“Baekho-je, apologies for the interruption, but you have a delivery. It was marked urgent.”
My glare slides from Do-gil for the first time in minutes to the plain white envelope Woo-sik clutches. It has no return address or markings of any kind. Only my name written in neat, unfamiliar handwriting.
“Open it,” I order.
Woo-sik hesitates for a quick second, then tears his fingers at the flap and pulls out the contents. A photograph and a small card slide out. His face goes pale as he looks at them, then glances up at me with a furrowed brow.
“Give it to me.”
He hands over the items with a slight tremor to his hand. I stare down at the photograph first, my pulse instantly doubling in pace.
Monroe stares back up at me.
She’s walking on a dark street, her profile illuminated by a streetlight, clearly unaware that she’s being watched. The timestamp in the corner indicates it was taken last night. Someone was following her, photographing her, and I had no idea.
The card is worse.
Did your rabbit enjoy her visitors last night? She fights well—her mother too.
But she couldn’t fight what was already inside her. I took your son from the inside out.
She’s next.
I have to read the message twice as the present moment warps around me. The men assembled in front of my desk and the tension thick in the room no longer matter. They might as well cease to exist as my world narrows to a single point.
The card and photo in my grasp.
His latest taunting message; his latest bold threat.
What fucking visitors is he speaking of? What happened last night?
I took your son from the inside out—what the fuck does that even mean?
None of it makes any sense, but I understand enough. Monroe is in danger. Black Shell has been watching her and stalking her and now he’s taunting me. He’s letting me know he can reach her whenever he wants.
…that apparently he already has in ways I’m only beginning to grasp.
My head snaps up, my glare returning to Do-gil and the others. The look on my face must communicate if I were in no mood for games earlier, I’m definitely not now. They take an involuntarily step back, afraid to be on the receiving end of my ire.
“Get the fuck out of my office! NOW!” I bark. “I have real problems to address!”
They file out at once, no one daring to push back or object. Min-gyu lingers at the door, his eyes questioning, but then he joins the others and walks out.
I waste no time leaving only seconds after them. The card and photograph in hand, I stride out of my office and down to my car.
She’s next.
I pound on Monroe’s door with no regard for her neighbors down the hall or what kind of disturbance I’m causing. My fist connects with the wood hard enough to rattle the frame.
It takes her several long seconds to answer, and when she finally pulls the door open, her expression changes from confusion to wariness to irritation in the span of a heartbeat.
She’s wearing lounge clothes, and her hair is pulled up into acurly puff at the top of her head, an exhaustion about her that tells me she likely got little sleep.
“Jin? What are you doing here? You can’t just show up like this. My mom’s resting.”
I don’t wait to be invited in. I push past her into the apartment, my body vibrating with fury, and thrust the photograph and card at her.
“What happened last night?” I demand without preamble.
