Little Girl Gone

He turned for the door, but Christina reached out and touched his hand. “Mr. Harper, please. Sit back down.”

He hesitated for a moment, then did as she asked.

She leaned toward him. “I’ve been lucky to have had a certain amount of success here. But to do that, I’ve had to create a reliable information network that stretches beyond the borders of Thailand. I have people in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, and Myanmar…Burma. I have been told there is no chance the generals in Myanmar, no matter how crazy they are, would have sent people to the United States to kidnap anyone.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Logan told her, shaking his head. “I don’t have the proof, but, honestly, I don’t care if it’s them or not. I just want to get the girl back. I promised her grandfather, and I’m not going to let him down. So, please, I’m asking you for your help.”

He locked eyes with her, daring her to tell him no.

After several seconds, she frowned, and stood up. “The truth is, Mr. Harper, I can’t help you.”

His shoulders sagged. He was about to ask her why she bothered bringing him here, when she motioned to the man in the black shirt.

“But I think my friend Daeng here can.”

26

“We’ll leave you two alone,” Christina said, then motioned for Mr. Prem to follow her back to the door they entered through.

As soon as they were gone, Daeng held out his hand. “Don’t expect me to call you Mr. Harper.”

Logan was surprised. He had assumed Daeng was Thai, but the man’s accent was pure American. They shook hands. “You can call me Logan.”

Daeng must have sensed the confusion in Logan’s voice, because he smiled, then said, “Hollywood High, class of ninety-nine.”

“You’re not from Thailand?”

“I am. But that’s not what you’re asking, is it? I was born here, but went to live with an aunt in Thai Town in Los Angeles when I was just a kid. I’m Thai on my dad’s side. My mom?” He held Logan’s gaze for a moment. “She was Burmese.”

Logan realized that explained Daeng’s reactions earlier while Christina had been talking about Burma. Hopefully, it would make Daeng more motivated to lend a hand. “So can you help me track down the van?”

Daeng smiled. “And here I thought you were going to give me a challenge.”

As they stepped onto the sidewalk in front of Christina’s place, a car that had been parked down the street drove over and stopped at the curb. The driver jumped out, and opened the back door. He had the same tough look as Daeng, only with much shorter hair.

Daeng let Logan enter first, then he slid in after him. Before the driver had even climbed back behind the wheel, Daeng was unbuttoning his shirt. “She likes us to dress up when we talk business. I refuse to wear a suit, but I figure I can at least wear one of these.”

As he pulled it off, Logan noticed that Daeng’s upper body was covered in colorful tattoos—a tiger on his shoulder, a serpent wrapped around one arm, and, taking up much of his back, the Buddha.

The driver handed back a T-shirt, and Daeng pulled it on. On the front was a picture of Einstein sticking out his tongue.

“So where are we going?” Logan asked as they sped down the street.

“I don’t really have as much use for Mr. Prem as Christina does, but sometimes he’s helpful. He did get us the van’s license number after all. Thought maybe we’d pay the owner a visit.”

“You know where he lives?”

“I will soon enough.”

Logan allowed himself to relax a little. He wasn’t at a dead end. This was exactly the kind of help he needed.

The streets were now much easier to get around than when Logan had taken his little suicide ride through the city on the back of the motorcycle. In fact, Daeng’s driver seldom had to slow at all, except at lights. Logan was even getting used to the feel of riding on the opposite side of the road from the one back home. Thailand, like several Asian nations, drove British style.

They were on the road for a little more than five minutes when Daeng received a call. When he finished, he said, “The van’s owner lives way out on Sukhumvit. It’s going to take us a little while to get there, so if you want to nap, this would be a good time.”

Any lingering effects Logan had been feeling from the sleeping pill had been completely negated by the evening’s events. He was wide awake. “I’m fine.”

Daeng shrugged. “Your call.”

Logan stared out the window, watching the city go by. It appeared most people had finally packed it in for the night, but every once in a while he’d see a couple of street vendors still set up along a sidewalk, surrounded by customers enjoying a late-night meal.

After a bit, he glanced at Daeng. “You, uh, work for Christina?”

Daeng grunted a laugh. “No. Sometimes our paths cross, that’s all.”