The first thing to do was get in touch with Luhan.  Aware he probably wouldn’t have much time before Lay returned to the ward to find him missing, and also that there were now other members of the police in the building, Xiumin hurried back down the corridor, testing a few door handles along the way and eventually finding a door unlocked and an unoccupied consultancy room behind it.  Slipping inside, he fiddled with the tumble until he heard the latch click in the barrel and then put his back to the door, fishing out his second phone.

Luhan was extremely happy to hear him.  “Xiumin, oh, thank God.  I really need your brains right now – that b*st*rd Suho has Semi—”

“I know,” interrupted Xiumin.  “Her friend escaped and went to the police.  I think Suho wanted her kidnapped during the day because nobody would notice she was missing until she didn’t return home and that would give a few hours without police interference.  But look, I don’t have long—”

“He said he’d kill her if I didn’t meet him alone at midnight,” Luhan said fretfully.  “Have they got you on lockdown like last time?  I need your help.”

“No, but they’re planning to as soon as we get back from the hospital.  They’re going to discover I’ve wandered off any minute now.”  As he spoke, his smartphone started vibrating in his pocket.  He took it out and glanced at the screen to see a private number, but he had a pretty good idea of who was calling him.  “They’re onto me already.  Listen, Luhan, whatever Suho threatens, you can’t go and meet him alone.  It’s obviously a trap.  He wouldn’t have kidnapped Semi if he wasn’t trying to set you up.  And the police want to use the opportunity to catch you and Suho because going out in force is probably going to be the only way they’re going to get her back.”

“Xiumin, I can’t not go.  He’s put me in a totally ed up situation.  If I don’t go, he kills her, the police kill you.  Even if you weren’t my blood brother, I wouldn’t allow that.  If I do go, I walk into whatever trap he’s set and he probably kills me and her.  I don’t know what the police would do to you.  If the police ambush us at the same time, it’s going to be a bloodbath and all of us are going to die.  And if, by some absolute miracle, I manage to get the girl and make it out alive, I’m going to have to give her back to the police unless you can get rid of that d*mn microchip, because they’re going to use your life as a bargaining tool.”

Xiumin opened his mouth to reply, then glanced down at his smartphone as it began to vibrate again.  He was probably going to be in trouble with Lay later.

“Wait,” said Luhan.  “Didn’t you just say you were in a hospital?  Can’t you get that microchip out?”

“If I see any more blood today, I’m going to pass out,” Xiumin said flatly.  “Besides, it’s not like they just leave scalpels lying around anywhere where any member of the public can pick one up – I’d have to break into a medical cupboard or something.  And in any case, the microchip was surgically implanted under my radial artery; I’ve got a huge chance of botching it up and potentially killing myself if I get it wrong, and we don’t have the time right now for mistakes.  The police are looking for me, anyway – I don’t think I’d be able to get out of the hospital.”  Movement from the corner of the room caught his eye as a security camera turned, and Xiumin grimaced when he realised it was pointing directly at him.  “They’re watching me.  Their hacker’s on the job, which means they’ll know I’m talking to you right now.”

“That hacker is a damned nuisance,” Luhan griped.  “The police files on your case and even your apartment are locked down tighter than a submarine.  You’d need an EMP to get through either set of electronics, but that would wipe everything useful from the police database, so it’s not worth it.”

“Couldn’t you kidnap Semi back?” Xiumin asked abruptly, eyeing the security camera.  “You got Byun Baekhyun to kidnap Sehun that one time—”

“I’ve already asked.  He refused – said even being given his missing gun wouldn’t be enough payment for that.  Suho must have paid him off.”

It clicked, right at the same moment that a text popped through from the private number that had been ringing before on Xiumin’s smartphone.

I hope you’re not standing anywhere near the door, read the message, because I’m about to blow the lock off.

“Luhan,” he said, retreated rapidly to the other side of the room.  “What’s the fastest way to get hold of Byun Baekhyun?”

“Why?”

“Trust me.  And just don’t go to meet Suho tonight.”

Xiumin had briefly toyed with the idea of trying to use Wendy somehow, but he wasn’t totally sure what he wanted the police to do until after he’d stepped out of the hospital, by which point Lay had informed him that she’d been moved somewhere secure precisely so that he and Luhan couldn’t even attempt something funny with her.  A part of him was relieved – the prospect of Wendy filing a court case if he’d tried to hold her hostage actually scared him a fair amount more than Lay’s smirk.

“Enjoy your conversations?” Lay asked him as they both got into his police cruiser, various other police cars scattered around the car park.  Xiumin nodded silently and looked in the other direction as Taemin knocked on the window and he and Lay exchanged a few words in muted undertones.

It wasn’t until they were out on the main road that Xiumin spoke up, glancing hesitantly at Lay and biting on his bottom lip.

“Do you have Taemin’s number?” he asked.

Lay unlocked his phone without looking at it and handed it over.  “You should have talked to him back at the hospital if it was important.”

“I didn’t want to.  The police are all d*cks,” Xiumin muttered.

“Well, aren’t you a charming little kid?”

Pretending not to be offended, Xiumin fired off a quick message and then memorised the number before handing the phone back.

“So, what was so vital about getting hold of Taemin right now?”

“I didn’t want to say this,” Xiumin mumbled, “but Byun Baekhyun knows that Taemin has his gun.”

Lay tucked the phone into his pocket and slowed as they came to some red lights.  One of his hands dropped from the steering wheel and he cocked an eyebrow at Xiumin, clearly expecting him to continue.

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