A New Beginning

by Mark David Abbott

  “Good morning, Amira.” Adriana looked over at John, a bemused expression on her face.

  “Nice shirt,” John winked and held up his coffee mug. “Coffee? Amira made us a pot.”

  “Yes, please. Thank you, Amira. Did you sleep all right?”

  “Yes, Ma’am.” She released Adriana’s hand and rushed back to the kitchen to pour her a cup of coffee. “Milk, sugar, Ma’am?”

  “Yes, please and call me Adriana. Ma’am makes me feel old.”

  “Okay, Ma’am. Oooops, sorry,” she giggled, and John and Adriana grinned back.

  John picked up the plate of fruit and moved toward the dining table. “Come, let's have breakfast and decide what to do today.”

  The three of them sat down at the table, Amira waiting for John and Adriana to take some fruit before helping herself. They ate quietly for a few minutes, enjoying the sweet mango, papaya, and guava. John dabbed at his mouth with a napkin, then spoke up.

  “I think, Amira, it’s safer if you stay in the apartment for a few days. The police might be looking for you, and until we work out what to do, it’s better we don’t get them involved.”

  Amira nodded solemnly, her mouth still full of fruit.

  John placed his hand on Adriana’s. “Perhaps you can get Amira a few things to make her more comfortable, some clothes, toiletries maybe?”

  “Sure.” Adriana smiled at Amira. “Leave it to me.” She turned back to John. “I need to pop into the office today to pick up a file, so I’ll grab some things then.”

  “Cool.” John cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. “And, ah, you’ll come back here tonight?”

  “Yes, if that’s okay.”

  “Yes, yes, of course.” John’s face colored, and he jumped up. “Let me get some more coffee.”

  Amira looked down at her plate, a trace of a smile curling the edges of her mouth.

  39

  Police General Paween Thawornsiri glared at the security guard standing to attention in front of him.

  “What do you mean, you didn’t see her leaving?”

  The man said nothing, just stared at a space just over the General’s left shoulder.

  “And you were on duty last night?”

  The guard nodded, his eyes still averted.

  “What kind of security are you? You should be ashamed of yourself.” He turned to look back at Hassan leaning against the doorframe of the guardhouse. He switched to English. “He knows nothing. He didn’t see her leave.”

  “Fuck,” Hassan cursed. “What about the cameras?”

  “I’ll get him to check that now.” General Paween turned back to the guard and issued instructions in Thai.

  The man rushed over to the desk and sat down, entering commands into the keyboard. General Paween and Hassan moved around to where they could get a better view of the screen.

  “What time did you leave the apartment yesterday?” Paween asked Hassan.

  “Around four.”

  “Rewind to four p.m. yesterday,” Paween instructed the guard. “We will watch from there.”

  “Kup,” the guard nodded and typed onto the keyboard.

  The three men watched as the screen came to life, the time clock in the corner changing slowly.

  “Fast forward, this will take forever,” barked Paween.

  The guard increased the speed of the playback, and they watched the mundane coming and going of the residents. Suddenly, Hassan called out, “Stop.”

  The guard stopped the playback, and Hassan leaned into the screen and peered at the western couple entering the building in the company of a Thai lady in a business suit. He frowned.

  “What is it?” asked Paween.

  “No, nothing,” Hassan shook his head and stood back. “Carry on.”

  The guard continued fast forwarding.

  “Stop.” Paween pointed at the screen. “Is that her?”

  Hassan leaned in. “Yes.”

  “Keep playing,” Paween instructed the guard.

  They stood as they watched Amira leave the lift and walk across the lobby. She was alone. She pushed open the lobby door, walked out into the street, and turned right. Paween straightened up. He looked at Hassan who was frowning at the screen.

  “She left on her own. It doesn’t appear she had any help.”

  Hassan said nothing, just nodded slowly, still staring at the screen.

  “She had no bags. Just the clothes she was wearing. She can’t get far.”

  Hassan nodded, still silent.

  “Do you have a photo of her?”

  Hassan looked up. “No.”

  Paween thought for a moment, spoke to the guard in Thai, then looked back at Hassan.

  “I’ve told him to make a screenshot of her from the security camera. It’s not ideal, but it will have to do. I’ll get an alert out to the local police.”

  Hassan sighed and looked back at the screen which was still playing.

  “Wait.” He leaned into the screen. “Stop it there.”

  Paween moved closer and peered at the picture of a tall, fit-looking, western man crossing the lobby. He appeared to have a rolled-up plastic bag under his arm.

  “Who is it?”

  Hassan stared at the screen. “Someone I met before.”

  “Does he live here?”

  “No.”

  “Do you think there is a connection?”

  “I don’t think so,” Hassan shook his head slowly. “Probably a coincidence.” He stood back. “Can you ask the guard to make a copy of the video? I want to have a look at it again in my own time.”

  Paween nodded and instructed the guard.

  “Leave it to me. I’ll get the local police to look for her, but…” He shrugged his shoulders. “She could be anywhere by now. Bangkok is an easy place to disappear. Anyway, with no money or passport, she won’t have much of a future. She will probably end up giving hand jobs in massage parlors.” He placed his hand on Hassan’s shoulder. “If I was you, I would forget about her. There’s plenty more where she came from,” he grinned. “A new shipment is arriving next week. You can take your pick.”

  40

  It was late morning by the time Adriana went to her place, changed, then headed to her office. She worked from home or a café most days, but the publishing office fielded calls for her, took bookings, and doled out assignments. She’d been researching the influx of Rohingya refugees a few months previously, but as no-one in the magazine was interested in publishing anything serious, she had filed the information away and forgotten about it. Now, some of the contacts she had made during her research might come in useful deciding what to do with Amira.

  The publisher’s office was at the Ratchadamri end of Sukhumvit Road, so she took the BTS Sky Train the five stops to Chit Lom Station, then descended to ground level. She paused beside the Erawan Shrine, standing on the edge of the crowds paying homage to the four-headed golden statue of Brahma. Adriana was not a religious person, but she closed her eyes and said a brief prayer for Amira’s protection. They needed all the extra help they could get. Opening her eyes, she walked past the vendors selling incense and flowers and declined the offer to release captured birds from a cage. She certainly wouldn’t encourage that practice by paying money. She shook her head. The things people did in the name of God.

  Turning left down Ratchadamri, she walked past the Grand Hyatt before turning left again down the Soi. Just past the Marriott Courtyard Hotel on the right, she entered the Royal Gold Tower, waved a greeting at the security guard, then took the lift to the fifteenth floor. Pushing open the entrance door to Millennium Publications, she smiled at the receptionist.

  “Sawasdee kaa, Khun Kitty.”

  The young girl on reception smiled back, exposing a row of pink braces across her teeth.

  “Sawasdee kaa, Khun Adrianaaa,” she replied, drawing out the A’s in her name. “How are you? You not come to office for long time.”

  Adriana paused beside the counter. “No, Khun Kitty, I’v
e been working from home. I came to pick up a file. Any messages for me?”

  “Kaa. A man has phoned many times this morning, asking if you are here, but he won’t leave his name or number.”

  “Hmmm,” Adriana frowned. “Strange. Thai or Farang?”

  “He sounds like Farang. He cannot speak Thai.”

  Adriana bit her lip, and her fingers drummed the reception counter top as she thought. Could it be Hassan? Was she being paranoid? Maybe, but the timing was suspicious.

  “Okay, if he calls again, just say I am away on assignment and ask him for a name and number, and I will call him back.”

  “Okay kaa,” Kitty nodded, a serious look on her face. “Is everything okay, Khun Adriana?”

  “Yes, yes,” Adriana smiled. “Nothing to worry about. I’ll just get the file and go.”

  Ten minutes later, Adriana walked out of the building, the file in a brown envelope tucked into her handbag. As she looked both ways, then walked across the Soi, a man stepped out of the lobby and onto the footpath. He pulled out a mobile phone and made a call, his eyes following Adriana up the street.

  41

  John rubbed his face in frustration. Yet another dead end. He had been calling government departments and refugee agencies all morning, to no avail. The problem was Amira was not a refugee. She wasn’t fleeing a war zone or religious or racial persecution. As far as everyone was concerned, she was an economic migrant. She had come to Thailand for financial reasons, to find a better life. When there were already unemployed people in Thailand, why would the government help her? The fact she had suffered abuse at the hands of Hassan didn’t really matter in official eyes when she wasn’t supposed to be in the country in the first place. John shook his head. Every call he made ended at a dead end. He didn’t know what to do next. Hopefully, Adriana was having more luck.

  John looked at his watch. She had mentioned contacts she had in a file at her office, and it wouldn’t be long before she was back at his apartment. The anticipation of seeing her again gave him butterflies in his stomach. He breathed out and looked across the room as Amira laughed out loud. She was sitting on the floor in front of the sofa, watching a Hindi language serial on the TV. It was the first time he had heard her really laugh. He grinned and picked up the phone again. There had to be an organization who could help her.

  42

  It was around seven when John’s entry-phone rang, and he buzzed Adriana in. John had expected her earlier and was puzzled why she was arriving so late. He had called her, but his calls went to voicemail.

  Adriana walked in, her face flushed with the heat, and her normally tidy hair tied up in a messy bun on top of her head. She dumped her bag on the floor beside the door and flopped down on the sofa with a sigh as John and Amira looked on.

  “Tough day?” John asked.

  “You could say that.” Adriana kicked off her shoes, leaned her head back against the sofa, and closed her eyes.

  Amira fetched a glass of chilled water from the kitchen. “Ma’am,” she said and passed the glass to Adriana before sitting cross-legged at her feet.

  Adriana opened her eyes and smiled. “Thank you, Amira.” She took a sip, then looked over at John who was still watching her, his forehead creased with the trace of a frown.

  “I think I’ll need something a little stronger, John.”

  John nodded, gave a half smile, and walked over to the kitchen. Pulling out the bottle of Botanist, he fixed two large gin and tonics and returned to the sofa.

  “Here you go.” He passed the glass to Adriana, then sat down in the armchair as she took a long drink.

  “Ahhh, I needed that.”

  John sipped his drink as he watched her, waiting for her to say more. She took another sip, then placed the glass down on the side table and looked first at Amira, then John.

  “I think I’m being followed.”

  43

  John sat forward in his seat and set his drink on the table beside him. “What do you mean?”

  Amira looked from one to the other, a startled look on her face. “Hassan?”

  Adriana gave her a reassuring smile. “No, not Hassan. I don’t know who.”

  “Okay, start from the beginning. What happened?”

  “Well, I went to the office and Kitty…”

  “Who is Kitty?”

  “Our receptionist. She said a man had been calling and asking if I was in the office and wouldn’t leave his name or number.”

  “Go on,” John nodded, still staring at her intently.

  “So, I left the office and was catching the BTS back to Phrom Phong. I had a feeling someone was staring at me. When I looked up, a man at the other end of the carriage looked away.”

  “You’re a beautiful woman. Men stare at you all the time.”

  “No, this was different,” Adriana shook her head and took a sip of her drink. “He wasn’t looking at me like that. So, I got off the train at Asok, swapped platforms, and caught the BTS back toward National Stadium.” She fixed John in her gaze. “John, the same man was on the train with me.”

  John sat back in his chair and pursed his lips. After a moment, he asked, “Thai or Farang?”

  “Thai.”

  “Did he follow you back here?”

  “No, this is the good bit.” She reached for her glass and took a long drink before continuing. “I got off at Chidlom, walked through the Grand Hyatt, and took a taxi from the main entrance. I got out in Silom, then took a motor-cy to Lumpini Park. I walked into Lumpini Park and sat on a bench for a while but couldn’t see any sign of him. So, I crossed the park to the other side, took another motor-cy to Asok, walked through the mall at Terminal 21, then finally another motor-cy here. There is no way he could have followed me.”

  “I’m impressed,” John grinned. “If you ever tire of journalism, there’s always a career for you in the CIA.”

  “Let me fix you another drink.” He stood and took Adriana’s now empty glass from her hand. “You’ve earned it.” John moved across to the kitchen and poured another generous measure of Botanist into the glass.

  Amira spoke up, “Weren’t you scared?”

  “No, Amira,” Adriana smiled. “Not scared, but I don’t want whoever’s following me to know where I live.” She looked over at John in the kitchen. “Or where John lives.” Leaning forward she held Amira’s hand. “And if it’s Hassan’s people, I definitely don’t want them to find out where you are.”

  “I think we’ll be okay.” John walked over and passed the fresh drink to Adriana. “Cheers.” He sat back down in the armchair, picked up his own drink, and stared at it. “It would have been very difficult for him to follow you on a motor-cy. The way those guys race through the traffic, it’s impossible to keep up.”

  “Who do you think it was? Hassan’s people?”

  “Unless you’ve been upsetting a lot of other people, I would say yes,” John nodded slowly. “It’s too much of a coincidence. I don’t know how he got onto us so fast.”

  “Will he find us here?” Amira asked, her eyes darting back and forth between John and Adriana, the question meant for both of them.

  “Don’t worry, Amira. We’ll make sure he won’t find you.” He looked across at Adriana. “But we need to be careful from now on. Don’t go back to the office for a while. Maybe tell them you’re out of town?”

  “I told Kitty to say I’m away on assignment.”

  “Good. It’s likely they’ll go back there to keep an eye out for you. We need to work out what to do next.”

  “Did you have any success today?” Adriana asked.

  “Still working on it. I’ll tell you about it later,” John said, giving a slight nod toward Amira who sat silently on the floor, fiddling with the ends of the rug.

  Adriana nodded in understanding. She patted the sofa next to her. “Amira, come sit with me. Tell me about your day, then we’ll order some food.”

  44

  Later, after another takeaway meal, John and Adriana sa
t together on the sofa, John’s arm around her, her head on his shoulder.

  Amira’s door was closed, but they spoke softly as they gazed out the French windows at the city lights.

  “You did well today. I’m really impressed.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Hayes. I’m glad you approve.”

  “It’s probably best you stay here for a while. It won’t take long for them to find out where you live. Someone at the office will talk.”

  “You just don’t want me to leave.”

  John chuckled. “That too.”

  “Are you worried?”

  John didn’t answer immediately, choosing his words carefully. He knew what people could do, so he was worried, but he didn’t want Adriana and Amira to panic.

  “I think we’ll be okay.”

  Neither spoke for a while, Adriana feeling the calm, steady heartbeat in John’s chest, John enjoying the scent of her hair.

  “I had no luck today with the refugee agencies,” John said after some time. “They don’t consider her a refugee, and she isn’t high profile enough for them to bother. They won’t get any publicity, so they would rather spend their funding on someone more high profile.”

  Adriana shifted and turned her head so she could look up at John. “So, what do we do?”

  “I don’t know, but I know a man who might help us. I’ll make some calls tomorrow. I’ve been thinking it might be a good idea if we went away from Bangkok for a while. Somewhere where they won’t look for us.”

  Adriana just gazed at him, her face so close, she could only look at one eye at a time. Eventually, she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips, then pulled back and smiled.

  “I never realized life would get so exciting when I first saw you in that cafe, Mr. Hayes.”

  “Trust me, excitement is overrated. I know from experience.”

  Adriana reached up and pulled his head closer.