CHAPTER 2

"What do you mean...? Theft? I've never stolen anything in my life!"

Vos kept his words to himself, but he wanted to believe her.

"You can't take me without any information, this is a kidnapping! Who has reported me for theft? Who?!"

"We ask you to remain silent until we arrive," the rookie growled, receiving a stern look from his superior.

Vos glanced at the center mirror and met Sofia's burning gaze.

He swallowed hard. Stopped at a traffic light, a beam of daylight painted those eyes and he could see them more clearly. He immediately wanted to detail them, to see them up close and corroborate their innocence.

Sofia remained silent, but held his gaze with determination, not being intimidated by him, not even by the journey he was taking into an uncertain future. Still breathing fast and her nerves on edge, she carried a tangled mess inside her head trying to figure out who could have put her in a patrol car as if she were a criminal.

She was thinking about her little boy, only one-year-old. She would drop him off at daycare while she worked at the café in the mornings, and she was already worried about everything, who would pick him up, how long the caregivers could wait while she figured out how to get out of this mess, if she got out at all. The anguish was enormous and her premonition told her that those officers would not understand her situation if she continued to complain.

They arrived in fifteen minutes. The vehicle didn't park in front of the large building, nor did it enter the open parking lot.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked urgently, as they skirted the well-known building and went down a subway parking lot that she didn't know existed.

The silence of both officers made her glue her body to the seat. All the alarms in her mind were set off.

They parked the vehicle next to others, also placarded, though different, and opened the door for her to get out. The lack of noise, people, and the echo produced by the movements filled her with anxiety, so she chose to memorize the faces of the uniformed officers so as not to forget the guys who had taken her there.

"This way," Vos spoke, but she didn't move. Feet glued to the ground, eyes sharp. "Are you all right?" he asked, noticing her apprehension.

She watched as the other policeman walked ahead of them, going to a small smoked glass door, and stood there waiting for them.

"I don't understand why we're entering through here and not the front door," she said.

Vos inhaled again through his nose and blew out all the air right there. He had to follow orders, to make the woman Sofia Sullivan enter through the back door, as his boss had told him when he gave him this strange mission, but he knew who was behind all this and now, seeing her response to what was happening, he began to understand that the woman was in a big trouble and did not deserve it. He expected to meet a haughty woman, perhaps a cold-blooded girl, aware of her perverse criminal acts, like the ones he used to see in the underworld and other social statuses, women who believed they possessed unparalleled power and above all, that justice didn't concern them.

On the contrary, in front of him was a young girl, frightened, very nervous, and at the same time, very sure of what she was defending. His intuition as a policeman was screaming at him: "You're making a mistake with her".

Turning his back on his partner, he confronted her, getting as close as he could without looking like a stalker. The parking lot had cameras and he couldn't risk anything.

"If you're innocent, you shouldn't be scared," he whispered, without moving so that his partner wouldn't notice the break in police protocol. "Take a good look at my face, and don't you dare lie to me; this is not an official interrogation. Are you sure you don't know why we brought you here?"

"Of course not!" she whispered loudly, following the tone of his voice, realizing that the officer didn't want the younger man to hear or see anything.

Vos exhaled a good puff of air. He didn't want to say too much, but his doubts were clear on his face.

"Gael Cliff sued you," he said. "Do you know him?"

Sophia's face turned pale.

"You know him," he confirmed, clenching his jaw.

She held her breath at that name, it was hard for her to speak again.

"How is that possible?" she whispered to herself.

"Where do you know him from and why did he report you for theft?"

Sofia, who lost her gaze for a moment in the not-so-distant memories that brought up that name and surname, raised her face, dumbfounded, to answer him.

"I don't have the slightest idea why he has denounced me."

The officer gritted his teeth again. He saw her face on the identification card that the data she had given him and that her boss had provided. He identified her just as he entered the café, but questioned the whole mission when he got close to her. The woman in the photograph was not as beautiful as the one in front of him. When he saw her behind the countertop wearing that apron, he never thought would meet that beautiful girl.

Young, with the most angelic face he had ever seen, her hair looked dark indoors, but when touched by the sunlight he could tell it was as red as fire. Her white skin and porcelain face seemed to glow despite the nerves, bewilderment, and anger. Her eyes are clear as caramel, her full lips are reddish as well. Looking at her closely, he wondered fleetingly what they would look like if she smiled. «Sofia Sullivan can't be guilty of anything», he thought and now ratified it. And knowing the person who denounced her, his doubts grew stronger.

Sofia felt a lot of rage, an old one that she already thought was extinct. She couldn't believe that the man she had not seen for more than a year was doing this to her. She only had to hear that name, and her eyes began to burn.

"Was he who reported me? Are you sure?" she said through clenched teeth, keeping her voice low.

"Tell me where you know him from and I'll answer you."

"You don't need to do that, officer, you've already given me the answer by placing a condition on me."

She had to sigh and swallow to calm herself. She hadn't realized that her hands were clenched, they already hurt from holding them like that. Besides, Officer L. Vos, as indicated by the small insignia on the left side of his chest, seemed to have reason to break the rules. Sofia would not miss the opportunity that showed her a glimmer of hope in weirdness.

She took a good look at him. Vos was handsome, very handsome, too handsome. And she wanted to know what the L. in his name was. Was it Louis? Leonard? His chin was somewhat square, but he kept a boyish face. He appeared to be very young, but his muscular yet lean anatomy, plus the uniform, made him look older. It was the first time she had seen such a beautiful uniformed man.   

She didn't know how old he was or how long he had been in service, but his eyes, which seemed full of expectation and concern as well as gallantry, told her that now, and for an unknown reason, he was on her side.

"Gael Cliff is Liam's father," she decided to answer, feeling her stomach churn at the mention of him.

"Liam?"

Her face became sad.

"Yes, Liam is our little boy."