by Easton, Don
“Likewise,” replied Jack. “Maybe someday I’ll figure out a way, but right now, are you agreeable to going into Burma?”
“I guess, but what do we tell Sammy?”
“Tell him we’re going on an elephant trek with Lee tomorrow. We’re supposed to be back tomorrow night. Then we’ll say Lee sprung it on us as a test. He’s an operator, he’ll likely know we’re lying, but at least he’ll understand.”
“Yeah, whatever,” replied Laura, acting disinterested.
“Okay, Laura,” said Jack, grabbing her by the shoulders and spinning her around to look at her face. “What gives?”
“Nothing. What are you talking about? I’m fine,” she added defiantly.
“Ever since we came down for dinner, you haven’t been acting yourself. If I’ve done something to make you angry, I want to know. There is enough stress going on as it is. Whatever is bugging you, I want to know.”
Laura sighed and kicked at the sand with her toes. “Sorry, it’s not you,” she replied. “Well, then again, it probably is.”
Jack felt his heart sink. Whatever I did, I never meant to hurt you …
“When I was putting makeup on for supper I saw it,” said Laura.
“Saw what? I waited out on the porch while you got ready. What are you talking about?”
“Grey hair,” sighed Laura, pointing to a place on her scalp.
“A grey hair?” Jack laughed.
“It’s not funny! Not just one — a whole group. I’ve never had any before. Now it’s like overnight and wham! Suddenly I have grey hair and am being called madam. I bet you saw it,” she added, touching her hair. “If you were a friend, you would have told me!”
“Sorry, I never noticed. To be honest, I have a hard time looking at you too closely.”
“Why?”
Jack looked at Laura and gave an intentionally loud sigh and said, “Because you’re so damned beautiful. I have to slap my brain daily to keep you in the sister category,” he added, sounding frustrated.
Laura looked shocked as she stared at Jack. A moment later she turned so he wouldn’t see her smile. He is such a liar, but I think I’ll let him get away with that one for now.
At four-thirty in the morning, Lee’s van appeared with a driver who appeared to speak little English. They were on schedule, and, at noon, Jack and Laura patiently stood in line at the Thai Immigration Office in Ranong and watched as their passports were stamped.
Jack turned to Lee and asked, “Aren’t you getting your passport stamped?”
“No, I am not going with you,” he replied. “It is better I wait here while the boat takes you across to Burma. Our people on the boat will look after you. Trust me.”
Later Laura had the opportunity to whisper to Jack and say, “He’s not coming with us and says to trust him?”
Jack nodded.
“So what do you think? Something’s gone wrong and we’re going to be executed and he doesn’t want to dirty his hands?”
“Maybe. Let’s hope we can trust him.”
“Trust him? N-F-L!”
Normally Jack would have grinned. The letters stood for not fucking likely. It was a phrase the narcs sometimes used, however, not one he had ever heard Laura use before. But at this moment, his sense of humour had disappeared. In the pit of his stomach, he was worried that Laura might be right.
Jack and Laura left the Thai Immigration Office in a van with Lee. The driver took them slowly through a quiet ghetto for another ten minutes before arriving at an abandoned warehouse alongside a river. Lee spent the time talking on his cellphone, and when they arrived at the warehouse, three Thai men were waiting. Lee smiled and gave them the thumbs-up sign.
There was little doubt, Jack knew, that their ten-minute ride through the ghetto had been monitored to detect surveillance.
“Now,” said Lee, “it is about a forty-five-minute journey across the mouth of the river to Kaw Thaung in Burma. These three men will take you across and you will be provided with an opportunity to see the product you wish to purchase.”
“What if something goes wrong?” asked Jack. “Where will you be to help us?”
“I assure you, my friend, that nothing will go wrong. Part of this exercise is to build trust between us. It is time for you to trust me.”
Jack and Laura climbed into the boat, which was like an oversized canoe. It was called a long-tail boat because of a long length of gear shaft that extended from a motor in the back to the propeller. The length of the shaft made it well-suited to handle the large swells from ocean waves without allowing the propeller to come up out of the water. This particular boat did have a canvas canopy overhead to provide relief from either the sun or monsoon rains — both of which Jack and Laura had seen plenty of in the last couple of days.
Only one of the three men, wearing an American Eagle brand ball cap, spoke a little English. Very little, as Jack would discover.
They were soon on their way across a muddy and dirty expanse of water. They passed one more Thai Immigration Office on a jetty opposite a stationary raft in the river holding three Thai soldiers all dressed in camouflage.
Minutes later, Thailand was behind them and everyone was quiet. American Eagle took off his shirt and Jack nudged Laura so she could get a look at his full back tattoo. Jack had the distinct impression that the tattoo was gang-related. As they neared a dock in Kaw Thaung, Jack saw a large sign welcoming people to Burma.
American Eagle put his shirt back on, looked at Jack, and pointed to a plastic bag partially hidden by a pile of rags and said, “You want whiskey, cigarettes, or Viagra?”
Jack would have laughed except the situation was serious. He politely shook his head, but saw Laura cover her mouth to hide a giggle and look away.
“Not allowed for Thai running boat. Okay for tourist. You sure?” persisted American Eagle.
“I’m sure.”
The three crewmen moored their boat next to another boat at the end of the dock. “Okay,” said American Eagle. “Burma Immigration end of dock. Must hurry. Both get passports stamped and come back. Hurry.”
Jack and Laura left the boat and waited to have their passports stamped by Burmese Immigration.
A young man approached Jack and whispered, “You want whiskey, cigarettes, Viagra?”
“No!” said Jack, perhaps a little too loudly.
“Why not?” demanded the young man.
“I don’t smoke, I don’t drink whiskey, and I don’t need Viagra.”
“Okay,” he shrugged and moved away.
“You sure you don’t want me to call Natasha and get a second opinion?” asked Laura.
A few minutes later, they returned to the boat, and as they were getting in, Jack said, “We got our passports stamped. Where to from here?”
“Back to Thailand,” replied American Eagle. “As soon as we finish loading.”
Jack felt a chill go up his spine. A wooden section of the floor behind the driver had been lifted out and Jack saw numerous plastic-wrapped bricks stowed away. He realized the heroin had come from the boat they were parked alongside.
“Here? With us?” said Jack. “What the hell? I thought we were only going to get a glimpse of it, not smuggle it ourselves.”
One look at Laura’s pale face revealed her dismay at the situation.
American Eagle gave a command in Thai and they were then on their way back across the river. As they neared the stationary raft with the three soldiers, Jack could see that the soldiers were selecting passing boats at random to come in for inspection.
“Don’t worry,” said American Eagle. “Never stop us.”
As they passed, one soldier yelled to them and waved them to come over. Jack saw the immediate terror in the eyes of the crew and heard their panicked whispers.
American Eagle looked back at Jack and said, “Wrong soldier working today.” He put his fingers to his lips and said, “Top secret. Say nothing. Top secret!”
No, shit!
Jack
watched as one of the crew members purposely ground the gears on the boat while the other held his hands open in dismay for the soldiers, telling him their boat had trouble with the reverse and they would stop next time.
N-F-L, thought Jack. He was right. The soldiers started yelling, and for a moment Jack wondered if the crew would try to race away. He turned to Laura and said, “If they make a run for it, we’re going in the water. It’ll be safer than being sprayed with machine-gun fire.”
Oh, man …
American Eagle quickly calmed the other two crew members enough to convince them to make a wide arc and return to the raft. As they pulled up to the raft, Jack saw American Eagle pop a handful of breath mints into his mouth and give a big smile as he walked to the brow of the boat to welcome the soldier aboard, before shaking hands with him.
They spoke in whispers for several seconds and Jack saw American Eagle eventually nod his head and gesture to the plastic bag containing the contraband cigarettes, whiskey, and Viagra. The soldier nodded and American Eagle discreetly handed him a wad of money and they were allowed to continue.
Once they arrived back at the warehouse, Jack and Laura rushed off the boat and met with Lee, who was waiting in the van.
“So,” said Lee, glancing at his watch. “Right on time. I told you there was nothing to worry about. These boats run tourists back and forth all day to get their passports stamped to allow them to extend their stay in Thailand. Dozens of boats a day and this is only one spot. Upriver there is even less interference from the military, but it is more difficult for me to take you there. Also, too many mosquitoes.”
“I hadn’t expected that Laura and I would be bringing it back with us,” said Jack, vehemently. “You risked us getting caught and receiving the fucking death penalty!”
Lee looked genuinely startled. “There is no risk, that is the point,” he replied. “If the soldiers had found something, it would have either been returned to us later, or at worst, one of the crew members would have been charged with it. He would have been executed, not you. Relax, everything is under control.”
“You should have warned us,” said Jack. “I don’t like taking risks I don’t need to take.”
“I thought you wanted to stay with the product until it was put on board?”
“I don’t need to see every step. I’ll be happy to see it placed on a ship, and where it is hidden, but I do not need to babysit it every step of the way.”
“Good, that makes it easier for us,” said Lee. “So everything is okay. You have seen that you can trust me.”
“N-F-L,” said Jack and Laura in unison.
“You want to watch football?” asked Lee, confused.
It was seven o’clock that night when they turned off the main highway and onto a rutted road leading to Bill Resort.
“You have not asked for a sample,” said Lee. “Do you trust us enough to believe the drug is pure?”
“No, I would like to obtain a sample from the shipment as it is loaded on the boat,” replied Jack.
“And what would you do with this sample? We will want our down payment before you leave Asia.”
“I’ll mail it back to Canada,” replied Jack. “I’ve got a friend who can analyze it for me.”
“That will take time,” replied Lee. “We would require a financial down payment as soon as you see the shipment. Perhaps I could convince you in some other way that our product is ultra pure.”
“How?” asked Jack.
“My boss has come up with a somewhat amusing illustration,” replied Lee. “We have done this many times before with others who wanted proof of the quality of the merchandise. Let me demonstrate,” he said, and took a pen and paper from the glovebox and wrote several names on the paper and handed it to Jack.
“What’s this?” said Jack. “Looks like a list of hotels?”
“Hotels and districts in Bangkok,” said Lee. “Well-known locations where heroin addicts congregate. Point to one of the districts or hotels. Any one, it doesn’t matter.”
“What for?” asked Jack.
“You will see. It is like a game. Quite amusing.”
Jack looked at the list and randomly pointed to a district called Soi Ngam Duphli. “Now what?” he asked.
Lee smiled and said, “Tomorrow my friend, I will show you something interesting, but now I need to use the Internet and call it a night. It has been a long day.”
Late the following afternoon, Lee met up with Jack as he lay on a lounge chair by the pool. He waved at Laura, who was swimming, and then tossed Jack an English edition of the Bangkok Post and told him to turn to a small article buried deep within the paper:
Eleven people died last night in the Soi Ngam Duphli district of Bangkok. The victims were all believed to be heroin addicts who evidently did not realize they had been sold a very pure form of the drug. Countless other victims were rushed to hospital and treated for overdoses. The police are continuing to investigate as the probability of more deaths is likely to occur over the next few days, before all the addicts know to take extra caution …
“So, Jack,” chuckled Lee. “Do you have any more doubts about our product? Or would you like to see this rather amusing display repeated in some other district?”
Jack felt numb as he slowly shook his head. The real Happy Jack wouldn’t have minded.
“Is everything okay?” asked Lee.
Jack looked up and smiled. “You bet. Your boss certainly has a way of illustrating things. I’m convinced.” Convinced I’m going to kill him.
“I’m going to get a drink,” said Lee. “Would you like one?”
“No,” replied Jack, watching as Lee whistled a tune to himself on his way to the bar.
“What’s up?” asked Laura, climbing out of the pool.
“I just killed eleven people,” said Jack, lamely pointing at the newspaper.
Moments later Lee returned with a pina colada in his hand, sat down beside Jack, and sucked on a fresh piece of pineapple from the rim of the glass. “These are really good. You should have one.”
“No, thanks.”
“Where did Laura go?”
“To her room. She’s feeling ill.”
“See? You should move back to the Pavilion where I am.”
“The cook there was trained by Bill Resort.”
“It is still nicer.”
Jack leaned back and closed his eyes. He could hear the wind rustle the newspaper. Ophelia appeared in his mind. Leaning against a doorway. A woman’s words came back to haunt him. “Don’t stare, honey. That’s just nobody.” Was Melvin another nobody, too? Like eleven other nobodies in Bangkok last night? Eleven people who died because I selected their fate.
34
That night, Jack met with Lee over dinner at The Patio Restaurant in the Pavilion resort, which overlooked a fountain and the ocean beyond.
“Is Laura still feeling ill?” asked Lee.
“Yes,” replied Jack, truthfully. “The sooner we are finished business, the better. I want to meet The Shaman. No more jerking us around.”
“Tomorrow, you shall,” replied Lee.
Jack felt both surprise and elation. “He is coming here? Tomorrow? What time?”
Lee brushed Jack’s questions aside with a wave of his arm and said, “He will not meet you until you pass one more small test.”
“I’m tired of tests!” replied Jack angrily. “I know you were checking to see if we were followed yesterday to Burma. What kind of bullshit is this? I thought we trusted each other?”
“I do trust you, Jack. Believe me, my life depends upon it. Please do not be angry with me. It is The Shaman who decides these things. Like an onion, the —”
“I know. I’ve heard that crap before. I want to meet him. Face to face. That is how I conduct business.”
Lee sighed and said, “The small test I refer to tomorrow is a lie-detector test. If you do not take it, I can assure you that you will never meet The Shaman.”
“Then give m
e the bloody test,” said Jack, coldly. “I’ll take it!”
“Once you pass the test, and I know you will,” said Lee, smiling, “then you shall be taken to meet The Shaman.”
“Taken where?”
“That, my friend, I am not allowed to tell you until you have completed this annoying matter with the lie detector. You and Laura must —”
“Laura! I’ll be damned if I’m going to embarrass her by submitting her to such a —”
“No, let me finish. She will not be asked to take the test. But she must come with you and you both must agree to be held incommunicado from the time you are picked up to take the test and until you meet The Shaman. Do you agree?”
Jack sighed and said, “I agree, but there is no need to pick us up. We will walk over from Bill Resort.”
“No, the test will be held in a hotel in Chaweng. It is a town a half-hour drive north of us. You will be picked up after lunch and driven. Bring your luggage, as well. The Shaman is arranging for you to stay in another hotel at his expense. A much nicer place.”
“Fine by me, but I better be meeting The Shaman right after.”
“I assure you that is his wish as well.”
Later that night, Jack and Laura walked along the beach and then went through an intricate prearranged jaunt, cutting through pathways and in and out front and rear doors of other hotels. Eventually Sammy called Jack to tell him that they were not being followed. Minutes later, they met in Sammy’s room at the Samui Laguna Resort located next to the Pavilion. Also present were three other members of the Vancouver Drug Section, as well as the LO from Bangkok and two plainclothes officers from the Thailand National Police Department.
Jack outlined his meeting earlier that evening with Lee.
“I don’t like it,” said Sammy. “If they hook you to that damned machine, you’re dead.”
“The thing is,” replied Jack, “The Shaman could be in the next room. I’ll try to see him first, but even if they don’t let me, you should be able to figure out who it is by watching Lee or his buddies. It’s better than giving up.”