Finally, a bit of sense amid the madness of his plan. Still, it seemed like the odds were stacked, even if Artie’s men were better equipped and trained.
“Is there security at that adjacent building?” I asked.
“I have a contact in that building. He’s assured me that Somchai’s men don’t have a presence there.”
It appeared that Artie had put thought into his plan, but one look at Kang and I knew his thoughts were in line with mine: Let Artie run with this while we watch from the sidelines. But I still wanted to see how much better the plan could get.
“How do you plan on achieving a still, very-much-needed stealthy approach into Chinatown?”
“A delivery truck.”
“Okay,” I said, “but what about the guards on the top floor? There’s no avoiding them.”
“That’s where you two come in,” he said.
Chapter 55
“That’s your plan, have us draw the guards out of the building so you can slip in on top unnoticed?” I made no attempt to hide my disappointment, nor did I scale back the sarcasm I delivered with my response. I even threw in an eye roll as I sat back in my seat shaking my head.
“I gotta admit,” Kang said, “telling us that our role is to act as the bait isn’t a plan. It’s a death wish. I want no part of this.” Kang pushed back from the table and stood. “Sorry, Abby, but I’m not playing along. I’ll be at the hotel if you need me.”
I turned to Artie. “Artie, I’m with Kyle on this one. We can’t be part of this operation.”
“Wait,” Artie popped out of his seat with an arm reaching out to me. He motioned for both of us to take out seats again. “At least let me finish explaining.”
“Explaining what?” Kang asked. “I’m not offering myself up as bait. So unless that part of your plan changes, I don’t see any point in sticking around.”
Artie motioned again to the chair.
Clearly that part of the plan wasn’t changing, and Kang didn’t need to be told that. He turned and walked away.
“Abby?” Artie shrugged while holding his palms up.
“Look, Artie, Kang doesn’t work for me. I can’t make him do anything. Plus, I agree with him. So long as your plan calls for us to act as the distraction, we’re not taking part. It’s high-risk, not to mention I would be crossing the line. I have no jurisdiction in Thailand; neither does Kyle. We can’t willingly take part in an unsanctioned operation.”
Artie leaned over the table. He lowered his voice, but the tone intensified. “What the hell do you call what you’re doing now? Technically, you’re here to advise, not to investigate. Yet you are. I call the shots, and you report to me, but I decided to work with you rather than treat you how you should have been treated—like a nuisance in my country.
I moved closer and lowered my own voice. “Oh, please. You need my expertise. This case is over your head, and you know it. Consulting never would have captured the Creeper.”
“Typical American arrogance. So it’s okay for you to bend the rules where you see fit, but not for me? Tell me, why isn’t the American Embassy involved? Where is your liaison? I know you have an FBI and a CIA contact over there. Do they even know you’re here? You’re cutting corners yourself, and you know it.”
I looked over my shoulder to ensure that no one had sat down behind us. I then took a seat. So did Artie. “Look, if you must know. They are aware of my presence here, and I do keep them updated on my activities.”
“Oh? Lots of help they were when you got yourself kidnapped. Why weren’t they notified? Kyle could have easily done that, yet he called me. And what about last night when you almost got yourself killed? Where were they then?”
Artie was right. I had cut corners. My contact at the embassy had received a very sanitized version of my activities here. I had met with him once and kept all other contact to phone calls. As far as he knew, my days were spent advising the Thai Police on an investigation.
The only person who knew of my real activities, besides Kang, was my supervisor, Reilly. Both understood what was at stake. Getting closer to the mastermind meant keeping the number of people involved to a minimum, even if it meant deceiving one of our own. “They are on a need-to-know basis. And I didn’t think what happened merited their involvement. You’re right. I have cut some corners, but I did not willingly put myself into those situations. And how do you think it would look if my liaison and the embassy were alerted to a missing FBI agent under your watch?”
I had Artie there. He knew that, if the light had been shed on what had actually taken place, he would have taken the hit for being irresponsible. If he wanted to get even more technical, we were guests of Thailand and his responsibility. Being kidnapped under his watch wouldn’t have done Artie’s career any favors.
“Okay.” Artie shrugged, indifferent to the situation. “So we each have our methods for achieving our results. Now what?”
“What do you mean, ‘Now what?’ Same-same, as the saying goes; I’m not posing as your decoy, and as you can see, Kyle has already checked out.”
Artie gave the coffee shop a once-over, his left leg bouncing a steady stream of beats, before settling his eyes back on me. “You have to admit, the part of my plan that involves coming in from the roof has merit.”
I nodded.
“So, help me. What would you do?”
Chapter 56
An hour later, and Artie and I had a revised plan. But in order for it to be effective, we needed two things to happen: Kang had to agree to be a part of it, and we needed an extra two days. Artie was reluctant to postpone, worried that our window of opportunity to take down Somchai might close.
“I can keep the Creeper’s death out of the media, but who knows how the game tracks their players?” he said. “And Chan, the Triad member, well, let’s just say he’s gone missing. Eventually, someone will come looking for him. Time is not on our side.”
Artie wanted to move in immediately, but it was a suicide mission. Two days to get our new plan in order provided a better opportunity. We would just have to take the chance that everything went our way and that Somchai stayed put.
I told Artie that it would be better if I talked to Kang alone. I knew he would still be emotional over what had taken place earlier that morning, and seeing Artie would only keep his mind shut to other possibilities.
I tracked Kang down outside the hotel. He had just ordered a bowl of noodles, so I joined him. We slurped the white thin strands and spooned porky broth into our mouths for a good ten minutes before I broached the subject of Somchai.
“Are you crazy? You heard what he said.”
“That’s the old plan. There’s a new one,” I said, coiling strands of noodles onto a spoon with my chopstick.
“Abby, we’re supposed to be here advising—at the most, collecting information—but instead, we’re spearheading an investigation without the proper backing and support of our superiors. I could lose my job over this, even my head—literally.”
“We talked about this. I thought you were okay with our approach on this case when we got here.”
“That was before I got in a street fight and had to pretend to be Evel Knievel to escape an angry mob. And you, Abby, you almost got killed last night. This is beyond tweaking the rules. When you went missing, do you know how close I came to calling your contacts at the embassy? Do you?”
“That situation… It wasn’t ideal. Strike that. It plain sucked. You know I would have supported whatever decision you made.”
“I could have been responsible for your death. I... I…”
I placed a hand on Kang’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You’re a good detective and an even better friend.”
Kang shook his head slowly as he peered into his bowl. “We can’t take any unnecessary risks.”
“I agree.”
We both took a moment to reflect on our situation before we picked up our bowls, tilted them back toward our mouth and gulped down the rest o
f our soup.
I removed a tissue from my purse to wipe my mouth while Kang settled for the back of his hand.
Setting down his bowl, he let out a breath and looked at me. “So what’s the plan?”
Chapter 57
Over the next two days, Kang and I worked to solidify the details of the new plan. It still called for Artie to enter the building from the roof and extract Somchai via the same route. Until then, all he had to do was keep eyes on Somchai and be sure he was still in that building when we came for him.
Our first task at hand was to ID the person keeping tabs on Kang and me. With all that had happened to us, it was obvious that we were being watched. With a little counter-surveillance, it didn’t take long.
Right away I spotted the girl who had provided us with our answers to the two riddles we had solved earlier. It took a little longer to spot the second person—another girl we had never seen before. My gut told me there could be two, and it had been right. The girls were amateurs in the game of surveillance, but it was essential they never lost sight of us. From that moment on, we made it easier for them to watch and follow us. It was part of the plan.
Secondly, we booked rooms at a new hotel and moved some of our stuff over there to give the impression that we were setting up another safe location. Our tailers were right behind us the entire time, as we expected them to be. It was part of the plan.
Third, with the help of Artie, we met with the owner of the Shark bar in broad daylight. We used a lot of exaggerated hand movements and pointed to various rooftop locations, giving the impression that we were setting up for something at Soi Cowboy. I spotted one of the girls on her cell phone. I was pretty sure she was giving a play-by-play to her boss of what we were doing, which we expected. It was part of the plan.
We then repeated the entire show at Nana Plaza with another bar owner who was friendly with Artie and whom he could trust. We did this once more outside the location of our new hotel. The girls stuck with us the entire time.
Lastly, we hired a tuk-tuk, one of those three-wheel rickshaws, to drive us up and down Sukhumvit Road. Except this time, Artie had his men in two other tuk-tuks following us. Artie pretended to point out various tactical points of interest while talking to his men via two-way radios. Anyone in his or her right mind would easily have concluded that it looked as if we were setting up for a large surveillance operation.
With that part of the plan taken care of, we spent the second of our two days positioning a few men on the rooftops above Nana Plaza, Soi Cowboy, and our new hotel. They were instructed to continually take photographs and to videotape the surrounding area.
As we had hoped, the two girls continued to report our actions, which resulted in additional bodies. Backup had appeared. According to Artie, they were all members of the local Triad gang. That told us one thing: We had grabbed Somchai’s attention, and he wanted to know what the hell was happening.
Artie then had a few police officers, outfitted with tactical gear and high-powered rifles, join the other men on the rooftops. Because his men were split up over a half-mile stretch of road, the seven tailers watching our every move split up so they could better keep an eye on Artie’s men. And of course, that was part of the plan.
With our dummy surveillance plan up and operational, the three of us headed back to the Landmark, free of any reporting eyes. We then snuck out a back door and into a delivery van that awaited us. Inside were two members of Artie’s trusted team.
“Where are we heading to?” Kang asked.
“A restaurant that I use to hold meetings,” Artie replied.
Once there, we spent the rest of our time familiarizing ourselves with our roles to ensure that our plan was executed flawlessly. We were still on for that night. It was important that everyone knew what was expected of them. I also did my best to recreate a layout of the building based on my last visit, when I had been kidnapped. “I know it’s not exact,” I said while placing my drawing down on the table. “I could be wrong, but it’ll have to do.”
“It’s helpful,” Artie said, “but I still don’t understand why we”—he pointed at himself and motioned to his men—“aren’t privy to the other part of your plan.”
Clearly keeping our mouths shut on that one detail had been a sticking point for Artie. I didn’t blame him. He had shared openly with us while we withheld information, essentially asking him to blindly trust us.
“We’ve already covered this. In order for Kang and me to participate, we need control over certain aspects of the operation. This is one of them.”
“Withholding information? You realize how dangerous this mission is? My men and I are putting our lives on the line.”
“I understand that but so far, everything that we had hoped for has happened.”
Artie’s cell phone rang just then. “Yes, I see… Are you sure?... That’s good news.”
All eyes in the room were on Artie.
“I just received word that four of Somchai’s personal guards have joined the other Triad gang members, most likely to assess the situation,” he reported.
“The decoys we planted are working,” Kang observed. “This lowers the amount of resistance in the building, which we were hoping for.”
“It’s better but still dangerous,” Artie said. “I still don’t know how you two plan on drawing the attention of the guards in front of the building, and hopefully the ones inside, away from their posts.”
“We don’t plan on doing anything. We’ve been made. His men know who we are. They’ll see us coming a mile away.”
Artie threw his arms up out of frustration as his men shifted in their seats and their low rumble of concern grew louder. The tension in the room thickened.
Artie settled his eyes back on me. He bit his lower lip and bounced his legs. He struggled to keep his voice free of anger. “If you don’t do anything, then who, Abby? Who will draw the attention of the guards?”
Before I could answer Artie, my phone alerted me to a text message. I stood up, said nothing and walked away from the table.
“Where are you going?” Artie called out after me.
I didn’t respond and exited the small banquet room where we had gathered. He started to question Kang for an explanation as I closed the door behind me. A few minutes later, I returned.
I wasn’t alone.
Chapter 58
The tall Russian was the first to enter the room, and while I hadn’t yet, what I heard painted a pretty good visual of how Artie and his men reacted.
“Who are you?” I heard Artie’s elevated voice, followed by the scraping of a chair against the wooden floor.
By the time I had walked through the door, Detective Sokolov had Kang wrapped up in a giant bear hug.
“You sonofabitch. Need me to save your ass again, huh?” he said in his familiar accent.
“Yeah, pipe dreams,” Kang answered with a chuckle.
In step behind me was one other person, Agent House. Artie was still on his feet. So were a few of his men. “Artie, it’s okay. They’re friends, and they’re the other part of the plan.”
Artie’s mouth hung open for a second longer while he worked to rearrange his thoughts into words. “Why didn’t you tell me you were bringing help?”
“The giant is Detective Pete Sokolov,” I said, addressing the room. “The woman next to me is Agent Tracy House. Both are familiar with the investigation and the sick game fueling it. We’re lucky to have them here to help us.”
“Abby,” Artie started, but I held up a hand, cutting him off.
“I’m sorry. We couldn’t risk their identities being compromised. This isn’t a trust issue, so don’t take it personally. We needed to do this. Can we move on and focus on what we need to do?”
Artie looked at the four of us and then at his men, who were all looking at him. I hoped he would realize we were all on the same team, working together. He nodded and took his seat. His men followed his lead. In a calm voice, he asked me to continue.
“Good.” I looked at my watch. “We don’t have much time, and it’s best spent focusing on our objective.”
Artie glanced at his watch. “It’s only ten. We’re not set to move in until three in the morning, when it’s quiet.”
“That’s what we don’t want to do. The remaining guards will be on high alert due to the distraction we created. A quiet and empty street will not be our friend. We need to move in now, while Chinatown is awash with people eating and drinking. We won’t be easily detected.”
I proceeded to explain that Sokolov and House would pretend to be a couple of inebriated tourists who were lost and seeking directions. “Their goal is to disable the two guards outside the building. It’ll reduce the chance of the other guards inside the building being alerted, but it still leaves the guards on the top floor that you will encounter. Because we don’t know exactly where the guards are stationed or if they have routine patrols, this prevents us from moving up the floors. It’s too risky.”
Artie nodded his agreement. “I’m confident we can dispatch the guards on the top floor and gain entrance to Somchai’s office. So far, this is a better plan. I’m curious though; what’s your role?”
“Kyle and I will operate command central in the delivery van.”
“Huh?” Artie’s eyebrows crinkled.
“Agent House was able to bring a few toys with her, courtesy of the FBI.”
House lifted a black duffle bag onto the table and started unloading equipment.
I picked up a clear earpiece with a wire attached to a small control unit. “Everyone will be equipped with a radio earpiece so that we can all be in contact. There are two throat mics, one for each team. Artie, Agent House can familiarize you with the device.”
I then picked up a small, tubular gadget. “We have body-mounted video cameras that can transmit imagery so Kyle and I can monitor the situation in real time. We’ll be your eyes. And lastly—this is my favorite part—we have a flexible, fiber-optic video camera.”
Lumpini Park (Abby Kane FBI Thriller - Chasing Chinatown Trilogy Book 2) Page 16
