chapter thirteen

not yixing. not jongin. not sehun. then who is it? my curiosity is just about to implode.

        "Why are we following Zhang Yixing?" Sehun whispered in the darkness as we trudged across the barren soccer field in Yixing footsteps.

"I can't tell you that right now," I replied. 

"But you'll tell me eventually," Sehun said. 

"Uh... yeah." 

"That's all I wanted to know." 

All I wanted to know was where the heck Yixing was headed. I felt like we'd been chasing after him for miles. If we walked much farther, I was sure we were going to hit the fence that circumscribed the campus. My breath came in short bursts, and I appreciated Sehun's reassuring presence. Not to mention his scanty use of words. He was the perfect stakeout partner. Except that he didn't know this was a stakeout. 

Suddenly, the indistinct outline of a building loomed in the distance. The appearance was so unexpected that I slowed my steps. What had the Hereford people builty way out here? 

"He's going into the old stables," Sehun said, his mouth deliciously close to my ear. 

"The old stables? Does anyone ever come out here?" I asked, picking up the pace again. 

"Not that I know of," Sehun replied. "I used to when I first got here. To be alone." 

When Yixing opened the large door at the front of the building, a shaft of dim light appeared, then died as the door closed. I made to follow, but Sehun stopped me with a hand on my arm. 

"You don't want him to see you?" he whispered. 

I shook my head. 

"Follow me," Sehun said. 

He led me around the back of the dilapidated building to an old, rickety ladder that leaned against the edifice. In the darkness, it seemed to climb into nothing. 

"I am not going up there," I hissed. The rungs were covered in snow, and the thing didn't look all that sturdy. 

"Trust me?" Sehun asked. 

For some reason the question made my heart warm. "Yeah," I said honestly. 

"Then let's go. I'll be right behind you." 

I took a deep breath, held it, and started to climb. Yifan would have killed me if she saw how reckless I saw being. But I was way too caught up in the cloak-and-dagger of it all to back out now. Had Yixing merely constructed the gambling story to dissuade me from pursuing him as a suspect? If so, I had fallen for it—hard. I had to know.

The ladder was surprisingly and steady and ended at a large, square aperture in the wall that provided access to an upper loft. It looked as if a door had been ripped free from its hinges, and the edges of it were rife with splinters. I hesitated for a split second and then heard the sound of voices coming from inside. Yixing wasn't alone. 

"I'm going in," I said, and crawled through the opening.

The building was so old and out of use that I was afraid the floor might have eroded by now, but the boards beneath my feet were solid. A few feet ahead, the loft opened up onto the rest of the stable, which would give me an aerial view of whatever was happening below. I could practically taste my own curiosity on my tongue. Hay was scattered here and there, and I could tell that if I walked too heavily my steps would be heard for miles. It was essential that I did not call attention to myself. I dropped to the ground and shimmied toward the light that was emanating from below. 

In a few agonizingly long seconds, I was able to peek over the edge of the loft. There was Yixing, standing in the middle of the stable, which was illuminated by the light from a single bulb overhead. He was talking to someone, but whoever it was must've been standing just under me, out of view. From my angle, I couldn't ascertain who it was. 

"... I'm telling you, you have to get out of here," Yixing was saying, clearly distressed. "He's an undercover cop. His name isn't even Kim Woohyun." 

Sehun looked at me with this confounded expression. Like, you're a what? 

I just looked at him and shrugged in a helpless, apologetic way. What was I going to do, explain right then and there? Meanwhile I was berating myself for being so careless. I should've had Yixing taken right out of the school the second he figured out who I was. But how was I supposed to know that he was all buddy-buddy with the drug dealer? I'd thought running a gambling ring was his only crime. 

"And if what I heard on the scanner is right, they've got a whole army of cops coming to take you away," Yixing continued. 

But who was he talking to? 

Speak up, already!

"That can't be right. Woohyun? But he's so... cloying." 

At the sound of that voice, I felt as if I had been punched directly in the stomach. All the wind was knocked right out of me as a million thoughts crowded my brain. 

Minseok? How would it be Minseok? He was so benign, so artless. I had thought he was all innocent and sweet and so like Wei—I had even been spurred into action by the thought of protecting him. How could I be so gullible? 

But the answer was obvious. No one would have ever ascribed the crime to a nonentity like Minseok. He was anathema at this school. How could he be the notorious drug dealer when no one even wanted to talk to him? I realized at that moment that his entire personality was contrived. I didn't even really know who he was. 

And did he really think I was cloying? That seemed totally unfair. 

"Look, I should've told you earlier in the week," Yixing said. "He came to me about the gambling thing, but he told me he wouldn't report me if I didn't blow his cover, so I guess I was scared. And, you know, I wasn't totally sure it was you until.... until now." 

I slipped back out of sight and lighted my wrist to my mouth. It was risky, but we were in the middle of nowhere. If I didn't alert Yifan as to our location ASAP, there was a chance that Minseok would evade capture. 

God! I still couldn't believe he was the bad guy! 

"What's going on?" Sehun mouthed to me as we moved soundlessly back to the center of the loft. 

"Attention, Chief Wu, we're in the old stable past the soccer field to the west of the school. Suspect is here now. All units converge." 

Sehun's face was a mixture of suspicion and approbation. It was kinda cool. 

"I'll give the orders, Lu. Thanks," Kris's voice said in my ear. Followed by, "All units converge." 

I smiled. He hadn't retracted my order. Ha! 

Then I noticed Yixing had fallen silent. Big fat oops. 

"Did you hear something?" Minseok's voice asked. 

"We'll be there in five," Kris's voice said in my ear. 

And then, all hell broke loose.

I heard a floorboard creak, and half a second later, I noticed something move out of the corner of my eye. I was about to shout a warning when Sehun and I both were grabbed from behind and pulled away from each other. Sehun's legs flailed out, kicking at the floor, but there was nothing I could do to help him. My own arms were pinned to my sides. 

After a fleeting moment of panic, I realized that my assailant had no idea what he was doing. His arms were locked around my upper body, but he'd left my hands free. 

Yet another advantage of being a karate fighter. Those who don't know you don't think you're a threat. 

Sehun and I were being dragged towards a set of stairs near the far wall. I had no idea what they planned to do with us, but I wasn't going to let them do it. I planted my feet on ground, leaned forward with all my might, and knocked my attacker off balance. The second he falter, I bent at the waist and flipped him over my back to the hard floor. Dust rained down from the ceiling, and the scoundrel groaned in pain. 

He had shaggy hair and a bulky frame that looked vaguely familiar, like I'd seen him in a movie or something, but I couldn't place him. 

"What's going on up there?" a stern, feminine voice called out.

"We'll be right down," the other guy answered from across the loft. 

Then I heard a punch crack across a jaw. I turned around to find that Sehun had broken free and was wailing on his man. He actually was a pretty adept fighter. For a moment, I forgot where I was and simply watched Sehun go