Author's Note- Edited.

Enjoy!

Forbidden

Interrogation

I turned slowly, gaze falling on Derek, wondering- and about to be wondering aloud- what he meant by 'She's the second one,' before being interrupted by a sturdy knock on the door. The sound cut through the deafening silence and I nearly jumped out of my pants. It was what I needed to snap out of whatever trance this situation had thrust me into and I was able to think.

But I was afraid to start thinking.

Derek started just as badly as I had, blinking hard and coming back into his living room as if he had been somewhere far, far away despite physically standing right next to me. If it had been any other moment, I probably would have laughed at the scowl he tossed in the direction of his door, as if mentally relaying to whoever it was on the other side that he wasn't home.

It didn't work. Not even ten seconds after this first knock, there was another. Louder this time and accompanied by a, "Mr. Souza? It's the police, open up."

Again, if it had been any other moment, this time I would have rolled my eyes at the overdone line read off by 'Police Officer #1' in every action movie ever. But this wasn't any other moment and it didn't take me too long to work out why on Earth the police were banging up a storm on Derek's door. He had been the last person to see Miranda yesterday. No doubt they were here to question him about their meeting and to acquire whether Derek had an alibi for the previous night or not. He did, of course. He had been with me. Unfortunately, though, Derek and I weren't exactly in the most societal approved relationship. I was about to ask Derek what he wanted me to do, ready to flee into his bedroom and hide while he talked to the cops. That was silly. As he shook his head I realized just how silly that thought was. Derek really had nothing to hide, so why even try hiding anything?

He grabbed my hand and led me to the door.

A minute later, two police officers were standing in Derek's dining room, glancing around as if searching for a place Derek could hide a full grown woman. Both of them had their hands on their hips, fingers resting on their belts as if to direct our attention there and remind us that they had guns, batons and Tasers. This time I did roll my eyes. Who were they trying to intimidate? They weren't FBI agents. Their sole job was to gather Derek's whereabouts as he was somewhat involved in Miranda's day-to-day, not hassle him before putting him in cuffs and taking him downtown.

"Let's not beat around the bush this time, boys." Derek spoke first. "You want to know about my relations to the girl who was reported missing this morning."

'This time?' I glanced between Derek and the two officers, taking note of how lax Derek seemed despite the high tension and their forcibly tall posture in reaction. Had Derek been questioned by these two before?

Police Officer #1 gave Derek a smarmy look and my eyes narrowed, question answered. There was definitely a history here and I could practically see the conflict of interest oozing from both officers as they stared us down.

"Alright, Souza." Officer #1 said. "Since you already know why we're here, I'm sure, as per usual, you've got a good story thought up that's going to take you off of our suspect list."

"I was with my girlfriend." Derek rumbled evenly, nodding in my direction and showing no interest in the officer's bait whatsoever.

"Between what times?" Officer #2 asked.

"Between four to five and then we met again at seven and we've been together since then."

"Four to five?" Officer #1 questioned, bushy dark brows furrowing. "That's the time that Ms. Rivers' roommate claimed to be allotted to you as her calculus tutor."

"I tutor both of them." Derek replied.

"You're dating one of your students." Officer #1 confirmed with a smirk. "Now that's interesting and-"

"-and none of your business." Derek interrupted, tone factual. "Your concern is to gather information about my whereabouts last night in the portioned time that Miranda Rivers could have gone missing. I tutored her and took my girlfriend to dinner. A family friend was there if you need clarification. In the two hour time frame between leaving the University and meeting up with her again, I was with my brother and on the phone with my father. You can call both of them for verification as well, and, while you're speaking with my father, you can relay your interests towards my relationship with one of my students. I'm sure he'll enjoy hearing that you're more concerned with my love life than you are in the lives of two missing girls."

I blinked, dumbfounded and gaping at Derek as he stared down the two officers, daring them to challenge his alibi. I really had no idea about the past between these three- much like I didn't know truly anything about Derek's past- but I could see that their company had become more than just an annoyance to him, and that he didn't appreciate them constantly pointing fingers in his direction. Officer #1's jaw worked as he met Derek's gaze. Finally, he released a defeated sigh and asked Derek for the number of his family friend who had seen us the night before. Officer #2 turned to me.

"Miss, if you were being tutored with Ms. Rivers, I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you a few questions as well."

"In the hall," Officer #1 added.

"Why?" I challenged, speaking for the first time since the officers had come in. "He's just going to listen in on our conversation or I'm going to tell him after. Whatever you need to ask me, you might as well get it out here and now."

Out of my peripheral vision I saw the corner of Derek's lips twitch, but I found more pleasure in witnessing Officer #1's vein throb against his balding temple.

"You might as well ask her about New Year's Eve while you're at it." Derek said. I tossed him an incredulous look. What the hell was he getting at by saying that? Did he want me to confirm his alibis or throw me under the bus for underage drinking?

"A couple of our guys have already investigated your alibi for that evening and questioned the student that you claimed to have escorted home. She had a similar story of being driven home by you, Mr. Souza, a girl by the name of Chloe Saunders who also worked with Rachelle Rodgers at Michael's Diner."

"That would be me," I chimed in, recalling the first of the year when a couple of officers had questioned me about Rae, having been the last person to see her the night before she went missing.

I was starting to understand and piece together certain events in the last month to realize what Derek was to these guys. Derek had been questioned about Rae's disappearance as well. She had always boasted about him being one of her regular customers during the week, no doubt relaying that to her roommate who had reported her missing. An older man constantly visiting the diner, presumably to see a young waitress; why not make him a suspect? These two must have been the same officers that had done the interrogation. But there was still something key that I was missing. The exact reason why they were singling him out, giving him a hard time and exuding an air of arrogance as they questioned him.

I thought of what Derek had said a moment ago.

"You can call both of them for verification as well, and, while you're speaking with my father, you can relay your interests towards my relationship with one of my students. I'm sure he'll enjoy hearing that you're more concerned with my love life than you are in the lives of two missing girls."

He addressed them speaking to his father as if they had spoken to him before, and that the subject at the time discussed hadn't really been in their favor. They could very well know that Mr. Bae was a lawyer if that were the case. However, that still wouldn't make sense if Rae's disappearance had been the first time that Derek, his father and these officers had crossed paths.

There was something more going on. A lot more, just like there was something more going on between Derek and Professor Banks that, again, involved his father. Knowing Derek, if I asked, he wasn't going to tell me.

I should have listened to the voice in the back of my head screaming that something wasn't right. Two missing girls, both of whom had been acquaintances of both me and Derek, his mysterious past with the sketchy arts Professor, his unfriendly coalitions with the police and the involvement of his father in all of this who just happened to be a lawyer?

Something was definitely not right.

But, mix all these negatives together and I could tell that it didn't look good on Derek at all. I didn't like that. Wasn't comfortable with it or addressing it. Wasn't comfortable with thinking of Derek that way when things between us were going so well.

It was foolish of me, but...

I didn't listen. I silenced that voice and those thoughts, gripped tighter at Derek's hand still holding mine and stood by him as the officers finished their interrogation.