Electric Love {Minsung}

Chapter 13: Lieutenant Lim

The police came that afternoon to interview Jisung. Mr. Kim had left to work, leaving Seungmin and Mrs. Kim in the room with him. There were two police offers, both in uniform. The older of the two did most of the talking.

"Jisung, I'm Lieutenant Lim of the Gimpo Police Department. This is Detective Jung Seokjoon."

Detective Jung gave a short nod. "Hello, Jisung."

"Hey."

Lieutenant Lim requested Seungmin and his mom leave the room while they questioned him. The thought of being questioned made his anxiety creep up. The two nodded and left. Seungmin looked at him sympathetically, "I'll be right back." The slight smile Seungmin gave him was reassuring. He could probably tell he was becoming anxious. The white walls weren't helping.

Lieutenant Lim made his way to the side of his bed and grabbed the bed's railing with one hand. "I'm really sorry about what's happened to your mother, son. The good news is we have the man who held you up in custody. We're just trying to put the pieces together. I need you to tell me everything you remember about what happened."

He closed his eyes. Remembering what had happened was like pulling a Band-Aid off a bad cut. "I remember some," he said.

"Please tell us what you remember."

Jisung rolled his tongue around the inside of his mouth. It felt thick and heavy. "My mom had taken us out for pizza for my birthday. We had just finished eating and were walking out to our car...."

"You and your mother?" Detective Jung asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. My friend Seungmin was with us, but he went back inside to get his jacket."

"Go on," Lieutenant Lim said.

"My mom was unlocking the car when this guy was there."

"The guy with the gun?"

He nodded.

"Choi Bogum," Detective Jung said. "His name is Choi Bogum. Do you know where he came from?"

He shook his head, "He was just between our car and someone else's. None of us saw him at first."

"And what did Bogum do?" Lieutenant Lim asked.

"He was just asking for some money. When my mom went to dig through her purse, he pulled a gun on her."

"Then what?"

"He demanded us to give him the entire purse and the car keys. I handed him them."

"Is that all?"

Jisung hesitated. He debated about telling them about the man and the two kids. "Nope, that's it. Next thing I know, I've passed out, and then I'm waking up here."

Lieutenant Lim looked at Jisung with a perplexed expression, then turned to his partner. Finally, detective Jung said, "What we can't figure out is what happened to the suspect."

He realized the gap in his story. His eyes darted nervously between them. "What do you mean?"

"He was incapacitated when we arrived on the scene," Jung said. "He claims the keys shocked him."

Jisung blinked several times. "I don't remember."

"Bogum was acting like he'd been hit by a Taser," Lieutenant Lim said. "We had to carry him into the police cruiser."

"Taser?" Jung said. "It was more like he was struck by a lightning bolt."

Jisung was silent.

Lieutenant Lim wrote something on his pad. Then he said, "We're wondering if the gunman had an accomplice. Was there anyone with him?"

"No." He worried his lip and looked down.

"Did you see anyone else around?"

He supposed it wouldn't hurt a little to mention the mysterious man. "There was a man."

Lieutenant Lim looked up from his pad. "What man?"

"I don't know. Just a man. He was dressed in a suit. And he had a boy and a girl with him about my age."

"Did he come from the pizza place?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure."

"What did he look like? His face?"

"I'm not sure about that either. He was wearing sunglasses."

"At night?" Jung asked.

"Yeah. I thought it was weird."

"What else do you remember about him?" Lim asked.

"He had short, dark black hair. He looked ... rich."

"Definitely didn't look like Bogum," Lim said when he finished jotting down a few notes in his notepad. "Did you see them take your mother?"

"No. I fainted or something."

"Fear will do that," Jung said.

He didn't think it had anything to do with fear, but he said nothing.

"Do you know why someone would want to kidnap your mother?"

He shook his head. "No. Why don't you ask Bogum?"

"We've interrogated him, but he's tight as a clam. We know he's hiding something, but whoever or whatever he's protecting has got a real hold on him. Apparently, he's a lot more afraid of them than us."

"Will you find her?"

Lieutenant Lloyd looked at Jisung sympathetically. "We'll do our best. I promise." He saw the anguish on his face and added, "We're not done with Bogum yet. I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve." He took a card from his front pocket. "Take this. It has my office and cell phone number. If you think of anything else, just call me." The two policemen started to leave the room. Lieutenant Lim stopped by the door. "Oh, by the way, the gun Bogum had was empty."

"Empty?"

"Yup. There were no bullets. Just thought that might make you feel better that he wasn't intending or planning to shoot you."

He might as well have, Jisung thought.

The policemen walked out. Seungmin rushed in as soon as they left. "Do they know where your mother is?"

"No." He lay back in bed. "What did you see?"

"Hardly anything. When I got to your car, you and that man were lying on the ground, and your mom was gone. I didn't see anyone else. So I ran back to the restaurant and told them to call the police."

"There were three people besides the gunman," Jisung said. "A man in sunglasses and two kids our age. The man knew my name. He knew my mom's and Minho's names. He knew about my power."

Seungmin scratched his head. "How could he have known all that?"

"I don't know."

"He brought his kids?"

"I don't think they were his. They both looked way different from each other and the man himself." His voice softened with fear, "they had electrical powers. At least one of them did. The man called him Chris. He's the one who shocked my mom."

"He could shock like you?"

"Sort of. Except his electricity left his body. Like he was throwing lightning." He leaned forward. "There's something else I remember. He seemed afraid of the girl."

"What did she do?"

"I don't know. But the closer she got to me, the dizzier I felt. Then I passed out." He combed his hair back from his face. "They're not going to find my mother."

"Don't talk that way."

"Have you heard from Minho?"

"No, not yet."

He lay back in bed. "At least he's safe. It's a good thing he didn't come with us."

End of Part One