Khun Adi and Mint sat in the living room discussing Fah. Both knew he was innocent but having promised to not say anything about Lom, they had no idea how to defend Fah or keep the police from arresting him.

At first, they remained silent believing it would fade away as there was no evidence to connect Fah to Lom's shooting or disappearance. However, each night the news mentioned Fah as a possible suspect. A knock at the door interrupted their conversation. Mint rose to answer it but her husband grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"Mint, no, please let the bodyguards answer it. That's what we have them for," said Khun Adi. One of the bodyguards walked past them to the front door and answered it. He returned and announced that police officers wished to speak with Fah. Mint and Khun Adi exchanged worried glances.

"I'll speak with them," said Khun Adi as he rose from his chair. He went to the front door and greeted the officers.

"Hello, sir, we need to speak with your son, Tongfah, please," said the older officer.

"I'm afraid you aren't able to do that at this time. Unfortunately, Fah had a trip to Nan province to visit a friend planned and he left the other day."

"Do you have the address of the friend so local officers there may bring him in for questioning?"

"No, I'm sorry. We only realized the other day when he didn't answer his phone that we didn't have his friend's name or address. However, I'm sure he will call home to check-in. Is there something you would like me to ask him?"

"Please tell him he needs to return home as soon as possible so we can speak with him again. Please remind him he is our prime suspect in the disappearance of Khun Ton's son, Khun Lomnaw," said the younger officer, his chest pushed out and his gaze looking down at Khun Adi.

"I will most certainly give him the message the moment we hear from him," said Khun Adi with a smile.

"Please do so, it would be a pity if we had to have the police in Nan province embarrass him by dragging him out of his friend's house to bring him in for questioning. If that happened even more people would be aware of our interest in him for this investigation," said the younger officer again. Khun Adi merely smiled, bowed his head slightly, and shut the door.

As they walked away the younger officer complained, "They think because they're rich and connected their son doesn't have to bother dealing with us. It's so annoying."

"I disagree. Khun Adi was always an honest judge. He loves his son but I cannot imagine him letting anyone, not even a family member, commit a crime and escape without punishment. However, we have to do what we can with this case until Tongfah is back home. Today we should interview his former employer, Khun Korn, and his coworkers. Tomorrow we'll speak with his university friends and teachers. Someone must know who it is in Nan province that he's visiting. We might even be able to find out the phone number and address.

Khun Adi watched as the two officers walked towards their car. They stopped and stared at the house before continuing on their way.

"I don't like this one bit, Mint. I'm not sure what they're thinking, but I've got a suspicion they aren't investigating anyone but Fah for this crime." He turned and looked at his wife. She stood up, walked over, and hugged him.

"Sweetheart, it will be okay. Everything will be fine, we have to believe that. I wish we could contact Fah. Why don't we go to bed, it's been a long day." She sniff-kissed his neck and cheek and led him by the hand upstairs to their bedroom. They stopped to check on Tin who was sound asleep, before going to their room.

Downstairs in his bedroom, Run texted Mek. They were having fun trying to outdo the other with raunchy texts and Mek was winning. Run's phone rang; it was an unknown number. He decided to answer it as it was late and the person might not realize they had the wrong number.

"Hello?"

"Run?"

"Yes?"

"It's me, Fah. Sorry, I was using a different voice just in case."

"Where are you? The police were looking for you today! Dad talked to them, and he said you were visiting a friend in Nan. I heard the whole conversation from my bedroom."

"Tell him thanks for lying on my behalf. I know he isn't that kind of person normally and I'm sorry I put him in that position."

"Where are you?"

"I'll tell you but I want you to come visit. I need your opinion. Please don't tell Mint, Dad, or Tin that we spoke."

"Sure, no problem. You might want to call Dad though; he and Mom are worried. Tin keeps asking for you as well, he misses you." Run knew he'd keep Fah's secret but hated seeing his family upset. As happy as he was to be in touch with his brother he still felt guilty.

"I'm sorry but something came up and I need you here as soon as possible."

"Did you get a lead on where Lom is?" Run hoped Fah was making progress in his search.

"I've been following leads, yeah. I think I have a solid one now. I can't discuss it on the phone though. I'm going to give you some numbers now, please write them down." Fah shared four numbers with Run.

"Run, aren't words funny? Especially homographs. For instance, the word coordinate is a verb and means to bring different things together to work in harmony when it's a verb. However, if you use it as a noun, it's pronounced differently and has a different meaning... Okay, I have to go, I hope to hear from you soon. Love you and say hi to Mek for me." Fah ended the call abruptly, hoping Run understood his hint.

Run stared at his phone and the numbers he'd written in a text and was confused. He decided to send the text to Mek.

RUN: Hey, our friend who disappeared reached out just now. He gave me four numbers and started talking about words that are pronounced differently when they are verbs versus when they are nouns. Then he hung up. I have no idea what he was trying to tell me.

MEK: Give me a few minutes, I'm on my way over. Buzz me through the gate so I don't bother your family. I'll call when I'm on your street.

Fifteen minutes later Mek was at the gate. Run buzzed him in and went to the front door to let him in. As quietly as they could they went to Run's bedroom. Run showed him the numbers.

"He didn't say what the numbers pertained to?" asked Mek.

"No, he gave me the numbers, then he said words were funny. After that, he talked about coordinate vs. coordinate and hung up."

"That's what these numbers are, coordinates. Let's look up where he is," said Mek. Grabbing a map Run ran his hands along the grids at the top and side, until his fingers met.

"He's in Nakhon Nayok," said Run, smiling. "He said he wanted to see me as soon as possible; he needs my opinion on something important."

"Maybe he's found Lom!" said Mek.

"No, he said he has a good lead but he hasn't found him yet. Do you want to come with me?" asked Run.

"Did you honestly think I'd let you go running around to places you've never been all by yourself? Of course, I'm coming."

"All by myself? When did I become a child?" asked Run.

"Since you're my baby," said Mek, giving him a quick sniff kiss on the cheek.

"You're making me sick. Keep talking that way and you're going to be single again!"

"What should I call you then?"

"How about Ultimate Love God? Krahang? Zeus? He who I shall always obey? Take your pick!" Run laughed but Mek just rolled his eyes.

"Hmm, you are my boyfriend so I should call you.." Mek paused to gaze down at his crotch, "the horse whisperer!" He burst out laughing and so did Run.

"I don't think you have said it right, isn't it more like My Little Pony," said Run.

"Excuse me, but we haven't... so you know nothing. You better prepare to apologize to me once we've gone that far!" Mek spoke with such confidence it unnerved Run a bit.

"Fine, fine, I'll wait to see the truth."

"What are you going to tell your parents?" asked Mek.

"That's where you come in. My mom is excited we're dating. I want you to ask permission to take me away on a one-week vacation. Don't tell her where we're going, say something like Koh Samui."

"I like your parents and I get along well with them, but do you have any idea how embarrassing this is going to be? I'm asking to take her darling son away to defile him!" Mek was only partially joking.

"Then let me ask you this," said Run, his head tilted to the side and a cocky expression on his face, "what exactly are your intentions with me?"

"I want to defile you," laughed Mek. Run didn't laugh. "Okay, okay, I want to be with you, for as long as possible."

"Say that to my mom and tell her something such as you think it would be great if we went someplace with no distractions, a place where we could concentrate on ourselves, to see if we're compatible for a long-term relationship. If we are, we can begin building our future together."

"What if we're not?" asked Mek, suddenly realizing they hadn't discussed this before.

"Then it's good we find out early on. I've known you for so long and I wouldn't have agreed to date if I didn't think we were a perfect fit. After we coordinate," Run winked at Mek, "we can go to Koh Samui. My aunt has a hotel there and I'm sure we could stay for free. Also, it would be a great place to defile me!"

"Okay, let's go to sleep. I'll ask your parents in the morning. I'll sleep in Fah's bed in case they wake up before us." They were so tired that within minutes both were fast asleep.