Ae's discharge went smoothly. Both himself and Pete were quietly collected by Oh and driven to the house. Cassie and Nigel followed later, bringing their vehicles. Pete would have to return to work the next day but that was ok. Plans were being made for his protection.
"Diew is calling me," Pete said in surprise, later that afternoon.
"So. Answer. He must have something to say to you." Ae smiled at him before turning back to his computer screen.
"Hey. Hi." Pete answered nervously for some reason.
"Hey. Is Ae close? Put me on speaker. I have some news for you both."
"Sure." Pete followed instructions and Ae greeted his friend easily.
"So first things first. I heard you got shot and was the king of the Life Bet system. Do you know how long we've been trying to lock that shit down?" If Diew had a little awe in his voice, it was because Ae had managed to affect in a day what his people had been working on for years.
"Nope. I didn't even know something like that existed." Ae shook his head, still in disbelief that people would put a price on life.
"That's the most amazing part. I can't believe a junkie fool fell into a system like that. It's really tight lip. Hardly anyone knows or it would be easier to bust them."
"We got lucky because he took out, what, 13 bets on me?" Thirteen times I could have died.
"Just about," Pete agreed softly before moving closer to Ae's side. "And won about 9 if I remember it right."
"That's a lot of fucking bets dude. How are you still here with us?! This fucking unbelievable. Shit! I really hope they can use him to crack this open. He's a fucking dead man anyway. He's marked now. There is no way he can survive this for long. Even in prison. If the police let him out, they'll shoot him. If they lock him in, someone on the inside will get him. He must be losing his shit right now. Anyway. On to the other information I have. So. This Sheri chick? She left Thailand a couple of weeks ago. She went by train first to a job deal for some modelling gig. Then she flew out to Japan for several more jobs, before travelling to Europe from there. She's scheduled to return this week. Tonight in fact if my dates are correct."
"So Sheri may not be tied to this after all?" Pete wondered. Then why were they trying so hard to make it seem that way?
"Chances are, if she is, someone is posing as her to do her duties. However, I believe she is not involved, at least not that deep. Her current schedule puts her mostly outside of Thailand than in and if she needs to be here to deal with this then why be so absent?"
"Unless she's avoiding questioning? The perfect alibi is to be somewhere else with witnesses. Even if she's not involved, I believe she does know something. Her name is being used and someone is taking the time to pose as her. She carefully left the country without making it obvious which means she wanted to leave quietly." Ae reasoned. Pete couldn't find fault with his opinions and nodded.
"Then she's allowing her name to be used for some reason while maintaining the idea that she's not involved, using her schedule. I did notice from her past schedule that she had taken on a lot more work lately. Granted her current jobs are very high profile." Diew added in support of Ae's theory.
"Which means she has a great excuse not to refuse them." Ae noted.
They talked for over an hour, running through all the persons that could possibly be involved and that's when Ae thought of something. He called Officer Dami after speaking with Diew.
"I have a connection I can't talk too much about. Because of him, I have come to understand that Sheri left Thailand weeks ago, very quietly. First by train and then by plane."
"That's some connection." Dami commented dryly. "If your wondering if we have evidence to support this then, no, we don't."
"Actually, I was wondering if you could have that Jelly guy work with a sketch artist if you haven't already."
"We have actually. We have Paul's and Nick's images so far. They match the images that we have of both men so we can safely say that they are definitely involved. He's currently supplying a description for Sheri before we move on to Arrow and Monk, whoever they are. He has admitted that Monk usually wears a hood but he does know that it's a she. Once we have the image of Sheri, we will make a move on her upon her arrival."
"That should be tonight. The when and how part I'm not sure about."
"I see. Then we will monitor her apartment for her arrival and make a decision from there."
"Thanks."
Ae took a nap after that. He needed to save up energy to deal with Yim. She had been in and out of the room every hour to check on him and bring him something to eat or drink. She was trying her best to make her Ar Ae comfortable but it was also driving him batty. Pete had taken her away a bit ago which gave him a chance for a little shut eye.
When he woke, both his lover and niece were giggling over him.
"Hey. What's up?" They chuckled harder.
"I think Por got you Ar Ae. You have stuff on your face!" Yim managed thought her giggles. Pete held up his phone and Ae looked at his sleeping face. He growled. There were shapes and swirls and a big old heart drawn in the middle of his forehead with marker.
And the worst part is, he had slept right through it.
"OH! What the HELL IS THIS!" Ae thundered as he went looking for his brother. A roar of laughter told him the man was downstairs. Ae headed down only to walk into the restaurant and have everyone look at him, family and clients. He growled and many began to chuckle.
"Really. You pick on me when I'm down?!"
"There's nothing down about you. If you can roar like that and come charging down then your fine." Oh said though tears of laughter. It was even more hilarious now that he was awake. As he spoke, his face moved and the drawings seem to dance.
"I only have energy because I rested. Your an ass you know that?"
"Me? I don't know what you mean." Oh managed innocently before bursting out another gut laugh as the heart on Ae's forehead changed shape when he frowned. Even Nut and his Mae were dying with laughter, causing him to grit his teeth.
Pete and Yim giggled from behind Ae, watching the whole scene before they dragged him off to clean his face. He sat there as the two cutest people in his life cleaned him up and couldn't be that upset at all.
That evening a picture came though that had everyone scratching their head including the person who sent it. Dami couldn't figure out who the person in the picture was. Ae was totally lost too thought he felt like he had seen the person before maybe. Pete was certain he knew the person. He had that nagging feeling that the image looked like someone he knew but he couldn't for the life of himself think of who it was. It had to be someone he hadn't seen recently because he would have been able to remember.
Even in bed, he found himself talking with Ae about it. The fact that the person wasn't Sheri didn't come as a surprise to the lovers. With everything they had learned today, they would have been more shocked if it was her. What nagged Pete was the fact that something about the image was familiar, but, the more he tried to figure it out, the harder his head hurt.
"Sleep on it. Maybe in the morning it will come to you." Ae suggested. He wasn't that tired since he had taken a day nap. Now he sat at his desk fiddling with his computer. He didn't have to go in to work for the rest of the week but he did have some drawings to complete and his right hand was working just fine.
"Didn't you say the image looked familiar too?" Pete suddenly asked Ae.
"Yeah, like someone I saw recently. You know I'm great with faces. I can tell you it's not someone I know."
"Someone you've seen recently but not someone you know." Pete pondered this but couldn't come up with anything. "Where the hell have we been? Mostly at the hospital, let's be honest. Isn't that sad."
"Very. But it's not hospital staff. Too recent. Has to be a time before that Or I would have remembered they were hospital staff right away. The faces I've seen there are still fresh in my mind. Stop stressing it Pete."
"I can't help it. It's driving me crazy." Ae turned to look at Pete's pondering face and realized even that look could turn him on. What the hell? He shouldn't lie to himself. Pete breathing could turn him on. He had no excuse here.
"Oh? Then let me drive you a little crazy too." Ae's voice dropped seductively before he moved to the bed. Pete blinked at him in surprise.
"What? Huh? Ae!"
😋😋😚😚🥰🥰
Cassie took one look at Pete's fresh face and knew immediately. Pete tended to have a certain glow when he and Ae went at it. That and they were loud as fuck. Nigel had come over to her room complaining last night. No wonder the rest of the family had stayed at Oh's place leaving the four of them here.
Donnie and Thalia walked in just as she and Nigel were heading out with Pete. They had a quick discussion before the two went up to bug Ae.
"Make sure you take a nap some time today." Pete teased Thalia and she winked at him. She wasn't looking so bad today actually. She must have gotten a couple of hours in.
Cassie shadowed Pete for the entire day, even attending his meetings. Despite missing how many days of work and being laid out, Pete was still very much on top of things. It was impressive and she could tell the people at the meeting were pleased. They even asked about Ae. It made Pete surprised but he didn't show it much.
Cassie guessed that Pete didn't discuss his personal life much at the office. His mother must have said something then. Some people looked down on same sex relationships, but Cassie could see that Pete's new plans were going to bring the hotel chain a lot of money. Who wouldn't respect profit?
"Ok. I think it's time I left this place." Pete muttered as he double checked his work. There were no big events this week so he didn't feel obligated to walk the floors. Besides, his hips weren't feeling it anyway.
"I'll tell Nigel." Cassie said and contacted him. The man spent most of his time in the monitor rooms of the hotel. When Cassie contacted him, he would head to the parking lot in advance and check things out. By the time he thoroughly checked the car, the two would be out. Pete had a routine and despite saying he was leaving now, it always took him an additional 15 minutes of shutting down and packing up to transition from his office to the elevator.
While Pete packed his things, Cassie also used this time to walk out and check the other offices sharing this hallway for unexpected surprises. Besides Pete's office, there was one for his secretary, one for Mr. Newman, a half Thai whose father was British. His secretary shared his office per his request. There was one other office but it was empty. Cassie always checked it anyway.
She was heading back to Pete's office when the elevator dinged. The woman who walked out looked beautiful and made Cassie feel inferior in ever way, she was that stunning. She looked at Cassie and smiled. Maybe it was the smile. Maybe it was the lack of spark in the eyes but Cassie was instantly alert.
"Hi. Do I know you?" She said sweetly.
"Should you? I work for Pete."
"Your not his secretary though." She said confidently. "Anyway it doesn't matter. I was actually a couple of floors down to see Bran and I thought I would come up and check on Pete. I heard a lot was going on with him lately." She took her eyes off Cassie and glanced at Pete's office door expectantly.
"Sure. I'll just let him know your here. What's your name?" Cassie asked with a slight smile.
"Tell him Dani is here." She smiled back and again Cassie felt the creeps.
Cassie turned and headed to the door. She was expecting it but the hit was still harder than she anticipated.
If Dani thought that hit would take out the tiny Cassie, she was sorely mistaken. Seconds after the hit she was kicked in the stomach and it pissed her off!
She pulled a knife, expecting to be disarmed and she was, easily. The pain in her wrist pissed her off even more!
The knife was flung aside and the two went at it even harder. Hands and feet connected in loud smacks that resounded thought the open hallway. Pete, his room soundproof, wasn't aware of a thing until he opened his door and the two came crashing in. Cassie was under Dani but she was quick and managed to roll so she wasn't pinned. The two fought on the floor as Pete stared in silent shock before something dawned on his face.
"Namia? Namia! It was you!"
Namia? Who the fuck was Namia? Cassie thought at she landed an unexpected blow to the bitch's face. It wasn't a lucky blow though. Namia/Dani/Whoever went postal and Cassie could literally feel her body being ripped apart as this bitch hammered away. At one point the heavy beast was gone but then she was back for one more blow and Cassie knew, somehow, Pete was the reason she was still breathing this much.
She tried to track their movement but her vision was blurry. She thought she heard dragging but wasn't sure. There was definitely two voices now and both were female. She tried to move her fingers and managed to get one to twitch. She attempted to turn her head and succeeded. She let out a moan involuntarily when she tried to turn the rest of her body and stopped. The pain that shot through her literally took all her senses away.
The last thought she had was, Crazy bitches hit hard, 'the fuck!