Desire Me If You Can Chapter 43

Dane, unable to take any more of the story veering off into bizarre territory, cut the boy off. When the child fell silent, he reopened his mouth with a frown.

“Tell me about your friend again. So, he hasn’t been seen for a few days?”

“Yes.”

The boy nodded and said, “I told the adults, but nobody cared. Mister Firefighter, you’re a hero, so you’ll listen to me, right? You’ll find my friend, right?”

“…Sigh.”

Dane looked up at the sky and let out a deep sigh.

“Fine.”

After blinking a couple of times, he lowered his head. His gaze toward the boy had changed significantly from before.

“Where is your friend’s house? Lead the way.”

“Okay!”

The excited boy took off running. As he chased after him, Dane asked, “What’s your friend’s name? You need to tell me his name!”

The boy looked back while still running.

“Santiano! Santiano Domingo!”

“Damn it.”

With his long legs, Dane sprinted at full speed and caught up to the boy in just two strides. Without stopping, Dane scooped the boy up by the scruff of his neck, tucked him under his arm, and kept running.

“So, where is it?”

“On the right!”

Following the boy’s directions, Dane immediately veered off. Suddenly, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and rain began to fall, one drop at a time.

∞ ∞ ∞

A faint sound was heard. Santiano’s shoulders, which had been slumped limply on the floor, twitched. The child was utterly exhausted from not having a single sip of water for days. On top of that, he had squeezed out every last bit of his remaining strength to call for help, but the result was disastrous. He thought he could finally get out, but to think they would actually jump in here instead.

It was impossible for a child’s strength to push the door up. Grayson had no intention whatsoever of helping him escape. All that remained was despair.

Grayson, who had been lying side-by-side holding Santiano’s hand, opened his eyes. He had heard the sound, too. The intermittent, irregular noises began to grow steady. It looked like it was raining.

How strange. It’s raining in California.

Come to think of it, one winter some time ago, there was an abnormal climate event where massive rain fell for days on end. As he blankly recalled the memory, he reached the conclusion that it would soon get cold. Regardless, it was a natural result since the temperature would drop.

“Santiano.”

He called the boy’s name and sat up.

“Santiano, aren’t you cold?”

There was no response from the boy. Grayson, who had gently grabbed and shaken the shoulder of Santiano, who was just lying there silently, spoke again.

“Santiano, are you okay?”

He waited a beat, as if waiting for a reaction, then he opened his mouth.

“Are you dead?”

∞ ∞ ∞

“It’s here!”

The boy hanging from Dane’s side shouted, stretching his hand out as far as he could. Dane quickly scanned the house the boy pointed to. It looked like just an ordinary house on the outside. Though, perhaps it was just his mood, but there was a somewhat gloomy atmosphere.

“Mister, you just have to go through that door!”

Dane, who had run toward the side door as the boy pointed, hesitated for a moment. If he just barged in and ended up getting charged with trespassing, that would be a bigger problem. Besides, what if the person inside had a gun?

It was too risky to charge in relying solely on a child’s word. If he ended up getting shot for trespassing, that would be the worst-case scenario.

“You wait here, and don’t you move.”

After setting the boy down safely, Dane first looked into the house through the window. Not a single trace of human presence could be felt in the dark, quiet interior. Maybe Santiano was truly just sick and lying in bed. If that were the case, this was all a waste of time….

It was when he turned his head while thinking that. The spot where he had clearly left the boy was empty. Flustered, Dane stood in place and looked around, when suddenly he heard a call.

“Mister, Mister!”

Dane turned around immediately at the hushed, urgent shout and froze in an instant. The boy had already opened the side door and was beckoning him with only his head poking out.

“You little…”

Dane managed to restrain himself from swearing, but only by the narrowest of margins. The boy had cleverly hidden inside, making it impossible to catch him. Dane had no choice but to rush into the side door the boy had entered.

“You, I clearly told you not to move….”

He urged him in a low voice, but the boy didn’t even pretend to listen. In the spot the boy, who was running in place with urgent gestures, was pointing to, there was a large cellar door. Dane shifted his gaze from the boy’s face to the door, and the boy shouted at him.

“He’s here! Santiano is in here!”

Dane frowned. He could still turn back. To even go as far as opening a basement door and checking inside was crossing the final line. And if there was nothing there, the boy would probably ask him to go into the house next.

“Santi, answer me! Santiano! I came to save you!”

The boy’s desperate voice reached Dane, who was standing there with a serious expression. Just as he was about to tell him to stop, another faint voice pierced his ears.

“Ally…s? …Is that Ally-s?”

The limp, drained voice was as fragile as if he were squeezing his vocal cords.

“Santi! It’s me, I’m here!”

“Move aside for a second.”

After lifting the excited boy and moving him to the side, Dane grabbed the handle of the cellar door. Whoo. After letting out a short sigh, he made up his mind and lifted it.

Creeeak. A heavy, ominous sound rang out. At the same time, the surroundings turned bright. A lightning strike illuminated the inside of the basement as if it were daytime. And Dane saw. The boy collapsed at the foot of the stairs, and Grayson looking up at him.

Loud thunder roared directly overhead, and rain began to pour down.

Dane was dumbfounded and just stared at him for a few seconds without saying a word. What is this?

What am I looking at?

Grayson seemed to be thinking the same thing, just blinking his eyes.

“What…”

Dane spoke first.

“What the hell are you doing there?”

In a situation he hadn’t even imagined, Dane asked with an unusually blank expression. The situation was just that incomprehensible. Had he been kidnapped and held prisoner? No, the door hadn’t been locked. If it were that guy, couldn’t he have opened the door and walked out of the basement whenever he wanted? If so, did that mean he was locked in by his own choice? Why?

But he couldn’t drag this out for long. Because Ally-s was screaming and running inside.

“Santi, Santi! Wake up! I’m here!”

He could feel the sensation of cold rain hitting his face. The rain was now pouring down in earnest. Dane hurriedly ran down the stairs and scooped up the child who was collapsed on the floor. He didn’t have the luxury of doing anything to Grayson. Asking him the reason, pressing him for answers, or, if it came to it, beating the hell out of him—he could do all of that later. The priority was the child’s safety.

“Team Leader, this is an emergency. I’ve found the missing child. Yes, it looks like abuse. He’s still conscious, but he’s in a very weak state. I’m taking him to the hospital first….”

As he walked, almost running, while speaking rapidly into his radio, Ally-s followed him, running with all his might. Left alone, Grayson stood looking up at the wide-open door.

“Ah….”

He muttered to himself with a sigh.

“I’m going to get in trouble.”