"Good morning, Khun Adi, Khun Fah, thank you so much for coming here today," said the older officer who had come to their door. He made a wai to them, then continued speaking. "Please be aware you are only here to answer some questions, you have not been accused of any crimes at this point."

Khun Adi and Fah exchanged glances.

"When was the last time either of you saw or heard from Lomnaw Saetang?" asked the older officer.

"I've never spoken with him in my life," said Khun Adi.

"I spoke with him on the phone last night," said Fah.

"What did you two discuss?" asked the officer.

"He told me he thought it best we not see each other anymore. He said every time we are happy hanging out together, everything around us goes crazy and one of us gets hurt."

"Is that why you shot him last night?" asked the younger officer.

"What? No! Lom's been shot? Is he okay? What's going on?" Fah began hyperventilating and his hands started trembling.

"Last night when Lomnaw Saetang returned to his family's residence, an unseen assailant shot at him as he exited his car. We know at least one of the shots hit him as we were able to match the blood at the scene with his DNA on file. After the shots stopped, Khun Ton's bodyguards made sure it was safe and searched for his son. Several minutes later police officers arrived on scene and assisted in the search. The victim's car was still in the driveway but there were no signs of the victim. The house and grounds have been searched extensively as have parts of the forest surrounding the home."

"Have you checked his condo?" asked Fah. The officers looked at him.

"You were aware of his condo?" Again, it was the younger officer asking.

"Yes, I recently stayed with him after escaping my captors. He helped me heal before I returned to my family. Lom is the person who I'm closest to in this world."

"You say he is the person who you are closest to yet you said earlier he called to say he never wanted to see you again. That doesn't sound as if the two of you were on the same wavelength. Was this a lover's quarrel?"

Fah said nothing. It was too hard to explain to people outside their world. Khun Adi reached over and squeezed Fah's hand.

"You can tell them the truth, Fah. It's going to come out about your relationship."

"What relationship?" asked the younger officer, his tone derisive.

"My relationship with Lom has always been close. I was taken in by his family when I was six years old. My mother died and we had no clue where my father was. Lom was my best friend at the time and his parents kindly took me in and raised me. They treated me very well. After high school, Lom went to work for his father. I went to the university."

"That sounds odd. Why would a father pay for another person's child to go to university and not their own? Maybe Lomnaw resented you for this," suggested the young officer.

"No, Lom's grades weren't great and he had no interest in more school. I wanted him to come with me, but he said he preferred staying at home. For a few years, I didn't see him or our parents, well, his parents, because I had a job that kept me in town during breaks. However, Lom did visit me during my senior year. He came out to his father and he came out to me. We are both gay men, and we fell in love and started a relationship."

"You dated your brother? That's sick. What did his parents think of this?"

"You've spoken to them already. I'm sure they told you," said Fah, irritated with the officer's attitude. Khun Adi squeezed his hand and gave Fah a warning look.

"He's not my real brother, I knew him as my friend for years before I came to live with them. I kept my own last name, I was never adopted. We weren't blood-related. As I said, Lom came out to his father, but never to his mother. I had just broken up with my girlfriend. She came to check on me and saw Lom and I in bed together, took a photo, and sent it to his parents. We were summoned to their house. His mother thought I corrupted her son because in her mind he wasn't gay. She kicked me out of the house. His father said he'd no longer pay for me to go to school and that I had to move out of his condo. I did and I've never bothered them again, I've never set foot on or near their property since that day."

"Yet you knew about Lom's condo," reminded the older officer.

"Yes, Lom brought me there. I'd been shot and he got me medical treatment, helped me heal mentally. Unfortunately, I was on an IV with morphine that I could add to the IV when the pain got too bad. One day I accidentally overdosed on morphine because of the pain and since then I've lost my memory. Lom had to start over with me, trying to remind me of our past, and teach me who everyone was."

"In your statement when you were found last night you said you didn't know who abducted you or where you'd been, yet you're now telling us you were at Lom's condo. Were you abducted by Lom?"

"No! I escaped and he found me and helped me."

"Or maybe you were never abducted but part of the group that kidnapped your newfound father and family..." suggested the younger officer. Fah recognized him as the same one who suggested he was lying when he said he was Khun Adi's son.

"Now, wait a minute, you have no right to suggest that. He had no part in that and he was drugged and kidnapped like the rest of us," said Khun Adi, flinty eyes flashing at the officer.

"Khun Adi, didn't you ever wonder why it happened the one night that your long-lost son showed up? All the other nights in a year nothing happens, but the day a boy raised in a house by alleged members of an organized crime family shows up, it's abduction time. Come on, judge. You're a smart man. Surely you must have wondered about this."

I see Officer Asshole won't be satisfied until I'm in jail for everything they can't solve, thought Fah.

"I did," admitted Khun Adi. Fah looked at him, stricken. "However, I am a good judge of character and what I saw that day was my son, scared like the rest of us, trying to protect his brother and me, only to get shot himself and then taken away from us."

"Which was probably staged for that exact purpose, so that you wouldn't think he was part of it. He's probably been laughing at you behind your back this whole time." Officer Asshole wasn't giving up.

Fah's mouth fell open. He couldn't speak. What was going on?

"You can make up these lies, you can accuse me of these awful things later. I have no idea why you're doing this to me, but Lom is injured and missing and you don't seem to be doing anything to find him right now!"

"Well, we did visit his condo as you suggested. We found these clothes, with blood on them." The officer held up a plastic bag with the clothes that Fah had been wearing the night of the abduction. "Are these your clothes?"

"Yes," said Fah. "That is what I was wearing when I was abducted and shot in the arm."

"Or was it what you were wearing last night when you abducted your brother-lover?" The young officer was being more of an asshole than he had been before.

"Look, I don't know where Lom is. I'm worried about him. I had no part in the planning or execution of my family's abduction. I didn't even know Khun Adi was my father until that afternoon when I saw a photo. Do Ton and his wife hate me? Yes. Do I hate them? No. Would I ever hurt Lom? Never. Why aren't you checking his cousins, who want to replace him and Ton as leaders of the family? What about the families from whom Lom had to collect payments on behalf of Ton? I love him, I have no reason to harm him. Where would I have taken him without a car? How was I present and visible with my whole family last night and at the same time kilometers away shooting and abducting someone in great physical shape while my arm is still weak and I tire easily because my heart is weak? You're looking in the wrong place, you're not even trying to find him."

Fah put his head in his hands and began sobbing. Khun Adi reached over and patted his back.

"Officers, I believe we have answered your questions. You said we were not being charged with any crimes. We are going to leave now, my son is distraught. He's been home for less than 24 hours and you've put him through this with your nonsensical accusations. Good day."

He stood up, pulled Fah into a standing position, and held him as they walked to the lobby. Mint ran to help hold up Fah when she saw them coming. Run and Mek shook their heads. Khun Korn couldn't believe the change in Fah. He could see the strain on the boy's face and the fact that Fah didn't recognize him, saddened him greatly. The younger officer came up to Khun Adi and Fah.

"Listen, until we find Lomnaw, you are the last person to have spoken with him. Whether it was a lover's spat, sibling rivalry, whatever it was, we know you had something to do with it. Do not leave town."

"Excuse me, officer. I am Khun Korn, I am Fah's attorney. I am also his boss as he is an attorney who works in my firm. Any evidence you have must be shared with me. My client is innocent and would never harm Lom. I suggest you stop speaking in such a rude and accusatory manner with him." Khun Korn stepped between the officer and Fah to block the officer from saying anything further.

"Let's get out of here," said Run. As they headed to the front door of the building they could see Ton and Nara speaking into a microphone, members of the press gathered around them. As they opened the door they could hear Ton's words:

Ton: Someone knows what happened to my son, Lomnaw. He's an upstanding citizen; he's never done anything wrong. Last night when he returned home to our family's residence, someone shot at him. From testing the blood at the scene and matching it to our son's medical record, we know that he has been injured. His car was left in the driveway so the kidnapper must have taken him in their vehicle.

Journalist: Did your son have any enemies that you are aware of?

Ton: Here come two of them now. Judge Adisorn Chen and his son, Tongfah. Tongfah was raised by our family but turned his back on us. He even tried to seduce our son and was brokenhearted when our son refused his advances. Tongfah could not accept that Lomnaw was a straight man.

Khun Adi and the family surrounded Fah, keeping him in the middle. They made their way down the stairs and to the street. Several photographers tried to photograph Fah. A couple of journalists held their microphones towards the family and asked if this was true.

All members of Khun Adi's group looked straight ahead and did not acknowledge the presence of the reporters. As they helped Fah into the backseat of the car first, Mint saw the doctor arrive. She walked over to him and simply said "house" then rejoined her family.

They drove away, stopping to let Khun Korn and Mek out by their cars. The trip home became a caravan with Khun Adi driving the first car, Mek behind them, Khun Korn behind Mek, and the doctor following at the back. The bodyguard buzzed them all through the gate and then blocked the journalists who had opted to follow the judge home. Once the car stopped the family surrounded Fah again to block photos of him as he entered the house.