Page 72 of Damian & Jun: Episodes 5-8
“Can we?”
Damian nodded. “Émeric suggested it. She had a wonderful time there this summer.”
Jun cradled Artemis. “I’d like that.”
The cat was warm. And he was cold.
“I’m going to pack our clothes. Can you get your music? I was going to bring Téméraire and Bear.”
Jun’s lips twitched toward a smile. “Will Téméraire fit?”
“He’ll fit.”
Damian
Jun was quiet as they prepared to leave. Émeric put Artemis in a harness with a leash and carried her down to the car. There was a carrier for her, but she was prone to throwing up in it. With just a leash, she could very happily watch the world rush by for hours. She jumped in Jun’s lap as soon as he sat down in the car and put her paws on his shoulder so she could see past him out the windows. Jun stroked her back, looking down at her fondly. This had been a good call. His wolfling looked like he was coming back to himself.
Cedric joined their driver, a new hire named Zia. Once they started driving, Cedric went to put up the partition. It would give them privacy and mean they didn’t have to keep quite as much control over Artemis. Damian leaned forward to delay him.
“We should all have dinner once we’re well out of the city, somewhere quiet. I’ll have a VA text you an address.”
“Sure thing, boss.” Cedric gave Damian a thumbs-up and finished raising the partition. Damian sank back against his seat and looked to Jun. Jun had a hat on, one of Damian’s, and he was watching the streets pass by from under the brim.
Damian offered his hand. Jun took it.
“Where are you?”
Jun’s lips twitched. He turned away from the window. “Here, with you.”
“And your head?”
“Everywhere.” Jun smiled, stress in the lines of his face.
Damian squeezed Jun’s hands. “You were perfect today.”
“I did what I do. It was a different kind of performance but still a performance.”
“You never mentioned that the man you fought was the chief of police. That was genius.”
Jun frowned. “Why?”
“Because if they charge you with murder now, they have to navigate the story that the man you struggled with was a criminal.”
Jun blinked slowly, his hands continuously stroking Artemis, who was now plastered against him, nose to the window. “I didn’t plan that. You said to tell the story, and the person asking questions said to just state it as it happened. So I did. I only knew it was the chief of police based on interactions before the date they asked for. And they never asked if I recognized him.”
“The Seoul police did ask for that question to be made, but Mr. Su vetoed it.”
“Because he doesn’t want me to accuse him?”
“I’m not sure. Probably. But now he’s in the middle.”
Jun nodded.
Damian looked out the window. For all his training and experience, his specialty lay in contract law and international affairs. He’d taken classes and read criminal cases in South Korean law, but he wasn’t an expert. Yun had added a criminal defense attorney to his team, so Jun was covered, but no one was offering up a guess yet as to the outcome. There was more than the law in play.
The added complication that Jun likely couldn’t just revive his US citizenship without bringing a criminal case against his biological father only added to everything. They needed more resources especially if they wanted to grab evidence for the identity theft case against Bak Sahyuk before he realized they were onto him. He might already be notified. It somewhat depended on whether or not anyone present at the recording spoke of Jun’s second citizenship to someone who would tell him.
They ate at a roadside diner, not the best food but comfort food. No one bothered them about bringing Artemis in with them, but then again, her carrier looked like a nice handbag. Zia and Cedric joined them, and Cedric chatted with the waitress.
