Michael had a headache. Not from hangovers but from lack of sleep because Nicholas all of a sudden decided to be a pest last night. 

After depositing the tipsy Sena back to her place, Nicholas went home to take a shower and turn in for the night. 

But then he remembered the odd thing that happened. Feeling restless, he drove towards Michael’s place and pulled the guy off from dreamland. 

Mike glared at him with murder in his eyes.  

“Glad to see you’re easing up to your new home but as your benefactor, you should be kinder to me.” 

He did not know what sort of evil possessed this person to pick on him out of the blue. They were good buddies, closer than real brothers. During the toughest times, they got each other’s back. However right now when he’s dead tired and sleepy after toiling for the whole day yesterday, he wished he could strangle Nicholas. 

“Do you know what time it is?” he asked impatiently. 

“It’s morning.”

“It’s three o’clock in the morning!” 

“So? Get coffee then.” 

Michael gave him a finger and went to the kitchen to turn on the coffee machine. He punched buttons while imagining it was Nicholas’ eyes instead.

“Did you watch the news last night?” 

“I was stock in the study dealing with the shit Peter and his son left me. Why?”

“You said a classmate of Layla’s called to invite her out, do you know who exactly?”

“No,” Michael answered puzzled with the consecutive questions. “But I guess they were not close based on how they talk. They wanted her to come to the KTV last night but her stomachache got in the way.”

His sister didn’t appear to be much enthusiastic about the invite herself. He had known she was having a hard time at school that is why he decided to transfer her to another with a much better environment.    

Nicholas yawned. “You better look into it.”

“Is there a problem” he was suddenly alarmed.

“There should be. There was a riot in the KTV she was supposed to be invited in.” he recounted the events further.

A group of thugs came picking on the youths inside the establishment for no rhyme or reason. While listening to Nicholas he opened his phone to look for the said news. His whole body chilled not from reading the article fresh from last night but from reading the barrage of comments below.

Aside from sympathy for the injured party, the public opinion is divided into different parts. 

[Pitiful, how could people be so vicious over small disputes?]

[You should pity the parents who pay for their tuition more.] one remarked sparking a new kind of discussion. 

[They only see the injuries but no one asked how they got there in the first place.] 

[True. What are these students doing in the middle of the night anyway?] 

[Do you have to ask? Instead of staying at home studying for their exams here they are sneaking and partying around.]

[I wish I had that much money and time.]

[This is what the current generation does, drinking and wh*ring behind their parents back.]

[So messed up, they’re not even adults yet.]          

[That’s the life of the wealthy. Have you seen the inside of the KTV? Look at the things scattered on the table…]

Someone sent an enlarged photo of bottles after bottles of expensive wine scattered atop the wide glass table, some leftover cigarette and some obscured white powder. 

The comment section became noisier from thereon.

Thinking over what Nicholas said, Michael almost crushed the phone in his hand. How could he not tell that these unsavory comments were deliberately being pushed to the top to sway more people to join in? If Layla did not insist on staying, she could be one of those being verbally lambasted online and with his sister’s soft personality, who knows what else could have happened?

It’s not only her life would be in danger but her reputation will surely suffer because of this incident. 

“How did you know?”

Nicholas chuckled. “From a guardian angel, I guess.”

“Fart, those kinds of creatures won’t come near you even if you begged” he was done with the espresso machine and took the cup over to his visitor.  

Annoyingly enough, just as he was about ready for an in-depth discussion he found Nicholas snoring on the couch. 

He told himself he needed more patience not to dump the coffee on his crotch or he will be sorry for the consequences. It’s just that damn it this guy really tests his limits sometimes.

At seven in the morning when Layla came down to cook their breakfast, she saw the huge man awkwardly fitting himself on the curved couch. Why didn’t her big brother open the guest room?

Michael came down refreshed from the bath. “Leave him alone. He deserves that.”     

Layla felt sorry for the other guy. Although she feels sorry for him, she could only side with her big brother. The two must have argued again.

Peh, she spit. Why did that sound weird?

Shortly after breakfast, she left the house and met up with her new friends.

Nicholas rubbed his sore shoulders while eating the leftover food the merciless siblings saved for him. After eating, he walked over the outdoor deck to digest it.  

“Layla?”

“Out to see her new school with Miss Erde. She offered to give her a grand tour as an alumna of Edelweiss Academy. The kid did not want me to drive her so I stayed here like a good obedient brother.”

Nicholas’ mouth curved at the ends. “Heartless kid. Tossed you away as soon as she found new buddies.”

He couldn’t imagine that the Sena he knew was once a student of such a strict school. Then suddenly, an image of her wearing a vest and pleated skirt paraded on his mind. She must have looked like a proper snooty young lady back then. 

Oddly enough, he didn’t find the image irritating. 

“Edelweiss is a good school.” he said after a while.

The two sat intending to bask in the morning sun when both their mobile phones rang.  

Nicholas did not answer his. After three rings it stopped and a text message popped in. Briefly glancing at the contents, he then sat down and picked up a magazine that caught his eyes. Then his expression changed swiftly shifting the easy and relaxed morning atmosphere to solemnity.

“The Bachus case is blowing out of proportion.” he started. 

Two men sat comfortably, to outsiders, it would only look as if two friends were having an ordinary conversation. None was aware of the contents and the weight of the matter at hand.

“I guess whoever planned that scheme in the KTV would never expect what kind of enemy they made for themselves.” Michael said heavily as he finished reading his message. 

The drug had been circulating quietly in the underground before it would be fully launched. Unlike any other party drugs, Bachus had the effects of lifting up the mood putting the users in a state of limbo but when stopped it has a high chance of triggering aggression. The developer of the said drug is still in the process of eliminating the dangerous side effects but some of it was smuggled out of the lab and sold at a high price to wealthy patrons.   

It wasn’t supposed to appear now. Unfortunately, before its grand debut, some idiot barged in breaking the momentum and involving the police all of a sudden.      

“We just finished an extraction mission in Portugal. Looks like another job to me.” Michael said with a helpless expression. “Can’t these old guys give us a break for at least half a year?”

Nicholas nonchalantly ignored his complaint. “Can’t be helped. You have seen the news and read the comments in the forum. Those things the police found on KTV are not going to be the last one to be seen in the headlines. Those guys in the Drug Enforcement Agency are already on it.” 

But considering the number of moles inside the said agency, they doubt there will be any actual leads to the case. He put down the magazine, shifted his eyes away from the face on the ad then continued.    

“The person who stole the samples and sold them was found dead inside the septic tank of a newly built ice plant at the port in C-Country last night. Right now, the police think it was just an ordinary homicide.”

“Do they really?” Mike said flippantly. 

Every member of a huge syndicate had their identification, a tattoo or a kind of item that makes them recognizable to their peers. It was impossible for the police not to identify a man from such a business. 

“Even the police in C Country are too afraid of the gangs; none wants to make a peep. They won’t even dare speculate for fear of being the next missing ‘unknown person’ in the list.”  

As a member of a special non-government unit, Michael loathes the scumbags who deal with illegal drugs down to his core. As a businessman, he naturally wanted to get rid of them as well to clear out a few routes. However, these despicable groups found it was easier to move their goods if they have legitimate businesses as front. The larger the name the company is, the more untouchable they would become.  

It would be even better if they become powerful enough to influence the financial lifeline of a country.  

“What did our guys over there find?”

“The dead guy is an ordinary salaryman working in Collier Group, moonlighting as a delivery man for the Qilin gang.” 

“Who killed him?”

“Seth Collier.” Nicholas replied unemotionally.

Speaking of this person, both of them knew him from the business circle. A man of their generation who is equally cunning and promising. Unfortunately, he wasn't blessed with a harmonious family. His father and elder brother are jealous of his success and resent him for winning over the clan head position despite his young age. 

Michael let out a whistle. “Surprisingly it was him. I heard the Collier Group’s new head made a huge racket. He is unlike his predecessors. He doesn’t give two shits about his father and elder brother’s way of running things. He wants to wash the company clean of the filth.” 

“Seth Collier is an upright man and has been wanting to reform the business just like in the olden days. He is also more dangerous than the gangs if provoked.” Nicholas assessed. “I’m guessing he caught the dead guy before his father and brothers as a warning. Letting them know that he is aware of their party tricks.”   

Originally, they wanted to dump the drug case to Seth as retaliation when he forcefully removed Collier Group’s backing to the Qilin gang. Unfortunately, they failed to frame him miserably. Now the father and son are gritting their teeth in fury. 

“His family won’t give up,” Michael said. “They are currently in the middle of choosing a right-hand man to assist him and the final say lies in the elders. Guess who made it to the list?”

Nicholas meshed his fingers together. “No need to guess, aside from the hotheaded Lisle, Yang is the only one suitable among the people the elders trained. Yang’s family had been serving the Collier’s for hundreds of years, but Yang is not as appreciative and agreeable as Lisle. He is ambitious as he is ruthless.”

Mike scratched his head. “The Smiling Tiger, Yang. I can already smell blood from here. If Seth Collier did not clean him up soon then his position would not last long in case Yang made it as his assistant.”

“He’s cleaning him up alright, Yang may fool the elders but not Seth.” Nicholas opened his phone again and gave it to Michael. “This leads us to the current issue. Our guy inside the Qilin said that Yang will be arriving here and the higher-ups are certain that he came to check on their hidden business.”

Michael had a bad hunch. “The business seems profitable, no wonder that despite losing the position, money is still rolling to Seth’s family pockets.”

“They have a saying in their country; a smart rabbit has three more burrows.”  

Michael’s eyebrow knitted. “You suspect he too has a hand on the Bachus drug?” 

“I don’t suspect. I’m a hundred percent sure. Problem is our guys lost his traces when he flew to Bangkok. Now it is estimated that he already arrived here.” Nicholas emphasized word for word. 

“No wonder they’re dumping this one to us.”

Nicholas eyed him. “We leave three days after your welcome party. I’ll hand in the rest of the information about the possible location later.” 

“Sounds exciting.” Michaels said flatly waving his vacation goodbye.

He and his sister only got settled and off he went flying somewhere again. Thankfully he dealt with those greedy relatives of his, they won’t be able to disturb them for a good while.

He made sure to leave surprises to keep them busy.  

So soon, he checked on his calendar and sighed deeply. 

Sena gave him an assignment to peep into the traffic cameras which is two days before their departure. Might as well do a splendid job.