JIMIN POV
Jimin had grown used to strange awakenings. Most recently it had been Bam licking his face, but he'd woken many a time to a mini-invasion of goats in his hut.
And one time a seagull had flown in, loud and destructive.
But all that was nothing to the strangeness of waking in darkness with cold, damp stone beneath his head and water dripping somewhere nearby.
Something had woken him, but he wasn't sure what it was until the sound came again.
A cry. Not a puppy, a... baby?
Gradually, his eyes adjusted, and he realized that it wasn't as pitch black as it had first appeared.
There was a glow coming from one corner of the room he was in. It wasn't much, just enough to be able to make out the out line of things around him.
Like walls of cold stone.
And a bundle in one corner.
That was where the sound was coming from, all loud and echoing.
Crawling on his knees, his head throbbing, he found himself staring at the curled-up form of a child.
"Hi, there," he said softly.
"I'm Jimin. Who are you?"
He wasn't sure if he'd get an answer, but a moment later his heart sank.
"Ji-min?"
He knew that voice.
"Princess Lisa?"
The little girl looked up at him, a happy cry escaping before she pushed toward him.
"Jimin-ah!"
He clung to her, feeling how cold and damp she was.
"It's okay," he soothed.
"I'm here now."
But where was here?
The last thing he remembered was stepping into his room.
He should have known something was wrong when Bam didn't come to greet him.
He'd heard his muffled barks coming from the en suite and had walked toward it, and then... everything went dark.
He didn't understand.
Why was he here, wherever here was?
And why was Lisa here with him?
"Hello?" he called out. "Is anyone there?"
There was nothing.
Just silence.
* * *
JUNGKOOK POV
Jungkook felt like he was in a waking nightmare.
And if it felt like that for him, he could only imagine what Joon and his brothers-in-law were going through.
There seemed to be no answers.
As far as the guards and police were concerned, it had come out of the blue.
There had been no threats made, no suspicious activity reported, nothing.
But the incontrovertible truth was that Lisa was missing and so was Jimin.
They reached Namjoon's family's rooms, stepping past the watching guards and into the living room.
Cinder was holding Jung in his arms,rocking the little boy slowly, Jin was watching San, who was crawling around on the floor, playing with a toy car.
"Anything?" Jin asked, and both he and Cinder waited tensely for a reply.
"There's no sign of her any where. And no one saw anyone with her," Namjoon told them.
"But there is someone else missing An omega from the contest. His name is Jimin."
Cinder's head shot up. "Jimin? From the island with the goats?"
Namjoon looked as surprised as Jungkook felt. "You know him?"
"I met all the omegas, remember?" Cinder said.
"But I saw Jimin only yesterday, out in the gardens with the kids. We talked."
"So Lisa knows him?" Jungkook asked.
"She was sitting in his lap, trying to play with Bam Wait, are you saying he might have taken her?"
"All we know," Joon said.
"is that everyone is accounted for except for the two of them."
"I brought jungkook and tae here to answer any questions we might have about Jimin."
"Would he hurt her?" Cinder asked immediately.
"If he did take her?"
Jungkook wanted to throw up. "No, of course not. He... he's not that kind of person."
"I truly don't believe he'd have taken Lisa And I don't believe he'd ever hurt her."
"He's very good with animals,"
Tae chimed in. "Jungkook gave him Bam, and he's been nothing but gentle and patient with him. I really..."
Tae swallowed and looked away. "I can't see how or why he'd have taken her. It doesn't make any sense."
"When we spoke yesterday,"
Cinder continued, "he was saying that both of you were showing an interest in him."
"That's true on my part," he said.
"But I've been doing my best to spread my time equally around the contestants."
"It's true for me, too," Taehyung added.
"We've been spending a lot of our free time together."
"I believed he was happy."
"That he was settling in."
"Every thing was hard for him at first, it was so different from where he'd been living."
"If he did take her," Jin asked.
"Where would he go?"
Jungkook glanced at Tae who shrugged.
"He hasn't lived on the mainland since he was twelve," Jungkook said.
"But his family still lives in the house he grew up in. They've already sent someone there."
"The only other place he knows is the island, and he'd need a boat to get there."
"The coastguard are already making contact with his uncle and other boats to ask them to keep an eye out," jungkook said.
"And his picture is being circulated alongside Lisa's," Joon added.
"Whether he has her or not, the whole country is looking."
"He'll be found very soon."
Cinder got to his feet, balancing Jung on his hip.
"You don't think he took her?"
They both shook their heads.
"Then answer a question for me, honestly. Do you love him?"
Jungkook was thrown.
How to answer that?
Lie to reassure Cinder or be truthful and just make the omega more worried.
Complete honesty meant admitting his love for Tae.
Meant explaining the deal they had with Jimin which, in the current circumstances, was going to seem even more terrible than it really was.
It would look like Jimin was just in it for the money.
And if he was willing to do that for money, what else might he do?
"I didn't at first," Tae said suddenly.
"But he's sort of grown on me as I've got to know him."
"He fits a hole in my life that I didn't even realize was there."
"I haven't even really let myself think about it before now Becos of Jungkook."
Jungkook turned so he could see Tae's face and was blown away by the emotion there.
Tae could lie if he had to, but he was no accomplished spinner of tales. That was honesty, those were his true feelings.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.
"I wasn't sure it was fair," Tae admitted. "To any of us."
"Jungkook?" Cinder asked.
Jungkook took a deep breath. "Sometimes,when I look at Jimin, there's this spark, of warmth, of excitement. I guess I've been trying not to acknowledge it."
"Because of you and Taehyung?" Cinder asked quietly.
He froze and, next to him, Tae went rigid.
"What?"
"Maybe I'm wrong," Cinder said.
"But Joon told me before you two were close friends."
"You might not want an omega to come between you."
Relief flooded Jungkook. "That's definitely played a part in it."
"I wouldn't want to damage our friendship."
"Me, neither," Tae agreed, and there was a whole other layer to their conversation where both of them were admitting that they felt more than platonic feelings for the omega they'd roped into their lives.
Cinder turned to Joon. "Do we have any proof that Jimin took her?"
"Only one definite sighting, of him carrying a bag and heading out of the guest wing very early this morning."
"The rest well, it was dark, and they didn't get a good enough look."
"Have we got cameras on the entrance to the guest wing?" Jungkook asked.
"No, interior cameras are still against palace policy."
"We only have them covering the exterior doors. Besides, what good would that do," Joon said.
"We know he left."
Tae had walked away and was staring silently out the window.
"Tae?"
"We know Jimin's gone, but we don't know when he left."
"All we have is one person who says they saw him leave this morning"
"And it wasn't just anyone who claimed to have seen him, it was Ryan," Tae said.
"But Jimin's bed hadn't been slept in, and Bam was locked in the bathroom for quite some time. It doesn't add up."
"You think Jimin left the night before?"
"Not willingly.Whoever shut bam in the bathroom didn't even put his water bowl in there with him."
"Jimin would never have left him like that. I think Ryan is lying."
"Why would he lie?" Will demanded.
"He wants to follow in his father's footsteps and become a journalist. Chances are, he knew Lisa was missing before anyone else. Maybe he just wanted to create a sensational headline?"
"What better than Princess Lisa abducted by rogue omega'?"
"I'll call the guards and ask them to bring Ryan here to speak with us," Joon said grimly.
"We'll get to the truth, one way or another."
He stepped out to make the call.
"Why did you select Jimin for the contest?" Jin asked.
"He seems like a strange choice."
Again, the difficulty.
How much to admit to?
"We actually met him, on his island," Jungkook explained.
"We were on leave for a few days, our boat broke down right next to it," Tae added.
"Whose idea was it to make him a contestant?"
"Mine," Jungkook admitted.
"Not Jimin's?"
Tae laughed. "Jimin didn't even know who Jungkook was."
"Think about it. Seven years with no TV, no internet, maybe a newspaper now and then."
"He's so far removed from current affairs he could be a time traveler."
"So, not likely to be a member of the underground omega rights group the media have been scaremongering about," Jin concluded.
Tae made a face at that but stayed silent. Jungkook shared his opinion; that those politicians who were against loosening of the omega laws conspired with those in the media to do any thing they could to stoke public fear and move attention away from reforming the punitive laws.
"No," Jungkook said firmly.
Namjoon returned.
"They'll have him here in a few minutes."
It was a tense wait for the knock on the door, and then a guard was leading Ryan inside.
The beta's eyes went wide when he saw who he was facing.
"Your Majesties, Lieutenant Winters." He stared at them, belatedly giving them a clumsy bow.
"You're lying about seeing Park Jimin leaving the guest wing this morning," Joon said in challenge.
"Why?"
"I...um... what?" Ryan paled, his eyes going wider.
"Ryan," Jungkook said quietly, the menace clear in his voice.
"You're in a lot of trouble right now. You're about to be charged as an accomplice in the abduction of Princess Lisa."
" You need to think very carefully about what you say and do next."
"I didn't even know she'd been abducted when they asked me about Jimin," the beta rushed to say.
"I'd never have said I'd seen him if I'd known why they were asking."
"Then you didn't see Jimin?"
"Not this morning. I saw him last night, right before bed, as he was heading into his room."
Ryan avoided their eyes.
"Why lie then?"
"Because when the guides started asking questions, I thought someone might have seen us talking last night."
"I thought if I said I'd seen him leaving this morning, they'd just assume he ran away."
"You're not making sense," Joon said, his fingers pressed to his temples.
"I'm inclined to call the guard back in and have him arrest you unless you start explaining."
"I just wanted to level the playing field,"Ryan said hurriedly.
"I thought, with Jimin out of the picture, it would make things easier for the rest of us."
"Out of the picture? What do you mean?" Taehyung demanded.
"Last night," Ryan said, looking miserable.
"I told Jimin that if he didn't leave the palace and pull out of the contest, I'd report his omega father to family services and have his siblings taken into care. That's all I did. I don't know any thing about Princess Lisa going missing."
Jungkook exchanged a look with Joon who gave a slight nod.
He thought Ryan was telling the truth too.
"If we find out you're lying or holding anything back, you'll regret it," Namjoon said.
"I've told you everything, I swear it," Ryan said.
"Fine, get out. Don't leave the palace. If you remember any thing else, you're to alert the guards immediately."
"Yes, of course, Prince Namjoon. I'm so sorry. I never meant—"
Jungkook opened the door and signaled to the guard who came in and escorted Ryan out.
As he left, someone else stepped inside.
"Kai," Joon said, getting to his feet. They hugged.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner," Kai said. "Has there been any news on Lisa?"
They brought him up to speed on her and Jimin. Kai looked thoughtful, pulling out his phone.
"The palace is quiet at night but it's not empty."
"The idea that Jimin and Lisa disappeared without being seen by anyone is hard to believe unless..."
"Unless?"
"The staff passageways, they'd be more or less empty between midnight and five a.m. When I want to get around at night without being seen, I use them."
"If Jimin used those, he'd need an access card, right?" Jungkook said, wondering where on earth the omega would have got one of those.
"The guards are working on the assumption that he had a master card with access everywhere,"
Kai threw out casually, "And that is how he got into your rooms and took Lisa."
"How do you know that?" Jungkook demanded.
"I have a contact in the guards who passes me information now and then."
"They keep logs, you know. Of what doors are accessed when."
"Why don't we request a copy?"
Joon pulled out his phone and stepped into the next room to make the call, Cinder trailing after him.
"How are you holding up," jungkook asked Jin.
"We'd be tearing our hair out if it wasn't for these two," the beta said, gesturing to Jung and San.
"Right now, my plan is to never let them out of our sight until they turn eighteen."
Namjoon came back in, carrying a tablet.
"Here are all the access code requests."
They pored over them, Jungkook frowning as he tried to put it all together.
"Someone exited the guest wing through the staff door at one a.m."
"That had to have been when Jimin left," Namjoon said.
"Or was taken," Taehyung put in.
"The staff door nearest our rooms was accessed at four-thirty a.m.," Jin threw in.
"And again three minutes later. That must have been when Lisa was taken."
"Three minutes?" Cinder was frowning. "Are you sure?"
"See for yourself. Why?"
"It means whoever took her went straight from the staff door to the nursery. They had to know exactly where they were going."
"Jimin's been in my rooms once or twice," Jungkook admitted.
"But I haven't exactly given him a tour of the place. I can't see how he'd have known where to find you."
"And if it was Jimin, where was he between one a.m. and half four?" Taehyung added.
"And where did he go from there? How did he get Lisa out of the palace? Or if someone took both of them, how did they leave without being seen?" Jungkook continued.
It just wasn't adding up.
"Okay, so now we're talking about a toddler and a grown man being whisked out of the palace together. How does anyone do that?" Joon said.
"And why? Why take two unrelated people?"
"To tell a story," Kai said.
"Just like they tried to do with Cinder. Just like they attempted with Rory. Only this time, it's the story of a disaffected omega stealing the kingdom's princess and potential heir to the throne."
"How did they get them out of the palace, without being seen or heard. Without showing up on CCTV?" Joon demanded.
"Answer me that."
Jungkook glanced up, meeting Kai's eyes, the solution coming to both of them at the same moment.
"They didn't," Kai said.
"What?" Joon asked.
"What do you mean?"
"They didn't get them out of the palace," Jungkook said.
"They're still here."
"We've searched everywhere," Joon said. "Twice."
"Everywhere known," Kai corrected.
"Everywhere in the modern palace. But it was built on top of the foundations of the old castle."
" Remember that crawlspace we used to climb down to when we were kids?"
"Right," Joon said.
"The old castle dungeons. And the escape tunnels leading out to the cliffs. But they sealed all that up."
"No, they sealed the crawlspace up after that time I decided to run away and hide down there."
"But that probably wasn't the only way down. I've found half a dozen old passageways and ways out of the palace since we were kids. They were invaluable in my teenager years."
"Maybe they used one of those."
"They all let out inside the palace grounds. The kidnappers would still have been caught on CCTV."
"But if someone found another way down to the old dungeons... it would be a perfect place to hide someone while you waited for the heat to die down."
"Which means this is another inside job," jungkook said.
"Someone who knows the palace like the back of their hand."
"Let's find Lisa and Jimin first and work out who's behind it later," Joon said, getting to his feet.
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