Prologue

She guessed it all started at the age of five for the poor children. The heat seemed to expand and she tossed and turned in her sleep as time seemed to tick on.

The fact that she would never be viewed the same ever again. The summer night seemed to go on forever. She rolled over to look at the clock, which read 12:30 am. She dreaded the next day.

Lindsey Squire was an ambitious woman, and yet she hated her work. What she had help participate in twenty years prior made her realize one thing- There are two types of people, the Ambitious and those who were forced to follow. And Lindsey use to be one who would follow.

And she hated every second of those days.

Now her days were spent organizing theories and her nights were filled with the screams and cries that haunted her from the old days.

But that would change slowly over the years as she continued to see a doctor. The screams began to die down, and eventually, the dreams began to disappear, and Lindsey began to feel at ease finally.

Lindsey shifted in her sleep as another dreamless night began to pass. Late into her seemingly dreamless sleep, she heard a crash!

She immediately shot upright, almost as if she woke up from a nightmare. She shifted her head, looking for what had caused the noise. She steadily creeped out of bed, carefully as to not make any noise. Was she just hearing things?

She reached the door, and leaned close, hoping to catch wind of any evidence of another person being there.

Nothing.

Relieved, Lindsey began to crawl back into bed, wanting to slumber again.

Crash! She quickly turned her head back to her bedroom door. She slowly yet again graced on over to the door. She reached over to the side of a dresser to pull out a long and skinny metallic bat into her iron-like grip, and she twisted the knob to the door, and swung the wooden door open wide ever so slowly.

Lindsey cautiously stepped through, her bat's metallic surface cooling her touch. She navigated her house, finally reaching the living room, and she heard what had sounded to be shuffling footsteps and rustling papers.

She peered around the corner, hoping to catch a glimpse of anybody inside.

And sure enough, there was. A large bodied figure dressed in dark plaid flannel hovered over an open drawer in a file cabinet, their hands flipping through an open file. She squinted her eyes to read the file name, but the writing was too small for her to read.

The figure then straightened their back, and she almost let out an audible gasp. She recognised this person, their eyes filled with an unkindled hatred. "Who's there?" their gruff voice grunted through a black bandana.

Lindsey clasped a hand over her mouth and began to hyperventilate: She took quick, raspy breaths. 'Take a deep breath' she reminded herself. She then heard thudding footsteps heading away from her, and her breathing began to slow down.

After a minute, Lindsey snuck a glance around the corner. The drawer was left open, and various files were thrown across the living room. She carefully approached her file cabinet, bat turning in her hand.

She crouched down a bit, and peeked inside the drawer. She checked the folders that she could see, and her eyes widened. The files containing one of her earliest experiments from Omid Laboratories was missing!

She stood up, and she heard quick, shuffling movement. She turned to stare deeply into eyes set ablaze with hatred. And Lindsey began to shake unsteadily.

She shuffled over to the side, but he shot an arm out to catch her shoulder. Using her free arm, she gathered all her strength possible to swing her bat at him. "G-Get out of m-my house!" she exclaimed as the bat made contact with his shoulder, to which he immediately released his grip on her and grabbed his own, and she took the opportunity.

Lindsey ran over to the landline in the hallway, and she began to dial 911 frantically, struggling to press the right buttons due to her trembling hands. Right as she was about to press the call button, she was forcefully turned around, and she was shoved into the wall.

He stood right in front of her, "Why you little..." he began.

"W-Who're you?" she inquired.

"I happen to be the last thing that you will ever see." Lindsey looked down to his other hand, and she saw that it was clasped over a chef's knife.

"N-No, p-please..." she pleaded.

"Should've stayed in bed." He thrust the knife quickly, and the knife buried itself deep inside her lower right abdomen, and a white hot flash of pain panged throughout her body. He twisted his wrist in a jerking motion, and the knife delved deeper into her. She opened her mouth to scream, but all that came out was a strained exhale.

After a few seconds, he pulled out the chef's knife, and Lindsey let out a sharp gasp, and she felt the steady flow of blood pour out of the wound, soaking her pajamas.

He set her down gently, almost as if he cared for her safety, and grabbed the file that she was just looking at.

"I'm sorry. This isn't personal... Just business." He then turned away, and walked out of her house, leaving Lindsey to lay on the ground, lifeless.

Chapter 1

The static sounding of an alarm went off. The sound of rushing footsteps were heard, and a hand carefully pressed a button, and the alarm shut off.

"Darn alarm never wakes me up." Ronin Jaspert mentioned. He quickly turned back around to approach his bathroom mirror, and finished fixing his tie.

He strapped his gun holster on before he picked up his dark blazer, and dressing himself in it. He walked back into the kitchen, and he picked up his mug, and brought it to his lips, taking a sip of his tea.

Suddenly, there was a ringing, and he set his mug down, reaching over for his phone, and he saw the name, "Patrick Rayston CPD". Ronin hit the green answer button, "Jaspert here."

"Detective Jaspert, nice to hear your voice so early in the morning." came the familiar voice of his partner.

"You know that I'm up way before you," he took another sip, "Out with it."

"Right. You need to come on down, there's been an... Incident."

"What is it?"

"Murder. I'll text you the details."

"Dang, this is the third one this week alone. I'm on my way." Ronin hung up before Patrick could reply, and he shoved his phone into his pocket, and picked up his mug, quickly swallowing the rest of his tea, and grabbed his car keys, and he rushed out of his house, and he began to drive to the station to meet Rayston, when he received a text. He pulled out his phone, and it was from Rayston. 'Sorry I forgot to tell you the address. I'll send it to you in a sec', and shortly after, there was another text with the address, and Ronin thought it was familiar. He then put the link into the GPS, and he drove over to the crime scene.

Ronin stepped out of his car, and he headed over to the front door. He was greeted by a uniform. "Detective." she greeted.

"Tell me what we got." he pulled off his sunglasses and shoved them in an inside pocket, and he pulled out a small notebook.

"Yes sir," she replied, and she too pulled out a small sheet of paper, "Victim was 43 year old Lindsey Squire," Ronin looked back at her as she continued, "She has a single stab wound to the lower abdomen. Estimated time of death was up to four hours ago. Murder weapon hasn't been found yet, but forensics speculate that a knife made the wound." Ronin took notes as the uniform continued to explain, "House was ransacked, but we don't know for sure what was taken yet."

"Any next of kin?" he asked, his eyes kept on the body.

"Detective Rayston has already contacted the next of kin. Her brother is on his way."

"Thanks, that'll be all." the uniform nodded, and Ronin walked inside the house.

Ronin immediately noted that the house was a mess, papers everywhere, people walking around, and the body on the ground.

The forensics team were doing their job, as Ronin noted the familiar flashing of cameras, and a few of them greeted Ronin a nice "Hello." before going back to work.

He was shocked to find that it was Lindsey, her hazel eyes open, her face frozen in a look of shock. Her dark brown hair was tied in a messy bun, and she still wore her pajamas. "Luke's going to be hecka pissed..." Ronin whispered.

There was a set of light footsteps, and He heard his partner's voice. "Morning partner. I got you a coffee."

"No thanks, I don't do coffee." Ronin refused after he glanced back at hi,.

"Just take it."

"No thanks."

"Please?"

Ronin paused for a moment. "Fine," he then grabbed the coffee cup, it was warm to his touch, "Rayston, what do you suppose happened here?"

"Not sure," Rayston shuffled through his own notebook, "As far as we're concerned, nothing was stolen."

"So the ransacking is a diversion."

"We are exploring the possibility."

"Do we know anything about the victim?" Ronin felt that it was wrong to ask all these questions, so he proceeded to write all of what he knew down.

"Not too much comes to mind," the same uniform that gave Ronin the down low then passed Rayston a stack of files, and he quickly scanned them, "But Miss Squire here has a ton of files with the 'Classified' stamp on them."

"So we're working with a government worker of sorts," Ronin feigned sarcasm, "Great, now we have to worry about the feds. I really don't want to, speaking as this is the third scientist this week alone."

"Like I said, we're exploring all of the possibilities."

"I guess we've got to tell Mr. Squire of the bad news."

"Alright."

"And Rayston?"

"Yes sir?"

"Never get me a coffee again, I'm more of a tea person."

The car ride was silent, as Ronin liked it, and it took about ten minutes before they had reached the station.

They walked inside, and a young man in a nice suit was standing there, his dirty blond hair brushed neatly, and he was staring farther into the precinct.

"Luke Squire?" Rayston greeted as they approached closer.

The man turned around, "Ah, you must be Detectives Rayston and Jaspert." he lisped.

"Yes we are." Ronin spoke up before Rayston could say anything. "Follow us please, and we can talk about your sister."

"Alright." Luke replied, and the trio began to walk into a conference room, where Ronin closed the door, and Rayston shut the blinds.

Luke sat in a chair, and Ronin took a seat opposite of him, and Rayston patted his back. "We are very sorry for your loss." Rayston consoled the man.

"As far as I'm concerned," Luke began, his lisp not failing to turn up in his voice, "It was just some burglar, am I correct?"

"We're not too sure yet. We're assuming that this was more than some burglary gone wrong. Any enemies that she may have had?" Ronin offered, resting his arms on his knees.

"Well, Lindsey was a scientist of sorts, so if I were to guess, possibly coworkers." he replied.

"I see. And," Ronin said as Luke stood up to leave, "Where were you this morning. Just to be sure."

Luke froze for a moment, almost as if he was in shock. "Of course, I was asleep, my wife can confirm that."

"Thanks. Rayston, dig up and see if our three victims are connected, and have Reina check up on where Miss Squire worked, see if she missed anything on the initial canvass."

"On it sir," Rayston began to walk out, but then stopped, "Wait a second, why does she get to be called by her first name?"

"Because I actually respect her, and just don't mess it up."

Rayston seemed confused, but he replied, "Relax Jaspert, I got this."

And with that Rayston took his leave, leaving Ronin with Luke by himself. Luke waited for Rayston to leave completely before he slammed a hand on the table, anger filling his voice, "You can't be serious about me being the killer Ronin."

"I told you Luke that I had to make sure."

"Yeah yeah, 'just to be sure'," he made air quotes, "This is my sister we're talking about."

"You mean our sister."

"Yeah, like you ever considered yourself a part of our family."

"Look Luke," Ronin seethed his name, "This is the third murder this week, and since Lindsey was involved in some classified work, we have to worry about the feds now. And we know how much you love the feds."

Luke sighed angrily, "Just remember who you're talking to," Luke fixed his suit in a threatening manner, "Just because your family doesn't warrant you-"

"Take your threats elsewhere Luke, remember who's turf you're on." Ronin stood up and pointed at him.

Luke huffed, turning harshly as he began to walk to the door. "Oh yeah and Luke?"

Luke paused, "Yes Ronin?"

"Tell Ellie and Joel that I'll be late tonight, and don't think about telling them without me."

Luke sighed. "Fine, Mom and Dad will understand... Like always." he mumbled the last bit as he left.

Ronin looked down at his table, and suddenly the door was opened. Ronon looked over, and saw a uniform standing there, "Chief wants to see you." she said, and Ronin nodded and stood up to walk over to Chief Barnes' office.

He knocked on the door, and he heard her. "Come in." she called out, and Ronin obliged.

"What's up chief?" he asked as she closed the door. She gestured him to have a seat, and he sat down.

"You know that you're going to have to lead this." she replied.

"Are you sure?" Ronin asked, "Because there are others who-"

"The others are busy leading the cases involving the Heinrich Cartel. You and your partners are the only ones that I have left."

"Yes chief."

"Good, now there is something else."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Coroner Michaels wants to see you, something about Patrick and explaining something to the two of you."

"Alright, I'll see what's up with that."

Chief Barnes handed Ronin a small file, and Ronin headed out to the office, and he walked to the lab. Where he approached it and knocked on the door.

Chapter 2

The sound of laughter was audible, and a young child and her mother walked down the street, their long brown hair flowed with the nighttime breeze, the mother holding her child's hand loosely, almost as if she was ready to let go.

"And that's the beauty of flowers." the mother concluded, her voice light and full of cheer, and they stopped right in front of a large building.

"Mommy!" cried the child, "That's where you and Daddy work!" the child pointed at the building.

"Why yes it is, you want to see what I'm working on?" she pulled out her keys, and the child smiled.

"Mhm!" the child nodded.

The duo walked over to the building, and the mother unlocked the door, and walked inside. They proceeded to walk down a long white hallway, where they stopped twenty feet from the wall, and turned to face the door on the left.

"Don't tell Daddy that I brought you here." the mother held a finger to her lips, and the child repeated the action with a chuckle.

Her mother took out a keycard, and swiped it against a small black box that had a tiny red light shining. After a second the light turned green, and the duo walked inside.

They quickly walked to the back of the room, where her mother saw another person, "Oh, I didn't realise that you guys were still here Cecil." she greeted.

"No worries Ericka," the blonde haired man replied, "Linda and I were just about to go home. What brings you here?"

"You know, the little one here just insisted that I show her a bit of my work." She rested a hand on her child's head, slightly ruffling her own brown locks.

He laughed. "I see." the door opened yet again, and a woman and another young child, this one a male, walked inside. She made eye contact with him, and she smiled and waved, but the other child just clutched his mother's leg in an attempt to hide behind her.

"I'm all set to go. What about you?" she asked Cecil.

"I'm all set, let's go, the kids must be worried sick." he replied.

"Nobody is going anywhere." said a new voice.

And then... Screams... High pitched ringing... And then she felt the sweltering heat.

She woke up, and she sat upright. "Just a dream." she said. She turned her head to look at the clock that rested on top of the nightstand next to her bed. It read 5:30 am.

"Just a dream." she repeated. She laid back down on her bed.

She heard footsteps that originated from outside her room, and a door closing.

He left huh. Her father, Winston hadn't even bothered to even say goodbye.

She closed her eyes. That dream had occurred over twenty years ago. She sat back up and reached over to turn on the lamp.

As the bright light illuminated the room, she brought a hand to shield her eyes against the harsh lighting.

She glanced farther over until she rested her eyes on a dark leather wheelchair that sat next to her bed.

'May as well get up.' she thought. She straightened her back, and she swung herself to sit on the edge of the bed. She grabbed her glasses and put them on.

She reached out with a single hand towards the wheelchair. She released the brakes and she pulled them close.

Using both arms, she lifted herself from her bed and into the chair, where she then proceeded to use an arm to lift her legs, resting them on the legrests.

She began to wheel over to the other side of her small bed, and stopped right in front of her closet. She then pulled out a dark T-shirt and a dark green jacket. She set them on her lap.

She then wheeled back and over to her dresser, where she grabbed a pair of dark jeans.

It took a few minutes for her to get dressed, and then she wheeled out of her bedroom. The remainder of the house was silent as she wandered down the halls.

It was only when she had reached the dining room she had stopped. She frowned.

"What to do... What to do." she pursed her lips. She heard her phone vibrate on the kitchen counter, and she immediately wheeled over to the kitchen, stopping only when she was over by the small cherry wood nightstand, where a small radio and a single picture frame stood face down.

She reached over to the small picture frame and firmly grasped it. Pulling it close to her, she turned it over. It held a picture of her family- her mother and father standing next to her. Her mother's long brown hair flowed down in slight curls about three inches past her shoulders. Her small framed glasses rested near the tip of her nose, and her smile was bright.

Her father on the other hand, had an unnatural tint of beach blonde hair, which was very messy. He was shaven clean, and he was also smiling. They stood side by side, and her father had his right arm over her mother's shoulders, and his left and her mother's right arms rested on her shoulders. She missed those days.

She smiled, and rested the picture back down on the nightstand. She continued on her way towards the kitchen. She wheeled on over to her phone, which was next to the stove.

She unplugged her phone and unlocked it. There were a few messages from her father, who reminded her to stay inside. She sighed angrily.

She texted him back, reassuring him that she would be safe. She then checked to see who else texted her.

She had a text from her childhood friend Warren. He had texted her that his girlfriend was coming back into the city. She smiled and began to text him back.

At around 6:30 while she was watching television in her room, she heard the front door open.

Her father was home. "Aletia! I'm home!" he called out.

She immediately wheeled over back into the dining room, where she greeted her father, "Long night, wasn't it Dad?"

He walked over to her, kneeling as he gave her a hug, "You up to anything bad while I was gone?" he inquired as he stood up, turning away from her.

"What could I possibly do that's bad?" she replied, confused.

"A lot of things sweetie." He walked over to the table, and he set a briefcase down on the small oak table.

Aletia saw the briefcase, and she didn't recognise it. "What's in the case?" she pointed at it.

"Ah, nothing really, just work related stuff."

Aletia furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't understand how you being a cashier at Home Depot can have you bring home a lot of paperwork."

He laughed nervously, "Aletia, sweetie, you know nothing about the adult world."

"Dad, I'm twenty five, I need to move out some-"

Her father slammed a hand on the table, and Aletia cut herself off as he rebutted "That is not an option," he looked at her, and he blinked, "I'm sorry," he began after a brief moment of silence, he then picked up his briefcase, and walked towards the hall, "You know what happened to you."

She grabbed his wrist as he walked past her, forcing him to stop and look at her. "That was twenty years ago, I've been fine."

"And twenty years of walking, gone," he wrestled his wrist from her grasp, "In an instant. I need to protect you. I'll do anything to do so." he explained. He turned away.

"You say protect, but you hardly look me in the eyes at all."

He turned to look at her, but he couldn't make eye contact.

More like refused. "I just need some sleep." he replied before walking into the hallway, where he walked into his room.

Aletia turned her chair to watch him enter his room, and once she was sure that he was in his room, she pulled out her phone and dialed her friend Warren. "Hey Warren." she greeted as soon as she heard him pick up the phone.

"Yeah, what's up? Your Dad?" he greeted back.

"Yeah, he just got home, but he's asleep now." She looked back at the hallway as she said so.

"Late night?"

"Yeah. Anyways, come over to my house and we'll go to the park like usual."

"This late? Uh yeah sure why?"

"I've just got a good feeling about today."

"Again, you sure?"

"I know that Dad hates the idea of me going outside, but I need to prove to him that the outside world isn't as dangerous as he makes it out to be."

He groaned at the end. "Fine."

"Thanks Warren, I'll meet you outside. Buh bye." She hung up the phone, and looked to where her father had went to.

"Sorry Dad, but I have to do this."

Aletia then proceeded to wheel herself outside the front door.