Klee Vanishes
Two days later, at the hotel where Kaeya was staying.
"So you're telling me the head of your organization is finally ready to show his face? All this time trading with you and Ireland, I was starting to think this 'Cointreau' of yours was a figment you invented to string me along." Kaeya held his phone to his ear with one hand while raising a glass of wine with the other and taking a sip.
Mm. Still not as good as a Death in the Afternoon.
He sighed inwardly. He'd left in such a hurry back then that he hadn't brought nearly enough wine along, and now the bottle he actually wanted was gone, which was honestly a little depressing.
"You flatter us with the joke, Mr. Kaeya. We would hardly toy with you like that."
On the other end of the line, Bourbon's voice carried a smile, entirely unbothered by the barb hidden in Kaeya's words. They settled on a time and place to meet, and the call ended.
The moment he hung up, the light in Bourbon's eyes dimmed.
For all this time, he and Ireland had been the ones handling communication and the trade with Kaeya; Cointreau had never appeared in person. Ireland, thankfully, was far easier to manage than Bordeaux had been. Over these weeks he'd managed to pass back sporadic batches of material, and he'd even scraped together a few samples of those mysterious drugs for the Public Security Bureau.
But in truth, the haul had been meager. According to what Kazami reported, the documents were missing their critical details — practically useless. And when the drug samples were analyzed, no unusual compounds turned up at all. There was simply no explaining the effects they produced.
He hadn't dared put his people on surveillance around Kaeya, either — the man looked far too sharp for that, and the last thing Bourbon wanted was for him to notice something.
All told, the operation had been nearly fruitless. And now, out of nowhere, came word that Cointreau himself would meet Kaeya to conduct the exchange. Remembering the man's skill and manner from their first encounter, Bourbon felt a faint unease settle over him. He had no idea what variables might enter the equation next.
The appointed day arrived quickly.
Kaeya pulled up at the meeting spot right on time — an abandoned factory.
"You know, could your organization possibly pick a transaction site with marginally better surroundings for once? Except for that first meeting, it's been nothing but dumps like this every single time. It takes forever just to drive out here."
Spotting the two men waiting inside the factory — the same pair he'd grown familiar with over these past weeks — Kaeya couldn't help but grumble. He genuinely had no idea where these Black Organization people kept duging up such remote locations; every round trip ate up half his day.
And he hadn't felt comfortable leaving Klee alone for so long, either. Worried as he was about coming home to find his room gone, he'd had no choice but to take turns foisting her on Lisa, Mona, and the Traveler.
Still — why were there only two of them here now?
"Wasn't Cointreau supposed to come this time? Where is he?" Kaeya asked.
"A place like this sees no visitors. It's safe," Ireland explained. "We'd rather not have any accidents during the exchange. As for Cointreau..."
Bourbon picked up the thread. "He just stepped out to check the perimeter. He should be along any minute."
Almost as if on cue, footsteps sounded from the entrance.
Kaeya turned, and a familiar face slowly came into view.
He stared at Cointreau's face for a long moment. Then, expressionless, he looked away with a click of his tongue.
When the Traveler had told him that her brother also existed in this world, and then he'd considered the codename member named Cointreau who had so abruptly appeared in the organization's ranks — along with the way that man kept deliberately avoiding him — Kaeya had already formed his suspicions. But he'd never actually laid eyes on the man himself, so a sliver of doubt had remained.
After all, while the codename Cointreau had never come up in the original story, the Black Organization was, whatever else could be said of it, a multinational criminal syndicate. There was no way Gin and his handful of codename members were truly all it had.
Still, a man of apparent standing appearing out of thin air — someone the original work had never once mentioned — was undeniably strange. Which was exactly why Kaeya's mind had jumped to the Traveler's suddenly-appeared brother.
Now that his guess was confirmed, the memory of how the Traveler had spent all that time waiting for her brother to contact her made his mood sour. This Cointreau couldn't be bothered to show his face to his own sister, yet he had plenty of leisure to run missions for the Black Organization? The thought left a distinctly unpleasant taste.
"A pleasure. First time meeting you, Mr. Kaeya. I'm Cointreau." Cointreau behaved exactly as though he were meeting Kaeya for the first time — which, in a certain sense, he was — offering a stiff, formal nod by way of introduction.
Then, recalling Kaeya's reaction at the sight of him, he asked, "Do you have some grievance against me, Mr. Kaeya?"
"None at all. I'm just a little annoyed that you're better looking than I am." Kaeya tossed out the excuse at random.
"Then does Bourbon annoy you as well?" Cointreau glanced at Bourbon, then turned back with a smile.
Is he taking a dig at me right now? And besides—
"You think Bourbon is more handsome than me?!" Kaeya sounded genuinely incredulous.
"Well," said Cointreau, "at least the two of you have something in common."
At those words, Ireland couldn't help darting his gaze back and forth between Kaeya and Bourbon, making the comparison — then he leaned in close to Bourbon and whispered, "Relax. I'd say he's a shade darker than you."
A cross of irritation popped up on Bourbon's forehead. Why do you two have to drag me into every conversation?! And I don't recall dark skin being anything to be consoled about in the first place!
Kaeya and Cointreau had both caught the whispered exchange, and Kaeya's expression darkened. He moved to steer past the whole topic and get straight to the transaction.
Once the deal was done, he'd simply go home and tell the Traveler everything about her deadbeat brother. After that, whatever happened between her and this Cointreau was their business.
He rather looked forward to seeing the man's reaction then. Heh.
The two parties completed the exchange smoothly, and Bourbon, seeing nothing go wrong, quietly let out a breath of relief.
So Cointreau hadn't grown suspicious of him. Today's appearance was probably nothing more than a face-to-face with the organization's business partner — no hidden agenda behind it.
But just as the deal wrapped up and Kaeya turned to leave, his phone suddenly rang.
Kaeya stopped mid-step and pulled it out, checking the caller ID — Mona.
A bad feeling hit him instantly. He'd left Klee in Mona's care before heading out today. Surely nothing had happened to her?
The men standing nearby caught the subtle change in Kaeya's face and silently went on alert. Ireland's grip tightened slowly around the case in his hand. "What is it? Has something happened?" he asked, puzzled.
Kaeya didn't answer him.
He answered the call. No one else could hear the voice on the other end — they only saw his expression transform as he listened, before he cried out in shock: "What did you say?! Klee is missing?!"
Bourbon knew Kaeya had a little girl with him; he'd even met her before. Hearing Kaeya's shout, the image of that adorable little girl from the magic show rose unbidden in his mind, and worry stirred in his chest despite himself.
True, the people around Klee had ties to the Black Organization — but she was, in the end, nothing more than an innocent child. No matter what, he didn't want anything happening to her.
Cointreau's expression, meanwhile, turned distinctly complicated.
So Klee's missing... which means exactly who's in danger here, exactly?