Jenn stared out of the window, immersed in her thoughts as Ben drove silently beside her. She kept thinking about the fragrance left by the killer at the crime scene, trying to figure out the mystery behind it. It was just a refreshing vanilla peppermint scent. What made it so special and familiar to her? She had never used perfumes with this scent in her life – she was very sure of that – so where had she come across this scent?

"You hate me so much, huh?" Ben said suddenly, pulling her out of her thoughts. He was staring ahead, but somehow Jenn knew that he was observing her.

"I don't hate you," Jenn answered flatly.

"Well, your insult earlier suggested otherwise," Ben replied sourly.

"Honestly, I don't hate you. I don't have time for that." Jenn simply said, keeping her face void of emotions.

Suddenly, Ben pulled the car over to the side of the road, surprising Jenn. He turned to her with a look of frustration. "Why don't you just spit it all out right now? Insult me as much as you like. Call me names if you want. Even better, hit me. You have your gun, right? Shoot me too if you want. Let it out. I promise I won't defend myself or anything."

"What's the point?" She laughed dryly, staring at the road in front of her.

"At least you'll stop acting like this if you release the anger inside you," he reasoned with her.

"Acting like what?" She still refused to meet his gaze.

"Like you're disgusted with me or something." He was clearly trying to hide the hurt inside him, but it was still apparent in his voice.

His tone stirred up something inside her. Finally, Jenn sighed quietly and turned to look at him. His poker face mirrored hers, but she caught something in his eyes: traces of hopefulness. Seeing this angered her.

"The damage has already been done. Insulting or hurting you doesn't change anything." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Her hands inadvertently balled into fists on her lap as her own words floated around in her head.

Damn it. Of course, Jenn was well aware that Ben was trying to push her buttons, but she couldn't believe that she actually said those things to him. Openly admitting that he had managed to hurt her was probably the stupidest thing she could've said to anyone, especially to Ben.

A frown appeared on his forehead. "I don't—"

She cut him off, her voice shaking a little. "Drive." She turned away from him and stared out the window.

"Listen—"

"Just drive." This time her voice was firm.

"Catherine, please just—"

"Jennifer," she corrected him, cutting him off again. "And if you don't start driving now, I'll go back to the hotel by foot."

Ben said nothing more after that. He drove them back to the hotel in complete silence. Even after they reached her suite, the tension between them hung in the air like a dead pheasant.

When they arrived, Jenn went straight into the office and shut the door. In her file, she started writing down all the information that she'd gathered at the crime scene. She heard the door open. "Not now," she muttered, not looking up from the file.

"Okay, just remember to take your lunch," J. Lee said before closing the door, leaving Jenn alone.

Jenn finally raised her head and saw the food placed in front of her. She closed her eyes and sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of her nose. This was way harder than she expected it to be, and it was only her first day with him.

Her eyes strayed back to her file. She recalled the note at the crime scene. Another girl was going to be added to the list of victims soon. No, she shouldn't be absorbed in her own little world right now. She had far more important matters to focus on. She had to stop the killer. She must.

Pushing away all the distracting thoughts in her head, she continued with her report. She would get this over with as soon as she could, and then she would not have to face all this crap anymore, she thought to herself as she scribbled away in the quiet little room.

~

In the evening, Jenn finally finished her report. She glanced up at the food that she had not yet touched. Yawning, she got up and went out of the office, taking her food with her to the kitchen. The others were in the living area, watching her as she walked by, but she ignored them. She put her food in the microwave and turned it on. As she waited for the meal to get hot, she brought up a hand to cover her mouth, yawning again. All the writing and thinking were really wearing her out.

The microwave beeped twice, signalling that her food was ready. She swiftly took it out and scarfed down the entire contents of the plate. Just as she finished washing her plate, her cell phone rang. She wiped her wet hands on her jeans before taking her cell phone from her pocket. It was the general again. What was going on now?

She answered the call warily. "Sir."

"Agent Nelson." The general spoke in his usual calm voice. That was a good sign. "How's the case going? Coping well with your new partners?"

Her eyebrows rose at his questions. "You're calling to check on me?"

"Calm down, Agent." he soothed. "I'm just concerned about the case."

Her lips twitched. "What? You trust me now?"

"I never said that I don't," he replied smoothly with a smile in his voice. "It was just you assuming all along."

She let out a laugh. He did have his way with words. "Okay, my fault, then," she said. "About the case, I have some bad news." Her voice turned serious. "Apparently, the killer struck again last night. The victim was discovered in a deserted building this morning."

"What?" The general sounded puzzled. "But the killer was not supposed to kill again until next month, right?"

"He broke his pattern." She gave a few details about what she had observed at the crime scene. "So I believe that this is just a warning. Another girl will die if we don't solve this case soon."

"If you don't solve this case soon," He corrected her. "Cougar and Falcon are there to assist you, but you know this case and town better than anyone. I'm afraid it's only you who can solve this case."

"Right," she uttered, biting the inside of her cheek. Yesterday the general was all upset and grumpy with her, and now he was suddenly back to his trusting self again. It made her wonder if yesterday was merely an act to get her to be stuck with his son ... "I will bring this serial killer to justice." She adopted a mock-serious tone. "Even if it means dying to get the case solved."

"You have a wicked sense of humour," the general remarked with a slight chuckle. "All right, then. I won't be a bother anymore. Good luck, Agent." The line went dead.

She stared at her cell phone and sighed. "If only luck could break a hypnotic trance," she mumbled to herself as Ray's face entered her mind.

Stuffing her cell phone back into her pocket, she left the kitchen and noticed that J. Lee was sitting on the couch alone, reading a book.

"Where are the guys?" she asked.

J. Lee looked up from her book. "Don't worry. They haven't gone out. They're just in the room, bickering about where they'll be sleeping tonight." She said this in a flat tone. "You okay?" She cocked her head to the side, her hazel brown eyes staring intently at Jenn.

"Yes." Jenn nodded, giving her friend a tiny smile. "By the way, thanks for lunch."

"No problem," J. Lee muttered as she turned back to her book. "You might want to go check on them. Ben isn't really himself since he came back."

As if to prove her words, a long string of profanities echoed from the bedroom next to hers. Muttering under her breath, Jenn strode towards the room and threw open the door to find a flustered Ray scowling at Ben, who was sitting on the bed smiling triumphantly. As soon as they saw her entering the room, the two guys quickly rearranged their expressions into composed looks.

She gave them both a grim expression, hinting to them that she knew exactly what was going on in the room just now. "There's no need for a fight. You will both be sleeping here. The bed is big enough for the both of you. No one is allowed to sleep on the couch," she stated bluntly. "Now stop acting like you're three."

"Yes, ma'am," Ben muttered sarcastically in a low voice, obviously not satisfied with her decision, but she knew that he knew better than to pick another fight with her. Ray simply kept silent, his eyes fixated on the floor. He wore a frown on his forehead, mirroring Ben's emotions.

Jenn forced herself to meet Ben's eyes, keeping her face blank. "You can unpack now. Briefing continues after dinner." Then she turned to Ray. "You come with me."

Ray raised his eyebrows, giving her a questioning look. "Where to?"

"Your house," she simply replied, tapping her foot impatiently. "You need to bring over some of your clothes. Now come along." Then she spun around to speak to J. Lee. "You might as well start unpacking too," she said, her tone back to normal. Then she left with Ray, hoping that their short trip to his house would go smoothly, without any more complications.

Much to her contentment, they managed to reach his house and leave without bumping into anyone they knew. Ray seemed to be in good mood right after they left the hotel, which made Jenn wonder if he was glad to be away from Ben or if he just wanted to get some fresh air.

She did raise the question on their way back to the hotel. Ray didn't reply, but the twinkle in his eyes told her enough about what he was thinking. She regretted bringing up the topic. It had totally escaped her mind that Ray had romantic feelings for her. However, she was puzzled about Ray's behaviour in showing his feelings. Of course, she figured that this flirtatious side of Ray could just be a side effect of him under the influence of hypnosis, but now she wasn't so sure.

Sometimes when Ray was being serious and focused on something important such as the case, it felt almost as if there were nothing but friendship between them. At other times, when he was relaxed and casual, he would start showing interest in her all of a sudden. She certainly wasn't planning to get involved in any romantic relationship with him, but it still bugged her somehow.

It bothered her that she could not be sure about how he really felt about her. What if Ben was right? What if Ray's mind had been so thoroughly twisted by the killer that he wasn't feeling anything at all? What if this was just a mask Ray had put on to protect himself? No, this couldn't be it. She must have been too concerned about Ray to be coming up with these absurd thoughts.

Wait, why was she even thinking about this? Jenn shook her head to clear her thoughts. Gosh, she really needed to get herself together. First Ben, now Ray. This was not how she should be acting as a special agent.

She said nothing more to him until they reached the hotel. She could feel Ray's eyes on her much of the time they were in the car, but she tried to be oblivious to his constant staring.

"We're back," she announced as they entered the living area. No one replied. Then a piece of paper on the coffee table caught her eyes. She went forward and picked it up. Behind her, she heard Ray closing the door.

On the paper was J. Lee's neat handwriting: "Grocery shopping," it read. Great, it was her turn to babysit Ray, then.

"Where are your partners?" Ray asked, looking around.

"At the grocery store," she replied, sitting down on the couch.

"So it's just the two of us then." Ray plopped down beside her. The room was silent for a few moments before he sighed. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she said nonchalantly, covering the wariness inside her. She met his gaze and saw the troubled look on his face. "Is something wrong?"

He hesitated before answering. "This morning during the briefing, something weird happened. When you were explaining about how the victims were killed, I uh ... sort of heard someone else's voice while you were speaking."

Jenn scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. "Do you mind explaining further about that?"

"Well, the way you spoke, your tone, it somehow reminded me of another person's voice." He said this slowly, trying his best to put his thoughts into words. "I'm not sure whose voice it was, but it sounded really ... eerie."

Jenn remembered the way his rigid stance relaxed when Agent Turner's phone call had interrupted the briefing this morning.

"And then I kind of just froze right there in my seat," Ray continued as he shifted uncomfortably on the couch. "It was as my body were detached from my mind ... I could hear you talking, but I didn't understand a word you said. All I knew was that my mind went blank too. It was almost like ..."

"You were in a trance," she finished for him.

He stared at her in surprise. "Yes. How did you know?"

"Well, it wasn't really hard to guess after you said that your mind went blank. Do you remember the voice now?"

"Vaguely," he replied, still looking troubled. "What's going on with me?"

"I think the voice you heard was the person who had hypnotised you to believe that you're responsible for the six girls' deaths." She spoke calmly, gauging his reaction.

Ray widened his eyes. "You mean it was the killer's voice?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Can you describe how the voice sounds?"

He looked away from her eyes, trying hard to recall the voice he had heard. "Well, he sounded ... calm but cold ... dark ... and uh ..." As he struggled for words, his eyes started to go wild.