Chapter 10

Yoongi and Jungkook sped through the early morning streets in silence.  Day was just breaking when they finally reached a derelict area of town consisting mainly of abandoned factories and warehouses.  They pulled in behind a ramshackle, graffiti covered building, stopping next to a mini-van with a line of stuffed animals in the back window and a 'Mum's Taxi' sticker on the rear bumper.

As Yoongi put his car in park, two men wearing dark sunglasses and baseball caps - one a tall and broad shouldered Beta, the other slightly smaller Omega with dark, curly hair - exited the other vehicle.

Catching the look on the bodyguard's face the taller man said, "Don't even start, Yoongi-ah...Tae  was getting ready to help me set up the bouncy house for my nephew's birthday party when you called. My car is in the shop so my sister's ride was our only option."

"Hey, you're doing me a huge favor just being here, Jin-hyung," said Yoongi with a shake of his head.  "Both of you are,  so I'm not about to question your mode of transportation.   You could've shown up on ******* tricycles for all I care.  I'm just glad you came."

"You know you can call us anytime, Yoongi-ah," replied the Beta.  "We both owe you a lifetime of favors at this point."

The Omega walked up and smiled at Yoongi before sliding his glasses to the end of his nose so he could openly ogle Jungkook and his tattoos.

“Hyung?  Where have you been hiding tall, dark and illustrated here?”

“Why, whoever do you mean, TaeHyung?"  Yoongi looked around in mock confusion.  "I don’t see anybody else.  As a matter of fact, Hoseok-ah is out of harm's way, it would be safe to say that neither of us were ever here.”

 “Oookay...."  drawled Jin.  "So - just for the sake of clarity -  if anyone should ask, who was here?”

Yoongi waved his hand towards his former colleagues.

“Why...No one except a couple of intrepid off duty police officers who spotted some suspicious activity which lead to them busting a violent street gang that've been terrorizing innocent civilians of our fair city for far too long.”

TaeHyung puffed out his chest as he removed his sunglasses and dropped them into his pocket.

“Damn.  Those guys sound pretty impressive.”

 “Oh, please," scoffed Yoongi.  "If they were half as impressive as they thought they were they’d be ******* super heroes with their own movie franchise."

The bodyguard rolled his eyes as he reached for his gun.

"Now... if the ego inflation portion of the program is complete can we get on with rescuing Hoseok-ah?”

At the mention of the reason for their meeting, the mood turned serious and both Jin and Tae produced their side arms as well.

"Absolutely, hyung."

"How do we know where Hobi-hyung is exactly?" asked Jungkook.

Jin gestured across the street.

"All these buildings are supposed to be abandoned but you can tell that the lock has been broken on this one recently plus there are a couple of cars out back that weren't here when patrol rolled through yesterday.  None of the entrance points on the nearby buildings look disturbed so if the coordinates you provided are accurate,  then odds are your friend is being held inside this one."

"Okay," grunted Yoongi.  "Let's do this, shall we?"

As Jin removed  his glasses and flipped his baseball cap around backwards, Tae turned a concerned eye towards Jungkook.

"Hey, handsome.  Are you sure you wanna go in there with just a baseball bat?  I'm sure we can rustle up something with a bit more firepower if you'd like."

The younger Alpha flexed his neck as he adjusted the grip on his bat.

"No, thank you," he said as he began following Yoongi and Jin towards the entrance of the building.  "I’m good."

Tae grinned as he fell in step with the others.  “Oh...I bet you are.”

Yoongi whipped around and dope slapped the young Omega on the back of the head.

“Hey, Romeo!  Focus.  You can get laid on your own time.”

Completely unfazed by the scolding, the mischievous glint in Tae's eyes didn't diminish one bit as he whispered, “Promises, promises… ”which gained him another glare from his hyung as the group fell into formation.

When they reached the door Yoongi paused.

"Okay...Jin, Tae, we play this the same way we did that hostage situation in Insadong.  Pup, you stay behind me until we find Hoseok-ah, got it?  Remember, our primary objective is to locate and extract him unharmed."

"Are there rules in regards to harming anyone else inside?" growled Jungkook.

In a voice so low he could barely be heard Yoongi replied, "Hell no.  **** them.  As far as I'm concerned, everyone except you three and Hoseok get filed under the heading of 'collateral damage'."

With a curt nod of understanding the men took their positions as Yoongi eased the door open.  The group crept into the dilapidated building, making their way silently along a damp concrete block landing until they reached a dimly lit stairwell.

Yoongi held up his fist and everyone froze as the Alpha closed his eyes and focused on trying to detect any out of place sounds or smells.  Beyond the faint buzz of out-dated fluorescent lighting and the intermittent drips of water from substandard piping, Yoongi detected the faint sound of voices a few floors below and underneath the smell of mold, rust and decay he picked up the stench of multiple amped up Alphas.

The bodyguard's stomach turned at the combination of odors as well as the thought of Hoseok being trapped for hours with a group of arrogant Alphas and he signaled for the others to quickly follow him downstairs.

Along the way they passed a rat the size of a Chihuahua sitting defiantly beneath a faded notification proclaiming that the building had been declared pest free by the appropriate city authorities.  Yoongi shivered at the sight, remembering that Jimin had once said Hoseok was deathly afraid of mice and spiders. He hoped that wherever the Beta was being held was at least free of rodents.

Oftentimes during his law enforcement career Yoongi had wondered if gangsters thought they had to use places like this simply because it had been portrayed that way so often in the media or if crime really paid so little that this was all the thugs could afford.

The four men finally came upon a door that was slightly ajar and heard voices coming from the room within.  Yoongi flattened himself along the wall then snuck a quick peek around to see Hobi still gagged and tied to a chair.  Sitting around a table a few meters away were five Alphas, all too involved with watching something on one of their phones to sense intruders closing in.

 Yoongi held up five fingers then motioned to indicate the approximate positions of their targets.  He gave a quick glance back at the others and on his unspoken command they burst into the room.

Jin and Tae immediately starting laying down cover fire as Yoongi made a beeline for Hoseok.

Jungkook took aim at the first bad guy he came to, his bat connecting with full force to the back of the man's skull.  He noted that the impact sounded much like the dull thud of a ripe melon hitting a hard surface.  It briefly occurs to the young Alpha that this should bother him more than it does.  He files that thought away for future consideration then moving on to the next felon, taking out that man's knees with another fell sweep of his bat.

Yoongi had almost reached Hoseok when a stocky Alpha with bulging eyes and a crooked nose stepped up behind the chair and whipped out a knife.  He grabbed his victim by the hair and jerked his head back but before the blade could come anywhere near the Beta's throat  Yoongi took aim and without hesitation put two slugs in the man's chest followed by another in his forehead.

As the man's body fell,  Yoongi dropped and skidded the remaining distance on his knees.  He'd just slid to a stop and grabbed hold of the chair Hoseok was tied to when he heard Jin yell, "Yoongi-ah!  Look out!"

Yoongi tipped the chair over and threw his body on top of Hoseok's just as TaeHyung fired three shots over them in quick succession, taking out the Alpha that had been aiming at them.

The remaining two gangsters, realizing they were now outnumbered, fired a volley of wild shots in the air before making a mad dash out a second door on the other side of the room.

Jin and Tae hesitated for a split second as the Omega called out, "You okay, hyung?"

"Yeah, We're good.  Go try and grab those guys," panted Yoongi.

As the officers ran after the escapees, Yoongi used the heel of his boot to kick a gun belonging to one of the fallen gangster's in Jungkook's direction.

"Here.  Guard the doors," he barked.  As Jungkook knelt down to retrieve the weapon, Yoongi started to ask, "Do you know how to use..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the younger Alpha grabbed the gun, checked the safety, expertly adjusted his grip and took up a defensive position between the two exits.

"I'll take that as a yes..." muttered Yoongi as he set Hoseok's chair back into an upright position then pulled the dirty handkerchief the thugs had used as a gag from his mouth.

Hoseok turned his head to the side and spit in disgust before launching into a rant.

“Can you believe these idiots?!  They thought I was Jimin-ah!  I mean, c’mon!  I’m much taller.”

Yoongi grabbed the knife from the guy he'd shot and began sawing through the ropes binding Hoseok's arms. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the Beta starting to seethe in his familiar outraged manner.  The thankful Alpha began nodding absentmindedly as he worked on loosening the restraints.

“Of course you are, Hoseok-ah,” he agreed in a soothing tone.

"Not to mention my innate sense of style is totally different from his, even if I am wearing some of his clothes."

Yoongi continued to nod as he kept working on the ropes.

"You're absolutely right, Hoseok-ah."

Jungkook remained on high alert, his eyes flicking back and forth between the doors and his friends.

“What happened last night, hyung?”

“The best I can tell is someone working at the club is on these bozos' payroll," said Hoseok.  "They saw Namjoon's name on the VIP list then called these goons to tell them what Minnie was wearing.  Apparently they've had people patrolling the area around the dance studio looking for an opportunity to grab Jimin but this dunderheaded crew hadn't actually seen him before. They just recognized the jacket from the description their boss had sent out."

Yoongi finally managed to saw through the ropes around Hoseok's arms then immediately began working on the leg restraints as the Beta continued his story.

"Last night there was an accident near my place and traffic was all backed up.  I didn't want to just sit there so I had the driver drop me off about a block away and started to walk home.  When one of these nincompoops saw me get out of the cab they thought I was Jimin so they jumped out of an alley and grabbed me from behind. They threw a bag over my head that must have been doused in some kind of chloroform because I passed out right away. The next thing I knew I was here.  They'd tied me up and were getting ready to take a picture to send to Namjoon so I tried to do something to let you guys know I still had my tracker on but.."

His voice trailed off and he began to shake as Yoongi cut through the last of the bindings.  The Alpha looked up in concern as he began rubbing the Beta's wrists in an effort to revive his circulation.

"Hob-ah?  You okay?"

Hoseok finally looked down to meet Yoongi's gaze.  He started to say something more but his lip began to quiver and all he was able to get out was a shaky,  “H-hyung…?”

The sight of the normally verbose Hoseok suddenly struggling to speak damn near broke Yoongi's heart. He holstered his gun, opened his arms and whispered,  “Hey...It's okay....C’mere…”

At those words the Beta suddenly pitched forward into Yoongi's embrace and started to cry. “I - I was scared, hyung.”

The bodyguard took a deep breath and wrapped his arms tight around Hoseok's trembling form.

“I know.  I know, Hob-ah.  So was I.” He rocked him gently and rubbed soft circles on his back.   “Shh…It’s okay.  It's okay.  You’re safe now.  I promise."

After a moment Yoongi leaned back slightly and began checking Hoseok for any obvious injuries.

"Hob-ah?  Did they hurt you? Do we need to call for an ambulance?”

The Beta leaned his forehead against Yoongi's shoulder and sniffed.  “N-no.  They roughed me up a little bit but nothing too serious.”

The Alpha placed two fingers under Hoseok's chin, carefully lifting it to inspect the Beta's split lip and bruised cheek.

“Which one did that to you?” he growled.

Hoseok tipped his head in the direction of the man Yoongi had shot.

“The frog faced felon over there. Of course it was after I'd made a few comments regarding the mating habits of his mother. Then I bit him when he tried to gag me so I suppose you could make the argument that I provoked him."

Yoongi swallowed hard as he pulled Hoseok back into his arms. “Good for you, Hob-ah. Good job.”

Just then they heard footsteps charging down the same stairs the bad guys had used to escape.  In a flash both Jungkook and Yoongi took up positions in front of Hoseok,  pistols at the ready.

Anticipating this reaction, before he reached the door Jin called out, "Don't shoot!  It's only us!"

A cautious Yoongi shouted back, "If it's really you then tell me what drink TaeHyung-ah is never allowed to have at karaoke night?"

The sound of barking laughter filled the air then Jin replied, "Ouzo!"

"It was ONE time!" groused TaeHyung, glaring at his hyungs as he walked in behind a clearly amused Jin.  "How come the security question is never about what you guys got up to that night out in Busan?"

"Hey!  We don't talk about Busan!" barked Jin.

"As much fun as this waltz down memory lane is, perhaps it can wait until you update me on what happened with Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee," snapped Yoongi.

"They tried to jam the outside door shut on us.  We busted through but it gave them a brief advantage," sighed Jin.  "They drove off but Tae managed to shoot out the back window and we got the license plate number.  I already called it in so patrol should be picking them up shortly."

"Did you see anyone else around?" the elder Alpha asked.

"No one.  I think these five were all there were but like I said, patrol should be here in a few minutes so I doubt we'll see any of these guys friends around for a while."

Satisfied that the area was at least temporarily safe, Yoongi holstered his weapon and knelt back down beside Hoseok.

Jungkook placed his gun on the table next to him then rubbed the back of his neck as he studied the faces of the other men.

"Um...Sorry...I don't mean to ask a stupid question but...did these guys seem like... high caliber professionals to you?"

"Absolutely not, beautiful."  Taehyung shook his head, ignoring the effect his casual endearment had on a flustered Jungkook.  "This crew wasn't anyone's A-Team.  I mean, they grabbed the wrong guy, they didn't think to disable his fitness tracker and check this out..."

He reached down and pulled up the sleeve of one of the three dead gangsters to reveal a crude star inked onto the man's wrist.

"They all have matching tattoos.  Bad ones at that."

"Which means...?" inquired the youngest Alpha.

"Which means," sighed Yoongi. "...that they almost certainly aren't connected to the group that initially tried to nab Jimin.  Great.  That means this is bigger than any of us originally anticipated."

Jin let out a low whistle. "So what you're saying is that either we have multiple organizations independently trying to snatch your Omega friend or we have one person with enough power and influence to organize a bunch of different gangs to try and accomplish the task for them.  Neither of those are great scenarios, Yoongi-ah."

"I know but I can't worry about that now,"  said Yoongi as he rose to his feet then reached down to help Hoseok. "Right now the pup and I need to get Hob-ah out of here.  We obviously don't know how big this thing is and that means I want to keep their names out of any official paperwork in case we've got leaks at the station."

"Not a problem, hyung.  You take off.  Jin and I will catch up with you later."  Tae smiled then winked at Jungkook.  "All of you, hopefully."

Both Yoongi and Jin made silent retching motions at the Omega's shameless flirting.  The older Alpha then turned to Hoseok with a look of concern.

"Are you okay to walk?"

Hoseok nodded as he leaned against the table.

"I will be.  Just...give me a second, okay?"

"Take all the time you need, Hoseok-ah.  If need be we can hide out here then sneak out the back way," assured Yoongi.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather leave sooner instead of later, thank you very much," said the Beta with a forced smile.

As he caught his breath and tried to work the pins and needles feeling from his feet, Yoongi caught Jin's eye then tipped his head in the direction of the body of the thug that had struck Hoseok.

"Is that one still alive?"

Jin reached down and checked the man's pulse then shook his head.

"No.  Sorry.  If you wanted information out of him you're too late."

"It's not information I want," growled Yoongi.  "I want him to pass on a message for me."

Ignoring the confused looks of everyone else in the room, the bodyguard strolled over, knelt down and whispered a few words in the dead man's ear.  Seemingly satisfied he then stood and made his way back to Hoseok and Jungkook.

"Ready?"  he asked.

Hoseok gave a nod but he'd only taken two steps before stumbling.  Without hesitating Yoongi grabbed hold of the Beta's waist then lifted him off the ground and began carrying him bridal style towards the stairs.

"Put me down, you Dramatic Dominant!  I can walk..." whined an embarrassed Hoseok.

"You're exhausted and dehydrated, you Moaning Masochist," grumbled Yoongi.  "Now, shut up and rest.  Save your energy so you can ***** properly about everything later on."

The elder Alpha was secretly concerned when Hoseok not only complied immediately but also remained silent until they got outside.  When they reached the car, the bodyguard fished his keys out of his jacket pocket and tossed them to Jungkook.

"Here.  You drive.  I'll ride in the back with Hoseok.  Just give me a second to call Namjoon first."

The younger man unlocked the doors and after Yoongi got Hoseok settled in the back seat he stepped away for a moment to let Jimin and his mate know that everyone was safe.

Once it was just the two of them in the car, Hoseok quietly asked, "What did he say?"

Unsure of exactly what Hoseok was talking about, the Jungkook answered,  "He said that I can drive and..."

"Stop it, JK," Hoseok interrupted.  "You know what I mean.  You've got those Alpha enhanced ears so I know that you heard him.  So tell me...what did my little Grumpy Gunslinger say to that corpse back there?"

Jungkook fidgeted with the steering wheel as he watched Yoongi on his phone through the front window. He then took a deep breath and locked eyes with Hoseok in the rearview mirror.

 "He said, 'When you see your boss in hell, tell him this is what happens when you touch the people I care about.'"

Notes:

So...what do you think so far?

It will be a few days before I get the next chapter online but hopefully this chapter ending isn't as stress inducing as the others.

Also i have decided to drop 10 chapters each for this novel ...i have done 10 now ...will upload 10 chapters in a few days .....completing this novel at 20 chapters ......

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