By the time they arrived in New York, Kai was about ready to bust a gut from Mark’s commentary on the other drivers on the road and Kevin’s alarmed responses to his antics, and it was pretty much impossible to hold back any kind of laughter as Mark attempted to navigate the New York traffic jams.  They holed up in a three-star hotel close to the airport that night, Kai looking with interest at his identity cards that they’d gone to pick up.  It was the first time he’d seen one with his face on that registered him as younger than twenty-one.  Myungsoo had quietly taken away his false ID cards while he’d been in hospital after he’d been tranquilised, and Kai had quietly accepted it.  He would get into trouble now if he tried doing most of the stuff he’d been used to doing for the past decade of his life, after all.  And, as Thant had made clear to him, he really couldn’t afford to have any more on his record, especially if Thant and Myungsoo were going to apply to have it wiped.

The next day, Kevin took Kai out shopping in the city.  They stopped off for dumplings in Chinatown at Kai’s request (Kevin didn’t even seem fazed by it and Kai wondered if Myungsoo had said anything), and Kai was a bit unsure what to think when Kevin handed him a solid wad of cash and told him to “go nuts” in a gigantic mall.  The last time he’d seen so many bills bound together was when he was collecting after a large powder transaction.

“Is this legal?” he asked.  Kevin gave him a funny look.

“Of course it is.  Now shush and spend your dollars.”

Kai wandered away towards the first of the shops, quickly counting through the bills.  For some reason, he’d been trusted with almost a thousand dollars.  He quietly pocketed half for future use.

Overall, it was a pretty short stay in New York.  Mark insisted on taking Kai to a laser tag range to see if he really was as good a shot as Myungsoo said he was, and Kevin laughed his head off when Kai finished up with over seven times Mark’s score.

“Sh*t, man, did they train you as a sniper?” Mark complained as they piled back into the car.

“Shooting’s a good way to vent,” Kai said nonchalantly, watching for their reactions.  Both of them paled and went quiet, and Kai snickered to himself.

They were almost at the hotel when Mark’s phone rang.  They swerved into the wrong lane – accompanied by an alarmed squawk from Kevin – as he reached into his pocket and picked up, putting it on loudspeaker.  Kevin grabbed hold of the steering wheel and righted the car before they pancaked themselves on a nearby building.

“Mark, we need you and the kid on standby over in Maryland,” said an unfamiliar voice on the other end.  “We’ve tracked him as far as Baltimore and we’re trying to negotiate having his case heard there ASAP if we manage to bring him in.”

Maryland?  Baltimore?  Kai frowned, trying to think why the boss would possibly be going there.  Kai had been there several times on transactions, but it wasn’t a place where the boss often—

“He’s committed crimes in the state of Maryland,” he chipped in just as Mark opened his mouth to reply.  “There’s a warehouse where some of the stuff gets distilled or refined before we used to pass it on, but there’s no safe house there.  It was a grab-n-go with security.”

There was silence for a few moments.

“Oh,” Kai remembered.  “Actually, I think I recall him saying something about a warehouse where he kept a lot of the cash.”

Mark turned to stare at Kai, and for once, Kevin didn’t reprimand him: he was busy staring too.

“ me,” said the voice on the other end of the phone.  “He was planning to grab the money and disappear by going somewhere that wasn’t obviously related to him.”

Kai mentally agreed.

“We’re trying to organise getting you on the first flight out tomorrow,” the voice went on, “but we’re kind of busy here, so if you could do that yourself, it would be great.  And kid, I’ll need a witness statement on what you’ve just told me as soon as you arrive.  The courts shouldn’t have trouble accepting the case in Maryland with that as long as they haven’t been bribed to chuck it out.”

They arrived back at the hotel to find it cordoned off by police.  Mark went to park the car and Kai was walking a little ahead of Kevin, who was checking something on his phone.  A policeman moved in to intercept Kai as he unconsciously continued towards the police tape, wondering what on earth was going on.

When he realised there was a tall black man in fluorescent uniform standing in front of him, he froze in fright.

He knows – he’s gonna—

“FBI – he’s with me,” Kevin’s voice said as he clapped his hand on Kai’s shoulder.  “What’s going on?”

“We weren’t aware you were called in,” the policeman said in a deep, bass voice.

Kevin showed the man his badge, and was reluctantly allowed past the cordon.  Kai stayed close behind him, vaguely aware of Mark joining them.

“What’s the situation?” Mark asked as he showed his badge as well.  “Can you give us an update on the incident?”

Kai looked up at them both, and then back at the policeman, who seemed torn as to whether or not he should divulge what he knew.  Then he nodded to himself.  Kai was impressed that Kevin and Mark had managed to take charge of a completely unknown situation so smoothly.

“Well, we managed to get a statement out of the receptionist they threatened,” he said, “and room 390 has more or less been destroyed.  We’ve got forensics up there now and people trying to chase down the perpetrators, but no news from them yet.”

Kai felt his stomach drop and gripped the back of Mark’s jacket.  Mark leant down towards him.

“Th