The Hostages

“I just don't understand why the police haven't made more progress.”

Taeil bit back a groan. “Irene told us not to talk about this during the day,” he said, stretching his arms above his head.

“Relax, no one's here,” Baekhyun assured him. Taeil took a quick look around anyway. “I'm sure the police are doing everything they can,” he whispered.

“Sure,” Baekhyun agreed, “but maybe it's not enough.”

Taeil bent down and touched his toes. “What are you saying?” he grunted.

“Maybe we should take a crack at it.”

Taeil straightened up and looked at him quizzically. “You and me?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

“You, me, and the others,” Baekhyun replied. “Maybe we'll think of something the detectives won't.”

Taeil shook his head. “We're musicians, not police,” he said dismissively. “Let the professionals do their job.”

“Isn't that what we thought the CEO was doing?” Baekhyun shot back. Taeil folded his arms and stared at him for a long moment. “What do you propose?” he asked finally.

“We all get together tonight and go over what we know,” Baekhyun said. “If we can come up with even one thing, we owe it to Chanyeol and D.O and everyone else to try.”

Taeil sighed. “Come on, let's go talk to Suho.”


******


“The sun's going down,” Amber murmured. “It's been hours since they took Wendy.”

“She'll come back,” Taeyeon whispered unconvincingly. She coughed hard and Mark brought her some water. “How long before we stop coming back?” he wondered, lifting the cup to her lips.

“Don’t say that!” Jeno exclaimed.

“It's only a matter of time before he loses patience,” Taemin said, pacing in front of the bars like a caged tiger.

“Why haven't we heard anything about the negotiations?” Chanyeol asked. “Surely someone's made an offer by now.”

Taemin shrugged. “Maybe he's not interested in money,” he said.

“What then?” Jeno asked. “What's the point of all this?”

“He wants to send a message,” Amber realized.

“Then he's made his point,” Taeyeon muttered. Mark set the cup down. “What if that message ends with the police finding our bodies in here?”

“Mark, please,” D.O admonished. “That isn't helping.”

He's right, you know, an inner voice told him. Maybe this is all part of his game.

“We need to keep thinking,” D.O said, batting away the dark thoughts. “We've got to escape.”


******


“Okay, we don't have all night, so let's do this,” Taeyong called over the chattering. Everyone hushed and he looked over at Onew. “It's all you,” he muttered, taking a step back. Onew uncapped a marker. “Okay, first let's establish exactly where the missing people were when we last saw them,” he instructed. “I've drawn a rough sketch of the arena,” he said, pointing at the whiteboard, “and, as you can see, each section is labeled. Minho, you said Taemin was going to ride with you to the after party?”

“Yeah, we were supposed to leave from a side entrance,” Minho confirmed. “I last saw him on the post-award red carpet. He had just finished his interview and was going to meet me at the car.”

Onew nodded approvingly. “Good. The interviews were here,” he said, marking the spot with a small T. “Okay, what about Amber?”

“She was in our dressing room,” Victoria answered. “She wanted to change shirts before leaving for the party, so we left her there.”

Suho made a tiny A under the Dressing Rooms label. “Next?” he called.

“Mark was heading to the backstage bathroom,” Yuta volunteered. “I'm pretty sure Jeno went with him.”

“Yeah, the managers told us to stick with the older members,” Haechan added helpfully. Onew drew an M and a J on the board.

“Chanyeol and D.O climbed into a car together,” Lay remembered. “I saw it drive away.”

“Which entrance?” One asked. Lay thought for a moment. “There,” he said, pointing at the rear of the arena. Onew made a note by the exit. “What about Taeyeon?”

“We're not sure,” Yuri confessed. “We know she was looking for our manager backstage. We assumed she went with him to the party.”

Onew drew a T with a question mark in the area labeled Backstage. “Wendy?”

“Near the dressing rooms,” Joy replied. “She forgot her phone and went back to get it.”

Onew added a W to the board. “Okay, most of us left the arena around midnight, so let's use that as the beginning of the clock. The CEO called us the next day around four, so that means they were missing for about sixteen hours before everyone knew about it.”

Some of the idols groaned and Onew sighed. “I feel the same way, but we can't let ourselves be distracted. Does anyone remember anything about that meeting that might be relevant?”

“That awful picture,” Tiffany said, shivering. “All of their things lined up on a table like a junk sale.”

Onew wrote Picture on the board. “What else?”

“The CEO didn't want us to see it,” Doyoung remembered. “He tried to block it.”

“And there was that weird message,” Suho added. “It was, um… ”

“ 'What do you call a bird without wings?’ ” Chen piped up. Onew wrote the message on the board. “What do you call a bird without wings?” he murmured.

“It sounds like a riddle,” Renjun mused.

“What about the file?” Xiumin asked. Onew nodded. “We’re getting to that.” He wrote File on the board. “From the pictures Xiumin was able to take, Jonghyun was able to identify the employee as a former Outside Director.” He wrote Mr. M in quotation marks.

“That’s all great, but how do we know this Mr. M has anything to do with the kidnapping?” Hyohyeon demanded. “This could just be a huge waste of time.”

“It’s the only lead we have, Hyohyeon,” Luna reminded her. “We can’t dismiss it until we’re sure.”

“Okay, so based on this information, what do we know?” Onew asked.

“The kidnapper waited until after MAMA to take them,” Johnny said. “He knew exactly when to strike.”

“So it’s someone familiar with the industry,” Key concluded.

“Good,” Onew said, taking notes on the board. “What else?”

“It would’ve taken dozens of people to abduct all eight of them,” Krystal said thoughtfully. “That means he has a big network, which means-”

“He’s wealthy,” Jisung finished. “Really wealthy.”

Haechan raised his hand eagerly and Taeyong rolled his eyes. Onew pointed at him. “Yes?”

“I don’t think he was targeting all eight of them,” Haechan said.

“Why?” Jaemin asked incredulously.

“Because with the exception of EXO and NCT, he only took one artist per group. D.O and Chanyeol were in the same car, and Mark and Jeno were walking together. Maybe he only meant to take one of them. If, for example, he had only taken D.O and Mark, he would’ve had exactly three girls and three boys.”

Everyone stared at him in stunned silence. “That actually makes some sense,” Tiffany said wonderingly.

“So that would mean he ended up with two extra hostages,” Onew said, writing busily.

“Maybe that knocked his plans off-balance,” Baekhyun said hopefully.

“Or it gave him extra leverage,” Yuta said pointedly. “Either way, it was an unexpected change.”

“Okay, so he either was or is in the entertainment industry, he’s rich, and he’s good at planning things,” Lay said. “That doesn’t exactly narrow it down.”

“There must be something we’re missing,” Ten mused. Everyone stared at the board in silence, thinking hard. “Wait a minute,” Sooyoung murmured.

“What? Did you think of something?” Sunny asked eagerly.

“Maybe. Are there any flightless birds that begin with the letter M?”

The others shrugged. “I’ll look it up,” Jaehyun volunteered, getting his phone out. Everyone waited expectantly as he searched for it. “Oh my gosh,” he breathed.

“Let me see!” Winwin said, craning his neck. “There is! It’s called a moa.”

“Moa?” Jonghyun repeated. Realization began to dawn on his face and he got up quickly.

“Jonghyun?” Sehun asked concernedly. “Are you alright?”

Jonghyun looked at Onew. “I think I know who it is,” he whispered.


******


“I’m telling you, D.O, it’s our best shot.”

D.O worried his lip. “I’m just not sure-”

“Not sure about what?” Amber demanded. “Look at Wendy! That brute held her down and shaved her head! What if he starts taking less replaceable body parts?”

“I hate to admit it, but she’s right,” Taemin said. “We can’t just sit here and wait for him to cut us into pieces.”

“I’m not saying that, but we need to have a real plan in place before trying to escape!” D.O insisted. “We can’t just run blindly through the tunnels!”

“We don’t have a choice,” Taeyeon whispered. “It’s either run or die.”

D.O squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to think of another option. If he catches us, he’ll probably inflict some horrific punishment, he thought grimly. But if we do nothing, we’ll die.

“Okay,” he agreed. “What’s the plan?”

Notes