A high-pitched, bell-like sound startled Josh awake mid-snore the next morning. He grunted and shifted slightly, straightening his aching back, disoriented and failing to remember where he had fallen asleep. That was until his eyes fluttered open.

It was the main elevator of the Office of Legal and Mili-tary Operations. Had he really fallen asleep here? What had happened to cause him to fall asleep somewhere that wasn’t his own bed next to his wife?

The more conscious he became, the more he started to remember. The late night at the office. The elevator breaking down. The appearance of the mystery woman. The conver-sation. The deal he struck with her.

The deal? Did he really strike a deal with…?

Shit. I’ve compromised the investigation.

“Oh,” echoed the surprised voice of a man beyond the elevator door. Josh looked to the direction of the voice, his vision still blurry. But it sharpened steadily as the figure con-tinued. “Someone worked overtime.”

In only a few more seconds, Josh’s vision was sharp enough to determine that it was Koji. And even in his groggy state, Josh was able to decipher that there was something sinis-ter in the way he looked at him. As if…

“Maintenance must’ve fallen asleep on the job,” Josh grunted as he got on his feet. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have spent the night here.”

“Hm,” Koji muttered as he entered the elevator. “You did call them, right?”

“Yeah, but they didn’t pick up.”

“That is most unusual. You’d think they would.”

“Yeah…” Josh ran a careful gaze across Koji. “You’d think.”

He didn’t step out immediately when the two of them reached the police department floor. Instead, he let Koji go first. Mostly to see which way he was going. Based on that infor-mation, Josh would decide where he was going himself.

Koji took an immediate right turn, so Josh went left. It didn’t take him long to run into Jenn.

“There you are,” she chirped as he approached. “Spent the night in the elevator?”

“It broke down. Had no choice.” A modified version of the truth, but given the nature of last night’s encounter, Josh had to keep it secret.

“Maintenance didn’t pick up either?”

“No. Probably fell asleep on the job.”

“Huh.” Jenn turned her gaze off to the side. “Weird.” Back to Josh. “Anyway, glad you’re okay. Was a little worried about you when Momoko called.”

“She called you?”

“Yeah. Had tried to call you three times, but apparently you didn’t pick up. And you usually let her know if you’re stay-ing at the office overnight, don’t you?”

Josh dug his phone out of his pocket and tapped on it, as if looking for evidence that would prove Jenn was telling the truth. And there it was. Three missed calls from Momoko. “Hm. Must’ve forgotten.” Then he shoved the phone back where he usually kept it.

Jenn’s expression changed. She didn’t look entirely con-vinced he’d simply forgotten to call Momoko. And in a way, she was right to not be convinced. If only Josh could tell her what had really happened.

Her expression switched back with the next blink. “Well, anyway,” she began her next thought, “when’s our meeting for the day commencing?”

“There won’t be a meeting today,” Josh blurted out an improvised response. The look of surprise Jenn gave him mirrored his own. But he picked up on his own train of thought: “Just continue working with what we currently have. Until something new shows up.”

“That’s… unusual of you,” Jenn commented. “But okay. I’ll relay the message to the rest of the team. If you want me to.”

“Please do,” Josh requested, surprising himself again. Had last night’s events really shaken him so much that he was willing to delegate such a simple task – one he could absolutely do himself – to another member of his team? Was he really that afraid of having compromised the investigation? Jenn nodded and took a tentative first step towards wherever the rest of the team was, but Josh suddenly remembered something else and interrupted her. “Also…”

Jenn stopped and threw her head back, eyes locked to Josh’s. He leaned in and muttered to her, keeping his voice as low as possible: “Keep an eye on Koji. I think he’s hiding something.”

The expression Jenn responded to him with looked rid-dled with worry and intrigue in equal amounts. But she gave him a subtle nod before walking away. Maybe, just maybe, she understood that the stakes had gotten significantly higher. Or maybe she thought he was being paranoid. He wasn’t entirely sure himself which was the case.

Jenn reached the police department cafeteria, where Goro and Shinji were waiting, still weighing the implications of Josh’s warning about Koji. She had never written him off as suspicious in any regard. What had happened between him and Josh? What had happened to Josh last night? Had he really just forgotten to call Momoko or was he hiding something?

The guys were quick to take note of Josh’s absence. “Where’s Josh?” asked Shinji while Jenn took her seat at the cafeteria table.

“Somewhere,” Jenn replied, unsure where he was now herself. Noting Devin’s absence herself, she followed with an inquiry about his whereabouts.

“Headed to the cabin. Picking up a prisoner,” Shinji said.

Jenn nodded, then stated her business: “Anyway, there’s no meeting today. Josh wants us to just keep working with what we have for now.”

“That’s not very Josh,” Goro commented. “Did he say why he decided so?”

“No. And that’s exactly what’s bothering me.” Jenn turned her head back and looked to the hallway where he had run into Josh, airing a theory for his unusual behavior: “Some-thing big happened last night. And he isn’t telling us what.”

“Should we ask him?” suggested Goro.

“Would he tell us what’s going on if we did?” The crown of concern weighed heavy on Jenn’s head.

“I don’t think it’s our place to probe either way,” Shinji commented, ever the pragmatist. “Let him have a secret or two.”

“In some way, it also is our place to probe.”

“Whatever it is, I just hope it won’t affect the investi-gation,” Goro muttered.

“Yeah. So do I.” Jenn’s statement came out carried by a sigh. She continued with the other concern that was on her mind: “He’s also suspicious of Koji. Can’t imagine why.”

“Koji?” Shinji exclaimed. “What kinds of suspicions would he have about a fellow police officer?”

“I’m sure he’ll fill us in eventually,” Goro commented. “But yeah, I don’t know what he could possibly suspect Koji is up to.”

“What’s that about me?” echoed Koji’s voice as he just happened to be walking past.

“Nothing important,” Goro replied carefully.

“Fair enough,” Koji muttered and continued his trek to wherever he was headed. The trio watched him leave with an extra degree of intrigue, as if trying to decipher something that would justify Josh’s suspicions from the way he walked.