Betrayal j-2

by Russell Blake

  “I always care.”

  Briggs dropped his cup into the trash and walked out without saying another word. Arthur waited for a few minutes and then stood, his joints painful from his old injuries, and walked towards the mall entrance.

  Had he misjudged this Jet woman so badly? He didn’t think so, but it had to be considered. Perhaps she hadn’t been up to the task. Perhaps this was her unlucky mission. Everyone had one eventually.

  His driver spotted him and pulled to the curb. Arthur adjusted his coat against the chill and waited as the man rounded the car and opened his door for him.

  He took a last glance at the sky and shivered.

  Looked like it might snow again.

  Chapter 31

  Lawan was staring at Jet with trepidation as Matt explained what was going to happen.

  “She doesn’t look happy,” Jet said.

  “She says she wants to stay with you,” Matt related. “But that she understands that if you have to go away for a while, you have to. She’s remarkably clear for a ten-year-old. Although you can tell she’s been to hell and back.”

  “She’s very firm that she’s almost eleven.” Jet smiled at her. “Yes, she’s been through hell.”

  “I told her that she’s going to be accompanying me back to the hills to camp out for a while. She doesn’t look like she believes a word I’m saying, but she’s playing along. I’m thinking I’m going to have to hire a female to watch over her and teach her, well, female stuff while she’s in the jungle with me. I can’t be responsible for her twenty-four seven. Maybe after a while, I can find a local family that will adopt her, and I’ll make them the richest in the village. That seems like a good solution.”

  “I’m sorry to saddle you with this, but I don’t know what else to do.”

  “I bit off on it, so no problem. I feel sick that Pu was such a lowlife. I mean, you know these things in a descriptive sense, like reading a dossier, but it’s an entirely different thing to see it in person.”

  “Sort of takes the victimless thing out of the equation and just leaves the crime part.”

  “Speaking of which, I’m sure that the Top Cat incident will cause some major ripples. It’s not every day that a ping pong club gets attacked by a ninja.”

  “Maybe it’s about time they did. Might make some of these dirtbags think twice about the business they’re in.”

  “Hard to change an entire society with the barrel of a gun.”

  “I know. More’s the pity.”

  Lawan watched the exchange between them with calm eyes, and then Jet approached her and put an arm around her.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be busy with multi-million dollar transactions today?” she asked, glancing at her watch. “The photo session was a winner, by the way. Very convincing. Want to see the shots?”

  “Why not? It’s not every day you get to see pictures of your own death.”

  He moved alongside her as she thumbed the little camera she’d bought and showed him a few particularly grisly snaps; the bullet hole in his temple looked extremely realistic.

  “Wow. You’re a whiz with Photoshop, all right. Think it will fool anyone?”

  “Sure. Just don’t show up on any reality shows and you’re good.” She tapped her watch and raised an eyebrow.

  “I’ve got time. The buyers are expecting me at nine o’clock at one of the largest banks in Bangkok. It will only take me fifteen minutes to get there from here.”

  “Sure you don’t want me to run backup for you?”

  “Appreciate the offer, but no need. I won’t be walking out with cash. It’s all handled with a wire transfer. Like I said, I’ll have a card for you by this evening. And a present, of course.” He smiled, and she again acknowledged that he was a handsome man, especially in the navy blue blazer and khaki trousers he was wearing.

  “No chance the buyers or your passport contact would sell you out?”

  “To who? It’s not like there’s a most wanted poster of me up. No, as long as I’m in and out today and headed north by nightfall, I feel pretty good about things. I think this time I’ll cross over in Laos. But no matter. I still need to get the passports and rocks, and deal with a few other items.” He looked at her with a strange expression, part curiosity and part something else. “I’m also waiting for some feedback from my agency contacts. But that could take a few days.”

  “You going to buy the sat phone, or should I?”

  “I’ll do it. I know where to go. But you should get a few burner cell phones and plan on chucking them after a single use. Don’t power them on until you need to use them.”

  “I know the game.”

  “All right, then.” He spoke to Lawan for another minute and then patted her shoulder with warm concern. It was a good sign that she didn’t shrink from his touch. Maybe there was hope.

  “Well, while you’re out and about, we’re going to go shopping for some suitable jungle clothes. A girl’s got to have some basics. Panties, socks, couple of pairs of shoes, a backpack, ninja sword…” Jet said.

  “Just don’t spoil her too rotten. She’s going to hate coming with me if you do.”

  “Something tells me that I might not be the only one spoiling her over the next few days.” Jet had seen something tender in the way Matt talked to Lawan.

  He merely waved as he turned the knob.

  “Good luck,” Jet called, and then he was out the door.

  Lawan regarded her with a serious look. Jet pulled on the front of her blouse and then pointed at the little girl.

  “Yes?”

  Lawan’s eyes lit up with understanding, and for the first time, she grinned.

  Maybe there was hope, indeed.

  Matt returned at five, carrying two backpacks and an elegant brushed aluminum briefcase. Jet insisted on showing him all of Lawan’s purchases, holding them up so he could approve. He was good-natured about it, but obviously impatient, and Jet got the hint and suggested to Lawan that she take a last shower before they left. The young girl nodded and padded to the bathroom. When the water was running, Matt slid the briefcase over to Jet. She went to her backpack, pulled the Beretta out and handed it to him along with the extra clip.

  “I’ll trade you. You’ll probably need this more than I will.”

  He slid it into his bag and then motioned at the briefcase with his head.

  “Open it.”

  “I’m almost afraid to. I’ve never seen ten million in diamonds before.”

  “Go on.”

  She unsnapped the latch and lifted the lid. Inside was a new Thai passport and driver’s license, four stacks of crisp hundred-dollar bills, and two packages wrapped in brown paper.

  “Wow. That’s more than I thought it would be based on the amount you said you were carrying around your neck. Which I still have three million of, by the way.”

  “Keep those. I got another five million’ worth at the bank.”

  “How much cash?”

  “Two hundred grand.”

  She nodded and picked up the passport.

  “You’re now a member of the Thai diplomatic corps, Elyse Nguyen. Congratulations.” He had used the name they’d agreed upon — French first name, Vietnamese family name.

  “I have a feeling my style of diplomacy may be a little different than they’re used to, but hey.”

  “That’s a safe bet.”

  She handed him a list scrawled on a piece of hotel stationery. “I need to see if your CIA contact can get me these once I’m in the States.”

  He studied the items. “How do you know about these neurotoxins? They’re top secret.”

  “The Mossad isn’t living in a cave, Matt. You should know there are no secrets.”

  “I’ll see what she can do. You may need to have a specialized lab make them. If she can’t get her hands on any, I’m sure she’ll be able to get you the chemical recipe.”

  “Fair enough. Then I’ll also need a lab that will moonlight for the right kind of money.”<
br />
  “Consider the request made.”

  “Can I check out the diamonds?”

  “Sure.”

  She lifted the smaller package first, then carefully peeled back the tape and unwrapped it. Inside was a plastic freezer bag with what looked to her like at least a hundred stones, starting at three carats. She opened the second, larger package and found more like four hundred in that freezer bag, all larger cuts, between four and seven carats.

  “That looks like more than ten million, Matt.”

  “It is. The larger package is fifty million. In case we need to go to plan B.”

  She stared at him wordlessly, then folded the two packages back up and replaced them in the attache and lifted out the passport to inspect it.

  “I thought we discussed buying fifty million of laboratory manufactured stones.”

  “You run a big risk that he has them tested and figures it out. After giving it more thought, it isn’t worth taking the chance. So you now have sixty-three million dollars of diamonds in your possession.”

  “It just seems like too much…”

  He grinned and feigned outrage. “What, you mean I’m going to have to limp along now on only a hundred thirty-five million until you bring the fifty back? What will I do? How will I survive?”

  “You’re hell-bent on doing it this way?”

  “You want your daughter back. Hopefully, plan A will work out and you’ll never have to give him the diamonds, but if for some reason it doesn’t, you now have a solid plan B. Not to be casual about it, but we’re playing with house money. Whether it’s fifty or ten, there’s more than I could spend in ten lifetimes sitting in my safe deposit box, so to me it doesn’t matter. Believe it or not, I’m not a money guy. It’s never been a big priority for me. You don’t go into intelligence work to get rich,” he said, then added bitterly, “unless you’re planning to be in the drug business and sell poison to the world as your sideline. Like our friend.”

  “I still go to Zurich and do the deal on the ten million?”

  “Of course. I already set it up. You’ll meet them at their bank — they’ll have a private room with verification equipment — and remember that the value of the stones I use is wholesale, not retail, so don’t let them mislead you. Retail value would be triple that — I’ve horse traded these stones enough to know that the values the CIA used were the very bottom of the spectrum.” He pointed at the briefcase. “All of their contact info is on a note in your passport.” He slid a bank card to her, with a slip of paper wrapped around it. “That’s a card with your new name on it that will allow you to access the funds, up to a hundred thousand a day, from anywhere in the world. Between the two I deposited today and the ten you’ll get in Switzerland, you should be able to afford whatever you need to get the job done. Whatever you don’t use of the fifteen you now have, you keep. Consider it your fee for eliminating Arthur and his band of cockroaches. I sort of expect the fifty back…”

  She nodded. “That’s more than generous.”

  “Again, it’s play money. Just get your daughter back safe and erase Arthur and his gang. To me, it’s a bargain. I’d pay ten times that to have my life back and shut those bastards down once and for all.”

  “Do you really think that I’ll need that much?”

  “You’re going up against very powerful, very rich men. They routinely deal in billions. Trust me. Fifteen million total firepower is not overkill. You may find yourself having to buy your way into or out of some difficult situations. Specialized weapons. I have no idea. But I do know that I don’t want to hear about how you failed because you didn’t have adequate resources. As an example, to avoid any customs unpleasantness, you should charter private jets to get to Europe and then to the U.S. — it’s a completely different system from the airport cattle lines when you’re a diplomat on your own jet. That alone will run a few hundred grand, easy. And then you have to plan your getaway. That won’t be cheap. Not to mention that if you need to bribe anyone in the U.S., it could cost a few million for anything truly risky.”

  “Fine. I’m not going to argue. I’ll bring back the fifty.”

  “Just get your daughter. We’ll figure the rest out once you’re done with this adventure. Deal?” He smiled, obviously enjoying playing Santa Claus, and reached his hand to her.

  “Deal,” she said, and shook it.

  They stayed together like that, her hand in his, for an uncomfortable time, and then he rose and leaned across the table and kissed her. She found herself responding, her pulse quickening in her throat and her breath slowing, a rush of adrenaline hitting her at the unexpected contact.

  The bathroom door opened, and Lawan stepped out, and they quickly separated, the moment over. She studied them both with no expression, then the hint of a smile played at the corners of her mouth.

  Matt finally released her hand, then cleared his throat.

  “Just do what you have to do, and come back safe. There will be plenty of time to figure everything else out,” he said, his voice thick.

  “That’s a lot of surprises in a very short period of time.”

  “Agreed. But seeing as I’m leaving in a few minutes, I wanted to get it out on the table.”

  Matt turned to Lawan and told her to get her backpack and to put her small hygiene kit in it. He moved to the bed and picked his up, hefting it.

  “I got a set of night vision goggles and a sat phone. Number is on the slip with the bank info, but scrambled — start on the left then right outermost numbers and work your way inward to the middle. Then add a zero after the fourth and seventh numbers.”

  Jet nodded. “How are you planning to get to the border?”

  “Nothing quite as fancy as a private jet. I rented a car under one of my throwaway IDs, and I’ll ditch it once we get there. But it’s better than riding the bus.”

  “I think we’ve established that.”

  When Lawan had finished packing, Jet held out her arms. The little girl ran to her and hugged her, tears running in rivulets down her cheeks. Jet held her for a full minute and then gently pushed her away, got down on one knee, and stared into her eyes. She wiped Lawan’s tears away and smoothed her hair, and nodded. Lawan returned the unspoken affirmation, and then they both faced Matt, Jet rising and meeting his gaze unflinchingly. He leaned in to her and kissed her again, this time cradling her face with his hands, then stepped away and motioned for Lawan to join him. She trailed him as they walked to the door. They both turned and waved to Jet before disappearing into the hall, the door closing softly behind them.

  Chapter 32

  Jet sat staring at the briefcase for several minutes and then carefully repacked everything. She checked the time and moved to her backpack to retrieve one of the six cell phones she’d bought that afternoon. After carefully slotting the battery in place, she powered it on and walked back to the desk, then searched in her purse for a card she’d scrawled some numbers on earlier in the day at an internet cafe.

  Half an hour later, she had confirmed her first charter — a Global XRS out of Hong Kong that would fly her to Zurich, non-stop, at fifty thousand feet — close to Mach 1 — for the bargain price of a hundred and seventy grand. For that, the company would also supply catered food and get a visa for her. They explained that it was a deal because they had to fly the plane in from Hong Kong, which was over a thousand miles away, at an internal cost of roughly ten grand an hour.

  She confirmed that she’d be ready to go that night, and after some calculations, they told her that she could depart Bangkok by eleven p.m..

  Jet spent the rest of the evening in the hotel room, unwilling to go out anywhere and leave the briefcase, or take it with her and risk being robbed — even though it was hard to imagine anyone doing so successfully. She called the plane company back and told the concierge she wanted a late dinner ready upon takeoff, and he assured her that they would happily prepare anything she wanted. She punched the phone off, then lay on the bed and thought about Matt and t
he strange rush she’d felt when they’d kissed — a rush that confused her, especially so soon after David’s death. She’d kissed Rob as part of their cover and had felt nothing, even though he was a handsome man. But Matt, for some reason, had triggered something that warranted more consideration.

  Her thoughts shifted to Lawan — a brutalized child who now had a second lease on life. It would be rough on her living in the wilds with Matt, but not nearly as hard as being forced into prostitution while she should still have been playing with teddy bears. Jet swallowed the rage that boiled to the surface whenever she thought about it. There was no point in getting angry. But it brought back so many of her own unpleasant memories, of her foster father when she had been that age…

  The trip to the airport was predictably tardy, with traffic still heavy even at night due to the dense layout of Bangkok coupled with a conspicuous lack of urban planning. As she watched the suicidal motorcycle drivers dart past them, Jet wondered what the morose cabbie would have thought if he’d known he was driving sixty-three million dollars and change around. She smiled inwardly. The world was an odd place, made more so now that she was carrying a king’s ransom in her briefcase.

  The airport experience was lavish, with two armed guards accompanying the executive from the charter company due to the large amount of cash involved, and two stewardesses waiting to attend to her every need. After a few minutes of counting money and shaking hands, she was speeding down the runway, en route to a frigid country almost six thousand miles away.

  Zurich customs turned out to be a non-issue, her passport and arrival on a private jet ensuring that the ever-discreet Swiss waved her through without a glance, and once she was finished with the formality, she approached the taxi line. The driver nodded in approval when she told him to take her to the Widder hotel, right in the center of everything and only a long block from the river. She had been in Zurich once before on an assignment. As she watched the streets glide by, she was reminded of how antiseptically clean everything seemed — the streets, the buildings, the cars and people — especially after Bangkok, which was a kind of controlled chaos. Switzerland oozed civilized order.