“Sorry!” She yelled apologetically out the window as she struggled to gain control of the car on the road again. Her eyes spotted the van battling through the busy road behind her. Deciding not to play by the traffic rules anymore, she yanked the wheel directing the car across the opposite lane and turned into a side road; narrowly missing an oncoming vehicle. She had already pissed off most of the villagers so why stop now? She made another quick turn into a smaller unobscured side street and pushed the car to go faster. If her orientation was correct, she was driving back in the direction of the road to the safe-house and parallel to the one they came racing down. The van was nowhere in sight. With any luck she outwitted them. She flung her head around to have a proper look behind her and spotted the nose of the van turn into the road behind her.
“Bloody bastards! Like hell, you’re catching me today!”
She had no idea how they managed to track her location, but she wasn’t about to give up without a fight. They did have the advantage in knowing these streets back to front. She’d have to be smart about. Her eyes scoured both sides of the road, but there was no way out. Apart from a couple of narrow alleyways there were no alternate routes to deviate to. Her foot flattened the accelerator as she sped the car through the thankfully quiet street. The road to the motel was directly ahead, but she still couldn’t risk leading them straight to their location. She would circle around again! Yes. That should work.
With a clear plan in her head, she turned left around the block and raced down the busy street. This time, she stopped at nothing and no one. They would have to get out of her way if they didn’t want to get run down. By her calculations, the van should have turned into the top road only now. Her eyes frantically scanned for another alley or side road. There! She somehow missed it on the first run. Again she swerved the car across the busy road and drove straight into the almost invisible side street which turned out to be an extremely narrow alleyway. The car’s nose scraped the brick wall before bouncing off hitting the opposite wall taking the side mirror with it. With any luck there would be no way the much larger van would fit between those walls. She hurried the vehicle up the alley which joined with the parallel street. This shortcut would have shaved off a substantial amount of time and allowed for her to have gained a significant distance. If she could avoid them seeing her altogether and just turn the corner in time before they drove down the road behind her. She dropped a gear and pushed the pedal hard into the floorboard sending her bouncing into the air as she hit a small bump in the road. Twenty meters — Ten — Five — she turned left into the side street while looking back to see if she beat the van. She did. They must still be stuck in the busy street. The tires screeched around the corner. Her wheels scraped the sidewalk, but she made it. Just ahead lay the road to the motel where she could gain even more distance if she kept her foot on the accelerator. Convinced, she decided to risk it. She would turn right onto the road and race like hell for the motel. It’s now or never.
Every couple of seconds her eyes looked up at the rearview mirror. The street was still open behind her. The road was coming up ahead. The car was traveling at an exponential speed. She would have to hold her pace for her escape to work and hope and pray she doesn’t crash into any crossing traffic. She couldn’t slow down now much less stop to comfortably make the turn into the street. It was a tight corner and she ran the risk of flipping the car, but it was a risk she was prepared to take.
With her foot flat on the pedal and both hands gripped firmly around the steering wheel, she shut one eye and turned right into the road. The shrill shriek of the wheels against the tarred road pierced the air as she came around the corner. She felt her body tilt to the side as two of the wheels lifted off the road. An oncoming tuk-tuk just escaped the rear of the car. She swung the steering into the opposite direction thumping the two airborne wheels back down on the ground. She could no longer feel her heart that, five minutes ago still hammered hard against her chest. Her legs were too numb to release her foot from the floor pedal. She barely blinked. It was a race against time now so she kept going never once looking back.
She had no idea how she managed to get to the motel parking in one piece, but she did. That was all that mattered. Afraid the van would undoubtedly spot her car in the parking, she drove around the back of the building in between the tall trees and parked the vehicle practically right outside their bedroom window. The car was hidden entirely and would not be visible from the road.
It was only when she switched the ignition off that she was conscious of breathing again. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably. She flung the door open, desperate to get some air, and fell to the ground. Her lungs drew in gasps of oxygen as she struggled to maintain control over her body. Sam! She had been gone for hours and never left him a note. He would be worried sick by now. Or dead. She pulled her body up against the car, making every effort to calm her rattling knees. The bag of breakfast supplies on the passenger seat had fallen off onto the floor. She felt the hard edge of the driver’s seat push through her tummy as she stretched across to the passenger side and shoved the noodles and scattered bread rolls back into the bag. With the shopping bag and her backpack in hand she pushed the motel’s door open. She was a rattling mess when she burst into their hotel room and slammed the door behind her.
The commotion startled Sam who had been sitting up in bed waiting for her. On impulse, he instinctively grabbed the metal dish from the side table and flung it at the door. Alex ducked and missed the metal object from hitting her arm.
“Bloody hell, Alex! You scared the crap out of me! I could have killed you!” Sam shouted.
“Not likely. You throw like a girl,” she said trying hard to hide her trembling body.
She should have known she couldn’t hide anything from Sam. His startled look instantly turned to concern.
“What’s wrong? Are you ok? Where have you been?” Sam fired questions at her.
Alex walked over and took several mouthfuls of the whiskey that still stood open on the nightstand next to him.
Sam knew something bad had happened for Alex to gulp down whiskey before breakfast. He gently squeezed her hand and pulled her down to sit next to him on the bed.
“Alex. Talk to me. This is me, remember? You know you don’t have to raise your guard with me.”
Sam was right. Alex trusted him with her life. He always made her feel safe.
She lifted her head and allowed the tears to run freely down her cheeks.
“They almost got me, Sam. They almost got me,” she sobbed uncontrollably.
Sam pulled her head to his chest and held her tight.
“Shh. You’re safe now. Calm down. It’s ok.”
Alex raised her head, wiped her face, and stared into his eyes. “How is it that you’re always so strong, Sam? I am supposed to give you TLC for a change. You’re the patient remember?” She said with a faint smile.
Sam cupped her face with his hand. Right now, I think, you might need it more than me.”
His hand felt strong and tender on her skin, and she found herself leaning into his hand for added comfort. Unfamiliar feelings warmed her insides where moments ago it was still gripped by fear. She knew she felt safe with Sam, but this? This she couldn’t quite explain. She jumped to her feet quickly and wiped her face with her sleeve before moving to the door to pick up the shopping bag from the floor.
“I got breakfast. It’s not waffles and bacon, but it will have to do.” She pulled out the containers of quick cooking noodles. “I also have fresh orange juice,” she added with a smile, avoiding his eyes.
Within minutes she had busied herself with boiling the kettle and cooking the noodles and deposited a container of noodles into Sam’s hands. She kept her distance and took a seat on the chair in the corner of the room.
“It’s ok, Alex. I don’t bite, you know?” Sam snickered.
Alex blushed. “I know,” she said before stuffing another plastic fork full of noodles in her mouth. “Ho
w is your leg?” She finally said.
“Tip-top, Dr. Hunt. You did a mighty good job at removing that bullet, I’ll tell you that. And, may I add, with no help from me at all. I’m impressed.”
Alex smiled politely. “Have you managed to check the wound? I guess we’d have to clean it, no?”
“Already done. It looks as if I got lucky. It missed my femoral artery and the bone. The bullet would have fractured into pieces if it hit any bone and I would have bled to death in minutes. Did you have to cut any muscle to get to the bullet?”
“Nope. It was tucked underneath. I couldn’t get the pliers in so pulled it out with my fingers. You passed out when I chucked an entire bottle of that white bottle in the wound to stop the bleeding,” pointing to the bottle with her fork.
“Well, whatever it was, certainly did the trick. I managed to put weight on the leg already and got to the bathroom and back. You did an excellent job. I just have a tiny issue of concern, though.”
Alex stopped eating and frowned. “What?”
Sam giggled. “Nothing too serious. You just shredded my jeans, so I have nothing to wear, that’s all,” throwing his eyes to his torn denim pants lying on the chair behind her.
Her cheeks flooded a bright red as she realized what he was saying.
“You mean you’re not wearing any pants under those covers?” Alex exclaimed in shock and horror.
“Starkers,” Sam laughed sarcastically.
He loved teasing her and burst out laughing when she politely turned her back to him and covered her eyes.
“Relax. I still have my jocks on and there should be another pair in the trunk of the car. You do still have the car, don’t you?”
Alex rolled her eyes and laughed. “Most of it. Speaking of. I narrowly escaped two Asians who tried to ram me off the road this morning, and you almost got killed last night. They’re on the prowl for us. Whatever the reason, they won’t stop until they find us. This village is too small for us to go unnoticed so I am of the opinion that we shouldn’t attempt finding this man Yheng-Pho referred us to. We might not be so lucky a second time around. We should get out of here. I recall Yheng-Pho saying there was a pagoda in a town called Soc Trang. We should move our search there.”
Sam pulled the map from his backpack next to him on the floor .
“You’re right. It’s not safe here. Soc Trang is South from here. About four hours by car. We should hang low here until nightfall and then make our way there. Did you hide the car?”
“I did. It’s parked between the trees right outside our window. I shook them off my tail in the village, so we should be ok here for the next couple of hours. Get some rest.”
Chapter Ten
Soc Trang, Southern Vietnam
It was close to 2am when they drove into Soc Trang. Sam slept most of the way while Alex kept her eyes peeled for anyone following them. They managed to flee undetected; shielded by the darkness of the night. The humidity dropped by several degrees making it also substantially cooler and more pleasant to travel in.
Unlike Tri Tong, this town was vastly smaller, covering only about 76 squared kilometers versus the almost 600 squared kilometers of the Tri Tong district. The streets were deathly quiet. There were no flashing neon lights and noisy clubs with half naked woman prancing around. The entire town seemed very much asleep. It shouldn’t be too hard to find the pagoda, Alex thought. Most large cities have about five or six, and they’re readily visible from any vantage point.
Alex looked back at Sam as he lay on the back seat. He was still fast asleep. The painkillers the woman from the shop slipped in the brown paper bag knocked him out cold. For the most part, it should help his body heal. Hopefully enough for him to walk. She was tired too. The events of the last forty-eight hours was wearing her down. She should find a safe spot for them to pull over and gets some rest. But where? She zigzagged through the streets in search of a hotel, but everything was dark and closed. Scattered between the derelict buildings, several modern office and apartment blocks stuck out like sore thumbs. Being so near the South China Sea, it offered an excellent opportunity for trade and commerce companies to have their base.
Alex slammed on the breaks, nearly knocking over a stray dog. The street lights weren’t very bright, but it looked as if there was a river up ahead. It was. Her tired eyes weren’t deceiving her. She pulled over under the trees next to a ferry port. It was closed with nothing but an anchored ferry boat tied down to the small jetty. This would make an excellent place to park until morning.
Soft tapping against her car window woke them up the next morning. It was quite light already, and the hot sun broke through the partially shaded tree they were parked under. She rolled down her window to find a slightly bent over middle-aged Asian man ask if they needed the ferry.
“No-no, thanks,” a half asleep Alex signaled with her hands to which the man signaled back for them to make way for the people behind them. Alex looked in her rear mirror spotting several commuters patiently sitting in a line behind them waiting for them to move onto the ferry.
“Oops, I’ll move out the way — sorry!” Waving her hands apologetically in the air while starting the car and moving out of the line for the ferry.
“I thought that was room service,” a sleepy Sam commented from the backseat.”
“I’m afraid not. How’s your leg?”
Sam sat up flexing his leg. “Remarkably fine, considering. I’ll need to clean the wound and have a better look to be sure there’s no infection. Where are you taking me for breakfast?”
“We need to find that temple and get cracking Sam. There’s no time to waste. I need to know what precious intel the scroll holds. We are no closer to finding the Golden Urn than what we were a month ago, and someone is prepared to kill us for it.”
Her eye caught the orange fuel light on the dashboard.
“We need fuel. There’s a gas station up ahead. We can ask for directions and grab something to go while we fill up.”
Sam knew not to argue. She was right. They were in danger of something they had no part in.
“How did they know we had the scroll?” Sam asked still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“What do you mean?” A confused Alex replied.
“Well, think about it. How did these gangsters know we had something so valuable? The last place they chased us was in Cambodia and I believe it was just a warning to get us to back off. But to follow us to Vietnam and then try to kill us? That is more than a mere warning. They knew we were onto something to bring us all the way out here. No one knew we had a scroll that could be the hottest lead we’ve had all month.”
“Except The Patriarch, Roshi and—“ she paused and caught Sam’s eyes in the rearview mirror.
“Nah. There’s no way Ollie would have said anything. Why would he take us all the way through a secret underground tunnel into a closed monastery, introduce us to the Great Senior Patriarch and then have us followed? He could have simply asked the Patriarch to show him the scroll again. He was certainly friendly enough with all those monks.”
Alex tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “I know. It doesn’t make any sense. What we do know, however, is that he couldn’t read it. So it’s not entirely impossible to think that he needs us to decipher it, right? He could be using us. Plain and simple as that.”
The pair went quiet as they each digested the possibility of having been double-crossed by Ollie.
The gas station was thankfully already open when she pulled in next to a pump and started filling the car’s empty tank. Several commuters whizzed past on their bikes. On the corner of the gas station, a young girl stood under an umbrella selling half-liter glass bottles of gasoline. Alex looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary or suspicious, but Alex couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched. Sam got out of the car and limped around to the boot to retrieve the medical supplies.
“Be back before you know it,” and disappeared into the men’s room al
ong the side of the building.
Alex flung her backpack over her shoulder and proceeded to the shop to settle the fuel bill. Another bell chimed as she stepped in through the door. The tiny shop was a flurry of chattering young adults collecting at the cold drinks and chocolate bars shelves. Alex grabbed some yogurt drinks and rolls, settled the bill and walked back to the car in time to see Sam shuffling from the bathroom.
“How’s the wound?” Alex asked in passing.
“We’re good to go. Let’s find that temple.”
The shop owner’s directions took them through the village streets to the other side of the town. With the sun illuminating the outskirts of the village they spotted a solitary temple against the backdrop of the lush green hill and adjacent rice fields.
Unlike the temple in Cambodia, this one, much to Sam’s delight only had ten steps. Something he was secretly praying for in the bathroom while dressing his wound. It was much smaller in size and not remotely as attractive or impressive as the Oudong temple, which was built entirely from polished white marble. Instead, it had three tiers with multiple eaves and wholly constructed from ordinary bricks. The clay tile roof was a bright red which lit up like a candle when the sun shone through the overhangs. Each soffit adorned a brightly colored blue and red dragon draped along the edge of the roof making it impressive in its own right. Bright white pillars painted with turquoise and gold dragons, of which the tails twirled around the post, held up the first tier. At the foot of each post were several clay pots with the yellowest of yellow flowers growing from it. On either side of the staircases, which ran all around the squared building, more dragons guarded the steps, and more yellow flowerpots proudly invited visitors in. A much smaller Buddha statue made from white stone held several tiny babies and children in his arms. At its crossed legs were trays of incense and fresh flowers.
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