Teaching Chay

Chapter 7

"All right, everyone. We've been planning this for weeks. Chan, are the teams ready?" Tankhun's voice echoes loudly through the garden by the pond, where thirty men are gathered. They can hear him through their in-ear systems as well as the loudspeaker Tankhun has installed for this purpose.

"Yes, Khun Tankhun," Chan replies over the intercom, while all the others involved choose to ignore him.

"Team One, Khun Kimhan, Chan and Arm are you there?" Tankhun asks unnecessarily, as he can see them on the CCTV running in the house and adjacent gardens.

Kim doesn't answer with words. Instead, he simply raises one eyebrow pointedly as he looks directly into the camera.

"I can't hear you!" Khun prods anyway, and Kim is tempted to just shoot the cameras nearby and cut the speaker wires.

"Yes, Khun Noo, we're here," Arm gives in before Tankhun can get any louder and drive Kim crazy.

"Have you got your intercom ready, your equipment on? Kim, Chan, I can't see the helmets I bought especially for you."

It's true, only Arm is wearing the full gear that Tankhun provided Team One with: a helmet and full body armour that is fireproof and is supposed to save them even in case of an explosion.

Kim and Chan exchange glances, and Kim knows that he is the one who will have to answer, or else Tankhun will simply order Chan to wear it.

"Khun, this fucking armour makes it impossible for us to move. The police bomb squad might want to sweat to death before they get blown up, but I prefer to do it in comfort. No armour!" Kim orders, ripping the helmet off Arm's head. Arm looks grateful and immediately takes off his vest, body armour and knee and shoulder pads.

"Fine, have yourself blown to bits so small that even my carp won't eat you!" Khun snarls from where he sits in the basement of the compound, in front of a large screen that shows twelve camera feeds at once and from which he can zoom in and out at will.

"Team two, are you there?" Tankhun apparently decides to just ignore Kim now.

"Yes, Khun Tankhun," several of the men report. They are the guys who will dismantle the building after Team One's clearance and then take everything to Kinn and Porsche, from books and files to tiles, floors and wall panelling. They've chosen the strongest of the guards, along with some of the repair crew, handymen and cleaning staff from both the main and minor families.

"Team three, are you there?"

"Yes Khun we're here," Porsche nods from where he is standing next to Kinn. He is bouncing on his feet, barely able to contain his excitement. Porsche had originally wanted to go in with the first team, but finding and disarming traps is not his speciality. So he is with Kinn in team 3. They'll look at everything that's taken from the house and decide whether it's worth keeping, throwing away or donating. They will also sort through files, furniture, art, weapons and whatever else they might find in their father's house.

"Team 4, the back office... are we ready?" Tankhun asks and a second later Porchay's voice can be heard.

"Ready, Khun Noo."

Despite his best efforts not to, Kim has to smile. Porsche, however, looks a little annoyed. When they started planning the operation, Porsche didn't want Porchay anywhere near it. But Porchay wanted in, and as long as Porchay is safe, Kim doesn't mind. It will make Porchay feel part of the family and the organisation and he can also learn how these things are done. But Kim agrees with Porsche that there is no way Porchay is ready to join them in or around the house. So it was a good idea to leave him with Tankhun in the operations centre. They would keep an eye on everything through the cameras, give them updates over the intercom and also keep an eye out for things in the house that they might miss.