One Man Band System

Later that night at a hotel, Eric lay in bed, turning his head to see Emma sleeping beside him, completely unclad. He picked up his smartphone and powered it back on, having kept it switched off all day. As the screen lit up, ding... ding... ding, a flood of notifications poured into his smartphone. While most were group chat messages, there were also texts from Ruby, Caleb, and Katie, all just checking in or looking to catch up.

Among all the notifications, one caught his eye: several missed calls from an unknown number, along with a recent text sent shortly before he turned his phone back on. He opened it:

"Good evening, Mr. Eric. I’m Julian from central law enforcement. Detective Norman gave me your number. May I speak with you, sir?"

Eric stepped out of bed, pulled on his boxer shorts, and walked toward the window. But before he could even open the blinds,

"Where are you going, babe?" Emma asked.

Eric turned around to see Emma awake, looking over at him. Walking back over, he sat on the edge of the bed beside her, kissing her forehead before wrapping his arms around her.

"I thought I’d make a call on the balcony. Sorry for waking you up," Eric said.

"It’s fine, I’ve been awake since you turned your smartphone back on," Emma replied, kissing Eric on the cheek.

"Sorry, let me just make this quick call," Eric said, holding up his smartphone screen for Emma to see.

Emma read Eric’s phone screen, her expression darkening instantly. She didn’t say a word, but simply nodded.

"Just call right here," Emma said.

"Alright then," Eric replied.

Eric dialed the number immediately. Emma sat beside him, pulling the blanket up to cover herself as she held Eric’s hand, listening closely to see what would happen. After five rings, someone picked up.

"Mr. Eric?" asked a firm, older-sounding male voice on the line.

"Speaking. Are you Mr. Julian, the one who sent the text?" Eric asked.

"I’m Julian Vance, a detective with central law enforcement. Could I trouble you for a moment of your time to meet up?" Julian asked.

"What’s this regarding, sir?" Eric asked.

"Regarding the incident involving your younger sister, as well as the three individuals arrested for trespassing at her apartment," Julian answered.

Eric went silent for a moment. The close call with Ruby and the three men arrested for trespassing at her apartment, the ones Ruby mentioned yesterday, were actually connected. Naturally, he weighed his answer and thought through it carefully. Beside him, Emma squeezed his hand tightly upon hearing the exchange. Finally, Eric answered,

"Alright, sir. I’m free tomorrow. Let’s meet up in a public place."

"Very well. I’ll send you the address for our meeting location along with the time," Julian replied.

"Sounds good, sir. Have a good evening," Eric replied.

The call ended. Eric stared at his smartphone screen, lost in thought, before Emma wrapped her arms around him from the side.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked.

"I’m fine. I just need to make one more call," Eric answered.

"Go ahead," Emma replied.

Eric unlocked his smartphone screen once more and opened his contacts. Tapping on Norman’s name, he placed the call. Emma leaned down, resting against the arm Eric had wrapped around her. After three rings, Norman picked up.

"Mr. Eric, what’s going on?" Norman asked.

"Officer Norman, a Detective Julian from central law enforcement just called me. He mentioned he got my number from you. Is that true?" Eric asked.

A long pause followed. Norman remained quiet on the other end, but Eric could hear the background rumble of the street and traffic noise. Norman was likely driving and pulling over to the side of the road. Then, the call resumed.

"Looks like Detective Julian reached out to you already," Norman said.

"So he really did get my number from you?" Eric asked.

"I apologize for giving out your number without asking first. It was all for the sake of the investigation, and I was served a subpoena to hand over your contact info," Norman answered.

"Hah... isn’t Detective Julian also a detective like you, just from central?" Eric asked.

Another long pause followed. This time Eric could hear Norman rolling up his car windows, clearly being cautious about how he answered Eric’s question. After a few moments, Eric heard Norman let out a heavy sigh before responding.

"Alright, since you’re asking, I’ll give it to you straight. Julian Vance isn’t actually a central detective, he’s a federal agent. The incident involving your sister turned out to be part of a major investigation of theirs, and since you were the one who saved your sister back then, he wants to get a statement from you," Norman said.

Eric went dead silent as everything spiraled completely beyond his expectations. If federal agents were involved, the situation was clearly far more complex than Ruby getting set up by Chad and his buddies, or her apartment being broken into in what looked like a routine burglary. Eric’s expression darkened slightly.

"Is... my sister in trouble, sir?" Eric asked.

"No... not your sister. I can’t disclose the details of their investigation to you, but if I may say so, it all ties back to your older brother," Norman answered.

"I see," Eric replied.

"Right. Mrs. Melissa has already given her statement to Mr. Julian as well. That’s all I’m at liberty to say," Norman said.

"Understood, sir. Thank you," Eric replied.

"You’re welcome. Good night, sir. Take care," Norman replied.

The call ended. Eric pulled the smartphone away from his ear and stared at the screen once more, realizing the problem had ballooned into something far bigger than before. Emma gazed at Eric’s face beside her, gently cupping his cheek without saying a word.

"Do you just want to head back home?" Emma asked.

Eric turned to look at Emma. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her forehead and smiled.

"No... let’s just head back tomorrow morning," Eric said.

"Hmm... alright," Emma replied.

Ding!

A notification popped up on Eric’s smartphone. He opened it to find a text from Julian detailing their meeting location, complete with the time and a shared location pin. Eric typed back a response before setting his smartphone down. Turning back, he kissed Emma passionately, and once their lips parted, they lay on the bed facing each other.

"Do you want me to come along when you meet that agent tomorrow?" Emma asked, cupping Eric’s cheek.

"Don’t you have school tomorrow?" Eric asked.

"Tomorrow’s the weekend. No school," Emma answered.

"Oh... right, I completely forgot," Eric replied.

"Hehe... you’re way too wound up," Emma replied with a smile.

"Fair enough... let’s head straight from here and meet him together tomorrow," Eric replied.

"Sounds good. But Ruby should be fine, right?" Emma asked.

"Hard to say... according to Officer Norman, it’s all connected to Jason. But I have no clue and can’t guess what Ruby could be involved in. Was there anything weird going on back when she was hanging out with Chad?" Eric answered.

"I don’t know... back then, Ruby and I weren’t really close yet. In fact, we were still enemies," Emma answered candidly.

"Hmm... true enough," Eric muttered, lost in thought.

Then Emma leaned in and kissed Eric passionately, her arms wrapping around his neck as her bare body pressed against his. After breaking the kiss,

"Forget about all that for now, babe. Want to go another round?" Emma teased.

Eric didn’t answer. He simply smiled, gazing at Emma before leaning back in for another kiss. Naturally, one kiss quickly led to another, shattering every boundary that remained.

***

The next morning at nine o’clock, Eric and Emma were already seated inside a quiet, old-fashioned diner that looked like it had been open forever. The waitress delivered two cups of coffee to their table and took their order. Once they finished ordering, the waitress walked away.

"Mr. Julian isn’t here yet?" Emma asked.

"Hmm... doesn’t look like it. We got here an hour earlier than our agreed time," Eric answered.

"Oh well, let’s just wait for him," Emma replied.

"Are you really okay coming along with me like this?" Eric asked.

"Not a problem at all. What would I even do back home anyway? Besides, I’m worried about you too, so don’t worry, I’m here because I want to be," Emma answered.

"Oh... alright then, thanks," Eric replied.

They chatted casually while keeping an eye on the entrance from their booth at the far end of the diner, watching people come and go. Shortly after, their food arrived, and the two ate quietly while continuing to watch the door. About thirty minutes after they finished eating, right at ten o’clock, the door swung open.

A middle-aged man with silver hair wearing a charcoal suit stepped inside, holding a folder in his hand. He looked around the diner with a brief expression of confusion, opened his folder, and then spotted Eric and Emma sitting at the far booth.

Without hesitation, he turned and walked straight over to the table where Eric and Emma had just finished their meal.

"Mr. Eric?" he asked.

"Mr. Julian?" Eric asked, standing up.

"That’s right. I’m Julian Vance," Julian answered, extending his hand with a stone-cold expression.

Eric shook Julian’s hand, then gestured for him to take a seat directly across from them.

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