Prologue

"Police identified a man who was found dead in an old wooden small boat that was seen floating near the harbor Sunday morning and the suspect…remains at large," It was the news that immediately greeted Nic as soon as he turned on the engine of his car.

Nic Parker is probably among the few who still listen to the news on the radio while others prefer to watch or read it on social media or other online streaming platforms. Nic's reason was that he doesn't have time and patience to sit and watch or read the news.

But he needs to hear the news every day. It was something that he had gotten used to as he grew up. He needed to be well-informed about politics, business as well as crime intelligence every day. If he could do that while doing more important things, he would. And he just found out that listening to the news on the radio is a convenient way to do it.

"Jacobi Roone, 39, was found dead in an old wooden small boat in the harbor around 7:30 in the morning. According to Police Officer, Megan Li, he appeared to have been dead for three days now and was just probably floating in the water during those three days."

Nic's interest was piqued when he heard the reporter mention a familiar name. Police Officer Megan Li is his friend that was a year older than him. She was his twin sister's best friend and they all grew up together.

He knew that Megan…that's what they all called her, was always assigned to complicated cases that are almost impossible to solve. Either she was hand-picked by her chief or she volunteered. If there is anything that excites Megan the most, those are cases that to ordinary people would seem like a huge puzzle. Megan likes the challenge.

And if Megan was assigned to that case that the reporter mentioned that means, it was a complicated case. Nic wondered how complicated it is so he turned up the volume.

"Police Officer Megan Li quickly identified the victim as one of the most wanted serial rapists two years ago. Jacobi Roone's last victim was a year ago but since then, he was never arrested and never heard of again. He was never found until now." Nic chuckled and shook his head. A case that has a lot of missing puzzle pieces. That's Megan's expertise.

Nic drove out of the parking lot of the hospital that his family owned as he continued to listen to the news. But of course, no one knew that he was the son of the owner of the hospital. He prefers his identity to remain private. He barely visits the hospital which was still managed by his father. His younger brother who was still in college was expected to take over after their father retires.

Nic only came to the hospital as a visitor of a friend. One of his friends whom he also grew up with met with an accident after he tried a double backflip with his motorcycle. Luckily his friend didn't break a bone and only suffered bruises.

"Li said that Roone had been dead before he was placed in the boat. Roone was mangled almost beyond recognition and the cause of death was said to be severe blood loss secondary to castration. Li added that Roone must have been severely tortured for weeks or probably months before he died," Nic smirked.

He wondered if Megan would be able to solve this case. She would definitely be pissed to no end.

"As of now, the investigators have not yet identified the suspect and they have not yet found any leads. The residents of the neighborhood and the establishments that surround the harbor did not see any suspicious person that could be identified as the suspect. Even the security cameras and traffic cameras were not able to catch who put the man in the boat or the boat in the water,"

"Good luck with finding the suspect, Meg," Nic said to himself because if it is what he thought it is, it would be impossible for her to solve the case and if she ever finds the suspect, she would definitely be pissed because she cannot arrest him.

The news about the dead serial rapist ended and now it was a piece of entertainment news that was airing on the radio. Nic was never interested in entertainment news even though his aunt and some of his friends were in the entertainment industry. It was the least of his concern. So he turned down the radio in time to hear his phone ringing.

His phone was connected to the Bluetooth of his car so he just pressed the green button that was flashing on the screen on the dashboard.

"What's up?" Nic asked as soon as he answered the call.

"Have you heard the news?" Mason Mayers, one of his friends and probably the closest answered him with a question.

"Yeah," Nic didn't have to ask. He knew what Mason meant because the two of them have the same interest and have been looking into something these past few weeks. The case of Jacobi Roone was just one of the many cases that Nic and Mason were looking into. They were not in the position to investigate but it was just something that caught their interest.

"Do you think it is him?" Mason asked.

"Of course," Nic replied and noticed that he had reached his destination. He parked his car in front of a coffee shop. He visited his friend Cole early in the hospital and he hasn't got to eat anything for breakfast or drink coffee.

Though Cole's mother, Emily, offered him something, he refused because he was planning to have breakfast somewhere.

"Damn, he was always having all the fun to himself," Nic heard Mason groan then it was followed by shuffling sounds. Nic could only guess that he was just getting out of bed. And knowing his friend, he was not alone in his bed.

And Nic was right because he heard a faint voice of a woman. "Mmm…Babe. What time is it?" It was followed by Mason's annoyed tone. "The fuck! Why are you still here?"

"Babe, it's my apartment," The voice of the woman said.

"Shit!" Mason said.

Nic could only shake his head. That woman was definitely not Mason's girlfriend because Mason is not boyfriend material. He even swears that he will never have a girlfriend because to him they were just a nuisance. The woman was probably one of Mason's flings that are at his beck and call whenever he wanted to have sex. Or maybe, just a one-night stand.

"I'll call you back. You better talk to him!" Mason said before he hung up probably hastily getting dressed to escape before the woman in his bed started to have illusions that she is Mason's girlfriend.

Nic hangs up making a mental note to talk to someone before the end of the day. Or maybe after having breakfast since he doesn't have much to do for the day. Unless his father calls him. Nic was fresh out of college so his father was still taking it easy on him. Thanks to his mother who told his father that he should take a break for a while before he starts working for his father's private army company.

Aside from a hospital, his family also owns a private army company. While growing up, Nic had always aspired to take his father's position as the chairman of the company. He never had the least interest in medicine, even more so, in working at the hospital.

At first, he thought that his twin sister would be interested in taking over the hospitals because she wanted to be a doctor, a surgeon, in particular, following in the footsteps of their father who was also a surgeon. But it looks like his twin sister, Nora, has another plan in her mind.

In the end, it was his youngest brother, Elijah, who seemed interested in taking over the hospitals which surprised Nic because he thought that he only wanted to become a professional race car driver in the future.

Nic looked at the coffee shop in front of him and smiled. He was already later than the usual time that he comes for breakfast and coffee but he doesn't mind. It was not really the breakfast and the coffee that he came for anyways.

Nic stepped out of his car and locked it. He walked towards the coffee shop. He could see even from the outside that the coffee shop is packed with university students. He could only hope that his table was vacant.

He pushed open the door and he instantly heard the telltale sound of the hanging bell attached to the glass door that would alert the person behind the counter that a customer arrived.

Nic looked ahead with a cold expression on his face. He could feel the affectionate gaze of the university students that were mostly female but he ignored them. His gaze was fixed on the counter of the coffee shop and the young woman behind it.

When Nic reached the counter, the woman behind it raised her head to look at him. "Good morning. The usual?" She asked with a smile. She was simple with her hair in a braid. She wore eyeglasses but she was beautiful.

No one would probably think that she was the owner of the coffee shop because she wore faded jeans and a plain white t-shirt underneath her brown apron. Not to mention the fact that she was young to own an already established coffee shop. She was probably the same age as most of her customers who were university students.

Nic has a cold and aloof expression on his face but the woman in front of him seemed unfazed. Probably because she was already used to his demeanor since he was a regular for over a year now.

"Yes," Nic replied and then he walked towards his table that was fortunately and surprisingly, vacant.