Chapter 44

* * *

Only after hearing that the child who had been urgently taken to the hospital was safe did Dane finally let out a deep sigh of relief. While everyone who had heard the news together was happily sharing their excited emotions boisterously, Wilkins suddenly shouted.

"That's right, Miller!"

At those words, everyone remembered the fact they had forgotten. Why they had come here in the first place. For a moment, they blinked with blank faces. Looking around at his subordinates, Wilkins pressed them roughly as if frustrated.

"You were all looking for Miller! Did anyone find out anything? Did anyone receive any information?"

The sun was already setting. No one could answer Wilkins's urgent question. That was natural. No one knew Greyson's whereabouts. Except for one person.

This damn bastard is annoying till the end.

Dane, who had hesitated and then recalled the forgotten memory, swallowed a curse and hurriedly ran back to the house from earlier.

***

The sound of fairly thick raindrops falling irritated his ears. Greyson was sitting on the basement floor, humming a meaningless tune. Just like he used to do when he was young.

Passing time like this was familiar to him. If he fantasized, sang songs, or even slept, eventually the locked door would open and the time of liberation would come. It would be the same this time too. Greyson just had to endure the boring time.

As he hummed a song with mismatched notes while sitting leaning against the wall, he heard the sound of a key turning with a clatter, mixed with the sound of rain. Someone had entered the house.

Is it Santiago's father?

Greyson thought as he remained in the same place. He'll open the door soon. And after walking around the house a bit, he'll come here last.

His prediction wasn't far off. He heard footsteps repeatedly coming closer and moving away, as if the person was going back and forth between the kitchen and the entrance.

When will he open the door?

Greyson sat whistling softly. Time always feels infinitely long to someone who is waiting. He knew that fact well. When he was left alone in the basement like this, or when all his siblings had found their destiny but he alone remained solitary, Greyson thought the same way. That waiting feels several times longer than it actually is, which is why one becomes so impatient. In reality, not much time has passed. So I can wait as long as it takes, he told himself.

Look even now.

The man's footsteps drew closer again. Finally, as the sound of him inserting and turning the key at the basement door was heard, Greyson stopped whistling and raised the corners of his mouth as if he had expected this.

That man hasn't come and gone even a hundred times.

The sound of old hinges creaking echoed. And finally, the door connecting the living room to the basement opened.

"...What is this?"

The man, who had opened the door expecting to see his son's face, twisted his face in apparent confusion upon discovering a strange man he had never seen before. His wavering eyes wandered here and there in the dark basement, but the facts didn't change. When he realized his son wasn't there, he hurriedly fixed his eyes back on the man.

"Y-you, wh-who are you? Where is my son?"

His trembling voice sounded strangely high, perhaps from tension. Greyson rose slowly. The man swallowed his breath as if terrified and stepped back from Greyson's height, which seemed like it would touch the ceiling.

"W-wait, stay there! Don't come closer!"

"I'm Greyson Miller."

Greyson politely introduced himself and smiled brightly. There was a set way to smile when greeting someone. As a result of lifelong learning, it couldn't be wrong.

It was a smile that gave friendliness to anyone and made him look attractive, but this time it didn't work. The man turned even paler and jumped back.

"You bastard, stop! Don't come any closer!"

Though the man was shouting as if having a fit, Greyson continued his explanation, unconcerned.

"Santiago needed to be punished, but there was an interruption..."

The man was upset because his son had disappeared without properly receiving his punishment. If he spoke calmly, the man would calm down. That's what Greyson thought. The man barely reached his chest. His relaxed attitude was supported by the confidence that he could subdue the man physically if necessary. Of course, that was only until the man made an unexpected move.

"I said stop, don't come closer! If you move, I'll shoot!"

The man shouted in an agitated voice and pulled out a pistol from his waistband, aiming it. The smile disappeared from Greyson's face. The bloodshot eyes and trembling muzzle seemed to represent the fact that the man was serious.

Oh, I didn't expect this.

Greyson slowly folded his arms in a sign of surrender. A tense atmosphere settled between the two.

* * *

In front of the house was an old truck that hadn't been there earlier. It seemed Santiago's father had returned. In a short time, numerous thoughts flashed through Dane's mind.

Has Miller already left? Maybe there's no one there anymore. Should I just go back? A domestic violence report has been filed, so the police will handle the rest. I might not need to go there at all. But what if Miller is still there? What if he's in a standoff with the guy who's the kid's father? Wouldn't he find his way out anyway? No, if that happens, shouldn't I be worried about the father? Damn it! Useless bastard, causing trouble like this. Just wait till I catch him, I'll beat him to a pulp.

The front door wasn't locked. As he entered silently, he felt an eerie tension. Though no sound could be heard, the killing intent transmitted instinctively made the hair on his body stand on end.

"I thought people usually kept guns at home, not carried them around. You're a dangerous man to be carrying one."

At the sudden voice, Dane hesitated. That familiar sound was definitely from the man he had come to find.

No way, it can't be.

Dane denied reality. In fact, he wanted to pretend not to know and back out, but unfortunately, he had inadvertently found the source of the killing intent. The moment he turned to slip away, he saw the back of a man aiming a gun toward the basement, just a few steps away from the entrance.

Ah, damn it.

In a situation that genuinely called for cursing, Dane touched his forehead. Soon after, he heard the rough voice of the man whose shoulders were shaking. Across from him stood another man who shouldn't have been there. Who in the world would want their bad premonition to become reality? But right before Dane's eyes, the worst scenario he had imagined was unfolding.

4

Shooting Greyson Miller was something that only happened in his imagination, but when it was actually happening before his eyes, Dane felt complicated emotions. The reason he hadn't done it in reality was because the aftermath would be troublesome, but having to go through hell for someone else's actions was absurd.

He needed to resolve this situation somehow before things got ugly. Just as he was about to make an unavoidable choice and move his body, the man shouted.

"Shut up, you son of a bitch! Where's my son, give me back my Santiago!"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you."

In contrast to the man's indignant shout, Greyson's voice was only calm. He continued in his characteristic grinning tone.

"You put your son in the basement because he did something wrong. But due to circumstances, he's not here now. I'm alone here. Wait, don't get angry that the child left in the middle, I stayed here instead. So the punishment is complete now, right? As long as someone fills the headcount, it doesn't matter who it is, right?"

It was nonsensical gibberish. Of course, Dane wasn't the only one who thought so.

"What the hell are you talking about, you fucking bastard..."