by Lee Weeks
‘I found this photo amongst the papers. Do you know the man in the picture, Dorothy?’
‘I haven’t seen him for years. He was involved in the Golden Orchid. His name is Gee.’
‘Who was he?’
‘He was an ex-addict that Deming liked. Deming handed over his share of the Golden Orchid to him and helped him with ideas for advancing the handicrafts. He set him up in a shop here. It’s in Chinatown—Gee’s cousins run it.’ ‘So that was the end of Deming’s involvement with the Golden Orchid?’
‘Yes, as far as I know. Of course, he still owned all the land and the buildings that were registered to the company.’ Dorothy paused and looked up at Magda. ‘You do know that, don’t you?’ Magda shook her head. ‘Well, that was one of the last things I did for Deming. I liaised with the solicitor when Deming had the land transferred into the boys’ names. Jake and Johnny Mann must still own all the two thousand acres of land in Burma.’
103
Mo’s eyes were bright and burning with an unearthly sweat of exhaustion and of satisfaction as she approached Boon Nam. They had fought solidly for twelve hours and now just a handful of Boon Nam’s army remained. She stood over him as she watched him being tied to a tree by Phara and the others.
‘Boon Nam, every soldier deserves to die an honourable death.’ He looked at her in the dusk, his eyes defiant. He was ready for death. She pulled his trousers down and held his penis in her hand and began to work it. Boon Nam became semi-hard. Just at the point that his eyes began to take on a new look, a hopeful look, that, despite the terrible predicament he found himself in, he might just be about to get laid, Mo smiled at him.
‘But you are no soldier; you are a murderer of women and children and a rapist…’ She got her knife and sliced it right through at the base of the shaft. Boon Nam screamed in agony as his body convulsed in pain and shock.
‘Bring me a cooking pot, girls,’ Mo shouted. ‘Meat’s on the menu tonight.’ She looked him in the eyes. Boon Nam’s face contorted with agony as he fought against the pain. ‘Let your death be without dignity and let your spirit roam forever.’
104
Shrimp caught a domestic flight up from Phuket to the small airstrip two hours outside Mae Sot. Then he caught a taxi to Mae Sot and checked into Mary’s before walking the few doors up to King’s bar. ‘You have a bag for me?’
Eric was reading a magazine and listening to ‘Stairway to Heaven’ on the juke box. He stopped and looked up as Shrimp approached him. He did not seem fazed by Shrimp’s battered face—a mixture of fresh swellings on old bruises. He studied him and smiled.
‘My name is Li,’ said Shrimp. ‘Johnny Mann left something for me.’
‘Ah yes,’ Eric replied. He disappeared out the back and came back carrying a bag. ‘Your friend said you would come for it and he said you would pay me well for looking after it.’
‘Of course. He is a good judge of character.’ Shrimp smiled to himself. If Eric had known what was in it, he would never have held out for the two hundred US dollars. As he was leaving the bar Eric called after him.
‘Where is your friend?’
Shrimp turned in the doorway.
‘On his way back.’
‘And you, are you staying here long?’
‘Just passing through.’
Eric nodded.
‘The whole world passes through Mae Sot. It is like a Stairway to Heaven is it not?’ he nodded towards the juke box and grinned. The music changed. AC-DC came on. ‘Or maybe it’s a Highway to Hell,’ said Shrimp as he left.
Shrimp went back to Mary’s to wait. He rang Ng.
‘NAP’s prints are all over some big deception cases in Patong. They’ve been making money-brokering deals between local corrupt officials and foreign investors.’
‘Yes. We know. Alfie’s found the evidence in her emails.’
‘Keep it all for me, Ng. I intend to help these people.’
‘I will. Katrien’s been doing the deals and pocketing the money. She’s been using it to bring in large drug shipments. She’s been trying to buy her way into the big league in the world drug trade.’
‘What do you want me to do, now?’
‘We dare not risk Katrien finding out Mann has backup; she may decide it’s not worth the risk of getting caught. Stay where you are till we know what’s happened to Mann.’
‘How was he the last time you spoke?’
Ng paused. ‘He was very sick. If he doesn’t make it, if something has happened to Mann, then we have to hope she will contact you through Magda or Alfie. She is not going to want to say goodbye to that money. She will want it, whoever she gets it from, and that might well be you.’
‘I’m not giving up on Mann, Ng.’
‘I know, but you might have to.’
Shrimp hung up and texted Mann again
I’m here, Boss. Have the goods, awaiting instructions, Shrimp.
105
As soon as Alfie got the call from Ng, he went back to the shop in Chinatown. He knew he was out on a limb—he should have applied for a search warrant—but if he did, he knew the shop would be emptied before the warrant was issued. Ng had said there was a link between Deming and the Golden Orchid and Burma. Right now that felt as good a link to getting Jake home as Alfie had had so far. He wasn’t about to let it slip through his fingers.
Alfie went into the shop opposite to watch discreetly. A young designer had taken advantage of the space and low rent; Alfie was standing in the doorway of a young woman’s passion for plastic baby dolls and rubber handbags. He watched the activity opposite. He saw the same man as last time, the owner, hovering just inside the doorway and watching Alfie. Alfie paid for the bag he had bought for Magda and looked tentatively around as he crossed the road. The ache in his side reminded him that he was still strapped up from the wound and the stitches were not due out for a few more days. But the panic he felt in his lungs and his heart told him he had to risk it—they didn’t have a few more days. They had waited too long to act as it was. At least these people would realise he was a problem that wasn’t going to go away, if nothing else.
As he reached the shop doorway, he flashed the owner a big broad grin and the man nodded, looking puzzled, and stepped aside for Alfie to enter. Inside, there were three men, swarthy, tricky-looking types, sitting on boxes that looked like newly arrived stock. They were drinking small shots of strong coffee. The owner closed the door behind Alfie.
‘This is the policeman I told you about,’ he said. The men stopped drinking coffee and stood up with knives in their hands.
106
‘She is in so much trouble, and that dirty little receptionist as well. She’s been helping Katrien to cook the books.’ Magda and Dorothy sat in Katrien’s empty NAP office and Dorothy opened a drawer hidden on the underside of the desk. ‘She thinks I don’t know where she hides things but she forgets how long I have been here. This is what I wanted to show you.’ She pulled out a folder about the history of NAP. She turned the plastic sleeves until she found what she was looking for—an article about the missionary couple who had rescued Katrien from Burma when her village had been destroyed.
Magda took the article out and opened it out fully. Dorothy explained.
‘When the couple tried to legally adopt her they ran into problems. She had a relative who wanted her back. The couple insisted that she had been living with them for three years and she should stay. They even went back to Burma to try and sort it out. In the end, the relative was outvoted and the girl was allowed to stay with the missionaries in Amsterdam. But it was the beginning of the trouble for them. She spent a lot of time out there. I suppose it was only natural…he was her brother. But the story doesn’t end there.’ She dug deeper into the drawer and pulled out a packet of old photos. She handed them to Magda.
These were photos taken when Katrien’s village was destroyed and she was rescued. ‘There she is…see?’ Dorothy pointed to a small child in the arms of her rescuer.
‘I see.’
‘But do you see who’s holding her?’
Magda peered closely and recognised him.
‘It’s Deming.’
107
‘We are here.’ Gee pointed with his cane into the distance. Mann could see nothing but blackness ahead. ‘Gee has delivered you to a safe place. I know the fishermen here. We will be back in Mae Sot by morning. And then—where will we go?’
Mann thought back to his vision of Daniel and the monk on the shore and shook his head. ‘All I know is “We are what we think. What we think we become.”’
‘Of course!’ exclaimed Gee. ‘That is the exact translation.’
‘Of what?’
‘You saw the Buddha outside my lock-up. The inscription above it. You asked me what was on it and I tried to translate for you. That was what was on it. That is the saying—“what we think, we become”.’
Mann felt charged with adrenalin. Now he had the answer to the riddle.
They reached the jetty. Brigitte gave them a final nose with her trunk before heading back towards the forest and freedom. Mann knelt down on the jetty and splashed his face with the river water. The eels came up to investigate. He trailed his hand in the water and they swam between his fingers.
It was nearly midnight. Gee whistled in the evening air. From the bushes came a whistle in reply and a man appeared. Gee negotiated with him and a boat was made ready. Within a few minutes they were on board and making their way downstream.
‘Rest, my friend,’ said Gee. Mann put his legs up and stretched out on the seat that ran the length of the boat. Mann dozed. His sleep was interrupted by a tug on the arm from Gee. Mann sat up to see what Gee was pointing excitedly at. The fisherman was steering towards a small jetty. Mann looked and saw a sight he never thought he would—Sue was waiting for a boat.
108
Sue opened her backpack and took out her medical kit. She tore open the sealed packet containing the diluted quinine salts and gave it to Mann. He drank down the liquid.
‘What’s that?’ She had begun preparing a hypodermic.
‘It’s just a shot of vitamins; help you recover your strength.’
‘No, thanks. No shots. By the time we land I will have all the strength I need.’
Sue looked put out for a second and then she slid over to Mann with a mischievous look in her eyes.
‘You’ll need to keep your stamina up. I have lots of arduous work in store for you.’
‘As nice as that sounds, Sue, it’s not going to happen any time soon. First, I intend to find Saw Wah Say and kill him and whoever gets in my way. I am going to make sure he feels the pain he’s caused. For every time he’s hurt one of those kids, I am going to hurt him a thousand fold. And, at the end, I am going to watch him die. There will be no ransom for him. He has left it too late to bargain with me now.’
Mann got out his mobile phone and turned it on. It searched for a network and then buzzed into life.
109
Riley eased his bottom to the side of the hospital bed and reached for the crutches. Outside he saw his taxi arrive. The headlights shone through the window into the ward. He took out the gun from beneath his pillow and tucked it into his trousers. He was heavily bandaged up. His right foot had been saved but very badly cut and two of his toes had had to be amputated. He knew it was a tall order to expect it to take his weight. He had cut down on the morphine for the last two days. He needed to stay sharp. He had a job to do and it wasn’t over yet. The headlights stayed on. The taxi knew to wait for him. He put the crutches in place and gradually adjusted his weight onto his right foot. With a growl of pain and a head rush he stood and it took all he could muster to stop himself falling back down onto the bed. He wavered, grabbed on to the bedside locker for support and then took a few deep breaths to try and beat the pain that threatened to split his throbbing foot and burst the stitches on his amputated leg as the blood rushed down. Already there was a bright red patch appearing on the stump. Riley pulled his trouser leg down over it and made his way towards the door.
110
Saw pushed Anna and Jake down the unlit lane at the back of the market and through the lock-up doors into the damp, dark room. Handsome locked the door behind them and lit a lamp and placed it on a table just inside the door. Saw pushed Jake and Anna into chairs opposite one another across the table, and then he refastened the piece of material that acted as a curtain at the window. He went over to one of the boxes stacked in the corner of the room and broke it open. He pulled out a bottle of rum and went back to sit at the table with Anna and Jake. He didn’t speak for several minutes as he drank the rum and watched them both. His eyes glinted in the light of the lamp. His chin ran with rum. Jake had never seen him look so menacing as he did now.
‘Do you know this place?’ Saw’s eyes hardened as he looked at Jake. Jake shook his head. ‘I came here with the master of the refinery.’ He looked around at the walls of the lock-up. ‘We sat at this table and drank rum and we talked about things that would come.’ Jake listened. Anna looked full of fear as her eyes searched Saw’s face. ‘I brought you to this place because someone is coming here; someone I have waited a long time for and then…’ He leaned towards Jake and breathed into his face ‘…then I will have my revenge.’
Weasel came behind Jake’s chair, held on to Jake’s shoulders and pretended to be fucking him like a dog. Handsome howled. Saw drank deeply from the rum. He wiped his mouth and looked from Jake to Anna and then he reached over and stroked her hair. She turned away. He grabbed her around the neck and pulled her to him. He kissed her, his mouth wide, his teeth chewing her face, he covered her face in saliva, and then he twisted her face towards Jake.
‘This is your last night, boy. It will be a long night; the longest night of your life. By the time morning comes, you will beg me to end it. I will have my revenge and I will kill you. And your bitch.’ Anna’s eyes were shut tight and she began to cry. ‘You will watch me take her many times.’
Anna screamed as her chair was dragged out from beneath her.
111
Katrien had had too much methamphetamine. She was hyperventilating now. Her heart raced. She was feeling claustrophobic and panicky in the hot stuffy room. She looked at herself in the small mirror that she used for cutting lines on: her mascara was down her cheeks, her face was blotchy. She threw the mirror down on the bed as her phone bleeped; she had a message. She read it and started to laugh and couldn’t stop. This was it. This was what she had worked for. She re-read the message. She couldn’t believe it: all her dreams were coming true. She went back into the bathroom, redid her makeup, and smiled smugly into the mirror. She was a clever girl. Even if she had misjudged things slightly and had to leave Amsterdam prematurely, it would all work out tonight. Then she stopped and smiled at her reflection.
I wonder if anyone has found my leaving present yet?
112
Shrimp waited in Mary’s till the message came and then, at four in the morning, the money stowed safely in his backpack, he got on a scooter and drove down to Friendship Bridge. The night was nearly over now, the last few shipments were being loaded onto lorries and heading into Thailand. Tired dealers were at the last of their energy, nervous and jittery, and sweating with exhaustion and adrenalin.
Shrimp knew what he had to do. He parked his scooter and slipped around to the back of the market.
113
‘We are here at Mae Sot, my friend,’ said Gee.
‘Moor the boat under the bridge, Gee,’ said Mann.
‘And then what?’ asked Sue as they stepped up onto the bank. ‘What do you want us to do?’
‘Head back to King’s bar. I’ll find you there afterwards.’ She was reluctant to leave him. ‘Go with Gee. I’ll be all right.’ Mann didn’t have time to explain.
Mann made sure that he wasn’t followed and then he went to find Shrimp. He had a hard time spotting him. He had camouflaged himself well—he looked like every other dubi
ous type in Mae Sot, hot and dirty with a dash of colour. It also helped that his face looked like he’d been run over and then beaten up.
‘What the hell happened to you?’
‘Hello, boss. I had a lesson in Thai hospitality.’
‘Hope you returned the compliment.’
‘Sure did. What about you, you better?’
‘I’m okay.’
‘What’s the score, boss?’
‘You hold on to the money and I go in alone. When I need you I will call. Stay close but stay hidden.’
‘I’ve checked it out, you were right—they’re in a lock-up around the side of the market. I heard maybe five or six voices. How are you going to do it?’
‘I am not sure yet. But, if it comes to it, I will exchange myself for the boy.’
114
Alfie automatically took a step backwards, but his way was blocked by the owner of the shop. The first of the men, knife in hand, took a step towards him. But just as Alfie thought he was about to be stabbed for a second time, the man held out his other hand in a gesture of friendship. ‘Please join us,’ he said. Alfie watched the men slice through the rest of the boxes as he drank his coffee. He set his cup down next to the box of carved teak elephants.
‘Nice elephants.’
‘I told you, we did nothing wrong. You looked at our papers? All okay? You check up on my cousin Gee? He’s a good man. He helps his family many times. Now, take some pearls for your girlfriend.’
Alfie thanked him, accepted the pearls, and then he cycled over to Katrien’s. He had an urge to see if she had really gone for good.
