Manao pulled into the convenience store parking lot and Fah bolted to her car. He pulled open the passenger side door, jumped in, and locked his door.

"Are you okay Fah?"

"They just tried to kidnap me by pushing me into a car. I got away and they left but I'm not sure if they're waiting nearby to try again. Can we leave?" Fah pleaded. He was more worried about the men returning and harming Manao than himself.

"I have to buy some gas but sure, right after that we can go. You wait in the car and duck down if anyone pulls into the parking lot. I'll lock the doors."

"Thanks, Manao. I wish I could be all manly and pump the gas for you but if they see me, it will make your car a target," said Fah. Manao smiled and squeezed his hand.

"It's fine, sweetie. I hate to say it but our dating life was never this exciting," laughed Manao. She filled the tank and then they started the journey back home. She constantly checked the rearview mirror for anyone following them and tried to hide it by saying she had a lock of hair that kept falling into her eyes.

Manao handed him a fruit juice and took a bottle of water for herself. They toasted and sang along to songs on the radio. They'd only gone about 10 kilometers when Fah was startled by a notification from his burner phone. He'd forgotten he'd texted Lom.

"You look happy, what's up?" asked Manao.

"I hate to admit it but while I waited for you I was so worried about Lom that I texted him on our burner phones. I was afraid he might be upset that I couldn't wait but I asked him to let me know he was okay; he must have texted back."

Fah opened his phone and read the message. He stared at the photos that had been sent and began screaming.

Unable to stop Fah from screaming or get him to explain, Manao pulled over. She hugged Fah but he didn't seem to be aware of her. His body was trembling, he was hyperventilating, and the hand that held the phone was pure white from clutching it so hard. After several minutes, Manao successfully pried the phone out of Fah's hands. When she saw what had been sent, she burst into tears.

"It might not be true Fah, he might just be unconscious and they want to scare you." She searched Fah's pockets and found his other cell phone. Immediately she called Run.

"Hey Fah, what's up? Is everything okay? You don't miss us that much already do you?" asked Run.

"It's Manao," she whispered into the phone.

"Manao? What's going on?" Her whisper scared him.

"I hate to ask this but is there any way that you guys can come back? I have no idea what to do. I'm not sure if I take Fah to the police, to a hospital, or home."

"A hospital? What happened? Did you have an accident? Did someone attack you?"

"Not us. Lom."

"Lom? How do you know someone hurt Lom?"

Manao whispered as quietly as she could. "Because they've texted photos of Lom's dead body to Fah and he has had some sort of mental breakdown."

"Fuck, we'll be right there. Where are you?"

"We're on the same road as the convenience store, heading south. We have only gone 15 kilometers at most. I'm parked along the side of the road just after the turn for that restaurant in the middle of the rice paddies."

Mek heard Run say they'd be right there.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Turn the car around, right now. We have to get to Fah," said Run. Tears ran down his cheeks.

"What's going on?" asked Mek, more worried than before. "Is Fah okay?"

"No."

"What's going on? Run, tell me what she said!" Mek was frightened now.

"Lom, it's Lom. And Fah, he can't take it. What do we do?" Run was pale.

"What about Lom?" asked Run, more insistent this time.

"Someone texted photos of Lom's dead body to Fah," said Run. He looked at Mek, hoping that somehow Mek would make it all untrue.

"Maybe it just looks like he's dead and he was only unconscious," said Mek.

"Let's hope. But they must be pretty convincing photos because Fah had a mental breakdown."

"Shit..."

Run's phone dinged and he saw Manao had sent a photo of her car. Neither spoke until they saw her car along the side of the road.

"There she is!" said Run. Mek passed by did a U-turn, and pulled up behind Manao's car. Both men got out of the car and knocked on Manao's car window. Stepping out she handed them Fah's phone and showed them the text. Both men searched for signs of life in the images but found none. They hugged each other quickly and Run walked around the car to Fah's side.

"Fah? It's me, Run. Are you okay?" Fah stared straight ahead. His face was pale, his breathing was fast and shallow. Run checked him for a fever but instead, he felt ice cold.

"He's going into shock, we need to cover him up and bring him home," said Run.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't want to ruin your vacation but I honestly didn't have a clue what else to do."

"Don't worry about that, we're glad you called. We would have felt awful if we found out Fah went through this alone while we were away."

"What do we do?" asked Manao.

"Keep Fah in your car. He's already seated and belted in. Did you give him the Xanax juice?" asked Run. Mek looked at him questioningly.

"Yes, and now I'm worried that I'll get into trouble when we take him to the hospital."

"Don't worry about that, you can say I gave it to him," said Run. "Keep him in your car, we'll follow behind you. While you keep him awake and calm I'll call the family and Khun Korn from our car. I can have our family doctor ready at the house."

"Okay," said a teary Manao. She hadn't let herself cry or think about the fact that Lom was dead. She knew she needed to hold it together for Fah. Wiping her eyes, she swallowed hard, exhaled loudly, and shook her hands. "Okay, I can do this. I have to be strong for Fah."

"Hey, Manao, thank you so much for calling us right away," said Mek. He stepped forward and hugged her. "We'll follow you all the way home and make sure no one tails you. Run will text you our home address. Once we get back to the city you can follow us to the house but in case anything happens at least you'll have it." She nodded and let go of Mek. He walked around the car to Fah.

"Fah? Fah, can you hear my voice?" He spoke softly into Fah's ear, but Fah didn't react at all. Mek returned to Manao and Run.

"We better go, Fah needs medical attention," said Mek. He and Run got into their car and followed Manao towards Bangkok.

Inside their car, Run turned to Mek. "Who do I call first? How do I explain that we lied about our trip to my parents?"

"You don't have to say we lied, just say Fah contacted you and asked if we could come to him, which he did. We were leaving for Koh Samui and we have our plane tickets so they'll see we didn't lie, that's where we were heading when Manao called."

"Who do I call first: the doctor, my parents, your uncle?"

"Call your parents first. They can call the doctor and get Fah's bed ready."

"Okay."

Run dialed his mother's cell phone; she answered on the first ring.

"How's the beach?" she asked gayly.

"Mom, we need your help." Run wasn't sure how to tell his parents everything.

"Run? Are you okay?" Mint sounded panicked. Khun Adi saw his wife's face and came to her side. He pushed the speakerphone icon.

"We're fine, Mom. We'll be home with Fah soon."

"Is Fah okay?"

"No. He's definitely not okay."

"What's wrong with Fah?" asked Khun Adi, his brow knit.

"Hi, Dad. I think he's in shock. He's not reacting to anyone. Something bad happened and Manao said he was screaming until he just turned into a zombie."

"Manao is with you?" asked Mint.

"No, she has Fah in the car in front of us."

"Was he visiting her?"

"Mom, I'm going to make it quick. The day that we went to lunch with Khun Korn, Lom snuck into the back of the restaurant and found Fah in the men's room. Fah called Manao and she drove them to Nakhon Nayak where they'd been staying in a bungalow. Manao left after they checked in. Ton was the one who shot Lom.

"Did you know about this?" asked Khun Adi.

"No! Fah had been nursing him back to health and he texted me to come to him but didn't tell me Lom was with him. Mek and I decided to fly to Koh Samui today and we went to see Fah first. We hung out with Lom and Fah yesterday and they told us everything. Last night - God, was it only last night? Last night a car followed us back to our bungalows. Lom and Fah were going to spend a year apart and hoped that Ton would decide to leave them alone. The car followed Lom when he left and Fah and I went with Mek. We were going to drop Fah off at a gas station where Manao was going to pick him up. We did, and she did although she said someone tried to abduct Fah while he was waiting for her. After they left, Fah's phone got a text message saying Lom was dead and they sent photos of his dead body. Now he doesn't speak or hear anything. He barely blinks, he's icy cold, and I think he's in shock."

Run stopped. No one said anything for a moment. Finally, Mint spoke.

"Run, you three get Fah here as soon as you can. I'll have the doctor waiting. Tell Mek he can stay here tonight as well, after all, he shouldn't be alone either. Your father will call Khun Korn and tell him what is going on; Khun Korn had a detective working on this case."

"There's been nothing on the news about this. I will see if any of my police friends have heard anything about Lom's purported death. You know, it's possible they faked this to upset Fah. Ton is not a sane man. Now that we know he shot his own son and tried to blame Fah, we can't trust anything," said Khun Adi.

"Thanks, Dad. Thanks, Mom. We'll see you guys soon."

END OF BOOK ONE