Set's fingertips trailed over the two-dimensional features on the picture that must have been taken about a year after he and Li had parted ways.
Li looked so young, so fragile in it. He still looked so much like the Li whose image was inprinted in Set's memory. His hair was shorter, reaching only to his shoulders, his face still looking like it belonged to a girl and his frame still delicate and painfully thin.
His fingers went to the next picture. The short blonde hair, the face with only a hint of femininity, the body with the first signs of filling in, the thinness in the process of transforming into a muscular slenderness.
He turned the pages of the photo album, looking at the pictures, seeing through them Li's transformation into the man he had known until an hour ago only as Lucas.
"You know, you look like a love-sick school girl." Chris slumped on the couch beside Set.
Set ignored him and turned the last page. That probably wasn't a nice thing to do because he had Chris to thank for the photo album. After he got a grip on himself and put the pictures back in the metal box, he returned the box to its place between the socks and then followed the smell of food that led him into Lucas's kitchen, where Chris was already eating.
He joined Chris and when they were done he asked Chris about Lucas's childhood pictures and Chris went and got them for him. He looked at Chris. "So?"
"Nothing. I just thought you should know." Chris leaned back in the couch and tilted his head. Looking at Set he grinned.
"Thank you for informing me."
"Lucas will be so proud when he finds out how hooked on him you really are," Chris said.
Set closed the album and put it on the desk that was behind the couch. "Where is he? Did Tian call? When are they coming back?"
"No, he didn't." Chris shrugged. "And I don't know."
"Oh." Set longed to see Li, to touch him, to feel his face under his fingertips and to slap that damn bastard. How could he not have told him? How could he have been in such a close proximity for more then a year and not searched him out, not even to say hello?
Chris looked at his watch. "As much as I like your company I have to dash. I'm meeting some guys for a game of basketball." He stood up. "I would take you with me but you have Nancy and there is no going out for you with Nancy."
Set looked up at Chris. "Some other time then."
"Yeah." Chris went toward the doorway and when he reached it he stopped, turned and looked back at Set. "If he'd ever let you. He gets quite possessive where you are concerned."
"Whatever." Set waved Chris off and watched him disappear through the door. He took the album from the desk, opened it and went over the pictures again. And then again.
He was sliding his fingertips over the pictures. Over the images that represented fragments of time from Lucas's, no - from Li's life. The pieces of memories never shared. He had missed out on so much and it was his own fault. His own fault. So much time, wasted, because of his own stubbornness, his selfishness, his inability to let go.
Would he be able to get over all that now? To let go of the past and embrace the present?
He hoped that he could.
But it wasn't all up to him.
Set closed the album. And Li was still angry at him. What if- no he shouldn't think like that.
He closed his eyes, covered his face with his hands and sighed deeply. He wouldn't think and worry about that. Or at least he would try not to.
He stood up, his hands holding the album tightly to his chest. His fingers caressed the cover before he put it away on the table.
It was time to get to work.
He went into the guest room and after opening the closet he pulled out a GPS device from the bottom of his bag. After he turned it on and input Lucas's frequency the display showed a map of the inner circle of the city, where the poshest buildings were and where the red dot was blinking on the address of the biggest casino in town.
Set didn't bother with pondering over what the hell Lucas- no, Li was doing there. He was sure he'd find out eventually because it was bound to be connected with his uncle and those two men.
What was he going to do now? Oh, yeah. He turned off the GPS and hid it back in his bag. He closed the closet door then went down the stairs and into Lucas’soffice because his private phone line should enable a PIN number display. If he remembered correctly he had seen the caller's number at the time that Helen called, which meant…
He stood on the wrong side of the desk, picked up the receiver and pushed the button to display the last caller's number. Now… the number that was visible on the little, narrow screen on the phone should be Geb's number.
He pressed the redial button
After a few beeps the phone was picked up and an unfamiliar voice answered. "Lucas!"
"No. Ummm. This is Set Karson. Could you give me Geb Karson please?" The receiver was held tightly.
"Set Karson," the voice so similar to Lucas', just a tad more raucous, said. "I've heard a lot about you. Where's Lucas?"
"Umm. He's in the Golden Palace," Set gave the name of the posh casino where the red dot that represented Lucas was.
"Ah, yes, yes. He mentioned something about going there."
Lucas couldn't tell him, but he could tell everybody else. "Sir, could you give me my brother please?"
"Yes, of course. Just a moment," the voice said, before it said: "Geb. Geb. A telephone call for you."
Set heard Geb's voice in the distance saying something.
"By the way Set. I'm George. George Cage, Lucas’s father. I hope I'll have a chance to meet you soon."
"Yes. That would be nice." Set fingers played with the pencil. So that was Li's father, the reason Li had moved.
"Ah. Here is Geb. Goodbye, Set."
"Goodbye, Mr. Cage."
A few seconds later Geb's voice sounded over the telephone: "Set. What are you doing?"
"Calling you," Set said and then quickly continued, "I need your help."
"My help? How could I help you? I'm here in the middle of nowhere."
"Listen. I saw Herman yesterday with two men. One of them hit him." Set tapped the pencil against the table in stiff, quick moves. "I need to know what's going on."
"Where did you see that?" Geb's voice became a little higher. "Does Li know?"
"Ummmm." Set's fingers stilled, he pressed the flat edge of the pencil tightly against the surface of the table.
"Set. Does Li know?"
"Yeah. He was there."
"I'm going to kill him."
"Geb. It wasn't his fault. And he's still mad at me about that." Set pouted.
"Good."
"Look." Set took a big breath, then continued: "I know that everybody is just trying to protect me, but I'm sick of it and I want to know what's going on. You better tell me or I'm going to do something stupid. Like going to that casino place on my own and trying to find out what Herman has to do with them. You know me well enough to know that I'm stubborn and stupid enough to do it."
"Set!" Geb's voice held a warning.
"You owe me." He hoped that he was right in his assumptions about Geb knowing about Li.
"I owe you?"
"You didn't tell me about Li. He's lived here for the past three years and you didn't tell me."
"Oh. That."
Set's fingers dropped the pencil and he pushed his fingernails in the soft flesh of his palm. So he had known. Bastard. "Yes. That. So what's it going to be?"
A sigh was carried over the wire. "Will you stay put?"
"Yes."
"You won't give me any more grief about me knowing about Li's arrangement or even mention it?"
"I won't ever mention this again."
"Promise?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die." Set sat down on the chair before the desk.
"Okay. But you better remember your promise," Geb said. "So… to get you up to date: The guy who messed with my car and the one that drove the car that ran me off the road are on Herman's payroll. We can prove it. And Li discovered that Herman gambled away all of his money and he owes big sums of it to the collector -- and not just anyone; he owes it to the Golden Palace's owner."
"To the mafia?"
"Don't interrupt me."
"Sorry." If that was true… the rumours about that guy… Herman must be really desperate.
"Now, we are not really sure how that is connected with the attempts on my life, but we did discover that Herman has been cooking the books. Helen's still going over them, trying to find out how much money's missing. And that's about all."
"Oh. What about those men? Wouldn't it be more logical to try to get rid of Helen, not you?"
"Yes, it would be more logical, but you said it yourself - it's the mafia. Who knows what's going through their minds?" Geb said. "Well, Li says they have Herman in their clutches and are holding him tight."
"Oh." Set tapped his finger on his chin. It didn't make sense. Why Geb?
"By the way, how did the confrontation go?"
"What?"
"How loud did you yell?" Geb asked. When Set was still quiet, he added: "At Li, stupid, when you found out."
"Oh." Set slumped in the chair. He had yet to go through that. "I didn't yell."
"Yeah, right." Geb chuckled on the other side of the line. "I know you, Set. Don't lie to me."
"I'm not. I haven't confronted him. Yet." Set bent down, he leaned his elbows on his knees and held the receiver tightly to his ear.
"Not yet! What happened to you? Knowing you, you should have had a majestic fit, yelling what kind of bastard he was also adding a kick in the shin and whimpering how unfair the whole thing was."
Was he really like that?
"Set?"
"Set?" Geb repeated. "Are you alright?"
"I don't know. He's mad at me."
"He'll get over it. Don't worry."
"Maybe, but - I still don't know what to do."
For a couple of moments there was silence on the other side of the wire before Geb spoke: "What do you want?"
What did he want? Set looked down at the wooden floor. What did he want? "I want to forgive him, to put everything that happened in the past behind us, but I don't know if I can."