A Dangerous Liaison

-31-

Talay

Tuesday

Talay sat in the passenger seat of the car, the warm night air filtering through the slightly open window. He stared quietly out at the dark streets as May drove them toward the first of Akira's restaurants. The weight of the evening's mission pushed heavily on his conscience. Every mile they drove, every turn they took, seemed to drag him further from the person he thought he was. Korn's instructions were clear: find the laundered money. Talay had no choice, no way out of this task; May had already shoved him to the edge with spiteful insults and a tedious lecture on duty, and Korn had refused to speak to him all day. 

May had already briefed him in on what had been discovered yesterday, so avoiding to hear it was no longer an option. Talay just had to pretend that he was still interested in the investigation, just as determined to throw the Jitkunattapol family behind bars, but even that bravado had begun to fracture, and he wasn't sure for how long he could keep lying. Moving against Akira like this was tearing his heart apart, and the guilt he had tried to oppress for months was now consuming him by the hour. 

What if he told May? What if he did warn Akira? 

No, he thought. He had remained true to the investigation and its cause for months. He could not betray them now. 

And what about Akira? 

May's voice broke through the silence. "Tiger told us a lot about Charlie," she said, her tone focused. "Charlie was heavily involved in drug trafficking. People brought drugs to his club. Instantly made aware of those incidents by his friends, he made sure to get rid of the evidence. He had connections with several suppliers, and his men transported the drugs out of the city for incineration. Tiger's been tracking his activities for years, and he's confident that the money laundering is likely tied to the same system, but we can only get those details out of Nino himself. Star and her boyfriend, Mick, will both be arrest at the airport tomorrow. You won't be needed."

Talay barely registered the details. How did it come to this? 

As they arrived at the first restaurant, the street was quiet. The neon sign above the door blinked off and on intermittently. "All closed," Talay muttered, his voice hollow. May parked the car and they stepped out. "We'll check around the back for any signs of tampering or hidden access points," she said, already crossing the street. 

They approached the rear of the restaurant, their footsteps loud on the gravel. Talay examined the locked back door, his mind elsewhere. What if there's nothing here? His thoughts were a tangled mess. What if Akira is innocent, and I'm about to destroy everything for nothing? What if the laundered money is here, but he never knew of it? Korn would still arrest him, regardless.

May tried the door handle, but it didn't budge. "Let's move on to the next one," she said, frustration and bitter impatience edged in her voice. "There's nothing suspicious here."

The second restaurant was much like the first - closed, quiet, and devoid of any obvious clues. Talay's hope swirled with each empty location they checked. His frustration grew as they moved to the third restaurant. As they approached, Talay noticed a van parked behind the building. Men were unloading fresh produce in large boxes, their voices swathed by the distance. Nobody seemed to notice their black Mercedes parking on the curb.

May shrunk in her seat. "We'll wait until they're done. We need to see what's going on inside."

They crouched low in their seats, breaths shallow and uneven. Outside, the men moved swiftly but methodically, each box handled with the kind of careful precision that suggested they couldn't afford to drop a single one. Why would fresh produce be delivered so late at night, and without the kitchen staff present to log it on their usual checklists? Or had he misunderstood the routine entirely?