by Simon Royle
We started walking. They started walking. My eyes strained to see Uncle Mike’s condition but he was too far away. We walked, fast, long strides, the plaster box bouncing against my stomach. As we got closer, I was sure it was Uncle Mike. I’d recognize his rolling gait anywhere.
“Yes, it’s Uncle Mike for sure. Cheep, they’ll be taking the Lexus from the Thai end of Koh Kong Bridge.”
“Got it, Chance. Be careful.”
When there was a gap of about twenty meters, the taller of the two Mickey Mouses held up a palm and shouted, “Stop.” It sounded like a Thai person speaking English. He pointed at me and dangled car keys. He pointed at Chai and held up a palm. Clear enough.
I walked forward gesturing with the plaster box at Uncle Mike. The tall guy hung back as the shorter Mickey Mouse brought Uncle Mike towards me. As he passed me, he threw a set of car keys to Chai and then pushed Uncle Mike. He grabbed me, twisting me around to face Chai and sticking a gun in my throat. He snatched the keys and I felt him toss them to the taller Mickey. He was bending me backwards, dragging me by the throat. I was off balance. I watched Chai pull Uncle Mike behind him. I could hear running and figured the tall one had bolted. As I risked a glance behind me, the gun pushed harder into my throat.
Chai was running and pulling Uncle Mike to the other car. He’d taken Uncle Mike’s hood off. I could see his light brown hair. I stumbled against the guy dragging me. He staggered, released his hold on my throat and grabbed me by the shoulder. He still faced back to Chai, but had turned me to face the Lexus. Tall Mickey reached the Lexus and climbed in. Short Mickey glanced behind and releasing my shoulder took out a box with a switch and an antenna. Shit! A bomb, I thought. He held the gun on me and watched Chai and Uncle Mike at the same time, glancing from them to me.
Behind us, tall Mickey got back out of the Lexus and shouted something. It sounded like Cambodian. Short Mickey turned to face him and I lunged at him. My wrists twisted uselessly as the box held together trapping my hands but I kept going. He pressed the switch and I watched Chai and Uncle Mike blown backwards as the pickup on the bridge exploded. The shockwave and sound reached us almost simultaneously. He sidestepped and smacked me on the side of the head with his gun. Dropping the device, he grabbed me again, forced me around, gun at the nape of my neck, walking fast. I looked back. Chai and Uncle Mike hadn’t moved. I was filled with rage, arms twisting inside the box trying to get the damn thing open.
I heard a cough and a thud behind me. I turned. Short Mickey was lying face down, bullet holes in the back of his denim jacket and a bloody mess at the back of his head. A wave of relief. Chai, kneeling, weapon pointed. I smashed the box on the ground, turning around. Tall Mickey took out a gun and fired. The front window of the Lexus exploded. He looked at the space where it had been and took off running. Berretta’s in hand, I went after him.
I went past the Lexus, arms pumping, adrenalin surging. I was gaining on him. In the shadows, I spotted a motorbike fifty meters from me. A rider on a motorbike. Tall Mickey jumped on the back and the bike accelerated away. I steadied myself. Aimed and fired a group of three. The range was too much for the little .25 gun. They sped off over the hill.
I ran back to the Lexus, a spare set of keys in my pocket. Chai had the other. I jumped in and hit the starter button. I gunned the engine, shoved the gear in ‘drive’ and pushed hard on the accelerator. The Lexus jumped forward, wind in my face, from where the window had been shot out.
I pulled up alongside Chai, Uncle Mike smiling. Chai pushed his way into the back with the money and Uncle Mike, jumped into the passenger seat.
“Chance, man. It’s good to see you.”
“Same here, Uncle Mike, but we got to get going.” I nodded to the Koh Kong end of the bridge, a police car approaching. Chai leaned between the driver and the passenger seat. Before I could say no, he fired, spent cartridges flying past my ear. The police car stopped and started going in reverse.
I threw the Lexus into reverse and looking back, hand holding the wheel steady, drove as fast as I could. The cop car, discouraged by the burst from Chai’s Uzi, kept its distance. I flung the wheel hard right spinning us around and slamming the gear into drive at the same time. Thinking fast. There was no way we’d get back across the border in the Lexus, not with a blown out front window along with what had happened at the bridge.
I drove fast. Uncle Mike put his seatbelt on, giving me a worried look. The overweight SUV slid around corners barely holding the road but we made good time. Five minutes later I pulled into the parking lot of the Koh Kong Resort. I ran into the lobby and up to reception.
“Hi. Is Sonny at the resort?” I asked the girl behind the counter. I’d sold Sonny Wong the crocodiles for the show at Safari World. He was the general manager of Safari World. Hong Kong Chinese, born and bred, Sonny wasn’t above lining his pockets when the chance arose. The chance had arisen.
“Let me check for you, sir.” She gave me a sweet smile, fiddled with some papers on the counter…
I could hear sirens racing past outside on the main highway. They didn’t turn in. They would be responding to the call from this end.
The girl spoke in rapid fire Khmer and handed me the phone.
“Sonny, it’s Chance. Can you come see me? I’m in the lobby.”
“Chance, great to hear from you. Get yourself a drink. I’ll be there in a moment. Wow, what a surprise.”
I gave the phone back to the girl and went to the entrance looking out. Everything seemed normal, but we didn’t have a lot of time.
Sonny came bouncing down the steps, hand extended, a big smile on his pinched face. I grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the receptionist.
“No time to talk, Sonny. I need your boat and I need six guys to load it. There’s a hundred thousand and a new Lexus in it for you.” I watched Sonny’s eyes as they darted to and fro, calculating.
“When?”
“Now.”
He turned to the girl at reception and told her something in Khmer. She picked up the phone and said something into it.
“Show me the Lexus.”
Fifteen minutes later, we were standing on the beach, the Lexus being covered in a tarpaulin by two of the six guys who had helped load the boat. Sonny was smiling, a hundred thousand lining his pockets. If he guessed what had been loaded, he didn’t show it and didn’t ask.
“Send the boat back safely okay?”
“Sure, don’t worry. Just a little trip to Hat Lek and it will be back. Not more than an hour. Don’t worry.”
I called Cheep and told him what had happened. We climbed on board and Chai nudged the throttles to full power, pushing the boat boy out of the way and taking the helm. We rounded the long pier to our right and Chai kept the wheel over and the throttle wide open. I could see the restaurant through Chai’s Steiners, Cheep and his boys waiting.
“Wow – what a rush, man. That brought back memories. Phew, man that was close.” Uncle Mike laughed, putting his arm across my shoulder. I hugged him tight. He shouted in my ear, “Thanks, Chance. I never doubted you’d come to get me.” He reached over and punched Chai in the shoulder, “You too, man.” Chai grinned.
I hugged him tighter.
Uncle Mike’s Story
20 May 2010 Pak Nam 9:30 pm
We sat in the sala, pergola to you Farang, at the bottom of the garden. The sala was raised a meter off the ground for a view of the river, but surrounded by bushes and trees, giving privacy to the occupants.
Occupying the sala were Joom, Uncle Mike, Cheep and me. Pim was up at the main house. Helping the aunts tidy up after the dinner that Mother had organized to celebrate Uncle Mike’s safe return. We were drinking whiskey sodas and Uncle Mike smoked a joint, Mother disapproving, but reaching over and lighting it for him when he couldn’t find his lighter. Uncle Mike loved Mother like a sister, would have loved her as a wife, had she not been Por’s woman. I think the feeling was mutual and over the years it had developed into something pure an
d selfless. A deep friendship based on unconditional love.
We sat cross-legged on reed mats laid on the teak floor of the sala. It was hot and humid but fans with cooling air kept a steady cool breeze wafting our way. ‘Yaa Gun Yeung’, mosquito repellant, their green spiral coils hung from the tops of empty soda bottles, their scent mixing with the scent of jasmine from the bushes nearby. Uncle Mike passed me the joint. Mother frowned. I grinned at her and took another hit.
“I don’t want to spoil the mood, Uncle Mike, but if you’re cool with it, can you tell me more about what happened?”
I passed the joint to Cheep but he waved his hand and I handed it back to Uncle Mike. He took it and lifted it to his lips, sucking the smoke in deep and holding it. He held it and then blew a little towards Joom. She sniffed in, smiled at me, and then waved the smoke away.
“Yeah, it’s cool. It was heavy though. I went out to meet a chick at the airport and, as I came out of the house, I got shot by a dart. The next thing I woke up in the back of a van wearing the hood. Then they injected me with something and when I woke up again I was in the cargo hold of a fishing boat. It was hot as hell in the day but they fed me water and rice.” He reached across and touched Joom’s arm. “Dinner was yummy by the way. Then I think it was the Saturday or Sunday, I spoke to you. I didn’t know that then but I’ve worked it out since.”
“It was Sunday.”
“Yeah, Sunday, and that Farang, he wasn’t there long. Just for the call. I heard him leave shortly after. We weren’t that far off a beach. I could hear shouts of people playing, and jet skis. Then about two days ago we started moving again. Then I was brought ashore and after a short trip in the pick-up I saw you and Chai.”
“So you must have been on the Gulf side the whole time? That whole business with the Hatteras was just a diversion.”
Mother started getting up.
“I must go up to the house and see how the girls are getting on. You need to talk with Pim. Don’t smoke too much.” She gave me a hug - we were among close family - and kissed my forehead. She held the back of my neck and looked in my eyes.
“Job’s not done yet. You have to find who did this to us.” I nodded. She stroked my hair and kissed Uncle Mike giving him a hug. “So glad you’re safe. You will stay with us for a few days, until we can find who did this.”
“Yeah, sure, babe. I’d like to see Por if I can.”
“We’ll see if it can be arranged. But tomorrow you must rest more and follow Dr. Tom’s advice.”
“Okay, darling. Good night. See you tomorrow.” Mother left us alone.
“Did you hear anything else?” I asked Uncle Mike.
“No, not till this morning. Jesus, just this morning. Feels like a lifetime ago now. I heard the guy call someone when we were on the bridge. It sounded like he was getting instructions. I don’t speak Khmer but it sounded like he was saying ‘yes’ a lot.”
“Makes sense. Right up until I heard them shout in Cambodian, I thought at least one of them would be Lisp.”
“Lisp?”
“Yeah, my nickname for the guy. He had a lisp.”
“Yeah I noticed that. Funny though, he didn’t say a word apart from talking to you.”
“Wasn’t he the one who beat you?”
“No, that was one of the others.”
“It’s weird. I can’t figure it out. Both times when they could have taken the money, they screwed up by trying to take me. Why would anyone do that? Why not just take the money or kill me?”
Uncle Mike let out a long plume of smoke. “That’s simple, dude. They wanted you and the money.”
“Sure, but why?”
Cheep took our glasses and began the top up. A glass of whiskey is seldom finished. We just drink heavily diluted whiskey until the bottle is empty.
Uncle Mike was very stoned. So was I. He sat up straight and put his hands on knees breathing in deeply. He held the breath and then released it slowly, until I could see him push his stomach muscles in to squeeze that last bit of air out. Then he lifted the joint to his mouth, the joint held between the second and third fingers of his right hand. The left hand joining the right, thumbs together with a small hole to draw on. He sucked deep, making a sharp whoosh sound with his cupped palms. The joint flared a bright orange that grew in length. He held the smoke for a count of thirty, slowly releasing it, in a long thin stream. It floated among us like a fog on a river.
“I was kidnapped before you and Por were bombed. The bomb attack and the kidnapping are two separate events. The kidnapper has proven, twice, that he doesn’t want you dead. You weren’t meant to survive the bomb attack.”
“I’m not so sure about that. There was CCTV on the floor. I’d just left and was entering the lift when the bomb went off. If anyone has tapped into their CCTV, or just watching it, they would have seen that I’d left. We won’t know more until we get the police forensics report.”
“Shit, man. That was more than a week ago.”
“Forensics is busy with all the shootings and other bombings.”
“You know maybe it wasn’t about you and Por.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe it was the chick.”
“Por’s new girl? ‘Ice’?”
“Yeah. Sure. Why not? I’ve lived here a long time, longer than you have by a stretch. Most of the time someone gets killed or shit happens, it’s about a woman. Think about this. What would have happened if the bomb hadn’t gone off?”
“Por gave me a hard time for not calling you.”
“Yeah, I spoke to him earlier in the week.”
“Your house was bugged. I assumed they did it when they kidnapped you but you told me they took you outside on the road. Why then did they have to kill Lilly?”
“Yeah, fucking sad, man. Just animal behavior. I can’t believe she’s gone. Thanks for taking care of the funeral, Cheep. I heard it was a good send off.”
“No problem, Mike. It was my duty.”
Uncle Mike raised his glass. “To Lilly. May we always remember her fighting spirit and her good heart.”
We drained our glasses. There are exceptions to every rule in Thailand. Cheep gathered the glasses in and started the process of filling each again: blocks of cubed ice to the top of each glass. Each lump was selected and placed with short metal tongs. Then the whiskey, a hand-poured measure into each glass, stronger now that the night was growing to its full strength. Then the soda, fresh bottles required. The cap of one was used to lever open the cap of its twin. A loud pop and then each glass filled to the brim. A quick stir with the metal tongs for each glass before it was placed in front of its owner.
Uncle Mike put his hand on my knee.
“I called Por and we talked. I think it was on the Monday. I mentioned that I hadn’t seen you for a while. He said he hadn’t seen you for a while either. He told me you were getting serious about Pim. She’s a keeper by the way. And that you were spending most of your time with her. But he was cool about it and so am I. No big deal. Just missed you, that’s all. He did say he would talk to you to call me.”
“So they knew that Por was going to tell me to call you. I call. You don’t answer. I come to Phuket. If the bomb hadn’t gone off, same thing would have happened. Por would have sent me to Phuket.”
“With the hundred million. Sure, I know. And Por would have stayed here until he knew what was going on and then he’d make his move. That’s his style.”
“So whoever kidnapped you expected me to bring the money.”
“Right. And look at the first time they tried to grab it. How did they know you were on that road?”
“It’s the fastest route between Cheep’s resort and Yacht Haven.”
“Yeah, but how did they know you were there?”
“My guess is they used the Hatteras as bait and followed us back to Cheep's.”
“Actually, Chance, Uncle Mike owns the resort. I just manage it for him.” Cheep smiled and raised his glass in toast. He had the
‘happy look’ in his eyes, “da wan” – sweet eyes in Thai. Stoned.
“The reason they wanted you, is leverage. If they had you, they could use you to stop Joom or Por retaliating, which means they assume that you’ll find out who kidnapped me. Makes sense?”
“Makes sense, but allow me to revisit this when I’m not so stoned. I’ve got to head back up to the house. Great to have you back, Uncle Mike.” We shared a hug and I left the sala. I checked my shoes for scorpions and slipped them on. I heard another sharp ‘whoosh’ sound and chuckled. Uncle Mike and Cheep would be chatting till the wee hours.
I stumbled up the path, thinking I’d go take a shower before I spoke with Pim. Sober up. As I reached the turn by the pool, I saw her sitting on one of the loungers nearby. Mother was giving her a hug, stroking her hair and it looked like Pim was crying. I stopped dead still. It seemed they hadn’t heard me. Joom took Pim’s head in her hands and said something. I couldn’t catch it and I didn’t want to eavesdrop. I just didn’t want to intrude upon them.
