Point of No Return

Chapter 1

"You actually got on the elevator?" Skylee questioned me with a smirk.

I awkwardly scoffed and squared my shoulders. "...only because I was late, and this office is on the seventh floor." I pouted at Skylee, and she just laughed at me.

"Halle here has a fear of elevators." Skylee informed the guys with a secretive wink.

"Afraid of elevators?" Questioned a young looking man, who clearly was the youngest of the group.

Which meant this must be Eiki. Skylee says they get along well, seeing as he's a Jaspanese-American NYPD officer working here in Japan. His brown hair was crazy and wild like him, but it was a shade darker than mine and Hanai's. He was dressed the most casual of the group, only wearing a white t-shirt, a black denim vest, light-washed jeans, and he had dog tags around his neck. He always had a bright smile on his face, and Eiki was the laid back jokester of the group always trying to get laughs.

"Yes, elevators." I awkwardly averted eye contact as I nervously twisted a piece of my short hair. "Have you ever been in one? It's like riding in a coffin falling down a mine shaft!"

Looking away in an attempt to avoid any further discussion of my fear of elevators, I noticed the two other men in the room; neither of them were paying our conversation any mind. One of the men had short, but tame black hair, and he was dressed in a grey suit. He was sitting at his computer in intense focus as he pushed his thin-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose. That must be Kyobashi, the resident hacker.

The other man had his head down on his desk, and he was fast asleep. His dark hair had a blue tint to it as it messily fell around his face. He wore a simple white t-shirt and black pants, which quickly made me realize that was Asano, the skilled, yet silent sniper who didn't really take an interest in other people.

"I'm so glad you're here Halle!" Skylee shrieked a little and reached out to squish me into yet another hug. "Now I'm not the only girl!"

"Wait, what?" Tennoji sharply gasped as he looked at Skylee. "You're a girl?!"

"Yes, I'm a girl!" Skylee crossed her arms and dropped her jaw harshly at his cruel joke.

"Looks like you guys are getting along." Kirisawa chuckled a little as he took a puff of his cigarette. "As much as I enjoy watching your bickering, we need to get cracking on this new case."

And at Kirisawa's words, everyone quickly got into work mode. All of the men, plus Skylee and myself, stood around Kirisawa as he went over the case board he had pulled over.

"Last night, a little after eleven, a man was stabbed in the back on a street in Shinjuku." Kirisawa's typical smile suddenly fell from his face as he debriefed us all. "He's currently in critical condition, and no suspects have been apprehended. He was stabbed with a 16cm long knife, and the weapon has not been found. The victim is a twenty-six-year-old doctor named Jun Matsudaria." Kirisawa finished reading the facts of the case, and I noticed Skylee was looking at Hanai, who had suddenly gone pale.

"Hanai?" Skylee quirked an eyebrow at him in confusion.

She was always good at sensing moods. Her ability to see a lie and find the truth has made her an excellent interrogator.

"Jun...Matsudaria?" Hanai ignored Skylee and looked straight at Kirisawa.

"What's wrong, Hanai?" Kirisawa looked at him with concern.