Chapter 237 - 237: Conflict Within The Team

The next day, Erick started to investigate and gather evidence regarding the involvement of the Azumi Twins in Marie's shooting incident. Bryan and Allen joined him in the field as they visited the crime scene.

They looked for CCTV recordings which were installed near the Theme Park and within its vicinity. They were trying to check whether Black Shadow or the Azumi Twins were captured by those cameras.

They just finished checking twenty-five percent of those cameras. Unfortunately, they hadn't seen any of them so they decided to go back to their headquarters. They planned to resume this task tomorrow.

When they arrived at the headquarters, they couldn't ignore the sullen atmosphere around the office. They were greatly affected by what happened to their comrade, Marie.

They were hoping that she would regain her consciousness as soon as possible. However, according to her doctor, there's still no improvement in her condition.

The rest of the team were gathered together as they discussed the case they were currently assigned to them.

"We should do something. Agent Marie's sacrifices should not be put in vain. We must take action now to catch Black Shadow and Catseye!" June shared his thoughts with the team.

"I agree. This is what we can do for her! Catseye was the reason why Marie approached Black Shadow. Despite knowing the danger, she didn't hesitate to befriend that Assassin for the sake of our case." Rose said in agreement with Allen's statement.

Erick was having conflicting thoughts as they mentioned Catseye. He didn't want them to blame Elle but he couldn't defend her too.

He just stayed silent on the side as his colleagues continued to burst and voice out their anger and frustration for everything that happened.

Last night, he promised Elle that he would try to sort his problem. He wanted to balance everything. He wanted to protect her and at the same time, he wanted to be fair for his team and colleagues. Although he couldn't deny the fact that he already hid Catseye's identity from them.

After much thought, he came up with a decision. Without saying anything, Erick stood up and headed to the office of the Unit Chief of the XXX Crime Investigation Bureau. He was their head and superior.

He stayed there for several minutes. Bryan noticed that Erick went out of his office and hadn't returned yet.

"Hey guys, did you see Chief Lee? Where did he go?" Bryan asked the team.

They exchanged glances with one another, feeling puzzled. They had no idea where he went. So they just shook their head and shrugged at him as a response.

He was about to call him when suddenly Erick entered the office, wearing a serious expression on his face.

"What's wrong with him?" Bryan mumbled to himself.

"Chief, where have you been?" he asked Erick as he walked over to him.

"I went to see Unit Chief." he simply replied to him.

Bryan frowned after hearing that but he didn't ask him further. Erick nodded at him before he returned to his office. In just a few minutes, the Unit Head's secretary entered their Department office.

"Sergeant Velasquez, can you come with me? Unit Head wants to talk to you," he said to Bryan.

Bryan was baffled. 'Huh? Why me?' he pondered to himself. 

He couldn't help but feel nervous about it. It was seldom for Bryan to meet or talk with their Unit Head. It was always Erick who often interacted with their Superiors. 

'D*mn! Did I commit a violation? Why is it he wanted to see me?'

The rest of the team were also wondering why their Unit Head was asking for Bryan. They gave him a questioning look. They also thought that he might commit some violation subject for disciplinary action.

"Hey! Stop looking at me like that! You are making me more nervous!" Bryan complained to his colleagues.

The Secretary just laughed at his reaction while the others wished him good luck. Left with no choice, Bryan just followed the secretary going to their Unit Head's office.

After thirty minutes, Bryan went back to their office. His face could no longer be painted due to his ugly expression. Rose, June, and April marveled at what happened to his talk with their Unit Head.

They were about to ask him when Bryan just walk past at them as he walked towards Erick's office with fast and large strides. The three people just watched his back, oblivious of what was happening as of this moment.

The moment he entered Erick's office, he saw him standing by the window. He looked like his mind was very occupied thinking something. Bryan approached him and confronted him immediately.

"Erick Lee! What's wrong with you? What's is your problem for you to do this?!" Bryan called him by his full name. He was obviously upset and mad as of this moment.

At first, Erick was taken aback by his sudden rage. Meeting Bryan's accusing gaze, he already knew what he meant by saying that.

"I am sorry. But I have to do this." Erick said. 

He looked down as he couldn't bear to see Bryan's pressuring gaze. He felt sorry for his team. All he could do was to apologize to them.

"I think we deserve an explanation. You didn't even consult us. Why did you do this? Are you abandoning us, your team?!" Bryan couldn't help himself but burst out.

Rose, April, and June could hear the angry voice of Bryan. They looked at each other, wondering what was happening inside.

"Are Bryan and Chief Lee fighting?" Rose asked them.

"It looks like Bryan is mad about something." April also commented.

"Hey, let's go and check on them!" June said as he stepped towards the office.

They could feel the tension inside just watching the two men. Bryan clenched his fists as he continued to rant at him.

"Speak, Erick! Don't just apologize. Make me understand your decision. Because I couldn't believe it!"

April turned to June, urging him to do something. This was the first time they saw Bryan acting like this.

"Hey, Buddy! Calm down first! Let's talk this out in a peaceful manner. Why are you so worked up? What's the problem?" June butted in.

When they heard June's voice, Erick and Bryan averted their gaze to his direction only to see the worried and puzzled expressions of their colleagues.

With his sharp eyes directed at Erick, Bryan answered June's inquiry.

"Erick went to meet Unit Head just a while ago. He requested him to relieve him from Catseye's case. He wanted to be out and be excluded in this case!"

The three people were shocked beyond belief after hearing Bryan's remarks. Confusion and disbelief were written all over their faces.

"C-Chief Lee, is it true? But why?" April blurted out after she recovered from the shock.

"Hehe. That's impossible. Maybe there is just a misunderstanding here. Am I right, Chief?" Rose said as she laughed awkwardly.

"This is not a misunderstanding! Our Unit Head told me this himself. He said to me that Erick requested him to be out from this case or else he will submit his resignation!" Bryan sounded very upset right now.

"Chief, what's happening? Why are you suddenly doing this?" June could not hide the worry in his voice. It looked like a very serious matter this time.

Erick sighed deeply. Bryan was telling them the truth. That's the only way he could think of. Since he couldn't help the team to catch Catseye, it was better to be not part of this case.

He talked to the Unit Head and made this request. He also had the same reaction. He couldn't believe nor accept his request. He asked him a valid reason but he couldn't tell one.

Erick just said to him that he felt that he was no longer useful nor productive with this case. Of course, the Unit Head didn't buy that kind of reason from him so he immediately rejected his request.

So in the end, he just told him that he would resign if ever he would refuse his request. He thought he already convinced the Unit Head by saying that. 

However just several minutes after their conversation, their Unit Head talked to Bryan. It seemed like he was trying to ask help from his colleagues to convince him to change his mind.

He didn't want Erick to let go of this case. He had a high expectation of him. He was confident that Erick could contribute a lot in solving this case. Catseye's case was a very important case for them.

And now, Bryan together with his team was also asking for an explanation. So after his long silence, Erick finally spoke up.

"I am sorry guys for not consulting nor informing you about my decision first. I hope you could understand me." he paused for a moment then he looked at them.

"I am having a hard time and I just wanna give up this time." 

Bryan couldn't believe what he had just heard coming from Erick. He laughed dryly. There was a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

"You're lying! This is not the Chief Detective that we know." Bryan walked out after saying that.

Bryan left the four of them speechless. Rose, April, and June agreed on Bryan. Their Chief was acting very weird. This was not the usual self of Chief Lee that they knew.

For so many years that the five of them had been working together solving criminal cases, this was the first time they had this kind of conflict within the team.