Taehyun's pov
"I still can't believe I agreed to this." I said once Cass untied my wrists to help them search for the missing boy in the same apartment, along with the criminals who abducted us. "This is crazy."
"I know right?" She just smiled sweetly and I may say it's sarcastic because she's a sociopath.
"I just want to make it clear that you and your men won't hurt anyone and we get to bring the suspect in without a scratch." I emphasized the deal in a firm statement to prevent casualties.
"Don't worry. I find him, my job is done. You find him, your job is done. Simple and fun. It's a win-win situation."
"You're sick in the head." I shook my head at the absurdity of this deal but we got no other choice.
"Thanks for the compliment." She simply replied while walking away from me to approach the rest of the gang surrounding the guardroom.
"Hey, don't tell me-"
"No, the old man just lost consciousness in shock when he saw us." Yeonjun immediately cleared my suspicion and continued, "most likely because he saw me along with them."
"Alright girls," Cass took our attention by pushing the guard's swivel chair away from the control board. I caught it and helped him lay his head on the wooden counter. "Everyone will help me search every single room using these keys. There are twelve rooms and we got twelve people. Two per door. Do it thoroughly but make it fast so we can cover everything before the sun screws us up."
"I'm sorry but I can't do this," the other cop refused to enter any room so I had to explain the problem to him because he could get us in trouble. "Even if we catch the killer this way, the civilians will get us in jail for breaking in without warrant and at the middle of the night."
"I know but we're also on a pinch here." I whispered and held his shoulder to assure him everything's gonna be fine. "Everyone's sleeping anyway. We just need to briefly check these 1LDK rooms."
"This is wrong." He insisted and I'm starting to feel attacked.
"Shh. I'm doing this to keep us alive." I looked straight into his big brownish eyes to get my point across.
"Hey, for how long are y'all gonna stare at each other over there?" Cass crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her stainless steel watch.
We all randomly picked a partner and proceeded after Cass disabled the alarms and security cameras.
At first it was awkward and weird but after we were done on the lower half of the building, it became easier to swallow. Everyone is sleeping comfortably in their cool bedrooms and nothing was out of ordinary so we didn't have to linger on and get caught in the end.
"Hey," I called and Cass stopped in front of the elevator. "…where are you going?"
"To his bedroom."
"W-wait," I quickly stepped in and joined her before the doors closed shut. "I'll join you."
"I can manage." She pushed the button and ignored my presence afterwards.
"Did you forget the deal?" I retorted. "I have the right to know the outcome of this madness because our careers are at stake."
She turned around and inspected me from head to foot. No words are spoken yet I felt harassed when the girl faced the doors again after a few seconds.
"Pray that we find him alive or else both of us wouldn't be worrying about our careers."
I fell on a deep thought as we tiptoed on the dimmed cement hallway. It might look suspicious from afar, especially when apartments are required to have lights on every hallway for safety purposes but we can't risk getting seen by neighbors.
Cass stuck her ear as soon as we arrived to the last room at the top floor. The others began pouring from the stairs too and went on their respective targets.
But there seems to be a problem with the room next door.
"There's no extra key for this one." One of the goons reported to her and scratched his head.
"Alright. Let's exchange rooms for now." She declared and took something inside her rubber shoes.
"What's that?"
"My all purpose key." She smirked when the door clicked open. She pushed it gently and scanned the area for potential unwanted contact.
"This is the owner's property." I said in a hushed tone as we entered the room. It was dark and quiet, not even a sound was heard. Which is weird because there should be at least an air conditioning unit on or else someone could end up in a heatstroke.
"I know."
I almost had a heart attack when she suddenly turned the lights on, opposed to what we have agreed upon.
"He's not here…" she spoke like her soul left her body. "Fuck… I was too late…"
To be continued…