Chapter 160

What followed was according to the predetermined order. The men who got out of the car seemed to exchange words with Ezra, then a fistfight soon broke out. Dane frowned and watched Ezra getting beaten up pathetically. Ezra pretended to fall from the punches and approached their car. A moment later, Joshua whispered.

"Done."

A faint beeping sound was heard. Ezra had attached a tracking device to the car. After confirming that coordinates appeared on his watch, Joshua gestured, and Dane also nodded. The men kicked Ezra, spat on him, and then left. They confirmed that the departing car and the coordinates on the watch moved identically.

"Cough, cough cough, cough cough."

Dane and Joshua approached Ezra after the car had completely disappeared. Ezra, who had been sitting behind the car trunk coughing repeatedly, looked up at the two men who came close and asked.

"Is it, is it done? Cough."

Dane nodded without saying anything. By then, Ezra's face was a mess with bruises and wounds all over. Dane, who had been looking down at him silently, opened his mouth.

"You don't know what those bastards' purpose is, right?"

As expected, Ezra shook his head.

"I didn't hear, they just said I only needed to bring Miller."

A moment of silence flowed. In the cold night air, Dane and Joshua stood without words.

"Go back now."

Dane said quietly. When he nudged Joshua, he reluctantly took out several folded bills from his pocket and held them out.

"You have a mobile phone, right? Call a taxi, we need to track those bastards from now on."

Ezra hesitated, then bowed his head and took the money.

"...Thanks."

Leaving him who spoke as if mumbling, Dane headed to the driver's seat. Almost simultaneously, just as Joshua was about to open the passenger door.

"Hey...!"

Suddenly Ezra shouted toward them. When the two who had stopped their actions turned around, Ezra hesitated and opened his mouth.

"...Sorry, I must have been crazy for a moment."

"You should apologize to Greyson."

Following Dane's cold point, Joshua added a warning.

"Don't run away just because you're scared. Then the Miller family can't protect your family."

"I know."

Ezra answered weakly. In fact, he looked like he didn't even have the energy to call a taxi, let alone run away.

"If you rescue Greyson, let me apologize..."

At the fading voice, Dane was silent for a moment, then nodded. They got in the car and soon departed. Ezra, who had been watching the car quickly disappear, belatedly wiped away tears with his arm. In the cold night air, he remained alone and let out a long sigh.

* * *

The place the kidnappers headed to was the middle of a rocky mountain about an hour away by car. Following the direction indicated by the tracking device, they deliberately took a long detour and parked their car at the foot of the mountain where houses with front lights on were clustered together.

"Ready?"

When Dane asked, Joshua started climbing first instead of answering. That bastard? Dane let out a short exclamation in amazement, then immediately followed with large strides.

For a while, the two climbed the mountain without saying anything. Except for Joshua occasionally giving directions, neither of them opened their mouths. Thanks to this, they quickly climbed to a fairly high place.

"Why are you bothering to do this?"

Dane suddenly opened his mouth. When Joshua, who had been leading to give directions, glanced back, Dane continued.

"From your position, it wouldn't matter if you didn't rescue him, right? You were even thinking of kidnapping Greyson to teach him a lesson, so what's your reason for stepping forward like this?"

"I'm still thinking of teaching that bastard a lesson, but I don't have any intention of killing him."

Joshua answered in a dry voice.

"Besides, if he disappears like this without any preparation, Chase's wounds will never heal. That can't happen."

He growled between somewhat roughened breaths.

"Chase needs to receive an apology from Greyson. At the very least, he should be able to pour out curses until his anger is relieved. That's why I need to save him now."

Having said that much, Joshua stopped walking. To Dane who followed, he looked at one place and whispered.

"There."

Dane, who stopped following, stared in the same direction. He could see a fairly large temporary building and several men who seemed to be standing guard pacing around.

Amazingly, the building hidden in a sunken flat area was hardly noticeable. Few people would climb such a rocky mountain, and the shabby exterior of the building was perfect for hiding as if someone lived in the mountains. If it weren't for the suspicious men lurking around, Dane and Joshua would have wondered if they had come to the right place.

However, in addition to the suspicious men, when they confirmed that the car they had attached the tracker to was sitting obediently next to other cars, they were certain. Ezra had done it properly. Joshua immediately sent the coordinates to the 'team.' Meanwhile, Dane examined the men guarding the building one by one.

"Done."

Joshua whispered.

"It would be nice to have blueprints, but that's probably asking too much... Should we catch one and beat him up? After finding out Greyson's location, I'll draw attention from this side, so in the meantime you can go in that way..."

"Josh."

"Yeah?"

The moment he turned his head at the quiet call, Dane struck Joshua's neck hard. Joshua, who had been off guard, was surprised and opened his eyes wide, but soon collapsed helplessly. Dane looked down at the unconscious Joshua and chuckled.

"No way, not you. Where are you trying to go together?"

Dane dragged Joshua and hid him behind a rock, then looked at him sprawled out and said.

"Since you've come this far, you've done everything you need to do, so wait here quietly, don't dangerously step forward."

When he came to his senses, he would definitely be tremendously angry. He might even beat up Dane severely. But that was a story for then. Joshua had beloved children and a partner. The men in front all looked armed. Who knows what else they might have besides the visible guns. Grenades, or in the worst case, even dynamite was possible. Since they didn't know the identity of those guys, they had to be as cautious as possible. If it was that religious group that terrorized extreme Alphas, there would be fanatics too, and then they wouldn't hesitate to die.

I can't take you into such a dangerous situation.

"Don't worry, I'll bring him back alive."

Dane patted Joshua's shoulder and turned around. Well then. Narrowing his eyes, he watched a man who seemed to be going to relieve himself, walking away alone.

Shall we go now?

* * *

Drip, drip, drip.

Regular water sounds could be heard from somewhere. In the wide space reeking of blood, there was nothing. Except for one man tied to a chair.

"Cough, cough."

At the sudden cough, he shook his whole body. Making a groaning sound, he slowly opened his eyes to see a gray wall in his blurry vision. On the uneven wall surface, roughly made with concrete, eerie tools were leaning here and there. Starting from shovels, classic items like baseball bats, and various objects ranging from steel pipes to golf clubs were all stained red with blood without exception. Hmm, Greyson tilted his head to one side and fell into thought.

Did the location tracker break?

When he was first dragged here, it might have been damaged during the repeated beatings. Judging by how quiet it had been until now, that was probably the case.

It doesn't matter though...

Greyson clenched and unclenched his fist with a serious expression. Both hands were handcuffed and fixed behind the chair, but breaking them wouldn't be difficult. The problem was that he couldn't control his strength. It was probably the same cause as the machine breaking. The aching pain in his arm that had been throbbing continuously was identical to a sensation he had felt long ago. It was exactly the sensation of the arm that had unexpectedly broken when he went to get Joshua regarding Chase's problem. That spot had probably broken again.

The requirements for self-defense were met. No, more than enough.

But killing people was not allowed.

In this state, escaping would also be problematic. He probably wouldn't be able to use 'moderate' force.

<Crazy...>

He remembered the look Dane had given him once. When Greyson had said he would kill the man who had abused and murdered a child then set fire to hide the fact, Dane had looked at him with a face mixed with contempt and disgust. If he killed someone while trying to escape from here...

Just imagining it gave him chills. How disgusted would Dane be if he found out? He didn't want to add another reason for him to hate him.