Snatched

by Lilburne, Guy

  “Well, sir, we have had talks with the Syrian President’s people and they have made it clear that their President is willing to do a deal. That might be the good news, sir. The bad news is that we cannot assess the intelligence because they won’t give it to us!”

  “Well, what exactly are they saying?”

  “They are saying that they have been supplying arms to the Muslim rebels in Myanmar. That much we can confirm. We have recovered Russian arms from some of the dead rebels in Myanmar and from the serial numbers we can confirm that these same arms were in fact supplied to the Syrian regime by the Russians. So the Syrian government did indeed supply these arms to the rebels in Myanmar.”

  “What else are they saying, William?”

  “They are saying that they have intelligence coming out of Myanmar that William was snatched by these rebels and they say that they may be able to locate the prince. They believe he is still alive at this point in time and urge us to act quickly and take their offer of help. In return they want the West to agree to a new peace plan in Syria, which will mean the rebels there will get a small part of the south-eastern desert in which to live and a military demarcation zone policed by ourselves will keep them there. They are urging a quick response to the situation.”

  “I bet they are! What do you think, William?”

  “Well, sir, my gut instinct would be to say a big no. It would be a political nightmare and involve the British in another middle-eastern war that we don’t want to be in for the next ten or twenty years. And that is assuming that the Syrian President is telling the truth! I think we need to play him along and see what else they are prepared to tell us first.”

  “I agree. Okay, keep negotiating and keep pushing for more. Tell them that at this time we are prepared to keep all our options open.”

  “Yes, Prime Minister.”

  ~10~

  Nok was the owner of The Great British Detective Agency. She was a good business woman and a good detective. She was 26 years old. Danny had known her since she was 22 years old and working in a bar along Bangla Road. He had helped change her life and she had also helped him. They had been lovers and Nok loved Danny. She always did and she always would. If the truth be known, Danny loved Nok too, but not in the same way that he loved Ling. The two women had become big friends and had often talked to each other about their love for the same man. Nok was attractive and she was certainly sexy, but she wasn’t beautiful. She didn’t have the same natural elegant beauty that Ling was graced with. Nok was just over five feet tall. She had a slim waist and big breasts, especially for a Thai girl. And they were real! Her face was a little broad and maybe her mouth was a little too wide, but she had beautiful brown eyes, almost black, and the most amazing broad grin. Her teeth were brilliant white and she laughed a lot. She was cheeky and funny at the same time. She had told Danny that she would wait for him forever and in her heart she knew that she probably would be waiting forever. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Danny for over a year, although she would often telephone Ling for a chat. She always asked how Danny was.

  Chapter 4: Finding The Prince

  Danny had no trouble in finding the small soi off Rat-U-Thit Road where The Great British Detective Agency was located. The place hadn’t changed one bit in the two years since he had last been there.

  Nok had set up the agency with the money she had earned working with Danny on a previous case for the Thai Government a few years ago. Nok was Thai born and bred. In fact, she had never stepped foot outside of Thailand, but she just liked the name ‘The Great British Detective Agency’, so that is what she called her agency. That’s what the sign over the door and under the air conditioning unit said in big red writing. Her offices were over a shop. From the metal reinforced door on the street, a small flight of stairs led up to the small reception, which consisted of a desk with an old fashioned telephone on it, a grey metal filing cabinet and two wooden chairs for customers to sit while they waited to see Nok for a consultation. On top of the cabinet was a Buddha shrine. Incense sticks were lit and set in a glass of dry rice and offerings of bananas, flower garlands and cans of red Fanta pop were refreshed each morning. Nok’s office was partitioned off by a frosted glass wall with a glass door held on big stainless steel hinges. Engraved into the frosted glass were the words ‘Private Detective. Detective Nok’. The words filled Nok with pride every time she looked at them.

  Her receptionist was a beautiful Chinese/Thai girl called Meiwa. Her name, Meiwa, meant ‘beautiful baby’ in Chinese. She had also been working previously as a bar girl, but had been friends with Nok for a long time and, when Nok offered her a job, she jumped at the chance to get away from the bar scene. She wasn’t just Nok’s receptionist. She was also her cleaner and secretary and, most important of all, it was Meiwa who kept them both fed with a variety of street food, which she would go out and buy several times a day. She and Nok would then sit on the office floor and eat it. Occasionally Meiwa even got to help out on a case.

  They made a great team. They were making a lot of money investigating bar girls on behalf of their farang boyfriends, who suspected that their loved ones might still be working the bars in spite of all the money they were sending them each month, on a promise not to carry on working in the sex trade.

  Nok had got the taste for detective work after meeting Danny and helping him work on a couple of cases. There was a framed front page of the Phuket Gazette newspaper hanging on the reception wall behind the desk, which showed Danny’s photo and covered the case he solved of the murder of Sarah Appleby several years ago in Patong. Next to it was a secured glass case containing two medals that had been awarded to Danny O’Brien; one from the Queen of England and one from the Thai Government. There was a third medal that had been awarded by Colonel Wattana, Chief of Police, Kathu Police District, but Danny had given that one to a taxi driver from Phuket.

  Nok and Meiwa were sitting on the floor of the office eating sweet sticky rice, which had been flavoured with berries and coconut milk, then wrapped and cooked in a banana leaf. The girls squealed and jumped up to hug and kiss Danny as soon as they saw him walk in. Nok was crying and she held onto Danny for a long time after Meiwa had let go.

  “Tee rak, I miss you too much.”

  “I’ve missed you to” he laughed, peeling her arms off from round his neck. “It’s been a long time Nok. How yer doin’?”

  “I’m grand” she said, trying to mimic Danny’s Irish accent.

  “Are you hungry, Danny?” asked Meiwa.

  “No. I’m grand thanks.”

  “Tee rak, I have to tell you something!” For once Nok wasn’t beaming her wide grin.

  “What Nok?”

  “I marry already.”

  “Wow! Really! You are married?”

  “Yes. He man from Norway.”

  “When?”

  “One year ago.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because husband not want you to know.”

  “Have you told Ling?”

  “No. Not tell yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because then she tell you and husband not want you to know.”

  “Why doesn’t your husband want me to know that you are married?”

  “Because he hate you too much.”

  “Why Nok?”

  “Because I tell him the true everything.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “I tell him I always love you more than anyone in the world and I always wait for you.”

  “You wait for me, but you marry someone else!” Danny had only said it tongue in cheek, but he surprised himself because he did actually feel a pang of jealousy. Or was it loss! Maybe Nok wasn’t his anymore.

  “Yes, I still wait for you. I just marry him while I waiting.”

  Danny laug
hed out loud.

  “Did you ever tell Ling that you are waiting for me?”

  “ Yes. I tell she many times. She know already. She think good idea. She know if anything happen to her then I take good care of you and the twins. Me and Ling talk many times.”

  “Do you love your husband Nok?”

  “No, not love. But he okay. I tell him already I not love him. I tell him before we marry, but he still want to marry. He hope one day I love him.”

  “I hope you do too.”

  “I love him more better if he not so jealous and let me talk to you sometimes.”

  “Is that why you never want to talk to me on the phone?”

  “Yes. I make him promise I not talk to you. But now you here it is okay. I not break promise. You just come. That up to Buddha.”

  “Maybe it is better if you don’t tell him that I’m here then. I think I’m only going to be around for a few days anyway.”

  “Are you on a case, tee rak?”

  “Yes, sort of. I’m trying to find Prince William.”

  “Wow! Exciting! Can I help?”

  “That is why I’m here. I need some help.”

  Nok jumped up and down on the spot clapping her hands, before she jumped on Danny again. He felt her breasts pressing against him. He had forgotten how big they were!

  “Yes! We can help find Prince William. No problem” said Nok, as if it was as easy as nipping out to the Seven Eleven shop.

  “A German man called Wolfgang Bauer was abducted from Patong. I know he was here between the 5th and the 12th. He was taken into Myanmar as a decoy, because he looked a bit like the prince. He was murdered and left in the jungle in Myanmar. I think his abductors are the same people who killed him and probably the same people who are holding the prince now.”

  “So what do you want us to do, tee rak?”

  “His abductors were obviously in Patong at the same time that he was, to have taken him. I need you to check everything for me between the 5th and the 12th; every bar fight that happened, every newspaper report, every police report. I want the tourist police records for those dates. I’m looking for something, anything that would have made his abductors stand out from the crowd.”

  “Are they men from Myanmar?”

  “I would imagine so.”

  “We can check all the building sites then, because the workers are all from Myanmar.”

  “Good thinking, Nok. We’ve got nothing to lose by asking.”

  “I’m going to have to employ some more people to do all the leg work, tee rak. Can you pay?”

  “The British government can.”

  “Okay, Meiwa can ring some people. We have a lot of friends can help, but it is going to take a few days.”

  “No problem, Nok. I’m going to sniff around the city myself and see if I can turn anything up.”

  “Tee rak, I want you to come to dinner tonight and meet Borg.”

  “I’m guessing that Borg is your husband?”

  “Yes. I think it better if he meet you and then he know you are good man and maybe he not so afraid about you.”

  “How old is Borg?”

  “He same age as you, or maybe older or younger!”

  Danny knew what she meant, but he still had to laugh anyway.

  “Okay. If it is okay with Borg then I can meet you for dinner tonight.”

  “Okay, tee rak. I will call you later. Now I have to be busy.”

  “Bye Meiwa.”

  “Bye Danny.”

  ~2~

  Danny received a phone call from Nok and went to meet them in one of the beachfront restaurants. He was happy about that, because he didn’t have to walk too far. At 8:00pm he strolled along from his hotel in the warm night air. Darkness always arrived around 6:30pm and that is when the party usually started in Patong. Danny saw Nok and Borg sitting out on the terraced area of the restaurant and he waved as he walked towards them. Nok was right. Borg was about the same age as Danny. He was a handsome man with fair hair and a good suntan. Nok jumped up to greet Danny but Borg remained seated and unsmiling. Danny realised that this might have been a bad idea.

  “Tee rak, this is my husband Borg.”

  Danny put his hand out, but it was ignored by Borg.

  “Stop calling him your fucking tee rak. He is not your tee rak, I am.”

  “Nok, I don’t think it’s a good idea really. I think I’ll just go back to my room.”

  “No, tee rak. Please sit down. Borg just stupid jealous man. If he know you he will like you and not worry in his head about you.”

  Danny sighed and sat down for Nok’s sake.

  “Borg, you really don’t have to worry about anything. I’m a happily married man and me and Nok are just old friends.”

  “Happily married!” huffed Borg. “Happily married, but you still fucked my wife and she still waits for you. I don’t like you Mr. O’Brien. I don’t know why I agreed to this meeting. My wife is a stupid bitch.”

  “Your wife is my friend and I don’t want you to talk to her like that or to me. Otherwise you are going to have a problem.”

  “What are you going to do? Hit me!”

  “If I have to!”

  “I’m bigger than you, Mr. O’Brien. You should be very careful about picking a fight with me.”

  Danny stood up.

  “Nok, I’m sorry, but I can’t sit here and listen to this feckin eejit. I’ll call you tomorrow and see how you are getting on.”

  “Okay, tee rak. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry. You did nothing wrong.”

  Nok kissed him on the cheek and Danny walked out of the restaurant and back to his hotel.

  It was 10:30pm when the hotel reception rang him.

  “Mr. O’Bline” said a concerned sounding receptionist. “Come to reception quick. We have problem.”

  Danny didn’t ask what it was. He got dressed and went down to the reception. Nok was there waiting for him. She was crying. She had been battered. Her face was cut and bruised.

  “Jesus!” said Danny as Nok fell into his arms. “Did Borg do this to you?”

  “Yes. He do.”

  “Has he hit you before Nok?”

  “Yes. Many times, but not like this. He hurt my body this time. He kick me and hit with big bat.” Nok lifted up her dress to show huge bruises on her legs.

  “Okay. Put your dress down Nok. I’ll get a doctor.”

  “No. Not need doctor. Just need to rest.”

  “Where does Borg live?”

  “I live with him in his house.”

  “Where is it?”

  Nok gave an address and Danny told the girl at reception to order a taxi to take him there.

  “Take this lady up to my room please.”

  “It will be an extra 1000 baht a night for extra guest, Mr. O’Bline.”

  “No problem. Just take her to my room.” He looked at Nok. “Do you need anything from the house, Nok?”

  “No. I get police go tomorrow. Be careful, tee rak. He can be angry man sometimes.”

  “So can I!”

  The taxi pulled up outside a big house in a row of big houses on the hill just outside Patong. Each house had a 7 foot high white washed wall all around the property and ornate iron gates that were even taller. Danny told the driver to wait. He hadn’t thought about what he was going to say to Borg. He might not say anything, but he knew that he wanted to hurt him because he had hurt Nok. Danny pressed the button that was illuminated in a green light and he heard the bell chime inside the house. After a few moments the heavy wooden double doors to the house swung open and the tall figure of Borg was silhouetted in the lights from inside the house. He saw Danny standing outside his gate.

 
“Fuck off Danny O’Brien. This has got nothing to do with you.”

  “You hurt my friend. Now open the gate.”

  “The bitch is my wife. I can do what I want. Now go away before you get hurt as well.”

  Danny started to climb up the gate. Borg dashed inside the house and pressed some switch which suddenly illuminated the garden in yellow light from bulbs hidden in trees and in bushes. He picked up a long baseball bat and dashed back out. Danny was over the top of the gate and climbing down into the garden. Borg ran up behind him and swung the bat with all the force he could muster at Danny’s head. His shoulder caught most of the impact, but the blow also caught him on the side of the head, splitting his ear. Danny jumped down the last two feet and turned to face Borg. Borg took another swing. Danny ducked and punched Borg in the midriff knocking the wind out of him. Danny punched him on the nose. His nose broke and splattered under the force of the blow and he fell to the ground. The fight was over.

  “If you ever hurt my friend again I will kill you.”

  Borg just grunted. He was in too much pain to listen to Danny. Danny pulled him up by his hair.

  “Tomorrow the police are coming for all of Nok’s things. Tonight you pack them all into a suitcase. If anything gets damaged, lost or broken I will come back to speak with you again. Consider yourself divorced from this moment on, yer fuckwit.”

  Danny climbed back over the gate and the taxi took him back to the Holiday Inn.

  When he got to the hotel Nok was waiting in his room. She had showered and was lying on the bed wrapped in one of the hotels thick white bathroom towels. Danny could see the extent of the bruising now to her legs.

  “He certainly knocked you about Nok.”

  Nok opened the towel and let Danny see the bruises to her stomach and chest.