"Someone seems to be smiling today. What's the matter?" Laura wiggled her brows teasingly as she welcomed Kate enthusiastically.
Kate noticed that while Laura and Cole had arrived before her, Bradley and Dominic were nowhere in sight. Just like the previous day, Kate didn't go to her table. Instead, she settled in the conference room.
The people in her department made her feel unwelcome. She was better off far away from them.
"It's just a wonderful day." Kate chirped, making Laura eye her suspiciously.
"Are you sure that is the only reason?" Laura wasn't convinced and she leaned forward on the table pushing away all the items before her towards Cole who grumbled something to himself.
"What more could it be?"
"I don't know. You enlighten me." Laura probed, not making it easy for Kate.
"How was your dinner, Kate?" Cole intervened when he saw that Laura was forcing the poor lady into a corner.
"It was absolutely fantastic." Kate was happy to have found a way out and she grasped the chance before it slipped past her fingers.
Even though she had lied to them regarding the dinner arrangement the previous day, this time, she wasn't bluffing. It was the truth. The dinner couldn't have gone any better. It was a time well spent with new and interesting people, especially Kincaid.
As soon as Kate thought of Kincaid, a smile blossomed on her face again and her cheeks heated up.
"Look, look. I wasn't being delusional. Something surely is different about her today." Laura pointed out before Kate could control herself. "Who is the lucky man?"
Her voice was loud enough for the two men entering the room to hear and Bradley paused walking. An unusual expression passed across his face. But it was only momentary. He was back to normal before anyone could detect the change in him and he took the chair beside Kate while Dominic sat beside him.
"What are we talking about today?" Dominic passed a smile at everyone in greeting while Bradley remained silent as usual.
"Work. We were discussing about work." Kate was quick to respond and glared at Laura, signaling to keep her lips shut.
Laura only smiled wickedly at her, her eyes clearly saying that this matter wasn't over and she'd get back to her later.
"Let's get back to work before Chief comes. Otherwise, we'll end up as minced meat which is not something I want to be." Dominic took the lead and stared at Laura to begin.
"I found quite a few interesting things today morning. Well, our lady here had a boyfriend who she broke up with recently. But the guy was obsessed with her and wasn't willing to let her go. He kept begging her, threatening her, even tormenting her to accept him back into her life."
"Did you find these chats on her phone?" Dominic questioned immediately as Hannah displayed the chats on the screen one by one.
"More or less. The chats were deleted. I had to retrieve them with no effort."
"How powerful is the guy we are talking about here?" Kate scrutinized the guy on the screen while she read the chat Laura had retrieved.
The man seemed familiar but she couldn't point out how she knew him. His blonde hair fell over his forehead and his eyes seemed forlorn and defeated. The man was handsome, she didn't deny it. But after the previous night, her aesthetics had increased and now, she felt him to be utterly bland.
The man seemed like a maniac. From the chats, she could sense his craziness and obsession for Hannah. But something in her said that he wasn't the killer. He wasn't the one who murdered Hannah.
"Fairly powerful. He is the leader of a gang. Have you heard about the gang Thunder Wolves?"
"Oh my!" Kate exclaimed and examined the man on the screen again. She never expected the innocent looking man to be the leader of Thunder Wolves, Kay. He looked completely different than what she remembered him to be.
'Why does he look nothing like himself?' Kate pondered as she continued to observe his picture.
Who didn't know the Thunder Wolves? The gang was notorious in the city for their illegal activities. From kidnapping to killing people as well as selling drugs, they were involved in all kinds of crimes. But oddly, the law was helpless and couldn't put them behind bars. There was no evidence to convict them and no one was willing to testify against them.
Someone was backing them, someone powerful. But no one knew who it was, rendering them helpless while the Thunder Wolves wreaked havoc in the city without a care in the world.
"It's a lovely morning and I see you guys are already at work." Chief James burst through the door, not failing to follow his habit like a routine and Kate prayed for the poor door. She wondered how long it would take before the man completely broke the door and they'd have to replace it.
"Ah, the Thunder Wolves. How is he related to this case?" He took the chair and inclined his body towards Laura, commanding her silently to speak.
"Chief, Kay was Hannah's boyfriend. She broke up some time ago and he wasn't willing to accept it. So, he kept threatening her."
"Is it a case of an obsessive ex killing the girl for leaving him? If I don't get you, I won't allow anyone else to have you as well."
Kate's lips twitched in ridicule. 'Chief, I never knew you were a movie maniac. Who knew?' She sighed and gave the man a look, rendering him speechless.
Although she didn't say a word, everyone had an inkling as to what she was trying to convey and they silently admired her courage while secretly giving her a thumbs up.
"Agent Reyes, don't think I don't know what you're thinking." Chief James narrowed his eyes as he folded his hands.
"What am I thinking, Chief?" Kate returned with an innocent look and the man was forced to surrender. She hadn't said a word and if he were to voice them out himself, he'd be accepting her accusations to some extent.
'What a smart lady!' He thought. Her wittiness was commendable. She had forced him to accept defeat without doing anything.
"You don't have to pretend before me. I can read all your faces well and guess what you're thinking. Anyway, what you think about me is not important. I've been called a lot of names. It's not a big deal."
"Okay, Chief." Kate didn't follow the regular script and apologized to him. Instead, she humbly accepted and agreed with him, once again rendering him bereft of speech.
"You're one wicked girl." Even though he was scolding her, his tone said otherwise. He was complimenting her instead and Kate beamed in return, forgetting all about being modest.
"Anything else we should be knowing, Agent Rodriguez?" Chief James finally returned his gaze to Laura.
"Yes, Chief. Senator Foster had called in. He couldn't reach you. So, he called us."
Chief James arched an eyebrow in wonder. "What does he want?"
"He wants to meet us. Apparently, he has something which he deems useful to our investigation."
"I see. Have you guys filled your stomachs?"
Everyone nodded.
"Good. Let's get going then. It's going to be a long, arduous day and we might be dealing with a lot of shit. Prepare yourself beforehand."