Teaching Chay

Chapter 8

Another two weeks later, Kim is sitting in another meeting with his brothers, Porsche, Porchay, Chan and a couple of bodyguards who are assigned to different teams. These meetings have become a regular part of Kim's daily routine, and one that he would like to remove from his schedule.

"We have also completed the underground analysis of the house and adjoining garden. To our surprise, we found that the basement did not fit the floor plans at all. The cellar under the house is almost three times as big as we thought, and most of it extends into the back garden," says Star, the team leader of the construction and demolition team.

"But there's a garden. And my babies' pond," Tankhun points out as Star shows them a map of the extension to the basement under their father's house.

"Yes, the extension is built about four metres below the pond. The outlet for the groundwater is actually part of what brings fresh water into the pond and may be one reason why it was built. It's a clever way of using the groundwater, which has to be pumped away all the time.

"What would Pa need such a big cellar for?" Kinn asks incredulously, swallowing his whisky. The longer the dismantling of the house goes on without any significant finds, the more he seems to drink, drowning his frustration in alcohol.
Kim shares this feeling. He's getting more frustrated every day, especially as he hasn't had time to spend with Porchay and his training for weeks. He knows that Porchay is still running every day and training in the gym is still going on, but most days Kim is playing detective at his father's house while Porchay is either down at the organisation centre on the compound or hanging out somewhere else. The daily meetings are sometimes the only time Kim sees him, but Porchay doesn't really say much there.

Kim can see that Porchay is starting to pull back; he's less animated, less talkative and also starting to withdraw from the operation. He may just be bored, but Kim knows that something has to change or they will be back to square one. And he came back to help Porchay, not to deactivate his father's security system or go through file after file of paperwork.

"Guns? Wine and whisky? Or the original Amber Room? It's Pa, Kinn, it could literally be anything," Kim snaps at his older brother in frustration. "Have you found an entrance or exit?"

"No, Khun Kim. The way the layout is, the entrance and exit must be inside the house, not accessible from the outside," Star informs him.

"We have almost reached the top floor. We want to start with the library tomorrow, but we haven't found an extra entrance to the basement yet. Everything was solid down there. There must be an entrance somewhere," Chan chimes in.

"I know. We checked all the secret passageways you found, but almost all of them seem to have been built to move through the house without being detected," Star nods.

"Like pretending to be dead when you're not," Porsche rightly points out.

"Are we really sure he's dead this time?" Arm throws out, looking up from his computer for once.

"Yeah, I checked," Kim nods.

"You're creepy," Tankhun shudders as he looks at Kim.

"Some call it creepy, I call it thorough," Kim shrugs and his eyes wander back to Porchay, who seems to have mentally checked out. He's just staring at the table in front of him with unseeing eyes, playing with his fingers.

"Urgh, I'm just so over this house!" Kinn voices his frustration.

"I'm still for blowing it up," Porsche shrugs, but puts a hand on Kinn's shoulder in support. They can all see how much this is upsetting Kinn and how much work he is putting into finding out what their father was up to.