I stared at the screen, hands shaking as Jenna's interview played.

Reporters swarmed her. She just smiled, calm as ever.

"I have a special ability," she said. "I can see from a killer's perspective. That's how I found the serrated knife and tracked him down."

The crowd went wild.

"No wonder Detective Blake's unstoppable!"

"With her around, criminals don't stand a chance!"

Then a reporter cut through the noise:

"Since you joined, Detective Mercer hasn't solved a single case. What do you think about that?"

I froze. So did my team, eyes locked on the screen.

Jenna gave a sweet smile.

"Detective Mercer doesn't have my abilities, so of course she's slower. But she's always been my senior. Even before I graduated, she'd bring me tough cases to work through. That's why I got better so fast."

The room blew up.

On-screen comments flew like bullets:

[Poor Jenna! Used by Kate and still thanking her? What a fool.]

[She's been cracking cases on her own while someone else stole the credit—heartbreaking.]

Then the mob turned on me:

[Kate Mercer, how dare you ride someone else's work? Zero shame.]

[Audit every case she touched—bet they're all stolen.]

[Reported her already. How did a fraud like that become CSBI captain?]

I sat at my desk, hands trembling, vision swimming. Tried to breathe, but when I glanced up, the whole office was staring. Doubt in every look.

"Cap... what Jenna said... is it true?"

My nails cut into my palm.

"You don't believe me either?"

Silence. Not one of them met my eyes.

Danny snatched up the scraps I'd used last night.

"Look—what Cap wrote matches exactly what Jenna said today!"

The paper passed from hand to hand. Every stare—accusing, disgusted, shocked—landed on me.

I opened my mouth to explain, but a voice cut through the tension outside.

"Enough! What's with the yelling? This place isn't a circus!"

Chief Doyle stormed in, face like thunder. He yanked me up by the arm.

"You're coming with me. Now. You're going to that interview site and clearing this mess. If you don't, it's not just the Bureau's name—it's your career on the line."

Chief Doyle dragged me straight to the site. Jenna was still soaking up the spotlight, eating every bit of praise.

One of the parents from the trafficking case even waved big, promising to throw a banquet in her honor.

The second I walked in, the whole mood snapped.

Reporters swarmed, shouting over each other.

Chief Doyle raised his hands.

"There's been a misunderstanding between our Bureau's Captain Mercer and Detective Blake of the FPD. I brought her here to clear it up."

He smiled like it was all fine—then shoved me forward.

Every eye locked on me, waiting.

I caught Jenna's smug little smile and laughed cold.

"I've got one question. Since you said we discussed every case—then tell me, what was the key clue in the church murder?"

Chief Doyle's face darkened. Definitely not the script he fed me on the way here.

Before he could blow, someone lunged forward and smacked me across the face.

Alan.

My mentor—same as last life—pointed at me, shaking with rage.

"You disgrace! First you steal Jenna's deductions, now you show up here making a scene?"

My cheek burned, but the shock cut deeper.

Alan drew breath to keep going, but Jenna tugged him back, wearing that perfect mix of hurt and innocence.

"Kate, I don't know why you'd ask me that... Don't you remember? I told you—the killer lined up the hundred-dollar bills from the victim's wallet by serial number. That's how we knew he was a religious fanatic with obsessive tendencies."

My brain went white-hot.

The church case was my first real breakthrough back in school. The killer was high-profile, so nothing ever hit the internet. Every record I had was gone. There was no way Jenna could've known.

But my shock gave me away—and the crowd pounced.

"She thought enough time passed and she could twist it? Gross."

"Get out. Just being near her makes my skin crawl!"

"Yeah, leave!"

Chief Doyle and I got shoved out by the mob.

He was shaking with fury.

"Clean up your own mess. You're on your own."

Then he peeled off without looking back.

I stood frozen. One of the people who'd shoved me out was someone I'd once saved from a serial killer.

I laughed, bitter.

What a joke.

My phone buzzed. One glance—and my eyes went wide.

So that's it... no wonder Jenna always knew what I was thinking.

I let out a sharp laugh, yanked out my badge, and tossed it into a passing garbage truck.

On a giant screen nearby, breaking news flashed: a charred body found in the suburbs. The victim's ID was shocking.

I just arched a brow and kept walking.

Starting now, I'm done being a cop. Let's see how the city's golden detective survives without me.