Fair Trade

“I’m scared, so can you stop taking your time? Sei… just as you are afraid of Guilio Parenti, I am afraid of you. I do not quite understand what you mean by coming here.”

“Your gold bar has appeared.”

Sei knew that only a low, precise tone would have the desired effect. So Sei continued, her gaze fixed on Lily, who was tipping the beer can, “And that gold is now in the mafia’s hands.”

With a sound, a spray of beer spewed out. Lily, with her torso bent, wiped the beer off her lips and asked with a look of astonishment, “Mafia!! Did you just say the mafia has my gold?”

“Yeah. That’s why I came to you. I want to know what happened.”

“Shit, it’s not Guilio Parenti’s people, right?”

Her reaction was strange. It seemed to Lily that whose hand held the gold bar was more important than whether or not her gold bar was present.

Sei leaned against the sofa, arms folded, and recorded Lily’s reaction in her mind.

“No. If it were Guilio, I wouldn’t have come here to see you.”

“Then who has it?”

“I’m in front of you because I don’t know that, all right? Lily… I’m asking you seriously. Is it you or not?”

At that, Lily opened her eyes and sharply denied it.

“Sei! Don’t talk nonsense. When I was caught by the FBI, none of my damn clients came forward. That’s why I handed over all the information I had to the FBI. Without a grain of salt, everything!”

Lily, who strutted, took out a cigarette on the cabinet and bit it and lit it up. She must have been quite agitated as it caught fire after several failures. If, as Lily said, the reason for her release was because she gave up everything, then Sei was convinced of Lily’s innocence.

But if it were true, Lily White’s act of joining hands with the FBI was nothing short of a betrayal. It wouldn’t be strange if she lost her life one day without any suspicion.

Lily told her in an extremely nonchalant tone that was why she became a celebrity.

If she lost her life in a mysterious accident, the public would dig into this matter and get to the bottom of things.

Though the intentions may be different, Lily also chose this job to live.

“Then what is it? The production date was definitely recent. It’s not something you made?”

“No matter how much you say so, it’s not me. If it’s dated as you say, the FBI is the only one who can make it, all right?”

Lily, who snuffed out the shortened cigarette butt into the ashtray, stared at Sei’s face as she rubbed her forehead.

“By the way, those earrings are pretty.”

Sei replied, fiddling with her ruby earrings, at the sudden compliment, “Do you want them?”

“Oh, come on… Sei, have you lost your eye for jewelry? What’s the point of having a good hard drive if the software is complete crap.”

Lily smiled and continued, staring into her face.

“Who made them? They’re very well-made…”

Lily reached out and fiddled with Sei’s earrings.

Just as she expected, Sei was able to see through her true nature. She knew it. She grinned at her and grabbed Lily’s wrist.

“You answer me before I tell you. Who was the FBI that was in charge of you at that time?”

“… Gavin Smith.”

“Gavin Smith?”

“I won’t answer you twice. It was a man named Gavin Smith. He is also an elite member of the DEA. I gave you my answer, so you tell me. Whose work is this?”

Sei, who let go of Lily’s hand, reluctantly opened her mouth.

“Red Mafia.”

“… What?”

“Red Mafia. That’s Yuri Petrov.”

She felt like she heard a silent scream in her head. She looked at Lily, who turned blue and stepped back one step at a time.

“Your face just sold you out.”

Lily’s knees buckled. Lilly, who was staggering, barely stood on the window frame and pulled at her rich blond hair.

“But don’t worry. What they want now is proof that the gold bar has nothing to do with the Petrovs. But why would the FBI…”

Something mysterious kept bothering her. Sei had a hunch that Lily knew something. Pressing her stiff eyelids with both hands, Sei warned Lily for the last time.

“Anyway, Lily, you have to be careful. The FBI is using your method. Now there will be people who know who you are. But I don’t think that’s a good thing. So you should come with me.”

“Where?”

“New York. Actually, I have a favor to ask of you.”

This was Sei’s main point. Lily seemed to be in agony at this point. But Sei was sure she had figured out how dangerous the situation was.

She slung her backpack over her shoulder and stood up. Maybe the thieves who’ve been to her home twice were all FBI…

Sei calmly considered all options. Meanwhile, Lily, who just finished thinking, held out an empty paper and pen on the table and said, “Not right now. Write down your address and go. Then I’ll stop by before your hair turns white.”