After a moment of silence, the captain says, "This mission is very dangerous, Katrina. Are you sure you"re mentally prepared to take that risk?"Going to a foreign country to catch a fugitive is a lot more different than traveling abroad for leisure. n.o.body can predict what kind of situation they will face in Thailand. The only thing for certain is that it will be a very difficult task, and there"s going to be a lot of danger.
The captain is worried that Katrina might not be able to overcome such difficulties. Besides being a girl, she has not been a policewoman long. She has not taken part in many big cases yet. a.s.signing her such a dangerous task might be too much.
Katrina nods furiously. "I can do it, Captain!"
She is capable of doing the same things that her male colleagues can do. Although their division of labor may be different, she also wants to do her part to help the team in catching criminals at large.
Seeing Katrina"s determination, the captain nods decisively. "Alright, let"s expand the team and add Katrina to the mission.
"Everyone, go home and have a good rest. Pack the essentials you need to take for the trip. We set off first thing in the morning. If there are no objections, everyone is dismissed."
With that, the captain recaps the plan. Seeing everyone nodding in agreement, he stands up from his seat and ends the meeting.
The officers a.s.signed to go abroad on the mission are tense. They gather their courage, knowing that they will be facing danger and many unknown factors in the future. Eager to bring the criminal to justice as soon as possible, they steel themselves for the task at hand.
After leaving the police station, Katrina goes home.
This is her first time to take on such an important mission, her first time to go abroad to arrest a criminal.
To be honest, she is nervous, and a bit perturbed. But tasks like this will only help her become a better and more efficient police officer.
Come on, Katrina! She cheers herself on.
She wants to turn her depression these past few days into motivation. If she buries herself with work and focuses on carrying out the mission, she can forget the bad things that happened.
Just as Katrina is about to walk to her apartment, she notices a black figure crouched at the bottom of the stairs. Due to the dim lights at the entrance of the apartment and her distance from the door, Katrina can"t make out the figure clearly.
Katrina wonders if the man is tying his shoes. But after a long time, the figure doesn"t move. It shouldn"t take that long to tie one"s shoes.
What a strange man. Katrina muses, starting to worry if the figure is secretly watching someone with ill intentions.
Distracted with her thoughts, Katrina nearly doesn"t notice when the figure suddenly rushes towards her. Seeing the figure bound towards her on all fours, she suddenly realizes that it"s a dog.
That"s strange. Katrina doesn"t know which family in the apartment has a dog. Not knowing where the dog came from, she wonders why it is sitting alone outside without its owner nearby.
Katrina panics when she realizes that the dog is speeding in her direction.
She has always been afraid of dogs.
In the past, seeing a dog made her whole body stiffen in fear. Dogs scared her to death, and it was like being faced with a tiger.
While she was in Hadley City, Aaron forced her to interact with his pet dog. After getting along with Beta, she realized that dogs aren"t as terrible as she originally imagined.
But seeing a strange dog galloping towards her is still frightening.
As the dog moves closer, Katrina realizes that it looks familiar. The dog reaches her in a flash, stopping abruptly in front of her. He barks at her and wags his tail in excitement.
Katrina exclaims incredulously, "Beta!"
It"s the German shepherd that Aaron raised like a son. Katrina is shocked to see him. Beta should be in Hadley City, what is he doing here?
Katrina is a little taken aback by Beta"s appearance after not seeing him for a long time.
At Katrina"s exclamation, Beta perks up. Katrina recognizing him makes him more excited. His tail wags faster, and he leans closer and rubs his head against Katrina"s legs, telling her how much he missed her.
In the face of Beta"s affections, Katrina hunches down, hugs Beta"s neck, and pats his head.
Katrina only got along with Beta for a short period of time in Hadley City. She doesn"t expect Beta to be so warm to her upon seeing her again.
Compared to humans, dogs are simple and honest with their feelings, easily moving people with their devotion.
Looking around, Katrina doesn"t find anyone else nearby. She mutters, "Beta, why are you alone, where is your master?"
Beta sticks out his tongue and licks her cheek in response.
Katrina feels stupid for asking Beta a question when he obviously can"t speak. No matter how much she wants to ask him how he found her and how long he had been waiting for her, he cannot answer her.
Since it"s already too late, it"s not appropriate for Katrina to return Beta to Aaron. She can only take Beta home temporarily.
Katrina pats Beta"s head and stands up. "Beta, do you want to come home with me?"
Beta squats on the ground and looks at her with s.h.i.+ning eyes. He barks in a.s.sent.
"Okay, but you have to be quiet when you go upstairs," Katrina puts her forefinger to her lips. "There are old people and children in the building. You can"t make noise, or you"ll frighten them."
She takes two steps forward and looks back. Beta follows her quietly without making any noise.
Katrina smiles at the sight.
Beta is very obedient and intelligent. It"s as if he can understand her. He is a lot more likable than her c.o.c.ky and ent.i.tled owner.
Katrina takes out her keys and opens the door. "Beta, come in."
Beta has no scruples about entering Katrina"s home, swaggering in happily.
It"s very late, and Katrina doesn"t know if Beta has eaten yet.
Since Katrina doesn"t have any dog food, she opens a pack of sugar-free cookies. She takes one out and raises it in front of Beta"s head. "Beta, are you hungry? Do you want some cookies?"