"Evening, people. I'm Brian Hudson. Your captain for this case. Let's see, excluding me, we have one, two, three..... six people on this team."
"Umm, it's seven here?"
"You're not a part of my team, commander. You're the last person I wanna work with."
"Che, party pooper!"
After going from high to low, Daniel had finally found his destination, conference room D. when he went in, there were already some people in there. probably waiting for the meeting to start. So he went inside and sat beside the youngest looking guy present in the room.
"Listen up, chums. This one is a highly confidential, delicate case. We've got order to solve it before the end of this month. That's why I need highly qualified agents for this. Are you the man?"
"..."
there were total 8 people in the room, and all of them were quiet. The man, Brian Hudson, was a 6.5 tall, black, bald, middle aged man and he gave off the vibe of a military man. It was Daniel's first time confronting this type of situation but he could still sense the tension in the air. And he could tell that he wasn't the only one who thought this was all going wrong.
"Damn it! Why did it have to be him of all people?" The young man beside him whispered.
Daniel didn't want to get on that man's bad side on his first day here. So he choose to not join that grumbling young man. Instead he gave all of his attention to the white board in front of him. The word 'Team Delta' was written on it in big letters.
"Okay, enough dilly dallying. Introduce yourselves! You, from the far right corner. Yes, you! Start with you!"
"Oh God! What are we, highschoolers?"
Grumbling to himself, he stood up and Daniel monitored. Tall, white man, in his early twenties, a child-like face.
"Liam Anderson. Information & Technology branch."
"Noted. Continue!"
This time a woman got up. Slender figure, tanned skin, hispanic. "Detective Gabriella Hiscock. Intelligence branch."
"Jason Mallark from the forensic department." Another hispanic man, short heightened, in his mid-thirties.
"Clara Pace from the forensic department." Tall figure, dark skin, caucasian woman.
"Detective Harvey Kent, Intelligence branch." Another cis-white man.
Then it was Daniel's turn. After he was done with introduction, the brunette didn't fail to notice the side glances from the people present. Even captain Hudson cocked an eye brow and gave him a thorough look from head to toe. But didn't push on the matter regarding his past blunder, which made him grateful.
"Wow, Lieutenant. You're a one famous agent!"
No matter how many times he tries to ignore the fact that commander Hawklin is sitting right beside him, she reminds the brunette of her irritating presence in evey other way possible. Weren't they supposed to play strangers here? "You flatter me." Was his quick reply.
"Pfft... Do I?"
What is so funny to her? The brunette could not apprehend that woman's mind at all.
"Okay people! Back to business. We have -"
KNOCK KNOCK! And with a click sound, the door to the conference room opened and a head popped out from the small gap. It was a man with short black hair. His eyes scanned the room and locked it's target at the figure beside the brunette.
"Commander Hawklin, the Deputy Chief wants your audience immediately."
No sooner had he uttered those words than whole room turned towards them. Liam was the most curious one while captain Hudson had the most disappointed look on his face. Everyone else had mixed expression. Daniel was confused as he also followed others gazes towards the dark-haired woman beside him and was surprised. Jessica had a stone-cold expression. She had a pen in her hand which was almost bent in a angular shape from the force of her grip.
"Looks like it's your lucky day captain! Enjoy the privacy."
Saying it, she stood up and left, without making any further comment, and it seemed like the whole room was finally able to breath. However, the brunette failed to notice the disappointed look on the young man's face beside him upon her departure. Captain Hudson also took a moment to collect his thoughts before proceeding with the meeting. He dimmed the lights in the room and turned on the projector.
"As I have said before, this is a delicate issue that must be handled with utmost secrecy. This is a possible gangrape case."
The screen on the board flickered and a man's image appeared. Strawberry blond hair with red highlighted bangs, honey coloured eyes, red skin tone with achene. Daniel jerked in surprise the moment the image appeared in front of him.
"The victim is Andrew Jackson, the only son of the chief executive of the Department of Defence. An honourary citizen of the US. Don't wheeze, Ms. Pace, I can see you. Moving on. Five days ago, on September 13, the victim left his house for his friend's mask party at 8 pm. Where was the party?"
The screen flickered again and another picture appeared. This time, it was a picture of the front gate of a building. wild decorative statues featured the entire structure. And owl symbols were encrypted on the nameplate.
"Club Nightowl. The notorious club in the downtown of Manhattan which is also famous for it's service of sex workers and drugs. The victim entered the club at 8pm and goes missing at 11.30pm. Kent, distribute these copies to others."
The detective named Harvey Kent was the closest one sitting near the captain. He stood up and received the papers from him. Then he walked towards the others and gave them each a copy. The conference room was a small one and had a round table at the center. The six of them were sitting around the table and captain Hudson was at the dias in front of the white board.
"According to the testimonies from everyone present that night, Andrew met an unknown guest around 9.30 to 10 pm and went to a private room with her. However, when the victim's friend went to look for him, that man and woman was already gone.This happened around 11.30. Due to the victim's unruly and unpredictable nature, no one actually suspected him missing and so, didn't mind to report it to the local police."
While the captain was describing the case, the brunette was mentally counselling himself. 'Calm down. This could all be just a mere coincidence. The world is full of miracles, anything is possible.' While doing so, Daniel kept his concentration on the meeting as well.
"Two days after the party at the Club Nightowl, on September 15th, his unconscious body was found in a rather particular place." a tone of dramatical suspense left from his tone as he gave the brunette an obvious look. And Daniel knew why. He didn't need to look through the papers to find out the place as the captain's gaze towards him gave away the answer.
"Oh! What an irony." This voice belongs to Gabriella Hiscock. Her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"They say karma's a bitch for nothing." This one was Jason Mallark.
"Oh hoho! This bastard was found in the same dumpster as 'her'. That's what I call sweet revenge!" Liam Anderson, the young man beside him, elbowed him to catch his attention. "Hey Mr. Davis! Weren't you the one in charge of that case last year? The one with-"
"Quiet down, people! I'm not done with the briefing. No need to celebrate so soon."
The muttering in the room quieted down a level and Daniel opened his mouth out of reflex, "It wasn't me this time!"
The whole room was dead silent from the surprise confession. They all looked at the brunette with question in their eyes, some even had pity in them. But captain Hudson replied nonchalantly without sparing him a single glance. "We know! Moving on!" He uttered every word with equal force.
Goddamn it! What was he thinking saying that? Looks like that incident is still etched into his very being. Move on, Daniel! Everyone has moved on from that shitshow so you should too! The brunette mentally slapping himself twice, finally paid full attention to the meeting.
"Andrew Jackson is currently at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He was in a critical condition when found in that dumpster. Doctor's report says that multiple objects both blunt and sharp have been used to penetrate his anus. So he is currently under observation."
Daniel as well as others flinched at his last statement. What a painful way of torture. Someone must have been very frustrated and infuriated to take out their anger on him like this. Even in their minds, there thoughts were coated with sarcasm.
"The undercover SPD member at the Nightowl club has already provided us with the CCTV footages we need. Davis, Anderson ; I need you two to check every footage of that night to determine the possible culprit."
"If we don't have any suspect yet, how did you find out that it wad a gangrape?" Jason asked.
"You tell me how a single feeble woman could possibly drag out a huge ass man out of that club undetected and do the deed then bring back his unconscious body to the dumpster?"
No one answered. The eldest man waited for other questions and then continued. "Did the two of you get your tasks?"
Daniel remained quiet while Liam responded with a loud "Yes sir!" and gave the brunette a wink.
"Hiscock, Kent and the forensic team, on the crime scene, now! Divide into two groups and scatter, one to the Nightowl club and the other at the dumpster. Take your police badge with you."
The eldest man in the room stopped to take a breath when the detective woman spoke up. "What will the captain be doin?"
"Andrew has got back his consciousness this afternoon. So I'm gonna go get his testimony. I'll let you all know when I'm done. Any other question?"
"Yes sir!"
"What is it now, Kent?"
The white man, Harvey Kent stood up from his chair, his blonde locks pushed behind his ears. "I get that you want was to move in the shadows since he's the son of the chief executive and all. what I don't get is that, why the SPD? I mean, since when did the SPD started taking care of these external affairs?"
Daniel's ears perked up at this question. He remembers Jessica asking the very same question to chief Hawklin. He still doesn't know the details of the SPD's work but it seems like this one is not supposed to be managed by them. But why is detective Kent addressing it as an external affair? The brunette looked around and found others agreeing with the talking man as well. The woman named Clara pace also chimed in.
"As far as I know Captain, SPD has never interfered in the external affairs until recently. I might as well say it out loud and specifically. The SPD started mingling with these matters right after Rebecca Hawklin took her position as the chief. What is the SPD really after, sir? Why are we looking for a rapist who raped another rapist? Seriously, the irony is lost on them!"
"Who are you raising your tone with, Pace?"
Realizing her mistake, she immediately shut up and murmured out a "Sorry sir." Brian Hudson sighed out loudly and looked at everyone yet no one particularly. His face looked tired.
"Listen! You and I both take orders from the higher-ups. So, don't seek me for answers I don't know and do what you came here to do. A fucker just got fucked fron the backdoor and all we have to do is to find that revolutionary person and present him or her to the higher-ups. They'll decide what to do next. It's got nothing to do with us. Are we clear?"
"...."
"I said, ARE WE CLEAR?"
"Yes, sir!" everyone muttered out their reply quite unwillingly. "Dismissed!" is all that he said before leaving the meeting room but nobody followed him out despite receiving their tasks. Instead, they switched their attention to the only brunette present in the room.
"Can you give us the details of your previous case, Lieutenant? The one where today's victim was the true culprit? The culprit we're looking for could be the previous victim." Gabriella bluntly asked. Daniel was not surprised. It was bound to happen at one point or another. So he braced himself.
"Sorry. I was ordered not to. But I can vouch for that victim. This is not her doing."
"....Hmm, okay then. Clara, right? You come with me. We're going to the dumpster."
Well, that was easy. Daniel was expecting a little more pressure but was grateful anyway. Gabriella took Clara pace with her and left for the dumpster while Harvey Kent went with Jason Mallark to the Nightowl club. So Daniel was left alone with the young man beside him.
"Hey, are you close with Ms. Hawklin?"
Liam Anderson. Ash blond locks and green eyes that always smiles. He was still smiling while asking him that question. He wasn't much tall.
"I'm not. Today is our first day meeting."
"Oh! So she was the one who brought you in then?"
"Ah, yeah."
Hearing it, his childlike face lit up like a hundred bolt bulb. "Score! We can be considered half-brothers now!"
What Daniel felt now, the word surprise couldn't lit a candle to it. Yet he maintained his poker face and continued this meaningless conversation beacuse, again, he did not want to be on bad terms with anyone on his first day here.
"What makes you think that?"
"You see, I was the very first agent she brought in. And in my three years career, she brought no one here. Well, except for you of course. So I can finally trust someone."
Daniel got taken aback at the last sentence. He raised a brow in question which the younger male didn't notice. "I'm sorry, I still don't get your drift."
"What do you mean you don't get it?" Liam didn't look like he was playing with him. He genuinely meant what he said. "Ms. Hawklin told you nothing?"
Daniel took a brief moment to collect his thoughts. This guys is calling Jessica as Ms. Hawklin while everyone else called her by her title. Which means these two are definitely on a different term with each other. He says that Jessica was the one who brought him in. Brought in how? Did she just escort him in or did she also manipulate the process for him? He says he was the first one and he has been here for three years. He definitely knows something about Jessica's motive on bringing him here. So he should try winning this guy first.
"She did say a lot while driving. I just dunno which one you are referring to."
Liam looked at the brunette in the eye and said, "When I was recruited, Ms. Hawklin told me only one thing, and that is not to trust anyone inside the SPD. But you are an outsider just like me. Moreover, she is the one who brought you in. So she must trust you more than her sister, chief Hawklin. And I've decided to trust her judgement blindly."
Liam talked about that woman like a devotee of a Goddess. His eyes gleaming with pure devotion. Daniel couldn't believe his own eyes that such a person could actually exist who would blindly follow a woman like her. A woman who Don't give a damn about the chain of command, rules, regulations or even her own position. Hence, he couldn't help but ask that man, "Why follow her of all people?"
Liam gave him a look as if the brunette has gone senile. "Why not? She saved me! Did she not save you too?"
"Oh, yeah! yes, she did."
"Then what more reason do you need?"
"Mmm....maybe a little more?
" Are you saying you don't trust her?"
Daniel couldn't say it in his face that Jessica was the last person on earth he would ever trust. So he decided to tell a white lie instead. "I do trust her. But as a fellow half-brother, I just wanted to understand your reason a little better, that's all." he stated it as a matter of fact and the ash-blond seems to buy it.
"Well, there is another reason to it."
"Hm?"
The ash blond closed the gap between them and lowered his voice half a notch. "Wherever she goes, chaos follows! Basically, I'm just a sucker for chaos!"
The brunette didn't respond to his comment and maintained his poker face. He was bewildered, that's all. Liam again went back to his previous standing position and smiled a cute smile. "Lieutenant, shall we start our investigation then?"