Ambulance sirens echoed louder as the vehicle parked near the crime scene. Paramedics jumped off the back doors and prepared a gurney and intravenous drip. One of them asked, "What happened here?"

Shun introduced himself and explained everything to the paramedic. "I think the victim lost a lot of blood. The news was reporting about this assault victim prior to me arriving here."

"I heard about this on the radio too. I need to take her vitals, if you don't mind."

"Can I at least go to the hospital with you? In case she wakes up or something?"

"That's fine. I'll let you know when we're leaving."

The raven-haired agent pressed his earpiece and asked, "Where did you two go? I'm going to the hospital with the victim and paramedics soon."

"Sorry man," Dan replied. "Runo and I got separated, and she's not answering me either."

"Never mind. Just call me instead." He followed the lead paramedic into the back of the ambulance and asked, "Is the victim responding?"

"I just started a saline drip. Added some epinephrine since her BP is low. Pupils aren't responding to light."

While the paramedics prepared additional equipment, Shun searched through the victim's belongings while occasionally glancing at her face. She only has the phone that called the emergency line with. There's no purse or bag on her. Was this just a robbery or something else? Everything else indicates that she could be Alice. She remembers my name too, but...

Upon arriving and parking at the hospital's designated ER driveway, the paramedics opened the back doors and lifted Alice off the vehicle. The lead paramedic explained everything to the triage nurse before telling Shun, "You need to stay in the lobby. They're moving the victim to the operating room soon to close the wound."

The raven-haired agent did as told and called his colleagues while in the lobby. "I'm with the victim in the hospital, but she's entering surgery soon. How are you two doing?"

"We lost the guy again," his best friend lamented. "At least I got a better look at him. Runo's relaying that information to DSP to put out a BOLO. Marucho said to come back to DSP as soon as you can."

"Fine."

One doctor exited the operating room and introduced himself to the agent. "You must be Agent Kazami. I'm Dr. Suhara, the attending physician for this patient's surgery. Thank you for keeping pressure on the wound until the paramedics arrived. After thorough evaluation, we concluded that the wound is extremely deep. Surgery could take at least twelve hours, based on experience. The patient will need to remain inpatient for a few days post-op. You may not be able to speak with her today or tomorrow."

"I see." Shun scribbled his contact information on a blank card and handed it to the doctor. "Please contact me as soon as she wakes up. Do you have an ID on her? I suspect the perpetrator may have stolen her purse."

"Not yet. We assigned her a medical record number for the time being. Thanks for the card. We'll keep in touch."

Back at DSP, Dan was the first to speak after every meeting attendee was accounted for. "I planted a tracker on the pink-haired suspect when I initially caught up to him and exchanged a few punches. Then he injured me with a knife and escaped shortly after."

"If you and the suspect had physical altercations, then is there any of his DNA on you?" Shun asked. "And if the knife that injured Dan might be the same knife that injured the redhead victim, is there any of her DNA found?"

Runo shook her head. "I personally swabbed Dan's wounds and even under his fingernails, too. There is one male DNA result, but no match in any of our databases. No trace of any female DNA, though. Also, the suspect has been moving everywhere since Dan planted the tracker. Not once has he stopped at one location for at least one minute. Plus, I ran his features through all our databases, and there's no one matching his physical description, either."

Marucho then changed the topic. "Shun, I'm interested to hear about the female stabbing victim."

"There's not much, actually. She only had her phone but no purse. If she did have one, then it's probably stolen. The attending physician said that surgery will take several hours to repair the deep stab wound. I gave him my contact information for follow-up."

"That's unfortunate. Get a statement from her as soon as she wakes up. Otherwise, this meeting is dismissed. I also regret to inform you that Gus Grav and Volt Luster will be handed over to a different agency that specializes in cybercrimes. That agency may or may not ask us for help. Just FYI."

As the lights came back on, the raven-haired agent asked his colleagues, "Do you two remember Alice Gehabich from high school? She was in the same class as us."

"Honestly, high school was a long time ago," Dan blurted. "Oh wait! She was in the yearbook and newspaper teams. She wrote most of the front-page articles."

"I had a few classes with Alice, but why do you ask, Shun?" questioned Runo in return.

"I think...that Alice might be the redhead victim in the hospital right now. But I can't confirm or dismiss anything without any form of identification. I can only wait until surgery is over."

"Maybe try searching her features just like I did with our suspect's features," the bluenette recommended. "Anyway, Dan and I still need to help Julie tag all the confiscated computer junk before transferring it all out with the two suspects. See you later, Shun."

After waving his colleagues goodbye, Shun stared at the company computer in the middle of the conference room. Is it necessary to look up the victim now? Why am I even so confused in the first place?

-x-x-x-x-x-

In a dark narrow alley, a young man pulled his pink strands of hair frantically while making a phone call. "You've got to help me. I need a place to hide."

After a long pause, the call recipient asked sternly, "Care to explain why?"

"I think I killed someone. If she's not dead, then she's at least in critical condition. Law enforcement is all over me about this!"

"Couldn't you have thought of other better methods for self-defense instead of stabbing someone?" After another long pause, the sound of keyboard typing echoed on the other end. "I'm sending you an address for a place to hide. Don't mess up this time."

-x-x-x-x-x-

The sunlight shining through the hospital windows woke up the redhead as she opened her eyes after an extremely long surgery. Standing around her were her medical care team and the three agents from DSP who were following her case. "Who are you?!"

While the nurses calmed the patient down, Dr. Suhara explained to the agents, "This is the first time she woke up after surgery. Maybe you'll have better luck talking to her after we finish taking her vital signs. My charge nurse will provide you the patient's belongings that we obtained during surgery."

Once the entire medical team left, the three agents each took a seat next to the patient. "How are you doing?" Runo asked. "This might be a weird question, but...are you Alice? Do you remember us from high school? I'm Runo, this is Dan, and that's Shun. We were all in the same graduating class."

The redhead stared at the three people in front of her and lifted her non-IV hand. "I was in the same English classes with Dan and Runo for all four years of high school. I'm not sure if I shared any classes with Shun."

"Actually, we were both in the yearbook team during senior year," the raven-haired agent corrected. "You were in the yearbook team for all four years, whereas I only participated during our final year."

"That's right..." Alice tugged on the hospital blanket for a few seconds before lunging toward to hug the bluenette. "This isn't how I planned to come back, but it's so glad to see you all again."

Shun pulled a chair next to the unoccupied side of the redhead's hospital bed and asked, "I know you just woke up, but can you answer a few questions about how you ended up in the hospital?"

"Oh." Alice noticed the change of tone in the raven-haired agent's voice and let go of Runo. "I don't know how long I've been asleep, but I checked out of my hotel room in the morning and was on my way to—" She suddenly looked at the nightstand, which only had her phone and clothes. "Where's my purse? That guy...he chased me, stabbed me, and robbed me! I didn't bring any luggage with me on my flight here. It's just me and my purse! What will I do without—"

"Alice. Relax." Runo squeezed the patient's hand and asked calmly, "Do you remember what your attacker looked like? Did you see his face and clothes?"

"He had pink hair. I think he wore dark green clothes. He waved his knife so many times before stabbing me, so I couldn't see his face."

"Sounds exactly like the guy that we're chasing," Dan confirmed. "Speaking of which, Marucho said that he got a hit on the BOLO. You coming?"

"Sure. Shun, are you—"

Instead, the raven-haired agent handed his pen and notepad to Alice. "Can you write down a description of your purse and the contents inside? Maybe your attacker stole your purse but tossed it somewhere. I want you to get back what's yours."

"Of course." The redhead nodded and wrote every detail down on a few pages. "Here. If you need to go somewhere, that's fine with me. I'm sure the nurses and doctors will want to monitor me longer."

"Sorry about that. See you soon." As Shun led the way out of Alice's hospital room, he mumbled, "I wish I had more time to talk to her."

"She still needs more time to recover," Runo insisted. "Alice literally just got here from somewhere and likely has no one to ask help from. She certainly didn't expect to be robbed and stabbed on the same day. It's a lot for her to process right now. Her thoughts and emotions are all over the place."

"Wait." The raven-haired agent scribbled something quickly on his notepad and ran back to Alice's hospital room. "Since you fortunately still have your phone, here's our contact information in case of emergencies."

"Very fortunate, indeed. Thank you, Shun."

Hearing the redhead call him by his name made him blank out briefly, before smiling slightly and returning to his colleagues outside. "Alice has our phone numbers now. Also, Marucho is calling us."

On the way back to their vehicles, the trio listened to Marucho recite his findings over their earpieces. "One of our other government divisions informed me that our pink-haired suspect is named Lync Volan. He's wanted for a long list of random crimes that I won't waste my time reciting. Thanks to Dan planting the tracker on Lync, we just found his latest location where he's remained stationary for at least twenty minutes now. I'm now sending you three coordinates of what looks like a commercial warehouse."

"Marucho, can you create a lost-and-found alert?" Shun requested. "Our stabbing victim is Alice Gehabich. You might remember her from high school. She said that her attacker, which matches Lync's description, stole her purse. She's still traumatized, but maybe getting her purse back will put her back at ease."

"No problem. Let me know what her purse looks like, and I'll relay that to the local police as well. Otherwise, go find Lync immediately."

"Thanks." After hanging up, Shun sent photos of Alice's notes to Marucho. Alice really doesn't have much on her. What's she doing with so little stuff? Does she need help?

-x-x-x-x-x-

Lync stared unnervingly at the mess inside the warehouse. All spaces were occupied by tables and chairs, both opened and sealed carboard boxes, dust, and miscellaneous items. "Rikimaru, what's that noise? Are you sure that the police won't find this place?"

The same person that answered Lync's distress call replied from behind some boxes, "My guys are just moving some merchandise. They'll be gone soon."

"What kind of merchandise?"

"Don't ask. You're not a part of—" Suddenly, car engine sounds echoed from outside, following by car doors opening and closing loudly. Rikimaru peeked out a window to inspect. Then he grabbed Lync by the collar and screamed, "There are police sirens outside! Were you being followed?!"

One of the doors got kicked down, followed by Dan screaming, "We're from DSP! Everybody hands up!"

Instinctively, everyone in the warehouse ran off. Runo entered next and scanned the area. "This place was clearly being used for more than just hiding. The tracker signal indicates that Lync is—"

Someone fired a gunshot in the agents' direction, and Shun entered shortly after that. "Not surprised that they would be armed." He led the way through the maze of cardboard boxes as his two colleagues followed. "Lync Volan, we know you're here somewhere!"

Car doors slammed shut from the outside as loud engine noises resonated before fading away. "Shun, everyone's escaping," Dan noted. "What do we do about—"

"Do you hear that?" The raven-haired agent shushed his best friend as he heard a door open. Shun took a longer route around the short stacks of boxes until he reached and climbed to the top of a taller stack. A ruby-haired male ran out of a storage closet and continued running, but he stopped quickly after Shun took a shot at the ground. "I dare you to keep running. Dan, Runo—knock those boxes over!"

The bluenette ran up first and pushed several boxes over, leading them to fall in domino fashion. Then she called headquarters. "Julie, I need you to put out BOLOs on several vehicles that just drove away from this warehouse location. We didn't get a chance to check their plates."

"No problem! Just let the eyes in the sky do their job."

Back in the warehouse, the brunet then took a longer route as well and encountered the fallen runaway from the other side. "At least we arrested one person." Dan checked his tracker app on his phone and noticed that his target wasn't moving. "You're not Lync. But why isn't the tracker moving?"

Runo checked the entire area, only to hear more cars leaving the warehouse parking zones. "We're too late. The entire building is clear, and everyone—"

"Did you just step on something?" Shun asked as he climbed down the stack of boxes.

The bluenette stepped back and saw a familiar item on the ground. "Dan, isn't this your tracker?"

The brunet switched places with Runo and gasped at the sight on the ground. Then he faced the suspect and screamed, "What's your relationship to Lync? Did you help him escape!"

Rikimaru remained silent and looked away.

Shun arrived while holding a plastic sandwich bag containing some white powder. "How about explaining what your crew was doing here with this substance in every corner of this building?"

Again, Rikimaru remained silent.

Julie then called her three colleagues. "Local police was able to take down some of the vehicles that escaped from the warehouse, even though bullets were exchanged. I can't wait to sort through all the contraband with the evidence team."

"Can I get another BOLO on Lync Volan?" Dan requested impatiently. "He ran off—again! Even dumped my tracker on the ground."

Suddenly, Rikimaru exclaimed, "I found the tracker on him and ripped it off before sending him off. You'll never find him!"

"We still arrested you."

"Julie, I also think this warehouse was being used for other organized crime as well," Shun added. "I found a bag of white powder and already have several guesses as to what it could be. It might be the same 'contraband' found in the escaping vehicles."

"Yikes... I'll inform the police to investigate the warehouse for evidence. Sorry to hear that you only arrested one person. Bring him back ASAP."

"I think I hear police sirens already." The raven-haired agent led the way outside again while Runo and Dan kept their hands and eyes on Rikimaru. He was about to introduce himself to a police officer when he stopped walking and point down. "Hold on. Do you feel the ground—"

An explosion originated from the middle of the warehouse. Although it wasn't strong enough to send everyone flying, it did make everyone's ears ring uncomfortably for a couple minutes. "So much for collecting evidence..." sighed Runo.

Shun watched the burning debris fly out of the warehouse before pointing his finger sternly at Rikimaru. "Lync started this, but you're not off the hook, either."

-x-x-x-x-x-

After every law enforcement agency finished collecting evidence from and cleaning up the exploded warehouse, the three DSP agents returned to headquarters to attend another meeting, led by Marucho. "Once again, Lync Volan escaped, but we arrested multiple suspects and confiscated large amounts of unknown substances. Crossfire was exchanged, leading to several casualties. The bomb squad and ballistics team are almost done analyzing their evidence. So far, the suspects either aren't talking or know nothing."

He continued talking despite his phone ringing, and Dan couldn't resist the urge to interrupt anymore. "Marucho, someone is calling you! We can't hear your voice!"

The blond director paused and answered his phone. "Thank you for holding. How may I help you? Yes, this is Marucho... No, I'm still debriefing my team... How come nobody told me?! I'll follow up with this immediately." Marucho hung up and cleared his throat. "One of the victims in the hospital is an undercover officer."

"From us? Or a different agency?" Shun asked.

"Apparently, Bayview and Wardington's local police departments are working together to take down a narcotics ring. We've been following too, but there's been no activity for over three months. I certainly wasn't expecting one case to lead to another. Shun, Dan—go interview Rikimaru now. Runo, please help Julie with tag all the evidence and confiscated items."

The male agents gathered all their notes and equipment before proceeding to Rikimaru's interrogation room. "I'm not saying anything because you don't have any evidence against me. We all saw the warehouse explode."

On his tablet, Shun pulled up crime scene photos and the bomb squad's preliminary evidence. "I wondered why you risked entering that storage closet before leaving. You would've escaped us if you didn't do that. According to the bomb squad, the explosion originated from that storage closet. While we couldn't get much evidence from the warehouse itself, we did find a fingerprint on one of the bomb pieces." He slowly pushed the tablet toward the ruby-haired suspect to see. "I wonder if it's yours."

"Your attempt to destroy evidence...still left behind incriminating evidence," his colleague sighed.

Rikimaru continued to remain silent, while the two agents in front of him used their mobile devices to kill time. "Alright, I admit! I set the bomb off. I never should've agreed to give Lync a place to hide in the first place."

"Sorry not sorry, but you didn't expect me to plant a tracker on him," the brunet argued. "Where is Lync Volan?!"

"I don't know! He comes and goes whenever he wants. He's not affiliated with or loyal to anyone in particular. He randomly called me one day asking for a place to hide because he thinks he murdered—or at least heavily injured—a girl in 'self-defense'. He's a fair-weathered friend, at best."

"Did he mention anything else about the girl that he almost killed?"

"No! Lync is the weirdest person you'll ever meet. I'm pretty sure that almost all the people he's crossed pathed with have been arrested or brought down, yet he somehow escapes. He's not my business anymore, now that he escaped."

Shun finished typing his notes on Rikimaru and Lync before changing the topic. "The lab identified multiple different compounds from all the contraband in the vehicles that your colleagues drove off in, some of which aren't even narcotics. What's up with that?"

"You're right. Not everything is narcotic or necessarily high-value, but we make all that in our makeshift lab because we get high returns."

"Who's funding this?"

"What do I get out of this?"

The agents exchanged glances before Dan made an offer. "We could hand you off to another agency that's above us so they can interrogate you. This 'narcotics ring' is on everyone's radar. No guarantees what they might do to you."

"Don't forget that setting off a bomb is a completely separate felony from synthesizing all the substances that we confiscated," Shun added.

"Okay fine! I'll give you a name if you give me pen and paper."

The brunet slid his pen and notepad across the table. Rikimaru scribbled sloppily due to handcuffs. The agent took his stationery back and read the handwriting. "What does BM Pharmaceuticals have to do with this?"

"They just pay my crew for favors in return with no questions asked. I heard that their CEO, Barodius Meunier, was charged with embezzlement and is awaiting trial somewhere."

Shun turned off his tablet and stood. "I appreciate all the new information about BM Pharmaceuticals, but telling me that won't get you a deal, if that's what you're expecting. This isn't over until we find Lync Volan." He left the interrogation with Dan following suit. The raven-haired agent then told the guard, "The suspect confessed to setting off the bomb in the warehouse. He'll need to be processed shortly."

"Noted, thanks."

Meanwhile, the brunet pulled up all law enforcement agencies' information about BM Pharmaceuticals on his tablet. "Rikimaru wasn't lying about Barodius Meunier. The trial will be in Wardington. It's a hot topic over there."

"Not surprised, based on what Marucho told us. But isn't there an injured undercover agent in the hospital too? It's not the safest place to be."

"Marucho's still following up about, so we can't talk to—"

"Hi guys!" Runo appeared in the hallway and approached Shun first. "Guess what? Local police found Alice's purse and returned it to her already."

"Oh...that was fast."

"You seem disappointed."

Shun blinked as his two friends stared at him in confusion. "Sorry, I'm just tried. Today was just a mess. Alice getting her purse back is definitely good news. Dan and I need to report our interrogation notes to Marucho. How did it go with you and Julie? Thanks for the fast lab results, by the way."

"Of course! That's all the Julie needed my help with while she went to check out ballistics and bomb squad. How was the interrogation?"

Suddenly, the raven-agent received a text message, which prompted Dan to answer, "Eh...I'll explain."

The incoming text came from Alice. "Hello Shun! This is Alice. I got my purse back. Thank you so much."

"No problem. Anything else I can help you with?"

After a long delay, the redhead replied, "I'd like to ask you for a favor on my discharge date. I can go home in three days. See you then."

Shun wanted to reply, but Alice's last sentence made it sound like she wanted to end the conversation there. What kind of favor does she need? And why can't she tell me until the date of her discharge? Regardless, he marked down in his phone calendar that the redhead's discharge will be in three days.