"I trust you but..." Rachel stopped midway

"But what?"

​​

"What if these people are never caught"

"They will be caught, we need to be cautious and always stay on alert."

"Hmm okay"

"Have faith in me Rachel, I promise I'll go to the bottom of this, the only thing you need to do is sleep well and live your life normally, don't let all these things affect you."

"Okay" Rachel nodded to his instructions but she was still lost in some thoughts.

"What happened?" Patrick could sense she was still worried about something.

"I am wondering if this person messaged Daniel too."

"Who is Daniel?"

"The one I told you about remember? The doctor who saved me."

"Oh, your crush?" Patrick teased Rachel and she felt shy

"Patrick, come on at least you don't tease me, please."

"Ok ok, if you are so worried why don't you ask him directly?"

"But what if he didn't receive the message, he will know that I did and he might get worried."

"Well he should, it is his responsibility to care and get worried for you."

"Woah, how is this his responsibility? I am the one who has a crush on him. It is not the other way around."

"Don't worry, I am sure your feelings are mutual."

"How can you be so sure, you did not even meet him."

"How can someone not fall for my darling Rachel." Patrick patted her on the head.

Rachel was not sure if he meant it or he was making fun of her.

"I mean it" Patrcik answered Rachel's unasked question.

"Can you read minds?" Rachel asked in surprise.

"No but dealing with criminals made me a pro in seeing through people and their thoughts."

"Pat, I am super impressed. You are awesome." she raised her hand in a thumbs-up sign.

"Yeah, I know, now call up your Romeo and ask him if he received the message."

"I'll ask him later."

"Rachel please, you can call and romance later, I need this information as soon as possible."

"Ok" Understanding the situation Rachel called Daniel.

"Hell..o" Daniel quickly picked up his phone and he sounded breathless as if he was working out. Rachel wondered why he was exercising so late in the night.

"Why do you sound so breathless?" Rachel asked

"Maybe he is having sex with someone." Patrick answered in a low voice, only audible to him and Rachel.

Rachel angrily glared at him and before she could hit Patrick, she heard Daniel.

"I moved to my new flat, I was arranging the stuff in the house and moving things around, it is so tiring." Daniel explained.

"Oh, you finally shifted."

"Yes, finally. You can come to my home whenever you want it is very near to your workplace. If you want I'll give you an extra key to my flat, you can come and rest here if you ever get tired while working."

His sweet words made Rachel blush and she said, "What if I steal your stuff? Aren't you being too careless giving away an extra key to a stranger."

Daniel laughed at her words, "One, you don't have to steal anything, you can take whatever you want from my home and secondly I thought we are friends and we moved past the stranger phase, I didn't know we are still strangers Miss. Richardson."

This was the first time Daniel addressed Rachel so formally, she weirdly found it very sexy and blushed harder.

"Stop fooling around and ask him about the message." Patrick softly scolded Rachel, he was tired of their flirting.

Rachel signaled him to keep quiet.

"Mr. Morris we are not strangers, I take my word back but isn't it careless of you to give away your apartment keys to anyone?" Rachel was enjoying this conversation.

Patrick sighed in annoyance and thought, 'This is my payback for PDAing with Emily in front of all these people and making them eat the dog food'

"It would be indeed careless to give away my apartment keys to anyone but Ms. Richardson is not anyone, she is a very close ally of mine and I trust her."

Rachel felt touched hearing Daniel's words.

"Sure then, I'll accept the extra keys to your apartment, Mr. Morris."

"I am privileged that Ms. Richardson finally accepted my offer."

Rachel laughed at his words.

"By the way Daniel I called you to ask something important."

"Yeah, what happened?" Daniel's tone turned serious.

"Did you receive any weird messages today?" Rachel hesitantly asked.

"Wait, let me check." Daniel then checked his phone inbox.

"No, nothing, why?" Daniel asked, he got a bit worried as he had a bad feeling.

"Today I received a weird message, it kind of got me worried."

"Can you forward it to me?" Daniel asked.

Rachel looked at Patrick and signaled him explaining Daniel wants to see the message and asked him what she should do.

'Send it' Patrick signaled.

"Sure, I'll send it right away." Rachel informed Daniel.

She forwarded the message to Daniel and he too got worried after reading it.

"No, I received no such message. Rachel we should go to cops" There was a hint of panic in his tone.

"Don't worry, I already forwarded it to my friend, he is a cop and he will look into it." Rachel assured Daniel.

"But Rachel, please don't be alone, ensure someone accompanies you every time." Daniel suggested.

"Don't worry Daniel, I'll ensure that." Rachel felt nice seeing him being concerned about her.

"Let's meet tomorrow?" Daniel suggested.

"Sure" Rachel got excited.

"I'll message you my house address, it is near to your office so it will be convenient to meet there." Daniel suggested.

"Done" Rachel readily accepted.

"Do you want to invite your cop friend too?" Daniel asked.

She signaled Patrick and asked him if he wanted to meet Daniel.

'Not now, later' Patrick signaled back.

"Let him get more information on it, then we can meet." Rachel suggested.

"Okay, how was your reunion?" Daniel asked, he remembered Rachel telling him about her reunion plan in the morning.

"It was amazing, I am on my way home." Rachel replied.

"What? Are you on the phone while driving? That's unsafe Rachel." Daniel almost shouted.

"No no my friend is driving." Rachel quickly answered.

"Please drop a message once you reach home safely." Daniel was worried.

"Okay, sure" then Rachel hung up the call.

…

Daniel turned very serious after the call, he didn't look like his regular self, the calm, composed and a matured doctor, but he rather looked cold, scary and intimidating. He opened the contacts list on his phone, and stared at a contact name, 'Emergency', he struggled with himself to call this number or not and then finally he made a decision, he called that number.

"Long time no see Dr. Daniel" a man answered him in a hoarse voice.

"I am forwarding a message to you, I need all the details you can get out of it, the sender the location, anything but everything."

Daniel then forwarded the message to him.

The guy glanced at the number and informed him, "The message came from a very tricky number, it won't be that easy to find information."

"Since when did you like things that came easy to you?"

The man at the other end chuckled hearing his words, "Dr. Daniel knows me so well."

"Till when can I get the information?"

"Within 48 hours."

Daniel didn't reply back and cut the call, he sighed in worry and murmured, 'Rachel be safe'

...

"He really seems into you." Patrick commented after Rachel hung up on Daniel. Rachel was sitting next to him so Patrick was able to hear the conversation between the two and he had sharp and sensitive ears so he could hear everything more clearly.

"Really, you think so?" Rachel asked.

"Hmm, no man would have such a long and cheesy conversation with a woman, until and unless he really likes her."

"You sure?" Rachel again asked.

"No, I am just guessing" Patrick sarcastically replied.

"Oh god Pat"

"But he really cares for you, that I am definitely sure about." Patrick explained.

"Yayy"

Patrick smiled seeing her reaction. They reached Patrick's place, he first drove to his place as it was Rachel's car then Rachel drove back to her home.

"Rachel, be safe and head straight to your home and call me as soon as you reach."

"Yes boss" Rachel saluted and left.

As soon as Rachel left, Patrick called someone and said, "Today she received a message from an unknown number, I am forwarding that message to you, look into it." He sighed after the call.

Rachel reached home safely, her grandpa was waiting for her.

"Hey Grandpa"

"How was the reunion?" James asked.

"It was amazing, I feel alive meeting them, you know what?"

"What?"

"Nick and Kate are getting married two months later.

"That's amazing"

"Yeah, I have to tell Sam tomorrow to not schedule anything for me at that time."

"Sure, I am glad at least one of the couples in your gang are ending up together."

"Hmm, Grandpa, do you know why Patrick and Emily broke-up in the past?"