The Hostages

Message

"I just don't understand why the police haven't made more progress," Baekhyun said emphatically.

Taeil bit back a groan. "Joohyun 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, but 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 before answering. "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 Kyungsoo and everyone else to try."

Taeil sighed. "Come on, let's go talk to Junmyeon."

******

"The sun's going down," Amber murmured. "It's been hours since they took Seungwan."

"She'll come back," Taeyeon whispered unconvincingly. She coughed and Mark brought her some water from the jug in the corner. "How long before we stop coming back?" he wondered as he lifted the cup to her lips.

"Don't say that!" Jisung 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."

"What then?" Jisung asked. "What's the point of all this?"

"He wants to send a message," Amber realized.

"Then he's made his point," Taeyeon muttered.

"What if that message ends with the police finding our bodies in here?" Mark countered.

"Mark, please," Kyungsoo 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," Kyungsoo 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 eventually hushed and he looked over at Jinki. "It's all you," he muttered, taking a step back.

Jinki cleared his throat and 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?"