by J C Ryan
“Okay, sure. Sorry. I guess if that’s your final answer…”
“It is. I assure you, I’m fine with Digger to protect me. You don’t need to worry, but thank you for your concern.”
Marcel nodded uncertainly, turned away, and headed out of the foyer. Rex hoped that was the last time he’d have to fend off Marcel’s overtures about self-defense.
As soon as they got outside, he started laughing. If he were honest with himself, he was in a better mood than he had been before the encounter. Digger’s reaction to Marcel grabbing him was as priceless as it had been dangerous for Marcel. Maybe that’s what Digger’s reactions to Sunstra touching him were all about. Maybe the dog thought he needed protection. Well, maybe he did.
Chapter Eleven
WHEN THEY RETURNED to the apartment after his massage, Rex was much more relaxed and in a much better mood. He owed Sunstra an apology for Digger’s behavior the night before, so he gave her a call.
They talked for a little while and laughed about Rex’s new theory. Sunstra told him she had one of her own.
“Let’s compare our theories,” she said. “How about lunch?”
“Another picnic?”
“No, let me treat you to an authentic Thai street lunch.”
They agreed to meet at a street vendor’s booth where she often grabbed a quick lunch between classes. Rex remarked that he was surprised the booth was open on a Sunday, if it was open during the week.
“The owner barely scratches a living from this booth,” Sunstra answered, a slight frown indicating her regret that it was so. “He must work every day, and his wife works to prepare the food at home. I’ve known them for a few years. It’s sad to see how vulnerable they are. Fully half of what they earn goes for protection to corrupt police.”
“Why doesn’t the government do something about that?”
She looked at him with cynicism in her eyes. “Why would you think the government is less corrupt? Not that I think the government is directly responsible for this man’s suffering, but the fact that they are corrupt on so many levels, too busy lining their own pockets to care what happens to the man on the street, so to speak.”
Sunstra ordered for them, Pad See Eiw, a dish that consists of wide rice noodles stir-fried in dark soy sauce with chicken, pork, or beef and Chinese cabbage—flavorful, hearty, warm, and comforting. Their dessert was Kluay Tod, a snack made from deep fried mini-bananas prepared in a batter of desiccated coconut and sesame seeds—addictively sweet.
While indulging in their food, Sunstra brought up the topic of Digger’s behavior.
“I don’t agree with your notion that Digger is jealous of us having a relationship. I did a bit of research about dog psychology, and it seems dogs can be jealous, and they’re not hesitant or embarrassed to show it. However, I don’t think that’s what we’re dealing with here.”
Rex smiled, “So, Doctor Chevapravatgumrong, what then is your erudite opinion?”
“Hmm, well this might be a bit difficult and awkward to explain. But I think it is probably important to say it…” she hesitated and stared at the table stuttering, “ah… I… I had it all worked out, but now it’s difficult to say…”
“What is it, Sunstra? Let it out, no sense in keeping it cooped up.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “I think Digger is protecting me from you…”
Rex gaped at her, “I… Sunstra, I would never harm you… you must know that by now.”
She was shaking her head. “No Ruan, that’s not what I mean. I know you would never harm me. But, the thing is, I think Digger knows that you’re not ready for a serious relationship. Not that you don’t want to have one—oh yes, you certainly want it. So do I, but I’ve been studying you carefully. You have a battle going on inside you. You’ve got some unfinished business somewhere. What it is, I have no idea. What I do know is that you’re not a university lecturer on sabbatical.”
Rex started to protest, but she held up her hand.
“No, let me finish. I’m not going to ask you to tell me who you really are and what you really do for a living. You’ll tell me when the time comes or never. You’re the type of man I could allow myself to love. With you I would be happy, and I would always feel secure, but—and this is the problem—you’re not ready for it. And I think you don’t realize it, but Digger does.”
Rex was staring at Sunstra’s face and eyes. She was not sad, as far as he could tell, she didn’t look hurt, which was a relief. While she was talking, he’d realized that she had hit the nail on the head. “And you think Digger senses it?”
She nodded. “That’s why he’s doing it. In a way, he’s protecting me from you. In fact, I think he’s protecting us from each other. I’m ready, and you’re not. It will never work until we’re both ready.”
Rex nodded slowly, “You’re right, Sunstra. That’s what it is. I am not a university lecturer on sabbatical, and I do have unfinished business. Not just that, I’ve also got some psychological mountains to conquer.
“I’m so sorry, Sunstra. You shouldn’t be suffering because I’m all messed up in my head… I…”
She took his hand and looked him straight in the eyes. “Look, we all have our mountains to conquer. But, to do it and succeed we have to be prepared and have to do it at the right time. As far as I am concerned, we’re not ready for it, and it’s not the right time for it. That might change in the future. In the meantime, there’s nothing that prevents us from being friends. Just good friends, which in any event is always a very good basis for any serious romantic relationship.”
Rex felt like a mountain had rolled off his shoulders. He raised his glass of Gafa-Yen Lua-mit, a non-alcoholic drink made with iced coffee and rice balls, and said, “To friends.”
Sunstra smiled, raised her glass, clinked his in a toast, and said, “To friends.”
Below the table, Digger sighed, put his head down on the floor, and closed his eyes to take a nap.
Despite the damper on their afternoon, Rex and Digger enjoyed the rest of the relaxing afternoon with her. Rex and Sunstra agreed on the source of Digger’s opposition to their on-again off-again romance, and they agreed they’d had it right the first time they’d discussed it—they should just be friends. Maybe Digger knew something they didn’t.
***
REX AND DIGGER were returning to the apartment when Rex spotted Marcel running toward them as he pulled into the parking garage. He’d barely stopped when Marcel ran up to him, his eyes wide with fear and shock. His nose was bleeding, and his right eye was beginning to swell shut.
“Quick, take me out of here! They’re going to kill me!”
It was a very different Marcel from the cocky kid Rex had met earlier in the day.
He kept his voice level and his expression neutral as he said, “What’s going on? Who’s going to kill you?”
Marcel’s voice was high-pitched as the story tumbled out so fast that Rex had trouble following. “Some guy was dissing me outside the bar last night. I taught him a lesson, broke his arm, I guess. I took off before the cops could get there. But when I got to my gym this afternoon, the guy’s brothers were waiting for me. They’re masters of Muay Thai! They started whaling on me, and I got away, but they’re after me. Come on, dude, let’s move!”
Rex would have preferred to get more explanation, but Marcel was so worked up that Rex started to back the tuk-tuk out of his parking space. However, it was too late. He hadn’t fully cleared the space before three young men, bigger than the average Thai, appeared in his rear-view mirror. He stopped, pulled the tuk-tuk forward again, and stepped out, facing them. Behind them stood a fourth person, the younger, smaller kid, his arm in a cast, and his face badly bruised. He looked to be about half Marcel’s size.
Before Rex could speak to the men, Marcel stepped in front of him. “Get out. This isn’t your fight. I’m as good as dead, but I’ll stay and fight to the end, to give you a chance to get away. You’d better run while you can. Call the cops.”
Rex stepped around him calmly, Digger keeping pace, and approached the brothers. For a few paces, Marcel kept trying to get in front, protesting all the time that he’d do the fighting, and Rex should get away and call the police.
Rex never took his eyes off the brothers. He brushed Marcel gently out of the way, and Marcel gave up before they drew too near the brothers. Rex continued until he and Digger were within a few feet. Not too near, to respect their personal boundaries, not so far that he had to raise his voice to speak to them in the echoey garage.
“What seems to be the problem, men?” he said, in perfect, unaccented Thai.
Their expressions remained stony, though he thought they may have been surprised to be addressed by a farang in that way.
Brother number one, the biggest, and by the looks of it the oldest, who was still smaller than Rex, spoke up, his tone surly. “No talk. Get out of the way. Our quarrel is with him.” He pointed at Marcel by lifting his chin in Marcel’s direction.
Rex stood his ground. “I understand you’re angry. I’ll talk to my friend and ask him to apologize and pay your brother’s medical bill. It doesn’t excuse his behavior, but what’s done is done. Beating him up will not unbreak your brother’s arm.”
“No, we’re going to break his arm. That is our right. Move aside, or you will make enemies of us, too.”
Rex shook his head regretfully. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that. I’m sorry he hurt your brother, and I can make him give restitution. Revenge isn’t an option, though.”
In the convex mirror above the brothers’ heads, placed there to help drivers see other vehicles in the parking area and avoid accidents, Rex could see that Marcel was agitated. He was gesticulating and shouting in English, posing in katas, breathing loudly, and generally making a fool of himself. Rex noted that, though Marcel was yelling at him to let him handle it, he did so from the safe distance of five or more yards away.
At Rex’s side, Digger sat facing toward him, looking back and forth between Marcel and the threat, as if he couldn’t decide what to do about all this. Rex caught the tilt of his head when he was watching Marcel’s antics. Marcel was no threat, so Rex ignored him and very quietly said “Cover” to Digger. At that, Digger turned around and faced the threatening brothers.
Rex hadn’t told Digger to attack in any way, so he remained relaxed, not quite smiling his happy dog smile, but not growling, either. One of the brothers was keeping a wary eye on the dog.
Rex tried once more. “Guys, listen to me. You don’t want to mess with us. Stand down, and let’s talk like adults. No one has to get hurt.”
Brother number one shook his head. Rex saw that the détente was over.
He hand-signaled Digger to threaten, and from the corner of his eye he saw Digger’s haunches come up. He knew Digger would be drawing his lips back and showing his teeth in a clear signal that the brothers should rather walk away.
Evidently, they didn’t understand dog language.
He hadn’t finished the last word before the answer came. It was not verbal. Brother one had decided the talking was over and made his move, but before he moved, he telegraphed his intention to Rex by a look in his eye. With a wild swing, he covered the few feet between them. Rex was ready with a block. He stepped aside and swept the attacker’s legs out from under him, dumping him on his ass.
Rex had no time to check the first brother’s status, as brother number two was stepping up to the plate already, faking a punch to Rex’s head while going for a kick to his ribs. Rex ignored the fake, correctly surmising that the kick was the real threat. Instead of backing away from it, he surprised brother two and stepped into it, robbing it of its power. He grabbed the guy’s knee and lifted it straight up, at the same time pushing back. Brother two went down on his back, but both he and brother one powered themselves back to their feet with a gymnastic move and rushed Rex.
The brother who’d been watching Digger took his eyes off the dog and made a move to join the fray, but Digger jumped between him and the others. He growled and barked a short, sharp warning. Brother three got the message and backed away, standing close to his injured younger brother.
Digger sat to watch them with no further threat.
Rex didn’t want to hurt the men. They had a legitimate beef with Marcel, and he was going to straighten things out with the brat as soon as this was over. However, he didn’t plan to get himself hurt in the process. So he fell back on Tai Chi moves, blocking and defending but not attacking. Every chance he got, he emphasized his points by kicking them in the ass, but not too hard, or slapping them open-handed against their heads when their defenses failed to protect them.
It didn’t take them long to get the message that they were outclassed, and that it was obvious this man was capable of seriously harming them if they continued to attack and annoyed him enough. As if they’d discussed it beforehand, both brothers stopped attacking. They stepped back, standing side-by-side, and bowed formally to him, as if to a sensei in a dojo.
As soon as they stopped, Rex stood upright, dropped his defensive stance, and called to Marcel to come and join him. He didn’t look back to see the approach, but he could see in the mirror that Marcel was coming.
As soon as he felt the kid’s presence at his side, he said, still without looking, “You owe that boy an apology. Say it to him and then to his brothers. Say it loud—I want to hear you, and they must hear you. Also tell them you’ll be paying for the kid’s medical expenses.”
Marcel opened his mouth to protest, but Digger warned him with a growl that he was on probation. Marcel said a few words of reluctant apology, and Rex translated, making it more gracious than it had been. If the brothers spoke English, which he suspected they probably did, they’d know he’d cleaned up the apology, but it didn’t matter.
When Marcel was done, Rex sternly told the brothers they should accept and shake hands. “Don’t make any moves out of the handshakes, or we’ll finish what we started here.”
Reluctantly, they shook Marcel’s hand and gave him artificial smiles.
Rex asked Marcel if he had any cash on him and got a sullen no for an answer.
“Go get some, at least one thousand bhat. We’ll be waiting for your return. Don’t make me wait too long.”
As soon as Marcel left, the brothers broke into genuine smiles and crowded around Rex. Digger tensed, but a hand signal from Rex settled him down.
As before, the oldest and biggest brother was the spokesman. He was effusive in his praise of Rex and his moves, saying they’d never seen anyone move like him or defend like that, and they wanted to know more.
“Let us buy you a beer. Maybe you can teach us your moves. We’ll pay you well and arrange as many beautiful girls for you as you desire.”
Rex politely declined and was secretly relieved when Marcel returned with the money. He said maybe another time for the beer and definitely no thank you for the offer of girls. The biggest brother took possession of the money and led the others out of the garage.
Marcel started to leave as well, but he halted quickly when Rex took hold of his ear like he would a naughty kid.
“Ow! What the hell, man?”
“First, don’t let me ever hear of you bullying a younger, smaller kid again. Got that?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Second, if you ever tell anyone what you saw today, I will personally deliver you to those guys and tell them you said their mother had sex with mules. You got that?”
Marcel nodded painfully, swiping ineffectually at Rex’s strong fingers on his ear. “I’ve got it. Jeez, let go, man. You could have told me you could handle yourself.”
Digger didn’t like his tone. He growled, and Marcel shut up for once. Rex let his ear go, and Marcel jogged away without looking back.
Two days later, Rex saw a For-Rent sign on Marcel’s door. He hoped the kid had gone to India to learn about meditation and inner peace. He didn’t have much hope for the kid’s acting career. H
e wouldn’t make a good action hero star, but maybe he could try for a role as a porn star.
But what do I know about acting?
It was the day after he noticed the For-Rent sign that he heard from Sunstra again. She wanted to meet him for an ice cream that afternoon. Rex gladly agreed.
When they met, he noticed she was troubled about something and assumed she’d tell him what it was, but all she said was that she was leaving for a while to visit her parents. She then asked if he’d like to join her in Phuket the following Friday, and she’d show him the sights. They agreed on a time and place, and she air-kissed his cheek when she left.
Chapter Twelve
JOSH AND MARISSA were thorough in their search for Bruce Carson. They had a semi-cold lead from Brandt, who’d seen Carson board the plane for the Marshall Islands and had watched until the plane took off. However, that had been weeks ago. Rather than taking off in a rush on what could be another fruitless physical search, they brainstormed an approach and decided it was prudent to set an electronic search in motion first.
Carson had been head of the CIA and the last link in a chain of corruption that led to the betrayal of Rex Dalton and his team in Afghanistan. With his disappearance, a new CIA head had been appointed, but John Brandt hadn’t trusted him with every bit of intelligence he had. Trusting political appointees, such as the Director of the CIA, was just not his style.
The primary directive in a search for a person with financial resources was ‘follow the money’. Carson had never been a field agent, or spook, as they were known. He’d joined the CIA directly out of college and became an analyst of European affairs. Throughout his career he did everything expected of a career bureaucrat, in other words, he kept his head down in a crisis, attended social events to rub shoulders with the elite, and kept his sights fixed on the top job. It worked. A few decades of doing that and he was considered an experienced administrator and a safe bet for a President who didn’t want to be embarrassed.
Although Carson lacked the skills of a real spy, he had the sophistication to make his money vanish, and so he had. Before leaving the US, he’d wiped out every penny in his accounts, leaving his wife near-destitute and mad as the proverbial wet hen, not to mention the fury when she discovered that no one wanted to believe that she was not in cahoots with her deviant husband. She was more than happy to cooperate when Josh and Marissa contacted her for more information, expressing the explicit desire to be allowed to put her hands around his neck and throttle all life out of him if they found him.