Tee's POV
I sit staring at the screen, wondering what I can do to help Bright. I don't know when exactly I became a member of this crazy group of friends, but I am. Even I have to admit that I find it fun. We might fight serial rapists, stalkers, and now a kidnapper, but it is kind of nice to be included in this brand of insanity. Just as I am about to look back at the group, one of those command windows pops up, and another file is added to the folder. Out of curiosity, I click on it and begin swatting behind me to get someone's attention.
"N'Tee?" P'Boon asks, and I can hear the confusion in his voice, "What is the matter?"
"They are here," I say, shocked to see the name on the screen. If you just kidnapped someone, why the hell would you casually saunter back into the scene of the crime?
"Who?" Bright asks, running over to me. "What the fvck?"
Before any of us can stop him, he runs out of the door, and his friends chase after him. I notice the nongs glaring at the screen. N'Kongpop had turned away from the window when Bright ran out, and I can tell by the way he is chewing on his bottom lip he is about to do something. After a moment, he walks over and picks up the tracking bracelet we had gotten for N'Kammon before going back to the window. I turn toward the door when I hear a scuffle down the hall.
"Kong?" N'Aim looks quizzically at his friend, "What the hell are you doing?"
"I will explain later," N'Kongpop dismisses him, "Help me."
"Help you what?" N'Oak questions as he goes to join N'Kongpop by the window.
"Ai'Kong!" N'Tew gasps, and I turn to see the nong has sat down on the window sill with one leg outside.
"Just help me," N'Kongpop snaps, "We don't know how long he will be here."
I watch as the nongs begin to lower N'Kongpop out the window. At the sound of footsteps, I glance back at the door.
"Why the hell did you stop me?!?" Bright growls as he is hauled back into the room.
"I said let N'Maprang go down and check it out," Knott growls.
"What the hell are you doing, Kong?!?" Arthit shouts when he sees his boyfriend disappearing out the window. Arthit, Prem, and Tutah run over just as N'Kongpop drops to the ground. "What the fvck is he up to?" Arthit grumbles as he watches his boyfriend.
Knott, P'Dear, and P'Win are still standing in front of the door to keep Bright from running out of the room. The rest of us are watching as N'Kongpop runs over to a black sedan and begins testing the doors to see if he can find one unlocked. None on the passenger side are unlocked, so he runs to the other side. He gives us a thumbs up when the driver's door opens. He reaches to the driver's side backdoor and unlocks it. N'Kongpop disappears for a moment before he runs back over to the window. I smile when he looks up and realizes that getting down was easy. Getting back up is going to be a different story.
"Didn't think that through, did you?" Arthit shakes his head as he looks down at N'Kongpop.
"Should I just go in through the door?" I hear the nong ask.
"How will you explain being outside, moron," Arthit snaps. "What did you do anyway?"
"I put the tracker under his seat," N'Kongpop states, "So we will know where he goes. We can follow him to Ai'Kam this way."
"You what?" Bright stops trying to get past the three guarding the door to shoulder his way through his friends, sticking his head out the window. He looks over to the car and frowns, "How do you know that is his car?"
"I watched the person get out of it," N'Konpop explains, "It was the only person who drove up, so it has to be him. Doesn't it?"
All of us jump when N'Maprang walks in the door with a little growl.
"What is going on?" She asks, and we turn back to her. Before any of us can ask, she explains what was going on downstairs. "P'Third had some papers with him my uncle had to sign. I guess they were important," N'Maprang tells us, "That is why he came back. Do you really think he is involved? I mean, he is creepy, but I just can't see him doing this."
"The only device that connected was named Fourth," Bright rounds on her, "That is too much of a coincidence. He has to be involved."
"Ai'Bright," Tutah tries to calm his friend.
"It has to be him," Bright pleads desperately with Tutah. I understand his need for P'Third to be involved. That guy is possibly the only connection we might have with the owner of the phone that connected while N'Kammon was kidnapped.
"We will find him," N'Jett says as he pries Bright's hands off his boyfriend's arm. I can see white marks on Tutah's arm. How hard did Bright grip it?
"If I can't go in the door," N'Kongpop calls, bringing our attention back to him, "How am I getting back up there?"
N'Maprang shoves her boyfriend aside to stick her head out the window, "Walk that way and come around the back of the house. Jett and I will take the trays back down and get some more food. Hopefully, they will be too preoccupied to notice that three of us come back up."
"Let me go down," Bright pleads.
"No!" Everyone, including the nongs, reply.
"Why not?" Bright demands.
"Because," Tutah glowers at Bright. To which Bright glares at him. "Ai'Bright, let them go back down there. Do you really think if that guy is involved, he would one admit it, or two tell you where N'Kammon is?" Bright whines, and I don't know about the others, but I feel for him.
"Fine," Bright sniffs and turns away from his friend.
"Who can track N'Kammon's tracker?" I ask, hoping to diffuse the tension in the room while N'Jett and N'Maprang gather stuff up to take downstairs.
"I can," Both Tutah and N'Maprang answer. She pulls out her phone and tosses it to her boyfriend.
"Unlock it for them, Oak," She tells him before she walks out of the door.
"You know your girlfriend's passcode?" I wonder out loud.
"Don't you know whoever you are dating's passcode?" N'Oak counters nonplussed as we watch him unlock it.
"I am not dating anyone, nong," I frown, "Thanks for rubbing that in."
"Sorry," N'Oak chuckles, "Didn't know it was a sensitive subject."
"Play nice," Tutah orders as he cuffs his nong on the back of the head.
"So this is all well and good," P'Boon says from where he has been sitting, "But how are we going to follow this guy."
"Yeah," P'Dear says beside him. "Shouldn't some of us go down and go wait somewhere to follow him when he leaves?"
"Come on," Bright goes over and pulls on P'Dear, "You and P'Win came in your own car, right?"
"Yeah," P'Win answers, "But that means we have to walk out now. Do you think we would upset them by walking through?"
"Come down with us," N'Maprang says. "You can walk around to the front." P'Dear and P'Win look at the rest of us to check to see if we agree with the plan.
"I don't think they should go right now," I put in.
"Why not?" Bright rounds on me.
"Do we have a plan?" I ask him. "We don't even know where he is going to go or if he is even involved." I point at Tutah's phone, "Let's observe where he goes first. We can look up the places on Google maps and check them out. That way, we can make a plan." I tap Bright's chest. "It is your boyfriend. Do you want to run in without one and get him possibly killed?" I didn't want to be mean, but I need him to see that rushing in is a bad idea.
"Normally, I am all for your brand of insanity, Ai'Bright," Tutah tells him, "But I think Ai'Tee is right this time." All of us wait for Bright to process this.
"How many days?" Bright asks.
"How many days, what?" Knott questions.
"How many days are we going to watch this freak before we take action?" Bright sets his jaw. "Kammon is who knows where. Having who knows what done to him. How many days?"
I noticed when Bright mentioned N'Kammon that N'Wad paled a bit and got closer to Prem. I wonder if he ever talked to a professional about what P'Dean did. I know I haven't.
"Not long," Knott assures him, "We just need to find out where first and check things out before we rescue him. Ai'Tee is right. We can't rush in blind."
"Fine," Bright sighs, "But I won't wait long." Everyone nods and all of us know he means that. If we don't want Bright haring off on his own, we will need to get a plan soon.
"Hey," N'Kongpop calls from outside, "He is leaving." Everyone runs over and watches as the black sedan begins to drive off. "Do I still go around back?" N'Kongpop looks up at us.
"Tell him yes," N'Maprang says from the door, "Come on, Jett." N'Jett goes over and takes the tray from her before both of them leave. Tutah pulls out his phone and opens the app so we can follow this guy. Bright looks at Arthit, who is staring out the window, tugging on his bottom lip.
"Don't be mad at him," Bright tells him.
"Hmm?" Arthit looks over at him.
"N'Kongpop," Bright says, "Don't be mad at him. You always said he was too smart for his own good."
"He is at that," Arthit smiles at him. "Don't worry. I am not mad at him." Bright looks over at me.
"Thanks, Ai'Tee," Bright gives me a lop-sided smile, "Sorry for snapping."
"Don't worry about it," I smile back at him, "What are friends for?"
"They are there to call you on your shit," He laughs.
"Then it is a damn good thing you have so many of us," Prem snorts.
"Shut it," Bright says. The door opens, and N'Kongpop walks in, and all of us crack up at the sight of him. The nong looks disheveled.
"What the hell happened to you?" His boyfriend demands before he walks over to him and begins smoothing his hair.
"Some crazy lady in the kitchen felt me up when I walked in," N'Kongpop explains as he tries to keep from smiling as Arthit stops fixing his hair to glare at Tutah.
"You need to teach Aunty Din to keep her hands off things that don't belong to her," He growls. N'Maprang and N'Jett are trying hard not to laugh behind the pair.
"Do you want to know how many times she felt up Jett?" Tutah sasses, and N'Jett nods his head emphatically. "Don't get me going about the times we had to make sure she wouldn't sneak in to take pictures."
"I still think she got one that time," N'Jett grumbles, and Tutah walks over to him.
"What kind of aunt do you have?" I ask, dumbfounded. None of mine are that way.
"A crazy one," Tutah, Prem, Arthit, Knott, Bright, and P'Dear say at the same time. OK. Here is hoping I don't have a run-in with her.
"Hey," N'Oak calls out, "He stopped." All of us stop and look at the nong.
"Let's get back to the task at hand," P'Dear says, "Anyone else bring a laptop?" Several hands shoot up, including mine.
"Are we staying here?" I ask, remembering everyone left their things in the two cars we used to get here. P'Dear and P'Win also didn't walk in with luggage. N'Maprang sighs.
"Give me a sec," She tells us, walking toward the door once again. "Let me ask my mom and my aunt."
"Not your uncle?" I question.
"Nope," She grins, "Anything he said would get overruled anyway, so why bother."
All of us nod in agreement. The man is in the doghouse with both N'Maprang's mom and his wife. Yeah, I am pretty sure he doesn't get a vote.
"He is at a coffee shop near downtown," N'Aim says, looking up from his phone.
"This is going to take a while," Knott mutters, and I agree. Turning to Bright, I hope following this person leads to N'Kammon. I would hate for us to waste time on a dead end.
"Time is all we got," Bright sighs and looks away from us. And I have to wonder if time is something N'Kammon has.
2151 6-16-20
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