The Assassin on the Bangkok Express Read online

  ‘Not “what”, “she”. You remember Serena. You saved her. I take her on trips.’

  ‘For your daughter?’

  ‘No, for me.’

  Cavalier was surprised.

  ‘Serena has been blessed,’ Pin said, noting his expression. ‘She is special.’

  ‘Not one of those ghost dolls, blessed by sorcerers or shamans? She has a scary look.’

  ‘No, she is blessed by a monk. I think she is beautiful.’

  ‘She is taking up a whole seat.’

  ‘I paid for it.’

  ‘You’re kidding!’

  ‘I have even taken her on a flight, and paid for the seat.’

  Cavalier was perplexed.

  ‘You know nothing of Thai culture, our beliefs.’

  ‘You mean your superstitions.’

  ‘You can’t see how an educated woman like me can be so … so primitive.’

  ‘I didn’t say that.’

  ‘But you were thinking it.’

  Cavalier looked out the window for several minutes as the bus reached the road over the mountains.

  ‘Is she a substitute for Far?’ he asked.

  ‘She keeps me company. She brings me comfort and good luck. She will on this trip, you’ll see.’ Pin added on reflection, ‘She is also a way for me to control my anger. She is loving and warm and affectionate.’

  Pin noticed Cavalier’s concern as the bus skidded its way around a precarious mountain road, made worse by heavy rain and very low cloud that limited visibility. In the valleys below were smashed cars, buses, trucks and motorcycles, intermittent reminders of the dangers of speeding, or merely moving along this route.

  ‘You okay?’ she asked, squeezing his hand.

  ‘I would be if I were driving,’ he said.

  Just before arriving at Mae Sot’s bus terminal, Pin opened up about her plans. When Cavalier had tried to find out early on the ride, she had refused to talk. She said, ‘I’m thinking about it, now. Do you want me to keep the child?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said without hesitation.

  ‘That’s fairly succinct,’ she said. ‘I want your thinking.’

  ‘I love you. I would be happy to be the child’s father.’

  ‘What is love to you?’

  ‘It’s a passion, a desire to be with you. The strongest possible emotional feel a person can have for another.’

  Pin smiled. ‘Nice answer,’ she said, softening her expression, ‘but how would we work this? Your home is in Australia. I am going to be in Chiang Mai for a few years yet.’

  ‘We can manage.’

  ‘What about your work? You’re always disappearing somewhere for one of your … your “assignments”.’

  ‘My position here may be permanent after this trial period.’

  4

  THE GUN

  The bus rolled out of the mountains on the road into Mae Sot, which marked the end of the proposed new ‘Silk Road’ from China through Burma. It was a gateway and the perfect trading point between Thailand and the Burma town of Myawaddy. As such, it was a peak of illegal activity, including people trafficking and drugs. Smugglers, spies, stateless people, runaways and a variety of criminals haunted the No Man’s Land between the two countries. Cavalier noted that a small airfield was only about two hundred metres from the bus terminal on the town’s outskirts. They took a taxi, and ten minutes later were at a Thai border point. Security guards had a cursorily look at their backpacks.

  Cavalier was introduced to Pin’s family: a younger brother, half-sister and grandparents on her mother’s side. They had all relocated there to be with her as the major breadwinner. Her salary at the local hospital had been ten times that collectively of the rest of the family, and in the time-honoured Thai way, most of her income supported these dependent relatives. Pin’s father, a successful builder, had died by accidental poisoning when she was twelve. Pin had bought a modest, yet comfortable two-level home cheaply in this zone. When she moved back to Chiang Mai the rest of the family had stayed in Mae Sot, mainly to be close to Far.

  Pin’s mother, Farn, emerged after several minutes. She had two black eyes, a cut mouth and one arm in a sling. She and Pin embraced.

  ‘What happened to you?’ Pin asked. When her mother began crying, her daughter knew the reason.

  ‘Your ex?’ Cavalier asked softly.

  Pin nodded and wiped her eyes. ‘I really want him dead!’ she hissed, with a menacing look. Her mother, even with the injuries, was an elegant, attractive woman in her late forties. She attempted to placate Pin. A meal was prepared and as the day faded, Pin said she was going ‘shopping’.

  ‘For what?’ Cavalier asked.

  She glared at him.

  ‘What?’ he insisted.

  ‘A gun,’ she whispered.

  Cavalier shook his head. ‘I told you that would be most unwise.’

  ‘I just want it for self-defence.’

  Cavalier considered her. He knew that fierce, even demonic look. ‘I’ll come with you,’ he said.

  ‘No. I must go to a village in No Man’s Land. It is not good for farang. It’s too dangerous.’

  ‘I’m coming,’ he said and followed her to a motorcycle sitting with a battered Toyota under a pergola. He climbed on behind. They drove along a dirt track in No Man’s Land and had glimpses through high grass and scrub of shanty towns and lean-tos. Closer to the river, dirt-covered locals collected rubbish that had washed up on the riverbank. The weather was bleak and cold as they entered a village at nightfall. There were no bars, but a few tin hut brothels where Burmese girls, probably underage, sat looking forlorn rather than alluring. Many watched Cavalier and Pin as they walked to a market. Pin motioned for Cavalier, wearing a baseball cap, to push his black leather jacket’s collar up and hood over his head.

  ‘Better if you are not so recognisable as a farang,’ she told him. ‘Don’t say anything. Let me do the talking.’

  Pin spoke to a muscular tattooed man called Char, whose face was festooned with trinkets for ears, nose, forehead and lips. He had one heavily strapped arm and scars on his neck. They chatted rapidly in a dialect that Cavalier had trouble following. He picked up enough to know that Char recognised his former doctor, who had saved his life after a knife attack by her ex-husband, Kun.

  ‘He tried to kill me again a few weeks ago,’ Char said.

  He seemed to be showing Pin respect, albeit begrudgingly. Char’s narrow slit eyes flicked often to Cavalier, whom he asked about.

  ‘He is my partner, also a doctor,’ she said. Amid shifty looks, Char pulled out several handguns and placed them on a wooden counter.

  Pin turned to Cavalier. ‘Which one should I choose?’

  ‘Why do you ask me?’

  ‘I recall you told me you once did army training.’

  ‘Air force.’

  ‘You must have handled weapons.’

  Cavalier hesitated, glanced at her and Char, and began to examine the guns.

  ‘This one could kill only at close range, but would also frighten anyone,’ he said, fondling what looked like a modified old snub-nosed Beretta pistol. He picked up a bigger, heavier gun. ‘This one could blow a man’s head off at five paces. It would put such a hole in a vital organ, the victim would die.’ He made sure the chamber was empty and then aimed the gun, holding it with two hands. ‘This is too heavy for you. I have strong forearms and I’d always steady it using both hands.’ He put down the second gun. ‘Take the smaller one.’

  Cavalier spoke in a friendly fashion to Char, whose manner relaxed as Cavalier plied his rough but passable Thai discussing another of the guns on offer.

  ‘It’s a very new product,’ Char said, ‘a Glock 17. Made by an Austrian company. It has just been taken up by Austrian military and police.’

  ‘It’s plastic.’

  ‘Polymer frame, yes.’

  ‘I’ve never seen one. Can it be durable, reliable?’

  ‘The Austrians are happy with it,’ Char said with
a shrug, ‘but it did cause the police concern. It is invisible to metal detectors at airports.’

  Cavalier nodded, as if disinterested.

  Pin bought the smaller gun and a box of twenty bullets for the equivalent of nine dollars.

  As they drove away from the village, she said: ‘I didn’t want you to engage with him. I am trusted; you are not. Besides he would think you were a rich farang, and therefore up the price by at least a couple of dollars.’

  ‘I’m just a friendly guy,’ he said with a shrug. ‘Why did you say I was a doctor?’

  ‘Not good to admit you’re a journalist around here. Doctors are respected. Even crims like Char know they’ll need one. Gang wars, killings and woundings occur almost daily. Just visit the emergency ward at the hospital.’

  ‘Can you trust Char?’

  She nodded. ‘He hates the police, and hates Kun even more. They are in rival gangs trying to rule Mae Sot’s underworld. Char was badly injured by Kun in a gang fight. Kun shot and knifed him. He told me of a more recent second attack by Kun. Char is lucky to be alive.’

  *

  Pin placed Cavalier in a guest room at the family home, explaining that she would lose face if she was seen to sleep in the same bed as him.

  ‘If we were married it would be different,’ she said, not looking at him.

  Cavalier ignored the comment. He was not sure if this was a hint or not. The more he was with Pin, the more of a mystery she appeared. He wished to chat more about their relationship before he considered marriage.

  The next morning, Pin drove her mother and Cavalier in the family car to the hospital where she once worked. Some staff recognised her and they were fast-tracked to an examination of Farn. One of her eye sockets had swollen and Pin wanted an X-ray done to see if it was broken.

  ‘I was thinking about your husband,’ Cavalier began.

  ‘Ex,’ she corrected, ‘perhaps even soon to be extinguished.’

  ‘Okay, your ex and your daughter. Why shouldn’t we offer him money …?’

  ‘Never. He would bleed us dry.’

  ‘I would offer enough to persuade him to hand over your daughter. He doesn’t sound like the type who would be able to cope with a child’s needs. Once you have her safely back in Chiang Mai, you could stop any further payments. He won’t chase Far there. You could probably make a good case to the Chiang Mai police …’

  ‘No. As I’ve said, the police will not help a woman in such a case.’

  ‘Okay. What do you propose?’

  ‘Kidnap her.’

  ‘What? How?’

  ‘Go to her preschool and remove her; then take the bus back to Chiang Mai.’

  ‘What about the teachers? Wouldn’t they stop you?’

  ‘They are female. It’s one area where the sisters would stick together. They endorse my position. They know what a nasty bit of work Kun is. They have complained to my mother many times about his drunken, druggie behaviour. They see my darling Far being maltreated by him.’

  ‘You’ll be breaking the law,’ he said. ‘I’m not sure I want to have anything to do with it.’

  ‘Then go back to Chiang Mai.’

  ‘If this became public, my paper would fire me.’

  ‘Damn your paper! This man has already murdered at least five people. He will kill me or my mother. He could murder my daughter.’

  5

  KIDNAP

  Later that day, Cavalier went for a lone ride on the family motorcycle, familiarising himself with No Man’s Land. He drove beyond the border point, pulled into a hotel and used a public phone to ring the American running the Chiang Mai plane-hire company.

  ‘Could you leave a Cessna at Mae Sot airport?’

  ‘Sure,’ the American said. ‘I’ll prepare a flight plan for you and notify the Mae Sot manager; when will you pick it up?’

  ‘Probably tomorrow night.’

  ‘The keys will be left in the ignition.’

  ‘Who do I see?’

  ‘After ten p.m., no one. The airport, such as it is, closes down at that time. There is no rule about flying out in a small plane. It will most likely be the only one there.’

  *

  Early afternoon the next day, Pin drove the family Toyota to her daughter’s school a few kilometres away, still in No Man’s Land. Cavalier insisted on going with her. Farn sat in the back seat, her eyes still showing considerable bruising. She was most concerned about her daughter’s actions, and agreed with Cavalier that this move was risky. Despite their protests, Pin, in an aggressive mood, was hell-bent on her mission. She had her bag packed and would go straight to the bus depot after taking her daughter.

  Pin pointed out a lonely farmhouse, barely discernible among trees on a small hill about a hundred metres from the road.

  ‘That is where my ex lives in squalor,’ Pin said, ‘with about half a dozen of his crim cronies. And my daughter.’

  A kilometre further on, they arrived at the preschool. About thirty children were playing in a yard outside the brick schoolhouse. Two female teachers could be seen sitting outside, watching the children.

  ‘You two stay in the car,’ Pin ordered. She tapped the gun in a pocket of her windcheater jacket, jumped from the Toyota and hurried about fifty metres to the children. She grabbed Far, who looked pleased and surprised. Just as Pin hastened back to the car with Far, a tall, bearded Thai with long, thick, unkempt hair emerged from one of several cars on the verge of the yard. It was Kun. He was followed by two other men. The three of them rushed to cut off her run. Cavalier jumped from the Toyota.

  ‘No, Kun,’ Pin cried, ‘no! I’m taking her!’

  Pin stumbled. She and Far fell to the ground. Pin groped for her daughter but Kun and his companion were upon them. Cavalier reached them. Kun pulled out a handgun, forcing Cavalier to stop. Kun’s companion hoisted the kicking, screaming child onto his hip, as a third Thai came running to support Kun. Cavalier pulled Pin away. When Kun and his companions reached their car, she pulled out her pistol. Cavalier took it from her.

  ‘No!’ he said. ‘They have weapons!’

  Kun’s car sped past. He was in the back seat. He aimed his gun, causing Cavalier to pull Pin to the ground a split second before three bullets ripped into the Toyota, just missing a crouching Farn in the back seat.

  *

  Cavalier and her mother were adamant—Pin had to leave Mae Sot. She admitted that she had to be back at work by the next day.

  ‘He will come after you,’ Farn insisted. ‘You must leave.’

  ‘You jump on that bus as planned,’ Cavalier said. ‘I’ll stay until later today.’

  Pin, emotionally broken by the kidnap attempt, was in no state to argue. Her mother and Cavalier drove her to the bus. Gone was the brave person ready to fight for her daughter. The strain had been too much.

  ‘That’s a problem with bipolars,’ she whispered tearfully, ‘we can take on the world when we’re on a high. But when the lows hit …’

  ‘I think you should seek medication.’

  Pin kissed him.

  ‘I mean it,’ Cavalier insisted. ‘You were very brave today. Braver than me.’

  ‘You’ve been supportive. That’s what matters.’

  Cavalier didn’t respond.

  ‘Promise me you won’t approach Kun with money,’ Pin insisted.

  ‘Almost all people have a price. I think I understand Kun’s price.’

  ‘Vic, you mustn’t see him!’

  ‘I’ll stay until midnight, and take the last bus.’

  After a tearful farewell, Pin, with Serena the doll underarm, left on the bus.

  Farn drove Cavalier back to her house. She cooked a meal for him and they watched local TV with the rest of the family, hoping that the incident they’d been part of did not make the news.

  Two policemen arrived after dark. Farn pushed Cavalier out of sight into a bathroom. They interrogated her, unaware she had been present at the schoolyard. Farn told them Pin had returned to Chiang
Mai. She innocently asked what it was about. The police ignored her.

  ‘If there has been any trouble over my granddaughter,’ she said bravely, ‘I hope you are going to question her pig of a father!’

  The policemen glanced at each other.

  ‘We have spoken to him,’ one said.

  ‘He is a bad man; a murderer!’ Farn said. ‘You should speak to him again, and ask him about how he beat me up! How he and his criminal friends abuse my granddaughter. She is only four years old!’

  ‘All right, calm down,’ one of them replied to appease her. ‘We shall question Kun about that.’

  The policemen departed, with Farn shouting about Kun.

  Cavalier prepared his backpack.

  ‘I may not return,’ he said. ‘It’s too dangerous for me. I can’t afford to be interrogated by the police.’

  Farn agreed.

  ‘With police asking questions, even he won’t try anything here,’ she said. ‘He’s cunning. He’ll wait a week.’

  Cavalier smiled and held her.

  ‘I want you to pick up your granddaughter from school tomorrow,’ he said, ‘and then bring her to Chiang Mai.’

  She frowned and shook her head.

  ‘Kun will kill me!’

  ‘No, I think he’ll be with the police,’ Cavalier said.

  ‘He’ll kill me!’ she repeated.

  ‘Farn, listen to me please,’ Cavalier said, looking her intently. ‘Just in case Kun is not there, someone has to pick up Far.’

  Farn seemed confused. She nodded agreement.

  Cavalier asked if he could drive the motorcycle to the bus terminal. Farn said she would have her son pick it up the next day.

  ‘Everything is going to work out all right,’ Cavalier said, holding Farn. Then he repeated, ‘Just see your granddaughter tomorrow.’

  6

  THE SHOOTING PARTY

  Cavalier, wearing his hooded jacket, tracksuit trousers and running shoes, slipped his backpack on. He jumped on the motorcycle and drove to the village where Pin had bought her handgun and found the stall owner. Char was alone and closing down for the night.

  ‘Doctor,’ he said, ‘what do you want?’

  ‘Could I see that plastic semi-automatic?’