"Warner, what do you need now?" Jenn asked when she answered the call.

Ben greeted her in a low, urgent voice. "Catherine. Did you kidnap a suspect?"

She frowned in surprise. How did he know that? Not that she really did kidnap anyone, technically speaking. "Get to the point."

"Okay, okay," he said, much to her surprise. Usually he would have responded differently, more sarcastically. "Your town agent, last name's Turner, if I'm not mistaken, called the general."

Damn it. She realised now what was going on. Agent Turner must have gone to Ray's house after she had brought Ray to the hotel. He assumed that she'd help Ray escape because he was her friend. Ugh, this was going to be ugly.

"Hello? You still there?" Ben's voice brought her back to the present.

"Yes," she replied curtly. "So your dad is going to call me?"

"Um, that's a given, isn't it?" Ben said, chuckling nervously. "Look, I'm not sure what the general has in store for you, but it's not going to be pleasant."

"It would take an idiot to not figure that out." Then her tone softened a little. "Thanks for the tip. Bye."

She didn't wait for his reply before hanging up. Jenn turned back to Ray, who was giving her a questioning look. Before she could say anything, her cell phone rang again. 

"Sorry," she muttered to Ray. She wanted to answer the call in her room, but Ray still needed supervision. So she walked towards the kitchen, where she would be out of earshot and Ray would still be within her sight. Then she answered the call.

"Sir."

"Agent Nelson." His voice sounded calm. "I suppose that Agent Warner has briefed you on the details, so I'm getting straight to the point. Did you kidnap a suspect?"

Like father, like son, she thought, recalling Ben using the exact words. "Yes." What else could she say? She did bring Ray over to her place without his consent.

The general heaved a sigh. "Why did you do so?"

At least he gave her a chance to explain. In a low voice, she explained everything to him. "Yesterday I found evidence in one of the crime scenes. A name was carved onto the handle of a wooden chair where the first victim was supposedly tied. Later, I met with a few witnesses who saw one of the victims leaving parties with a guy named Ray Darce – which is the name on the chair – the night before she was found dead. So I gave Agent Turner and his partner an update about my progress so far.

"The next morning, I went to Ray's house to confront him about the case. He confessed to the crime but when I prodded him for more details, he couldn't answer. He had no idea why or even how he did it. He showed no signs of deceit and mental disability, so the most possible explanation was that he was hypnotised.

"Then I decided that he was off the suspect list. I figured that it would be best for him to be under my supervision until the real serial killer is caught, so I brought him back to my place. Agent Turner must have made assumptions about this whole thing." It was a long-story-short version of the whole incident, but Jenn thought that it would do trick.

The general remained silent for a few moments before speaking again. "You take the next flight back to HQ. You'll be assigned to a new case."

"No." She was taken aback at his irrational decision. Obviously, he thought that she was letting her personal feelings get in her way. "Sir, with all due respect, you have misunderstood my actions."

"Have I now?" the general said coolly.

"I have checked twice before I confirmed that Ray has been hypnotised. I did not assume anything just because he is my friend. I did not allow my personal feelings to affect my decisions in this case. "

The general was silent, reconsidering his decision, perhaps.

"You sent me here because of my ability so please trust your decision, even if you don't trust me," she said steely.

He sighed in resignation. "I can see where you're going with this." He cleared his throat. "Fine, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt." She smiled victoriously. "You have two weeks to solve this case. If you fail to do so, you will be withdrawn from this mission."

Okay, she could handle that.

"One more thing: I'm assigning two more agents to this mission."

This wiped the smile off her face. "I do not need supervision," she objected. Two agents? Did he find her that distrustful?

"This is not up to you," he retorted, finalising his decision.

She groaned inwardly. "Then can I at least choose my partners?" she asked, feigning submission.

The general considered her request for a few moments. "You'll choose one. I'll choose the other."

"Fair enough," she conceded. "I want Dolphin on this one."

"Dolphin?" Obviously he was momentarily confused. "Oh, right, Agent Leon," he mumbled to himself. "Catherine, you do realise that Dolphin is just a nickname, don't you? Her code name is Falcon. You should stop using nicknames at serious moments like this. It's really confusing." For a moment, he was clearly distracted.

"But she dislikes it. She thinks that Dolphin suits her better – intelligent, brainy," Jenn replied, thrilled for the distraction.

But then he got back to business. "Okay, then, it's decided. Falcon and Cougar will assist you in this case."

What!

"They'll arrive tomorrow."

No! The word was stuck in her throat.

"Good luck, Agent." The line went dead.

"No," she mumbled belatedly, suppressing the urge to scream aloud. Her emotions were in turmoil right now. She tightened her grip on the cell phone. Out of all the agents, the general had to choose his son. He did this on purpose, didn't he? She should have seen this coming.

Ray spoke hesitantly, breaking her train of thought. "Uh ... Jenn? Oh, I meant Catherine."

Her eyes snapped to him, causing him to flinch involuntarily under her stony gaze. "Your phone is ringing again," he said gingerly.

"Sorry, it's not you that I'm mad at." She apologised curtly before answering her phone.

She didn't have to check the caller ID to know that it was Ben again.

She answered the call immediately. "Did you do it on purpose?" she demanded, not bothering to lower her voice.

"It wasn't me." He was plainly trying to suppress his laughter. "I swear it wasn't, though I'm not really surprised that he chose me."

She scoffed and hung up, pressing the END button a bit too forcefully.

She strode towards the couch and stuffed her cell phone into her backpack. Then she threw herself onto the couch in a huff. She turned to Ray, only to see him struggling to contain his smile.

"What?" she asked, blatantly puzzled at his amused expression.

"You look really cute when you're angry," he answered, laughing.

She put her frustrations aside and raised an eyebrow at him, ignoring the fluttery feelings in her stomach when he said that.

"That came out all wrong." He made a weird face. "Wait, let me rephrase that."

Now it was her turn to be amused. "Don't worry. I got what you meant. I was just messing with you."

"Oh." He chuckled, embarrassed.

"A piece of advice from me: think before you speak." She could barely suppress a smile. "You're going to break many girls' heart if you keep that up."

His sheepish expression turned into a playful grin. "Should I take that as a compliment?"

"Up to you." She shrugged before getting all serious again. "Ray, are you still confused about the case now?"

He thought about it for a few moments. "I think not," he said slowly. "But it's still kind of hard for me to accept the fact that I'm under hypnosis." He frowned.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to it." She replied, finding his muddled expression amusing.

He glanced up at the ceiling and muttered to himself, "Believe it, Ray. You are under hypnosis. You did not kill those girls. You were framed by the real killer." He repeated the whole thing a few times like a mantra.

She chuckled, shaking her head. "You should not have any contact with the outside world too, you know. Add that to the list."

He turned to her with wide eyes. "I'm basically a prisoner here," he exclaimed. Then he added cheerfully, "Well, a willing prisoner." He laughed despite himself.

Even at a time like this, he could still manage to be funny. She rolled her eyes at his silliness and stood up. "Come on. I'll show you to your room. By the way, just call me Jenn."

~

That night, Jenn and Ray were both sitting in the living area. The television was turned on, but neither of them was watching it. Ray's eyes were glued to the television, but his mind was plainly elsewhere. Jenn paid no attention to him as she feverishly clicked and typed away on her laptop, searching for whatever information she could find about breaking a hypnotic trance.

Ray spoke suddenly. "Jenn?"

"Yes?" Jenn mumbled, her eyes never leaving her screen.

"Why did you leave in the first place?"

Her fingers froze over the keyboard, and she slowly turned to look at him. His expression was a mixture of curiosity and hesitation. She was sure that he saw her rigid posture, for he quickly added, "You don't have to answer my question if you don't feel like it."

"I wasn't planning to."

"Okay." Ray blinked and pursed his lips, seemingly taken aback by her bleak tone. He went back to staring at the television.

Jenn had turned back to her laptop, but she could no longer focus on her current task. After a few moments, she spoke again.

"My parents were killed."

Ray's eyes went back to her face, observing her emotionless face. He remained silent, waiting for her to open up more.

"They were assassinated, to be exact," she said in a quiet tone. "When the government learned about my ability, they wanted to recruit me." She continued, her tone mirroring her expression, void and empty. "At first, I turned down their offer because I never wanted to leave town. But then one of the agents – the one who discovered me in the first place – approached me with a case, asking for my assistance. He promised that I did not need to leave town for the case and it was just a one-time deal. He said that he needed my extraordinary perception – his words, not mine – and I thought it harmless enough that I agreed to it.

"I helped him solve the case. We investigated a corrupt firm and took down several high-profile figures. I made it clear that I didn't want any credit in solving the case, but someone must have leaked my name. Terrence Anderson, the big gun in the firm, whom we haven't yet managed to bring in at the time, put a hit out on me and the agent I was working with ... as well as our families.

"Within three days, our families were wiped out by assassins." Her voice turned cold. "The agent and I were brought into protective custody. A letter was left behind to cover my tracks so that my sudden departure wouldn't raise alarms. When I heard about my parents' death, I snapped. I requested to join the NSSS right after I left Tirjuan to hunt down the bastards myself. They were more than happy to recruit me. I wanted to keep this whole thing silent. My parents were killed during their business trip to Hawaii, so the news never managed to travel back here. The government had to pull some strings to cover up the whole situation, but they managed to make it look as if my parents had spontaneously decided to move overseas, so that's that."

Now everything made sense to Ray. He had always thought it weird for the Cole family to move away just like that. And now the mystery had finally been uncovered. However, the truth was nowhere near his previous assumptions.

"In the end, I did succeed in taking down every single person involved in my parents' murder, including Anderson, but it never felt enough. I made myself forget about it. I got a new identity, a new life. I never looked back." A ghost of a smile touched her lips, but then it vanished as soon as it appeared. "Until now."

Ray kept his eyes on her, clearly absorbing everything she had just told him. Jenn began staring off into space, immersed in deep thought.

A part of her wondered why she had told him about her parents. It puzzled her that she would open up to him so easily. But more than that, she was surprised at herself for not breaking down after all that. There were traces of sadness and grief inside her, but the feeling of relief overpowered those melancholy feelings. It felt good to finally get it out of her. It was amazing how talking about her parents could make her see how foolish she had been for running away from her past all this while.

"You okay?" Ray's voice pulled her back to the present. He gently laid his hand on hers as an act of consolation. "If you need a shoulder to cry on, I am more than honoured to be of service," he said jokingly.

"Do you see tears in my eyes?" Jenn asked him rhetorically, and then surprised him by laying her head on his shoulder. "But thanks."

"You're welcome. I'm glad that you trust me enough to give me the truth."

"Feels good to have someone who understands." Jenn sighed.

Ray felt something inside him stir at her words, and he couldn't help but feel sad for her. It must have been really hard for her to not speak of it for four years. For a moment, he wanted to embrace her in his arms and let her know that he would always be there for her. But then he pushed away the silly thought. How could he take advantage of her at a moment like this? Instead, he simply asked, "So you're really okay now?"

She lifted her head from his shoulder and turned to meet his gaze, smiling softly. "Never better."