BREAKING NEWS: Gunshots kill Senator Jesse Glenn at his fundraising dinner following a leaked audio recording that went public.

Marucho lost track of how many times he and Julie had to present a death report, but he proceeded anyway during the team's current recap meeting. "This will come as a surprise, because Jesse Glenn's cause of death was a single gunshot wound that severed his aorta, leading to exsanguination and death within a few minutes. There was nothing fancy or special about the gun or bullet used, but the sniper shot from a 30-degree angle through the broken window, which is almost parallel to the glass windows."

Julie replaced the ballistics report with her own findings. "Apparently, this guy has been trading all kinds of firearms and explosives with several criminals on our watch lists for years, even before he became senator. Most of the transactions featured several third parties in between, but I eventually connected the dots once I had a list of players involved.

"Did you say 'years'?!" Dan asked with wide eyes. "How come we're finding out about this just now? I voted for him a while back!"

Runo shrugged and held her hands out. "I knew both these two candidates were up to no good when I saw the smear ads on television. Hydron's involvement in child labor and fake goods now seems mild compared to what Jesse was doing. That's a lot of explosives purchased, though. Was he planning on using any of that himself?"

"And is ATF aware of this yet?" Shun added.

"Marucho already talked to ATF before this meeting started. That's where we got all this information from. I ran an estimate of how much explosive material he might have on hand based on these messy transactions, and he has at least enough C-4 to take down the entire 25-story Bayview Hotel. Now he's dead, so we can't interrogate him. Meanwhile, I'm still analyzing the mysterious recordings from dinner night. Everyone recognized Jesse's voice, but I'm still running the other speaker's voice through several databases. As for the self-proclaimed vigilante leader's voice, I have my entire lab working to unscramble that distorted mess. I still get goosebumps every time I replay it."

"May I get a copy of your findings?"

"Of course! Help yourself to anything, Shun."

After he saved a copy onto his work laptop, he began cleaning his desk while telling the others he was leaving. "Sorry if I didn't let you know earlier, but Marucho approved my half-day work request, so I have to sign off now."

Dan and Runo, who were attending the recap meeting on a laptop from the call center offices, began whispering to each other. "Something's definitely going on with Shun," the brunet suspected.

"I feel it too... definitely has something to do with him acting weird at the fundraising dinner before Jesse got shot."

In the employee parking lot, Shun warmed up his motorcycle and entered some coordinates in his phone's GPS, which led him to a bridge in the secluded forest that he took Alice to a few weeks ago. Standing in the middle of the bridge was the redhead herself, who then turned to face him after hearing his footsteps. "Interesting choice of location to meet at, Alice."

"And I was afraid that you wouldn't come, Shun."

"Why wouldn't I? But the real problem is... I'm starting to not know you anymore."

"Like I said at the fundraising dinner—you never knew me to begin with."

"Alice, please tell me what you're involved with. Wasn't everything going fine? You have a roof to stay under, a well-paying job, and friends like us to make sure you stay safe after that stabbing incident. If there's something else going on, then at least let us know before things get out of control."

The reporter kept one hand on the bridge railing and softly asked, "Why did you choose to work for DSP again?"

"Well... I already told you about my college major and Marucho's involvement. But before that... do you still remember where my mom used to work before she died?"

"I remember. She worked for the justice department and was your role model. You wanted to follow in her footsteps but also wanted something more impactful than office work or plain police work. I hadn't heard about DSP until I came back, but I'm glad you found something that meets your expectations."

"Your turn, Alice. Your parents passed away before you even attended school. For all that I know, your grandfather worked for an internet service provider company. Going to places to install internet cables is part of the job, but out of all places, he went to Bayview Broadcasting Station once."

"Actually, I didn't choose to do investigative journalism. My studies adviser and other classmates introduced it to me. I didn't think I would enjoy it at first, but the joy of finishing each article and assignment kept me going. Despite the dangers, I never backed out on any case that I took on. Only recently did I learn that Grandfather was involved part-time with investigative journalism here in Bayview. I know you won't believe me, but Lync murdered him in an attempt to lure me back for someone else's revenge plan. This whole time, I wanted you guys to properly arrest and charge Lync for stabbing me, but apparently I wasn't a random target after all."

The raven-haired agent took a deep breath after hearing Alice's backstory. "I know you're still traumatized from that stabbing incident. I want to find Lync too, but the reality is that he knows how to stay hidden. He'll only cooperate with someone if he gets some benefit out of it and only go on offense when absolutely necessary... which only seems to be the case with you and your grandfather. The number of people he ever had connections to is unbelievable. But Alice... please let me do my job. This vigilante group can't just go out and kill people. Everything has to go through the justice system."

"Shun, I never said you're not doing your job, but I'm not an average citizen who watches the news daily and hope that law enforcement officials will handle everything."

"So what's your plan now? You told me a lot of new information in the past few minutes."

"I'm going to find Lync on my own, clean everything up, and leave Bayview forever."

"What about Joe? Mira? Or your mint-haired coworker? Something is definitely going on at BBS. Will they let you go that easily?"

"I'm sure you already know who those people really are, but they won't have anything on me once my work is done. If the day ever comes where DSP finds me at a new crime scene, then will you take me into custody?"

Shun took a moment to contemplate his answer. "Depends on what you're doing. If you end up killing someone for any reason, then I'll pretend it was for self-defense. Now my next question is... how did we end up like this?"

"Maybe we didn't take this whole situation seriously enough, because we each had too many different problems to—"

"Alice..." Coincidentally, the DSP agent's interruption was paired with the clear sky suddenly turning cloudy. "Your safety will always be one of my top priorities, no matter where you stand."

After that came light rain sprinkles from the sky. "After all the sensitive information that I just told you, why do you still care about my well-being?! What am I to you?!"

"As ironic as it sounds, you're one of few people that doesn't remind me of work."

"But every time we're together, it's usually because you're working on a case... aside from that day that you showed me around Bayview."

"Exactly. Ever since meeting you in high school, I've always thought about how we have a lot more in common than we realize. I really didn't want you to leave Bayview for college, but what could I say? I respected your decision and hoped that you would come back someday since your grandfather still lived here. I still have the suncatcher you gave me from your sculpture elective class. It was hanging at home near a window until it fell and broke slightly... just before I left for assignment to discover that Lync stabbed you. That was absolutely not how I wanted you to come back."

"I know... At this point, all I can say is that we'll always want things that we can't logically have, especially the lost time where we could've been together longer."

"Alice, wait!"

"Shun, do not follow me!" the redhead screamed as she pointed to the sky, which was now fully gray. "It's starting to rain. You came here by motorcycle. If you want to drive home safely, then now's the best time to leave."

"I can always wait until the rain is over."

"You can wait, but the rest of the world cannot. I'll see you next time."

The raven-haired agent simply watched Alice run off in the opposite direction. I had the opportunity to go after her, but I didn't. Is it really too late to reunite?

-x-x-x-x-x-

On the roof of an unspecified building, Lync Volan made an outgoing phone call and paced around until the recipient picked up. "Sid Arkale, is that you?" he asked.

"Who's asking?"

"This is Lync, remember me? And you were one of the few exceptions that Jesse Glenn chose to contact directly instead of going through me as the middleman."

"Oh, that Lync...you're the punkhead with pink hair, right?"

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, Jesse's dead. I have no idea what he was planning with you because he no longer needed me, but if you want to get anything done, then you'd better work with me."

"Let me think about it. Do you have the guts to demolish the tallest building in Bayview's financial district?"

"Why on earth would Jesse want to blow that place up?"

"Some of his political enemies work there. Anyway, how are you still alive after so many recent shootings?"

"Because I never put myself on the front lines and know when to bounce, that's why. And as much as I would like to help you guys get everything done, I have my own things to do too."

"Oh... so you think you're too good for us? Or are you just still trying to kill that girl from the news?"

"I'm still working on it. She's improved at hiding and keeping herself protected. Anyway, I need to run an errand right now. Let me know when and where you want me to meet up with you to discuss." After hanging up, Lync descended the stairs all the way to the first floor and blended with the rest of the people on the streets.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"To this day, he still thinks he's the expert at hiding..." Mira chimed as she flipped through photos of Lync and Sid meeting in front of a warehouse. "So no additional photos of them inside the warehouse?"

Ace shook his head. "I only took a few pictures through the ventilation fan because it was too difficult. There weren't any unblocked windows, either. Based on what I heard, they definitely hid the C-4 explosives here."

Joe grabbed the remote to raise the office television volume. "After DSP arrested Shadow and Mylene at the same storage unit center where Alice's grandfather rented a space, I can see why Sid moved everything else over to the warehouse location in these—oh, speaking of Alice."

The redhead entered the office suite and solemnly asked, "Did you find Lync?"

The editor-in-chief explained everything on behalf of her other employees. "Among all the cases that I've ever worked on, this is by far the most dangerous because of all the explosives. One wrong move could set the entire place on fire prematurely with no way out. Once we find out who else will be present to move the C-4 out of the warehouse, then we'll take everyone out at once. Based on what Ace just said, setting up a sniper shot will be difficult, since he couldn't even get close enough to take indoor photos of the warehouse. We might need to trespass into the warehouse to create a distraction first."

"Mira, there's one thing that I just don't understand. Knowing what type of person Lync is, why don't you take him out now when you have the resources to?"

"Look at you... thinking like us now. I know you have a personal vendetta against him, but I still need Lync alive to lure all his other associates out. Taking him out too early might make us lose access to his network. However, I agree that we need to settle this score with him once and for all at this warehouse full of explosives."

"So what am I doing this time? Last time, you had me follow Jesse and ask leading questions to make him talk."

"This time, I need you to lay wax paper all over the floor to make the building flammable. Ace will be my sniper again. Joe and I will confront Lync, Sid, and everyone else."

"I thought you said that this case will be dangerous because you don't want to ignite the C-4 by accident, so why do you still want to ignite it? And Ace will still deliver the kill shot? That's a lot of work."

"The plan is to distract them, execute them, then set the place on fire from afar to destroy trace of them. Explosives are dangerous. I'd rather destroy it at the warehouse than have someone else steal it and use it for other means. Any objections?"

Alice shook her head.

"Great! Ace will keep us posted with his photos. Joe will keep following the business activities at Bayview's financial district, since that's Lync and Sid's upcoming target. You can all go back to work now."

With that said, Alice was the only person to leave the building since her shift ended already. At home, she checked out every single room and placed her most important items on the kitchen table to pack later. I never wanted to be a part of this to begin with. Once Lync is gone for good, so will I. This vicious cycle needs to end now.

-x-x-x-x-x-

During another DSP meeting, Marucho displayed his findings on the conference screen and explained. "I expected to find question large sums or donations when looking further into Jesse's finances, but he kept his political expenses separate from illegal firearms trade profits. By absolutely no coincidence as well, we also found Lync Volan with someone named Sid Arkale entering this warehouse near the western harbors."

Alice mentioned Sid's name when she called me after we found Jesse's dead body. "I won't comment on how infinitely many warehouses there are in Bayview, but what's our next move?" Shun asked.

"Both the explosives and unregistered forearms are a threat to public safety. I have more meetings with ATF and Bayview police after my lunch to discuss how to approach them. For sure, I'm assigning the three of you plus additional agents to arrest everyone involved."

Runo asked, "I know the plan is to arrest the suspects and confiscate all dangerous materials, but we know any destinations the explosives and firearms would be sent to? What building did Jesse want to blow up with all that C-4?"

"I might have an answer!" Julie squealed. "Let me update you on the voice recordings first. For the conversation recording, Jesse Glenn was talking to the infamous Lync Volan. As for the vigilante's voice, I ended up with multiple results. The original audio consisted of words spoken by several different people, most of which I matched to real life people based on archived television footage. The top five voice profile matches are Ace Grit, Joe Brown, Mira Fermin, Barodius Meunier, and Katie Lowery. I can't make this stuff up, and the fact that anyone can copy your voice based on old footage is creepy. Based on—"

"Julie, hold on a second!" the raven-haired agent exclaimed. I need to calm down. The first three in the top five voice matches happen to be associated with BBS where Alice works. Since they took and unlocked Jesse's phone, they must know more about what he's doing than DSP does. "Did we ever find Jesse's phone when we processed the scene?"

"Funny that you ask. Yes, we found both his work and personal phones on him, which led me to find the phone number of a burner phone. That's where I found communication between Jesse and several people on our wanted lists. However, that phone is completely offline with the SIM card taken out. I bet there's more information on that burner phone than both his work and personal phones combined."

"Thanks for the detailed—sorry guys, but I need to take this call."

As everyone watched Shun mute his microphone and cover his webcam, Dan whispered, "This is starting to become a recurring issue."

Marucho decided to clean his glasses during this unintended break, "Maybe it's a family or personal emergency."

"And I still haven't explained where the possible bombing target is," Julie sighed.

The raven-haired agent answered the call from the roof of the DSP building. "Alice, is this an emergency?"

"You already know by now where Lync and Sid his all the C-4, right?"

"The explosives are in a warehouse near the western harbors. ATF will update us once they've located the unregistered firearms. Why do you ask?"

"Jesse's plan was to destroy the central tower in the financial district on the night of an upcoming business conference, but that's still a few weeks later. Mira's plan is to blow up the C-4 in that warehouse so that it won't have a chance to go anywhere."

"Well... DSP is actually going to that same warehouse soon. I'm just waiting for Marucho to finalize the details. Are you going? Why are you telling me this?"

"Because..." Alice took a deep breath and whispered with a slight tremor, "I have my own alternative plan, and you're the only person I trust right now."