The Kiss of the Dragon

by Lilburne, Guy

  Danny did not see anyone and was happy that he was clean, as he and Nok entered Ratchawong Road and headed towards the pier at the end of the road. He was looking for the address given to him by Sak Wannadee.

  Before they had got halfway along the road another huge explosion rocked Bangkok. Danny saw the blast at the big grey stone building, near the end of the road, before he felt the blast that knocked him and Nok off their feet. They were stunned for several minutes. Too stunned to move, think or say anything. They were too far away to sustain any injury, but the shock was debilitating. Slowly the screams and cries brought them both back to the moment. A huge grey dust cloud filled the street and was hiding the flaming building from their view. People were walking and running out of the cloud towards them, caked in grey dust that stuck to their bleeding bodies. The whites of their eyes and teeth gave them a surreal zombie appearance as they staggered towards them, with their arms held out for help. Any help.

  Danny staggered to his feet and pulled Nok up onto hers.

  “Come on Nok. We need to get out of Bangkok.”

  “Where we go?”

  “Nong Khai. Do you know how to get there?”

  “I know it is far away north.”

  “It’s on the Mekong River, on the border with Laos.”

  “How do we get there?”

  “I’m going to steal a car and you are going to direct me north out of this place.”

  Danny grabbed Nok’s hand and they walked back out of China Town.

  They stole a car and, after a few wrong turns, they headed north out of the city.

  Chapter 46: Khonkaen, Isaan

  They drove out of Bangkok on Highway 2, Mithraphap Road and headed towards Khonkaen. Nok said that the road would take them all the way to the Friendship Bridge that crossed from Nong Khai, Thailand into Laos.

  “How far is it to Nong Khai?” asked Danny.

  Nok measured the map held on her knee, with her thumb.

  “Maybe 650 kilometres, tee rak.”

  “Tell me somewhere that’s half way Nok. We’ll go halfway, get a room for the night and make a plan for Nong Khai tomorrow. We must plan how we are going to get hold of Mr. Wong.”

  Nok checked the map again.

  “Khonkaen is halfway, tee rak.”

  “OK. That’s where we are going then,”

  “Tee rak, who blow up Wong’s building in China Town?”

  “I don’t know Nok.”

  After five hours driving and two stops they arrived at Khonkaen. They checked into a newly build motel just outside the city. On the drive north, Nok had noticed that Danny’s mood had got sullen. Twice she had asked him if everything was OK, and twice he had told her that it was. But she knew that it was not.

  They got into the room and Nok showered. Danny smoked a cigarette out of the window. When Nok sat on the bed and started to towel her hair dry, Danny took a shower without a glance or a word for Nok. When he came out of the shower, with a towel wrapped around his middle, he poured himself a brandy and smoked another cigarette out of the window. Nok sat on the bed and watched him. She could feel his sadness.

  “Tee rak, I know you think about Ling. It is OK.”

  “How did you know?”

  “I feel this.”

  “Sorry Nok. You are right. I have been thinking about her. As we were driving up here I kept seeing signs for Udon Thani. And that is where she lives. I have been thinking about her a lot. I am not happy with myself Nok.”

  “Why you not happy, tee rak?”

  “Nok, I love Ling. I love you too, but not in the same way.”

  “Yes, I know this. So why are you not happy?”

  “Because I have been sleeping with you and I shouldn’t have done. I wish I was a good person. I just keep thinking that Ling could be the best thing that ever happened to me, so what am I doing sleeping with other women?”

  “You not sleep with other women. You only sleep with me. No problem.”

  “Nok, you are the other woman.”

  “Tee rak, you do nothing wrong. You not worry anything. You say me that Ying bring you back to Thailand to be with Ling. So I think that Ying also make you have time with me, so that you make journey in your heart. So you understand what you feel and what you want. I think these feelings are good for you to understand. You do nothing wrong, tee rak. Please not feel bad.”

  “But what do I tell Ling when I see her again. How do I explain my feelings and explain about you?”

  “Up to you! You say what is in your heart. I think Ling understand you. Tee rak, khun jai dee.” (Darling, you have a good heart).

  “Nok, what do I say to you to make you understand that I never wanted to hurt you either?”

  “You don’t say anything. I understand you everything.” Nok smiled at Danny and he smiled back.

  “Nok, if I hadn’t ever have met Ling…….”

  “Sshhhhh, tee rak” Nok put a finger up to her lips. “Not say anything.”

  “OK. I think you know already.”

  “Yes, tee rak. I know. Tomorrow, when we get to Nong Khai, I think better if you let me find Wong, tee rak. Nong Khai not same same Bangkok. If farang ask questions, then every person in town know and then Wong will know. I think can be dangerous.”

  “Yes, I agree. We need to be in Nong Khai unnoticed.”

  Nok got off the bed and turned the bed side light on and the main light off.

  “Tee rak, lay on bed. I give you massage, I do good. You relax.”

  Danny walked over to the bed and lay face down. She tugged at his towel until it came off before removing her own. She sat astride him and he felt her hands warm and surprisingly strong, massaging deep into his muscles. He gently moaned his deep sighs as she kneaded the muscle knots and tension away. Danny gave up to the massage and felt every single muscle, every tissue, every nerve and sinew, just relax.

  “Nok, can I ask you something?”

  “Yes, tee rak.”

  “When I gave you the money to help you leave Moon’s Bar, you told me that you would wait for me for one year. Did you wait for me?”

  “Yes, tee rak. I wait every day. I pray to Buddha every day for you to come back to me.”

  “So now you are sad that I didn’t come back for you?”

  “No, tee rak. I pray every day that you come back. Then you come back, so I am happy.”

  “I never wanted to hurt you, Nok.”

  “I know. Don’t worry, you not hurt me.”

  Nok moved her hands down over his arms, buttocks, legs and feet.

  “Turn over, tee rak.”

  She again sat astride him and massaged his shoulders and chest. They smiled at each other and Danny took in her naked beauty. He felt a heavy dull throbbing growing between his legs into a full blown erection. Nok felt it too and leaned forward, taking her weight on her hands against his chest. She moved her pelvis, massaging against him until her wet warm pussy found his erection and she gently slid onto him.

  “Tee rak” she whispered. “We are friends. Friendship is like the sea,….. sometimes deep……..,” she gasped. “sometimes shallow…….. We are deep…deep…..Oh! My Buddha!”

  Chapter 47: Laos

  Yung Ching Wong was furious, and when he was furious the best thing to do was just to nod and agree with whatever he said. Even his own men and his closest allies were afraid of Wong. His bad mood made him unpredictable.

  One of his bodyguards, Chan, only had one ear. His left ear had been sliced off by Wong in one of his blind rages several years ago. Amazingly, Chan’s loyalty never wavered. The events in Bangkok had forced Wong to retreat across the Mekong River into Laos. His house was palatial and walled off from the outside world. With twenty four (3 x lucky eight) armed guards patrolling the grounds an
d the latest in high-tech surveillance, he felt safe enough inside the mansion. His view across the Mekong back into Thailand was impressive from most of the south facing windows. From the study window, where he stood now, he could also see the rooftops of his ‘factory’ in the hills outside Nong Khai. He stood motionless in the window looking out. He was a big man and his huge frame seemed to fill the whole window. His hands behind his back were holding a rolled up copy of the Bangkok Post. He was wearing the Pien-Fu; the traditional Chinese dress consisting of a narrow cuffed, knee-length tunic with a sash, and narrow trousers. Wong also had a traditional Chinese ‘Jian’, the double-edged long sword, hanging from his belt. The tip of this one was just one inch off the ground.

  The Aljazeera News channel was running and re-running the story about the British Agent, Danny O’Brien, the murder of drug overlord, Sak Wannadee, the explosion of O’Brien’s vehicle, the death of the CIA agent and the explosion in China Town at the Bamboo Export Company. The company had no direct or traceable links to Wong, but it was his company and his base in Bangkok. He knew that only somebody with inside information would know it. Wong was an invisible man to all security and intelligence services and that had ensured his own safety and security. Now it was under serious threat. With his brother being in the Chinese Government he had been able to make use of their Intelligence. It seemed that the denial made by the British Government in respect of Danny O’Brien working for MI5 may have been correct, but what was not in doubt was that he was, or had been, a police detective. He had received a medal from the Queen for bravery whilst he was working under cover over ten years ago. Wong had read about it on Google.

  Wong’s rage had subsided and a calm now spread over him like a shadow.

  “Who is Danny O’Brien?” he said quietly, without expecting any reply from Chan or the other bodyguard, who never left his side.

  “Who is this man who makes an enemy of Wong? Who is Danny O’Brien working for? What does he want? Why has he come into my world? Why? How do I find this man in a city like Bangkok?” Wong never turned to look at the two body guards, and, although he was now only speaking in whispers, he knew that they would be hanging onto every word. But they would not speak unless they had an answer.

  Wong knew that they had no answers. The intelligence report from the Chinese security services, supplied to him by his brother, had no answers.

  Wong knew that it was only the spirits who could give him the answers. Wong had always done everything he could to improve his good luck, health and happiness, by always wearing something in the lucky red colour. Today it was his sash. He did everything by numbers. Eight was immensely lucky and the number four was to be avoided at all cost.

  Wong’s rage had passed and now it was time for calm thought. He walked into the Buddha room (a room specifically set aside for Buddha, always with a shrine and usually found in most homes in Thailand) and prayed both to Buddha, then his ancestors and then to the Immortal Eight of Chinese mythology, whose wisdom had the answer to every problem that could ever be faced by man. Then he sat in silent meditation to receive the wisdom in answer to his prayers. He sat for over an hour before he returned to the study.

  “We do not have to go to Bangkok to find Danny O’Brien. He will come to me” he said, as he entered the study.

  The two body guards mumbled their agreement.

  He picked up the copy of the Bangkok Post newspaper and looked back at the photo of Danny O’Brien.

  “Increase the security at the factory. I want a copy of this photo in every hotel, every guest house, every bar and every shop. Offer a reward for every sighting and any information as to his whereabouts. When Danny O’Brien comes looking for me, I will be ready.”

  The newspaper and the order were passed down the chain of command. Wong always kept eight beautiful girls at the house to service his every need and desire. Now he wanted to be bathed and he wanted sex.

  The girls were summoned and stood in a line and wai’d to him. Each one was in a traditional Thai dress of different colours. Wong would normally pick two, three or five of them at a time to pleasure him, but never four together, because four was an unlucky number, to be avoided at all costs.

  He picked the three girls that he wanted today and told them to prepare him a bath, which they did. When Wong walked into the magnificent gold and jade marbled bathroom the girls were already naked and waiting to undress him. Two ¾ size marble elephants trickled warm water from their trunks into a bath the size of a small pond, and rose petals floated on the fragrant water.

  Wong walked into the bath with the three girl and they bathed him and soaped him and stroked him and sucked him. He turned one of them around and bent her over the edge of the bath. He pushed himself into her from behind. He was not making love, this was just sex. He climaxed in seconds.

  Chapter 48: Nong Khai

  The Monk walked barefoot along the road, which was little more than a dirt track. The saffron robe wrapped around his thin body was silhouetted against a back drop of a setting red sun beyond the rice fields. ‘It could have been a post card picture from Thailand’ thought Danny, as he watched the Monk walk along the road with an old man pulling a water buffalo on a rope. As they walked past the little wooden house where Danny and Nok stood, Nok dropped to her knees and wai’d to the Monk. The shaven headed Monk nodded and smiled. He had a kind face. The old man smiled a toothless grin and gazed at the farang. They did not see many around here. The evening was warm and humid and the red sun was just about to set. The creatures of the night started their calls. This was rural Thailand.

  Nok had managed to rent this little wooden house just outside Nong Khai for a week for 200 baht (£4). It was little more than a shack, with no electric, although it did have a water supply and an outside toilet/washroom. Danny had waited at a small roadside café while Nok had gone alone into Nong Khai to find somewhere for them to stay. When she went into a shop to buy a bottle of water, she saw two of Wong’s men handing a photo of Danny to the shopkeeper and heard them telling the lady that he was a criminal and he was on the run. There was a reward for any sightings of him or information. They told her that she could ring the number written on the photo at any time, night or day. They did not mention Nok.

  After she had paid for the water she followed the two men out of the shop and watched them going in and out of shops, bars and hotels, circulating the photo of Danny. She followed them until they returned to two parked pickup trucks to collect more photos. There were other men also collecting more copies of the photo. She took down the registration numbers of the two trucks. Nok knew that it would not be safe to book into a hotel or guesthouse in Nong Khai. She was happy that she had suggested to Danny that he wait at the café while she went into Nong Khai to find them a room. Nok walked into the market and stocked up with fresh food and water. When she was in the market it was the lady selling the Dorian fruits who was telling the lady at the next stall that she wanted to sell her father’s old house now. It had been empty for three years since he had died. Nok told her that she would be interested in renting it for a week and the deal was done. There was no key to hand over, because the house had no lock and no glass in the windows. She had given Nok the directions to the house. Nok promised her that she would leave it spotless in a few days, but, if she liked it, she may well buy it. Nok went into a Seven Eleven shop and bought cigarettes and brandy for Danny before she returned to the roadside café to collect him. She explained to Danny all about what had happened in Nong Khai and the reason why she had to hire the house from the lady in the market. It did not alter Danny’s reaction when they first got to the house.

  “Jesus! It’s a fecking shed.”

  It was basic in the extreme, but Nok cleaned, swept and picked fresh flowers from outside to brighten the place up. She made a barbeque in the soil and, with the smell of cooking meat, a few brandies and cigarettes, Danny had started to relax
and settle into the environment by the time the Monk walked past with the old man. Danny had not been delighted when they first arrived at the house, but Nok had worked hard to make it as comfortable as she could and she was right to rent this place. At least they would be safe here. Danny watched her return to the cooking as she squatted down over the barbeque. She looked up and beamed her wide smile. She was always smiling, always cheerful and optimistic about life. Danny smiled back. He had learnt so much from Nok. She had a wisdom beyond her years and, somehow, being with Nok had made him stop being so angry with the world.

  ‘Maybe Nok was right. Maybe it was all part of Ying’s plan to bring him back to Thailand to be with Ling, but first he had to discover something within himself with Nok.’ All these thoughts were going around in Danny’s mind. He had discovered the mythical ‘Thai Dragon’ and he had experienced the spiritual understanding that seemed to embrace Thailand like an old friend. Now he was feeling the ‘Kiss of the Dragon.’ Danny knew more than ever at that moment, that whatever happened, he would never leave Thailand again.

  The evening turned into night. It was a hot and sticky night. With no air conditioning and no fan, Danny had no sleep. The floor seemed to get harder by the minute. With no mosquito net to protect him he was easy prey to the mosquitos which were biting him. His constant slapping did little to discourage them and before very long his legs were covered in lumps. Now he was scratching until he drew blood.