by Leo James
I hope so. 'Yes, we'll be fine love. Kids OK?'
'Yes, they are fine, and Millie is getting bigger.’
‘Ah…’
‘And…’ Beth said, ‘I’ve finished the lounge… ceiling, walls and skirting boards. Look’s great even though I say it myself.’
‘That’s brilliant love. Well done. I’m proud of you.’
‘I’m proud of you too, love.’
'Send my love to the kids,’ Steve said, ‘Got to go. Will ring you tomorrow. Love you.'
Beth sighed, ‘Love you too. Take care.'
######
The dulcet tones of the American voice on the SatNav gave a blow by blow direction at every point of the non-stop four-hour journey to Penang. Steve crossed the bridge from the main island to Penang Island and towards George Town. The SatNav instructed, 'Take the third Exit.' The Evergreen Laurel was ahead on the right-hand side of the road and the deep blue sea on the left. The SatNav took the car along the dual carriageway, past the Hotel. It then instructed a U-turn just beyond the restaurant complex.
'You have reached your destination,’ the SatNav instructed.
######
He drove into the parking lot right out front and paid the very expensive hotel parking rate. He got his briefcase out of the car, and as he walked towards the entrance, Steve spotted the welcoming smiles of Mai and Adam.
'Oh, am I glad to get here,' Steve said.
'How are you?' Mai asked as they embraced.
‘I’m good,’ Steve lied.
'Let us get you booked in and get a cup of tea to refresh you.' Adam shook hands with Steve.
'A beer for me. Boy, that was a long journey. I'm so glad you drive on the same side of the road as we do in the UK.'
Once Steve checked-in to the hotel they made their way to the coffee bar.
'Why is your brother doing this?' Steve asked Adam.
'My brother was not always an ambitious man. When my father was alive, Prem was a caring person. As a Muslim, he went to the mosque every Friday for congregational prayers. Prem prayed every day at home and loved to come together with the Islamic brotherhood. Now he does not attend the mosque, and I do not think he prays. He has ruled the family for the past eleven years… and his business.'
Mai's eyes narrowed, and her face reddened. 'But he is the head of Kongsi Gelap.'
The sad look on Adam's face prompted Steve. ‘Did you-’
'Mai told me everything.' Adam stopped Steve in his tracks. 'In Malay it means Dark Partnership. It's an underground criminal group in Malaysia.'
‘I know it is the truth, I worked for him,' Mai said.
'My brother is ambitious, but I cannot believe this. They control drugs, gambling, prostitution and protection for many businesses in Malaysia.' Adam looked dejected.
'Oh, my God. And your brother manages this?' Steve said.
Mai nodded. 'He is Mountain Master. Are you part of the group Adam?’
'I told you already, I am a Buddhist.' Adam looked to the floor.
'Is Farid involved?’ Steve said.
'He is close to Prem,' Adam said.
'Prem Jothi is dangerous,' Mai said.
Adam looked up and fixed his eyes on Mai. 'Prem does business with politicians and businessmen. But he cannot be part of the gang.’
Mai's nostrils flared as she became even more emotional. 'He uses women for prostitution and the government do not bother him. How could you not know?’
Adam shook his head. His shoulders sagged.
'So, he must have support from the government and the police,' Steve said.
Mai's cheeks blushed. ’We told to work same hours every day, so they do not arrest us.’
‘They are dangerous, ‘Adam said, ‘criminal men, but they are businessmen. I hope he is not part of this.'
‘He is the leader,’ Mai said.
'The police officer Farid took me to see must have been corrupt. Superintendent Anwar Tempawan. Do you know him?’ Steve enquired.
‘No, I do not know him. I am devastated,' Adam said.
'I wonder how Farid and Q7 got involved?' Steve mused.
Adam gazed at the floor. ‘Many companies in Malaysia need help from the government to grow. They need help to gain permissions from government officials and protection. Prem and Farid have been friends since childhood. They have helped each other over the years. It could be Kongsi who protect Q7. It is possible.’
'Ah I see, so Q7 run the network for the Kongsi Gelap activities.' Steve nodded. 'Farid funds the network servers, data centres and people. Anil must be the mastermind behind the network. Everyone benefits,' Steve said, 'Now I understand how a very successful company such as Q7 works with the triads, or at least individuals from that company. It's a perfect cover.'
Adam’s face soured. 'Prem is not my brother and I need to stop him. I must get my mother and sister to a safe place. He will not hurt them, but he is unfeeling and cruel.'
'How do we stop him? Will you go to the police and tell them Adam?' Mai said.
'No, I can't do that Mai,’ Adam said, ‘You know. My family will be in danger and they will arrest me for being part of his family. If Prem has so many people working in government and the police in his group, we cannot stop him. He probably gets other people to do his dirty work, and they protect him.'
‘Your brother murdered David and Glen, and tried to poison me. When that failed he ordered my death, and put Mark put away in a F-ing stinking prison. He has to pay for what he has done.' Steve shifted his angry glare to Adam's face.
'Why are you helping us?' Mai glared at Adam.
'Why are you asking that question?' Adam held his hands out in front of him, in submission.
'He is your brother and you are putting yourself in danger,' Steve said.
'There are many reasons. I did not know he was involved in Kongsi. Since my father died, he has become a furious man. I disappoint him because I am gay, and I am a Buddhist. Prem is ashamed of me. His friends detest me.' Adam seemed to accept the inevitable.
'He has hurt you,' Mai said.
'I love Mark. I told Prem I will tell the police I am gay, if Prem does not get him released. If the police arrest me in Malaysia for being gay it brings shame on him, the family name and the family. He will not allow me to give myself up, he will use his influence and contacts to hunt me down.'
'Would he do that?' Mai said.
'It looks like he will stop at nothing to protect his empire,' Steve said.
Mai shook her head. ‘He made me poison Glen. I never forget and never forgive him for that. I am worried for my family, so I told my family in Hanoi to move to my uncle's.'
‘That is good. They are safe, I hope. Will you go back to Vietnam?' Steve said.
'They take my passport and arrest me at the airport,' Mai said.
'You are safe here. We will stop my brother and protect you,’ Adam said with a determined face.
'Thank you, Adam.'
‘Is there anyone in Kuala Lumpur you can trust to give you any information about Prem?’ Steve said.
Mai paused then shook her head. ‘I not trust Tien and I think other women will tell Tien and Prem. They are afraid.’
‘I understand…..I suggest you rest Mai, and we meet up this evening. We could talk over dinner,' Steve said.
‘OK, let's meet in the lobby at say seven thirty?' Adam said.
Mai nodded, and they made their way to the hotel elevators.
######
Steve could not rest in his room, so he went for a walk to clear his head. He was feeling very anxious, irritated and was experiencing a slight fever. Thoughts bombarded him. Across the road from the hotel the sea looked turquoise as gentle, rhythmical waves rolled in towards the beach, breaking and lapping on the shore. David's death, Glen's death, and Mark all played on his mind.
Prem must pay for this.
He changed his focus for a few minutes to dream about moving the whole family over to Penang, spending time with Beth and the kids. An
escape. The pressure was taking its toll. Ridiculous thoughts. He wanted to stop time. Find a gap in which to think. What the fuck am I going to do?
After a while, he headed back into the hotel and spotted Mai and Adam emerging from the elevators disguised as lovers. Steve waved.
Adam responded. 'Hello. Where have you been?'
'I needed to clear my head. I walked.' Steve tried to put on a brave face.
'That is nice,' Mai said.
'Yes, across the road, by the sea. Nice breeze, a cloudless day. The fresh air helped me to relax a little.’
'Let's walk down to the left along the front to the restaurants just before Gurney Mall,' Adam said.
They walked along the crowded Main Street, towards the main shopping mall. The spicy scent of nutmegs, a strong smell of belacan shrimp paste and bursts of fragrances wafted along the road. They passed street cafes, restaurants, and even a small funfair. Several market stalls sold what probably are fake clothes, shoes and movies. They spotted a group of restaurants just inside the Gurney Plaza, next to the Go Hotel.
Adam paused. 'Look, my favourite restaurant, Din Tai Fung.' Adam pointed towards the mall. 'Good food and a good price.'
'Let's go there,' Steve said. 'I'm starving.'
They walked to the lower ground floor of the Gurney Plaza, through the food court and into the busy restaurant. The waitress seated them at their table in a matter of minutes.
'I love the interior decor. The wood gives me a calm and Zen vibe.' Adam rubbed his hand along the wood.
Steve looked at the menu, put it down and asked Adam and Mai. ‘Can you order a selection for me?’
Adam smiled, and Mai nodded in agreement.
'OK, but we must have Xiao Long Bao, that is Shanghainese soup dumplings with pork filling and Chinese hand-pulled noodles,’ Adam said.
They ordered drinks. Mai and Adam chose from the vast list of dishes on the menu.
'Let's work out what to do.' Steve could think of nothing else. 'The UK police are no help. They say there's not enough evidence. It's dangerous. Looks like many of the Malaysian police are corrupt and controlled by Prem. TetLeong denies even visiting the hotel. He's back on the job. I'm sure they'll try to find us.'
Adam paused for thought. 'It is dangerous to stay in this hotel. They may trace our credit cards.'
'Do you think Prem knows you are with us?' Mai asked.
'I doubt Prem knows where I am,' Adam said, 'But I am not sure. They may have alerted border control to stop us leaving the country.'
Steve steepled his fingers and tried to think clearer. 'Leaving the country is out of the question until we bring Prem to justice. I'm sorry Adam.'
'It is dangerous if you stay in Malaysia,' Mai said, 'What can we do?'
'I understand you will not go to the police. And we don’t know who is corrupt. Who we can trust.’ Steve looked towards Adam.
‘We cannot trust anyone,’ Mai said.
’Can we find another way of stopping him?’ Steve said.
‘It is difficult,’ Adam admitted.
‘The only way we can find proof is to use the mini drive images David created,' Steve said, 'We use forensic tools to trace specifics of every transaction and every movement to follow the money.’
Steve paused whilst he thought. I'm sure we can create enough evidence. But one big problem, I gave the corrupt police an image. Prem destroyed his copy and the UK police have the final one. We're stuffed unless we can get the mini drive from the UK police. Or, we try to get safe passage back to the UK and Vietnam for you Mai. We then go to the police and convince them to give the evidence back to us. A tough task when we can't even leave the country.'
'Hmm.' Adam sighed.
'We could hack into the Q7 network and do a live probe on everything.' Steve sat upright.
'What is a live probe?' Mai said.
'Helps to prove live transactions are fraudulent. Mind you I would have to buy the probe software on the illegal market. Ironic!' Steve shook his head.
'How can you do that? Do we have enough money?’ Adam said.
'Yes. A big problem. It'll be difficult using my laptop, and Q7 are not allowing us to access the Seguro system,' Steve paused for thought. 'We need to move out of the hotel as they could trace us to here.'
'We can find somewhere,' Adam said.
'Can we rent an apartment? Is that possible?' Steve looked towards Adam. 'We have two Maybank prepaid cards Prem gave us. They have fifty thousand ringgit prepaid on the cards. As long as I use an ATM away from here. Somewhere in George Town and disguise my face, we should be OK.’
'I know a couple of people in Kuala Lumpur who have friends here. They may be able to help us to find an apartment,’ Adam said.
'OK, sounds good. We could buy the kit we need, and I should be able to hack into our own system.' Steve felt more confident. ‘The cards are traceable but unless Prem has registered the user against the card number, we might just be lucky, and our spending will go unnoticed. The irony of spending Prem's illegal money to stop him. What do you think, Adam?'
'We should do this,' Mai said.
We can go to Gurney Mall tomorrow which has a floor dedicated to computers,' Adam said.
'OK. Let's do that,' Steve said.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Monday 18th May
THE FOLLOWING DAY, STEVE, Mai and Adam met in reception. Adam opened some photos on his phone. ‘I have found an apartment, close to this hotel, just next to Starbucks. Pictures look good. Mai likes it.’ He showed them to Steve.
‘Does Prem know the people that own the apartment? We need to be careful,’ Steve said.
‘No, my brother does not know them.’ Adam shook his head.
‘Great,’ Steve said.
'It's a three-bedroom furnished apartment,' Adam said, 'We must pay a three-month lease in cash, with one month extra to cover any damages. Total cost is four thousand, four hundred ringgit.'
'Looks very nice,' Mai said.
'That's reasonable,' Steve said. 'I'll draw the money out of the Maybank card. Excellent. When can we move in?'
Mai smiled.
'It's ready now so I guess as soon as we pay the money. We could target tomorrow,' Adam said.
'Do they have broadband and Wi-Fi?' Steve asked.
'Yes, I remembered to ask. It is Time Fibre Home Broadband. Is that OK?' Adam read a note containing the details.
'That should be fine, thanks.' Steve smiled and held up a card. 'The concierge has recommended a shop - ”TECH GEAR IT HYPER HUB", it's on Jalan Penang in George Town.'
'We can take my car. It is parked only twenty metres away,’ Adam said.
‘We need quite a few pieces of equipment. Do you have plenty of room in the car?’ Steve asked.
‘Yes, it is an estate car. We should be okay. Otherwise we can make two trips,’ Adam said.
'OK. Great.' They walked towards the hotel entrance doors and headed out towards Adam’s car.
Adam set the SatNav, and they drove to the IT shop. He made a hands-free call whilst driving. 'Hello, Dewi, it is Adam.'
'Adam, where are you? I tried to call you. Are you OK?'
'I am fine. I changed my phone. This is a new number. I need to spend some time away.'
'Mama is anxious.'
'How are you?' Adam said.
'I am OK. We are just worried about you. Prem worries.'
'Prem is not my brother, he has changed.'
'He loves you Adam, and he is sorry. We love you.'
‘I do not want Prem to find me,’ Adam said, ‘Please do not let him have my new number. I need time. I will call you again soon. Give my love to Mama.'
'Please take care and please come home soon. Prem is sorry,' Dewi said.
'We will talk soon. Please do not call me unless it is urgent. Give me time.’
Adam closed off the call.
'I hope they will be OK,' Steve said.
'Yes, so do I.’ Adam looked away.
######
&n
bsp; Mark had tried to ring Steve and also his UK boyfriend Jamie several times, without success. The same happened when he called Adam. He got through to Roger, and he said he was also trying to contact Steve.
Struggling to get through each day, his toughest battle in prison was to maintain emotional balance and not to lose hope. At seven o'clock every morning, hundreds of prisoners in green shirts and shorts poured out of the three-storey, whitewashed cell blocks into the courtyard for the first roll call of the day. Leading the procession were dozens of prisoners carrying black night-soil buckets into which prisoners had relieved themselves overnight. They dumped the contents into a stinking open sewer in a corner of the grounds. The daily schedule made life for inmates as hard as possible.
Sungai Buloh Prison was a terrible place; the most bitter experience of his life. The Malaysian government trained their prison staff and jail police to be as harsh as they could be. Even though the only punishment permitted for misbehaviour was putting a prisoner into an isolation block, the punishment prisoners feared most was being whacked on the bottom of their feet with a guard's nightstick. This caused blood to rush to a victim's head, precipitating a thundering headache and making it extremely painful to stand upright for several days. Every day, the guards greeted prisoners with a mixture of rudeness, hate, torture, beating and kicking. There was no natural light, poor sanitation with few working toilets, poor hygiene with no pure drinking water available, not enough food… and what food was offered was rank, and it was also really difficult to access the telephone. The overcrowding, constant noise, putrid smells and regular fighting between the various groups drove Mark mad.
Once in prison, you are nobody, and you have nothing; no house, no car, no job, no money, no friends or loved ones, no dignity, no freedom. One of Mark’s biggest adjustments to confinement was the lack of privacy. Never alone. There were even no doors in the toilets. It was deeply humiliating to come down with diarrhoea and have to relieve yourself in full view of cellmates. Lights kept on all night meant it was hard to sleep.
They shifted Mark into the working block during the day so he had a little respite. Communication was also a big problem. It worried Mark that if he got sick, there was no emergency treatment in the block and the hospital unit was seven security gates away.
