45. Assembly

Kam and Bel’s kitchen table is piled high with boxes of Pocky, dark chocolate, and packages of Crio Bru. More of the brewed cacao steams in several mugs. Basil pork, Thai fried rice, green curry, spicy salad and century eggs make up the rest of the night’s offerings. Seven people crowd into the front room, all summoned by the same LINE message. Kai had checked with Kam and Bel to make sure it was ok before sending it out. They had both looked a little confused, but agreed to it anyway.
“Pocky and Crio Bru?” Zone picks up two boxes of the chocolate dipped biscuit sticks and tosses one to Iris. “Are you trying to bribe us, Kai?”
“Yes.” Kai confirms. “I need your help.”
“Is there a reason why we’re all meeting here and not somewhere else?” Bel asks between sips of Crio Bru.
Kai ticks off the reasons on his fingers. “Chalam knows about me, and where I live. He knows the same thing about Mali and Rome. He knows Kit and Talay are Interpol and NIA, which means he probably knows about Rome’s involvement with them, too. But as far as I know, he has no idea who Kam and Bel are, apart from Kam being related to Kit. So this is the one place Chalam knows nothing about and won’t try to stop us.”
“Stop us from doing what?” Pepper’s expression is a mix of interest and apprehension.
“Playing amateur detective.” Kam answers the question. “Or doing an amateur heist, whichever sounds better to you.”
Bel gives his boyfriend a withering look. “Don’t pretend you don’t enjoy that.”
Kam flips him the bird. “Adorable kid.”
“Annoying jackass.” Bel flips it back.
“Are you two done?” Iris cuts in before the slinging of romantic insults can go further. “Because I for one want to hear what Kai’s plan is.”
Zone’s expression turns excited. “Wait…is this a brief? Like what Kit gets from Interpol?”
“Kinda.” Kai shrugs. “I don’t know what else to call it.”
“Brief is the right word.” Kam gives him a reassuring smile. “Which means that you take the lead, and we listen to you, and help you out with whatever you need.”
Kai gives him a grateful look, but he’s not ready to talk details yet. “Why don’t you all eat first?”
Zone doesn’t have to be told twice. Iris, Kam and Bel are right behind him. Pepper and Luca hold back, watching Kai as the others pile food on their plates. Kai avoids looking at them. He’s been formulating this plan since Nail threw him out of the elevator. It had started to solidify in the hospital waiting room, and the final piece had clicked into place shortly after Rome and Mali drove him back to his dorm.
“Kai.” Pepper prompts.
Kai takes a breath. “You should all know how dangerous this is. Chalam told me if I crossed him, you would all lose everything. Manirat Nexus, ManiratInfiniteDrift, Nightshade, all of it.”
No one looks the least bit disturbed at this news. Kam shrugs. “I built one successful business from the ground up. I can just as easily do it again.”
“If I can’t race here, I’ll go to Modena.” Zone adds. “Italy is the birthplace of racing anyway.”
None of this makes Bel feel better. “But—”
“Kai.” Luca puts a hand on Kai’s shoulder. “We all know what we’re getting into. And even if we didn’t, we’d volunteer anyway. Eat, and then explain.”
Kai nods, filling his plate with food. Snatches of conversation swirl around him. Try as he might, he can’t focus on anything but what he has to say once all the plates are empty. Luca sits down next to him, giving Kai the once over.
“I told you to eat.” Luca gestures to Kai’s still full plate. “Or do I have to spoon feed you?”
Kai's smile is bitter around the edges. “Did you see Jet today?”
Luca nods.
“And,” Kai hesitates. “Does he still hate me?”
“Your brother doesn’t hate you,” Luca reassures him. “He just—”
“Did he say that?” Kai cuts in. “Luca, tell me what he said.”
Luca sighs. “He said…you told Nail to kill him. So he doesn’t want to see you.”
“Fine.” Kai’s heart squeezes. “It’ll make things easier, I guess.”
“It’ll make what easier?” Luca presses.
“You told me to eat first, then explain.” Kai points out.
“And you’re not doing either.” Luca retorts.
Kai takes an exaggerated bite of food. “Happy?”
“I’ve been better.” Luca shrugs.
“So.” Zone plops back down on the couch, dropping the box of Pocky on the coffee table so that he can use both hands to eat. “What’s your plan to take down the shark?”
Kai hesitates. His gaze drops to his plate while he gathers his thoughts. Other conversations slowly die down. When he looks back up, seven pairs of eyes are locked on him. Seven people have agreed to help him. All of them are willing to crash and burn if things go wrong. But that can’t go wrong--Kai won’t allow them to go wrong. He knows the plan has holes in it, but that’s what everyone else here is for. Not just to carry out his idea, but to help him solidify it. Still, if he screws this up from the start, they’re all in trouble.
“Right.” Kai sounds more confident than he feels. “Chalam is a murderer and a fraud, but no one has been able to prove it. Every time Interpol or the NIA or anybody tries to accuse him of something he manages to talk or bribe his way out of it. He’s always been five steps ahead, because he knows what Kit and Talay and my brother are up to. He thinks he has everything neatly tied up. He’s wrong. That’s why I need you. I need Zone’s clever computer thing, and Iris’ PR skills, and Pepper’s accounting experience, and Luca’s inside information—”
“And—” Kam cuts in. “What are Bel and I useful for?”
“You’re the only two people Chalam doesn’t know much about.” Kai responds. “Other than that you’re a Manirat, so you’re related to Kit.”
“So we’re…the Safe House?” Bel translates.
“Exactly. So Chalam won’t really suspect you of anything, because he’s never even seen you.” Kai spreads various folders, paperwork, and the SD cards across the coffee table. “This is everything we have on Chalam—paperwork, financial records, CTTV, every one of his dirty secrets. Interpol and the NIA have failed because they tried to go through the law, which is what Chalam was expecting.”
“So we’re doing something illegal?” Iris looks a little too excited about that.
“Not—exactly.” Kai chews on his lower lip. “But we can’t accuse Chalam in court, so we have to try something else. Iris, I need you to take all of this and make it look—professional, I guess? Make sure everyone will be able to see all the important bits. Pepper can help you with the financial statements and things. We can’t use anything on my phone because Chalam thinks he destroyed that, so you’ll have to make do with everything else. Whatever isn’t on paper, Luca can tell you about.”
“Or, Luca can record his testimony and I’ll add that as a video. Like a witness statement. Much more effective that way.” Iris picks up one of the sheets of paper, eyes scanning its contents. “I think I can manage to put something together with the rest of this, if I know what’s important.”
“Pepper and Luca will tell you.” Kai reassures her. “Once you’ve got that sorted, send it to Kam or Bel. They need to be the ones to hold onto it, since Chalam knows nothing about them.”
Bel jerks his head in the direction of his and Kam’s laptops. “What about the CCTV footage?”
“We’re using that, too.” Kai nods. “But not the whole thing. It’s too long. We need Chalam’s confession about my parents’ murder and adopting Jet. I don’t know how to cut those—”
“So that’s what I’m for?” Zone finishes.
“Yes.” Kai takes a deep breath, ticking off each person’s task on his fingers. “Iris, find the most damning evidence you can--especially anything related to my parents’ deaths and Chalam’s illegal activities--and put it together in one big report. Pepper, you do the same thing with the financial records. Make sure that even the dumbest person can see how Chalam’s slush fund works.”
The girls nod.
“Zone, you do the CCTV footage.” Kai continues. “Edit everything out but Chalam’s confession to murder and working around the law. Luca, record your testimony like Iris said. Spill every one of Chalam’s dirty secrets in as much detail as you can. Kam and Bel, you’ll keep everything we send you--on a laptop on your phone, I don’t care, just so long as Chalam can’t get to it.”
“You got it.” Bel smiles at him.
“And what do we do once we’ve got this…presentation all put together?” Kam has found the flaw in the plan. “How do we leak it so it gets the most attention?”
“I…haven’t figured that out yet.” Kai confesses, shoulders slumping.
“You don’t want Chalam to be aware of what we’re doing, so you can’t just drop this off at OmniVentures and hope it’s enough of a threat.” Pepper points out. “And if what you say is true, then we can’t give it to Kit or Talay either, because they’ll pass it on to their superiors and Interpol and the NIA will be running in circles again.”
“Which is why no one else knows about this. Not Kit or Talay, or Rome, or Mali.” Kai turns his gaze to Luca. “Or Jet. He can’t know about any of this. He can’t be involved.”
“He’s worried about you.” Luca’s expression makes it clear he is, too. “If he asks, I have to tell him something.”
“Just—don’t say anything right now.” Kai insists. “Not while we’re trying to figure things out. Once we expose Chalam, then you can tell him. He’ll probably know all about it by then anyway, if we do this right.”
“What we need is something Chalam won’t be able to stop or see coming, but will get the media and the public’s attention.” Bel’s eyes light up. “When’s the press conference unveiling the modified car ManiratInfiniteDrift did for Ratcha Inferno?”
“Two weeks from Saturday. The team’s announcing Zone as an official racer too, not just a test driver.” Kam’s brow furrows. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
Zone has caught on. “That’s a nationally televised press conference. There’s going to be enough news outlets and other people there, so Chalam’s exposure won’t be ignored.”
Bel tilts his head at him. “Can you figure out how to hack into the broadcasting system?”
“We don’t have to.” Iris assures him. “The team is going to have a pre-recorded video presentation anyway, with clips from the track and photos of the team and ManiratInfiniteDrift that list their accomplishments, and things like that. All we have to do is switch media files just before the broadcast.”
“Which you and Zone can probably do without any issues.” Kai nods. “Provided we can get this together in time.”
“Two weeks is plenty of time.” Iris has already started shifting various pieces of paperwork around on the coffee table, snapping test pictures with her phone. “We can make this work.”
Kam still looks a little skeptical. “And what if it doesn’t? How are we going to make sure Chalam doesn’t run for the border as soon as this leaks out?”
Kai hesitates, exchanging glances with Pepper and Luca. “There’s one or two details I have to work out. But it will work. Trust me.”
“Jet isn’t going to be happy with this.” Luca points out.
“I know. He’s not going to be happy with a lot of stuff.” Kai shrugs, but there are shadows in his eyes. “But it needs to be done--all of it.”
He can tell by the looks on the other faces that they understand the risks, and are willing to take them. They’d said as much before Kai told them the plan, but knowing they felt the same afterwards is a weight off Kai's shoulders. All he can do now is hope it will work in person as well as it seemed to in his head.
As everyone else scatters to either get more food, or discuss how to carry out their tasks, Kai's gaze flickers nervously around the room before locking onto Zone.He gestures for his best friend to follow him to a quiet corner.
“What’s up?” Zone looks confused, but ready for anything.
Kai glances over his shoulder, making sure no one else is paying attention. “I need your help with something else.”
Zone raises an eyebrow. “Ok?”
“I found something that doesn't make sense," Kai continues, his voice low, almost conspiratorial. “It was stashed in Chalam’s personal archive at OmniVentures, but I can’t figure out what it is. I need you to do your clever computer thing and take a look at it.”
He pulls a USB drive from his pocket and holds it out. Zone’s breath catches when the ouroboros symbol on the front glints in the light.
“Kai…” Zone reaches out to take the USB. “This is an ouroboros. What the hell…”
“I don’t know what it means or what’s on it.” Kai admits. “But I haven’t shown it to anyone because I think it relates to your family—your brothers and you.”
Zone fingers trace the outlines of the ouroboros. “What do you want me to do once I figure it out?”
“Just…be careful with it, I guess?” Kai shrugs. “And let me know if I can help.”
“You just focus on Chalam.” Zone slips the USB into his pocket. “I’ll dig into this after we drown that shark.”
Zone returns to the table, loading up on Pocky as Luca and Pepper approach Kai, their expressions serious.
“These ‘other details’.” Luca keeps his voice low, so only Kai and Pepper can hear. “How do you know they’ll work out?”
Kai swallows. “I don’t. But I have to try.”
“This might be a good time to duck out, then.” Pepper advises him. “Before anyone asks awkward questions.”
Kai nods, getting to his feet. He throws one final glance over his shoulder as he follows Luca and Pepper outside. If this was a tv show, the plan would work without any major problems. Or if parts of the plan did go wrong, it all worked out before the credits rolled. But there wouldn’t be any rolling of credits at the end of this. This was real life, with real dangers, and these people didn’t have any professional training to turn to if things went wrong. Granted, Kai didn’t have any professional training either, so if anything went wrong, the fault would be all his. Again.
No one says anything as they drive across town. Every so often, Pepper gives Kai or Luca an apprehensive glance, but doesn’t speak. Luca holds the steering wheel tight enough that the veins on the backs of his hands stand out. Kai clenches his hands together, then unclenches them, then reclenches. This detail is the one he’s really not sure about. He’s glad he’s not tackling this part alone. Pepper has the ability to make anybody see reason if she wants to, and Luca--well, Luca can be as intimidating as he is charming. Any employee of OmniVentures, former or otherwise, seems to have that ability.
The condo complex that Luca drives them to is high-end. Kai can tell it’s sleeker than Kit’s even from the outside. The handles on the glass entrance doors have been polished until they screamed for mercy, as has the marble floor. Potted plants, sophisticated sculpture and modern art pieces decorate the wall of the front hall.Kai tilts his head back to get a better look at the statement chandelier hanging from the double-height ceiling as they wait for the elevator. Someone would be absolutely willing to sell their soul to live in a place like this. Given the right circumstances, Kai might be tempted, too.
The condo they’re visiting is on the top floor, so taking the stairs will take too much time. As the numbers on the elevator display panel climb, so does Kai’s heart rate. Part of his brain still screams at him that this is a stupid idea, and his instincts are off, and it’ll get him and everyone else killed. Kai’s hand slips into his pocket, fingers wrapping around his phone. He’s not wrong. He’s not.
“End of the hall.” Luca points to the condo door in question as the elevator doors open.
Kai nods. Pepper and Luca let him take the lead as they move down the hall. They trust him. They trust his instincts. So Kai should do the same thing. There’s no name plate on the door, just a number. Kai isn’t really sure why he expected there to be a name. His hand shakes a little bit as he knocks. The sound reverberates in the quiet hallway, a perfect echo of Kai’s heartbeat.
For a moment, there’s nothing. No sounds from inside the condo, do ding from the elevator or creak of a floorboard. Just as Kai is about to give up and go back the way he came, the door handle turns.
The owner of the condo regards Kai impassively. “The hell do you want?”
“Help.” Kai swallows hard, forcing himself to look Nail in the eye. “From you.”