"Samantha," Mr. Giles stood behind her while she was placing some binders on a tall shelf. Samantha shrieked and jumped. All the binders and folders in her arms fell onto the carpet and scattered. She scolded herself internally, cursing her clumsiness.

Mr. Giles helped her pick half of the folders up and handed them to her. "How is the report going? Have you helped Isabella write out a story that covers the new Shelter for the Homeless people?"

"Uhh.." Samantha felt her tongue go dry. She cleared her throat before replying. "Y-yeah! Everything is going well. We are in the process of editing it and handing it to the publishing team. The deadline is the day after tomorrow right?"

Mr. Giles observed her behavior for a moment before shrugging it off. "It's good to see that you're working hard. Keep it up! You just may get that promotion after all!" He tapped her shoulder with a small smile and left her standing there.

Her anxiety almost burst through the roof, that's how high it was. She was lying to her boss, and it was making her uneasy.

"I don't remember you ever handing me or anyone in the publishing team a document that contains a story." She heard another voice whisper in her ear. She squealed and dropped all the binders again. She turned in the direction of the familiar voice and groaned. It was Oliver.

"I'm going to get fired." Samantha slugged her shoulders forward and snatched some of the folders off the floor.

"So the report about the shelter..?" Oliver smirked at her.

"It's a lie." Samantha puffed. "Isabella is making me work on this crazy project that could help our company get publicity. We'll be the first to report about it, but Mr. Giles wants to disregard it. So I'm kinda hoping I can edit the story she writes and we just hand it to publishing so he won't find out."

"I didn't think you were that type of person, Sam."

"I'm not!" She punched Oliver in the shoulder. "I'm just doing what I need to before the deadline. Giles wants a story, so we'll be giving him one." Samantha felt like she had no other choice. She already agreed to the crazy condition of working with Isabella on her whole crime report. It was a high risk she was taking, but she hoped the reward wouldn't be minimum.

"You know the publishing team has to review the story before sending it through, right?" Oliver snorted, and Samantha's mouth almost dropped to the ground.

"You're kidding."

"Wish I was, but I'm not. Sorry." He shrugged.

"Cant you help us out, Oliver? We're from different departments but we're all friends, right? You've helped me, and I've helped you—"

"You didn't help me—"

"Just consider it? If you help out, I'll give you anything that's within a reasonable price." Samantha frowned at him and brushed off his shoulders gently.

"Anything?" Oliver raised his blonde eyebrows at her in query.

"Anything reasonable, yes. I promise." Samantha held out her pinky finger like a child.

Oliver rolled his eyes and wrapped his pinky around hers. "I can help you out if you let me see what kind of project you're working on."

"Deal." Samantha pressed her lips together.

"Go ahead and finish putting these away. Let's meet up later." Oliver gestured to all the binders and folders scattered around.

"I'll text you Isabella's address. We will be meeting there tonight. It's right around the corner from here."

~

Kaito waited outside behind the cafe for Wilson to arrive. He was tapping his foot impatiently on the gravel. Nina was out shopping for coffee ingredients, so the cafe was closed. He wanted to try and find Asuka tonight and catch him to bring to Haruka. He could care less about following the instructions he was given. He wanted to prove Haruka wrong.

In order to catch a criminal, you had to think and work like one. Investigative skills and common sense weren't enough. Street-smart was a major key that Kaito specialized in using.

A grey sedan pulled into the parking lot and swerved around the building. It stopped in front of Kaito and the driver's door opened. Wilson, a blonde man with slightly graying hair and blue eyes stepped out with a wide smirk plastered on his face.

He took off his sunglasses and chucked them at Kaito. Kaito caught them and looked them over angrily. These were Kaito's, an expensive brand he bought back in Japan.

"Missed me?" Wilson held his arms out for a hug.

Kaito tossed a heavy laptop bag at him and shoved his face out of the way. Wilson wheezed at the heavyweight being tossed to him. "Not at all, you piece of trash. What took you so long?" Kaito glanced at the time on his phone. Wilson was late, which Kaito hated.

"I stopped to see the sights, and smell the flowers." Wilson hummed. "You should take your time once in a while, take it all in."

"Don't make me throw you off a building, Wilson." Kaito flipped him the bird. Wilson joked around too much, especially when the time was inappropriate."Where did you get the ride?"

"I bought it."

"How much was it?"

"Okay, I didn't buy it." Wilson chortled. "It's a rental. I used your card since I currently have a hit on me. I can't afford my information on my whereabouts getting leaked."

"I'll deal with the Hiroto family when I can. And once I do, you can pay me back." Kaito sneered. "Follow me." He motioned with his hand and opened the bag door of the cafe. "I need your help with something."

"You want to ask for my help in this dump—"

Kaito jogged over to the counter and pressed the button to reveal the hidden room, and Wilson shut his mouth when he saw the wall open and shift forward. On the shelves inside were weapons. Guns, knives, and other cool gadgets that even criminals had a hard time getting their hands on.

"Where did you get— how did you— are you working on another job? You're trying to execute another member of the Yakuza?"

"Place the laptop here and do whatever you do on the keyboard to find people." Kaito ignored all of Wilson's questions and shoved him inside. He closed the door behind both of them so the room would be covered. "You remember Asuka, right?"

"Watanabe?" Wilson frowned. "The dipstick who tried forcing you to kill all those kids?"

"Correct."

"Why are you looking for him?" Wilson was confused. Kaito spent several years trying to get away from that mad man.

"My brother is missing, and I have some intel that Asuka is behind it. I need you to help me find him. I've been hearing that he's here in America, somewhere between Cartersville and Delsa Valley." Kaito circled the map on the wall with his fingers. "I need to find the dastard and get him to talk."

"Why would Asuka go after your brother? He should be after you. Most Yakuza families' know not to go after your relatives." Wilson scratched the side of his face and placed the laptop on the desk. He opened it and began typing rapidly.

Kaito was a hitman, well known in the world of the Yakuza. Hardly anyone double-crossed him or rubbed him the wrong way. Everyone knew he was skilled in making people disappear. There were a few families who made their occasional slip-ups, but for the most part, most Yakuza families respected Kaito.

"You said that Asuka was last seen in these two areas?"

"Mhmm.." Kaito folded his arms together and leaned against the wall. Wilson was a skilled hacker. He was a literal doctor in the daytime, often going to certain Yakuza families' homes to serve a client or two. But by night, he was an exceptional computer whiz. Kaito knew that if Haruka couldn't find Asuka, Wilson could.

This is why Kaito thought it was better to rely on someone who isn't a cop or detective or someone who works for the government. Only a real criminal can track down even the toughest organized crime members.

"It looks like his last known location was here. There's CCTV footage of him." It took quite a lot of time, but Wilson was sure he found the right person.

"Let me see." Kaito pushed himself off the wall and hovered over Wilson's shoulder. There he was. It was a video of a man with short messy black hair and a mask over his face. Anyone else would've thought of him as just some regular Asian guy roaming the streets. But Kaito was able to recognize him by the bag he carried.

No one else but the Yakuza knew what the symbol on the bag meant. It was a graphic of a serpent biting a turtle's neck. "Great work, Willie." Kaito nudged Wilson's head playfully, earning an intense glare in return.

"Wilson." Wilson corrected him.

"Any reason why he's been frequenting this shop?" Kaito noticed there were several videos of the same man walking into a small convenience store in a gas station pop up on Wilson's computer screen.

"Maybe a lover." Wilson shrugged. "It looks like the owner of the shop is a Chinese woman."

"Now, why would Asuka get down and dirty with a Chinese woman?" He scoffed. Asuka was very notorious for discriminating against other Asians. He only hung around Japanese people and women, and only did business with richer Japanese people.

"Not sure. If anything, she could've been trafficked here, sold, and forced to work in America for him." Wilson didn't like the sound of his own words. He may have been a criminal, but he hated prostitution and human trafficking. If you can go to this shop and speak with her, I'm sure you can find the man you're looking for."

Kaito nodded his head and looked at the clock on the wall. It was starting to get late. He hadn't even realized that Wilson had been searching for so long. Kaito snatched a pistol off the shelf and shoved it in his back pocket. He grabbed a black leather jacket and put it on.

"Take me there," Kaito commanded. Wilson didn't even think twice. He immediately stood up and gathered a few weapons as well before following Kaito out of the hidden room.

~

"You're not going to kill her? Are you?" Wilson pulled into an empty parking lot across the street from the gas station. It was surrounded by a plaza with other shops as well. Although everything was closed, he still wanted to be careful.

Kaito's arrest last time did not make him feel easy. The fact that a powerful man like himself was able to be taken into custody so easily made him anxious. Kaito wasn't focused on that. He already told Haruka that he knew someone that probably could tell him where Asuka was, but instead of waiting, he decided to go on his own mission.

"Of course not. I'm just going to threaten her. If she's aware of who the Yakuza are, she will recognize me." Kaito mumbled. "I don't speak Mandarin though."

"If she knows who the Yakuza are, she'll speak Japanese. Asuka doesn't speak English well. I've heard he always carries a translator." Wilson snorted.

"Don't underestimate Asuka." Kaito mumbled. "He knows more than we give him credit for." Kaito pulled off his seatbelt and opened the car door. He made sure Haruka was on speed dial on his phone. "I'll be back. Don't worry about me."

"I won't!" Wilson shot back.

"Sure thing, crybaby." Kaito laughed. He knew Wilson was worried. He was always worried. He just often pretended that he was fine. Kaito seemed to be the only person who could tell when he was nervous.

He slammed the door behind him closed and jogged across the street. Thankfully, it wasn't busy tonight. He was going to go in and talk a bit before getting the information he needed. When he walked inside, the scene in the store horrified him.

The shelves were all knocked aside and all the items were scattered all over the place. There were bullet holes in the glass freezer doors. Kaito stepped over some of the things on the ground and walked over to the front counter. What lay out of sight behind the counter was extremely gruesome.

The Chinese woman he had just seen on CCTV video earlier was lying on the ground covered in blood. Kaito walked over to her and placed two fingers over her nose.

She was dead.