Chapter 18 You Better Come Clean!

The interrogation room felt airless, thick with Benjamin's fear and our mounting frustration. He sat hunched in the chair, a broken man, offering nothing but silence.

Michael slammed the table. "Benjamin, you better spill! What's 'Hecate'? What are you up to?"

Benjamin shuddered and slowly looked up.

"I... I can't say." His voice shook. "If I do, they'll kill me."

"Kill you?" Michael sneered. "If you don't talk now, you won't live either! Make your choice!"

Benjamin stayed quiet, head down, body trembling like he was fighting with himself.

Suddenly, he looked up, like he made a decision. "Fine, I'll tell you!"

He took a deep breath. "'Hecate' is an international criminal group. They do all sorts of illegal stuff—drug trafficking, smuggling, human trafficking, you name it. I'm just a small fry, handling some..."

He paused. "Some bodies."

"Bodies?" My heart skipped a beat. "Was the guy in the cave one of yours?"

Benjamin nodded. "Yeah, he was a traitor. The group took him out."

"Traitor?" I pressed. "What did he betray? What did he know?"

Benjamin shook his head. "I don't know. I just handle the bodies. I don't know anything else."

"Know nothing?" Michael roared. "You think we believe that crap?"

Benjamin shivered. "I'm telling the truth! I really don't know anything else!"

Michael's fist hit the table hard. "You better hope you're telling the truth! Or else..."

The interrogation hit a wall. Benjamin wouldn't say more about 'Hecate.'

Frustrated and uneasy, I left the interrogation room. What was 'Hecate' planning? And how did Aiden get caught in their web?

I felt closer to the truth but also more in danger.

Back in the office, I opened my laptop and started searching for info on 'Hecate.'

"Hecate: Greek goddess of witchcraft, crossroads, and the underworld," the screen declared. The words sent a shiver down my spine, echoing the unsettling symbols we'd found in the cave.

Could those symbols be linked to 'Hecate'?

I pulled up the photos I took in the cave and examined the symbols closely.

They looked ancient, like hieroglyphs, but I'd never seen them before.

I tried different ways to decode them, but nothing worked.

Just as I was about to give up, I noticed something in the corner of the photo.

A blurry pattern that looked like a rose!

A red rose!

My heart skipped a beat; it was just like the emblem of 'The Tragedy of the Red Rose'!

Could these symbols be the emblem of the 'Hecate' group?

I zoomed in on the photo and studied the rose pattern.

Below the rose, there seemed to be some tiny text.

I squinted to make out the words and finally recognized a few—"Hive."

A flash of insight hit me; I'd seen this word somewhere before.

Right! In the classified files!

I quickly pulled out the classified file on Aiden's last mission. At the end, it clearly stated: "The mission target is a top secret of our country, code-named: 'Hive.'"

Aiden's mission was tied to the 'Hecate' organization!

These clues, like scattered pearls, were starting to form a line, pointing to a shocking truth!

I suddenly stood up and paced around the office, my mind a tangled mess of chaotic clues.

These fragmented pieces of information were like isolated dots, unable to form a complete picture.

I scratched my head in frustration, trying to calm down.

The key now was to find the line connecting these dots, to uncover the hidden truth!

Just then, Isabella walked in with a tablet.

"James, you need to see this," she said, her voice urgent. "Security footage from the night Elizabeth was murdered. She was being chased."

I leaned in quickly. On the screen, Elizabeth was seen running into an alley, looking panicked, with a black sedan in hot pursuit.

The footage cut off there, as there were no cameras in the alley.

"Black sedan," I muttered. "What about the license plate?"

"Can't see it clearly." Isabella shook her head. "The car was too fast, and the footage is blurry."

"Pull up all the surveillance from nearby intersections. We need to find that car!" I said urgently.

Soon, the police found the black sedan.

Or more precisely, they found the charred remains of the vehicle.

The license plate and VIN had been deliberately removed, clearly to destroy evidence.

When I arrived at the scene, the acrid smell of burning filled my nostrils, making my throat itch.

The burnt vehicle was reduced to a twisted metal frame, like a beast devoured by flames, lying grotesquely on the ground.

The air was thick with the smell of gasoline and burnt rubber, nauseating.

Ella was crouched by the vehicle remains, wearing a mask and gloves, holding a magnifying glass in one hand and tweezers in the other, meticulously examining every corner, her expression focused and meticulous, as if searching for some precious treasure.

Her bangs were damp with sweat, sticking to her forehead, but she seemed completely unaware, still fully absorbed in her work.

"Any findings?" I tried to keep my voice low, not wanting to disturb her.

Ella slowly straightened up, removed her mask, and took a deep breath, as if to clear her lungs. Her brow furrowed, and her tone was grave. "I found some white powder residue in the trunk. Preliminary tests indicate it's some kind of drug."

My heart sank, like a stone plunging into a lake, causing ripples.

Elizabeth's death was indeed related to drug trafficking!

"And..." Ella removed her gloves and pinched the bridge of her nose, looking somewhat fatigued. "I also found a button under the driver's seat, with a scorpion emblem embroidered on it."

She opened her hand, revealing a black button with a scorpion emblem embroidered in gold thread, glinting in the sunlight, particularly striking.

A scorpion!