attention.

"I found another photo; I'll send it to you through a message," I told him.

"Alright, I'll check it out once we're done here," he said.

Another message arrived.

Jessy: Hi Rebekah. It's Jessy.

Rebekah: Nice to meet you, Jessy.

Jessy: I thought you might have a bad impression of me because I left the chat. I needed some time to think, you know. It's a very strange situation. But now I've changed my mind and want to get to know you.

Rebekah: Can I ask why you changed your mind?

Jessy: I think it's because you're somehow part of our little group. Curiosity, you could call it that. I happen to have some free time to chat right now, but I must warn you: I'm at work, and if Richy comes, I have to hang up.

Rebekah: Are we talking about the same Richy as before?

Jessy: Yes, he's my boss. He runs his parents' workshop called "Rogers Garage." Well, everyone calls it "the car graveyard." I take care of the "office" (the phone, emails, invoices…), everything Richy can't do.

The last part made me laugh; Jessy seemed nice.

Rebekah: The ideal job.

Jessy: You think so? I find it boring. It's just that I have nothing to do right now. But better if Richy doesn't catch me with my phone.

Rebekah: You can relax; I won't tell him anything.

Jessy: Well, now you know more about me. Your turn.

Rebekah: Hmmm, where should I start? Should I make a list like those typical "50 things about me" videos?

Jessy: That would be great! Then I can tell you things in the same realm.

Rebekah: Alright, here we go. I like winter; I don't tolerate heat very well, and I usually get dizzy, so summers are tough for me. I've traveled a lot, and I'm from Chile.

Jessy: I'm more of a summer person, and I love to travel too. I was in Paris first. Oh… Richy is on his way. I have to go.

I started reading a conversation between Cleo and Thomas. I furrowed my brow and spoke to Jake.

"Did I seem too impatient when I asked Thomas if he could send me Hannah's photos, even though he was the one who offered to send them?"

"I don't think Thomas is in the best position to talk about people's appearances" Jake replied.

Comedy

Capítulo 2: The new work Sin advertencias

Me recosté boca abajo y miré mi teléfono, Cleo estaba escribiéndome, me mandó más imágenes de Hannah y me contó sus teorías. Luego Thomas volvió a escribirme, no se veía una persona muy conversadora, o por lo menos no de los que inician conversaciones. Me dio detalles de cuando el hacker, Jake, contactó con ellos. Me reenvió el audio que les había mandado él, no pude evitar levantarme e ir donde estaba Jake

—¿No se te ocurrió usar un sintetizador más turbio que ese? —le dije

—¿Disculpa?

—Les mandaste a los pobres un audio con voz de ultratumba, de seguro eso les dejó pesadillas —comenté

—Ah, te lo han dicho

—Thomas me envío el audio —expliqué

—Tiene una razón de ser, lo juro —dijo él —. Si fuera de otra forma podrían limpiar el audio con facilidad y reconocer mi voz

—Ya entiendo, eso explica mucho

—¿Te crees capaz de analizar la nube de Hannah? —preguntó Jake

—El hacker aquí no soy yo —dije

—Te daré acceso a su nube, es simplemente buscar algo que nos pueda servir mientras yo monitoreo lo demás.

—Bueno, si me das el acceso puedo hacerlo —accedí

—Perfecto, en tu teléfono debería aparecer ahora la nueva función

 Mi teléfono empieza a sonar, era Dylan

—Tengo un trabajo para ti —dijo D —. Más bien una lista con propuestas de trabajos, los he filtrado según tu interés.

—Por esa razón te adoro, D, pero lamento decirte que no estoy aceptando trabajos hasta nuevo aviso —le respondo —. El último trabajo me dejó un poco complicada, por lo que estoy tratando de mantener un perfil bajo, cuando esté de nuevo en circulación te notificaré.

—¿Está todo en orden, R? ¿Necesitas ayuda con algo? —preguntó D

—No te preocupes, no es nada grave, es solo que fue muy vistoso el último encargo, por lo que me tuve que mover mucho. Aprovecharé este tiempo para relajarme y tomar unas vacaciones.

—Pues te lo mereces, avísame si necesitas algo, sé que tienes tus contactos en casos de requerir algo, pero no solo soy tu socio, soy tu amigo y estoy aquí para ti —dijo él

—Gracias, D —finalicé la llamada

Envié un par de mensajes extras a unas personas y volví a centrarme a lo demás.

Revisé la nube de Hannah hasta que di con una foto, me acerqué a Jake y se la mostré.

—Mira, encontré esto —le dije extendiéndole mi teléfono, él toma y empieza a revisar la fotografía

—¿La encontraste en la nube de Hannah? —preguntó Jake

—No, estaba junto a mis fotos semidesnudas —contesté —. Claramente, la encontré en la nube de Hannah

—No tienes fotos semidesnudas en tu móvil —afirma a lo que abro la boca con indignación

—¿Así que ya exploraste mi galería de fotos? —él abre y cierra la boca repetidas veces mientras niega con la cabeza

—No vi nada, es que… supuse… bueno… —Lo veo tomar aire para luego soltarlo lentamente. —. Lo que quiero decir es que no creo que seas una persona que guarde ese tipo de fotos en una galería del móvil, pareces ser más astuta y aprensiva con ese tipo de cosas, más sabiendo el escaso listado de contactos que tiene y lo cuidadosa que eres con tu apariencia para que no te descubran.

—¿Aparte de hacker eres psicólogo? —pregunté —. Cualquiera diría que me conoces de toda la vida y tampoco es que sea un libro abierto.

—¿Quieres que sea tu psicólogo? —alza una ceja

—Si te van ese tipo de juego de roles, yo me apunto —se sonroja completamente y centra su mirada en la pantalla del ordenador —. Creo que tengo un nuevo pasatiempo.

—¿Ah sí?

—Sí, he descubierto que me encanta hacer que te pongas nervioso y rojo.

—¿Sabes que es peligroso?

—¿Qué quieres decir? —pregunté

—Relacionarte conmigo es peligroso, te recuerdo que me persigue el gobierno —responde

—Mi mundo igual es peligroso y he estado sola mucho tiempo, solo me permito estar cerca de mis contactos y ni siquiera es que pueda estar cerca de ellos como tal. No me molestaría tener un compañero para escapar del mundo —le sonreí 

Salí del lugar para ir por cosas para comer, al volver nos serví la cena a Jake y a mí, y mientras comía me puse a ver los mensajes

Thomas: Ey, ¿molesto?

Rebekah: No ¿Qué hay?

Thomas: Estaba pensando. Que ahora ya perteneces al grupillo. Y pensé que te dará algunas fotos más de Hannah Quiero que la conozcas. Todo lo que sea posible bajo las circunstancias actuales. Cuando pensé ante en ello, sonaba igual de idiota que ahora…

La forma de escribir de Thomas me daba a entender lo nervioso que estaba, de seguro toda esta situación debe de tenerle mal

Rebekah: Pásame las fotos

Thomas: Ahora ya me arrepiento. Que te lo haya ofrecido Estaba pensando. A lo mejor te ayuda a recordar. La imagen que viste de Hannah realmente no era la mejor. Y aparte de eso, tengo tu número de ella. Hay mucha gente que no se acuerda de los nombres

Rebekah: Sí. A mí me pasa

Thomas: Con más razón te las tengo que pasar Así que Te las subo a mi perfil

Fui a su perfil y vi las fotos, en definitiva, era la misma Hannah que había conocido en el bosque

—Jake ¿debería decir que vi a Hannah en el bosque? ¿O me lo guardo? —le pregunté

—Igual lo mejor es no decir nada aún, no queremos que sospechen de ti cuando eres inocente, sería una pérdida de tiempo —asentí ante sus palabras.

Seguí viendo mi teléfono y encontré una foto que me llamó la atención 

—Encontré otra foto, te la mando por mensaje —le dije

—Bien, terminando aquí la veo

Otro mensaje llega

Jessy: Hola Rebekah Soy Jessy

Rebekah: Es un placer, Jessy

Jessy: Pensaba que pensabas mal de mí porque me fui del chat. Necesitaba reflexionar, sabes Es una situación muy rara. Pero ahora he cambiado de opinión y quiero conocerte

Rebekah: ¿Puedo preguntar por qué has cambiado de opinión?

Jessy: Pienso que es porque ya perteneces de alguna forma a nuestro grupillo Curiosidad Sí, así se podría definir Justo tengo un poco de tiempo libre para chatear Pero te aviso: estoy en el curro Y si llega Richy tengo que colgar

Rebekah: ¿Hablamos del Richy de antes?

Jessy: Sí, Es mi jefe Lleva el taller de sus padres, se llama “Rogers Garage” Bueno, todo el mundo lo llama “el cementerio de coches” Mi ocupo de la “oficina” (el teléfono, los emails, las facturas…) Todo lo que no sabe hacer Richy

Eso último me hizo reír, Jessy me parecía agradable

Rebekah: El trabajo ideal

Jessy: ¿Tú crees? A mí me parece aburrido Es que ahora no tengo nada que hacer Pero mejor que Richy ni me vea con el móvil

Rebekah: Puedes estar tranquila, que no le diré nada

Jessy: Bueno, ahora sabes más cosas de mí. Te toca

Rebekah: mmm ¿Por dónde debería empezar? ¿Te hago una lista como el típico video de “50 cosas sobre mí”?

Jessy: ¡Sería genial! Así después te digo cosas iguales del mismo ámbito

Rebekah: Venga, voy. Me gusta el invierno, no tolero mucho el calor, me suelo marear, por lo que en verano lo paso muy mal. He viajado mucho y soy de Chile

Jessy: Yo soy más de verano y también me encanta viajar, primero estuve en Paris Ay… Richy está en camino Me tengo que ir.

Empecé a leer una conversación entre Cleo y Thomas, fruncí el ceño y le hablé a Jake

—¿Me vi muy impaciente cuando le pregunté a Thomas sobre si podía mandarme las fotos de Hannah, cuando fue él quien se ofreció a mandarlas?

—Creo que Thomas no está en la mejor situación para hablar de como luce la gente