"Where the fuck is Patrick!?" Kenneth 'Ken' Wu echoes after his fifth time counting heads. 

"I told you he's out doing deliveries!" the Indian guy codenamed as Colby shouts back.

"Why the hell is he doing deliveries!?"

"He's dumb, that's why!"

While this chaos unfolds within the cramped back room of Dash Delivery Service tiny little headquarters, Lenny stands in stunned silence with his back glued to the brick wall. In his hand is the crumpled printout Seventh has handed to all of them. And, to Lenny's horror, the pink-haired girl has also taken the command in this room - over Kai's team of Crows, in the building Kai's rented.

The utter disrespect she has committed fails to break the spell struck over Lenny, however. The report on Ivanov Phillips that Seventh compiled for them is extremely convincing - enough to put Lenny into a minute-long state of shock. Between this and Kai's ramble over a serving of greasy burger, it is obvious which one is more compelling.

"Because Eighth is not here at the moment," Seventh starts at the head of the room, "I assume you have everything he'd like the room to know. Is there anything you'd like to add?"

That question, Lenny realizes, is directed at him. He looks at the expectant faces in the room before shaking his head like an idiot, "N-no".

"I assumed so," Seventh says. Lenny silently curses at her.

On the white board behind her are photographs stuck with doubletape. Between them are lines drawn with a red marker; each labeled with different titles depending on their relationship with the photograph of Benjamin Larks dead center on the board. On the left are 3 pictures of his ex wives. The first has remarried, with the picture of her new husband next to her; the second has moved to The United States to pursue her dream as an artist; the third one has passed away due to illness.

A red line is drawn from the right of Benjamin's photo to a space with a large question mark. The name Dmitri Phillips is written under the mark, and a smaller label is written under it. It says: 'Larks Internationale Executive'. The line between Benjamin and Dmitri is labeled, 'Employer/employee'. According to the printout, the half American half Russian man is one of Benjamin's most trusted people in his private security firm. Very little information can be gathered about him, but it is said that you'd often see him around the Larks Patriarch whenever the man is in his more private business affairs.

Next to Dmitri is a grainy picture of a young Russian woman that seems to be cropped from a bigger picture of her with a group of people. Under her picture is the name Evelina Phillips. The printout states that she is Dmitri's younger sister. There is also a record of her being admitted to a Russian mental hospital from 15 years ago due to a case of schizophrenia. There is no known record of a husband nor a lover, but there is a copy of a birth certificate with her listed as the mother.

Her son, whose picture is printed larger than everyone else's and is put below hers, is Ivanov Phillips.

His picture is as grainy as his mothers; except in his, it was obviously cropped from someone else's picture and Ivanov Phillips was standing far behind this person's shoulder and he wasn't even facing the camera. Clad in a famous Italian private school uniform, he should be atleast ten years younger than he is today in that picture.

The printout has attachments after attachments about how Ivanov Phillips attended various schools and stayed in many places around the world as a teenager with Benjamin Larks listed as his sponsor and foster parent. Currently, Ivanov should be in his late twenties to early thirties and he is employed as an agent in Larks International. 

"Yes, why would Benjamin Larks be so involved with the schooling, travels, and living expenses of the nephew of his employee. Sure, you can say, perhaps he feels a connection through the comradery he shares with his employee, but with the idea of a possible heir in mind, this guy - Ivanov Phillips - would be the likeliest guy, because," Seventh takes off the cap of the red marker in her hand. 

A thick red line is then drawn between Benjamin Larks' and Evelina Phillips' photographs, curving above the question mark for Dmitri Phillips, and is labeled 'Secret Lovers??'. Likewise, Ivanov Phillips photo is also connected by a red line to Benjamin's, labeled as 'Father/Son??'. Thus, this puts a large circle around Ivanov's picture, with a large 'Larks' Heir' written under it. "My guess is that Benjamin Larks is Ivanov's father".

This is a scenario completely unforeseen by Lenny. And who is he to compare against a Top 8 member in terms of investigation?

Although, it is notable that he also starts his investigation based on Kai's hypothesis. 'Come on, Kai,' Lenny secretly looks down at his postman bag, where the photographs he printed of Gregory Drake, Brianna 'Starling' Drake, and, most importantly, Michelangelo Drake, are stashed, 'Surely your theory holds some truth in them'. 

But Kai is not there in the room to defend his thesis, and he won't be for the next days, weeks, or even months. With Seventh joining in the investigation, she will easily take over the operation. And if this theory of hers proves to be true...

Then her hold over the Grim title will stand uncontested.

"Impressive, so our Benjamin is hiding an heir AND a lover all along. These documents are all in public records and no one said anything about it," Moon, the only female Crow in the team, comments on the records of Larks' sponsorship towards Phillips.

"This dude's elusive," Colby chimes in, "Sneaky like a slimy snake. No more records of him exists after he returned from America". The round man tilts his head to look at Lenny, "How about you? How did Eighth find this Phillip guy?"

"Uhh...," Lenny's eyes turn all large and round at the question, "He uhh, he said the same things she said," he opens his palm to the direction of Seventh, "Must be from all those records he found of him being Larks' foster son, duhh". Truth is, Ivanov Phillips' name has never popped up in their conversations.

"Obviously," Seventh pipes, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Eighth has a keen eye for these. Among us Top 8, he is the best at noticing things and finding unnoticable details. He has a weakness towards sentimentalities, however".

At that, Lenny's heart skips a beat. Does she know about Kai's little brother?

"I know he's skipping this meeting to play this silly guitar of his near the fountain," Seventh remarks.

'Oh'.

Lenny straightens up, "He trusts I got everything sorted. That's what leaders do, correct? Trust their teammates to do their job?"

There is an unreadable expression on Seventh's heart-shaped face. Whether it's annoyance or disappointment, Lenny is unsure, but his train of thought is disrupted by Colby's next question.

"So does Eighth said anything else about where we can find this guy? Because even if we scouts the area around Larks International's HQ, I doubt we'll see him. Everyone there is careful about being seen exiting the building, and do you know how many Russians work there? I don't think we'll find this guy among many, especially when we only have a picture of him when he was like, what, 16?"

"We know his main features," Seventh is quick to answer, "Tall, lean, always dressed in a dark suit. It's hard to see in this picture, but I heard he has this cold gaze and deep set gray eyes. He has dark colored hair, but even that can change if he follows Buangan City's fashion trends". This came from a girl with pink hair; and, yes, Buangan locals love to color their hair.

"One thing I heard about him though, is that he always has two dangle earrings on his right ear".

*

Ivan's two earrings make a rattling noise on his right ear as he sneezes next to the head of security of Sky Lounge and Club. The head security, a buff man in his late 30s, snorts, “You gotta watch out; your new kid might be talking shit about you”.

Ivan, whilst wiping his nose, frowns at the man, “What do you mean?”

The other man points his chin to the direction of Li, who is surrounded by the club's security staff - all of which are from Mr. Larks’ own private security firm. Ivan's mentee is moving his hands animatedly as he seemingly shares an exciting tale. The rest of the men watch him with a look of awe on their faces. Once in a while, they would steal a glance at Ivan’s direction.

Scoffing, Ivan approaches the group.

“Ivan! We’re just talking about you!” Not even trying to hide it, Li exclaims to him with a subtle hop as he turns to face Ivan - a gesture that somehow reminds Ivan of a puppy greeting its owner. “I was just telling the boys how you were sent by Mr. Larks to study in Italy with the Young Master and how you spent your teen years with him around the world!”.

The club's team of security, all tough looking boys you wouldn’t dare to look in the eye for too long, direct their gaze towards Ivan. And just like that, their eyes grow large like a starstruck fan. Ivan cringes mentally. “It was work”.

“But, getting paid to travel and study in elite schools in Italy and the US? That’s so cool! Plus, you get to know the future boss, bro! You could be his next wing man, just like your uncl -!”

Ivan sternly hushes the younger man. After all, that tiny little detail of ‘the future boss’ is still a secret. It shouldn’t be said so loudly in a public space, even though there are still no one in the club this early in the day.

When he looks around to check if anyone hears Li’s stupid ramble, he ends up finding those awestruck gazes from the security staff again, making him feel a little embarrassed. “As I said, it was work. It was not something I consider cool or anything like that. I was employed by Mr. Larks to watch over his son by going to his school with him. It’s just part of the job,” he explains calmly. Mr. Larks paid for all of his expenses and even put his own name as Ivan’s foster parent for that. Angelo, on the other hand, always had his legal father’s name in his documents; Gregory Drake.

“I like to think it's pretty cool”.

They all turn their heads toward the source of the voice. Slightly behind their little group, Michelangelo Drake stands with a glass of drink in hand. The boys square up and put their hands behind their back before giving a low nod as a salute to the young boss. “Boss!” They say loudly in chorus.

Angel raises a hand, “Please relax. I’m joining the chat to cool down, please don’t be formal”. As he says that, the boys slowly loosen their posture though they do so with hesitation. Angel, however, proceeds to give Ivan’s shoulder a mock punch, “What do you mean it’s all work? Are you trying to say we didn’t have fun at all back in those days?”

“I-I was -”

“Here, boys, I have a picture to show you,” with his free hand, Angel takes his phone from the inside pocket of his navy slim suit jacket. He does a series of quick taps on the screen before showing a picture to everyone, “See that face? That was him in high school”.

Ivan can’t help but feel curious. He walks around the group to have a look. 

It is a picture of a teenage boy in the same red school uniform both Ivan and Angelo wore when they studied in that private school in Italy. The boy was posing on the steps leading to the school’s main building, with a lot of other students loitering about in the background as they start their day. The boy's smile was wide, displaying his blue braces which somehow amplifies the redness of his acne. If observed closely, you'd spot 16-year-old Ivan just behind the boy's shoulder on the left side of the photo. And if you squint further, you’d find that young Ivan was actually smiling.

But of course he was, because just steps ahead of him in the picture, you’d find the sight of younger Angelo, mouth open as he tells Ivan a tale. Together in that picture, they both appear so carefree and happy.

"Oi, you should have that boy delete the picture," Ivan scolds lightly. Angelo clucks his tongue.

"No one cares about a picture of some kid from years ago, Ivan". The guy has the gal to roll his eyes cheekily at Ivan.

“Your parents -”

“Would be stupid to think that someone who magically suspects dad is hiding an heir would start their search from some silly picture a mother took of their son’s first day in school to find me in the background. Calm down, that won’t happen,” Angel finishes his drink and extends the hand with the phone towards Li, "You guys wanna have a closer look? Here".

The next few minutes is of the boys grabbing the phone and passing it around before Ivan could stop it. Amid that chaos, Angel prances away, something about getting more drinks for himself. Ivan does his best to wrestle the boys for Angel's mobile phone before making it his mission to find the owner. He walks past the lush seating in the club's main lounge and slips into the club's hidden hallway. At the end of that hallway, is the heavy double door leading to Angel's office.

Ivan enters the room and closes the heavy door behind him. The room's only source of light at the moment is the large window situated behind the large desk, creating a shadow over the face of the person standing in the middle of the room with his back leaning to the desk and a hand holding the glass of whisky to his mouth.

"What are you thinking just handing your phone off like that!?" Ivan scolds, completely disregarding that something is definitely off.

Angel does not rush. He takes his time sipping his drink. "Is there any call for me?"

Interrupted mid-scolding, Ivan blinks, "On your phone? No".

"Messages?"

"No".

"Then why the fuck do you bother returning it to me?"

A shiver runs down Ivan's spine. For one, Angel does not curse. Two, that gaze that opens up amid the darkness over his face - they are that of a predator to a prey; steely and chilling. This is not the angelic persona Michelangelo is infamous of. This is the evil that he neatly keeps under that kind friendly farce.

Angel chuckles coldly as he puts a palm over his face, "Ivan, you have no idea how much I hate the sight of that phone right now," his voice is a few notch lower, almost like the growl of a wild animal, "No 'Good night', no 'I love you', no nothing. He could leave a message telling me to jump over a cliff and I would happily do so, if only to hear that voice again".

"W-what are you talking about!?" Ivan's lower jaw trembles in terror. Who in the world would have such a power over the sole heir to the greatest weapon enterprise in Asia and a future king to Buangan City's underworld!? 

"I shouldn't have purchased roses - that is so below his tastes. I am but a man, dumb and clueless -"

Angelo continues on and on with his drunken rant, but Ivan was barely listening. He didn't even catch the 'he' in Angelo's lengthy monologue, instead coming to the conclusion that this is all the fault of a heartless woman. In fear, Ivan steps back til his back hits the wall and he utters that one name with trembling voice. It has to be her.

"Wifey".

*

To be Continued.