Park chuckled. “Oh yeah?”
“Mm.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
“Do you really think Kendrick would try to kill me or my mom?”
“I really don’t know,ouen.”
Before Gift could respond, a song began to play faintly from the bathroom. Gift jerked his head towards the sound. “My phone.”
Gift was up and off the bed before Park could stop him. He rushed after him, standing in the doorway as Gift answered.
“Pa?”
Park prayed Satja would tell Gift something that would put his mind at ease about Anchali. He couldn’t make out the man’s words, but he sounded calm. Of course, Satja always sounded calm. He was the epitome of diplomacy.
“Speakerphone,ouen,” Park said softly.
Gift fumbled to comply, finally hitting the right button.
“Where’s Anchali?” Park asked in Thai.
“When I heard from her three nights ago, she was still somewhere in Phuket for a meeting. What the hell is going on?”
Gift looked at Park for help. Park did his best to summarize the events of the last two hours or so, with Satja becoming more and more distressed as he spoke.
When Park finished, Satja asked, “Are you alright?”
“I’m alive,” he mumbled.
“And I’m so grateful for that,noo,” Satja said, relief evident.
Gift flushed, gaze sliding to Park as if to see whether he’d picked up on the term of endearment. He had. Mouse. Satja called Gift “mouse.” It fit. He did have a rather mouse-like appearance sometimes.
“I need to talk tomae,” Gift said. “Why would someone want to hurt us?”
“I don’t know,noo,” Satja said. “Your mother’s been out of high-risk operations for years. There’s no reason for anyone to come for us now.”
“But there was before?” Gift asked.
Satja switched to heavily accented English. “Your mother was an operative. It was always dangerous. People were always turning on people. That’s why I was so happy when we got you. Our little mouse. Your mother finally got what she always wanted and agreed to leave the field.”
Park frowned. What she always wanted? Anchali had said numerous times she hadn’t wanted children. Was Satja just saving face? Rewriting history? Maybe it was Satja who always wanted children?
Something tugged at Park’s brain. Something just out of reach. Something triggered by Satja’s words.When we got you. He said got you, not had you. It was an odd turn of phrase. Maybe he misspoke? He was speaking English. But Satja went to an international school just as Gift had, and he spoke English as well as Gift. Was Park reading too much into a single word?
Suddenly, it was Kendrick’s words crashing down on Park’s head.
“I’m surprised we didn’t have him flagged for the program from the beginning…”
It meant nothing at the time. Park didn’t have all the information back then. He didn’t realize that all students at the Watch were adopted. If Gift was Anchali’s son, why would Gift have been a candidate for the program?
When we got you.
Got you.
Got you.
