TRIGGER: CH 12

Chapter 12

"Breaking news, folks! We got him."

Unknowingly, nearly a week had passed by while they were busy running their mission. They did all they can to nail the guy with varying degree of success. With the aid of local people, they managed to get a pretty accurate map of the suspect’s movement within the area and verify his current nest.

It was fairly early in the day when the news came in. In an effort to hasten the process of confirming the suspect's identity, they have sent pictures of the suspect to the Main Division for a joint investigation. They also decided to call back witnesses from the previous cases to help. On the night before, they dispatched Takeru over to aid in the procedure.

It was a tedious and troublesome course, as expected. The suspect was considerably careful of being seen - they had to go through a miss one after another. At the fifteenth person, they had started to deflate but they refuse to back down, refuse to give up just yet.

And just now, they got it.

Such a good way to start the day. Looks like their hard work is paying off. Perseverance is important. No amount of hard work would completely go to waste.

Now their mission has entered the final stage - what is left is to drop the cage and it'll be done, and hope that the criminal get what is due to him.

In order to apprehend the suspect and keep the situation under control, they had agreed to work with the Main Division as they have more man-power available at their expense. It's at time like this that the shortness in hand hits harder than usual. The four of them are deadly efficient at what they do, but unfortunately lacking in other aspects.

For the rest of the day, they were collectively busy preparing to wrap up the case.  

 

That part of the story is now more or less done, but it wouldn’t be if he doesn’t clear his part in this first.

 

He'd given enough time for himself to think through, probably a little too long. Now that it's basically confirmed that they found the right person, the only thing left is to arrest him. And likely the next time they meet would be the last.

Stuck deep in his thoughts, he stares at a single folder icon highlighted on the active window.

A decrypted copy of the files given by Dr Kujou remained in his laptop, waiting.

Wordlessly he put on his communicator and dials into their private line. It didn't take long until someone connected to the other end.

 

"Ryuga?" Rian's voice greeted him. "What's up?"

"Rian, are you alone?"

"Yeah, I'm at home. The others don't seem to have their coms on, though. Do you want me to alert them?"

"Ah, no, it's okay." He paused, working on the best way to break it. "I have something I need to tell you." The bright screen of his laptop is the only thing illuminating the room at the moment.

"There's something I need you to see.” A few taps of the keyboard-, “I've sent you a document - it's encrypted. I need you to go through it. That document contains everything you need to solve this case. So-"

"-Wait a second, what is this document? Where did you get this thing?"

"...I'm sorry. I can't answer that yet. But I assure you that it's from a source that we can trust in."

Another pause. A slow exhale can be heard on the other end. "Okay, I got it. If you says so. I'll explain whatever this is to those two afterwards."

"Yeah, please do."

"You better take me out to dinner or something for this." She mock threatened him, her grin loud and clear.

"Okay."

 

He lets out a sigh of relief. And that one's cleared up.

Just as he takes off his comm device, his phone rings with a new message.

 

< Hey, you free tomorrow night? Let's hang out! I'll come over to your place. >

 

The end is in sight now. Quickly, he types in a reply.

 

< Yeah, sure!>

 

And so the rat unknowingly traps itself.

 

.

 

A click in the line ends the call, and a pop up message appears on her laptop screen shortly after. Lately there seem to be an increase in strange occurrences, not sure if they're mere coincidences or if there something else going on in the background. Considering her line of job this kind of thing does happen once in a while.

Sometimes surprises are good.

There's the thing that Aguri told her about, and then there's this info from Ryuga. Two mysteries within a narrow time period sure don’t sound like a coincidence.

 

Ping!

"Ah, it's done."

And some warm soup makes a great snack while working on cold nights.

The decryption finishes just as she retake her place in front of the laptop.

Information gathering is most usually her job, though not exclusively. Although she's not too keen in taking information from dubious sources - but it came from Ryuga, who got it from... somewhere. Or some person. He said it's from a source that they can trust in.

So she'll trust his words.

 

"This is-"

 

 

---

 

 

The sun is setting for the day; the sky painted in a splash of orange and purple, giving way to the dark blue of the night sky. Birds chattering away as they return to their nest. The gentle evening breeze blowing through tree branches makes for a serene scene.

It's eerily quiet in this part of the area. Well, of course, it's been more or less abandoned for quite some time now. No one dares to set foot here in fear of the unknown. This place had a bit of a history to it - several years back, there was a case of mysterious deaths here. No symptoms, no warning. They'd be working, walking or talking merrily, and then suddenly they just drop to the ground. Dead, without any explanations. The news swept the town in mass panic, finally the government decided to block off this area, and the case dies of eventually.

A Ghost town. Perfect for someone like him.

Cleaning up the place was a pain in the ass, but it's worth it. He's used to surviving in less than livable conditions. This much is rather comfortable.

Carelessly stepping around fallen streetlamps and other rubbles, he goes into a narrow alley in between two dilapidated buildings. The route leads him to a wide opening - what seems like a small garden surrounded by apartment units. His current 'home' is situated in the building to his right, somewhere in the third floor.

Turning the doorknob to open the door to his abode, he walks right in without bothering taking his shoes off.

It's dark in here; sunlight slowly dying out giving way to night sky. The couch dips in to take his weight as he crashes into it.

Today didn't go to well for him. His employer was still enraged from what happened last time. Who's he to be that angry, though. It wasn't his fault the shit they gave him didn't work as well as it should. Crazy fuckers. And they have the gall to call him insane. Hah.

Tch. So quick to dismiss his past success. Ungrateful bunch.

But, all-in-all, things aren't looking too well for him now. He's sure the police would've caught wind of something from the last case. Not good. He needs to escape before they get to him. Though maybe that can wait until after he's done with his current hunt. Regardless, the cops are never famous for being competent at doing their job, so he at least has that much freedom for the time being.

Tiresome, let's think about something else.

Ah, about his current hunt. Such a thrilling one, he might say. Like chasing after a specter in the deep of the night. An intriguing prey. One moment there's a strange, hard glint in his eyes. Then the next, he breaks into a disarming smile. The kind that gives him goosebumps all over, leaving him hot in his seat.

Maybe he should get this done with soon. It'll be a pity to end such a good round early but he couldn't afford to linger around for any longer.

Opening his phone, he typed a short message. The positive reply in return elicits a smile from him.

Can't wait to see how it'll end for you.

 

He grins to himself in the darkness of his room, unknowing of the keen eyes watching, observing his actions from afar.