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Seong paused, looking down at Thomas to find his eyes already closed. Reaching down, he let his fingers brush through Thomas’s hair again. “I won’t lie to them,” he repeated in a whisper, “but I won’t go to them either. That is a bridge we will cross in the morning. Just rest now, Thomas.” He watched Thomas fall into a deeper sleep, his breathing slowing, his worry and restlessness melting away until not even the stubble on his cheeks could keep him from looking young. So young and innocent.
Rage filled Seong as he thought about how someone tried to steal that innocence tonight. If Seong hadn’t noticed him-
He pulled his hand away from Thomas and took a deep breath in. His hand curled into a fist and before he lost what remained of his senses, he moved away. He got the blanket from the closet and the bowl he kept specifically for being sick from the cabinet and finished tucking Thomas into his couch.
Once he was done, he pulled out the two phones, frowning at Thomas’s, then at his own. Both had message notifications, and while Seong wanted to know who was messaging Thomas, Bat seemed to be seconds away from threatening Seong’s computers.
Back at my apartment with the kid, he texted without reading the walls of text. He couldn’t get the drugs back up but he’s sleeping it off now.
There was a pause then a new message came through.
Bastard is denying everything but we found more powder on him that turned blue. Lucio is worried he’s not alone. Can you get on the security cameras?
Done, Seong agreed, walking into what was advertised as a second bedroom. His monitors had been off, his system completely shut down for what was suppose to be two full days of unplugged. It would take a moment to get in, which he used to look at Thomas’s phone, surprised to find it didn’t have a lock on it.
Two of the messages were from a group chat called “O’Malley Chat” and were from contacts saved as “Favorite Aunt One” and “Favorite Aunt A.” That combined with their sweet messages wishing him good night made Seong smile. He scrolled up, seeing Thomas’s message to them around eight saying they were settling in for games and an attached photo of Thomas with four other young men, all dressed in comfortable clothes and sitting around a couch.
Thomas was on the couch, next to a boy with strawberry blond hair and a heart-breaker’s smile wearing a paper crown that said “Birthday Boy.” Two more boys sat on the floor, one bigger than the other but both obviously athletic like the birthday boy with their own charming smiles. The last boy was awkwardly crouched between the boys on the couch and the ones on the floor, his hand seeming to be resting near the birthday boy even though he was closer to Thomas. His smile seemed forced and he had a gaming controller in one hand. Seong looked at the group again. Thomas was smiling a bit uncomfortable, though Seong wouldn’t dare try to guess if it was from the close proximity of the others or because he knew they were lying to his aunts. There was a bowl of popcorn in Thomas’s lap, a controller resting on his leg. The Birthday Boy was the one taking the photo, leaning into Thomas. A pizza box was just visible in front of the boys on the floor, a half-eaten crust on the edge, red cups next to them, a two-liter just cutting into view. Everything at a glance to look like five young men having a sleepover of video games and junk food.
Interesting, he thought, forwarding the picture to himself as he put his headset on. He guessed the fifth boy must be Andy, given Thomas’s comment about Andy not liking him, but who were these other boys? And where were all of them now?
“Snake,” Bat said in his ears as the call connected on the first ring.
“I’m in,” Snake said, typing at his keyboard and setting both phones on stands to display them. “Sending you a picture of the other underage boys Thomas was supposed to be with.” He glanced at Thomas’s phone as more messages came in. “They’re still in the club.”
“I’ll tell security to find them,” Lucio, Felinus and Brutus’s cousin and the only child of Vinny Drago, said from somewhere near by.
“Hold off,” Brutus told him.
“But-”
“I just mean don’t have them thrown out or grabbed,” Brutus explained patiently. “I want to see how they handle Thomas going missing.”
“As do I,” Tiger rumbled quietly. “They left him alone.”
Seong’s eyes flicked again to the messages on Thomas’s phone. “I could find the boys or I can isolate the man to see if he has friends but I can’t do both. Tell me what to do, Lucio.”
“Me?” He seemed surprised.
“It’s your club,” Bat reminded him. “Well, it’s Vinny’s but everyone knows he turned over running this place to you six months ago. You call the shots here. We’re just an assist.”
“I- cugino-”
Seong opened the security footage for Lucio’s office, seeing the four men standing around the desk. Lucio was barely a year younger than Brutus, but you wouldn’t know it from the pleading look he was giving his cousin.
Brutus looked back at him, his arms folding over his chest. “Zeno’s right,” he said like he hated to admit it. “This is your business, cugino. Tell Snake what you want him to do. Find underage clubbers or find any more people who may be drugging drinks.”
Lucio looked around, his mouth thinning as he thought. It was an odd thing to watch. Felinus and Brutus both carried themselves with such stubborn confidence that Seong could count on one hand the number of times he had seen either of them uncertain. To see someone who shared a great deal of their features twisted up in indecision was odd. “I need anyone who is threatening my patrons found,” he said finally. “Underage drinking is an issue but not a threat. Find if the bastard has any friends.”
“On it,” Seong told him, watching Lucio relax slightly when Brutus gave him the smallest of nods. “I’ll stay in touch.”
Another text appeared on Thomas’s phone from a group chat without a nickname. He ignored it for the moment. Rolling back the footage to roughly when he had seen Thomas, he started the task of tracking the bastard that would have taken the spark of joy out of those green eyes.
Memory
Thomas slowly opened his eyes then closed them again immediately. The light from the window went straight through his eyes directly into his brain, and what had been a throbbing turned into a stabbing.
Weren’t the walls in the hotel white? The thought came almost independent of his own, giving him the brief image of the TV he had seen and the green accent wall behind it.
