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Jun ducked his head and dug back into his bowl.

“So anyway,” said Kana, turning to Alex, flicking her long hair over one shoulder. “He’s a big deal and knows a lot of people in the industry. But honestly, he’s the last person I’d expect to be at a night market.”

“But he was looking for Luis,” said Hal, resting his chin in his hand. “Which means Luis is working for him?”

“Was.” Alex chortled.

Ken pointed a quizzical look in Jun’s direction. “You mentioned he ‘threw him out?’”

Kana nudged Jun’s knee with her foot. He started, looking up from his bowl at Ken. “Yeah.”

Ken stared back at Jun. “So if he is out of the job, then...” He crossed his arms, his forearm muscles flexing. “You’re Luis now.”

Jun gaped. “I guess so?”

“Wait, you mentioned he’s paying you,” said Hal. “Supposedly more than me,” he mumbled in a mocking tone to himself before returning to Jun. “You like his chauffeur now or somethin’?”

“I’m not sure,” Jun said. “He mentioned he had an appointment in Malibu, and he needed someone to take him there.”

“And when is that?” said Robin, who hadn’t spoken in a while.

Jun jerked back on his crate seat, startled by Robin’s sudden computerized voice. “Um. I met up with him again this morning and confirmed the job he told me is next Thursday.”

Alex clapped his hands together once. “That’s it.”

“What’s it?” asked Ken with a raised eyebrow.

“He’s Luis now, right?” Alex nodded at Jun. “So if we can’t get Luis to talk, then we can get it through our Luis.”

“What are you getting at, Alex?” Robin chimed.

“Just hear me out, dude.” Alex rested his forearms on his knees, locking eyes with Jun. He made sure this motherfucker knew not to look away, so he was listening to him. “Become Luis, and get close to Covey. Do whatever Luis was supposed to do: driver, chef, masseuse, or whatever.”

He pointed at the screen paused on Covey and his too-wide smile. “This man is supposed to be one of the most influential people amongst the hot shots, right? If the rumors are true that Durden is really back and can even be in the hands of some regular dumbasses like Luis—”

“Sunny,” Kana whispered. Her eyes lit up. “Maybe he knows if Sunny has been around it.”

Alex’s snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “Good thinking, princess.”

“So what do I ask him?” asked Jun, frowning.

“No, no. Don’t do that,” said Ken, waving his hand. “You need him to warm up to you. Like what Alex said: Get to know him. When you go to that appointment, you’ll get a glimpse of who his connections are.”

“But if it goes nowhere,” said Hal, leaning back with his hands supporting him on the concrete floor, “then we’re back at square one.”

“That doesn’t mean we don’t try all of our options,” Ken countered. “Solving these types of cases can take a long time. I want to see this case through, no matter how long it takes.”

Alex scoffed with a sly smile. “Sounds like you had experience with this, Officer.”

Ken shrugged, a smile ghosted his lips. “Comes with having been a detective.”

Alex studied him for a second. The pig was useful when he wasn’t being insufferable. He would put a pin on that.

A computerized hum came from the laptop. “So what’s the next step?” asked Robin.

“We wait for our little call boy to report to us whenever he’s with the big shot.” Alex smirked, noting that Jun held his gaze this time instead of flinching away. “You can take it. Right, dude?”

A moment passed. Then Jun swallowed with a curt nod.