Waiting for the fingerprint results was driving ire up the wall. It had been ten long hours, and she was beyond impatient. Sitting in her office, tapping her fingers against the desk, she nced at the clock for what felt like the hundredth time. Nothing. No calls, no email. Just radio silence. "I''m calling it a night," ire muttered to herself, rubbing her temples. Her body felt heavy, a side effect of donating blood the day before and skipping her meds.


    With that, she packed up her things and headed home, determined to get a good night''s sleep. Well, that was the n, at least.


    The next morning, ire was rudely awakened by the sound of her ringtone ring like an rm siren. She groaned, pulling the nket over her head. But she couldn''t ignore it. What if it was something important?


    With a grunt, she threw off the covers and fumbled for her phone on the bedside table. "Hello?" she answered, her voice groggy and clearly not ready for the day.


    "Are you awake?" came Matthew''s annoyingly chipper voice on the other end of the line.


    ire rolled her eyes, even though he couldn''t see it. "I am now," she replied sarcastically.


    "Good, because the fingerprint results are out," Matthew informed her, and just like that, ire was wide awake.


    "I''ll be there soon!" ire practically jumped out of bed, her energy suddenly restored.


    She rushed through her morning routine like a woman on a mission. Clothes? Check. Hair? Eh, good enough. Phone and keys? Check. Ready to go. Without wasting another second, ire bolted out the door and headed to Metacortex. But there was no time for traffic today. ire took the helicopter.


    Before heading to the rooftop, she made a quick detour to the robotics team. Thest thing she needed was her employees asking too many questions about Abigail''s absence.


    "Just a quick information," ire said, addressing the team, "Something bad happened to Abigail. She got hit by a car and now she is in aa."


    Gasps filled the room as the team processed the news.


    "What?"


    "It can be."


    "How can that happened?"


    A lot of question filled the room as they couldn''t believe what they aare hearing.


    "Which hospital is she in?" one of them asked.


    ire held up a hand. "I''ll tell you once I get permission from her parents." She knew how to keep a crowd calm, even when she didn''t have all the answers.


    With that, she headed to the rooftop. Momentster, the helicopter lifted off, whisking her away to Cryptonic. The flight was short, just 20 minutes, and before ire knew it, she was hopping out of the helicopter, her face set in a determined expression.


    She headed straight for Matthew''s office. As soon as she stepped through the door, Matthew stood up from his desk. "Let''s head down to the forensic team," he said, motioning for her to follow.


    Together, they made their way to the third floor, where a woman with sses greeted them. She handed ire a file, already diving into the details.


    "There are two sets of fingerprints on Abigail''s phone," the woman began, adjusting her sses. "One belongs to Abigail, and the other is unidentified." ire''s heart raced. This was the lead she''d been waiting for.


    "We matched the unidentified prints," the woman continued, flipping the page in the file. "The second set belongs to someone named Rafayel."


    ire opened the next page, her


    yelfeet


    eyes scanning the name and then the photo of the man in question. Dirty blonde hair, freckles, grey eyes, and a narrow face. He looked harmless enough, but ire knew better than to trust appearances.


    "So, just Abigail''s and Rafayel''s fingerprints? No one else?" ire asked, needing to be absolutely sure.


    The woman nodded. "That''s correct. No other prints besides theirs."


    ire nodded in acknowledgment and thanked the woman before leaving the room, Matthew keeping pace beside her.novelbin


    As they walked back to her office, Matthew finally spoke up. "Are you going to track him down?"


    ire sat down at her desk; her eyes sharp with determination. "I don''t have time to waste. We need to find him now."


    Matthew raised an eyebrow, leaning against the desk casually. "You''re sure this guy''s the one? Couldn''t he just be someone who touched her phone? Maybe he''s not involved at all." "ording to the surveince video, he was thest one who touched her phone that night and I am sure he is our guy. If we can find his whereabouts, we can trace the other."


    The sun had just risen in Alexander''s


    penthouse, casting that orange hue on the sleek and modern space. Alexander stood leaning against the kitchen counter, pouring a cup of steaming coffee, its heavy aroma wafting into the air. He bnced his phone against his shoulder and ear, his brow furrowed while he listened to Christian on the other end of the line.


    "So, any word about Abigail?" Christian asked.


    Alexander took a sip of his coffee and then responded, "Yeah, the police came by yesterday, and I spoke to the driver who hit her. He denies everything and says Abigail just jumped out of nowhere in the middle of the rain." Chris snorted skeptically. "Of course, he would deny it. People do lie all the time, and they especially do so when they are trying to cover their tracks. You cannot take just his word for it."


    Alexander nodded, even though Christian could not see him. "I know, I''m still suspicious of him. His face, though does scream guilty and the way he kept denying it with no hesitation starting to make me doubt it."


    "People are good at acting, Alex; trust me, they can hide a lot behind a straight face. You know that better than anyone. Don''t let him fool you."


    Alexander let out a sigh, pushing his hand through his already rumpled hair. "Yeah, I hear you. It''s just frustrating. I want to believe it was an ident, but there''s too much that doesn''t add up."


    There was a pause at the other end, then Christian''s voice slightly softened. "Are you going into the office today? I know you''ve got a mountain of work waiting for you."


    "I should go. I''ve got enough work to keep me busy for weeks, but...I feel like I should be at the hospital. Abigail''s family might need me."


    Christian''s voice came firm. "Stay at the hospital. I can handle things at the office. You need to be there for Abigail''s family, in case anything happens. Work can wait." "Fine. I''ll stay. But I''m counting on you to keep things running smoothly while I am away. My secretary has the schedule. Just make sure nothing blows up while I''m away."


    Christian gave a lightugh. "Don''t be such a worrier, mate. I can handle things. You take care of what''s most important now. Abigail''s family needs you more than the office does." Alexander took another sip of his coffee; it was a little better now. "Thanks, Christian. I appreciate it. Let me know if anythinges up."


    At Cryptonic, ire and Matthew


    had an agenda of their own.


    Matthew hunched over on the couch with hisptop open to yet another security system. His fingers flew across the keyboard while ire stood behind him, her arms crossed, an intent look on her face,


    We''re getting close, Matthew muttered under his breath; his eyes danced across the screen as lines of code slipped by.


    Suddenly, the screen shed green and opened into another window with a map upon which was a little blinking dot in red. "Got him," Matthew said exultantly. "Rafayel''s house. Found it."


    ire''s face twisted into seriousness as her eyes riveted to the map. "Good, she graveled seriously. It''s time for a little visit, don''t you think?"


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!