Two weeks ago...

Any message for Gigi had been left to collect dust with the other more cryptic notes slipped into the unremarkable P.O. box she kept for those who needed to reach out' she certainly couldn't have clients and enemies (not that the two were always separate categories) showing up on her actual doorstep whenever they wanted something. And while Caroline was on her mind, the news of her sudden return sat unread and unknown for days to Gigi because she had left RhyDin and her mail behind.

When the courier slid the letter into the box Gigi was miles away in a greenhouse much larger than her own. It was better hidden too, obscured from view in its rocky perch just outside the village of Onsaki, not far from the dragon claimed by local legend to be slumbering in the nearby mountain peak. This house belonged to Takeshi Motou " the deceivingly stoic man who had quite rightly branded himself with a surname labeling him as "the source.? Those who dared to dabble in the darker areas of Jenli and its surrounding villages were seven times out of ten sampling from Motou's many products. If drug lords held award ceremonies, Motou would have made the short list for a lifetime achievement award for his ability to branch the yola trade from the Mount Yasuo region into RhyDin and beyond.

Seven times out of ten though meant at least one party was after thirty percent of Motou's market. That fact was the main reason that Gigi was in Motou's greenhouse now, not in a position of authority as she had grown accustomed to in the years she spent in Jenli before her recent return to RhyDin but tied to a chair for the second time in twenty-four hours. At the rate she was going this was becoming a nastier habit than her past addiction to yola.

Gigi jogged after Kentaro, catching up with him as he reached the front of the cart and the two harnessed carabaos pulling it forward at a plodding pace. The thin man steering the cart wore a loose sweatshirt and linen pants. He looked like a living scarecrow straight from a Jenli rice paddy to Gigi.

The wide-brimmed hat on the driver's head shielded him from the sun's beating rays but there was no way he missed the sight of caramel and toasted almond, woman and man, Gigi and Kentaro running right towards him. The carabaos' pace was too slow for the driver to slow down without fully stopping. Kentaro reached him first and whistled once. The driver gave one more lash of the carabaos' broad backs with the reins, holding the leather with one hand and removing his hat with the other.

Kentaro caught hold of the cart first and swung himself up to the driver's bench. Instead of screaming or boxing him between the eyes, the driver coolly slid further to the edge of the bench to make room for Kentaro. Side by side the two men could have been brothers, or at the very least, cousins. The reins were passed over first, then the hat. Kentaro covered his fine hair with the straw accessory and nodded to the driver who worked his way down the side of the cart with a surprising agility.

Dropping down off the cart without falling, the driver made brief eye contact with Gigi as she approached and then passed him. He kept running in the opposite direction. She didn't recognize him. That was nothing new but she always did have to marvel for at least a few seconds over how wide Motou's reach spread and how easily he could obtain new people to fill the shoes left by (or removed from in many cases) the old ones. She tried to take a quick look around the clearing they were cutting through but she only had so much time to execute the next step in the routine setup.

Grabbing onto a rung on the side of the cart she swung herself up to secure her precarious footing on the narrow step beneath the driver's bench.

"Oh, you eat too much today, you weigh us down!" Kentaro snickered, never taking his eyes off the road ahead of him even though he knew exactly where she was. She needed to be quick because the transition from one hired driver to another was meant to be seamless, the difference unnoticed and unremarkable for any one seeing the cart at any point during its route from Mount Yasuo to RhyDin.

"Remind me to kick you in the f**king nuts later." Gigi spit out the threat but didn't make good on it. She was hot-headed but could make the effort to worry about business first, revenge later when the situation called for it. She stretched her arm against the side of the cart. Her fingers pressed around blindly as she needed to hold on so she wouldn't fall. Finally they found the movable panel.

"I'll make sure to do that, little rock monkey." Kentaro took advantage of Gigi's inability to jump him right now for his wisecracks. He knew without looking that she fell quiet for a moment because she needed to concentrate to scale the side of the moving cart and slide herself feet first into the small space left hollow past the open panel. She tucked herself into the snug spot, squished inside the cart next to the valuable shipment of yola that required all the fuss.

"Make sure you go f**k yourself too." She slammed the hatch shut. It was good that it was loud so Kentaro would know she had successfully put herself out of sight to guard the goods. He wasn't convinced he'd have slowed down if he thought she weren't all right and had fallen to the ground to be trampled by the cart's wheels.

Kentaro started whistling loud enough for Gigi to hear inside the close-to-coffin like cart. "This is going to be a long f**king ride." She muttered and tried to make herself comfortable.