Minutes after the phone call with uncle Pd, you and Jungkook arrive at the Drunk Tank. Several of the windows are smashed out. Inside, you find your uncle holding a dustpan and broom, attempting to clean up the chaos.
"Uncle!" You gave him a warm hug "I'm glad you're safe. I'm going to catch that bastard who did this"
Jungkook walks toward the barstool and sees a camera. "Anything from this camera?"
"I forgot to change the damn tapes out. Won't be making that mistake again" Hanging his head low he lets a heavy sigh. "Alright, then be a good witness and walk me through your day"
Uncle Pd sighs again as he takes a seat at the bar. He runs a hand over his balding head as he recounts the day.
"Opened at eleven like usual. Had a delivery coming around noon Matty was gonna help me unload it, but he never showed...so I went down to the diner for the lunch. And when I got back, I found this. Still no word from Matty too...I'm starting to get that feeling, Y/n" He wipes the precipitation on his forehead, and his breathing hitches as he turns to take a glance at his bar.
"Did they anything besides dad's badge and gun?" He pointed to his registers" The money from the registers. Not sure what else yet. You should see my office though. Hell of a mess. "
Jungkook gives a slight tap on the table to gain his attention "Why take the badge and gun at all? They can't be worth much" You nod your head as you continue "If our guy's an amateur, he may not know that...Don't worry, Uncle we'll get to the bottom of this"
Uncle Pd heads into the back to make some coffee, while you and Jungkook turn to face the room. You peer behind the bar, taking stock of what's missing...Wait! why did they leave the expensive liquor?
"So they took the money from the register...but locked it afterward? And then there's..." You trail off, eyes falling on the dust-stained empty spot on the wall. Your heart sinks seeing it. Jungkook places a hand on your shoulder. "We'll get it back"
You move to the window, examining the broken edges, and the spray of glass on the sidewalk outside. 'Huh. See how little of the glass wound up in the bar? The window was broken from the inside"
"So this wasn't the entry point." You give a slight nod "Not likely. It could mean they got in another way and left in a hurry...or someone was trying to cover their tracks"
You poke your head into the back office. Scattered paperwork completely covers the floor, but the safe in the corner remains unharmed. "Whoever did this was looking for something in here. But not in the safe..."
Just then, there's a knock at the door. You return to the main room as a middle-aged woman pokes her head in from the outside.
"Hello...Is Pd here? I'm here looking for my son, Matty" Your uncle comes out from the back, a look of concern on his face. "Pd, thanks for calling. I'm worried sick, Matty never came home last night, and when you said he didn't come in..."
"Is that unusual for him?" The lady looks at Jungkook and answers "Yes! He's a good kid. Always home by curfew."
"Ms. I think Matty is in danger" Her gaze shifts to you, with sadness splashed all over her face "Oh god...You don't think he's been kidnapped?"
"Do you have some reason for you to think so?" Her eyes gave out a tint of fear as she fumbled with her earrings "No! I mean, other than--No!"
"Ms. Sofia, what's going on?" Your uncle places a cup of coffee in front of her. As she takes a sip "You see...I took out a loan from The Butcher" You couldn't believe what she said neither did your uncle.
"I was desperate. The car broke down, and if I couldn't get to work, we'd be out on the street"
"Forgive me" Jungkook steps into the conversation "But I'm afraid I need some clarification. Who, dare I ask, is 'The Butcher'?" Uncle sighs, unaware of how to explain this.
"Niko 'The Butcher' Borodin. Y/n's father and I tried to bust that sleazy loan shark for years...I wish you came to me first, Sofia" Although Jungkook isn't getting the point but he still knows that this Butcher guy is a threat or maybe a clue.
"I know, Matty's been doing little jobs for Niko to pay down what I owe. I told him not to get mixed up in it, but..." She trails as her eyes met yours. The best you can do now is to assure her and you did.
"Where can we find this guy?"
"He's got a joint over in Queens. I'll text you the address" Uncle Pd reaches for his phone.
Jungkook drives silently as you thumb through your phone messages, but glances over when you let out a heavy sigh. 'Suga has not yet found out about that knife. That's the last thing we would need"
"Don't be angry Y/n, but...maybe the police should handle the break-in? We have our case to focus on, and this is so close to home." You let out another sigh. A HEAVY one indeed.
"Look, Jungkook....somebody robbed my uncle and took my dad's badge and gun. I'm just pissed off, obviously, but I'm still professional."
"I still think it might be smart to get some distance from this. For your own good." You give a half-hearted nod. Of course no backing off.
In a quiet neighborhood, Jungkook parks across the street from a local butcher shop. He lets out a sigh of relief. "You know, I just assumed 'The Butcher' was some gruesome soubriquet. I didn't realize he was a literal butcher" Sometimes you wonder, this guy is out of your league. But at the same time, he does so much to ease your mind. Go with the flow Y/n!
"Well, if this Butcher is as volatile as your uncle claims, we may want to play this cautiously. Especially if he has Matty"
As you approach, you hear sounds from a side alley. A heavily-tattooed man in his forties grunts as he unloads cases from a truck.
"Niko Borodin?" The man pauses in the half-open door...and a blur of brown fur shoots out from down the alley, banging against Nikko!
Niko shoves the dog away. The dog runs up to Jungkook, bounding up and down. Jungkook reaches out to pet her.
"Hello, there. Aren't you just the cutest little-"
"Bad dog! Get your ass outta here!" Niko kicks at the dog's heels, spurring her on down the alley with a yelp of distress. He turns his attention towards you "Now, who the hell are you?"
"I'm a private detective looking into a possible missing person's case. I understand Matty works for you sometimes?" Crossing his hands around his chest he nods "So what?"
"I thought you might have seen him today?" He shrugs off casually, making it too obvious that he isn't wanting this boring talk.
"Might've. Might've not. But last time I saw the kid, he was fine" Jungkook looks at you wanting to check in the place, around.
"Right...Mind if we come in and have a look around?" He walks a few steps towards you and right there Jungkook stays alert to check his next moves but Niko just stands at a fair distance. "Why would I let you in?"
"If you had nothing to do with Matty's disappearance, then anything we find in there will lead to the kidnapper, not you..." You take a glance at Jungkook "...unless, of course, you haven't been completely honest with us" He continues.
"Fine!!"
You follow Niko into the butcher shop, your eyes sweeping the room for anything of interest.
"What kind of work does Matty do for you?"
"Kid runs...mmm, deliveries for me sometimes." He averts his gaze toward his counter
"Did he get you the deliveries today" He shook his head "Nope. I didn't have anything for him. But...it's possible he dropped something off"
Niko leads you through a door behind the counter and into a pitch-black office. The back of your neck prickles with hesitation. In the next instant, you feel a large hand on your shoulder, shoving you forward. You and Jungkook crush to the ground at the same time, the air around you suddenly cold as death.
"Jungkook casts about for a light switch as you whirl toward the door...just as it slams shut!
Ad the light clicks on, you find yourself in a walk-in freezer. You glance at Jungkook as you hear the sound of the locking mechanism falling into place.
"Niko! Open the door right now!" You hear a scoff from the other side which soon fades as he speaks "Oh no, did you get stuck in there? Shoot, I'm sorry. This damn door sticks on me all the time."
You pull out your phone to call Suga...only to find you have no reception. Niko's muffled voice continues gloating on the other side of the door.
"You really thought I wouldn't recognize Lucien's kid? Bah! But tell your uncle I was sorry to hear about his bar"
Niko's laughter trails off. Soon, the only sound you can hear is the steady whir of the cooling system.
"Cool, now what" You look around trying to find anything. Two options. Open the door by force or search for the opening.
"Search for an opening in the wall."
The two of you work your way around the perimeter, searching through the produce-lined walls...but they're surprisingly smooth. You both shake your heads in defeat.
"Here' my question, what's Niko's endgame, trapping us in here? He wouldn't...leave us, would he?" Not sure about that. He's a lowlife, not a killer.
"He'll let us out once he's done whatever he needs to do. At least...I hope he will."
The minutes tick by, agonizingly slow...Jungkook taps a frost-covered thermometer on the wall.
"Thirty-seven. Not great, but not terrible...We should be okay as long as we keep dry and don't take our clothes off"
"Why would we take our clothes off?" He walks away to the door "As many as half of the hypothermia-related deaths are due to paradoxical undressing" Went above your head, and you ignore that.
The condenser clicks on and a cloud of cold air begins to fill the room. You wrap your arms around yourself, trying to conserve body heat.
"We could huddle together for warmth. And before you say anything, I'm not flirting. I'm freezing. Literally. Plus, if you think this has something to do with Niko and your father's history, it might help to talk about him. Your father, I mean "
Your mind swirls on the fact that you have to accept it or freeze to death. Kinda horrible.
"Okay fine..."
"Good. Then get over here and cuddle me" Holding your hands on your hips you shook your head "This is not cuddling. It's strictly platonic temperature management" He nods quickly, his bunny teeth showing up
You scooch together in the corner the furthest away from the vent. Jungkook takes your hand and pulls you into his arms as he sits against the wall of the freezer. You lean into his embrace as the warmth of his chest radiates into your back.
"Watch the hands Jungkook. Don't get carried away"
"Thank you for reminding" He states sarcastically. You roll your eyes, but can't help but ease into Jungkook as the heat from his body enfolds you like a mitten.
"I know distraction can help us stay warm. So you can talk and I'll listen" He tries this part as the cold is just making the veins freeze.
"About my father?" He nods. You grow quiet. Jungkook rubs your arm gently but says nothing.
"He was stabbed. At a baseball game. Died on the scene. Right...right in front of me. I was thirteen."
Your memories keep flooding. Those days of your mourning, the tears you swallowed.
"Y/n, I'm sorry" He keeps rubbing your arms, making the situation less sorrowful. "Who was behind it?"
"They never caught the guy Never even had a real lead" The case was just there. Nobody really did any kind of investigation to find the killer.
"When a cop gets killed, there are always many people who'd want him dead" Jungkook suddenly stops his hands on your arms as you look at him. "You can open up. Trust me"
You suck in a deep breath, a surge of feeling bursting through you. It's been so long since you've had anyone to talk to about this.
"My dad was my best friend. He was the one who tucked me in at night and drove me to all my soccer games. He made fluffernutter sandwiches and watched Ghostbusters with me whenever I was sad." You take a pause, looking at Jungkook who's listening to you seriously.
"Sounds like a great dad" You nod "The very best. But the asshole who took him from me got away scot-free" Pulling you still closer, Jungkook continues rubbing your arms.
"One day you'll find out who did this. It might not be today or even this year.....but the day will come."