Two Faces (3)
With the kidnapper still at large and Han A-young in their clutches, of all possible moments, Chief Han Seung-woo was calling me.
It was the unexpected variable that had burst out of nowhere just when I thought I had finished drawing the dragon and only needed to add the eyes.
In my original plan, my conversation with Chief Han Seung-woo was supposed to happen only after Han A-young was safely back in his arms. That was why I had specifically instructed the music academy instructor not to mention me to him.
But if I ignored the call now?
To Chief Han Seung-woo, that would look the most suspicious of all.
After all, the fact that he had called me directly meant he already knew I was entangled in this matter. With his precious daughter’s safety on the line, it would be wrong to keep a man as desperate as Chief Han Seung-woo waiting even a minute, even a second.
Having made my decision, I answered the phone at once.
“Yes. This is Kwon Ho-gyun.”
As expected, Chief Han Seung-woo’s voice was shaking violently.
“T-Team Leader… our A-young is safe, right?”
He was stuttering, skipping all greetings and jumping straight to the point. In all the time I had known him—both as Kang Min-chan and after entering QS Tower as head of the inspection team—I had never once seen Chief Han Seung-woo, the ultimate professional, look like this.
It might be an area I couldn’t fully understand since I had no children of my own, but Han A-young was probably the greatest reason Chief Han Seung-woo continued living as the consummate professional he was.
Even so, it didn’t seem like he was seeking emotional comfort from me. Since nothing had happened to Han A-young yet, the timing wasn’t right for that either.
I decided to give him exactly what he wanted to hear: a cold assessment of the situation and well-grounded hope.
“It is true that your daughter has been kidnapped, Chief Han.”
“Th-then the text I received is real?”
A text? I frowned. “What text did you receive?”
“They say they have my daughter and I need to wire one billion won to the account they gave me within thirty minutes. If A-young really has been kidnapped, I have to get the money ready first. I’m sorry. I’ll hang up now. We can talk in detail after she’s safely back.”
Damn. The kidnappers were moving far faster than I had anticipated.
Even so, that money must never be paid. If events unfolded as I had heard in the future, the kidnapper would murder A-young the moment they received it.
“No! Chief Han, calm down and listen to me carefully.”
“How can I possibly stay calm when my daughter has been kidnapped!”
I let out a small sigh. It seemed what Chief Han Seung-woo needed right now was not emotional comfort but a cold, rational analysis of the situation backed by solid hope.
“I will rescue Han A-young without fail. One of our Central Management Division security officers is currently pursuing the kidnap vehicle, and the police have already identified the perpetrators’ location and mobilized. Court precedents show that in kidnapping cases, the child is more often harmed precisely when the perpetrator’s demands are met.”
“……”
“Chief Han Seung-woo?”
His voice finally steadied.
“Yes, Team Leader. I had no idea you had prepared so thoroughly to save our daughter. I’m sorry for getting so worked up earlier.”
“It’s all right. If you’re too anxious, the vehicle was at the Namgyo-dong intersection just moments ago. You may head to that area if you wish.”
“Understood. Thank you. I’ll leave immediately. But Team Leader… how did you know this kidnapping would occur and prepare in advance like this?”
I suppressed a groan. This was exactly the question I had hoped to avoid, which was why I had planned to meet Chief Han Seung-woo only after the entire matter was resolved. By then everything would be viewed in a positive light and he wouldn’t press for every trivial detail.
The most honest answer was impossible. I could hardly tell him I had heard about his daughter’s misfortune from him in the future.
Still, since the situation had already come to this, dodging or evading the question would only seem more suspicious. Fortunately, my quick wit was more than enough to handle something of this level.
Sometimes a harmless lie that benefited only me was necessary.
“While handling a case for our law firm Seungbaek, we came across one involving that kidnapper. During the investigation we learned they were targeting Han A-young as their next victim. I didn’t have concrete evidence to show you, so I couldn’t inform you in advance and have been handling it alone.”
“Ah… Thank you. Please, save our A-young.”
Had Chief Han Seung-woo’s voice just cracked with emotion?
It seemed I was gradually drawing closer to winning his loyalty. Since I had successfully sidestepped the detailed question I hadn’t wanted to answer, I decided to ask something I was curious about in return.
“By the way, Chief Han, how did you know I was looking into this case?”
“After receiving the ransom demand, I felt uneasy about the claim that A-young hadn’t gone to her music lesson, so I called the instructor again. She told me you had visited. That’s how I guessed.”
Aigoo. So that prim piano instructor had ultimately ignored my request after all.
Well, it didn’t matter. I was going to rescue Han A-young regardless, and the kidnappers would end up in handcuffs. As a teacher, it was arguably more correct to faithfully inform the parents of what she knew about their child than to follow my instructions.
“Ah, yes. It must have been the teacher I met briefly. A new message just came in—the crime vehicle is heading toward National Route 1. It looks like they plan to leave Seoul via the national road. Shall we meet somewhere in that area, Chief Han?”
“Yes. I’ll see you there.”
Look at these people. They seemed to know that a highway chase with a predetermined destination was unconditionally disadvantageous to those being pursued. But did they really think I wouldn’t be able to catch them on a national road?
Kim Chul-joong, the de facto field commander of this kidnapper suppression operation, found himself in a rather difficult position.
The kidnap vehicle showed no sign of stopping, yet the fuel in the Carnival he was driving was running dangerously low. Since both Kwon Ho-gyun and the police were tracking the criminals based on his location, if his car stalled, the entire pursuit could collapse.
At the very least it would buy the perpetrators time, and there was no guarantee that nothing would happen to A-young during that window.
As he had texted Ho-gyun moments earlier, the crime vehicle was heading toward National Route 1. Once they entered the national road their speed would only increase, which would accelerate fuel consumption even further.
After a brief moment of deliberation, Kim Chul-joong decided to accept a small risk. The action wasn’t entirely legal, but since the lawyer who had entrusted him with the pursuit was Kwon Ho-gyun, any legal problems could be handled later. There would be some property damage, but he trusted that Ho-gyun—the chairman’s son—would take care of it.
Above all, if forced to choose between legality and punishing evil, Kim Chul-joong was the kind of man who would always choose the latter.
Thud.
Having made up his mind, he stepped on the accelerator and lightly tapped the rear bumper of the yellow van ahead. Normally this would cause the driver to stop and get out, but it seemed this driver had no intention of acknowledging the incident.
Instead of slowing down, the van accelerated, trying to shake him off. Light contact clearly wasn’t going to work. A stronger impact would be necessary.
He changed lanes, pulled alongside the van, and confirmed through the window that A-young was in the rearmost seat while only a male driver sat in front. They had probably secured her with multiple seatbelts to prevent her from escaping even if she regained consciousness. The extra restraints actually seemed to lower the risk of injury to the child.
Judging that the tactic now forming in his mind carried far less risk of harming A-young than simply losing the vehicle, Kim Chul-joong closed the distance and sharply turned the wheel to the right, slamming into the driver’s side.
Boom!Screeeeech!
The kidnap vehicle’s front jerked violently toward the shoulder. To avoid smashing into a utility pole, the driver yanked the side brake. In that instant Kim Chul-joong cut in front, blocking their path. Soon afterward, someone stepped out of the yellow van.
It was the woman Kwon Ho-gyun had identified as one of the perpetrators. She didn’t appear much older than A-young herself.
The woman pounded roughly on Kim Chul-joong’s window with her fist and shouted.
“Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing? Are you insane? If you want to die, do it by yourself! Why drag us into it?”
This was exactly the reaction Kim Chul-joong had wanted. The car might be out of fuel, but his own body was overflowing with power.
He opened the door and stepped onto the road, revealing his intimidating physique. His chest was clearly broader than the female kidnapper’s, and the muscles of his shoulders and upper arms strained against his shirt as if ready to tear the fabric.
Looking every bit like the legendary warrior Zhang Fei on the Changban Bridge, Kim Chul-joong growled at the woman in a low voice.
“Where’s the kid?”
“What kid? I don’t know anything about that. And after deliberately causing an accident, what makes you so arrogant? I’m going to sue you criminally and civilly. If you want to reduce your sentence even a little, get on your knees and beg right now.”
Look at her. The woman was openly trying to buy time. When they had been driving side by side earlier, he had clearly seen that the person in the driver’s seat was not her. The intention was obvious: while she stalled him, the van would either reverse or find some other way to escape.
“Move! I have something to say to the person inside.”
“There’s no one inside! Talk to me!”
Kim Chul-joong fell into brief thought. He had never struck a woman before. After clenching and unclenching his fist several times, he decided he truly could not punch her. Instead he reached out and grabbed the kidnapper’s hair with his open palm.
Since women fought like this, he thought it should be acceptable. His judgment produced an astonishing sight the very next instant.
After ending the call with Chief Han Seung-woo, I immediately drove toward the location Kim Chul-joong had sent me. It seemed quite a lot had happened before I arrived. His Carnival was now stopped on the road after ramming into the side of the yellow van.
As I drew closer, I saw two people fighting outside the vehicles. It was Kim Chul-joong and the female kidnapper. He had seized her by the hair—then, with a sharp rip, the left half of the woman’s face tore away from her hairline to her chin.
I doubted my own eyes. My supercar soon reached the scene, and when I stepped out I finally understood what had happened.
The face I had thought looked too young had been fake. Beneath the torn mask, the perpetrator’s real face was covered in deep, wrinkled creases. She appeared at least twenty years older than me.
No wonder she had been showing her face so boldly at the crime scene. The face itself had been a fabrication. I had heard that special effects makeup could achieve such results, but this was the first time I had seen it used in an actual crime, whether on paper or in reality.
The kidnapper glared at me with one half a child’s face and the other half an aging woman’s, her eyes bulging grotesquely. Come to think of it, this wasn’t our first meeting.
