Chapter 17: It’s you

Thian’s head slowly bobbed up and down as he leaned back in his office chair. His weary demeanor indicated that he hadn’t slept since last night. The police officers in the station were working hurriedly, and the atmosphere was tense, but nothing could make him feel better, because Mangkon was still nowhere to be found.

The phone in his hand, which he had repeatedly dialed, still received no response. If

twenty-four hours passed, he could officially file a missing person report, but after only a few hours of Mangkon being gone, he could barely stand it.

“Sir, should you go back and rest?” Nadol walked in with a hot coffee in his hand, offering it to him with a concerned look.

“No, I’m okay.” The answer was firm, but his expression and demeanor said otherwise. Okay how?

The sharp eyes that once radiated confidence now appeared dull, not living up to his nickname “Sly Inspector” at all.

“Thian, don’t be stubborn. People can die from sleep deprivation, and you’re not an angel,” Kanin said as he walked in, voicing his annoyance.

“But I still haven’t found Mangkon.”

“But if you don’t sleep, you might not find Mangkon again for the rest of your life.” And those words seemed to work. It made his good friend pause for a moment before Kanin began to cut him off.

“Let’s go. I’ll drive you home myself.”

He couldn’t be reasoned with politely; it had to be a form of coercion. This time, Kanin gave his close friend a stern look. If Phuwin were here, he would hear an elegantly phrased scolding that would hurt just as much.

“You go back.”

“I’ll take care of things.” “Okay.”

And finally, his close friend agreed to comply easily. Kanin volunteered to drive Thian back to his house, but along the way he couldn’t help but ask something he wanted to know.

“Why is Nong staying at your house?” “It’s complicated.”

“Complicated since you were both transferred here, right?” “Yeah. I’ll tell you guys when I’m ready.”

“You seem more worried about Mangkon than your duty requires.” The young captain’s voice was tinged with suspicion. Something must be going on between these two.

Sharp eyes flickered to the captain from Chiang Rai for a moment before he thought to himself, Which duty should I choose? The duty of a boss or the duty of a husband…? Either way, I’m worried about both, damn it.

When he didn’t receive an answer, Kanin knew he shouldn’t ask further or pry. Personal matters were personal. If he wanted to open up and tell the story one day, he was ready to listen.

The car slowly pulled into the beautiful house. Captain Kanin walked the man, who was not in the best condition, to the door, only to be greeted by Khunying Pharada. It seemed she was waiting for them, and her face showed as much worry as his.

“Gear, did you find the boy, son?” Her voice was gentle but filled with agitation as she immediately asked when her son appeared.

“Not yet, Mom.”

“Oh my god! I just called Butsaba, and Nong didn’t go home either, son. Where could he have gone?” Pharada nearly collapsed, but still tried to maintain her composure.

“Khunying, I think Thian should go rest now. I’ll go back and take care of things,” Kanin suggested.

Pharada nodded in understanding and looked at her son, who really should rest as Captain Kanin said.

“Gear, go to sleep, son.”

“Yes, I was planning to sleep for an hour.”

“Gear, sleep for four or five hours, son. One hour isn’t enough,” the Khunying tried to persuade.

“One hour is more than enough, Mom,” her son’s voice was so firm that Pharada couldn’t object.

“Sigh, fine, do as you wish. But don’t forget, son, if your body gives out, how will you be able to help anyone?”

“Really rest, you hear? Not lie down and then get up to call this person and that person again,” and Kanin emphasized again clearly.

Exactly one hour, as he had stated, no more, no less – or maybe even sooner, because Thian woke up before his alarm. His instinct mixed with anxiety pulled him awake instantly, and the first thing he did was quickly dial his wife’s number. The answer was still the same: “The number you dialed is not in service.”

The system’s automated voice repeated the same message, while the clock on the wall showed 12:00 PM. Thian quickly went into the bathroom to do his daily routine and then headed straight to the Chiang Mai Provincial Police Station.

The bright midday sun streamed through the tinted window film into the car. The young inspector’s inky black eyes looked out into the distance, his gaze seemingly focused but empty. His mind was filled only with thoughts revolving around Mangkon.

“Where could you be, honey?”

“I shouldn’t have let you move here.”

If he had stood his ground more firmly with his mother, insisted more emphatically, or hadn’t had the wacky idea of marrying to ward off supposedly bad luck – a concept so absurd – Mangkon would have moved back to Mae Sai and this ridiculous mess wouldn’t have happened.

The atmosphere was tense, as if about to explode. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that the veins protruded. Still, he continued to drive forward at high speed. Suddenly, the phone rang. Thian flinched slightly before quickly pressing the answer button.

(Gear, it’s your father) The deep, low voice of the important superior that he knew well came through, causing Thian to take a deep breath.

(Your mother told me. Have you found Nong yet?) “Not yet, Dad.”

(I have sources reporting you should beware of Saming.) Saming, huh… the son didn’t answer, still listening intently to the next sentence.

(The transfer of your case to Lampang is not normal. And the fact that Mangkon disappeared… I’m not sure if it’s connected.)

(But don’t trust Saming at all.)

His brain was working hard, processing information quickly. The rhythm of his breathing became slightly heavier as his father’s words aligned with something one of the Black Bull gang members had said before.

‘If I told you it was someone close to the police, would you believe me?’ Damn it!

Thian almost didn’t expect such a thing. Saming wasn’t someone unreliable. He was a good cop, polite and gentle in nature. Besides, judging by his actions, he seemed to like Mangkon very much, so he didn’t think it was possible.

The engine revved again. The young inspector hurried to get to the police station, and as soon as he walked in, he found the person his father had told him to watch out for.

“There he is! Inspector Thian is here,” Nadol looked at him with a panicked expression, as did everyone else who looked at Thian. Something seemed to have happened.

“Thian, Inspector Saming has a lead on Mangkon,” Kanin said. “How so?”

“Follow me.”

The young inspector followed his friend to the CCTV control room. Although many cameras were out of order, footage from the working cameras was displayed on a large screen. A black car with heavily tinted windows was visible. The faint outline of the people inside was enough to discern that the person sitting in the passenger seat, with their head resting against the window, resembled Mangkon.

“Which direction is this car heading?”

“The last camera caught it at the foot of Doi Saket,” a connecting route between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces.

“Then, you all divide the manpower and follow immediately.” “Understood, Inspector!”

The stern voice of the superior gave the order, and Nadol acknowledged and proceeded immediately. Thian himself surreptitiously watched Saming periodically. His demeanor showed that he was worried and anxious, but some of his body language didn’t indicate the same.

“Hey, you take a team to the highway. I’ll lead the way in another direction.” Saming was referring to the routes to Doi Saket from Chiang Mai city, which could be accessed via Highway 118 or the Somphot Chiang Mai 700 Pi Road.

“I can’t wait. I don’t want to miss this. We need to find Mangkon as quickly as possible,” his college friend continued.

“I’m worried about Nong. That bastard… if I find out who did this..”

His sharp jaw clenched, and his eyes flashed with anger. Thian nodded in response, and upon receiving permission, the inspector from Lampang proceeded.

Only a few police officers remained at the station, but the person he was most worried about was still there. Kanin started to not understand why his friend wasn’t leading the search team himself. But before he could ask anything, Thian called his friend into a meeting.

“Hey, follow me inside,” Thian called Kanin into the meeting room with a serious expression on his face.

Inside the private meeting room, Thian was opening some documents that had been sent by his father. It was Saming’s financial trail, showing unusually large amounts of money flowing in and out.

“What are you getting at, Thian?”

“Saming,” Thian said the name calmly. “Don’t you feel like it’s all too much of a coincidence?”

“He was the last person with Mangkon, he came to see us last night, and now he says he’s found a lead?”

Kanin paused and then answered in a tone that began to sound serious, “I think… it’s a bit weird.”

“When I questioned the Black Bull gang, one of them said that someone close to us was behind it all. I don’t know if he was joking or not.” Thian said through gritted teeth, his eyes filled with fury.

“And right now, I don’t trust Saming at all.” “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to follow him myself.”

“Be careful. If anything happens, signal me and I’ll send backup immediately,” Kanin immediately replied.

Saming didn’t leave immediately after speaking and didn’t request any backup either, further increasing suspicion. A moment later, the other man moved his car out of the police station, and Thian slowly followed at a suitable distance.

The road the car in front chose wasn’t the route he mentioned earlier at all, but completely opposite. It was a bypass road that stretched towards Lamphun and Lampang provinces.

“Is it you, Saming, who’s doing this messed up thing?” Pretending to be worried, acting believable.

“You’re not any better than me.”

Thian continued keeping his distance as much as possible. Another hour passed, and his car turned into a small alley that was becoming desolate. Of course, if he followed, he would know with a hundred percent certainty.

The inspector from Chiang Mai decided to park his car out of sight at a safe distance. His inky black eyes were fixed on the rear of Saming’s car, which disappeared into the

overgrown alley, clenching his jaw tightly. He was almost certain that what he suspected might be right.

This area is deserted and has no residences.

His thick hand slowly shifted into neutral, allowing the car to park completely still on the side of the road. The tall figure leaned back against the seat, and his handsome face let out a long sigh. Then, he raised his hand to rub his face, which was full of stress and tension.

Thoughts were battling in his head without stopping.

“What the hell are you doing, Saming…?” The low murmur was like a question without an answer.

He took a deep breath, gathered what remained of his composure, and reached out to grab his service pistol to check it. The bullets were still all in the magazine, ready for any situation that might arise.

The Inspector carefully opened the car door. The sound of his boots hitting the ground was soft. He was trying not to draw attention, especially during the hot midday, which made it necessary to exercise caution with every step.

He stopped when he reached the spot where Saming had turned off earlier. Sharp eyes scanned the alley ahead, assessing the situation from a distance. The alley looked deserted and like a dead end. His vision spied only a dense forest.

“A dead end… then that means you must be there.”

He was confident that his target’s journey ended here for sure. And as expected, after walking through the overgrown forest for five hundred meters, he found his classmate’s car parked still near an abandoned warehouse that stood majestically at the end of the path.

“It really is you, isn’t it?” Then, will Mangkon be in there too?