Chapter 5: A Killer’s Signature
397 Words
Zhang Lěi worked through the night, eyes scanning lines of code and footage. At dawn, she finally sat up straight, adrenaline rising. “Got something.”
The rest of the team gathered around her screen. A security feed from a high-end watch repair shop downtown. The same man — blurred but recognizable — had walked in, wearing the distinctive beaded bracelet.
"He had the bracelet resized," Lěi said. "He left fingerprints. They’re partial, but better than nothing."
Ruòxī felt a chill. “He’s getting careless. Or he wants us to follow.”
Zhìkǎi paced. “It’s a taunt. He’s leading us to something.”
“We should follow it,” Hyunwoo said. “But carefully.”
Yīchén nodded. “Split teams. Surveillance only. No direct contact until we know what we’re walking into.”
---
Ruòxī and Hyunwoo were paired again. They watched from a rooftop across from the shop.
“Why do you do this?” he asked her, suddenly.
She looked at him, surprised. “This job?”
He nodded.
She took a moment before answering. “Because someone has to. And because… I couldn’t stop him the first time.”
Hyunwoo hesitated, then reached out, his hand covering hers. “You’re not alone this time.”
Her gaze softened. “Neither are you.”
---
Elsewhere, Zhào Hàotiān and Sòng Yǔtóng were tailing a possible accomplice — a man connected to the watch shop.
He led them to a nondescript warehouse.
“Should we go in?” Yǔtóng asked, hand twitching near her weapon.
“Not yet,” Hàotiān said. “We wait for backup.”
---
By nightfall, the team regrouped with a new plan. They’d infiltrate the warehouse the next night. Quietly. Carefully.
Back at the base, Ruòxī found a small paper note slipped under her door.
“You’re closer than you think. But so is death.”
Her blood ran cold. He knew where they were.
Hyunwoo found her sitting alone, staring at the note.
“Was it him?” he asked.
She nodded.
He knelt beside her. “He won’t touch you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
He took her hand. This time, she didn’t pull away.
Outside, the night whispered promises of blood.
Inside, the flame between them flickered — fragile, but real.
And tomorrow, they would step into the lion’s den.
Together.
- Writer
