Ray's Karate Kid Journey Part III

Chapter 5: Bon Dieu

Ray had put back his journal and pen in his backpack before going in the van. As always, he sat on his seat in the middle right. He could feel Diona's presence on the other side. Once Rodd started his engine, Ray looked out the window as usual to relax his mind.

And while the van took off, he was still in deep thought about a man being he real culprit according to the traits he wrote in his journal. It felt as if there's some kind of backstabber behind a person's back while their naked eyes thought he could be a friend to hang out with. If he's not mistaken, it could be a certain someone luring Daniel into a trap. And so, he added that man to the mental list of suspects.

Ray was snapped out of it when he heard the engine being turned off. He looked out the window to see where he is in reality. Right now, he, Diona and Rodd found themselves in a space, which the van's right side is in front of the main entrance.

Diona's hand reached to slide the door open. Then, she exited the van first. Ray moved his body to the other side of his seat before exiting the van himself. After that, his hand moved to slide the door closed.

Rodd's voice caught both their attentions, "Remember. If anything happens especially when it's bad, either of you will contact me and the officers."

"We will, dad," Ray replied.

With that being said, Rodd closed the window and the van drove off.

"Well, it's now or never," Ray heard Diona's voice.

"Yeah," he then, turned to her. "Let's do this."

They both walked through the main entrance doors. The first thing they saw before their eyes was a counter where the security guards check if there are any harmful things in their bags. The two walked in two different direction to give their bags to the two security guards.

Ray walked to the male section of this path. On his left side. He handed his backpack to the male security guard. After he scanned Ray's body and checked his backpack, he gestured his hand to let him move forward.

After Ray went past through the counter, he met up with Diona again, but this time, through close-distance relationship. They both walked to the escalator. It was seen somewhere between ahead of them and in their northwest corner. The two made their first step on the platform before the other feet followed. And so, the platform began to rise up. It's like they're walking upstairs except that despite standing on the stairs, it's automatically moving.

Once the escalator reached the top, their feet stepped out of the platform. Then, they walked around the second floor looking for the Nike shop. The reason why they thought the Nike shop is on the second floor is because Ray and the Daniels family had been there themselves. Especially when he spent his time shopping with Rodd.

Soon...

"Why did you close it down?!"

Ray's head shot towards his right to find a woman asking a man, whom he assumed was the employee coming from Starbucks. The woman had black wavy hair with white floral shirt and dark blue skinny jeans. She also had fair skin and she's wearing white sneakers. The man also had black hair and fair skin. He's wearing white shirt with dark green apron and brown pants. As for his footwear, he wore black, shiny shoes. That woman asked him about Starbucks being closed down. But why is that? Well, we're about to find out.

"I'm telling you, ma'am! Our coffee beans were stolen last night!" the man told her.

It crossed his mind to know that the same man who stole coffee beans in the House of Pancakes had already stolen the ones from Starbucks.

"Who would do such a thing?" asked the woman.

Just as the man opened his mouth to speak up, Ray spoke loud and clear enough to get their attention,"I think I know who did it." Both heads turned to him. "But I had no name cleared on who's behind all this."

The man was the first one to step forward,"Did you get any details about the real culprit?"

"If I'm not mistaken, that same man stole coffee beans in the House of Pancakes. Somewhere right in Atlantic Bay. He wears a black cap, dark green shirt, dark blue jeans and white Nike shoes. He's also a but taller than our regular waiter in the House of Pancakes. I was also told that the real culprit is smoking cigarettes."

"Wait, what?!" the woman asked in shock.

"I know. I know. But whoever he is must be stopped or else no one will be able to have coffee in different coffee shops."

"I don't know about you, but who's the thief?" the woman asked him.

"I never got any details about his facial appearance, but I have one suspect I put in my head."

"Who's that?" asked the man.

Ray took a deep breath, then he shook his head in hesitation. But he also knew it's now or never and that he needed all the help he and Diona can get. With that being thought, he gave the name of the suspect.

"Terry Silver."

"Who?" he heard Diona asking him.

"Terry Silver. A man who lured Daniel LaRusso into a trap by simply getting him to join Cobra Kai. But it only lasted for a brief time. Because once Daniel found out about Terry's plan, that's when he realized something about manipulation. I think he's one of the suspects because of his ways of manipulation. He could even manipulate the manager in the House of Pancakes."

"Does he even smoke cigarettes?" asked the woman.

"I don't know. I cannot confirm him to be the real culprit. That's why I had no name to clear on who's behind all this."

Then, Ray's eyes were locked on a name tag that's on a man's dark green apron. It was read as "Bon Dieu." For him, it's like some kind of French name, but still unique at the same time. He had no idea why he's called "Bon Dieu." Curiosity almost took over him, but he brushed that off since he had to focus on the case.

"Bon Dieu. We need your help," he said to him.