Dakota lifted his head, glancing at the woman for a moment. "Don't you find it suspicious that your son's belongings weren't with him when he was found? You haven't found him yet, have you?" Dakota asked. The woman nodded. "Yes, my husband and I were wondering the same thing, but it's possible that the river's current was so strong that Mike's things could have been swept away. And I also don't understand why he wasn't wearing anything except his underwear when he was found. We can't think of anything else, other than bringing our son home," she cried again, sobbing so hard it was difficult to speak. Dakota looked over at Sam for a moment. "Your son was majoring in business, right? Did any professors or even the dean come to pay their respects after his death?" Sam asked. The woman nodded. "Yes, at the funeral home and a few days after my son was buried." "Do you know any of them?" Dakota asked. The woman furrowed her brow, thinking. "I don't really know them well,
The atmosphere in front of the pharmacy was quite busy. It was already eleven in the morning, and Dakota had to sit in the waiting area while his medication was being prepared. This felt like a waste of time, Dakota thought, even though he had only been sitting for fifteen minutes. A call came in from Sam just as a young pharmacy technician approached him. Dakota would just ignored it. Sam always call in the bad time.“Mr. Dakota Sorenson?” asked the young man standing in front of him, handing over a brown paper bag. “Yeah.” The young man smiled; from the uniform he wore, it was clear he was a pharmacy technician. He had a friendly face and smooth hands as Dakota looked at what he was holding. It was strange—did everyone know he was a VIP patient there now, to be treated this way? No one had ever mentioned anything before, not even Dr. Elbert. Usually, he would be the one picking up his medication at the counter and paying for it himself. “This is your medication, everything is com
Sam's eyes widened as he saw the needle's tip starting to pierce the vein in Dakota's neck. He raised his weapon. “Alright, let him go, don’t do that! You’ll only make your crime worse—killing girls is different from injuring police, especially the Prime Minister's son. You know what the consequences will be, right?” Sam shouted. He had to use every trick to convince the cornered man; when someone feels trapped, they might do something desperate. Sam glanced at Aris and Beni, who had appeared from the parking lot exit behind the man, both quickly hiding so he wouldn’t see them. Dakota grimaced; he could feel a burning sensation from the needle slightly piercing his vein, hot and painful. Yes, it was the AB drug he knew all too well, and his heart began to race, even though only a tiny bit of liquid had entered his system. Charlie lifted Dakota's body as he felt the young man starting to waver and about to fall. But he couldn’t give up; there was no other choice for him to escape
A week earlier. Sam stopped his vehicle in front of the main building of CW campus. He saw Dakota unbuckling his seatbelt and getting ready to step out. He grabbed Dakota's hand before he could exit. “Dax, stay here, and this afternoon the driver from home will pick you up and take you straight back to the apartment. You don’t need to go to the office; this isn’t your case anymore. From now on, I’m pulling you out of this task force,” Sam exclaimed. Dakota halted his hand movement, giving Sam a sharp look. “You must be joking. We’ve been working on this case for a while, and now you want me to back off? Do you really think I won’t be suspicious about what’s going on?” said Dakota.Sam pursed his lips. “Well, nothing’s happened, but Kim heard about this case from the news. She said it’s really dangerous, and before she could say anything, your dad already knew from some news bulletins he read. In the end, he was the one who said he would pull you out of this case. The commiss
Meanwhile,Dakota was busy with his campus activities, and since he couldn’t go to the police station, he decided to stay on campus longer. His theoretical slides were displayed on the big screen, his voice echoing throughout the large room filled with his students. His teaching assistant was sitting at the end of the table, not far from him, preparing all the materials for the lecture. “A family murder in a house locked from the outside. Form groups of five or six to present your theories about the murder that took place in the locked house. Here are some scenarios you can study; this is an unsolved case from twenty-five years ago. You can draw conclusions from the news that circulated or come up with your own theories…” said Dakota.At the door, Dean Arnold entered with several guest lecturers. He was very proud to showcase his star lecturer, Dakota Sorenson, who was well-known even at other universities. Some of the guest lecturers were certainly familiar with who Dakota Sorenson
"I was also skeptical at first, but seeing Mr. Sorenson's blood split, it seems to be due to the effects of the AB. Right now, the amount of the drug in Mr. Sorenson's blood isn't that much, but if it were more, just imagine what would happen. His entire body could become paralyzed and stop functioning." said the doctor.Sam's eyes widened. He covered his mouth. “The drug is one of the hell” he can’t believe the effects himself."Guy made that drug, using Mr Sorensson DNA blueprint. The goal was to kill him with a single injection, in the deadliest way he could think of. Guy and I were colleagues back when he worked in virology; I know what he can do to create even the most dangerous drugs," Dr. Holland continued. "But how did Guy get Dakota's blood in the first place?" Sam asked, glancing at Roger, who let out a heavy sigh. "Well, the young master went missing when he was twelve. At that time, the kidnappers demanded a ransom, threatening to kill him if we didn't pay. Luckily, we f
Sam was eventually kicked out of the Rowen family home. John Rowen said he would personally take the car to the police station so Sam wouldn’t have to bother going in to retrieve it."That guy is unbelievable," Sam muttered.He widened his eyes as he saw Dakota walking toward his car. "Hey, Dakota," he said, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward his vehicle. "Come on, you’re coming with me."He and Dakota settled back into the Hummer, leaving the upscale neighborhood in District One. Sam asked Dakota's driver to go back to the apartment first while he and Dakota would grab a bite to eat before heading back.A few times, Sam glanced at Dakota, trying to stay focused on the road, but he kept turning to look at him, making Dakota feel a bit uncomfortable. "Just ask it, Sam.""Ask what?" Sam replied.Dakota leaned his head back against the seat, trying to close his eyes. "How did I end up there?" said Dakota.Sam pursed his lips, as if his partner could read his mind. "Well, yea
The sun was a vibrant orange above the skyscrapers as the red luxury vehicle stopped in front of the Bayward One apartment lobby. Sam stood in front of the lobby as if waiting for his child to be dropped off by a teacher—who else would he be waiting for if not Dakota? The vehicle came to a halt, and Sam hadn't even stepped down to greet Dakota when the driver exited the car and walked around to the passenger side. Although Dakota didn't need him to open the door for her, the man was being polite—perhaps overly polite. "Hey, please, Professor. Sorry our trip was interrupted because of my business; I hope you don't mind," said the man, none other than Andrian Carls, holding the door handle that Dakota had already opened from inside. Dakota glanced at the man for a moment, pursing his lips and nodding slowly. "Not a problem, Mr. Carls. It was indeed very important. Thank you for driving me home." The man smiled. "Hey, it's no big deal, eh." Sam looked at the man with a sharp
The young man’s face… it was like the face of the stabber at the mall yesterday. He was clearly a special needs child, possibly one of the children from those secret laboratory experiments.Dakota looked at the three campus security guards standing watch, batons in hand. A few more guards were just appearing behind them. Luke moves in front Dakota to keep him from harm.“Hey kid, calm down. Do you know what you’ve done? You just killed someone. You’re smart, you don’t want to die stupidly or go to jail, right?” Luke asked, though he knew it was too late to talk him down, he still had to try.The young man grinned, raising a long, kitchen-knife-like blade that gleamed sharply. He wiped the remaining blood on the blade with his tongue, licking it clean. Luke fought back a wave of nausea.“Oh.”“They study air theory, let them feel what it’s like to fly through the air. That&rsqu
Emma sat back down, and it was now Rina's case. Sam looked serious until his phone in his pocket vibrated. A call from someone he wasn't expecting, just as he thought. Jack Moris from the federal agency."Yeah," Sam said, getting up from his seat. He glanced at Ron across from him, then got up to answer the phone.“You’re incredible! We haven’t even released any reports to headquarters, how did you know about this? Did you plant spies in our office?” Sam asked. Jack Moris’s voice boomed in his ear; Sam had to pull the phone away, his ear aching from the man’s thunderous tone.“Ouch, that’s loud,” he muttered, pressing the phone back to his ear.“This might not even be the same case. Why don’t you let us handle this first? You won’t be late getting information, trust me. It could just be a random attack, like what usually happens. Anyone can go crazy, right? Are you sure this is
Morning comes. The sun shone brightly until it hit the highest part of the Bayward One tower and reflected all around it. The busyness of the metropolitan city has been visible since the sun was bright. Far below, the city's main roads are starting to fill with vehicles of all sizes sharing the pollution.Sam had just put on his leather jacket, today was going to be a busy one. He had to go early in the morning to the office for the weekly routine meeting and to analyze the various cases that were piling up.The bombing case at the center has not yet been resolved and several other cases have emerged. He came out of his room, and saw Dakota who was ready at the dining table in the kitchen. As usual, chef Edi looks quite busy in the kitchen.Don't look at his appearance like that, what is clear is that his monthly salary is much bigger than Sam's, he knows that from Kim. Sam just wanted to resign and become Dakota's personal driver, that would be more profitable
It was getting late, midnight, and Sam had just finished cleaning up. He came out of the bathroom, toweling his hair with a small towel, his upper body bare except for a towel around his waist. He approached the bed where Dakota was already sitting, opening his laptop."Wow, it's midnight, my dear professor. Time for bed, why are you still working?" Sam said, stopping beside Dakota.Dakota looked up, seeing Sam's slightly wet, bare upper body displaying his muscular chest. Sam seemed quite proud of showing it off.Dakota just pursed his lips, ignoring Sam and continuing to look at his laptop screen. Sam smirked; he'd intentionally teased Dakota, but the young man was completely unaffected. He'd hoped for some kind of reaction.Sam sat down next to Dakota. But before he could sit on the soft bed, Dakota moved the pillow from his left side onto the bed, preventing Sam from sitting down."You can get a blanket from the closet. The couchis very s
Dakota looked at the takeout container Luke had placed on the table. He watched him slowly sit down."Aren't you with guests? Why aren't you eating with them?" Dakota asked. Luke waved his hand dismissively."Let my secretary keep them company, I said I had important business. Look at this, supposedly amazing steak, almost perfect reviews. Next time we have time, we'll eat at the restaurant, they say it's much better there."said the man excitingly.Dakota looked at the logo on the box."I tried it last week with Sam."said Dakota.Luke's hand movement stopped; he looked disappointed."Oh, really? Was it good? How’sthe rate?" Luke asked."Yeah, pretty good," Dakota replied casually.Luke placed the plate in front of Dakota and carefully took out the neatly arranged steak from the box. Even though it was in a delivery container, the restaurant paid attention to quality, keeping it aesthetically pleasing wit
Rina approached their office just as Sam came back in after dealing with the attackers. She looked annoyed.“Boss,”Sam turned. He was applying a compress to his jaw, which was swollen and slightly red from the hard hit.“What about the woman? Did she confess?” Sam asked.Rina and her boss went into their office. It was dark outside, and the air was getting cold. Everyone was exhausted.“She’s very good at making excuses, Boss. According to her secretary, there was information about a room that couldn’t be used; she told Amelia because she was in charge of the seminar. After that, she got word to move everyone to the auditorium at the last minute. All the information fits Amelia Roy’s alibi,” Rina replied.Sam sat down, wincing slightly from his bleeding lip, a souvenir from the thug’s punch.“She must have planned everything meticulously. Find out the woman&rsquo
The wail of sirens echoed in the distance. Fire trucks had arrived and were tackling the blaze that erupted from an explosion of some electronic equipment in the now-destroyed auditorium building. Several ambulances pulled up, administering first aid to the victims, including Dakota, Luke Osborn, and Sam, who sat on the side of an ambulance, their faces and bodies covered in dust."Here, let me brush off your clothes," Sam said, brushing thick dust from Dakota's sleeve. They both looked like they'd just cleaned out an abandoned warehouse.Dakota had some scrapes on his forehead, and his clothes were torn; besides the aches and pains from the impact of the debris, they seemed alright. Medics bandaged a gash on Dakota's arm and Luke Osborn's forehead scrapes."Why did they target this building? Man, this was built less than two years ago. If they wanted to blow something up, they should've gone for that old building behind the lab," Luke said, propping his chin in his hands.Sam sat b
"Having no one to eat with is kind of weird, right? Is Mr. Meyers still reaching out to you?" Luke asked as he opened his takeout bag and pulled out his food, setting it in front of him. Dakota closed his laptop, watching Luke unpack his meal from the carton and arrange it neatly. The guy even opened the chopstick wrapper to hand it to Dakota."Why would he reach out to me? We're not that close," said Dakota.Luke raised his eyebrows at Dakota's response. "Oh, really? I thought you two were close. He often invites you to lunch and waits for your class to finish. If that's not close, then what is?"Dakota opened his lunch box. For some reason, he felt like trying the wet noodles Rina had recommended a while back; they looked pretty good."We have lunch together too,
The sun shone brightly, breaking through the curtains and hitting the long sofa in Dakota’s room. Sam lay face down there all night, still in the clothes he wore yesterday.“Ouch, my body,” he turned over, feeling sore after sleeping on that couch all night.Even though it was the softest, highest-quality sofa money could buy, it would still be more comfortable to sleep in a bed. He remembered that last night because he was so tired, he fell asleep on Dakota’s very tempting bed, so why did he end up there?“Boss, let’s go out!” Edi’s voice still echoed in his head. His forehead was hot, and he was sweating even though the room was cold. He pulled himself up and sat, glancing at Dakota’s neatly made bed. It was nearing noon, eight in the morning when h