Snatched

by Lilburne, Guy

  “Wasn’t he the alcoholic?” Theresa interrupted the Prime Minister’s thought process and his thought process quickly flashed to a cabinet re-shuffle, which wouldn’t include this irksome woman.

  “He certainly was alcoholic, but I am informed by Captain Wattana that he has been sober for the last two years, since just after the birth of his twins.”

  “Arrange it William. It has to be worth a try. Okay, I have a meeting with Her Majesty.”

  “You might want to mention Mr. O’Brien to her, sir. She might even remember him. She awarded him with a medal about fourteen years ago. He was drunk and was sick in the palace!” William grinned a cheeky grin.

  “Yes thank you. I might not mention him today.”

  ~8~

  Danny O’Brien was Irish born and bred. He was now in his mid-fifties. He came from a poor neighbourhood in Dublin. He went to England as a young man with his best friend Bob Malone. They both joined the Metropolitan Police and Bob flew through the ranks and made it to the top. Danny was a natural born detective and for a long time was the best Detective Sergeant anyone had known. It is true he was decorated by the Queen and he was sick in Buckingham Palace. Danny received a medal for his undercover work and for saving the life of his best friend in a shootout with an East End gang. During the shootout Danny had killed the gang boss, ‘Mad’ Micky Harrison. On the day he received his medal from the Queen the gang made a revenge attack and burnt down his home. His wife and two children burnt to death in the fire. Danny was out celebrating his medal with the detectives from his office and never forgave himself for not being there to save his family. He turned to drink and became alcoholic for the last ten years of his police service. He became little more than useless and was sent to Thailand for the last six months of his service to work on a hopeless case that involved the British Embassy. After retirement Danny settled in Thailand and met and married his beautiful Thai wife, Ling. He loved Ling more than he had ever loved anybody and she helped him find the peace and happiness that he needed. Although Danny just wanted to retire and live a quiet life, he kept getting dragged into cases in Thailand. Ling gave birth to his twins. A girl called Kalaya, which means older sister and a boy called Tam, which means twin.

  Danny was dragged into one more case, which meant leaving his new family and he discovered something about his beautiful wife that he didn’t want to know. His drinking continued until the case was over and things settled down. Danny became happy and settled and stopped drinking and smoking when the twins were about six months old. They were now two and a half years old and had taken over both of their parent’s lives. Danny was tough. He was as hard as cast iron, but he had a soft heart. He had even opened up a school on the land where he lived for children that couldn’t afford a proper education. It was his wife’s idea and he could just never say no to Ling. Danny was loving his life now with his family and every morning the twins would come in and jump all over the bed. The day had started and they wanted to play. It was usually about 5:00am.

  They had built a big house next to Ling’s mama’s house on the farmland owned by her mama. Ling’s two younger sisters, Am and Om, lived with Mama. They were now 17 and 15 years old and had turned into beautiful young ladies. Mama had passed down her own good looks to all three daughters. Danny had paid for the girls’ education for the last three years and they were both doing well. Further education and university was beckoning for both of them. Danny had started farming, but it was more of a hobby or pastime than a way to make money. They had some animals on the farm, but they were treated more as pets then working animals. Each day the farm was filled with the sounds of animals and children playing and laughing. Am and Om loved the twins and spent most of their time in Danny’s house, with the girls and mama and any other relatives of Ling that wanted to stop by for a chat, a drink and some food. The house was always busy and filled with chatter and laughter. Danny had a big family now and the tough old Irishman was happy. His piercing blue eyes, which used to stare out from under heavy drunken eyelids, now sparkled with cheeky Irish charm. His old life was long forgotten and his days as a police detective seemed like a lifetime ago.

  Danny was sitting with Ling under the shade of the porch at the front of the house, drinking freshly squeezed orange juice from tall glasses filled with ice. The morning was hot and dry. The twins were playing around the back of the house with Am and Om and one of the kittens that didn’t really want to play, but had no choice in the matter. Danny saw the black Toyota with the blacked out windows driving slowly up the narrow mud track that led to his house and he recognised it straight away as a Thai government vehicle. He had been watching on the news the coverage of the civil war in Myanmar and the kidnap of Prince William.

  ‘They can’t be here for that’ he thought to himself.

  The car stopped. The driver stayed in the vehicle. Only the passenger got out. It was his old friend Captain Wattana. He was carrying a mobile phone and a big brown envelope. The Captain smiled, waved to Danny and gave a very respectful wai to Ling. Ling squealed and jumped up and ran to Gee Wattana and gave him a big hug.

  “Hello p’Gee. I am happy to see you.”

  “Sawadee khrap nong Ling. Where are the twins? They must be big now!”

  “They play. You want drink?”

  “Just water, please.”

  Ling went into the house and Gee sat down next to Danny.

  “Hello my friend.”

  “Jesus! You’re going to ask me to find Prince William, are ya?”

  “You never cease to amaze me Danny. See, you are already one step ahead of me, as always,” laughed the captain.

  “Gee, I don’t know where the feckin prince is and, unless they are hiding him on my farm somewhere, I wouldn’t know where to start looking. The answer is no.”

  “The request has come from your prime minister. He is waiting to speak to you on the phone.”

  “He’s not my prime minister. I’m Irish.”

  “Danny, I think you should listen to what he has to say. He is not asking you to work for nothing!”

  Just then Ling came out with water for the captain and one for the driver. The two men had stopped talking as soon as she appeared.

  “What?” she smiled.

  “The captain here wants me to look for Prince William, says that the British prime minister wants to talk to me on the phone. I’ve already said no.”

  “Darling, you cannot say no. Prince William lovely man and he need your help. If you can help, then you should say yes.”

  “I don’t want to get involved Ling. I don’t want to leave the family and I’m guessing it would mean going into Myanmar and there is a war going on there!”

  “There would be a lot of money paid for any help that Danny can offer” Gee said to Ling, knowing that it would get her on his side.

  “How much” she asked, with her usual beautiful smile.

  “One million English pounds.”

  “Wow! Darling you have to help, even little bit.”

  “We don’t need the money. I have money” Danny protested.

  “Darling, with that sort of money we can make hospital for the village.”

  “We have already built a school and a bridge for the village. They don’t need a hospital.”

  “Yes darling, they need. Have many accident in village and people no money for travel to Udon Thani and no money for pay hospital. Need mak mak!”

  Ling looked at Danny with her big brown almond shaped eyes. The only person in the whole world who Danny could not say no to was his wife. She saw him weakening and knew that now was the moment to strike. She held his hand in hers.

  “Please darling, you do for me?”

  “Jesus!” He looked at Gee. “What’s in the feckin envelope?”

  “I think you need to speak to the prime minister fir
st, Danny.”

  Captain Wattana pushed some buttons on the mobile phone and waited for a reply.

  “Hello sir. I have Danny O’Brien here for you.”

  He passed the phone to Danny. Danny looked at Ling for a last minute reprieve, but he didn’t get one. She nodded her encouragement for him to speak on the phone. He put it to his ear.

  “Hello.”

  “Hello Mr. O’Brien. It’s the Prime Minister here, David….”

  “I know who you feckin are. What do you want?”

  “Okay! I’ll get straight to the point. As you must be aware Prince William has been kidnapped. He was taken during a state visit to Myanmar and we were hoping that you might help to find him.”

  “I don’t really know how I can help you.”

  “Well, a young German man was abducted in Patong and taken into Myanmar. He looks like the prince and we have no doubt that he was used as a decoy. His body was found in a jungle area in the north of Myanmar. We have already had our people go and have a look in Patong but they didn’t come up with anything. We were hoping that perhaps you may want to take a look for yourself.”

  Danny hadn’t liked the idea of going into Myanmar, but he didn’t mind a trip down to Phuket, especially for a million pounds and especially to keep his wife happy. He thought for a moment. The PM waited for his response.

  “Okay. I have two conditions.”

  “And what are they Mr. O’Brien?”

  “One: I don’t know what the exchange rate is at the moment but a million pounds won’t be worth a million pounds when it is paid into my bank account over here, so I want a million pounds worth of Thai baht, and you pay all my expenses during the investigation.”

  “That won’t be a problem. It is only 4:00am over here, but I will make sure the money is paid into your account in five hours’ time, when the banks are open.”

  “Okay, I’ll give you my bank account number……”

  “We already have it Mr. O’Brien.”

  “Why am I not feckin surprised!”

  “What is the second condition?”

  “Two: I want to be kept in the loop. If you know something then I want to know. If you decide that I’m not needed anymore or that I’m barking up the wrong tree, then just tell me. I don’t want to be wasting my time and I don’t want to be a victim of any need to know nonsense.”

  “Okay. I can give you my word on that.”

  “I’ll have a look then, but I can’t promise any results.”

  “You don’t have to make any promises. I know that you are your own man and you work to your own rules. In this case that works for us. Captain Wattana has an envelope for you. Inside, it contains everything we know about the dead German man and the missing prince. There is also a list of phone numbers that you might find useful, including a direct line to the Foreign Secretary. It was his idea actually to get you on board and he will do anything he can to help you with anything you need. Captain Wattana also has a secure mobile phone that you can have to use to call, but I am told that you probably won’t want it!”

  “I’ve had secure mobile phones from the government before. I know what else is in them. So no thanks.”

  “Yes. I thought that might be the case. Okay Mr. O’Brien. Thank you and good luck.”

  The phone went dead. Gee Wattana handed Danny the big brown envelope and Danny took it with a sigh of resignation. He was on another case!

  “I don’t suppose you want to keep the phone?” smiled Gee.

  “No! I feckin don’t!”

  “My phone number is also on the list Danny. You know that you can call me if you need anything. Good luck my old friend.”

  The captain waved them goodbye and was driven off as slowly as they had approached in the black car.

  “Darling, I think you can find the prince.”

  “I don’t, but I’ll have a look!”

  Danny spent the rest of the day reading through the contents of the brown envelope. It contained maps and photographs and copies of documents and intelligence reports stamped ‘Top Secret’. The next morning he flew with Air Asia from Udon Thani down to Phuket. He carried the envelope in his black briefcase. The taxi ride from the airport into Patong brought back memories as the car climbed and dipped over the hills. He had views of the Andaman Sea, shimmering a deep blue under a cloudless sky. Life in an Isaan village was quiet and sedate, but in Patong there always seemed to be an air of excitement and expectation. An expectation of adventure, of fun, of sex! Beautiful girls, dressed in not much, were everywhere. And they were all available, for a price.

  Danny was amazed at how much the place had changed in the couple of years since he had last been there. There were new hotels, new shopping centres, even a new Tiger Disco complex. Danny laughed when he was told that the old one burnt down the night before the new one opened and they received millions on the insurance.

  ‘No surprise there then’ he thought to himself.

  Everything seemed to have changed except the girls. They were different girls of course, younger, but just the same. They looked at the farangs the same way, looking for their next payday. They smiled the same, they waved the same. They dressed and danced the same. They shouted out;

  “Hello welcome”, “Hello hansum man”, “You want drink?”, “Where you go?”, “You want lady?” It was all the same and it made Danny smile.

  He checked into the Holiday Inn Resort on Beach Road. It was one of the best hotels in Patong and the British Government was going to be paying for it. The room was huge and plush and it overlooked the swimming pool. After a shower and a change of clothes Danny took a tuk-tuk to Nanai Road. He was shocked that the tuk-tuk drivers were now charging over 200 baht for a 20 baht ride. Outrageous!

  He stood outside the motorbike shop on Nanai Road and looked the place over before going in. He spoke to the owner, who told him that someone from the British Government had already been and emptied the room. He couldn’t tell Danny any more than he had already said. He didn’t know anything and that was the truth. He gave Danny the key to room number four without much interest and told Danny he could go and look. He then turned back to the little TV set that was perched on a dusty shelf and showing some game show in which everyone seemed to be screaming a lot. Danny walked up the concrete steps, ducking under the bras and pants that were hanging on electric cable strung across the stairways and stepping over countless pairs of ladies shoes. He knew that working girls were living there before he saw one of them come out of her room, naked except for a bright pink G-string, and walk across the landing to a bathroom. She saw Danny walking up the stairs and stopped to give him a wai before she stepped into the bathroom. Danny nodded. She hadn’t bothered to close the door and when Danny walked past she was squatting over the toilet, holding the G-string to one side and urinating. Danny nodded again and walked along the dark landing to room number four.

  Inside there was nothing of interest to Danny. The room had been emptied out except for the furniture. He hadn’t expected to find anything but he wanted to look anyway. There were another three rooms along the landing. Each room was as dingy as the last and each room had four or five bar girls sharing it. Danny knocked on each door and was invited inside. Most of the girls were half asleep and lying naked or nearly naked on mattresses on the floor. They weren’t bothered about Danny seeing them naked, but they were bothered that he was waking them up. However, they were polite and nearly smiling. They all remembered Wolfgang, but didn’t really know anything about him.

  “I give him free blow job in bathroom one day” offered one of the girls, but the information didn’t really help Danny’s case. He thanked them and turned to leave them to return to their sleep.

  “Hey Miss-ture! You want special massage? I can do.”

  “No. I’m grand, thanks.”

&nbs
p; The girl looked into Danny’s eyes. She liked how they sparkled.

  “You have nice eye. Very blue. I like too much,” she smiled.

  “Thanks.”

  “Okay, no special massage. You want blow job?”

  “No, I’m still grand, thanks.”

  On the way out he hired a motorbike from the man downstairs and rode back to his hotel on it. Danny had got the dates that Wolfgang had stayed in the room from the motorbike shop man. He had booked into the room on the 5th and he had gone missing on or around the 12th. He had been in Patong for only one week. It wasn’t much to go on, but it was a time window. Danny knew that he was going to need some help if he was ever going to turn anything up and he knew just the person to help him. He decided that the next day he would visit his old friend Nok at her detective agency, which she had called ‘The Great British Detective Agency’. He didn’t know the address but he had been there before and knew where to find it on a little soi just off Rat-U-Thit Road. It was evening already and he decided to have an early night. He called Ling from the room and spoke to her and the twins before he showered and went to bed. He told Ling that he intended to go and see Nok and Ling told him to say hello for her. He flicked through the TV channels until he found a channel that wasn’t news and wasn’t in Thai. He ended up watching the cartoon network and fell asleep.

  ~9~

  The Foreign Secretary went to visit the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street. He had news from the Syrian President. They held the meeting in the Prime Minister’s private office. The only other person present was the Prime Minister’s legal advisor, who was there just to listen. He would advise the Prime Minister later. They sat on comfortable red leather lounge chairs around the coffee table and were served tea and biscuits. The Foreign Secretary waited until the maid had made a courteous bow and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her, before he started to speak.