(un)forgettable

17 And who made you the leader?

Mark

Luc's missing. He texted me he was coming over and then he disappeared.

First, Ton comes to the shop with Luc's phone. "It was lying by his door," Ton says. "No one was inside. Neighbors didn't see anything."

An hour later Fort marches in like he owns the place. With a girl by his side.

This idiot has no idea what 'secret' means and how to keep it.

"This is Gen," Fort introduces the girl. "Law major. Intern at the Prosecutor's Office. Her dad is a Police Major General."

"Does she know about Luc, too?" Ton asks in a hushed voice but still loud enough for everyone to hear him.

"I know he is a Black Kite and he got kidnapped," Gen says with a lawyer's voice. "And he's important to Fort. So I'm here to help with everything I've got. "

When Nam strolls in, I've had enough. "What the fuck is he doing here?" I snap at Fort. "Did you invite the whole town here? Will your parents come as well?"

"Ooh, don't get your knickers in the twist," Nam says, coming closer to me. "I thought you'd be happy to see me." And he winks like this is a joke to him. "I have a superpower too, you know? If I want something, I get it."

"Nam can find anything on the web," Fort says. "He found Luc's phone number in, like, half a minute."

Nam raises his eyebrows at me and sets his laptop on the box with freshly arrived oil filters. "But all this time I had no idea I was hanging out with gangsters! I feel so stupid. But who knew gangsters could be so cute? So distracting."

To say I don't like any of this would be an understatement.

*

Nam is behind his laptop, Gen researches on her iPad and the rest are sitting around the counter, brainstorming. Or trying to. There's a sheet of paper with everything we know by far written on it with Fort's annoyingly neat handwriting.

- Luc (Pizza the tracker) is in a villa in Saraburi (Whose villa?)

- Black Kites boss is murdered (Coincidence? No. Connection?)

- General Sukhun Patanasin – the head of investigation (not available, not answering any phone calls. missing?)

"Why would anyone kidnap Luc? If we knew the motive, it would be easier to find the culprit." Gen says. She's the only one in the room who doesn't know. We all just stare at one other in total silence for a moment too long to be normal.

"Maybe," Nam starts hesitantly, chewing his spicy seaweed snack. "Because Luc was Boss's possession, they took him as a trophy," he says and licks the tip of his finger. I shudder and look away, disgusted.

Gen frowns, not convinced, but nods anyway.

"Okay," she says slowly, carefully. "But, in theory, is it possible he's just hiding?"

"If he wanted to hide, he would've left the key chain with his phone," Fort says tightly.

We all silently agreed that Luc was kidnapped because of the Forgettizer. That's the only reasonable explanation. Moreover, I'm sure it's Fort's fault. Luc used to be extra cautious, always on guard, always ready to run, but Fort made him softer, more relaxed, and, yes, happier – therefore, easier to catch.

"We are wasting time," I growl. "We should go find Luc! We know where he is."

"And do what?" Fort says, clearly trying to keep his annoyance out of his voice but failing. "Barge in and hope they've spent all their ammunition on your boss? And then what?"