18. Hard Work and Sacrifice

Dannielle Morgan's life gets busier when she has to work two jobs, as a cop and also as a part-time worker at Genie Market. He has to act and rush back to her normal mode as a detective.

Like right now, Danni is with Ben in the forensics room. In front of them is a woman's body for an investigation.

"Just like the one found on the body of the late swimming teacher."

"What? The same?" exclaimed Danni and Ben in unison.

"Not cocaine or methamphetamine." The forensic doctor slipped his hand into his coat. "Looks like a synthetic drug."

Danni frowned. "Not fentanyl either?"

The doctor shook his head. "No, it's not. Looks like a new type of drug. It has to be analyzed to know the details." He looked at the body. "But this guy is terrible."

"What was detected in the stomach was only 0.02 grams, but it could be fatal?" Ben still couldn't believe it.

The doctor exhaled softly. "If fentanyl is a dog. Then, it's a wolf."

Danni and Ben both couldn't digest this unusual situation. They were still listening to the doctor who was used to working with them.

"I found something." The doctor turned around, retrieving a baby feeding bottle with milk powder inside. An item of evidence found by the other team.

"The content of this formula is the same as the components found during the autopsy," he continued.

The two police detectives focused on the milk bottle as they were dumbfounded. "The same drug."

After getting further information from the forensic doctor, Danni and Ben moved towards the deceased's residence. Even the two police detectives were still equally dumbfounded by the case they faced.

"So, Alex Matthew is trying to kill humans on Earth?" Ben blurted out as he exited the elevator.

"I don't know. Whoever's behind it, he's evil," Danni said, saluting the officers guarding the apartment unit.

"We just need evidence to put Alex in jail, right?"

Danni paused her steps as she put on rubber gloves. "We don't need to put Alex Matthew in jail."

"Hm?" Ben widened his eyes.

"But sentence him to death."

"Ah! You're right!"

"But it's not that easy. You know that, too."

"Yeah, right."

Danni and the team have been investigating drug cases for a long time, but in the last two years they have always found odd things about the drugs they investigate. All the patterns lead to Alex Matthew, who has also been secretly investigated by other teams before.

Unfortunately, there was no solid evidence. Even the head of the center asked the team not to focus on Alex Matthew as if giving a defense.

"Let's see!" Ben opened several rooms and curtains to the refrigerator.

"Oh my! How worrying," Ben complained.

"Why?"

"There are no groceries in this house at all," Ben continued. "There's only water and beer in the fridge."

Danni accidentally spotted a trash can that was so full that the trash was scattered all over the place and almost all of the trash was mineral water bottles.

"Ben, you saw the body, right?"

"Yeah, of course."

"She lost more than ten kilograms," Danni said as he circled the cramped apartment unit. "She wasn't eating. That means the drugs are making her unable to eat anything."

Danni exhaled. "There must be drugs among the things he's carrying." His eyes looked sharper. "And kept in a hidden place."

+++

"Why isn't he answering my calls?" Irene complained. She tossed the phone onto the sofa and then plopped down on it.

Irene stared at the ceiling of the apartment unit in solitude. "Does Danni eat regularly?"

The woman kicked the air as she kept thinking about her husband out there. Maybe Irene would calm down if Danni was easy to reach. But unfortunately, he wasn't. Danni was engaged in busy and dangerous work. That's what often overwhelmed Irene.

In her silence, Irene remembered what happened thirteen years ago. At that time, teenage Irene was sleeping in class during recess while other friends scattered out of the classroom. Some were eating in the cafeteria or playing.

"Irene!" Jeff came to wake her up. "Wake up! Aren't you hungry?"

Irene didn't wake up immediately. She was still grumbling. Even Jeff insisted again until Irene refused.

"I'm lazy! Why are you forcing me?"

"I don't know! You didn't even answer my question!" snapped Jeff.

"I'm going to bed."

Suddenly, Jeff sniffed something. "Irene! Don't you smell something?"

Irene, who was lying face down on the table, didn't answer.

"It smells like..."

"Fire!" the other students exclaimed as the bell started ringing.

Irene opened her eyes. "What?"

"Fire. Let's get up quickly!" Jeff pulled Irene up.

Even the lazy girl panicked. She and Jeff rushed out of the classroom. They widened their eyes when they saw the black smoke that had surrounded the third floor. The fire was suspected to have come from the laboratory.

Jeff pulled Irene's hand. "Let's go this way!"

It just so happened that there weren't many students in class during the break, but even so, those who were left had tried to save themselves. But during the escape, the roof began to collapse.

"Huh?!"

"Jeff!" Irene pulled Jeff away and coughed under the influence of the smoke.

"That way!" Jeff saw a small gap in the stairwell that wasn't affected by the fire.

The two held hands, committed to staying together. Jeff was in the front while Irene was behind him.

But Irene heard the faint sound of moaning. She looked around to make sure.

"What's wrong?" asked Jeff. "We have to hurry."

"I'm sorry." Irene threw Jeff's hand away.

"Irene!" shouted Jeff. He climbed back up but a roof collapsed in front of him, blocking his access to Irene. There Jeff was in a panic. But he had no choice.

The teenage Jeff's only option was to get down and immediately call for help from the fire department, which had just arrived. The school was large and the fire was already spreading, making it time-consuming to extinguish. It was difficult

Irene, whose beautiful face was filled with ashes, tried to find the source of the sound. Finally, she found a girl in a classroom. She was crushed under a desk. She looked helpless.

Irene panicked as the fire grew, closing the exits. She lifted the large table with her remaining strength and reached out to her.

"Come, come with me!"

They joined hands. But there was no way out. The fire had grown bigger and was approaching them very quickly. Irene made the crazy decision to jump from the window to the car's roof below.

Irene was crazy, but she had calculated that at least she wouldn't die if she jumped from the third floor to the roof of the car. And as it turned out, the girl she saved was Dannielle Morgan's sister.