TRIGGER: CH 9

Chapter 9

Within the next few days, they managed to break down the suspect's pattern of movement as well as his most possible modus operandi. Besides, from the various datas obtained, and after analysing his track, they succeeded in narrowing down his next potential hunting grounds.

Back in the office's meeting room, a large map of the city is displayed on the whiteboard with three location circled in red marker.

"After a thorough check, we managed to identify these three locations as the most possible spots. On top of that, we also succeeded in ID-ing the suspect and his habits. Good job boys!"

Rian is smiling widely looking very proud. The one's sitting at the table, nowhere near as bright-looking this morning. Ryuga is half flopped on the table with his face down, and Takeru slouches in his chair, eyes barely open. Even the usually perfect Aguri is sporting dark rings under his eyes.

"Of course." He says, adjusting his glasses.

"..It was pure hard labour.."

"..yeah.."

Faint murmurs can be heard coming from Takeru, and Ryuga's equally weak-sounding mumbles answers.

"Hey, brighten up! Things are just getting started here, don't let your guard down yet."

"..It's amazing how you're so unaffected."

"That's a secret. Now, get up!"

Takeru begrudgingly pulls himself up and Ryuga pushes himself off the table, both sitting straight.

"All that's left to this is to keep an eye on these locations to get the right one."

"About that, I've gained access to the surrounding surveillance cameras at each location. I can start immediately."

"Then, I'll check out the places on foot. Might catch something else that could be of use."

"Good idea. I'll go with you, we'll have more coverage that way. Ryuga, you'll join with Aguri."

"Okay. We'll let you know once we found him."

"Likewise. Now, let's get to work."

 

The group dispersed on her words, off they go to where they need to be.

 

---

 

Giving one last check through the map and notes, she looks up towards the building in front of her. An inconspicuous looking place, already been there for some time and had built a presence of it own.

"Perfect."

Pulling out her phone, she made a call. Takeru should be done with his part by now. She idly paces around the place while waiting for the call to be picked up; a telltale click signifies that.

"Takeru? Are you done? Yeah? Good. Come around, I'll send you the location. Thanks."

As the call ends, she fiddles with her phone, sending a message to the group chat with the location tagged.

 

< Check this place out.>

 

Almost immediately her phone buzzes with replies from her teammates.

< I'm on my way. >

< Ok. Aguri's on it. >

Takeru shows up from around the corner less than 5 minutes after. He gave her a rundown of the three hotspots as they walked up to the front of the building.

It's a three-storey building standing on its own, facing one of the main roads in the area. The building itself is situated at the crossroad, surrounded by houses and other similarly sized buildings, likely apartments. The ground floor is turned into a local bar and the upper two are rooms.

The day is still early but the bar's door is already unlocked, in preparation for its operating time later in the day. Their entry is greeted by the chime hung on the door, alerting the master of the place. The person, a man in his forties, was busy arranging the place when they got in.

"I'm sorry, but it's not open yet." Regardless, he addresses them with a friendly smile.

"Ah, no. We're here for a business." Swiftly, both of them present their badges to the person. "We would like your cooperation, if it not too burdensome?"

"Aah, is that so. What would you need me for?" The man seems startled at first but recovered pretty quickly.

"Actually..-"

 

---

 

"So this place-"

"-Will be our base of operation, yes." Rian replied while marking the place with a star in red marker to distinguish it from the hotspots. "I've gained the Master's cooperation and permission to use the place. He owns the entire building and currently lives on the second floor. The third floor is unoccupied, by the way."

"There's also an extra room in the bar that we can use." Her words are picked up by Takeru, who just finished sketching a rough layout of the bar and the top floor.

"I see, so we can temporarily set Ryuga in the top floor, and we can use the extra room as mission control room. Impressive work." Came Aguri's approval and input as he closely inspect the floor plan, already setting things up in his mind.

"It's close to the target locations, too. So it's really convenient." Ryuga adding in from his spot, leaning against the table. "All places are already under surveillance, we're good to go anytime."

"Great, now we can get the next stage started. We have the rest of the week to set everything up, but it'll be the best if it could be done fast." Rian set her marker down, turning around to face the boys.

"Since we're all going to be involved, it'll be easier to assign a role to each of us. If we're turning the extra room as mission control, naturally I'd have to be behind the counter as it allows me easy access to the room."

"Then, me and Rian'll be around as local customers. It's better to avoid having a set pattern of movement, should keep 'em from getting suspicious too soon."

"And I'm there to bait the hook. I'll make sure to string him up."

With everyone's role set, the meeting is concluded. Now, the real mission can finally begin.

 

 

 

---

 

The phone call came as a surprise. He was just wrapping up the day when his phone vibrates with a call from an unknown number. Strange.

 

"..Hello?"

"-Hey, it's me, Kujou from the hospital's forensics. Can we meet up for a bit?"

 

 

Following the directions given, it brought him to a fairly secluded bar not too far from the town center. Nothing too hidden or too obvious, just enough to attract random passer-by. The warm lighting gives it a sort of cozy vibe.

There aren't many people inside; it's still quite early in the night after all. So far, nothing had trip off his alarms yet.

 

"Hey, over here!"

The call came from somewhere to his right. Turning towards the sound, he spots the doctor at one of the tables near the back. As usual, the man is clad in his signature flowery shirt and red leather biker jacket.

"You're rather early, I assume you got of your job pretty early too?" The easy-going smile slips in place.

"I wish, we're still working hard on the case. Just now we got started on the real job."

Ryuga takes his place on the opposite site. It's not that he didn't trust the doctor; just a personal preference. As cozy as it may seem, it is still an unfamiliar place.

"So, what's the matter? I don't think you called just to have a drink?"

"As expected, you're really sharp." For a moment, he can swear the glint in the other's eyes changed.

Dr Kujou reached into his jacket and pulls out a..game disk?

"Here I need you to return this to your buddy. He challenged me to clear it in a week but I managed in less than three days so make sure to let him know."

With a wide and somewhat smug grin, he handed the item over to Ryuga.

The sudden switch is jarring. Whatever he saw in the other's eyes just now couldn't have been this.

 

Strange.

 

"..Ah, sure. I'll let Takeru know." Everything is confusing but he'll go with the flow for now.

"With that out of the way, you're gonna stay for a drink?" One eyebrow raised.

"'Afraid I'll have to turn down that offer. I don't drink much, especially when I'm still actively working."

"I see. It's fine. Be careful on your way home. It's rather dangerous out there lately." Again, the same strange feeling. The relaxed smile never left, his voice unwavering.

"..Got that."

Pocketing the disk into his jacket, he made his way out.

The strange feeling followed him home. Deja vu, the doctor told him something similar several days ago. There was certainly a cryptic message hidden underneath.

Pulling out the disk, he opened the case. Just a normal game disk..

 

Eh?

 

Taking the disk out, he notices a fold of paper tucked inside. He unfolds the paper to find out it contains an SD card and a message from Dr Kujou. The paper itself is a printed image of a person's hand holding out a kitten with the caption 'It's dangerous to go alone! Take this.'

At the lower corner of the paper, some words are scribbled in.

'Took you for a ride.'

And Ryuga can only blinks over the realization that washed over him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, what could be in the SD card to warrant such secrecy?