Chapter 13
You Said Remember Me II
/ / / / /
Victoria glanced up at the large yellow house behind the short yard fence. The windows were brilliantly made to suit the exterior of the building. It looked like a doll’s house brought to life. Cute and lively. The green bushes lined up against the front window, the various stone steps that created a walkway toward the steps, and the little flowers growing randomly amongst the yard caught her eyes. She’d envisioned a house like this when she and Donghae had officially started a family. How great it’d be…
“Come in,” he called from the doorstep.
Victoria walked across the yard and followed him in.
“My name’s Changmin, by the way,” he introduced himself as he led Victoria down the neat hallway framed with pictures of gardens and flowers against the cheery yellow walls.
They traveled under an arching ceiling into another room that held soft colorful, but still matching furniture. An oval carpet sat underneath a glass coffee table topped with magazines of current fashion and sports. A decorative lamp sat on top of a table near the wall as well as a glass case exhibiting car models.
The first thing in the kitchen that caught her eye was the large glass doors with lined the whole wall leading to the organized backyard. A wooden deck had been built out back and beyond that lie green grass and a swinging bench.
“Do you want some water?” Changmin asked walking over to the two door silver fridge.
She glanced at the long white counter before her and the few stools that had been neatly tucked in. A white table sat behind her on top of the glossy floor tiles creating the perfect homey life she had dreamt of once before.
“Here,” he placed a glass cup before her. “Yuri should be down in a few minutes.”
Victoria stared at the cup and slowly reached for it. As the cold water traveled down she felt like crying.
“Ah! Changmin, there you are!” a woman’s voice appeared behind her. “Who’s that? You have a visitor?”
“Ah…” Changmin stepped out from behind the counter. “I met her in the area you warned me about. She wants to talk to you.”
Victoria turned around to meet with the beautiful tall woman. Her wavy hair made its way down her shoulders before she smiled.
“Hi, I’m Kwon Yuri,” she introduced.
Victoria nodded, “I’m Victoria Song.”
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise, “Victoria Song? Ah…I heard about you. You were involved in that abduction case last year. What can I do for you?”
“I’ll be back, I need to get ready for work,” Changmin told before turning to Victoria, “don’t hold yourself back from talking to her. She may look scary, but she really isn’t.”
Yuri glanced at him through the corner of her eyes before he disappeared. She walked over and pulled out a stool.
“Have a seat,” she offered.
Victoria sat down as she pulled out another stool.
“Is there something you need help with?” Yuri started off kindly. “You’re a professor at Soul University, right? You’ve come a long way just to see me.”
“It’s a long story,” Victoria replied expressionless.
“Go on.”
“The criminal investigation firm in Incheon, I’m sure you heard about it.”
She nodded.
“My husband, Lee Donghae, he isn’t dead,” Victoria started off.
Yuri’s eyebrow twitched in surprise.
“How do you know?”
Victoria glanced at the glossy tiles, “He called me last night with a warning…I know it might sound exaggerated…but I’m not lying. I was abducted last night and I know for sure my kidnappers have something to do with him. Please help me find him.”
Yuri stared back surprised and sympathetically.
“My husband…I miss him. Please help me find him,” Victoria begged.
/ / / / /
Nana turned around from the counter to look at Lee Donghae’s still forlorn expression as he stared at the traffic. Passersby turned every now and then to take a glance at his bruised up face, but walked by quickly without a word when Nana turned to look at them.
“Your order’s up,” a voice made her turn around.
Grabbing the sandwiches and coffee she’d ordered, she started back toward the table.
“Eat up,” Nana urged. “If you want to head back in good shape, you must eat. It’s essential for the body.”
“She must be crying,” Donghae quietly said, “I didn’t want her to feel lonely again. I miss her.”
Nana took a bite out of her sandwich and turned away from him. The investigator was far different from what she’d pictured him to be. She’d thought him to be a helpful person, a person that was smart and cunning, a person who placed work before the personal. But he was so emotional about having been declared dead, so worried about his wife. She couldn’t take the depressing feelings he was expressing without shame.
/ / / / /
“I don’t know what I can do, I’m only a small time sheriff in the city,” Yuri admitted, “I’ll get a word in to the higher department for you, though.”
Victoria finally turned to look at her.
“We have a guest room upstairs, if you head up the stairs it’s the third door to the left,” she directed. “If you want to head back to Seoul, I’ll take you back when I return.”
Yuri got up and started walking away but paused and turned around, “Your husband, Lee Donghae, was the one who convicted Ren Gei to jail, wasn’t he?”
Victoria felt her hair stand on end.
“There’s been a jailbreak a week back,” Yuri began, “Ren Gei escaped, did you know that?”
Victoria’s eyes grew wide in shock.
“What?”
Yuri’s face became overwhelmed with concern, “You didn’t know?”
Turning away feeling stunned, Victoria finally understood Donghae’s strange behavior. Why he always wanted to drop her off and pick her up from work, why he refused to let her step out of the boundaries he’d set for her…she should have seen it.
“Ren Gei…is out?” Victoria repeated feeling a trillion thoughts of fear travel through her body.
Suddenly jumping off the stool she started for the front door. Yuri’s loud footsteps followed her out.
“Where are you going?” Yuri called.
She needed to find him. She need to find Donghae. She had to find him before anything happened…before Ren Gei could get to him. What Ren Gei would do to him…Victoria couldn’t even imagine it. The way he’d tried to hurt Donghae while she’d lay on the floor frozen a year ago flashed back into her mind like an angry flash mob. What if Donghae was hurt? What if Ren Gei had found Donghae at this moment?
The loud screeching tires of a car deafened her ears when she felt someone pull her back. Her heart was racing, fear and panic swarmed through her. For once, she was unable to bring herself to calm down. Her thoughts were in a hazy mess. Every little though in her head tangled themselves up messily.
“What are you doing? You could have killed yourself!” Yuri scolded her on the spot angrily.
The pace of her breathing started to increase again and she could feel her chest heavily moving up and down.
“I need to find him…” Victoria looked around helplessly, “he’s going to kill him!”
Yuri stared back at her like she was crazy. When neither of them uttered a word, Victoria pulled out of her grasp and ran across the street losing herself amongst the thick crowd.
/ / / / /
Yuri scanned around the crowd Victoria where had disappeared, but couldn’t spot her anywhere. She barely knew the woman and yet she was running late for work because she’d decided to go after her. Jogging forward she spun around then crossed the street. Near the intersection she spotted a familiar silhouette and stopped at the crosswalk as cars zoomed passed. Being careful to keep her eyes on Victoria, she observed the crowd on the street before spotting a tall woman chewing gum watching with arms crossed from the corner. As Victoria moved further away, the woman slowly followed cautiously, and that was when Yuri spotted two men discreetly following from behind.
She quickly turned back to the streetlights and when the lights turned orange she darted down the crosswalk. Being careful to camouflage herself within the crowd Yuri followed the two tall men whose shoulders she reached. They had thin frames, but she could tell that they often worked out as the muscles on their arms were more than visible.
One of them styled his hair into a Mohawk, the other kept his hair neatly trimmed. Who were they?
“I can’t believe she made her way all the way to Osan,” the female from in front slightly turned around.
Yuri turned her face away to make it look as if she were just randomly strolling the streets looking around for a place to shop. Luckily the crowd moved along with her.
“She probably thinks she outsmarted us,” the man with the Mohawk assumed chewing on dried squid.
“Lets hurry up, Eui Tae’s not going to wait long,” the other suggested. “We haven’t heard from Jin Young either, we should get back to pick him up before heading off.”
“That jackass must have done himself in,” Leo muttered before scolding the woman in front, “make sure to keep her in your eyesight! If we lose her again this time, I’m going to lose this time.”
“Look who’s talking! You’re not even all that and you want to shamelessly sleep with someone else’s wife?” the woman in front asked disgusted.
“Cut it out,” Yong Jo grabbed Leo’s shoulder. “We’re here to finish off what would be done by now if you idiots weren’t so childish. Before we cross the intersection, lets grab her. The crowd is going to be too thick for anyone to notice and we can pretend that we’re just playing with a friend.”
Yuri made sure to cast her eyes elsewhere so as not to let them know she’d been eavesdropping. Her heart was silently racing inside her rib cage. If what she’d said about being abducted was true then she really was in danger. Stopping in her steps Yuri turned and took a shortcut through a secluded alleyway. The smell of old food drifted up through the black garbage bags and Yuri almost gagged on spot.
Once she popped out onto the sidewalk, she stepped out to look around to find that Victoria had already passed by. Yuri half jogged forward. Reaching a hand out she grabbed Victoria’s arm.
“Be quiet,” Yuri whispered before pulling her into the nearest shop to hide.
Yuri passed the few woman chatting inside by the front counter and started toward the fitting rooms at the back. Their loud whispers drifted in with the air currents even when Yuri shut the door.
“What did you say happened to you?” asked Yuri.
Victoria stared back.
“You said you were abducted,” Yuri reminded. “How many were there?”
She still didn’t say anything.
“You need to tell me, so I can try to help you,” Yuri urged.
Victoria turned away. She’d made it hard to cooperate with Donghae when she’d landed in the hospital after Ren Gei tampered with her brakes. She’d always made it hard for him. If she wanted to end things fast and return to the life she’d been living, she knew she needed to tell her as much as she knew.
“I don’t have names,” Victoria told, “there was a woman and three men. That’s all I know.”
Yuri stared back, “They’ve found you, you’re being followed, did you know?”
The surprise that exploded in Victoria’s eyes were clear to Yuri that she hadn’t been aware.
“What do they want from you?”
“I don’t know.” Victoria expressionlessly answered.
Yuri felt kind of intimidated and surprised by Victoria’s way of replying.
“If they’re in Osan and they know you’re here, it’s best if you stay low,” Yuri advised, “I have to get going to work, but I’ll drop you off at my house. I’ve a security lock, so if anybody tries to break in, the police will be there before anything happens.”
“I can’t stay,” Victoria stubbornly refused her offer. “My husband is out there…”
“You don’t know where he is,” Yuri shot back, “if you don’t know what they want with you, neither do I. And if they get their hands on you, we don’t know what’ll happen. I’m not a person who’s specialized in life saving procedures and I’ve never shot person, but as the small time cop that I am, I can protect you from harm. Your husband, I’ve heard about him. I’ll get the word passed around, so don’t move until I come back from work.”
After setting turning on her security lock, Yuri started toward work. Her coworkers were busy as usual and they’d already brought in their first batch of trouble makers. She wasn’t surprised.
Headed straight for the hallway, she found her boss sitting in his office. A tall man in his 40’s he was. Her first impression of him was the way he’d slicked back his hair with a thick amount of gel.
He looked up from his desk, “What do you need this time? Screw up on another report?”
Yuri cringed at his greeting, “That report from Incheon about the explosion of the criminal investigation firm, do you have more information about it?”
He raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean by ‘more’?”
“Any information been fed to you about the two people who supposedly died inside?” Yuri questioned.
“They’re presumed dead, Sheriff Kwon,” he stated dryly, “why are you asking about people who’ve been announced dead?”
“What about how it exploded? Has there been anything?”
“The investigators suspect foul play,” the Chief responded. “Why? Do you have some other suggestions?”
Yuri paused before going on with her delirious question, “What if…they aren’t dead?”
“Are you…perhaps…a little out of your mind? Or is this your way of asking for another vacation?”
“I’m not asking for another vacation,” Yuri denied, “Chief, what if it was more than foul play?”
“Then did someone cause that explosion?” he asked the question and the way he asked it ridiculed her.
How could she get Victoria’s situation across without making herself sound stupid or letting the Chief make her sound insane?
“Has the investigation team interviewed his family about any possible enemies? Have they questioned the secretary who’s currently lying in the hospital?”
“Sherriff Kwon, this case does not belong to us,” the Chief pointed out strictly, “we are to focus on the crimes within the boundaries of Osan. Don’t go digging your nose into other people’s business. If I get reported for letting a reckless officer work under me, you know what that means, don’t you?”
Yuri’s jaw tensed up. He wasn’t going to go on with the conversation. Basic as it was that the case did not concern them, she couldn’t shrug Victoria off her shoulders so simply.
When she walked out she called to an officer, “Can you dig up information from a year ago when Ren Gei attacked a psychology professor? And can you help me get information on Lee Donghae, the criminal investigator?”
***Vic's starting her search for Donghae, yet he doesn't know she's missing yet. They're thinking about each other at the same time :D
***Shows us a little about how Yuri's looked upon at work. Her Chief thinks she's a good for nothing Sherriff, tells us why she's decided to stay a small-time cop.
***I'll have more up soon! I'm thinking about how to work in all these love triangles.
spring semester ends this friday and i'm off for summer break :D i'll get back on track with YSRMII
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