'Better to take the initiative and look for a breakthrough myself than to just sit around here.'
Coupled with the brazen attitude of Tiger and his men, Zoe Sawyer couldn't help but feel a growing sense of unease.
'Why are these guys so calm? Don't tell me they still have an ace up their sleeve?'
The medical examiner put an arm around Zoe Sawyer's shoulder, about to tell her not to worry, when she noticed Zoe was busy counting something on her fingers.
A moment later, Zoe Sawyer took a deep breath, her eyes filled with a new resolve.
"What's wrong?" the medical examiner asked, looking at Zoe Sawyer with confusion. 'It feels like I only looked away for a second, and now she looks like she's made some huge decision.'
"It's nothing. I just thought of something," Zoe Sawyer said with a smile to the medical examiner before quickly returning to the office. She grabbed the gear Evan Keller had prepared for her and put it on.
The most critical items were a special, high-powered electric baton and a small camera she could clip to her collar to record real-time video.
'Instead of climbing the walls waiting for news from Evan Keller and Sean Hughes, I should see if there's anything I can do to help them solve this case faster!'
Sitting on the sidelines was not in her nature.
No sooner said than done. Under the worried gazes of everyone in the office, Zoe Sawyer gently turned the handle of the closed door.
A sliver of light, different from the hallway, streamed in. Zoe Sawyer knew instantly. 'I bet right again!'
She slipped the camera in her hand through the crack in the door. After checking her phone to confirm the room was empty, Zoe Sawyer carefully pushed the door open and went inside.
The medical examiner watched Zoe Sawyer's every move, completely baffled. 'What is she doing?'
She had just turned her head to ask Officer Lee when she saw him staring intently at the screen in front of him.
The feed on the screen had abruptly switched from Sean Hughes's location to a new, unfamiliar view.
Zoe Sawyer stared at the freezers that filled the room and listened to their collective hum. Her expression turned grim.
'I know they can't all be full of bodies, but even if there are only one or two... that's still horrifying!'
"Miss Sawyer, put on your gloves. Find something to open the freezer next to you.
Keep your electric baton at the ready. Your safety is the top priority.
The door should still be open. If anything seems off, run back here immediately!" Officer Lee's expression was grim. While directing Zoe, he was also briefing Evan Keller on the situation.
They didn't know what they were walking into, and they couldn't risk her leaving fingerprints that detractors could use against her later.
Following Officer Lee's instructions, Zoe Sawyer carefully opened the humming freezer beside her.
She then aimed her camera inside so Officer Lee could see the contents.
"Clear. Just normal meat reserves. Next one."
Officer Lee took notes as he directed Zoe Sawyer to the next target.
For safety reasons, Zoe Sawyer didn't touch any of the freezers that weren't running.
As she passed by them, she held the electric baton protectively in front of her body.
Her senses were on high alert.
"Miss Sawyer, get back here! The commotion outside is getting louder! Captain Keller and his team aren't there yet. They must have discovered you!"
Just as Zoe Sawyer was about to open the last freezer, Liam's anxious voice crackled through her earpiece.
Staring at the last unopened freezer, Zoe Sawyer had a gut feeling that the evidence they needed was inside.
"This freezer is in the far corner, and it's obstructed. If I hadn't accidentally kicked the cloth covering it as I walked by, I never would have noticed it. What we're looking for has to be inside.
I have to check! I can't back down now!"
Zoe Sawyer gritted her teeth and repeated the procedure.
The instant she aimed the camera inside, the door to the small room was thrown open.
A scrawny man stood in the doorway, his sharp gaze sweeping across the room.
Finally, his gaze locked onto Zoe Sawyer.
"I don't know how a little rat like you got in here, but since you've come all this way, you might as well stay for good.
Perfect timing. We just ran out of the last batch. You can be a new item on the menu." The man licked his lips, a look of excitement on his face.
He was unnaturally gaunt, his face like skin stretched over bone. His eyes were bloodshot, his lower eyelids drooped, and his lips were covered in blisters of all sizes. Despite this, he seemed strangely manic.
He stared at Zoe Sawyer with a greedy glint in his eye, as if looking at a prized ingredient.
"Run!"
The moment he saw the image transmitted by the camera, Officer Lee hit "save." His shout snapped Zoe Sawyer back to her senses.
Zoe Sawyer bolted for the door.
The scrawny man was right on her heels.
Though the man looked scrawny and weak, his explosive speed was not to be underestimated.
He caught up to Zoe Sawyer almost instantly.
Forced to improvise, Zoe Sawyer weaved left and right, using the freezers as obstacles to temporarily shake the man's pursuit.
Soon, Zoe Sawyer found her back pressed against the door. One more step and she would be back in the safe hallway, free from his grasp.
But Zoe Sawyer wasn't content with that.
Zoe Sawyer gritted her teeth. Hiding her hands behind her back, she used her body as a shield to crank the electric baton to its maximum setting.
'I noticed before that this bag of bones isn't carrying any weapons,' she thought. 'I have something that can stop him, so I can't afford to waste this chance!'
Officer Lee guessed Zoe Sawyer's intentions almost instantly.
Panicked, he scrambled to call Evan Keller and explain the situation.
"Tell her to protect herself! We're on our way now!"
Sure enough, upon hearing what Zoe Sawyer was doing, Evan Keller couldn't stay put. He and his team rushed to the scene.
Meanwhile, Zoe Sawyer was counting down in her head, her eyes locked on the man rapidly closing in on her.
The next second, the man's terrifying face was right in front of hers.
"Out of breath, are we? Would've been better for you if you'd just behaved. Then you wouldn't have to go through this!"
As the scrawny man spoke, he reached out to grab Zoe Sawyer.
'I have to make a sale today!'
'Otherwise, I won't even be able to make rent next month!'
At that thought, a vicious look flashed across the scrawny man's face.
But in the next second, Zoe Sawyer viciously jammed the electric baton, now on its highest setting, into the scrawny man's stomach.
The powerful current sent him into uncontrollable convulsions. He started to say something, but Zoe Sawyer just jabbed him again.
"Okay, Miss Sawyer, he's passed out! You can come back now!"