Page 85 of Damian & Jun: Episodes 1-4
“The faster you four are on the other side of the Pacific, the better.” Damian pressed his palms together. He was not going to think about Jun, about what Jun could be suffering, about who had their hands on him. So much could have already happened in just two hours. “Yun doesn’t think he’s showing up at any of the stations. We’re going to phase two.”
“What’s that?”
“I visit my old professor.”
“The judge.” Richard started to rise, fingers going to the button on his jacket. “He’s the one for this section?”
Damian nodded and held up a palm. “He is, and forgive me, I need you to stay here. You showing up as well would be a show of force. Watch over them.” He nodded to everyone else. “I’ll have Yun come here, and you have my team and Eleanor on speed dial.”
“Take someone with you.”
“I’ll take Holden and a driver.”
Mi Hi held up her phone, tethered to the wall by a power cord. “Anything happens, I’ll live stream it directly to the fan site.
“How’s that going?”
“We’ve organized. Someone’s trying to take down my posts, and two accounts have been blocked, but I’ve got a couple girls making me new accounts and passing the deets. Everything I post is getting copied and reposted to new sites and secondary accounts. They can’t keep this down. Fans are showing up outside BBB3 and Bak’s house. People are asking if they should start checking the police stations.”
“If they can find Bak, that would be perfect. I’m not going to tell anyone to harass the police. Any information they can find would be helpful.”
“On it.”
Damian knocked on the door of a private house on a quiet street. One hand was in his pocket, one hand raised. His suit and tie were perfectly done. It took a while, but eventually it opened. A woman in her fifties blinked up at him. She didn’t stand taller than Damian’s chest.
“Mrs. Su.”
“Mr. Sathers.” She mustered up a smile. “I’ll tell Mr. Su you are here.”
“Thank you.”
She turned, leaving him on the doorstep. Damian swallowed down the sting. Every previous visit to this house, he had been welcomed in warmly. Mr. Su had to already know why he had come. There was no way he had not been informed through the grapevine of Damian’s appearance at the press conference.
Several long moments later, Mrs. Su appeared again. She bowed at the top of the inner steps above the entryway. “Please come in, Mr. Sathers. Mr. Su asks that your companion wait here. I can bring him tea.”
“Holden is happy to wait outside, ma’am. He doesn’t drink on duty.”
“Ah.” She bowed, flustered. “Mr. Su is in his study.”
Damian slid out of his shoes. “I can show myself up.”
She bowed again.
Damian looked down at his phone, adjusting his apps and fixing the volume. A message popped up, forwarded from his US number.
That was odd. Probably a phishing attempt. Damian dismissed it.
Mr. Su’s study was on the second floor, a combination of sunroom and library, where a wall had been removed and two rooms made into one many years previously. The walls and the sunroom area were full of plants and a handful of trees, all carefully tended by Mrs. Su. The books and the high-quality furniture were all Mr. Su.
The judge sat behind his desk, a large L-shaped mahogany island to one side of the inner room. He stood as Damian entered.
“My student,” he murmured. “I didn’t think to see you till late winter.”
Damian bowed. Even though the classroom was well behind him, the friendship he'd established with Mr. Su and other professors had remained a cherished prize he’d fostered with care and tended regularly.
“Mr. Su. The same.” Damian straightened up, having held the bow a fraction longer and lower than Mr. Su had given him. “I come asking assistance. I did not think I would be here so soon either.”
“How may I help you? Do you have a protégée?”
