Stake outs were one of Malcolm’s favourite things about the job, especially when it was a case that he’d been working on for months. The police had been tipped off about an underground sex ring that probably had some involvement with gang activity. And the case had Malcolm’s name all over it. He’d staked his claim on it from the moment they received the hint, and he’d spent countless hours on it since.
And now, he had a good idea of where they were operating from. The building was an old warehouse - not the most easily concealed of buildings - but it was one that no one would suspect. It was neatly tucked away in a forest around the outskirts of Seoul. It was hard to spot from an outsiders’ point of view, giving the ones in charge an easy way to slip girls in and out. The thought made Malcolm feel physically ill. There wasn’t much he hated more than men who took advantage of women. And when it came to sex crimes like this, there was no way that these women were being treated well at all.
He didn’t want to be proud and say that he was the reason they were able to bust these guys, but dammit, he was. There was no one who had worked on this case harder than him. He took every little bit of it personally. Every time he heard about one of these girls being hurt or killed, he felt it. And he couldn’t have been happier to finally catch these guys in their tracks.
He and his backup flanked the building, patrol cars parked around the vicinity. As far as he knew, the people on the inside didn’t know they were there. But they would soon enough. Malcolm clutched his gun, the other hand resting on the handle of the car. “Kim, Yoon, move in,” he murmured into his talkie.
Everything from that moment was a blur. Malcolm’s entire body flowed with adrenaline. He had his heart set on one thing and one thing only - making sure that there were no girls still in the area. There was a good chance that there weren’t any, as the perpetrators probably had a pretty good idea that the cops were coming. Officer Yoon, one of the commanding officers, was the first to burst into the building.
“Everyone come out with your hands up!” Yoon was flanked by a few junior officers, leaving Malcolm to explore as he so pleased. The warehouse was big, with all kinds of tunnels and little rooms where the girls could be hiding. Malcolm shot Yoon a questioning look, ensuring that he was safe to explore. Once he got the wordless okay from the other officer, he took off.
The warehouse was dimly lit, and the walls were thin. Malcolm heard everything. He flinched as a gun went off. He could only hope that the perpetrators weren’t too heavily armed.
He ducked into a room the other end of the warehouse, shutting the door quickly behind him. There had to be a certain place that the girls hid out -- he stopped dead in his tracks as he locked eyes with a girl huddled in the corner. It was obvious that the other girls had escaped. His breath caught in his throat. He’d gone over in his head so many times how he would treat one of these girls if he came across them - he was sure that so many men had hurt them. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her.
“Don’t be scared. I’m a cop. My name’s Malcolm.” He spoke slowly and softly, crouching down to her level. His weak leg protested against the weight, but he didn’t want to seem bigger than her. “Are you alright? I’m going to get you out of here now, okay?”
