Black Diamond

17. Chapter 17

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Olivia asked gently, glancing worriedly in the rearview mirror at the faces of the three young adults in the backseat. The digital clock on the dashboard displayed 3 am. The silence in the car was interrupted by the whirr of airplane engines, echoing in the background and overhead. The hustle and bustle of the airport continued, unaffected by the situation in the SUV.

They had an hour to meet up with Sung Joon, and find Kamella. There was no plan, and no one knew which airport she was coming from.

Olivia finally looked away from the mirror to fully face Taeyong, Ten, and Nokomi. The three sat together in the spacious backseat of Kamella’s jet black SUV. Jaehyun sat in the passenger seat, calmly turning to watch the scene unfolding behind him.

“I still can’t believe you guys kept something this big from me!” Koko shouted, a frown crossing her pretty face. “Mel could have been hurt or worse!” Ten patted her leg gently, trying to calm her down, and in response, Koko tried to put some distance between their bodies, crossing her arms over her chest in a huff. “You’re not exempt either, Ten!”

“We didn’t want you to get involved. It was always safer for you that way,” Olivia explained, pushing out a breath as she ran her fingers through her newly dyed black hair. She was trying a new color out for the Fall.

“But no one thought about how safe it was for Mel…” Koko added, in obvious disappointment.

“I won’t make the same mistake again.” All eyes turned to Taeyong, who had been brooding silently the entire ride to the airport.

Jaehyun knew Taeyong well enough to know that he was probably re-evaluating his actions, and coming up with the best way to solve this situation. It was this constant state of improvement and thought process that made Lee Taeyong a great leader. His amazing mind and personality was the reason why Taeyong could convince 20 other people to follow him whole-heartedly, through thick and thin.

Jaehyun felt, without a doubt, that if anyone could save Kamella, Taeyong could.

“Shouldn’t we have this conversation inside the airport?” Jaehyun proposed gently, making Olivia turn to face him. Something about how calm and unfettered he was made her relax a bit too. She wasn’t sure why Jaehyun of all the members had decided to join their little search party, but she was thankful for it.

“Liv, I think Jaehyun-ssi has a good idea. Is Oppa here yet?” Koko agreed, though Ten frowned at the nickname she gave Sung Joon.

“He should be. Let me call him while we're headed inside.” Olivia grabbed her purse and cell phone, shutting off the car, and hopping out. The other passengers in the car followed suit.

Sung Joon answered on the first ring, “I’m already inside, and I’m looking at the Arrivals. There’s only four planes coming in at 4 am, but they’re at two seperate ends of each terminal.”

“So four flights, two at each terminal?” Olivia repeated, just to make sure she heard correctly. Taeyong listened closely, his heart already pounding. It was 3:15. “How do we know which flight she’s on? Can you ask her?”

“We can’t.” Sung Joon replied solemnly, glancing at the screen in frustration. “We also have no idea if her flight was delayed on the other end.”

“Well, do any of the flights have a delay so far?” They finally went through the double doors, Olivia leading the group as she searched for Sung Joon. “Where are you?”

“By the convenience store at the end of-, I see you.” Sung Joon called, waving his arm in the air to get their attention. Jaehyun pointed at him and together, the group met each other at the halfway point. Sung Joon lead them back towards the screen.

“I see you brought along some help,” he noted, focusing an intense glare in Taeyong’s direction. Taeyong pushed out a breath and turned to face the screen. They had bigger issues right now.

Koko fixed Sung Joon with her eyes narrowed, “Oppa, I can’t believe you helped them hide all this from me. I thought I could trust you, at least!”

Sung Joon chuckled, patting Nokomi’s shoulder, “I’m sorry, Koko. I promised Kammie-yah to keep this from you. None of us wanted to corrupt you.”

“Oh, for the love of-”

Jaehyun coughed expertly, cutting Koko off, “Sorry to interrupt, but... it’s getting close to 3:20, and we have to figure out which flight to catch.”

Taeyong was staring up at the four flights, willing something, anything to jump out at him. There had to be some way for them to know which flight Kamella was on.

“Why don’t we split up and cover all four flights?” Koko suggested thoughtfully, pursing her heart-shaped lips thoughtfully.

“Dealer absolutely can’t see me here,” Olivia blurted out immediately, and Sung Joon nodded in agreement, “He thinks I’m on a house call with a client. If he sees me, he’ll know why I’m here, and that’ll make this much worse.”

“So… Livvie, you can wait in the car. We have enough people with us to help search. It’ll be better if we have a car ready and waiting to get us the hell out of here.” Sung Joon decided, following along with Koko’s plan. “That leaves the rest of us to find Mel.”

“Let’s make a group chat so we can change plans if anything happens. It’ll be better if we don’t speak over the phone -- there’s no telling what ears are listening for us,” Olivia glanced around the airport suspiciously, but it was a dead-zone so early in the morning. Hopefully, more people would arrive as more flights started to stream in.

Everyone pulled out their cell phones making sure that they were added to the group chat that Olivia had created. Once everyone tested to make sure each person could read all the messages, they were ready to go.

It was 3:30 am.

“It’ll be hard to get her out of here since there aren’t any crowds,” Koko commented, frowning at the practically empty airport.

“We have to try,” Taeyong stated resolutely, taking a look at the flights once again. “Jaehyun and I can take the flights at the next terminal. Ten-ah, stay by Koko’s side.”

Ten grinned and immediately laced his fingers with Nokomi’s. She tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip instead, “That’s easy.”

Jaehyun chuckled, turning to Olivia, “Noona, contact us if anything happens outside.”

Olivia nodded, “I’ll have the car ready and waiting.”

Sung Joon scoffed, “Don’t act like a hero. Remember, none of you wanted to be here in the first place.”

Stunned silence fell over the group like a cloak. Taeyong took a deep breath to try and calm down. Sung Joon wasn’t wrong, but lashing out just before their mission began wasn’t helpful either.

Taeyong opened his mouth to utter a retort, but Koko beat him to it, “Oppa, I know you’re frustrated by the situation, but if Mel knew how you were talking to us right now, she’d be very disappointed in you. All of us are here because we love Mel, and we want to protect her. Be the good man that she knows you are, and focus on what we came to do.”

Sung Joon grimaced, not expecting Nokomi, of all people, to admonish him. He gave a frustrated huff and took off in the opposite direction, not bothering to tell anyone which terminal or flight he was headed towards.

“I’ll go with him,” Jaehyun volunteered bravely. Taeyong clapped his friend’s shoulder with a grateful nod. Jaehyun’s calm and thoughtful nature would be the most compatible with Sung Joon’s current attitude.

“Then, we’ll stay here, and cover this terminal,” Koko added, while Olivia headed off as well. She waved her phone and the air and ran to get back to the car.

It was 3:45.

Ten, Taeyong, and Koko walked halfway to the other end of the terminal as a group before Taeyong stopped them, “You two stay here, and I’ll go to the other end. Let’s text if we see anything.”

Koko gave Taeyong a small smile, “If you see her, do whatever you can to get her outside, the rest of us can come find you!”

Ten sighed, “Come on, Koko. We only have 10 minutes to make it back to the other side.”

Taeyong glanced at his watch; Ten was right. “I’ll post in the group chat.” Once Ten and Koko were gone from Taeyong’s side, he stopped in front of the flight board to look over the four flights coming in: Moscow, Sydney, Paris, and Denver.

Those were four very different locations. How would they know which flight Kamella was on?

The clock read 3:55 am.

“Moscow, Sydney, Paris... and Denver,” Taeyong mused, out loud. “Moscow, Paris, Sydney, and Denver.”

The flights updated status in real time before Taeyong’s eyes. The Moscow flight had been delayed by an hour, but both the Paris and Denver flights were in the process of landing.

“Denver… Denver…” Why was that particular city standing out to him so much? What had he seen or heard about Denver?

The answer suddenly dawned on Taeyong, the realization nearly bowling him over as he recalled the post cards Kamella sent in the mail. He yanked his phone out of his pocket, and ran towards the gate that Ten and Nokomi were heading towards, texting furiously.

She’s coming from Denver! Ten, Koko, Kamella’s coming towards you!

It was 4 am on the dot.

With Kamella

Kamella breathed a sigh of relief as they finally docked at the gate. Dealer was snoring softly beside her so she took that time to quickly power-up her phone and notify Sung Joon of her arrival.

Run.

That was the one word reply she got from him. Run? Where the hell she was supposed to run on a plane? How was she supposed to run? Dealer had her luggage, and his goons were sitting in the row behind them. There was no way she was getting off this plane without him catching her.

One of the guards reached over the seat to gently nudge Dealer awake, and he jolted up, grabbing her wrist tightly. When he finally woke up fully, he released his grip on her.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Kamella commented, a smug grin on her face. “Good, I hope you have them every night.”

“You can’t be mad at me forever, Diamond.”

Kamella rolled her eyes at him, being sure to tuck her phone under her arm, “Just get me off this plane, Dealer. I need to use the bathroom.”

“Why didn’t you go earlier?” Dealer asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.

“When was I supposed to go with you and your idiots watching me every two seconds? You’d probably follow me to the bathroom and embarrass me.”

Dealer frowned, “Watch your tone.”

“You watch your tone,” Kamella hissed, emboldened by their setting, “I could scream loudly enough for this entire plane to hear me, and you’ll be detained on the spot. If you lay a hand on me, we’re both going down.”

Dealer smiled through gritted teeth, “You can use the restroom once we get into the airport.”

“That’s what I thought,” Kamella replied, grabbing her bag from underneath the footrest. She skillfully dropped the phone in her bag, while Dealer stood to grab their carry-on bags from the overhead bin. Since they were riding in First Class, the two of them were ushered from the plane with goodbyes and thank yous before most of the other passengers.

Kamella kept her eyes peeled as she walked down the hallway towards the interior of the airport. She knew they had to go through customs and several other processes, so she just hoped that someone was waiting for her when finally completed everything.

Together, their group made their way towards the exit. There was a commotion right by the exit door, and just as they were leaving the customs area Kamella made sure to repeat her earlier request.

“Diamond, you can go as soon as we get out of the gate.” Dealer replied, in a distracted tone as the double doors slid open. They walked out towards the greeting area, where a group of people had gathered on the other side of the enclosed walkway. There, people stood to watch two attractive young men dance to a K-Pop song that sounded extremely familiar to Kamella’s ears.

It was NCT U’s Seventh Sense. She remembered watching the song’s music video when she first met Taeyong.

The two guys were putting on the show of their lives, and the small crowd around them was cheering them on, taking pictures and recording their performance. Kamella’s eyes grew wide when they turned and faced her direction.

It was Ten and Jaehyun. They made brief eye contact with her, and hope bubbled in Kamella’s chest. If they were here...

“Dealer, I’m going to the bathroom. Maybe you can recruit these guys to work at The House?” Kamella suggested, and she could practically see the dollar signs in Dealer’s eyes. He nodded, moving closer to the crowd to get a better look.

“You two… go with her.”

Kamella fought the urge to sigh, and walked away towards the nearest restroom while Dealer continued to watch Ten and Jaehyun perform. Kamella’s eyes roamed the walkway for Taeyong, Olivia or Sung Joon, but instead she saw Nokomi, sitting on a bench not too far from the crowd. Nokomi’s eyes lit up for an instant, but she put her head down before the guards could see her.

“I’m just going to the bathroom,” Kamella stated in an unnecessarily loud voice, making the guards annoyed.

“Stop shouting, and just go before the Boss gets angry,” One of the men told her, glancing around them nervously.

Kamella nodded, and continued on her short walk to the bathroom. She stepped in the Women’s restroom, and waited for Nokomi to come in after her. It didn’t take too long. In a few minutes, Koko was in the bathroom, holding out a black bucket hat that looked familiar.

“We’re going to switch clothes. Here, put this on,” Koko was already pulling off her jacket as they stepped into the largest bathroom stall together. As Kamella locked the door behind her, Koko started pulling her arms through the straps of her dress quickly.

“Koko, you’re shorter than me; they’ll never believe this.” Kamella worried, but Koko shook her head.

“We don’t need them to actually believe you're me, we just need to get you out of here without being caught. It'll be hard to tell the difference between you and I from the back. They won’t be looking at us hard enough, I promise.”

“You think so?”

“The guys have a plan. All you have to do is run to that column further down the hall.”

Kamella nodded nervously, ping her skirt to hand over to Nokomi, "How'd you manage to find me?"

Koko smiled, taking the skirt and handing her dress over, "Taeyong mentioned something about a post card?"

That brought a smile to Kamella's face, despite the situation. The ladies switched outfits entirely, before peeking out of the bathroom stall to make sure they weren't discovered. Since the bathroom was still completely empty, they were in the clear, “You ready?”

“I’m texting Sung Joon-oppa now to help with the distraction.” Koko replied, typing away at her phone. In under a minute, she heard loud shouting just outside of the bathroom door. There was an orange “Do Not Enter” sign in front of the door, and a janitor cart right next to it. The guards had been moved a little ways away from the bathroom because Sung Joon was annoyingly mopping at their feet.

“Watch where you’re going with that nasty thing!” One of Kamella’s guards shouted angrily.

“Sorry, the janitor had a death in the family, so this was a last resort. I’m not used to picking up trash.” Sung Joon commented humbly, still mopping the floor to force them further away from the cart. Kamella crept out of the door, using the janitor’s cart as a shield to block her form from their line of vision. She inched away from the bickering group until she reached a giant pillar that she could hide behind.

Just as she stood to her full height behind the column, she was enveloped in a tight back hug.

The scent surrounding her was absolutely wonderful, warm, and comforting. Taeyong heard her sigh in relief, and that made him hold her even tighter, if that was possible.

“I made a wish without telling you, and you still granted it. Doesn’t this mean we’re bound together, Mella-yah?” He murmured in her ear, and she turned in his arms to face him.

“Taeyong-ah.” She whispered, her voice trembling as her eyes drank him in. Her vision was swimming as she tried to hold back tears.

“We have to get you out of here. Come with me, and keep my hat on,” he explained, grasping her hand tightly as they power-walked as quickly as they could towards the nearest exit.

“I knew this was yours. Where are we going?” Kamella wondered, allowing Taeyong to lead her outside of the airport, to the nearest curb. She soon noticed her SUV sitting further down the driveway, where Olivia sat in the driver’s seat.

Taeyong took off into a run towards the car, pulling Kamella behind him. Olivia rolled the window down and waved enthusiastically.

“Liv!” Kamella shouted, yanking open the passenger door handle. She jumped in and buckled her seat belt, leaning over to kiss Olivia on the cheek. Her best friend grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly, shifting the car out of park.

“Mel! Thank goodness we found you. Koko’s right behind you guys!”

“What about Ten and Jaehyun?” Taeyong asked, throwing the door open and scooting over just as Nokomi jumped in, gasping for breath.

“Oh my God, I thought my heart was gonna pop out of my chest! Oppa finally got away from the guards, so Ten and Jaehyun are going to catch a ride with him.”

Kamella blanched, “A ride to where? Liv, we can’t go home. Once Dealer realizes both of us are gone, he’s going to lose his mind.”

“, you’re right,” Olivia realized, peeling away from the curb. Koko pulled out her cell phone to call Ten.

“Noona, let’s go to that house,” Taeyong commented softly, leaning forward from the backseat, causing Kamella to turn to him somberly.

“We just said we can’t-!” Olivia asked, in confusion,

Kamella nodded, “Koko, hand me your phone. I’ll tell everyone where to go.”

End Chapter 17