by Guy Lilburne
“And you don’t know where she has gone?”
“No, I lost her when she got out of taxi in Patong.”
“So now what?”
“I think she has a boyfriend.”
“No not Tika, she wouldn’t dare.”
“She check out of hotel this morning just after10:00am and I follow her, but she get out of taxi and run away; get into another taxi but I no see where go, so I go back to hotel and watch. This afternoon a farang with yellow hair go to hotel and ask for your wife. I follow him. I see where he live, no problem. Then I go back to hotel and speak with security doorman. I pay 500 baht and he say that he see this man a few times collecting and dropping your wife off on his motorbike and one day he take her away and she not return to hotel until next afternoon and he see them kiss before say goodbye. Boyfriend sure.”
Yuda’s rage was steaming inside him, the veins in his neck were protruding with the flow of blood and his eyes bulged.
“Who is he? I will kill this man, I will kill them both,” he hissed.
“Maybe he is English, maybe Sweden, but I know where he stay.”
“Take me there; I’m going to kill this bastard.”
“You still want to find your wife?”
“Yes, of course I do.”
“Then you no kill boyfriend now. I follow boyfriend, he take me to your wife. Then you have both, then up to you! You give me your phone number and I ring you when I find your wife. Okay?”
“Okay, I guess.” Yuda’s mind was still swimming with the thoughts of Tika kissing another man. To Yuda this was the biggest betrayal. He was more than angry. Nobody treats Yuda like this. Yuda gave Watana his mobile number, but when he asked for Watana’s number he was told that he didn’t need it; Watana would contact him when he found Tika. Watana swallowed his beer and stood up, wai’d Yuda before walking out of the bar and disappearing amongst the crowd on the street.
Chapter 17
Simon went and showered. Afterwards he dressed in a white baggy shirt and some shorts. The shower had been refreshingly cold, but the sticky tropical heat soon made him start sweating again while he sat and ate breakfast in one of the small restaurants on Rat-U-Thit Road. He was thinking about Tika and what he could do to find her. It seemed to him that trying to find somebody in Thailand was near impossible, especially if they didn’t want to be found, but he knew she was in trouble and, if he could, then he was going to help her.
“Why you worry so much,” said the cute Thai girl, as she wiped the table next to Simon’s.
“Pardon!”
“You look worry. Have big problem too much sure!” she smiled.
“Yes I have big problem,” laughed Simon.
“Maybe I can help you. What is problem?”
“I have a friend, but she lost her phone and now she is missing.”
“Do you think your friend’s in trouble?”
“Yes I do. I think that she may be in a lot of trouble!”
“My name is Mai. I help you find friend, no problem. I know every person in Patong.”
“Hi Mai. My name is Simon, but I don’t know how you can help me.”
“You tell me problem, everything, and I help you find friend. You pay me 1000 baht. Deal?”
“Ha-ha, ok deal. If you can help me find my friend I will give you 1000 baht, but you already have job working here in restaurant.”
“No problem. This my aunty restaurant. I just help sometimes. I can help you today, no problem.” Mai smiled again and Simon realised how attracted he was to her and he planned to have her in his bed by the end of the day. If they could also find Tika, then that would be a bonus!
Mai pulled out a chair and sat opposite Simon.
“Okay. I listen and you speak me everything about friend.”
“Well, my friend is called Tika. She is a married lady from Indonesia and I think her husband might want to kill her. She ran away from him and came to Thailand, but now he knows that she is here and he is coming after her. She called me on her mobile and left messages, but when I rang her back somebody else had her phone, a Thai lady. She said that she had bought the phone second hand from someone. I went to Tika’s hotel and they told me that she had left in one taxi and, ten minutes later, another taxi came to collect her bags, but nobody knows where she went to.
“Very strange she leave in one taxi and another taxi collects her case!”
“Someone must have been following her. The second taxi, the one that collected her case, will have taken the case to her. He knows where she is. The taxi driver who collected her case was called Ching. That’s all I know.”
“Okay. So we find Khun Ching and then we find Tika.”
“Do you know a taxi driver named Ching?”
“No, but we find sure, no problem.”
Simon laughed and Mai smiled another bewitching smile. He wasn’t sure if she was flirting with him or if she was just really that charming.
“I’ve just had an idea Mai. When I rang Tika’s mobile before, it was answered by a Thai lady, who said that she had bought the phone off somebody. We should ring Tika’s mobile again. I need you to ask the lady who answers it where she bought Tika’s phone, who from and what were the circumstances. Maybe we are missing something important.”
Mai laughed.
“She will have stolen it, not bought it. She will have changed the chip by now.”
“Well it’s worth a try.”
Simon rang the number but it answered with just a dull tone. The number was now dead.
“See, I told you she will have changed the chip now. Don’t worry, we will find Ching. No problem.”
Chapter 18
Bethari was getting worried about Tika, because the phone calls had stopped. She had tried to ring Tika’s mobile, but the number was no longer in use. She rang Jaya at his office and told him of her concerns.
Jaya listened in stunned silence. Images of the beautiful Tika went flooding through his mind; her kind smile, her beautiful eyes, the first moment he ever saw her when she came into the office all those years ago. Tears filled his eyes and slowly ran down his cheeks. He had no way of knowing if Yuda had already found her, but he had to assume the worst.
He knew that Yuda would not contact him until he got back to Indonesia. He felt the weight of his own guilt crushing his chest, squeezing the breath out of his body. He couldn’t find any words to comfort Bethari, so he just listened and told her ‘Everything will be alright’, but inside he knew it was not alright and he would never find forgiveness in this world. He was numb with shock. He didn’t know it would feel like this.
After the call from Bethari, Jaya rang Watana, the contact in Thailand. He was relieved to hear that Tika was still alive. He told Watana not to tell Yuda that he had been checking up and he also told Watana to keep him informed.
Chapter 19
After Simon had paid his breakfast bill, he and Mai left the restaurant and rode further along Rat-U-Thit Road on Simon’s bike and parked at the top of Soi Sansabai, opposite Bangla Road. The car park had been taken over as a market today, but there was still plenty of room to leave the bike and, because of the market, it was free today.
Mai knew Patong well and she knew where all the official and unofficial taxi ranks were. She even knew a few of the drivers, as most of the locals do. So, in the humid heat, they walked all around Patong and Mai did all the talking. They handed out Simon’s mobile number on pieces of paper and told as many drivers as they could get to speak to that Simon was a good friend of Tika and needed to find her, because she may be in trouble, and that a driver called Ching may know where she is.
Mai was charming, as always, and there was the promise of a cash reward for any information. The hours ticked by and it was hard work walking so far in the blazing sun. Although Mai seeme
d unaffected by the heat Simon was wet with sweat and his clothes were sticking to him, making him very uncomfortable. They had no luck at all in finding anyone who knew Ching, or the woman from Indonesia called Tika.
Then their luck changed. Along the Beach Road, at the south end of the beach, there were four taxis parked up on the pavement on the beach side of the road and, when they approached and started to ask about Tika and Ching, one of the drivers got very nervous. Like the others he shook his head and said that he didn’t know anything, but nervously, and for just a second, he looked Simon in the eye. Simon instinctively knew that he was lying.
“You know Tika, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t know, sorry,” said the man. It was George, the taxi driver who had collected her from the hotel.
“This lady is my friend and she may be in trouble if we don’t find her soon. Please help us.”
Simon took out 1000 Baht and handed it to George.
“I know that you know something,” he said calmly.
George thought for a moment and then said,
“I don’t know if it’s the same lady, but I did collect a lady from the Baan Yin Dee hotel and she put an empty suitcase in my car. She asked me to drop her off at the market soi, wait for three minutes and then just drive away slowly after she walked into market. So this I did and I don’t see her again.”
“Can you show us where you dropped her off?”
“It was just down there, past the Holiday Inn.”
Simon took out another 1000 baht
“Please take us there.”
Before Simon could hand over the money, Mai grabbed his hand and said something in Thai to George. She was still smiling but it still sounded threatening to Simon. Whatever she said seemed to work. George smiled nervously and got into his taxi. Simon and Mai got in the back and he took them the short distance along Beach Road to where he had dropped off Tika.
They thanked him and walked along the market soi. It opened out the other side of the small market into a proper soi, so they walked along it to the junction with Rat-U-Thit Road, where they saw a long line of taxi’s at a rank. They smiled and nodded to each other. They knew they were onto something. The drivers at this rank did know Ching, and one of them even remembered a pretty foreign lady, Asian but not Thai, running and jumping into his taxi yesterday morning. Nobody knew where Ching lived or had a phone number for him, but they were sure that he would be around the taxi rank at some time today. He had a wife and a small baby so he worked every day. They left Simon’s name and phone number on pieces of paper with all the drivers, again with the promise of a cash reward for whoever could get Ching to contact them. It was all very businesslike and very friendly. At last they were getting somewhere.
Exhausted, hot and thirsty, they went into the cool of a nearby bar and ordered iced cold beers and some food. Simon lit a cigarette. He was excited and yet nervous at the same time. They were not aware of the heavily tattooed man sitting in the back of the bar over the road, watching them. Watana took their photos on his digital camera, totally unnoticed. After another hour of waiting and drinking beer, Simon suggested going back to his hotel for a cool shower and some rest, before trying later in the evening to find Ching. He made the suggestion very ‘tongue in cheek’ and was delighted when Mai agreed without any hesitation. There was no small talk when they got back to Simons room. They undressed and showered, went to bed and made love before sleeping for a few hours. They showered and dressed after the sun had gone down and made their way back to the bar and waited to hear of any news about Ching.
Chapter 20
They ordered some Thai food and watched the soi come alive with lights, music and the ladies who worked the nights in Patong. They had finished eating and were having their second beer, just relaxing and cooling down in the shade of the bar, when they were approached by a small skinny Thai man. He made quick nervous movements. His eyes darted around the bar and he took in everything and everyone before he spoke.
“Sawaddee khrap, my name Ching. You look for me?”
“Hi Ching. I’m delighted you are here. Please sit down,” said Simon.
“No, I stand up, better.”
“I’m looking for a friend of mine. Her name is Tika. I think you might know where she is?”
“Why you look for her?”
“I think she may be in trouble. I think her husband is going to hurt her if
I don’t find her first.”
“How I know you not work for husband?”
“Do you know where she is?”
“How I know you good guy?”
“Well I guess you don’t, but I really am her friend. My name’s Simon and I met her on the beach. She told me all about her husband and now I think he has come to Thailand to hurt her.”
Ching’s eyes lit up and he broke into a smile, he remembered Tika telling him about her friend Simon.
“You Doctor from England, right?”
“Yes I am.”
“Yes, now I know you good guy.” Ching sat down at the table and continued;
“I take her to Kata Beach, not very far, stay very good hotel. We buy her new mobile phone. I have number. You want?” Ching took out his mobile from his pocket, searched through the numbers and then read it out as Simon wrote it down.
“Hotel called Alpina Nalina: you want I take you?”
“It’s ok Ching. I’ll ring Tika and arrange something with her. Thank you Ching. You have done a good thing today.”
“Okay, I get reward now?”
“Sure thing.” Simon took the wallet from his back pocket and handed Ching 1000 baht.
“Five taxi driver all tell me you want to speak with me, all need reward. You want I take for them?”
Simon smiled and peeled off another 5000 baht and handed it to Ching.
Ching held the money between his hands and wai’d to Simon.
“Good luck Khun Simon. You want me ring your friend Tika and say I find you?”
“No, it’s okay thank you, I’ll ring her now.”
Ching turned and left them and Simon wasted no time in calling the number that Ching had given him. It rang a few times before a nervous sounding Tika answered it.
“Hello?”
“Tika, it’s Simon.”
“Oh Simon, praise Allah it’s you!” The sudden release of tension was too much for Tika and she started crying.
“Simon, I’m so happy it’s you. How did you find me? I didn’t think I’d ever speak to you again after I lost my phone.”
“I found your friend Ching and he gave me your new number. Are you okay Tika?”
“You found Ching? Are you in Patong?”
“Yes, I came looking for you after I got your messages.”
“I’m scared. I was being followed by somebody and I think Yuda is in Thailand. I don’t know what to do. I’m so happy you are here. I‘ve missed you so much. Can I see you Simon?”
“Yes, of course. I will come to see you. We need to make sure you are okay and decide what you are going to do.”
“I’m in the Alpina Nalina Resort in Kata Beach.”
“Yes I know, Ching told me. Tika, just wait in the hotel. I’ll come and see you. Did my number show up on your phone when I rang?”
“Yes, I’ll save it.”
“Who was following you Tika, do you know?”
“Someone working for Yuda, I guess. I didn’t know him; he was a skinny Thai man. He had a moustache and he was scruffy looking. He had lots of tattoos on his arms, a big dragon on his left arm. He looks as if he can fight!”
“Okay Tika, stay in the hotel. If anything alarms you ring me straight away. I’ll come and get you and we’ll decide what to do. You don’t have to worry; everything will be okay. I’m just glad you are safe
and well. I was so worried after I got your calls.”
“I’m not worried now Simon. Thank you for coming for me.”
“Bye Tika, see you later.”
“Bye.”
Simon breathed a sigh of relief. He was happy that Tika was fit and well.
“She’s fine Mai, thank God for that!”
“Thank Buddha,” said Mai.
“Thanks for all your help Mai. We wouldn’t have found her if it wasn’t for you.”
“Yes, we did good work. I like being a detective,” she beamed. “Do you want me to come with you to see Tika?”
“No thanks Mai. I think I had better go alone.”
“Okay, but I want you to wear this.” Mai took off a golden chain from around her neck and kissed the Buddha held in a glass case hanging from the chain.
“What is it?”
“It is Buddha. He will protect you. You give me back when everything no problem and no danger, okay?”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Mai put the chain around Simon’s neck and kissed him gently on the cheek.
“I think maybe you will be safe now.”
Simon left the bar and mounted his motorbike. As soon as he pulled away, Yuda and Wattana followed unseen and unnoticed in a dark car with blacked out windows.
Chapter 21
Simon liked riding on a motorbike after dark in Thailand. The speed of the bike cooled the hot night air. The run out to Kata Beach wasn’t a long trip, but the scenery was beautiful and the hills and the bends in the road were fantastic for a motorbike enthusiast. Simon was really happy to be on his way to see Tika again.
Simon found the hotel without any trouble. It was lit up beautifully against the dark night sky, with a location away from the coast road and surrounded by mountains. Simon parked the bike at the front of the hotel and went into reception. Watana and Yuda pulled up a few moments behind him and sat in the car in the darkness and watched Simon talking to the receptionist. They saw the girl pick up the phone and, after another moment, she directed Simon along a corridor. Simon walked away from the reception until he disappeared out of sight.
