Chapter Three

            “Help me,” a strained voice cried out. I heard the sound. I heard how desperate the person had been, but I didn’t listen. Instead, I continued to walk on without a care. “CHAERIN!”

            Gasping, I pried my eyes open only to realize that I was in an unknown place. My heart started to beat at my chest until I remembered that I had gotten into a cab and started to drift off to sleep. Due to where the car was at now that I was awake, I had to have been asleep for about fifteen minutes or so. And in those fifteen minutes, I had such a realistic dream that made my hair rise. Was that even possible? Was a dream even possible to have in such a short time? Sighing, I slid further down in my seat.

            It had been close to midnight when I got my work finished, and when I got home my father was in an unstable condition. In the end, I was up until almost four in the morning which gave me about two hours of sleep before I had to head back to work. Damn Dragon. He just had to capture me at such a time.

            In the middle of such a small community sat a large office building that served as the headquarters for multiple police departments. Inside—on the fifth floor—was where the department for our small community of police officers sat. About ten people worked in the office for different sections, our desks put back to back in separate cubicles.

            Once at the large building, I paid the fare and rushed inside. At my cubicle, I threw myself into my chair and heaved a sigh of relief. Two minutes to spare. And with that extra time, I closed my aching eyes to rest them a slight bit.

            “Ah, Miss Chaerin,” a man’s voice sounded. The same voice that belonged to the man I left behind when Dragon’s man captured me. When I got back that night, the food had gone cold, and he left a note explaining that he couldn’t wait much longer.

            “Hello.”

            “Did you get that report done?”

            “Yes.”

            “Ah…” At that, he awkwardly glanced around. The silence between us was uncomfortable and it was obvious that he wanted to ask about what happened. But he didn’t. Feeling extremely guilty, I looked down.

            “I’m sorry about last night.”

            “Oh, why?”

          “Because I should have mentioned something. It was…it was just a sudden matter that I had to take care of.” In response, my co-worker cast a genuine smile my way.

            “It’s alright. I heard that your father has been getting worse. Is everything alright?” Blinking, I took a deep breath and smiled.

            “Of course he is! Hey, are you free for lunch? I’ll treat since I left without a word.”

            “Actually…”

            “Good morning Miss Chaerin, glad to know that you’re here right on time,” a loud voice boomed throughout the office as our chief’s head bobbed its way towards us.

            “There’s a case centering around one of your people and Chief wants to talk to you about it. I have no idea how long it will take,” my co-worker hurriedly whispered and backed away before he could be caught in the middle. A case? Surrounding one of my  people? How could that even happen?

            “Morning Sir,” I grumbled when he finally stopped in front of the entrance to my little work space.

            Ignoring my sour attitude, the man bestowed upon me one of his huge, fake smiles. With that, he requested me to join him in his office for a little bit. I was so frustrated by the thought of one of my clients being pulled in for a new case that I shot from my chair and stormed down the small pathway to the man’s office.

            “What has made you act this way today? You know very well that I don’t handle attitude very well,” the chief inquired once the door to his office shut behind him.

            “You know very well why I am like this, Sir,” I snapped. When he continued to give me the same expression, I rolled my eyes. “You promised that the ones that aided in the captures would be safe.”

            “Really now?”

            “Yes! You even signed a paper stating that the ones who are innocent or who have changed from their ways won’t be touched. There were witnesses, sir. And now you have a case against one? Why? Why are you suspecting someone who is innocent? Someone who—”

            “He’s not innocent, Chaerin.” My blood ran cold at those words. Not innocent? “Far from it actually. For a few weeks now, frequent homicides have been appearing. They even has the same trait to that of those who were involved in the past case. Slowly—but surely—we have been stumbling across clues that led us to your person.

“Our first discovery was that a new group has been formed. Most of them were from the recent gang you split. Recently, we have come across finger prints, videos and an audio recording that declared that your main client was the leader. He was the one initiating the attacks. However, he has yet to give us any details. So, I would like to know if you have anything to add after you have seen the files that Hersh will send over to you soon.”

            “Let me see him,” I breathed.

            “What?”

            “Let me see my client. I want to see for myself that he has been doing what you have claimed.”

            “Alright, but first, explain to me how this could have been a possibility. With the agreement on that paper, you promised not to go a week without closely watching. Yet here you are, finding out for the first time that he was doing this. What happened to the weekly meetings?”

            “They’ve taken place. Just…not as long or as in depth as they should have been,” I reluctantly announced.

            “Why?”

            “Do I need to explain? I have personal matters as well, Sir. I can’t be there twenty-four seven. It’s not what I agreed to on my contract. Now, tell me exactly where he is being held,” I insisted, growing impatient. I wanted to know exactly what happened to trigger this behavior. The longer I was questioned, the longer it would take to have an exact answer. Rolling his shoulders, the man before me simply called in his secretary to lead the way.

            “Is it true that you stopped meeting with the suspect?” the woman whispered as she showed me the way to my client’s holding cell.

            In response, I took a deep breath and let it out. There was no point in releasing information to those who didn’t need to know. Catching onto the gist, the woman clamped shut and continued to lead the way in silence.

            Once at the room guarded by a burly man, I portrayed my badge before opening the door. Inside, there was another guard in the far right corner while in the middle of the small room was a table. Slumped over it was a boy, the air of defeat hanging around him. His handcuffed hands were laced in his reddish brown hair that hid his face.

            “Why?” I croaked, frozen in front of the door.

            Truthfully, I wanted to reach out a comforting hand. I wanted to whisper consoling words; to show him that there’s a way past all of this. But I couldn’t. In fact, I was unable to get past the table. There were eyes and ears coming out from every corner in the room, so I couldn’t even dare to step out of the boundaries set.

            “Thunder,” I whispered when the boy refused to answer.

            “What?”

            “Talk to me.” However, I was met with mere silence.

            Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, I glanced in the direction of the guard. His eyes linked with mine and he instantly looked away with a cough. I shook my head and closed the short distance between the boy and me. When all that was between us was the table, I stopped and crouched down. It was at least an attempt.

            “Look,” I waited,” I’m not going to press any kind of judgment on you. I just want to know why this happened.”

            After the boy had helped me capture the gang that blackmailed him into joining, he claimed that he was sick of completing such actions. He was tired of the drugs, the dirty cash, and running around like their personal slave. All in all, he was terrified of becoming a monster if things continued. So I didn’t understand why he of all people would revert to his old ways. Sure, people who are surrounded by such a mess and grow accustomed to the lifestyle are bound to revert. But deep down, I had been so positive—so sure—that he wouldn’t.

            Finally glancing up, the boy checked in all of the directions that had people watching. With such an action, it was clear that he knew that there was no privacy. He couldn’t openly release the information he had on the tip of his tongue. Lastly, his eyes zoned in on me and remained there.

            “He called. He set everything up,” he whispered, his voice barely audible.

            “Who?” I blurted without thinking. Who was ‘he’?

            As I stared at the boy’s intense yet sad eyes, it slowly dawned on me like an anvil easing its way down to the ground. D. D was the only one that someone could whisper such a pronoun and be understood. He was the only one that could coherently convince a boy like my client to complete antics that he was against. Taking a minute to get over the shock, I stood back up and began to pace.

            “Alright,” I muttered under my breath as I nodded in jerks. “Okay, I understand now,” I whispered. Glancing at my client once more, I noticed that his eyes were still on me, assessing me as I took in his information. “I’ll figure something out,” I assured before turning on my heel and walking out. I felt like I couldn’t stay in the room any longer or else I would burst with insanity. I couldn’t let that happen. No, I had to keep a clear head on my shoulders.

            “Ah, Miss Chaerin! It’s nice to see you so soon. But if it’s not an urgent matter, then I would like to advise you to wait,” my chief greeted as I stormed into his office. Stopping dead in my tracks, I realized that he was, in fact, not alone. Actually, the middle-aged man sitting with my chief was staring at me over his shoulder.

            Immediately, I swallowed my angry words, apologized, and backed out of the room in embarrassment. As I turned to head back to my desk in a daze, laughter at my heels. I had been so close to finally attempting a conversation that dealt with convincing my chief to give me permission to investigate openly. If I had given him this new reason—on top of others, then he would have no other choice but to accept. For some strange reason, I felt like he knew that he would have to accept if I ever had a chance to talk to him about such a matter. Each time I ran to him with new information, he would go out of his way to avoid it.

            Falling into my chair, I closed my eyes to sort through the millions of thoughts floating around my head. Why was D targeting Thunder? Was there something bigger? What was the point of getting him in trouble? Even if he wasn’t a part of a gang anymore, did he still pose a threat? The kid was undeniably smart. Smart enough that posing a threat would be a plausible excuse. But there were so many missing pieces to the puzzle that made me feel uneasy.

            Right as I was about to pound my head on to my desk in frustration, a warm paper cup hovered close to my face. Jumping at such an unexpected object, I glanced up to see my co-worker smiling down at me. I stared at him for a few seconds until he pressed the cup closer, indicating that he wanted me to take it. Quietly thanking him, I accepted and sipped at the hot liquid only to get scalded by the bitter flavor.

            “Was it bad?” he inquired after a few bouts of silence. At first, I thought he meant the cup of coffee, but then I realized that he hadn’t even paid attention to my reaction. Instead, he was curious about the case with my client. Not wanting to say too much, I pressed my lips together to form a thin smile.

            “Of course not,” I reassured. The man nodded and shifted his weight.

            “Are you—”

            “Chris,” a woman—our Commander—called out. At once, the man’s eyes widened and he ducked his head. “I know you’re with Chaerin, and you can converse with her later. There’s some work you left unfinished that I need done by two o’clock sharp. So, I request that you stop chatting for now and get to work. Also, Chaerin, I believe that since you have the most time on your hands at the moment, you are able to go on the lunch run. Am I correct?” she announced with an air of authority.

Biting my tongue, I voiced my answer. My co-worker grimaced and backed away. When he disappeared from sight, I put my coffee cup down and stood up. With that, I shouldered my bag and moved to the designated “lunch run” information and money was kept. Once in hand, I frowned to myself and sullenly went to fulfill the errand. Due to running such an errand frequently, I made it back in a matter of time with all of the food in separate bags.

            “Miss Chae,” the same voice from last night sounded behind me as I balanced all of the food and drinks. Heart flying to my mouth, I whipped around to see Dragon standing before me—100 feet in front of the office building.

            “What are you doing here?” I blurted.

            “Can’t I be here?”

            “No. I mean…I thought…” that there were eyes everywhere.

            “Ah, that? Don’t worry, I was called here for other business. So, carry on…with what you were doing,” he insisted and headed on past me toward the building.

Dazed, I turned back around and followed after him. Inside, we quietly moved in the same direction. As we forced ourselves onto the same crowded elevator, the man glanced my way. No matter how many people were in the same confined space as us, I could have sworn that it was only the two of us as our eyes met.

            “Are you following me?” he grunted, only loud enough for me to hear. Scoffing, I simply shifted my bags around and stared up at the light that lit up the number of floors we passed until it reached my own.

            “No,” I finally responded as I stepped off and moved toward my section of the building. Behind me, his heels continuously padded on the floor.

Right when I was about to turn around, someone from my office noticed the food and announced it to everyone else. In a matter of seconds, I was surrounded by hungry co-workers. Using that distraction, Dragon walked on past with a smirk spread across his face. Biting my tongue, I turned my attention to those who were demanding their food.

In the end, I brought what was left to my desk and collapsed in my chair. As I reached inside my pocket to pull out the remains of my crumpled money, a small piece of paper brushed across the back of my hand. Furrowing my brows together, I closed my fingers around it and pulled it out. The black ink scrawled across it said:

            Expect a call tomorrow. – Dragon

            Huffing in disbelief, I tore the note into tiny little pieces and moved to finally focus on the work that was needed to be done.

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A/N: Ah! It's up ^^; As you might have seen with the past two chapters...I've been trying to make this a once a week update. I like this little routine. Write a little during the week, finish it up come the end of the week, and type it up/update on the weekend. Hopefully you're not too frustrated with this once a week update thing...if you are, let me know and I'll try to write more frequently. ^______^ Love ya all! ^^;