Little Girl Gone

“We’re sure they didn’t get off before the train left?”

“My guy would have called us if they had. The real question is, are they going to where the girl is?”

That had been a worry running through Logan’s mind since the moment he’d realized the others were getting on a train. “I hope so.”

They sat there silently for a few moments.

“How many stops are we going to make?” Logan asked.

“Maybe a dozen. Don’t know for sure.”

That was more than Logan had hoped. The others could get off at any time during the night. “First thing we need to do is figure out where they are so we can keep tabs on them.”

“That should be easy enough,” Daeng said. “How many of them know what you look like?”

“None of the ones on the train, actually. The two who’ve seen me before aren’t here.”

“Still, maybe I should be the one who looks around,” Daeng said. “Your farang face will stick out, and could give us problems later if they spot you somewhere else. Me, I’m just another Thai.”

Logan didn’t completely buy the argument, but it made enough sense that he said, “Go ahead. I’ll wait here.”

As Daeng headed out, Logan slouched down on his bench, antsy. For the last couple of hours his adrenaline had been running at full tilt while they’d followed Aaron through the city. Top that off with the rush to get on the train, and he was having a hard time getting into relax mode.

He looked out the window. They were still in Bangkok, rolling by areas he was pretty sure most tourists didn’t visit. At one point they seemed to pass through what looked like a little village built between the tracks and the city a hundred feet away. There were huts and stores all crammed together and built from scrap, and around them families ate and children played.

He heard the car door nearest him slide open, and sounds from outside momentarily rushed in before it closed again. Between the door and their booth was an area with a sink and a small room with a toilet. So it was a few seconds before the man who had come through the door appeared. He was wearing a uniform, and as soon as he reached Logan’s booth, he said something in Thai.

Logan hesitated a moment, then retrieved his ticket and held it out, assuming that’s what the man wanted. The guy’s smile told him he was right. As the conductor was marking Logan ticket, the train door opened again. Once more there was the delay, then a man squeezed around the back of the conductor. Logan caught a glimpse of his profile, and immediately turned to the window. It was the Caucasian guy who’d been with Aaron.

A hand touched Logan’s shoulder. He hesitated, then turned, bracing himself in case they’d somehow been able to ID him. But it was only the conductor trying to give him back his ticket.

“Sorry,” Logan said, taking it from him. “Thank you. Khob khun….khrap.”

“Khob khun, khrap,” the conductor said, then turned to the women in the opposite booth.

Cautiously, Logan leaned into the aisle and looked toward the far end of the car where the other man had been heading. The guy was just opening the door to move on to the next car. As he did, he nearly ran into Daeng. There was a moment of awkwardness as they moved around each other, then Daeng bowed his head a few inches, and the door shut between them.

“He came from the front of the train,” Logan said once Daeng had rejoined him.

“Yeah, I figured. I didn’t see any of them in the cars back there. It’s all second class like us, so I’m guessing they’re probably up in a first class cabin.”

“Where do you think he was going?”

Daeng shook his head. “Nothing back there but more cars like this. Probably just stretching his legs.”

As soon as Daeng had left to check the cars in front, Logan decided to make sure the man who’d walked through didn’t get a chance for another look at him when he came back.

He went over to the sink just opposite the door to the toilet, and hovered there, keeping an eye on the door at the other end of the car. Logan’s plan was to simply step into the room with the toilet the moment he saw him. Unfortunately, a few seconds before the man returned, one of Logan’s new Thai friends from across the aisle decided to use the facilities.

Now he was caught in a situation where if he returned to his seat he’d draw attention to himself, and if he stayed where he was, it would be easy for the man to take a good look at him. It could be it wouldn’t matter, but, if possible, he preferred to remain anonymous for the moment. So the best chance he had to do that was to head into the next car, and hope that the toilet there was unoccupied.

He slipped out the door into a short, noisy passageway, then opened another door and stepped into the next car. Immediately he could see that this one was different than the one in which he and Daeng were assigned. The walkway took a short jog to the left, and ran along the side of the train for a little bit before passing a kitchen area, then opening into a simple dining room.

Several of the tables were occupied, and two waitresses seemed to be sharing the duty of serving the customers. There was a snack counter, too, separating the kitchen from the dining area.

What he wasn’t seeing was a bathroom.

He quickly headed across the dining area to the door on the other side. Passing through it, he was once more in the no man’s land between cars, only this particular passage had been set up so that people could move to the sides, out of the way, and smoke next to open windows.

He knew the further he continued down the train, the more chances he was taking that he’d be spotted. So he decided this was going to have to do. He moved over to one of the windows, his back now to the train’s doors.