Chapter 13

Ian was in the gym at the university training when he saw Amanda enter, it was a closed

training so the old coach stopped her before she got to him, in the course of her talk with the

coach, Ian got out of the pool and grabbed the towel to start drying off when Amanda caught

up with him.

"We need to talk."

Nothing good came after those words, Ian thought. She looked at him with that stern look

she used to use when she was worried or angry.

"Well hello, I'm great too, how about you?"

Her joke seemed to sit like a kick to her liver, he just being in front of him seemed to make

her angry.

“You cheated on me all this time, you just wanted to distract me from what was really

important, you were annoyingly hovering around me until I focused on you and was no longer

involved in the Miller case."

She had been so close to him that Figuera took her off the case because she had a lot of

connection with the possible suspects, that was her first case and she had let him go because

of a pretty face, what kind of officer was she.

"I didn't want to distract you from anything Amanda, I wanted you, is it so hard to believe

that Ian Martín is interested in something other than his own butt? I know I'm not the man of

the year, believe me, I repeat everything to myself in time, but I haven't lied to you about

anything, I like you now."

Hearing this, Amanda took him by the arm and led him to the locker room, away from the

training and the curious public.

"I would like to think differently of you, but you were always envious of Gabe, what he did

you wanted to do better, here is the swimming fever, including me. Do you even know why

Gabe really broke up with me besides Grace?"

Ian started to deny, he wanted to speak but she cut him off.

“Because of you, he knew how much you liked me and that to him I was just another girl, his

eyes were on Grace so when he broke up with me he said he could't keep hurting you that he

wasn't in love with me anymore."

Ian looked at her desolate, he knew how much she loved Gabe, and by the way he felt bad for

all the times he reproached his friend for leaving Amanda for someone as messed up as Grace,

when one of the motivations to get away from Amanda It had been not to continue hurting

him, it was true, in the time that Gabe was dating Amanda, everything between the two of

them had been a competition.

“I want to ask you a question and I need you to be honest with me. Was it you who made

Grace disappear?"

Ian's face changed, his expression and in his place was a puzzled frown, fear gripping him.

"I… I didn't do anything. How could you think that of me? I can be jealous of Gabe and

whatever you want, but I'm not crazy, I don't want to go to jail.

Amanda paced back and forth in despair."

"Then why does Grace appear in your car on that recording with someone of your same size?

I was able to realize that it was your car. Anyone who knows you would know that this is your

car."

Ian smoothed back his hair he knew he should have told the police about the car, he had

listened to Gabe about not saying anything and now he was in unnecessary trouble.

“I didn't have my car, I left it at the Fuller house because Gabe was going to a party and he

didn't have a car, I was going to a competition, my mother would take me so I wouldn't need

the car."

Amanda looked at him doubtfully and asked another question.

"Did anyone see you leave it there? Do you have any witnesses to justify what you claim?

Ian was suddenly too nervous to even doubt himself."

"I don't know, I'm not sure."

Amanda took her hand and sighed, this didn't give her any confidence.

"I recommend you not to leave the town Ian, I will not say anything until the people in charge

of the recordings deduct the license plate and ensure that it is your car; That's all the help I

can offer you."

She started to walk away from him, but he grabbed her arm.

“I didn't do it, you have to believe me."

She caressed his cheek and ran her thumb over his lips, looking at him longingly.

I believe you now Ian, I'm going to believe you until the evidence says otherwise.

She planted a quick kiss on her lips and walked away from her, leaving him there full of fear

and endlessly wanting another kiss from her lips.

What Ian wanted most was to put his problems behind him, so instead of going home and

racking his brain over who in the hell could have taken his car and gotten him into this big

mess, he decided to calm down, maybe it was Grace herself who had made all that mess after

all she was a specialist in setting up theaters.

She was never going to forget that fateful message that she should have ignored; staying on

the beach with Gabe and the other boys would have saved her the pain, but curiosity really

killed the cat. Grace had told him that she had something interesting to tell him about his true

origin, he didn't know very well why his curiosity was piqued, perhaps it was because of all

those times that he wondered why he was so different from Roland, his worst mistake. life was

coming home and listening to her mother's conversation with Grace.

He never told his mom that he knew, but a gap opened between the two from that moment,

he couldn't look Roland or Mr. Fuller in the eye, after that he felt so dirty, like he was a secret

from the that everyone knew. She couldn't share it with Gabe either because Grace warned

her that if she told Gabe about it, she was going to spread the word everywhere that Roland

Martin wasn't her daddy and she didn't know why, but she gave him very afraid. Grace had it

in the palm of her hand.

At that time it was, but now he could do what he wanted, Grace was not there, she probably

wouldn't come back, that thought made him feel bad for a second, although it certainly wasn't

the time to tell Gabe anything, he didn't want to hurt Gabe any more. his brother.

All that thinking hadn't let him realize that he was already at the Fuller house, so he got out of

the car and knocked on the door.

Ilem opened it for her, and she seemed disappointed to see him, so much so that she left the

door open and went into the kitchen.

"Ilem, don't be rude, is that how you treat visitors? No wonder you don't have friends to

come see your ugly face."

She turned her gaze away from him and inched closer until she was face to face or well face to

chest with him.

"Gabe is not here, I don't know what you are doing here or why I should behave with

affection, when all you have done is complicate everything. I don't know how to see you

anymore Martin, I know you said you didn't want me to single you out in the process, but

Amanda told me about the recording and…"

Ian took a deep breath, of all the people in the world why Amanda had told ilem about that,

he loved ilem he had seen her as a little sister since she was a child and now after all it turned

out that she was, he felt so bad that none of them knew the truth.

It stung him to tell her, but he repeated to himself, not like this.

"Yes, Amanda also told me, it is not sure that it is my car, it only looks like my car, they still do

not see the license plate, calm down, do you remember that someone took my car? I don't

always have to be the one doing things wrong and without thinking."

“Stop mistrusting me Fuller, I've never lied to you."

Ilem started pacing back and forth like she wanted to pee, which made Ian want to laugh at

her.

"You did not explain to me how I got to your house that Friday, that makes me distrust you."

"I didn't tell you because I don't know Fuller, I just know you knocked on my door and that's it,

that's it."

"Well, it doesn't matter, the truth is that I didn't see the damn recording, but if Amanda says

that it looks like your car, of course it's your car, it's the only car that mysteriously disappeared

that day, Martin makes all the sense."

"I never said it wasn't my car, I just said I didn't drive the car, what's the part no one

understands? They stole my car for one night and took Grace in it."

Ilem looked him straight in the eye and that's when he realized how crazy that sounded, it just

seemed like a bad excuse.

“If I already realized that I sound quite guilty."

She gave him a small smile, but then she turned to the door to see Gabe enter.

“We have a big problem, a huge problem of colossal proportions from hell could be cataloged.

He in it looked from his friend to his sister with a concerned face."

“Ian, it's good that you're here because you need to see this."

Ian and ilem just stared at him and his nervous breakdown, ilem was the first to speak

"What's going on?"

Gabe went straight to the living room and turned on the television, a woman was talking

about the recording they had discovered in the camera of a gas station, later they announced

the license plate of the car that appeared in the recording with the missing girl "Grace" inside.

They both looked at Ian who was petrified in place, all color left his face, that was the license

plate of his car, the person who was driving had a similar demeanor to him although the video

was blurry you could see that .

"Don't worry Ian, everything will be solved brother, don't worry; We'll tell them that your car

was lost and someone else took it, that's it, we know it wasn't you."

Hearing that word from Gabe's mouth was like knives in his chest, if he had used the adjective

brother plenty of times before, but now that Ian knew it was real it sounded like an insult.

"No one is going to believe me Gabe, it looks like me, I myself could not say that he is

someone else, he looks the same as me."

Gabe took him by the shoulders and shook him.

"Calm down, it's not you, we all know it's not you, no one is going to blame you Ian."

"Gabe don't lie to him it looks like him, you saw it, besides Amanda will blame him, Hannah

and Grace's friends will blame him, this town will blame him, so don't lie."

Gabe turned to her this time with a scowling face, Ilem wasn't helping the situation at all and

also because Amanda would blame Ian.

"What does Amanda have to do with this?"

It was Ian who answered, which made Gabe look at him again.

“Amanda went to pick me up at practice today to tell me about the recording, but she said she

wouldn't come out yet, I thought she'd have time to clear things up and now I have nothing."

Gabe's expression went from worried to angry in a second.

"You two have to stop hiding things from me, I'm not made of glass, I'm not going to shatter

myself because you tell the truth, yes, it's going to hurt me like any living and breathing human

being but I'm going to move on, enough of this! treat me like an expensive vase! I'm not."

"Guys, I'm sorry to interrupt your yelling talk, but the police are at the door and they're

looking for Gabe."

Allin was there and no one had noticed, but at least he opened the door that everyone

ignored. Gabe walked to the open door where he could see Detective Figuera waiting, he

didn't give Gabe time to ask anything before he spoke.

"Is Ian Alexander Martin here?"

Gabe couldn't confirm or deny anything when he heard the unmistakable footsteps behind

him, footsteps that had accompanied him for most of his life, the two of them had been

inseparable since they met as children, they were more than best friends, they were family.

The detective's gaze fixed on the person behind him and Gabe noticed the person who had

just arrived next to the detective, it was his father.

“Ian Alexander Martin, you are under arrest for alleged involvement in the disappearance of

Grace Olivia Miller, you have the right to an attorney and anything you say can and will be

used against you."

The detective put the handcuffs on Ian. Gabe tried to get closer but his father stopped him

just like ilem, Ian advanced at a fast pace to Detective Figuera's patrol, as if wanting to avoid

anyone else seeing him like this.

Ilem and Gabe stood in the middle of the street watching their friend being taken away for

something he hadn't done. Gabe felt so guilty; he was the one who told Ian not to say

anything about the car.

Ilem took his hand and squeezed it hard, Gabe knew that this was how his sister apologized

without words.

"I expected more from that boy, but what can be expected, he is the son of Roland Martin,

another criminal and swindler."

Gabe looked at his father standing on the porch steps.

"He did not do it."

"Carson looked at him disappointedly and shook his head as he walked away to the front door

of the house."

"You are so gullible son, you think the world is bright and fair, I saw the news too, the man in

the car is very much like Ian, one day you will hit the wall of reality and you will know that

everyone sooner or later reveals what they are capable of and even if it wasn't him, everyone

needs a scapegoat, Ian was there and they took him."

Gabe separated se ilem and went to where his father was, stood in front of him and shook his

head.

I know Ian didn't.

"Don't put your hands in the fire for anyone Gabriel Fuller, you're going to end up burning.

Enough with Grace, don't you think?"

They both glared at each other for a second and then Allin came up beside them and ushered

his father into the house.

"You do know he could be right, right?"

"He does not have it and end of the conversation ilem, that's it."

He stormed into the house and Ilem continued to watch where Detective Figuera had taken

Ian. I wish Gabe wasn't wrong.