27

      After watching over and over again for the whole night the CCTV videos, Lee had finally found this little something feeling off. He needed several hours before it hit him -at five in the morning-

He had started to re-watch every footage from the first one to the last one, and his suspicion was proven right. The CCTV were all dating from after Lee Minwoo's kidnapping. Which was meaning… something. Why would the stalker become clumsy all of a sudden -after kidnapping and torturing a celebrity-Why would he let himself get caught after everything he had done and could do ?

What was the purpose ? Why would Gong do such thing ? What were his motives ? Was he the real culprit ?

Besides that, where could be Gong's sister and niece ? Were they related to all this ?

Lee did not know, but this, added to his new discovery left him with too much doubts to disregard the possibility Gong's accusation was a mistake. Even if the man had confessed. It did not feel right anymore.

Detective Lee knew he was not supposed to work on the case like this now they had their culprit and were about to close the case, but he could not stop himself after finding out about Gong ChaeRin and her daughter's disappearance.

Maybe it had nothing to do with ChaeHun, but maybe it had.

Lee had no real certitude excepted he could not just leave the case as it was and even less after noticing the footages' date. It was detective Lee's duty to save and protect, and if an innocent man was in prison and another one still in great danger, he could not ignore it.

Oh . He had totally forgotten to call Lee Minwoo.

Fishing his cell phone out of his pocket, he hoped the man would answer. The dancer needed to know what was going on to keep his guard up.

Even if Gong could be the culprit, there was a chance all this was a big mistake, and Lee needed to protect Lee Minwoo from eventual dangers.

"." He hissed when he ended up on Minwoo's voicemail, and trying a second time, he wondered what the man could be doing before trying Eric Mun's phone.

The Shinhwa leader was on voicemail too, and gritting his teeth in growing annoyance, Lee decided to just go to the man's place.

"Hey Lee. What's with you two today ?" Chuckled an older detective Lee did not know much but liked so far.

"What ?" He frowned back in confusion, and the older man chuckled again.

"How come ? Detective Oh didn't tell you ?"

"Tell me what ?" He growled back in growing irritation.

"Hum… I don't know. She rushed out of the police station this morning as if she had an urgent matter quite displeasing. I thought you had a new case or something."

"We've nothing so far. Did she tell you where she was going ?"

The older man shook his head "No. Like I told you I just saw her leave in a hurry. I thought she was meeting with you in fact…"

Lee had no idea what could be going on with his partner, but having another matter at hand right now he decided he would worry about it afterward.

First thing first, he had to get in touch with Lee Minwoo.

***

      When the meeting eventually ended, Eric could not wait to get a drink with some friends. Meetings like these were a part of the CEO job he disliked the most, but he was dealing with professionally and giving his all in whatever he had to do.

Which did not prevent him to feel tired once freed from his CEO obligations.

The day was far from over though. On this same night he was supposed to meet with new sponsors for ShinCo, and if not for the fact they needed other's support and money, Eric would have postponed the rendezvous.

Sighing, the leader fished his cell phone out of his pocket and pressed the power button. The screen lightened and showed he had a missed call. A call coming from detective Lee.

Seeing the name, Eric felt anxious and worried immediately, as if the man could not bring other news than bad ones.

Hurrying to the parking lot, the leader phoned back the detective and waited for his call to be answered.

"Eric Mun ?" Questioned the man, and the tone made a ball of emotions rush up Eric's throat.

"Detective. You tried to call me ?"

"Yeah. Yes. I'm looking for Lee Minwoo in fact. But he's on voicemail. Do you know where he is ? I'm at your place right now but nobody…"

"He's not in Seoul." Cut off the leader in growing anxiety. "Why ? What's going on ? Everything's alright ?"

The detective did not answer right away before saying "Where are you right now ?"

"Hum… At ShinCo. I'm on my way out."

"Ok. I'm at your place. Let's talk when you arrive."

"Why ? I mean… is something wrong ?"

"Not over the phone. You'll be there in how long ?" He questioned, and Eric knew he better not waste anymore time.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Good."

After hanging up with Lee, Eric hurried in his car and drove the fastest and safest possible back to his building. He was not sure why, but something was going on and he could not help worry about Minwoo at such fact.

Trying to call the dancer, he ended up on voicemail the four times he tried. In growing annoyance and fear, he threw his phone on the passenger seat on sped up a bit. He was not one to drive over the speed limit, but today felt different.

Minwoo was not answering. Detective Lee wanted to talk to him about the dancer. And Eric's gut feeling was screaming at him something was wrong.

He could not care less about respecting the speed limit.

      He arrived at his building in less than twenty minutes, and running his way to the detective waiting on a bench outside, Eric needed a second to catch his breath.

"Detective." He panted with a hand pushing on his side.

"Easy mister Mun." Tried to calm him down Lee, but Eric did not care about anything but Minwoo.

"What's going on ? Is Minwoo alright ?"

"Take a seat first." Leaded him the man to the bench, and once sitting, he started talking. "I've new information on Gong ChaeHun's case and… I wanted to get in touch with Minwoo to be sure he was safe."

"Why ?" The panic at the pit of the leader's stomach was horrible, and Lee's words made him fear the worst.

"There's a possibility Gong's not our man."

The information needed a second to sank, but then "What ? Are you kidding me ?" Eric was on his feet in a snap of a finger, the anger mixed to fear in his eyes something Lee could not disregard. "You said it was him. You've him on tape. What the hell are you talking about ?"

"Mister Mun… Please, calm down."

"Calm down ? You just told me the crazy bastard who hurt Minwoo could still be out. How am I supposed to calm down ?" He passed a shaky hand in his hair and added. "You said it was him. We thought it was over and Minwoo was safe… Oh God !" He breathed in sudden realization.

"What ? What's wrong ?"

"Minwoo." He said in a whispered voice, the look on his face a distant, terrified one. "He's alone in the middle of nowhere."

"What ? Just calm down for a second and tell me where's your friend."

"He's… he wanted some time away from the city, so he went back to his hometown. It's an isolate area… there's nothing around him but fields. Oh God !"

Eric was losing control over his emotions at the thought Minwoo was away from everything and maybe at the mercy of the bastard who had hurt him all this time.

He could not take such news with a leveled head.

"Eric !" Called him Lee, and snapping out of his trance, the leader looked over at the man and accepted to sit down. "Calm down. We need to get in touch with Minwoo right now, and I'm gonna need your help."

"What ? Huh… yeah, of course. What do you want from me ?"

"I need you to give me Minwoo's localization. I'm gonna send an agent there to bring him back to Seoul. Just to be safe."

"What the hell happened detective ? How could you make such mistake ?"

Lee lowered his gaze, sighed then answered "I hate this as much as you, but Gong played along perfectly. He admitted to the crime and, you were there when he talked to Minwoo. There was no doubt it was him."

"But ?"

Lee his lips before saying "There's some information not adding up. It's nothing really official… just my detective's instinct if you want. But I feel something's wrong with Gong. The more I look into his personal life the more I doubt he's really Minwoo's stalker. And…" The man took a breath before speaking. "I noticed the footage were all dated after Minwoo's kidnapping. It could be nothing but…"

The detective made a pause then added "He's a sister and niece. They're both missing at the right moment… and I don't know why, but I feel they're related to all this. I don't know how yet, but I know they're the reason for Gong's doings." He looked at Eric before saying. "Now, all we've to do is to find out if he's the guy we're looking for or just some kind of pawn in all this."

"Are you saying…"

"The real stalker could still be out there. That's why we need to get your friend back to Seoul ASAP."

Processing the all situation for a moment, Eric suddenly rose on his feet "Okay. I'll go with your agent."

"E…"

"No detective. I want to go. I need to get Minwoo back to safety, you won't change my mind."

Seeing the determination in the leader's eyes, Lee could only sigh and accept.

***

      Minwoo's heart was hammering so much against his ribcage that it was barely if he could hear anything else than it. It was like he was deafened by the loud sound of his beating heart and could do nothing about it.

The gun in his hands was heavy and cold on his palms, but it felt overly reassuring at the same time.

Checking the house room after room, the dancer was back in the leaving room when he found nothing. Detective Oh's body was a sight he could not stand, but the fact the house was empty besides him took his focus away. He could not believe no one was here. The man could not have run away so quickly, and if yes, Minwoo was sure he would have saw or heard him.

There was only two way out of the house, and the one at the back was leading nowhere but to a river. Minwoo was sure he would have seen the man if he had escaped then.

But there was no one in the house, and he could not deny it either.

Looking down at Oh, he felt a shiver run across his body. He felt such sadness overwhelm him at the sight of the dead woman, despite everything she had done to him. She was still a human being and Minwoo hated to be face to such cruelty.

He was one to cherish life, whoever's life, and seeing the dead body on the floor made him deeply sad and angry after the man responsible of her death.

Feeling like she deserved a last gesture of respect, he looked around for some sheets to cover her. He could not let her like this. It was disrespectful and too painful to watch.

Taking a step towards the bedroom, Minwoo barely had time to move that a loud slam startled him out of his skin and petrified him in place.

What the hell was that ?

Well, Eric to the rescue, lol.

Do you think he'll be there on time ? What do you think would happen ?

 Thank you for reading and commenting ^^

To next time !