JIMIN POV
It was the beginning of
August, three weeks since
we'd managed to get the kid talking and he'd given us all
the information we needed on the locations he knew of where Jiwoo had set up drug labs.
Jih, a friendly omega tech
guy named Sam who liked to smile at Jih, Dubois and
myself were all crammed
into the back of a sweltering white unmarked van.
We had fans running and a cooler full of ice that we kept munching but they weren't enough.
My clothes still stuck to
my body.
We had a major breakthrough
in the case, and everyone was
in on the operation now.
Our sheriff's station, the
state police and the FBI.
Luckily, because of Tae's connections to Dubois and our own partnership with him,
we were able to retain much
of our independence and
control over the investigation, despite the fact that the
FBI had stepped in with us.
Life had been going well and even though we hadn't solved the case yet we were all hopeful that it was about to close, all feeling that cop itch you get
right before you close a case when you just know you've
got the bastard and they
have nowhere left to run.
At home things were even
better. Well, mostly.
Jungkook had moved in, let
his lease go and made my
home his, too.
It was everything I'd never
let myself dream of.
His clothes had taken much
more than the half of the
closet I'd emptied for him
and I didn't care.
I let my bath towel go too
long between washes because
I never thought of doing the laundry and he didn't care.
He loved watching these
shows that before when we'd
just been friends, I'd never let him force me to watch but I didn't mind watching them
with him anymore, not when
he was cuddled in my arms
and I could watch him
instead of the screen.
Sure, there were moments
when it wasn't perfect and something we were watching would hit a little too close to home and we would pause
the show right in the middle
to look at each other a
moment, both afraid the
other would disappear.
We knew we were living
on a knife's point.
We couldn't forget the reason why Jungkook had moved in
with me in the first place,
even if we never mentioned
it to each other.
There were moments when
there was a beat in our joyful conversation or a pause in between our teasing, when
it was as if the world stopped turning and the air froze solid
I knew he was afraid.
I also knew, months into
this case, that he was getting tired of me staying on the
case and not quitting.
I knew he'd never ask me to
step away but I knew each
day I didn't volunteer myself
for a different assignment was another day he grew just the slightest bit more resentful.
That was why today was
so important.
Today as I sat with Jih and Dubois, staring without
blinking at the monitor in
the surveillance van, we
watched the teams of cops
and agents move to raid
each of the locations the
kid had told us about.
We were getting ready to
burn down all the hidey-holes Jiwoo had spent years constructing for his illegal operations.
I was embarrassed to be
holding my breath as we
watched the launch of the
first location raid.
Jih nudged me and we all watched as the agents
breached the front door of
an abandoned warehouse.
The picture went dark.
Shouts and moving picture frames were all we got for a moment the usual beginning
of a raid when the body
cameras were all shaking from that first blast of adrenaline
and action coming from their wearers and no one had
found the switches for the
lights yet.
When they did find the
switch, the overhead lights blazed on and we all whistled.
The few men who'd been in
the building had been taken down in the initial breach with out much struggle but what remained was overwhelming.
Hundreds of pounds of drugs, everywhere, on every surface,
in every state of creation.
Jih laughed and knocked
his shoulder against mine.
I wiped stinging sweat out of
my eyes and blindly reached
his direction to shake his hand.
"We may not have Jiwoo yet
but we have him on every
thing we need now." one of
the agents on the ground
said to us through his radio.
"Agreed." Dubois said,
clapping Jih on the back.
I grabbed the radio.
"No Jiwoo?" I asked.
I knew the drugs were good news, more evidence to use against Jiwoo when the case began but there would be no case without a man and no
peace for Jungkook and
me, either.
"Sorry, no." the agent replied.
I looked over at our tech,
Sam, the same one Jih and I partnered with for every case because he was so amazing
to work with humorous when boredom set in but dead professional when in action.
"Can you get us the feed for
the next raid?" I asked.
We had to find Jiwoo.
If we didn't—
We had to.
Sam nodded, shooting me a small smile that told me he understood that this was important to me, even
personal.
Of course it was damn
personal.
The man had threatened
the man I love.
What could be more
personal than that?
The screens switched and we could see another raid ongoing.
This one seemed like a bit
more work, the doors had
been broken down and sun was pouring in, so we could see better but that was about it.
There was a lot of shouting, gunshots, more shouting.
"Building secure." We could
hear from the squad leader, although I had to say, it
didn't look secure just yet.
"Damn it." I heard from one radio mic.
"Watch it." from another.
The squad leader gathered
all his men as everything
started to calm.
They positioned the men
they'd arrested upon entry
along a wall, enough to fill it from one side of the room
to the other, as they were
lined up next to each other.
They were all handcuffed
quickly and a few cops stayed with their guns trained on the group to keep them there,
as the rest of the squad
swept the building.
"Drugs, lots of them." One
of the cops said.
I listened out, scanning the
line of criminals as I did.
It was my third scan.
No Jiwoo.
I kept scrutinizing faces,
just hoping I was wrong
but I wasn't.
He wasn't there.
He fucking hell wasn't there.
"Wait!" We heard over the
radio from a cop we couldn't
see on the screen.
I turned my attention toward
the direction on the screen
I thought he might be
talking from.
As a cop in training, they
teach us never to hope.
That hope is for people who
can't do something about
it and that hope, in the
hands of cops, can become
our one downfall.
Instead we focus on facts, evidence, justice.
The thing right in front of us.
Planning for the worst-case scenario instead of hoping
for the best.
Right then Is hot all my
training to hell and hoped
with everything I had that
the cop had found Jiwoo.
We all waited.
No one could see this cop
yet, it seemed.
Dubois settled his hand on
my shoulder and squeezed.
It hurt but I didn't tell him
to stop.
Then a collective gasp seemed
to go up from the group on the ground, as those of us in the
van remained clueless, eyes trained on the screen, trying
to figure out what they were seeing that we weren't yet.
I nudged Sam.
"Can you change body
cameras? I want to see!"
Jih almost bounced out of
his seat. "It's gotta be him."
I swiped more sweat out of my eyes with the back of my hand and growled under my breath.
"Damn this heat and damn
it, what's taking so long?"
It was the world's longest
minute before Sam was able
to shift our view but when
he did, we all gasped too.
No.
They didn't have Jiwoo but
they had something both
much better and much worse.
The cop was leading out a
group of bedraggled, bruised
and cowering people.
They were barely dressed and they flinched when the cops moved forward to help them.
Jih and I exchanged a
grim glance.
Yes, Jiwoo had been running
a trafficking ring from inside
our peaceful town.
Yes, he was absolutely going
to go down for every single
thing he'd ever done.
To each of the people
rescued today.
To Tae. To Jih. To hobi. To Jungkook and yes, even to me.
But I'd also be damned if I
let him take one more thing
from me. Jungkook was mine.
Watching the people be led
out into the sunlight, watching them blink up into the sun
as if they were surprised to
see it, it reminded me of the
look on Jungkook's face when
I'd given him a compliment
in our early days.
Like I was his sun.
I waited on each of the other raids, losing hope with each
one that one of these locations would turn up the man I was looking for. We arrested many.
We took possession of more drugs than I'd thought could
fit into our small town.
I was sitting in my chair in
the station later, silently thanking whoever it was who invented air conditioning, after all the raids had checked in.
Jih and I were looking through the new evidence we had now.
We couldn't help but grin.
It was enough.
It was more than enough.
It was enough to bury our
man with dirt to spare.
We may not have found Jiwoo yet but his operations were dented enough that they wouldn't be able to avoid
slipping up soon.
Then we'd get him.
We were so close i could
taste it. I'd do this.
I'd do it for the city, for my
job, of course but I'd do it for Jungkook most of all, so we could have the chance to
make it and I could keep
my omega safe.