Duskwood: the man behind the mask

38. The ultimate prey

Everything is uncertainty and chaos in the van. MC has told them where she is and they are on their way to pick her up, but as they get closer, the signal from Jake's tracker gets weaker. It is evident that little by little they are moving away from the hackers.

MC: Don't come here! I'll manage, I'm fine. Jake and Gabe are more important now!

Jessy: Wait for us there, MC, we'll arrive in ten minutes.

MC: Don't you listen? Alan tricked you! Don't you understand what's happening?!

Phil: Calm down already. We'll come get you and then we'll take care of the rest.

Cleo: We can't risk Alan finding you and history repeating itself. Everything we have done until now would have been in vain.

MC: Listen to me, dammit!... Guys? Please!

Phil: Sorry, MC. Just wait there and don't let those people you're with call the police.

And, turning to his sister, Phil asks her to hang up the call. Jessy looks at him worriedly, but she understands why he's asking, so she does it. They need to stay calm, now more than ever, and MC's agitated screams don't help.

Phil focuses on the road again and steps on the accelerator, making the van travel at maximum speed on the asphalt. They haven't had time to talk to MC and ask her when and how she escaped, but they understand that this new twist can only mean more danger for the hackers and everyone in general. Alan has nothing to lose now.

Richy: Cleo, tell the people at the hut. We don't know where Alan is going and they must be prepared. I don't think he'll go there, but we can't take any chances.

Cleo nods and Richy turns to Jessy:

Richy: And you, Jessy, stay tuned, MC will probably call you again. I will continue to try to contact Jake and Gabe.

Jessy: What about the tracker signal?

Richy: That's not an option anymore.

The girls look at him terrified and quickly check their phones, only to shudder when they see what Richy is already telling them with obvious concern:

Richy: The signal stopped being visible a few seconds ago. We have lost them.

---

Alan watches Jake carefully from the back seat. He has demanded that they not exceed the speed limit so as not to attract attention, and the relative slowness of the trip is giving him time to think: he must admit that he is surprised by the hacker. However, he's not sure he dislikes that, which surprises him even more.

Their gazes have met several times in the rearview mirror, but Alan has been unable to see what he has always seen in these cases: fear, anxiety, defeat, perhaps desperation... No, only one feeling glims in the hacker's eyes: hatred, pure hatred, and excessive self-control.

That look, that hostility, has made a completely new sensation emerge from his entire body, and, if he is honest with himself, he must accept that he likes it. Many years have passed since he felt that almost primal urge climbing through his veins, and only now does he realize that he's been suppressing it for too long.

Did he do it out of respect for Jennifer? Maybe, although more likely he did it out of fear. All these years he has felt useless, convinced that he wouldn't be able to achieve anything without her. After all, it was she who rescued him, it was she who led him to the end... but this has also been a hunt, and he has carried it out alone. Better yet: he's winning it alone.