Think Like A Criminal

Chapter 1

The wipers on the front windscreen of the white Sedan car swished from left to right continuously in a rapid speed but it was no use since it continued to rain hard making it difficult to see. Although, it was end of August, the rainy season had not stopped. Every invariable early morning rain brought unceasing cold with it, making the whole day particularly wet and frosty. However, that was the least bit of Vincent's concern as his eyes were focused on trying to find her. His patience was running thin.

Where is she?

She should have been here by now and from what he knows for the past three days she is never late. She would prefer to come early but never late. He glanced at the digital clock on the dashboard of his car that read half-past eight in the morning.

"C'mon, dude. She must be sick," Victor sighed, throwing his head back on the headset, "Let's come back tomorrow."

He stretched his arms and legs as far he could in a small compact car. Sitting back to his normal posture, he leaned his hand to the side of the seat and pulled a lever which moved his seat. He pushed it far enough of him to lie down as he, too, stared out the raindrop covered windscreen with Vincent for his target.

"I doubt that," Vincent said. He adjusted the sunglasses he had on as a disguise and continued to look around the college. "She was perfectly fine when she left yesterday. She couldn't be sick all of a sudden."

"Well, she might have not wanted to come today," Victor shrugged, "Or perhaps she doesn't have a class today."

Vincent hummed against his statement and picked up his phone from the dashboard. He switched it on and tapped through it for a while. He swiped left then right, clicked on something before swiping twice again and then handed his phone to Victor. Victor lazily took it from his hand and eyed the picture Vincent wanted him to see. He zoomed in only to see times and days and subjects – her class schedule.

"I purposely bumped into her two days ago. I bumped in her hard enough for her things to scatter down. While helping, I sneakily hid her timetable behind my back. She thanked me and went her ways," he wiggled his eyebrows towards his phone in Victor's hand, "I quickly took a picture of it before calling out to her and handing it back. She didn't suspect a thing."

"Clever," Victor chuckled, "But how do you know she didn't suspect anything?"

"Because her few other papers were stapled with her schedule."

"Oh," Victor nodded, "Anyways, let's leave today. You woke up late and forced me to come with you today as well. I didn't even have breakfast yet."

"There are some potato chips in the back seat, eat them."

"Oh, hell no. I'm craving actual breakfast," Victor argued. He pouted and squinted his eyes and looked around before finding a small cafe near the college. He pointed towards it.

"There! Look! We can have breakfast there!" he excitedly said. Vincent opened his mouth to speak but Victor beat him to it. "We can go there and sit in the booth with the window. From there you can stalk your girlfriend."

Vincent opened his mouth again, "She's not my girlfriend. She's a target and we're sitting here until she comes."

"Yeah, well two random guys sitting in a car that is parked on the opposite side of a college after the video of a fugitive saying he'll be kidnapping a girl soon is not so suspicious at all," he argued before opening the door and moving out, "I don't care, man. I'm starving. You can sit here and look suspicious or we can do this from a safe distance."

With that he shut the car door and dashed towards the cafe, putting his hands above his head 'trying' to shield himself from the pouring rain. Vincent stared at his back, weighing his option before letting out an irritated sigh and following him after picking up an umbrella from the back seat. They entered a small, cosy cafe named 'Sit & Sip'. The bell on top of the door rang as they entered. It was not full with many people hustling and bustling around. No, it was peaceful and quiet despite it having a relatively younger customer base. This may be because of the rain today. They all sat quietly sipping from their cup, munching on their food or simply studying. It felt like home. The duo chose a booth at the end of the cafe, next to the window that gave the direct view of the college entrance.