BELLA’S POV
There was still bondage on my fist when I arrived at the headquarters. Some people I passed by kept on looking at my fist with wonders in their eyes. Maybe I looked like a walking zombie because aside from the bondage of my fist, I also had big and dark eyebags since I could not sleep last night.
“Good morning, Bella!” Riri loudly greeted me. Unlike before, I could not hear the joy in her voice. Even if she did not tell me, I knew that she also still grieving about Claire’s sudden death.
Because of Riri’s loud voice, my other co-detectives has been alerted and immediately stopped what they were doing. They saluted me in unison, and I did the same thing. After I put down my hand, they instantly went back to what they were doing earlier. If someone visits us right now, he may think that our office was stormed by someone because of how messy it looked like right now.
I let out a heavy sigh before I went to my working station. Everyone is busy since there was a memo released by the higher-ups to speed up the preliminary investigation, so the case can move to the court, especially since there was a forensic expert at the headquarters who died related to the case.
“Detective Soriano.” I instantly raised my head when I heard Cedric’s voice.
“Any clue?” I straightforwardly asked him.
I clenched my fist when he slightly shook his head, “we could no longer call the cellphone. The number used was already untraceable.
“D@mn it!” I shouted as I stood up and hit my table. I could not believe how slippery that organization was.
“Bella, calm down,” Ced tried to calm me down and looked around. I noticed how I got my co-detectives’ attention because of what I did. I knew that in the industry I am working with, we are not allowed to show emotions in the case we are investigating, but this is too much.
“Is there any chance you can still trace the location where the message was sent to me?” I asked after I sat down and leaned on my swivel chair.
“My team were trying to do everything they can. I also sent some people on where Claire was murdered to check. I thought that the person sent you the message was located near the crime scene,” Ced explained. I nodded.
“Update me immediately if there will be some progress,” I calmly instructed, then held my temple.
“Bella, please don’t stress yourself too much, you should take care of yourself,” Ced remarked.
“ Don’t worry about me. You may go,” I said. He deeply sighed before he disappeared in front of me.
I took the documents I was reading earlier and continued where I left off. These are the past reports we have involving that organization. Hmm, if I could not look for some information about the organization, maybe I should at least… I immediately took my car keys and was about to leave the office when Riri called me.
“Bella, wait!”
I looked back at her in wonder, “why?”
“Where are you going?” Riri asked as she approached me.
“If they don’t want to be found, then we should force them to show.” I replied with determination. I saw how she frowned after what I said. Maybe she did not get what I wanted to say.
“Just do what I asked you to do. Call me once you found some clue,” I instructed and tapped her shoulder.
Before she could react, I hurriedly left the office and hopped in my car. I immediately drove to where the key to this case could be.
“Good afternoon, what brought you here?” the maid politely asked me as she slightly opened the door.
“Is Mr. Ramirez there?” I asked.
“Why are you looking for him?” she asked back.
I took my badge from my pocket and showed it to her, “Detective Amabella Soriano,” I introduced myself.
She seemed freaked out and widely opened the door, “please come in.”
“Thank you,” I politely said and entered Ramirez’s Mansion.
“I will just call Sir Toph,” she said.
She left me after I nodded. While I was waiting, I used the chance to look around to see if I could find a lead to connect Toph’s connection to the organization. My eyes met the picture frames displayed near the piano, so I went there. I have to confirm if Toph had that tattoo or any of his family members.
“Detective, what are you looking at?” I almost jumped off in shock when I heard Toph’s voice on my back.
I cleared my throat before I face him, “Mr. Ramirez, you are here,” I stated and extended my hand.
“Just call me Christopher, Detective,” he replied and accepted my hand. I smiled at him.
“What happened to your hands?” Toph asked in wonder when he noticed my bondage fist.
I looked at my fist before I replied,  “it was part of my job, so don’t mind it.”
He just shrugged his shoulder and pointed to the sofa on my back,  “Take your seat.”
“Thank you,” I replied and sat down on the sofa. Toph did the same thing.
“What brought you here, Detective?” Toph asked to break the silence between us.
I faked a cough before replying, “there was a forensic expert on our headquarter that was mu-murdered.” I tried to hide how my voice cracked by looking at him coldly.
“Don’t tell me I was your suspect again?” he sarcastically stated.
“There was still no result on our initial investigation, but we thought that this murder may be related to the case you were in,” I straightforwardly said.
Toph looked at me while his eyebrow was going against each other, “I don’t know who the forensic expert was you were talking about. Another thing, I just arrived from my Boracay trip, so I think I have strong alibi right now,” he explained.
“I will let my team check about your alibi. I went here because I want to know something,” I seriously stated.
“Stop beating around the bush, Detective. Please do not waste our time,” Toph commented.
I did not bother to answer what he said and just took my phone. Then, I put down my phone on the table facing him. He looked at me with confusion in his eyes.
“I want to know if you have some information about that,” I said and pointed to my phone’s screen.
Toph took my phone from the table and started to look at it intensely. I noticed how his eyebrows went against each other again like he was thinking about something.
“Do you know anything about that tattoo? Do you know someone who had that same tattoo?” I asked one after another.
He looked at me, “the tattoo seemed familiar, but I could not remember where I saw it.” Toph replied and handed me back my phone.
“Maybe you want to check it again. Maybe you can remember something,” I replied as I refused to accept my phone back. Toph was about to check the tattoo when my phone suddenly rang. He gave it back to me. I gladly accepted it, and I was not surprised seeing Riri was the one calling me.
“Hello Detective Riri,” I said as I answered the call. I also stood up and went slightly away from Toph, so he won’t be able to hear my conversation with Riri. I am currently facing on the opposite side of him.
[ Bella, where are you? We are able to trace the phone number. ]
“Are you sure, Cedric?” My eyebrows met when I asked him. Why was he holding Riri’s phone?
[ Yes, Riri and I are on our way. She was driving. Anyway, I’m gonna send you the location through text message. ]
“All right, I am about to leave here, Take good care of yourselves,” I said and approached the sofa to get my jacket. I put it there earlier.
[ Be careful, Bella. ]
After Cedric said those words, I immediately ended the call and faced Toph.
“I have to go, Mr. Ramirez. If ever you could recall anything about what I showed you, please informed me immediately,” I said while wearing my jacket back.
“You can count on that, Bella.” I stopped for a while when I heard him calling my first name. There was something strange about the way he called me which gave some chills on my body.
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Ramirez. I will go now,” I stated after I calmed myself down because of the shock earlier.
“I will see you off outside,” He said and started walking towards the door.
I silently followed him until we reached my car. Before I entered my car, I faced him.
“Thank you once again, Mr. Ramirez,” I sincerely smiled at him.
“Your welcome. Be careful, Detective,” he replied. I nodded, then entered my car. I started driving away from Ramirez’s mansion.
           TO BE CONTINUED!