The Devil's Cage

"You two bastards! You better give me a reasonable explanation of what happened here! Otherwise, I'll throw your asses into the Union's black prison!"

Teresa went over to the two with furious words and angry steps. Hoskin quivered because of the sudden shock.

"Chief, I…"

"Chief Teresa, we've discovered a lead to the explosion case, I hope you can deploy your men to secure a perimeter here! The more the better and please equip them with enough firepower!"

Before Hoskin could even finish a sentence, Kieran interrupted.

Teresa glared at Kieran, her furious eyes made Kieran believe that if she wasn't a police officer, Kieran would have to suffer a couple of slaps to the face.

When Kieran pointed at the dead assault squads behind the cruiser, Teresa's face quickly turned.

She saw the bulletproof vest, guns on their waist and grenades on the dead bodies. The equipment alone was enough to raise concerns.

"Seal this place off!"

"Chief Officer Teresa calling for backup! Calling for backup!"

After giving orders to her men on site, she went over to the comms in her cruiser and requested for further assistance.

Soon, more police officers arrived at the scene and it wasn't the common uniformed officers anymore but the S.W.A.T. team that shared similar arsenals with the enemy's assault squad.

"Don't let anyone near this place without my order!"

"Spill it now, what is the lead you mentioned? If it is some forged lies for you to escape responsibilities, I swear I will make you pay the cost that you couldn't even imagine!"

Teresa pulled Kieran to aside and looked down at him like a fierce cougar, her words even came with threats.

"Of course I won't. As for what happened just now… You can ask Hoskin about it, he can prove what I said was real," Kieran said.

"I will, so you better pray that you're not lying to me!"

"Watch him!"

Teresa cuffed Kieran once again without giving him any more time for explanation and ordered the officer aside to watch Kieran.

10 minutes later, Teresa came back from Hoskin's spot with a heavy expression.

Hoskin was beside her and two more officers were behind them carrying a stretcher with the sniper's body on top.

Hoskin dared not even breath loudly while being near to Teresa and Kieran was sure he was really terrified by his chief officer, yet it was also because of that, Kieran was relieved.

As long as Hoskin told Teresa what exactly happened, she would know what to choose and just as Kieran expected, Teresa came over and uncuffed him.

She then looked at Kieran with a judgmental gaze.

"A so-called traveler and adventurer but possessing even better observational and shooting skills than a police officer. Mr. 2567, can you explain yourself?"

"If I could, I would but I really couldn't right now," Kieran pretended to smile bitterly.

To be honest, he had started to like the title of amnesia patient.

It was the perfect excuse to give when he didn't want to say or couldn't explain anything.

Teresa started to breathe heavily.

Rage had filled the chief officer's chest and just when Kieran thought Teresa would really step out of her position to punch him, she said loudly, "Hoskin! Watch him tight! Believe me, if you haven't caught the bastards with some use, you can already report to the psych department!"

"YES, MADAM!" Hoskin replied loudly.

When the chief officer went over to the ruins, the young officer winked and signaled Kieran.

"The C.O. Teresa really treats you differently! If you were someone else, I'm afraid you would be suffering a broken nose by now!" Hoskin said with hidden intentions.

"If you continue, I assure you your nose will be broken. Quick, tell me what you've gotten from the spy?"

Kieran didn't mind petty jokes between youngsters but not before settling the things at hand.

It wasn't a great time for jokes at the moment.

"How do you know I've gotten clues from him?"

Hoskin looked at Kieran as though he had seen a ghost.

"If you have the heart to play jokes on me instead of crying as someone died, it's enough proof," Kieran said.

Given that a young man who was eager to prove himself via performance and achievements, after being scolded by his superior and still had the heart to joke, it meant things haven't reached the worst part.

Even more so, it would be safe to guess that the information was greater than the scolding to result in a good mood from the young officer.

"Are you sure you weren't a detective before this? I feel naked before your eyes!"

Hoskin looked at Kieran with unbelievable eyes.

Even though he knew Kieran had sharp sight, he didn't think it would be that sharp.

"Don't worry, I have no interest in admiring your naked body. Tell me now, what did you get from the spy?" Kieran rushed him.

The young officer then said with a smile.

"Before I was transferred to the heavy crime unit, I was a patrol cop and that guy is one of the little thugs that lingered around my duty area. That guy always peddled illegal drugs and blackmailed students but his boss is the person-in-charge of the street block. The boss had many men under him and maybe, the explosion case of Winchester House is their handy work!"

Hoskin had gotten excited as he spoke, his face was eager to catch the culprit.

However, Kieran was quite certain that a boss with a dozen men under him was not the culprit behind the exploded Winchester House.

Just look at the destroyed Winchester ruins!

The explosion didn't even affect the other buildings on both sides and Winchester house was blown to ruins with only its basic building structure.

The explosive technique was a professional job and Kieran didn't believe mere thugs on the street could pull off such a feat.

Besides, there was a stench of blood before the explosion, the people inside Winchester House should be all dead by that time.

Kieran didn't know how much time the culprit killed the people but he knew the culprit must have killed everyone quietly as fast as possible to prevent unexpected complications.

There wasn't a single sound made throughout the whole process, the culprit must have used a dagger or a short knife as his weapon and must have possessed quite the skills to do that.

Such a skillful killer wouldn't be under the command of a street thug.

Kieran didn't want to reject Hoskin's suggestion though.

Since a street thug would send his men to watch the scene, it might be for himself but also because someone forced him to. Regardless of which it was, it was a clue to Kieran for now.

Hoskin started his cruiser once more. The young officer didn't notice anything unusual since he was drowned by his own excitement but Kieran wouldn't.

Kieran noticed there was another cruiser following them through the back mirror and his vision allowed him to easily spot who was behind the wheel.

Teresa, the chief officer!