A few hours after the accidental death that was definitely caused by an accidental oven fire.

Nathan and Brooks sat next to each other at the local bar, the same one that Nathan had spoken about when they first met. Ashcroft had, of course, ordered the same drink he used to drink with his wife... Meanwhile, Gabriel had a simple bottle of whisky with a sprinkle of red pepper on it. Nathan let out a small sigh as he glanced toward the seat of the man he had talked to before he had died of a seizure; well, that's what Nathan believed to this day. It was more than obvious that the death of this random man had a very big effect on Ashcroft.

Gabriel went to speak as he noticed how tight Ashcroft's grip was on his drink; he put the pieces together quite fast in his head. He was a detective, after all...despite the corruption. Brooks clearly wished to talk about the hidden files that he had found, but he knew damn well this wasn't the time. They had just finished with a damn house fire case; the body that they had found wasn't in the best shape either... Brooks assumed that this had led Nathan to be quite traumatized...oh, how wrong he was.

The ice of Nathan's drink slowly melted as their silence hung high in the air; it was broken by the bartender almost dropping a bottle while he was trying to impress one of their customers. That action made the three people laugh in unison. The customer turned to look at Nathan; their eyes seemed to widen slightly. Brooks caught onto it. Was it recognition? Gabriel's eyes scanned their body and noticed how they were dressed; this person was definitely a cop that was off duty at the moment. Nathan did not seem to recognize them... Strange, Brooks thought to himself.

Nathan offered to buy a drink for the customer before snatching Brooks's card before he could even say something. Brooks pouted slightly. Was this fucker serious? Paying for some random guy? But Brooks noticed something with the way Nathan was moving. He wasn't just paying for him, was he... No, this man was planning something, analyzing... He was hiding it so well... Not well enough for Brooks, though.

Nathan watched as the barman gave the drink to the off-duty cop and turned back to Gabriel; his eyes were cold as he uttered a single sentence. ''That's the guy who kidnapped my wife for sure.''

Brooks froze at the sentence. How could Nathan be so sure...? They did not even have a single piece of evidence that it was this man; sure, the cop seemed to recognize him, and the victim did say the word "cop" as they died...but that was it. No actual evidence. So how in the hell was Nathan so sure?

The man seemed to freeze as he overheard Nathan's sentence, and before a single sound could be made by the two detectives, he jumped out of his seat and ran out the back door toward the forest. Nathan let out a small sigh and walked out after him just like a wolf after its prey, while Brooks simply followed Ashcroft in confusion of the whole situation.

Brooks kept on questioning what was even happening, but Nathan didn't even reply; he simply kept on following the running man as he visibly got more and more exhausted until he tripped on a stump and fell on the ground right into a puddle of mud. He was so pathetic. The man turned around as he got up from the mud and froze as he saw Nathan standing over him with the same cold look he had given the pedophile last chapter.

Brooks went to grab the man, but Nathan had already lifted the man up by the collar and slammed him against the nearest tree, his gaze as cold as ever. Brooks couldn't believe just how cold Nathan was. This was unlike him.

"Where is she?" The sentence left Nathan's lips so slowly and coldly that it reverberated through the forest like a small chill of wind after a fire.

The man struggled against Nathan's vice grip for a moment before giving up as he heard the words that left his mouth. He was clearly confused. Which made Brooks and Nathan tilt their heads. Oh, so he wasn't the kidnapper, huh? Curious.

Nathan pulled out his gun, which was obviously empty from Brooks's point of view; of course, the man on the tree didn't know that. The man's eyes widened as he saw the gun; he thrashed against the grip of Nathan as he felt the barrel of the gun against his rib. He knew he had no other choices, so he let out an admission that left both of the detectives speechless for a moment. He was the one who had poisoned the man at the bar. However, that wasn't the thing that left them speechless; it was what the man said after. Someone had paid him to do that. Jesus, how corrupt was the police force here?

Nathan let out a small chuckle as he dropped the man to the ground and cuffed him before pulling out a recorder from his pocket. The man's eyes widened as he realized he had just admitted to murder. Oh, he was fucked. Brooks's eyes widened as he saw the recorder. Did he plan this whole interaction before they even went to the bar? How did he know that he would come to the bar...how? Just what did Ashcroft know that he did not? Thinking back to it. Nathan never even drank his drink. He let the ice melt and never even took a sip, unlike him. He was waiting, wasn't he?

Brooks picked the man up from the ground by the arm and walked him back to their car, where he pushed him in the back as the two men sat in the front as Brooks started the car and went toward the police station to book him. Nathan glanced over his shoulder as the man clearly did not wish to go to jail. He was a cop after all...things wouldn't go well for him... Nathan smirked at the distress before offering the man a way out. If he told them who paid him...they would let him run. Brooks pressed on the brake and looked at Nathan in confusion.

The man, knowing he had no way out, obliged and gave out a name.

''Lucian Voss''

Nathan smiled softly before telling Brooks to resume driving. The man's eyes widened once more. "What about the deal?" he screamed. Nathan laughed gently and simply replied that they never had shaken their hands, so there never was a deal in the first place. The man kept on thrashing around in the car until they arrived at the station, where he was booked and put into a cell.

Brooks stayed at the station to finish the paperwork of the man they had just arrested, while Nathan caught the next bus to go back home.

He pushed his front door in and sat down in the living room as he turned on his old computer and went online to research who the hell Lucian Voss even was. A millionaire? Damn. Nathan let out a small bark of laughter. Who else but the richest man of the continent to order a hit on a random guy... Wait. Nathan froze as he thought everything over. This man...Voss... He was the actual person who had kidnapped his wife, wasn't he...and the pedophile that he had just killed...he was... Nathan typed down on his computer and froze once more. The man he had killed wasn't just a pedophile. He was Lucian Voss's fucking lawyer! ... That explains why he had sent the cop to the bar again... Lucian probably saw him kill his lawyer today... Dammit.

How was he even going to get his wife back... Nathan knew damn well that Lucian had one of the most secure houses in the whole continent. There was no damn way that he could possibly do it alone... Unless...he asked someone...someone who was corrupt...Brooks. But they didn't have any evidence that it was him... all they knew is that he was definitely the one who hired the man, but that was it. Nothing about the kidnapping... How could Nathan possibly convince Brooks to help him... He could tell him about his murder? No...Brooks would just arrest him... What the hell could he possibly do...

Nathan let out a small sigh as he slowly walked back to the police station; he walked to make sure to give enough time for Brooks to leave the place. Nathan walked into the evidence room and crouched down to the brick, which he slowly pulled out to grab all of the files. His plan had been made up. If he couldn't kill Voss in his house, he was going to drag him out by taking out everyone close to him. A killing spree... Nathan tilted his head for a moment. How did Brooks have so much case with the member of Voss? Doesn't matter right now... Nathan walked out of the station with the case files. A cop stopped him this time. But Nathan simply told him that he was going to look into old cases to make sure they didn't forget to look somewhere, which the cop bought easily and let him walk.

Nathan arrived back home, and the first thing he did was set up the files in order of their ages from oldest to youngest. He was going to give a metaphorical countdown to Voss.

By killing them in order of their age.