Detective Kathrina Reed

"I am Detective Kathrina Reed."

When those words left Kathrina's mouth, Arthur felt his heart sink. He could not speak, could not think. He did not want to think; he wanted to pretend as if he had never heard what she had said.

Everything crumbled right under him. His hope for the future with her, along with his desire, vanished just like a gas evaporated in the air.

He clasped his hand so hard that his knuckles turned white in an effort to calm the raging emotion stirring in his heart, but to no avail. It only grew rampage and wanted to be released.

"Mr. Ford, I'm Detective Kathrina Reed. I am sure you have heard that we would like to talk to you about Marcella's case," Kathrina explained the purpose of the action.

She could sense that the man was not pleased with their situation. However, she did not know that the true reason he was tense was because of her name.

"I thought we were supposed to meet Detective Clarissa?" Belle asked.

She scrutinized Kathrina from head to toe to analyze which part Arthur would probably like about her. From her point of view, Kathrina was undeniably an attractive woman; however, there were a great number of other attractive women in the world. There was nothing about Kathrina that stood out to her in any way. But then again, what she thought did not matter. It was what Arthur felt mattered.

"There was an emergency in the station, so she asked me to come here instead."

Kathrina turned her head to Arthur and asked, "Can we talk, Mr. Ford?"

That cold and emotionless voice entered his sense of hearing, compelling him to gaze at her. "Let's talk in my office, Detective."

Arthur grabbed Kathrina's hand as if it were second nature before she could get away from him, which caused her to shoot him a look of disapproval. That was it. Finally, he could see the slight emotion flickering in her eyes.

"Why don't we go together?" Arthur was aware that he should not have asked her. He should have stayed away, but his mouth worked faster than his brain.

Belle jerked her head as though she could not believe that Arthur had just offered the detective a ride. She wanted to refute with a logical explanation, but Kathrina beated her.

"I don't think it's appropriate, Mr. Ford," Kathrina muttered as she moved her hand to get free from his, but he did not budge. It was as if he was challenging her.

If his secretary were not with them, Kathrina would have kicked Arthur's leg so she could run further away from him, but the reality was bitter.

"It is just a ride, and we are going to the same place." Arthur was hellbent on making her go with him. He did not care about the consequence. If he should give up on her, then he would spend his time with her as much as he could.

"I have my car, Mr. Ford." Her car was at the station, but Arthur did not need to know her small lie.

"My secretary can take your car."

Belle's pupils enlarged in response to Arthur's words. Her boss dumped her to the side, only to get the detective in his car. Disbelief was painted vividly on her face, but Arthur did not realize it. He never once looked at her since his eyes had landed on Kathrina. It felt like she was an accessory.

"No, it's okay." Kathrina used her fingers to loosen Arthur's grasp on her, and fortunately, she succeeded. "I have something to do before that, so we can meet at your office, Mr. Ford."

"But—"

"Mr. Ford, Miss. Hills, I'll go first." And Kathrina walked away as fast as possible, like a criminal on the run.

Arthur maintained his focus on Kathrina's back even though it was gradually disappearing from his field of vision. 'That stubborn woman,' he said under his breath while feeling a bit funny. Why did she always manage to leave him hanging in the back? Right, it was because he was powerless to match her.

As Arthur's concentrated on Kathrina, on the other hand, Belle could only watch him from his side like she usually did.

***

Arthur lifted his hand, looking at the wristwatch. It was almost time for Kathrina to arrive. He would be lying if he said he did not feel excited, but the other part of him cursed him for having the feeling of happiness toward the family member of his enemy. His father would have woken up from his grave If his father had known that his son was developing strong feelings for someone he shouldn't.

"I am sorry, Dad. But I promise you this is the last time." He spoke to nothingness. His words leave a bitter taste on his tongue, making his stomach crunch uncomfortably.

A gentle knock on the door abruptly snapped him out of his daydream and back into the present. He cleared his throat, then said, "Come in."

The door opened with a soft sound as if the one who pushed the door was putting extra effort not to make a loud sound.

Kathrina's eyes wandered around the room before stepping inside hesitatingly. His office was as monotonous as his apartment. Arthur was sitting with his back facing her, so she could not see his face.

His voice was raspy and low as he spoke, "I've been waiting for you." After that, his chair turned, and they could clearly see each other. "Have a seat, Detective."

Kathrina complied without complaining. She did not know what to expect from their conversation today, but all she knew was that she would have to get useful information from that man.

Arthur looked at her deeply as she sat down, wondering what was running inside her head. She was clearly lost in thought, and he could not wait for her to break the painful stillness in his office.

Kathrina pulled a small note and pen out of her jacket, and asked, "So about Marcella, when was the last time you saw her?"

"A day before she died."

"What was the purpose of her visit?"

"She wanted to upgrade her security plan, but I didn't accept it."

"Why not?"

"Because it was unnecessary."

"But now she is dead, Mr. Ford. Which means you should have provided her the protection. She could have been alive." Kathrina stopped writing as she lifted her eyes to look at his brown eyes.

"FSS operated based on data, Detective, and nothing was alarming around her during our routine threat check." Arthur leaned in; his elbow rested on the desk. "But I must admit it was an error judgment on my part. I should have asked my employees to dig further."

Strangely, Kathrina was not surprised at his explanation.

"I heard she had a stalker?" she probed further.

"Yes, it was her ex-boyfriend, Albert Smith, but he is not dangerous. We have him under control."

Kathrina wrote the name down, "Let's talk about the alarm."

The muscles in his jaw tightened, and his eyes hardened at the mention of alarm. She could see the anger building inside him, threatening to explode anytime soon.

"What about the alarm?"

"It was late for two hours, Mr. Ford. So why did the alarm from such a successful company like FSS fail?"

Arthur heaved a heavy breath to calm down. He was irritated beyond words and needed a few moments to compose himself. The problem with the alarm was like a sore thumb to him, and he hated that his system had failed.

He took a few more deep breaths and felt his muscles relax, then he answered, "Someone hacked the FSS alarm system, Detective."

The shock was evident on her face as she stared at the man in front of her. He admitted that the alarm was the problem. With his company's reputation, it was nearly impossible to hack their system. But, it turned out his system was not without flaws.

"Do you know that everything you said will be in the media, Mr. Ford?"

"I do. It's okay." Arthur answered carelessly, but she knew it bugged him. She had caught him a few times now, muttering under his breath when she asked him a question.

"Okay. Then do you have any idea who might be the one to hack the system?"

"We are still tracking, detective. But, unfortunately, I don't have useful information for you."

He was right. What they had spoken about was not helping much, but it was still better than nothing.

"One last thing, Mr. Ford. Can you hand me all the reports you have for Marcella?"

"No problem. My secretary will give you everything, detective."

Kathrina then bobbed her head. She had no more questions for him, so she stood up and extended her hands for a handshake. "I believe I've asked all my questions. Thank you so much for your cooperation, Mr. Ford."

Arthur took Kathrina's hand in his, holding it for almost a minute. The grip on her hands was soft but firm. He stroked them ever so tenderly, sending shivers up her spine.

"Mr. Ford?" She called. Kathrina did not want to be alone with him anymore. He was dangerous for her, especially now that he had a connection to Marcella's case.

"Sorry," Arthur offered his apology, but clearly he did not mean it.

"Once again, thank you, Mr. Ford," Kathrina muttered, then turned her body to walk away from him.

Kathrina was wrong if she thought Arthur would let her go just like that.

As Kathrina sauntered, she could sense Arthur's eyes on her. She could feel the heat of his gaze on her skin, stroking it gently, making her feel uncomfortable.

Kathrina tried to ignore him, but she knew his eyes followed every move she made. Finally, she could not take it anymore, so she shifted her position to face him.

"What do you want?"