Pete's POV
"Good morning, Dr. Top."
"Good morning, Pete. He is waiting for you in the examination room. Let me take care of Venice. Go ahead."
"Thank you, doctor."
I enter the examination room that is inside Dr. Top's office.
"Hey, Pete! What's going on?"
"I'm sorry, Khun Noo. Thanks for coming this early."
"Looks like you have something serious to hide from Vegas."
Tankhun takes the chess piece out of his pocket and hands it to me.
"Thank you."
"What is it? I mean...I know it's a chess piece made of crystal...a white king maybe?!...but... This is too much secret because of a simple object."
"..."
"Where did this piece come from, Pete? Was there someone with you last night, before we arrived, Pete?
"Don't worry, Khun Noo."
"Too late. I'm already worried."
"I don't know who the person was. It was dark. But he said I would find him. I think this object can help me."
"Find him for what? Why are you hiding this from Vegas? I know he is freaking jealous, but this can be dangerous, Pete...a trap."
"This guy kissed me...and he said I know him."
"Ooow! You can't tell this to Vegas for sure. But you can count on me! I won't let my former favorite head bodyguard risk himself alone. And you know you can't change my mind."
"Thank you, Khun Noo. But you help me now by not saying anything to anyone. Absolutely no one. I need to gather some information first."
"I haven't. Only Pol is downstairs in the cafeteria waiting for me. He thinks I came to see Dr. Top. And Arm slipped into some room in the mansion with Macau. I haven't seen them since last night. People in love are disgusting." Tankhun makes a face at me. "But listen, if I know you're doing anything alone that puts you at risk, the first person I'm going to look for is Vegas."
"Don't worry. I'm just going to study information that I already have collected on my computer. Any action I must take, you will be the first to know."
"Promise, Pete?"
"Mhmm" I held tight to Kuhn Novo's hands. This Pete in bodyguard mode doesn't keep his promises, Khun Noo, I'm sorry. "Now go, please. Dr. Top is looking after Venice in the next room. I'll go out through his office."
"Okay, take care Pete! Keep me updated on your steps!"
"Take care too, Khun Noo."
Moments after Khun Noo leaves the room through a back door, another person enters through the same door.
"Is this Pete's gathering?" Sanya enters the room smiling sarcastically.
"How do I find him?" I throw the chess piece at Sanya. "Save my time. Don't try to pretend you don't know what I'm talking about."
"Oh... straightfoward Pete, I see...well...this is not a key to the chess room. It's an invitation card from the white king...there is not a diamond on it. But you can find the owner of this piece of chess using this."
"How?"
Sanya turns on his phone's flashlight and directs it to the crystal piece.
"Do you see these numbers? This is an ID code. There's an electronic device inside this chess piece, just like the key I gave you. This number changes from time to time. When you are inside the chess room, enter this code to let the owner know that you have opened a chess room to play with him. If he accepts, the connection between you will be encrypted. No one else will access the conversation but you and your chess opponent."
"Show me"
I take my key...the white knight...and toss it to him.
"Do you want me to do this now? Hah...you don't waste time."
"No, I don't."
Sanya takes his tablet out of his suitcase and puts it on the gurney. He shines the flashlight on my chess piece and enters the code.
"Access denied...Are you trying to fool me?" I point my gun at his head.
"You didn't think it would be so easy to access the chess room, did you? There's one important detail I still need to tell you."
"So tell me. Make it fast."
"This code is just a first step. Look at the message just below."
"Inheritance verification required." I read the message out loud. "What does it mean?"
"The chess room controllers must check your family identification first. As I have explained before, there are many mafia families in Asia, but only a few, the main ones, can have a chair in the chess room. The 'chair' in the room is an inheritance passed down from one generation to another through the access key."
"How did you get these keys? The white knight and the black king?
Sanya gave me a faint smile.
"I went to a chess room in China. That's where the white king identified himself to me and gave me both pieces."
"That easy?!"
Sanya shrugs his shoulders at me "Deep down, nothing is really easy, is it?
"Does the color of the crystal have any meaning?"
"Hmm...I don't know for sure. Usually, each family has a color. Subdivision of families has a different color too."
"If I have a white piece, does it mean I'm from the same family as the white king?"
"Maybe...maybe not. By blood, by marriage...or even by contract...depends on how a person is aggregated to a mafia family. That's why controllers must verify it. But I don't know what means they use to do it."
"Maybe I won't be able to get into the chess room then."
"Maybe is a good word. If you are a positive person, you can say you have 50% chance to succeed. If you are a pessimistic person, you will stick to the 50% chance of failure. But you are an optimistic, aren't you?" Sanya smirks.
"I consider myself realistic. Access this shit using your key."
"..."
"Go on." I aim my gun steady.
"Sure"
Sanya takes his key...a purple king. He enters the code on the screen. Access was granted.
Then he undergoes a facial scan.
"Now enter the code from the white king's invitation, Sanya."
A virtual chess game room opens.
"We have to wait for the answer."
A message on the screen is shown: the white king has entered the room.
"And now?"
Another message appears on the screen: "Hello, Pete. I'm afraid I can't talk to you now. Come to visit me. I'll be waiting for you."
The white king left the room.
"Son of a bitch! Did you warn him?"
"I could, but I didn't have to. All this was already foreseen by him. He just told me to point you the right direction."
"Which is...?"
"You have to attend the next face-to-face meeting in the chess room."
"Face-to-face meeting?"
"It occurs twice a year when new participants can join the chess room. The chess room controllers do inheritance checking. Participants can enter a room and reveal themselves or play anonymously. I believe the white king will open a room for you to meet."
"How much complexity. Wasn't it easier for him to hand me his phone number? Sometimes I really get tired of these mafia bosses. Give me the fucking address."
"Attendees receive the address notice a few hours before the meeting."
"Great!"
"But one thing is certain. It will not be in Thailand."
"No? Where will it be then?"
"Somewhere in Taiwan...probably in Taipei."
"Really? When?"
"Next month, first week."
"KNOCK, KNOCK!" Pete?! Is everything ok in there?! Dr. Top knocks on the door.
"Yes, yes, just five more minutes please." I turn back to Sanya who is getting ready to leave.
"Your husband came to look for me at the hotel. Assistant Lee just warned me. You made me come here early before he found me, didn't you? Should I say thank you?"
"Take it." I take a package out of Venice's baby bag and hand it to Sanya.
"Interesting. I can return the favor. The white king told me to show you this. I'm better do this now."
Sanya hands over a flash drive.
"What is it?"
"Videos...but not the kind of videos your husband loves...not about you two at least." Sanya gives me a smile that makes me sick. "But I think you'll appreciate knowing where he was going every day... at least for the last few months we've been monitoring him. I'm sure you will find it...interesting...haha. You can ask your computer genius friend...Arm, right?!... for the veracity of the images if you want. I'd also check out the information on the Minor family business you stole from me. You can ask questions with Assistant Lee. She's very good at corporate fraud.
"Corporate fraud?"
"One more thing...the most important thing, actually. I was saving this information, but since I like you so much, Pete...Do you see this?!" Sanya logs back into the chess room. "This is the dialogue I had with the participant who issued the execution of assassination order. There's no ID in any dialogue..."
"Right...you said it was anonymous..."
"Except in this dialog where I communicate about the delivery order...There is a watermark at the end of the dialog. Some families use this watermark as a digital signature in conversations out of the chess room. A stupid glitch, I guess...it was typed into the dialog. I hadn't noticed before. Take a close look."
"Let me see it" I zoom in on the screen...my brain recognizes the watermark, but it takes a while to process the information.
"Now look at the ring on your finger, Pete."
"..." My eyes look at my ring and then return to the screen and hold fixedly.
"According to this watermark, the order could have come from either the Theerapanyakul main family or the minor family, Pete."
"Is it another trick?"
"Believe it or not...it is what it is. And if I were you, I'd give the white king the benefit of doubt. At least he saved your life once by requesting execution of his delivery order."
"I will not give the benefit of doubt to anyone."
"This was the last message I received from the chess room about the assassination order upon you, Pete."
"..."
Sanya shows me the message on the screen: this execution order was renegotiated.
"That order is no longer with me to execute, Pete. It was renegotiated between my opponent and someone among the other participants. You know what that means, right?! Don't be stubborn, Pete. Think twice. Since you don't trust me and apparently you have good reasons to doubt the entire Theerapanyakul family...including your dear Vegas, maybe the white king is your last resort."
...