I picked up the snake-like coil and bent it into a curved shape before handing it to Artie. “You’ll be able to slide this under the door and monitor the guards in the hall before entering.”
Artie’s eyes widened as he snatched the camera from my hand and fiddled with it. His men had already helped themselves to the earpieces and were busy testing them out. “Reilly was a no-go on the video monitor setup you requested,” House said. “But this wireless security system we picked up at Best Buy has a portable, nine-inch monitor we can use. I had a tech guy tinker with the system. It can now receive the video feed from the two cameras.”
I stretched my lips thin and softened my eyes before giving House a pat to the arm; she always knew how to come through. I spent the next half hour fielding more questions from Artie and his men. With everyone comfortable on the details and their roles in the mission, we gathered our equipment and set out for Chinatown.
Chapter 59
There were two main roads that cut through Chinatown. We would enter the vicinity via the popular Yaorawat Road and exit on Charoen Krung Road. Sokolov and House, Team One, traveled in a taxi ahead of us, while Kang and I plus Team Two, consisting of Artie and his men, followed in the delivery van. We spent that time setting up the video monitor and ensuring our camera feeds, throat mics and earpieces were operational. Our communication system was up and running by the time we reached Chinatown.
Shortly after we passed the ornate arches at the entranceway into the neighborhood, I instructed Team One to exit their taxi and proceed on foot to the target building while we drove ahead to our designated area, the adjacent building.
It took us another twenty minutes to maneuver our vehicle through traffic before parking outside the building. It was located on a street sandwiched between Yaorawat and Charoen Krung, making our escape easy. While small, the side street still had its fair share of street food vendors and sidewalk restaurants, all with tables packed full of patrons. Artie and his men remained in their civilian clothing and carried their tactical gear into the building via duffle bags so as not to draw attention.
The time was 11:45 p.m. and both teams were in position. Kang and I had a live feed from both cameras displayed on our monitor. Team Two had already rendezvoused with Artie’s contact. His role was to help them gain entrance to the rooftop and provide the ladder needed to cross the gap between the buildings. I ordered Team Two to proceed to the roof. “Do not cross over to the target building. Hold your position for now.”
Team One stood near the lively T&K Seafood restaurant. A very small alley next to it housed the entranceway to Somchai’s building.
“Team One, can you get a visual on the guards without entering the alley?”
“That’s a negative.” House’s voice came through clear via her throat mic. “The alley is dark, limiting our visibility.”
I couldn’t take the chance of Team Two alerting the guards below while they crossed over to the other building. It was imperative that Team One eliminated them beforehand.
I had already brainstormed with House on what the best approach would be for a nonlethal takedown. We wanted to avoid having a body to deal with. The ideal situation called for House and Sokolov to disarm them and tie them up, but we were faced with many unknowns. Were there really only two guards outside? Were there more just inside the doorway? What kind of weapons did they possess? And lastly, how well trained were they in grappling?
I was confident in House and Sokolov’s abilities, but as I said, it was not the ideal situation. Another proposition was to use a tranquilizer gun to immobilize them. The problem there was whether or not the guards would be outfitted with body armor.
I knew we would be limited to the sort of gear House could bring with her, and we couldn’t plan for a number of scenarios. We had to make our most educated guess and hope for the best. In the end, the drunken, lost tourist guise seemed to play well. It would give House and Sokolov the opportunity to get close so as to assess the guards and the situation.
It would be their call on whether they could disarm and take out the guards. If they felt the situation had become unpredictable, they could pull out without the guards suspecting anything.
Of course, our contingency plan, should that have been necessary, was to remove ourselves from the mission. I made sure Artie understood that. I had received a stern warning from Reilly not to take any unnecessary chances. “If anything goes wrong, Abby, this will come down on you. Is that clear?” Oh, it was very clear.
“Team Two, Team One is still working to assess the situation on the ground.”
“Standing by.”
“Command, I have an idea,” House said. “We could switch our video feed to night vision and maneuver ourselves near the entrance of the alley, perhaps the monitor will show you what we can’t see.”
“Good idea. Move in.”
The video on our monitor turned to a dark green with large patches of white. As Team One moved toward the darkened alley, the heavy light source from the street lamps faded. We picked up a cat crossing their path and a few people walking toward them. House, who wore the video camera, positioned herself so we could look down the dead-end alley. We could hear the two of them giggling and asking each other where they were. They were convincing. Almost too convincing.
“Tracy, I need you to be less drunk; the image is too shaky.”
House steadied her movements.
“Pete, I also need you to move to the left of Tracy: you’re partially blocking our view.”
A beat later, the image opened up, and I could see the figures of two men in the distance. However, there was a problem. “Guys, you won’t believe this.”
Chapter 60
“What’s wrong? What’s happening down there?” Artie’s voice had popped up in my earpiece. While he and his team were privy to the conversation I’d had with Team One, they didn’t have access to a visual.
“Team Two, I need you to continue holding your position until Team One can properly assess the situation.”
“Is there a problem?” Artie demanded.
“What do you see?” House chimed in.
“I see two men. One is in a sitting position, leaning back against the building. The other looks to be slumped over next to him. They look like they’ve passed out.”
“That’s uncharacteristic of Somchai’s guards,” Artie said. “He wouldn’t hire idiots who fall asleep on the job.”
“My thoughts as well. Team One, proceed with caution.”
With the go ahead, House and Sokolov moved down the dark alley, continuing their act of two lost tourists.
“You think this is the right way,” House said.
“Good question. I lost the map,” Sokolov responded.
“Team One, you’re about twenty feet away. Let us know when you have a visual.”
Team One continued their slow and playful approach. I knew they both had their hands near or on their weapons in the event things took a turn for the worse.
“Command, we have a visual,” House whispered into the mic.
“Hello,” she called out. “Can you help us? We’re lost.”
We heard no response, nor did we see any movement from the thermal imaging representing the two bodies. “Be careful, guys.”
Team One was practically on top of the guards, and still we saw no response, but by that time, Kang and I had a pretty good idea why.
“Command, are you seeing what we’re seeing? Can you confirm?”
“We are. And yes, it looks like both men have been decapitated.”
“What?” Artie erupted. His voice reverberated in my earpiece. “They’re dead?”
“Team Two, the entry guards have already been taken out. We need you to move in now with caution.”
Kang switched the monitor to show a split screen of both video feeds. We watched Team Two make their way over to the target building and toward the stairwell. One of Artie’s men produced a bolt cutter and snipped a lock on the door, and in t
hey went.
“Command,” House said, “the front door has been breached and it sounds uncharacteristically quiet inside. We’re moving inside the building.”
We saw the bodies just inside the doorway at the same time as Team One did.
“Abby, you seeing this?” House asked as they stepped around the bodies.
“I am. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” I asked.
“I am.”
Kang motioned to me to shut my mic down.
“Don’t tell me this is San Francisco all over again.”
“It doesn’t look good.” When my supervisor had moved in to take down Jing Woo, the head of San Francisco’s Triad gang and godfather of the city’s Chinatown, they made the grim discovery that they were too late. All, with the exception of Jing, had been decapitated.
“Command, we’re at the bottom of the stairwell on the fifth floor. We’re using the fiber-optic video camera to get a look into the hallway.”
A few seconds passed before Artie came back on the line. “The hallway looks completely empty.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. We’re moving forward.”
Artie and his men pushed through the door with ease, since it wasn’t locked, and made their way down the hall. Kang and I were able to see the hallway at that point via night vision feed from Artie’s camera. Two of his men moved forward to the stairwell and held their position while Artie and the rest of his men stacked up next to the door to Somchai’s office. Before he could say anything, I did.
“Let me guess: The door’s already open.”
Chapter 61
Inside, Artie found Somchai Neelapaijit in the same position that Reilly had discovered Jing Woo: on his back and opened up from sternum to pubic bone. His innards lay on the floor next to him, only this time, a piece of paper had been laid across Somchai’s face with a typed message on it: You can’t stop the game.
Kang and I exited the van and rallied with House and Sokolov before letting Artie’s men know we were starting the five-floor walk up to Somchai’s office. The stairwell was dark, and I wasn’t sure if the building had any power until we reached the fourth floor where we could finally see light shining down from the fifth floor.
The lights in the office were on when we got there. I sort of wished they hadn’t been. The amount of blood outside and inside the door gave me a visual of the sticky substance I had felt gripping the soles of my shoes as we traveled up the stairs. We had passed two bodies in the stairwell and a few others near the landings. Eventually, we had counted eight bodies. Those keeping an eye on our surveillance decoy were lucky that night.
Artie immediately called in manpower to have the building cordoned off and secured. Somchai still had men loyal to him who were on the loose, and the last thing we wanted was to be surprised by anyone unfriendly.
Artie was at a loss for words as he surveyed the office. “How did this happen?”
“Trained hit men. Artie, we should move to apprehend the individuals watching our surveillance team. They might be next on the list, and they need to be questioned.”
He nodded. “You’re right. Word will spread fast.” He made a call.
I made it clear to Artie that I wanted first dibs at an interview if they were successful at detaining any of the gang members or the two girls, considering his methods had resulted in the disappearance of the last guy. His pushback came as a surprise.
“Abby, I will be handling the interrogations. You are welcome to observe from a live video feed in another location.”
Why not write a book about it, and I’ll read it later when it’s published? That’s how I viewed his proposal. It was a little unfair, since we were supposed to be working together. But it was another reminder that we were in Bangkok only because the Thais had given us permission to be there.
I knew the amount of leeway Artie had already granted me was more than I should have been allowed. And I needed all the help I could get. Interviewing the remaining members of Somchai’s crew could provide that.
“All I’m asking is to let me have a little time with them.” I had lowered my voice and relaxed my posture, not wanting to challenge his authority as I had earlier that night at the restaurant. “I realize I have no call on this matter, but I’m asking you to please consider my request.”
In the end, we compromised, sort of. “Okay, I’ll give you two of them, but I’m picking them. Also, you get one hour for both. Take it or leave it?”
I took it.
As I had expected, all of Chinatown had shut down. Artie’s supervisors and even their superiors showed up. I got the impression, even with all their posturing, that they were all unsure whether Somchai’s death was a positive or a negative, but they needed to be there to support whatever the outcome. Politics.
Before the circus could balloon any bigger, I pulled Artie to the side and suggested that it would be best for the American entourage to take a back seat. He agreed and said he would try to steer any focus away from us. Under no circumstances did I want anyone within the Thai government to have the perception that we had spearheaded that operation.
In the end, the story that we fed everyone was that we had helped gather information, had provided tactical advice, and had supplied minimal surveillance support all at Artie’s direction. He was in the limelight and in line for all the credit. I was happy to hand it over. My focus was still on the mastermind behind the game.
Chapter 62
As soon as we were released from the Somchai crime scene, House, Sokolov, Kang, and I reconvened in my room at the Landmark to discuss our next steps. We were tired, but time was working against us, as usual. Kang had room service bring up plenty of hot coffee and snacks. I dialed Reilly on the hotel phone and put him on speakerphone.
I spent the first fifteen minutes recapping what had happened. Reilly remained quiet the entire time, save for a few vocal acknowledgments every now and then. “Does our liaison at the embassy know what happened?” he asked when I finished.
“If you’re asking if we had a conversation with him about this, then the answer is no,” I said. “But I imagine it’s only a matter of time before he gets wind of it. I thought I would check with you first to see how you wanted to play this.”
“I appreciate your sensitivity on this matter. Let me deal with the embassy. It’ll be better this way. As for what happened, are you sure we’re not being looked at as troublemakers?”
“We’re pretty sure; our presence is being looked upon as minimal. The detective involved was all too eager to take credit for the operation.”
“Fine. Let’s talk next steps. What are your thoughts, Abby?”
I looked around the room at my partners before speaking. “It’s clear to me that whoever is behind this game has no qualms about shutting it down in a particular city should it become a liability. They did it in San Francisco, and they did it again in Bangkok.”
“So this doesn’t mean the game is over, right?” Reilly asked.
“I doubt it. I think it means the city that was shut down is no longer in play. Whether it’s indefinitely out of the game or not, who knows? But we have to assume it disrupts the dynamics of the game for the time being.”
Kang cleared his throat. “Special Agent Reilly, this is Detective Kyle Kang speaking. The others are aware of this, but I don’t believe you are. There are close to ninety established Chinatowns around the world. Only a handful of Chinatowns are being utilized for the game right now. Assuming the two are connected, the game could go live in any one of these cities.”
“He’s right,” I added.
“The game is like a cockroach; you kill one, and five more appear.” Reilly let out a loud breath.
“I wouldn’t say it’s exactly like that, but close. I’m thinking it’s not that immediate. What we can do is advise law enforcement in the cities that are active in the game to target their Chinatown. Take out the management, and the game can’t function.”
“Either t
hat or they get gutted like these last two guys,” Reilly said.
“For some reason, I don’t think the person responsible for this has hit men around the world on retainer with the ability to pull off what we witnessed here tonight,” I said.
“We think one person or a group of them are sent to deal with a problem city,” Kang chimed in. “They can’t be everywhere at once. Shutting down the game in an active city will put us closer to shutting it down for good.”
“So if Chinatowns are serving as the backbone or the network for this game, it’s probably safe to assume that the Triads are behind it or somehow involved,” Reilly suggested.
“I think you’re right there,” I said as I looked at Kang. He also had experience dealing with that organization. He nodded; he was on board with my assessment. “Kang agrees. I spent a great part of my career in Hong Kong locking up these hoodlums. They’re extremely organized, have strongholds in all the major cities, and are financially healthy. They certainly have the means, but what I don’t get is why. They’re in the business of making money, like any other criminal organization. Why bother with this game?”
“She’s right,” Kang said. “Trafficking, prostitution, extortion, drugs, counterfeiting anything and everything… that’s their business. The game seems out of context for them.”
Everyone around the phone nodded in agreement. If we were tying the game to Chinatown, it made perfect sense for the Triads to be involved. And yet it didn’t. They cared about money. Was the game a moneymaker for them? Was there an exorbitant entry fee to play? If so, why would a serial killer pay money for the privilege to kill? Were they protected? Was it a safer route?
“We’re all nodding over here,” I reported to Reilly.
Reilly was quiet, but we could hear him tapping a pencil against his desk. The silence was more painful than it was deafening. And I mean that in an irritating way. “Do you have any concrete leads left in Bangkok?” he finally asked.
Lumpini Park (Abby Kane FBI Thriller - Chasing Chinatown Trilogy Book 2) Page 17