Samantha and Oliver waved at Isabella when she opened her front door. She frowned when she noticed the tall blonde male behind Samantha. "Aw, why'd you bring HIM?"

"It's nice to see you too Isabella." Oliver snorted, knowing good and well that the two didn't exactly have the best relationship. They worked in different departments but crossed paths many times. Isabella was known for bringing crazy or preposterously exaggerated stories for his team to publish.

In all honesty, he thought Isabella was a horrible journalist and was surprised that she still even worked at the Newspaper company.

Isabella thought Oliver was an overbearing and annoying lazy arse who didn't want to work on the reports she handed in every other week for the deadline.

"He wants to see what we're up to, in exchange for publishing our report before Wednesday," Samantha admitted guiltily.

"Are you sure you want to know about this project, Olly?" She snickered but she was serious at the same time. "It's going to be pretty dangerous. Once you're in, you can't go back." Isabella had fully planned on going to take photos of Kaito's symbol.

She had gotten a tip from her officer friend of the general area where he'd make his next move. Thankfully, the location wasn't too far from her home.

"Sure why not? It's just going to prove how crazy you are. Your stories are always heavily exaggerated. This is why you can't get a report in the Newspaper. I don't understand why you can't just stick with what Mr. Giles tells you to do."

"You'll see! You will both see that I'm not crazy!" Isabella huffed. "Let's go! We have to go to the Shell Gas station that's a few minutes away. I think it's better to hide out in the plaza."

"What? I thought we were going to just take photos?"

"Kaito has to strike first before he writes the symbol. That's why we are sneaking to the plaza. We don't want to be the ones getting killed. He's ruthless, remember?" Isabella rolled her eyes and locked her house door behind her. Then she jogged over to her SUV and hopped in the driver's seat.

Oliver was completely confused by the entire situation, but he decided to go along with it. He felt happy that soon he was going to prove Isabella wrong.

And Samantha was fearing for her life, but adrenaline is what pushed her to get in the passengers' side of the car. The three were headed off to the gas station, and there was nothing she could do at this point. She was already too deep in.

~

Wilson noticed a burgundy SUV pull up on the other side of the empty parking lot, so he quickly turned off his headlights. Three people left the vehicle. One was a tall blonde man, and two short women, one looked Hispanic and the other black.

The Hispanic woman stopped in front of the other two and pointed in the opposite direction of where they were facing. Then she mumbled something to the both of them. The blonde man and the short Hispanic woman left in one direction, and the black woman left in the direction of where Kaito was headed. He pulled out his phone and texted Kaito as fast as he could.

On Kaito's end, he was still in the shop looking for clues. But he realized that the Chinese woman must've died when the bullet made an impact. Her arm and torso were still warm. So the shooting must've happened recently.

Kaito stepped over her body and went to the back door. He walked to the right side, only to see a mysterious figure dressed in all black using a spray can paint against the side of the building.

The figure wrote a large X before drawing a large O next to it. It was the mark Kaito usually left after eliminating a target. Kaito growled through his teeth and pulled out his pistol. He raised it high and pulled the trigger. The bullet landed right next to the figure's arm purposely, as Kaito was most likely sending a warning.

"Hey!" The mysterious person flinched when they heard Kaito call out. They looked like a man with a toned build. Kaito sauntered forward slowly. "Any reason why you're using my symbol? You're trying to frame me? Huh?" Kaito spat.

The man had a long-sleeved black shirt and pants with black combat boots on. He also wore a black mask and shades to cover his face. After Kaito studied him completely, he faced forward, and the man pulled out a pocket knife.

The two began fighting. Kaito ducked when the man swung the knife at him, and he slid his foot in between the man's legs. He whirled around and kicked the man, and he fell. The dagger was still in the man's hands, so he used it to his advantage.

He rolled over and cut into Kaito's leather jacket, missing his skin as he jumped back. Kaito looked at the ripped area of his clothing and smirked at the man. "Not bad. You're pretty good with using a knife, no one has been able to land a hit on me before. But you're not me." Kaito punched the man in his torso and elbowed him in his back.

The man fell forward and grunted loudly. Before he had the chance to stand back up, Kaito grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, kicked the knife out of his hands, and shoved him against the wall. "I'd love to teach you a thing or two. Like, how you should use a dagger instead of something used as a box cutter." He made fun of the pocket knife that was on the concrete next to his foot.

"It penetrates the skin more. But I don't think you'd use my advice that well once I'm through with you. Who the bloody heck are you? If you refuse to tell me, I'll throw you off a building. And don't worry, it'll be a short building. You'll live, but I don't think you'll be able to walk again."

The man raised his knee, nailing Kaito in the groin and he coughed before letting out a row of curses. Kaito released the man, but he didn't allow him to get that far away. He snarled in the man's face. "I tried giving you an option, but it seems like you want to aggravate me more, huh?"

The sound of a clicking sound and a flash of light stopped Kaito from interrogating the man who was trying to frame him. He whipped his head in the direction of the strange sound and noticed there was someone else hiding behind the large trash bin next to the station.

While distracted, the man pushed Kaito off of him and bolted in the opposite direction. Kaito let him. He was going to have to tell Haruka after he dealt with the no-good snooper that was taking photos of him.

He pushed himself off the ground. Someone else was watching the fight. He dared not say Wilson's name, in case it wasn't him. He crept over to the trash can, and he could hear panting and soft breathing.

Kaito grabbed his pistol and raised it at the bin. Then he pulled the trigger, and a loud girlish scream followed the sound of the gunshot. Kaito ran after whoever shuffled away from the bin, and caught them.

"No!" The person screamed. It was a woman. Kaito grabbed her by her torso and swung her around, and shoved her against the wall. Her cellphone dropped out of her hands and he went to reach for it.

The woman rammed her elbow into his torso, and he flew back. He blinked at the woman in surprise and held his mask up, so his identity wouldn't be revealed. Then he pushed himself off the ground and grabbed her by her arms. She was holding up a pretty good fight for her size.

She wasn't thin or weak-looking, but he had an advantage over her because of his height. The woman snagged one arm away and pulled on his mask.

It flew off his face and landed next to her feet, but before she could see who the culprit was, he spun her so she was facing the wall, and rammed her against it again. "Don't kill me!" She cried.

"I'm Samantha Johnson and I work for CW News Company! If you kill me, you'll be caught!" She hissed.

"You're a journalist?" Kaito smirked at her. "You're a stupid one." He laughed.

Samantha cursed under her breath. Why did she tell him her identity? For sure, she was a goner. He'd wipe her out of existence. Not even her distant relatives would be able to find her.

"I... I know who you are!" She panted.

"Do you?" Kaito laughed.

"K-Kaito! You're Kaito, the Assassin!" Kaito stopped laughing at her words. How was she able to recognize him? Did she know what he looked like under the mask? Was she a mole within the Yakuza? Technically, he was too, but anyone outside of Haruka's contact wasn't to be trusted.

"I'm right, aren't I?"

"What's a little lady like you doing out here at this time of night?"

"I didn't believe it at first, but the rumors are true.." She huffed. Samantha was starting to feel pain in her arms for being held against her will for this long. "You're actually here in Delsa. Do you also do work in Cartersville?"

"Who the heck told you about me?" Just exactly how much did this woman know? Did she work for Haruka?

"Could you please loosen your grip on my arm? It hurts." Samantha whined.

"I'm enjoying this position.." Kaito's eyes trailed down her body. He needed to get her DNA sample. She definitely needed to be properly identified by Haruka if she knew about him. "Aren't you?"

"You're not planning on raping me, are you?" Samantha swallowed a lump in her throat. It was her first time ever encountering a dangerous criminal on the loose. She knew he was ruthless, but she didn't know what exact type of danger she got herself into.

"No." Kaito chuckled in response. "But if you make one wrong move, I will snap your neck like a Hershey's chocolate bar." His tone deepened when she started to squirm. "Give me your phone."

"Why?" She grumbled.

"Don't make me get it myself. I saw you pick it up after snatching off my mask. Be obedient and give it to me." Kaito hissed in her ear.

"I'm not going to give it to you! I don't trust you!"

"Japanese women are a lot meeker than you are." He snapped at her. On one hand, he was getting annoyed at her resistance, but on the other hand, it was amusing him. Whenever he threatened a woman, she'd give in. But not this woman. It was the first time he encountered someone as defying as her. "You asked for it."

Without warning, Kaito placed his hands around her waist and felt around for the device she was hiding. Samantha gasped and screamed as loud as she could. "RAPE! RAPE! SOMEONE HELP ME—"

Kaito slapped his hand over her mouth and pressed the pistol to the back of her head. "If you open that mouth of yours again, it's going to be shut real quick. Don't play with me. Hand me your phone."

Samantha decided to drop her phone next to her feet. She wanted to live. Kaito released his hold on her and snatched her phone off the ground, and his mask. He placed the mask back his face on while still holding the gun to the back of Samantha's head.

"What's the code?" Kaito pressed the home button but a lock screen came up.

"1-2-3-4." Samantha took a deep breath.

"You're so stupid." Kaito laughed. "A baby can break into your phone." He input the code and pulled up the photo gallery. He fully planned on deleting all the photographs that she took. Some of them were good action shots, she was a good photographer.

Then there was one in particular that displayed the figure of his copycat. He sent the photo to Haruka's number and deleted the messages so she wouldn't find out about his identity. Then he deleted the photo she took of the XO symbol.

"Are you planning on killing me?" Samantha asked him. It was dark out but the light from the screen was able to show Kaito's eyes. She turned around and saw the gun, and decided to stay in place as he went through her phone.

"What do you think?" Kaito smirked at her. He wanted to know just how much information she had on him.

"I.." Samantha's breath got caught in her throat. "I won't tell anyone about what I saw—"

"Even if you did, no one will believe you." Kaito waved her phone in the air, teasing her. "I deleted all the photos."

Samantha reached out to him, gesturing for him to give her phone back. He just eyed her weirdly. "Can I have it back?"

"Not until I find out exactly who you are." Kaito placed a hand on his hip and raised the gun. Samantha bit her lip nervously and raised her hands high in defense.

"Please, just let me go. I already told you who I am, and who I work for."

"How do you know who I am?" Kaito spat.

"I just know, okay? I know you're a ruthless criminal on the run." Kaito raised a brow at her. She didn't know everything, which meant she wasn't working for Haruka. If she thought he escaped from prison, she was getting information from another source. "I should let you know that your time is limited. The cops in America are more persistent than in Japan. They'll come after you."

"You're cute." Kaito stepped forward which intimidated her. He reached up to her hair and she winced and pressed herself against the wall. Kaito plucked a strand off before putting it in his pocket. She wasn't going to give him any more information. A DNA sample of any kind would help him get any information he needed from her.

"You're bold for talking to an Assassin like that. But there's a lot of things you don't know about me." Kaito leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "I don't kill women, unless necessary. But in your case, you're just a dumb journalist barking up the wrong tree. So, it's your lucky day. You get to stay alive." He shoved her cell phone to her and backed away.

Then he turned on his heel and jogged in the opposite direction. Samantha placed her hand over her heart and slid down the brick wall slowly. She let out a deep breath and cried. "Oh my god.. oh my god.." She huffed.

Samantha decided to take control of her thoughts and push herself off the ground. Then she ran back towards the SUV, but in the process bumped into no one other than Isabella. Isabella and Oliver looked at Samantha with horrified expressions.

"Sam! What happened!? Where were you?"

"Did you get the picture I sent to you?" Samantha panted. Isabella looked at her phone and saw a large XO symbol written on the wall, along with two men fighting.

"What's this?" Isabella looked at her phone and then looked back to Samantha.

"Kaito was here," Samantha whined. "I was face-to-face with that killer! You were right!"

"We kinda already knew." Isabella frowned. "There's a dead body inside of the station, someone completely wrecked the place. But this photo," Isabella gulped and glanced at her phone. "This is going to be one heck of a story."