“Let’s say I agree, and we join forces. What’s the next step?”
“You have five million dollars’ worth of diamonds hanging around your neck. The first thing I’d suggest is getting to Bangkok and converting some of that into cash. Once we have cash, we have options. I know a few of the contacts Pu had, and I think I can arrange for you to be able to convert at least a couple million’ worth pretty quickly. Then you have to get some new ID and go to Europe to convert some more — maybe ten million. At that point, you’ve got a war chest. In the meantime, I’ll put my back into discovering whatever can be found. Worst case, I’ve got a pretty simple alternative that can get you close enough to be able to get your daughter back and disappear — after you kill Arthur, of course.”
“Let’s hear plan B, since plan A sounds like you haven’t come up with it yet.”
“I think you’ll appreciate the irony in plan B.”
“Try me.”
They went back and forth, arguing the possibilities in muted tones, still wary of being ambushed by the region’s unsavory elements, and as the day wore on, the outline of a strategy with a realistic chance of success took form.
The going had become harder, even with a minimum of rain, and as predicted, they didn’t make the kind of time she’d hoped for. Night fell, and they were still in the hills, but within ten miles of the border. They took a two-hour break and then pushed on, Jet driven as if by demons, keeping up the pace even though they were both close to exhaustion.
At four in the morning, they crossed into Thailand and discarded all of the weapons except for the pistol. She stowed it in her backpack and then scraped a hole in the dirt and buried the electronics and the sat phone, on the off-chance that they had some sort of tracking technology in them.
They made their way down the hill into Mae Sai and were in town by dawn. Motorcycles and trucks were already prowling the roads, and after grabbing food at a roadside stand that catered to early-rising laborers and farmers, they found a small guest house where they could clean up and rest.
After they had both showered and rinsed their clothes free of the accumulated sweat and grime, they gratefully fell onto the single hard bed and were asleep within seconds.
The bus to Bangkok was a nightmare of unwashed bodies, poor ventilation and a suspension system that had given up several decades earlier. Jet and Matt tried to make the best of it, but by the time they arrived in Chiang Rai, an hour after departing Mae Sai, both had seen enough, and they got off at the bus station and went in search of a car. After some haggling, they convinced a restaurant owner to have his son drive them to Bangkok, and soon they were on their way in the impossible comfort of air-conditioning.
Once in Bangkok, they found a hotel that was modest but safe and checked into separate rooms. Clothes shopping was the first agenda item they quickly dispensed with, along with purchasing several disposable cell phones. Matt wanted to make some calls and find buyers for the diamonds, as well as reach out to his contacts for identity papers. They’d both agreed that it would be unwise to attempt traveling on her passport. Arthur would surely be alerted the moment she crossed a border. Instead, Matt wanted to see how much a genuine Thai passport would cost — one of the nice things about Thailand was that virtually anything could be had for a price.
When they met downstairs for dinner, Jet was surprised at how handsome Matt was once he’d shaved and gotten a haircut — and it looked like he’d had his hair lightened. His deep tan offset his white linen shirt, and she decided that he looked a little like a gracefully-aging surfer.
During their hike, he’d made it clear that he was willing to make available to her as many millions as she needed to get her daughter back and execute those responsible. They’d agreed that fifteen million — the five in diamonds she still had around her neck, and another ten from his bank stash — would be a better than acceptable start, but he’d shown no interest in the money other than as a means to an end.
Once they had ordered dinner and drinks, he having a cold beer and she her customary bottled mineral water, he appraised her with a knowing look.
“What else is going on behind those eyes?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, even though I’ve only known you for a short time, I can tell you’re calculating ten steps ahead. But you seem preoccupied.”
He’d read her accurately.
“I have another problem. I mean, it’s not my problem, but I’m making it mine. Your buddy, Pu, among his many flaws, was a child slave trader, and I want to rescue one of his captives and get her out of a terrible situation. She’s not even eleven yet, and she deserves something better than what she’s been thrust into. It’s heartbreaking.”
He nodded. “The world’s an ugly place, and Pu was part of the worst of it. Tell me what you know about her.”
Jet recounted the story and was just finishing when the food arrived.
“Part of me says it’s not your problem and will unnecessarily complicate things, but another part understands and agrees with you. But she won’t be safe in Bangkok — Pu’s network will still flourish, with him or without him. Sure, there will be some power struggles and a few bodies found floating in the river, but that enterprise will continue or be replaced by an equivalently horrible one.”
“I know. I’m thinking of ways to get her out of that mess. If I can buy her…”
“They may not want to sell, and even if they do, you’ll be on the radar again. I have every faith that Edgar has eyes and ears on the street. He may be new here, but the basic tradecraft never changes. You show up waving money around and he’ll know you’re back in the world within minutes.”
“That’s what I figured. So I’m thinking I’ll do something a little different. But once she’s free, I need somewhere safe to take her.”
“That’s not going to be easy. You’ll run the risk of her being abused or sold back into the trade anywhere she winds up. People suck, and they’ll do anything for money. And no matter what promises are made, the moment you’re out of sight all bets are off.”
“I don’t want to see her go from one nightmare into another.”
They both picked at their entrees, lost in thought.
“What are you going to do once we deal with the diamond situation?” Jet asked.
“Go back into the jungle. My situation hasn’t changed until Arthur and his crew are eliminated. I’ll go back, find some Shan that want to make more in a year than they would in a decade and arm them to the teeth. Until you showed up, that seemed to be the safest bet…”
His eyes flashed in the overhead lighting from the two chandeliers and for a moment seemed to blaze.
“How can you live like that?” she asked.
“I actually like it out there. After a lifetime of subterfuge and treachery and big cities, there’s something peaceful about it — something simple. You wake up every day, hunt or barter for your food, and live in harmony with the land. What? Don’t look at me like that.”
“Harmony with the land? Are you Henry David Thoreau now? Come on.”
He put down his fork and stared into space. She noted the way the corners of his eyes crinkled with the beginnings of crow’s feet and thought that they suited him.
“It’s true. I like it. I feel calmer, more at peace. I mean, I don’t want to live like that forever, but I can do a year or two, no problem. And it beats getting killed in my sleep or crossing the street. The fact is that Arthur can get to me anywhere but there. And with no Pu doing diamond runs, there’s no danger of anyone leading a hit team back to me. No, disappearing into the jungle isn’t perfect, but it’s the best I’ve come up with, and it’s worked so far. I move around a lot — I have four other camps in Myanmar and Laos. I’ll just ditch the one you erased and return to one of the others, and hire an entourage.”
She considered his words as she ate. He had a point.
When the waiter came to take their plates, she reached to take his hand.
“Matt, my new friend. I have another incredibly big favor to ask…”
Chapter 28
“I need some diamonds,” Matt said, standing at her door.
“You’ve come to the right place,” Jet responded, waving him into her room. “I have them in the safe.”
“I found a taker for two million’ worth. He’ll make a transfer to one of my companies. I’ll get a card when I’m at the bank tomorrow and give it to you. That will be your mad money.”
She padded to the room safe, then brought the leather bag to the table.
“How will you know how many are two million dollars’ worth?”
“I’ll guesstimate. I’ve gotten pretty good at this over the years.”
He dumped out a small pile and quickly sorted a little less than half the stones, then pulled out a plastic bag from his pocket and scooped them in. He returned the rest to the leather sack and handed it to her.
“Call that your emergency fund. After I do this deal tomorrow morning, I’ll head to the bank. It’s a different one than where I keep the stones. Don’t want all my eggs in one basket.”
“It seems sort of crazy to have millions in diamonds lying around a hotel room, doesn’t it?”
“There would be far more risk if we asked the management to lock them in the hotel safe. Besides, if anyone can get past you, I’d say they earned them.”
She smiled, then returned to the safe and locked the diamonds away. “What are we going to do about the ten million in diamonds? That’s not exactly low profile, and I’ll need to get to Europe…”
“I struck a deal with a guy who knows a guy. By the end of the day tomorrow, you’ll have a shiny new passport. Legitimate. A diplomatic passport, to boot. Only three hundred grand.”
“Three hun-”
“I’m not price sensitive. With a diplomatic passport, you won’t have to answer a lot of niggling questions at customs, so whether you have ten million or a hundred million in stones with you, you’ll glide right through. You’ll need to get a photo taken tonight, which won’t be a problem. There are a million shops open, even at ten p.m.. Bangkok is a night city. You want to go take a walk?” he asked.
“Sure. Let me get my gun.”
She had bought a purse large enough to accommodate the Beretta with the silencer as well as other odds and ends. She shouldered it and turned to Matt, who was pulling on a baseball cap.
“Lead on.”
She was still getting used to the casual way that he tossed around figures like a million dollars, and it struck her how completely arbitrary money was. He had a virtually bottomless well of cash, so all the typical financial constraints were meaningless to them.
“How many millions do you have left?”
“About two hundred million,” he said nonchalantly.
“You haven’t spent any of it?”
“On what? I had Pu liquidate a few hundred grands’ worth each time he came out to see me, but that wasn’t a lot. I had to buy guns and ammo, and pay everyone for protection — but even so, it didn’t come to a hundred grand. The truth is, I don’t have anything to spend money on out in the jungle other than weapons and slipping cash to the nearby drug lords to leave me in peace. So technically, I suppose the correct answer is a hundred ninety-nine million and change. But deduct the five million worth I had around my neck, and we can call it a hundred ninety-four.”
“That’s just such a huge amount of money.”
“It is. But it’s blood money. Not that I have a problem with that. But I didn’t do this to get rich. I did it to shut these pricks down.”
“So even if we have to do plan B, you’ll still have…”
“…a lot of diamonds,” Matt finished for her.
They exited the hotel and walked slowly down the sidewalk towards the blinking neon forest a few blocks away, where every kind of shop clamored for customers with thousand-watt signs.
“It’s quite a spectacle, isn’t it?”
“Have you ever been to Tokyo?” he asked.
“No. It’s one of the places I’ve meant to go. Just never was a right time.”
“You’ve never seen anything like it. Blinding. It’s like nothing else on the planet.”
They rounded the corner and found themselves facing a seemingly endless pedestrian thoroughfare lined with shops and bars. Groups of young Thai men roamed in packs, eyeing the giggling swarms of teenage girls while the inevitable bar girls called to passersby, inviting them to come in and sample their charms.
“Not getting too personal, I hope, but what are you going to do once all this is over?” she asked. “I mean, once you’re no longer in danger.”
“I haven’t really thought about it. I like Thailand. I’ve been here too long to feel comfortable anywhere else, I suppose. For all its idiosyncrasies and frustrations, it’s home for me. I don’t know. If I had my choice, I suppose I’d go to one of the islands and live on the beach. But there’s no point torturing myself with dreams of tomorrow. It just makes it harder to be happy today.”
“Very existentialistic.”
“It’s the Buddhist thing rubbing off on me. You stay here long enough and eventually everything seems illusory.”
“Why one of the islands?”
“Different pace. You still get the civilization feel if you want it, but it’s much more laid-back. None of the bustle of the big city. Places like Ko Samui are magical. I gather you’ve never been.”
“No. But I liked living in Trinidad. Islands can be nice. Nice and boring.”
He laughed, genuine merriment evident in his eyes. “I suppose you’ve had enough excitement to last a lifetime.”
“You could say that.”
“There are worse places to disappear forever. You should check out Ko Samui. You’d love it. Breathtakingly beautiful, well-developed, yet still rural enough to have appeal. Time slows when you’re there. It’s almost as if it’s enchanted.”
“You work for their tourism bureau? You make it sound like heaven.”
“For me, it’s the closest thing going.”
He pointed to a photo shop, and they went inside. The old mama-san was all efficiency, and they had their photos within ten minutes.
“You’re also getting diplomatic?” she asked.
“Why not? Such a deal. Two for five hundred. Couldn’t let that slip by me.”
“That should make it easier to move around, don’t you think?”
“Not really. I have about ten passports from my old life stored in with the diamonds. But diplomatic immunity has a lot of appeal, and when it’s safe to go back in the water, I’ll probably use that for the long term.”
They strolled along, no particular destination in mind, surrendering themselves to Bangkok’s nocturnal ambiance.
“You think you’ll be done with everything that needs to happen by the end of the day tomorrow?” she asked.
“I hope so. I don’t want to spend one more second in Bangkok than I need to. I’m not exactly a household name here, but the longer I’m in town, the greater the chance that someone from my past spots me.”
“Then isn’t it a bad idea to be strolling along here?”
“I’m pretty sure that with the dye job and the shave and the cap my own mother would have a hard time recognizing me. Tonight isn’t my worry. It’s the banks.” He looked at his watch. “Which means it’s probably a good idea to get back to our lavish digs. It’s going to be a marathon tomorrow.”
“I’ll say. More for you than for me, but still, I need to catch up on sleep after the last week.”
They looped around and ambled back to the hotel, taking their time: a couple out on a stroll, taking in the sights of Bangkok at night, not a care in the world.
Chapter 29
The Top Cat had closed at three a.m., and by four, the only ones left after the cleaning crew had departed were the mama-san and the two guards employed to keep intruders out. Most of the girls lived elsewhere, but the children stayed in the club with
the mama-san, who had a small apartment on the second floor. The guards were armed with pistols, which they kept concealed in shoulder holsters — a constant for most of the clubs, due to their organized crime affiliations and the large amounts of cash they took in on any given evening, usually stored overnight in floor safes.
The surrounding streets were dark, and the crowds had gone home, the weeknight’s diversions abandoned in favor of a few scant hours of rest before the work day began. An occasional tuk tuk or motor scooter buzzed down the street as a tan-colored mongrel with protruding ribs nosed through the piles of trash stacked on the sidewalk.
Jet watched the area for another ten minutes and then pulled the mask down over her face. She wore black, loose-fitting lightweight parachute fabric cargo pants and a matching top she’d bought that morning. Her backpack was strapped snugly in place, and she adjusted it one final time before darting to the alley mouth in a blur of motion.
Her left foot bounced against the building’s wall and propelled her upwards using the momentum of the run. Both hands gripped the rim of the flat roof, and she pulled herself up and over, then moved to where the security camera was fixed and cut the cable with a flick of her knife. The mama-san’s apartment lay at the back of the building, creating a small second floor. She edged silently to its security-barred window. Listening intently, she confirmed that the woman was asleep, then padded to the ventilation ducts and went to work.
The interior of the club was dark except for a single light at the front, where the two guards sat playing cards. Jet heard one of them cough and fan the smoke curling from his partner’s cigarette away before resuming his play. She lowered the overhead vent grid and dropped to the ground, her black Nike cross-training shoes making no noise on the polished concrete floor. The men didn’t look up. If they had, they would have seen her creep to the rear hallway and disappear up the stairs to the mama-san’s room and the sleeping area for the children.
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