I lost count of how many hours I have been sitting at my desk, going through endless files and documents about Seth Mancini. And that was only for today.

For the past few days, every agent working on the case had only one mission. Finding anything that would tie Mancini to Warner's murder. But we always came out empty, no matter how hard we tried.

His past was like an unsolved puzzle. He was suspected of every kind of crime someone could think of; however, he was only convicted of a white-collar crime once. And his attorney surely did a hell of a job as he served only two years in prison. Plus, it seemed like he started making a name for himself over the past ten years, as there wasn't much accessible information about him prior to that.

Mancini undoubtedly had the key to a lot of unsolved questions, but we had nothing on him. And if we ended up losing him, we would be back to square one.

Also, I still couldn't find anything that could prove Mancini's involvement in my parents' murder except for that tattoo. If I told anybody about that, they would instantly say that I was just blowing things out of proportion.

I sighed, stretching my body. The case was literally making me pull my hair out, and I seriously believed that there was a very thin line between me and a mental meltdown.

Rubbing my eyes with the heel of my hand, I held back a yawn. I grabbed the cup of coffee that was on my desk and took a sip. I grimaced at the cold taste. After dumping the rest of it in the trash bin, I decided to make myself a fresh, warm cup of coffee. I hoped an extra dose of caffeine would help me get through the rest of the day.

I walked to the coffee machine, and because I was tremendously lucky, I found out that it was broken. I hit the stupid machine and groaned loudly.

"Looks like someone is having a bad day."

I looked up to see Liam, a smile flickering around the edges of his mouth. I threw a look at him that made him shrug innocently, his smile never wavering.

"I would kill for a decent cup of coffee, too. What do you think about having a coffee break?" he suggested.

"Yeah, that would actually be great," I decided, even though I was feeling some hesitation inside me.

We have spoken little in the past few days, and it wasn't because I was trying to avoid him or anything. But we were both pretty busy with everything related to the case and of course, we didn't have the chance to talk about that night in the training center. It was better this way, though; my mind couldn't take any extra pressure.

Anyway, we went to our usual coffee shop. We ordered two cups of double espresso, and then we chose a table that was in a faraway corner to drink our coffee in peace.

"So, what's really going on with you?" Liam asked abruptly, his blue eyes fixed on me—probably looking for any reaction.

"What do you mean?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I knew something was bothering you since the day we interviewed Mancini, and don't say it's just the case. When we were there, you looked like you had seen a ghost," he pressed. "Do you know him personally?"

I looked at him for a solid minute, not knowing what to say or if I should tell him the truth. Finally, I sighed. "The tattoo that was on his hand," I started. "It was the same tattoo that the man who killed my parents had on the exact same spot."

Liam didn't look surprised. We had already talked about my suspicions about this case on that day in the training center.

"Do you think it's just a coincidence, or that he had something to do with the murder?"

"I honestly don't know what to think anymore," I answered truthfully, letting out a defeated sigh.

He nodded, probably understanding the fact that my mind at the moment was more like Times Square on a really busy day.

"Alex, I remember you telling me that your father worked on this case before and that he was pretty interested in it." He leaned on the table. "So, if we considered this, there actually might be a possibility that everything might be connected, after all."

"Yeah, but he worked on it only for a short time before it was reassigned to organized crime," I said. "Also, if it was related, it would have been likely to find that Chinese symbol anywhere at the scene or on the bodies, but there was no sign of it."

Liam nodded but added nothing. He, too, seemed to be in deep thought. That was the most puzzling part, and I couldn't find a satisfying explanation for it.

We drank our coffees in silence for a few minutes before Liam finally put an end to it once again.

"Alex, I know it might not be the right time to talk about this, but..." He paused.

I noticed that Liam was finding his coffee cup really interesting, as he didn't take his eyes off it. He seemed like he was struggling with words. However, I knew exactly what he wanted to talk about.

My heart rate increased as I recalled what happened that night in the training center in my head. Honestly, I had no idea what he was going to say, or even if I was ready to talk about it with him just yet.

I found myself looking at my wristwatch before I quickly spoke up. "It's getting late. We should probably get going. We need to get back to work." I immediately rose from my seat and tossed my now-empty cup in the trash bin.

I glanced at Liam, who had a disappointed look on his face. He let out a sigh before he stood up and joined me without saying a word.

We were just getting out of the coffee shop when we heard the sound of a gunshot. We didn't have enough time to respond as a bullet missed me by a few centimeters and hit the glass behind me, shattering it to pieces.

Liam and I reacted quickly by pulling out our guns, and then we hurried and hid behind one of the parked cars, taking it as a shelter.

I thought that my heartbeats had reached the speed limit as I was aghast by what just happened. But I knew it was definitely not the right time to freeze up, and I had to focus on our trigger-happy fellows. I glanced at Liam, who looked much calmer than me.

Multiple shots cracked through the air again, and the screams of panicking pedestrians filled the area. And at that moment, I felt that all my senses were sharpened by adrenaline. Things were getting hectic, and we had to do something before anybody got hurt.

Liam raised his head cautiously to get a view, then he lowered it back quickly.

"There are two of them, and they have machine guns," he told me. "I will try to distract them while you try getting a clear shot."

I nodded. Liam sent me a knowing look before he left his place beside me and went directly into the chaos.

I could hear the distinct sounds of gunshots. I prayed to God that Liam would be okay, that everyone would be okay, and that we could tackle the situation with no casualties.

Slowly rising to my feet, I now had a clear view of the situation. People were hiding inside the nearby buildings and behind cars, and children were crying while holding onto their mothers tightly. I felt a sense of slight relief when I heard the sound of sirens and saw the familiar blue and red lights of many police cars approaching the scene from afar.

I shifted my gaze to the shooters, who weren't concentrating on the place where I was hiding anymore, but on the place where Liam was shooting from.

I fixated my gun on one of the shooters. But before I could pull the trigger, an old man suddenly blocked my view. I saw him running toward the shooter I was aiming at as fast as he could with a stick in one hand. My eyes widened as I realized what he was doing.

"No, stop!" I yelled, but he didn't hear me. I quickly got out of my hiding place and hurried toward them, trying to get a good shot and not hurt the man in the way.

I wasn't quick enough.

On the spur of the moment, the shooter turned to face the man, aiming his gun at him. He fired two bullets, causing the old man to stagger before he fell to the ground.

I stopped in my tracks, but I didn't have any time to process what happened as the shooter noticed me and fixed the gun in my direction.

My reaction was faster than his. I immediately raised my gun and fired a bullet in his direction. I watched as he dropped the gun that was in his hand and collapsed to the ground.

The other shooter, who was on the other side of the road, panicked and backed away quickly. Liam chased after him. He got into a black SUV, and I heard the screeching of tires. Liam fired a few bullets toward the car, an act that was futile as he was already out of reach.

Hurrying toward the civilian who had been shot down, I kneeled beside him to check his pulse. There was none. I cursed and closed his eyes, which were wide open with a horrific look clouding them. I felt an ache in my heart—he didn't deserve to die.

Getting myself back up on my feet, I walked straight toward the bastard who I had shot. I found out that he was still alive and fighting for breath. I quickly took off my blazer and put it on the bullet wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

The police were already filling the area. "I need a medic, right here!" I shouted. A police officer immediately started speaking into his walkie-talkie.

I looked at the man again, who looked like he was about to get into shock. "No, I'm not letting you die today. You have got so many damn questions to answer."

Two medics quickly came into view and immediately loaded him on a gurney, and into an ambulance.

When the ambulance was gone from view, I finally let out a breath that felt as if I had been holding it in since the whole thing began. And finally, I started to comprehend everything that had happened.

My eyes started wandering around the area. It was now filled with policemen and medics everywhere as they tried to help and find out if anybody was injured during the hassle. The poor civilians were definitely petrified beyond words, not believing they had just gone through a mass shooting on what started for them as an ordinary day.

"Alex, you okay?"

Liam's voice shifted my attention toward him. He was now standing next to me, his eyes filled with concern.

I nodded. Yes, I was okay, physically; however, mentally, I was a mess. I knew he understood because he definitely had the same mix of emotions and thoughts haunting his mind.

After helping the police at the scene, we went directly to the hospital where the shooter had been taken. We were going to wait for him to recover so we could interrogate him and get all of our desired answers out of him.

This time, I allowed myself to have a tiny thread of hope. We were finally one step ahead of them...