The fourth watcher

up.

“How much more?” Rafferty asks the women.

“Halfway done,” Fon says. “We kept some to speed things up.” The other women laugh, some more heartily than others.

“If you do,” Rafferty says, “take the stuff on the coffee table. It may not be as pretty, but it’s real.” He pulls a dozen hardcover books of approximately the same size off the shelf and heads for the bedroom. He has just dropped them in front of Kosit, who is sitting on the bed, which has a long rip in it where the policeman worked out a spring, when the doorbell rings.

“Listen,” Kosit says. “The bedsprings aren’t enough.”

“Well, Jesus,” Rafferty says. He can barely focus on the problem. “Use anything.”

Kosit shakes his head. “I don’t know-”

“Use those,” Rafferty says, pointing to the stun grenades hanging from Kosit’s belt. “That ought to open things up.”

Kosit tilts one up and lets it drop back. “I’m not sure. The pins are hard to pop. They take a good hard tug. I don’t know if the lever-”

The doorbell rings again. “Please,” Rafferty says. “Solve it.” He goes back into the living room and opens the door, just enough to squeeze out into the hallway.

Leung stands there, water dripping off the end of his nose, a canvas bag hanging from his shoulder. The gun in his hand is pointed at the fat cop and the thin cop. Pradya and Sriyat, Rafferty thinks. The fat cop, Pradya, tries on a smile.

Rafferty looks at the three of them, and an overwhelming weariness seizes hold of him. He leans against the wall and closes his eyes for a moment, trying to find a way to make this new development work to his advantage. When he opens his eyes again, Pradya has given up on his smile. “You,” Rafferty says to Sriyat. “Go back to Chu. Take your time, but go back. Tell him whatever you want. Tell him Leung caught you, I don’t care. Tell him we kept Pradya.” Sriyat doesn’t even nod, just turns to ring for the elevator. “Do you still know which side you’re on?” Rafferty asks.

Sriyat turns his head a quarter of the way, his mouth a taut line. “Not much choice,” he says.

“Make sure you remember that,” Rafferty says. To Pradya and Leung, he says, “Come on in. I’ll try to find you someplace to sit.”

41

The Deal Just Changed

'Very fucking cute,” Rafferty says into the phone. “Sending those clowns after Ming Li.” “You changed the rules when you lied to me,” Chu says.

“Oh, gosh,” Rafferty says, “and we’d established such an atmosphere of trust.” His eyes scan the room. The fat cop, Pradya, sits on the couch, head down, with Leung standing over him. The women paw through the rubies in the box, their eyes wide. Leung is watching their hands. Kosit is busy with the suitcase in the bedroom.

“You’ve been in contact with Frank,” Chu accuses. “All along.”

“No. Just the past eight hours or so. He called me with some news, and I didn’t want to share it with you.”

“What news?”

“Don’t get excited about this. In the end you’ll be happy about it.”

“I’ll decide what I’m happy about. What is it?”

“He sold your rubies.”

“Yes,” Chu says, dragging the word out. “I can see why you wouldn’t want to tell me that. Just out of curiosity, how much did he get?”

“About a million four.”

“Dollars, of course.”

“Sure. Even with you on his tail, he’s not going to sell them for a million and a half baht.”

“He could have gotten more. I assume you have the money.”

“I’ve got better than that. I’ve got the money and I’ve also got the rubies.”

“You’ve got. . you said he sold them.”

“He did.”

“Then how did you get them?”

“Violence,” Rafferty says. Leung looks over at him and grins.

“You’re better than he is,” Chu says. “Better than he was in his prime.”

“Don’t make me blush. Here’s the deal: The money evens things up. You have three items of Arthit’s and mine, and I have three items for you. We’re going to make one trade at a time. No promises, no IOUs, no payment for future delivery, no address left behind where we can find them. Cash for Noi, in the flesh. Rubies for Rose. Frank for Miaow.”

Chu says, “Have you looked in the box?”

Careful, Rafferty thinks. “Frank popped the lid and showed me the stones. That’s a lot of rubies.”

“Didn’t you go through it? After you got it back?”

“Why would I? I don’t know anything about rubies. What am I going to do, weigh them one at a time?”

“Mmmm,” Chu says.

Rafferty waits.

“I want Ming Li, too.”

“Not part of the deal.”

“The deal just changed.”

Rafferty says, “Hold it. I need to think.” He looks at Leung, whose eyes have returned to the women’s hands. Pradya is frankly listening to the phone call, but he looks away when Rafferty catches him. “Buy her from me.”

“Buy her? With what?”

“The rubies. Ming Li for the rubies.” Now Leung is looking at him, and he’s not grinning. Rafferty shakes his head.

“No,” Chu says. “She’s a bonus, for the trouble you’ve caused me.”

“Half the rubies.”

“You really are venal,” Chu says, almost admiringly. “You’re giving me your father and proposing to sell me your sister.”

“It’s a dysfunctional family.”

“Two handfuls,” Chu says. “In front of me. You can dip your hands into the box and bring up as many as you can hold. Put them in your pockets and give me the girl.”

“Four.”

“Two, and that’s the end of it.”

“Okay. Two.”

“Send her to me now.”

“No. Nothing gets traded on the basis of futures. No deferred transfers. Payment in one direction, person in the other. Right there, on the spot.”

Chu says, “It sounds like you don’t trust me.”

“That’s funny,” Rafferty says. “The last person who said that to me was Arnold Prettyman.”

Chu doesn’t even hesitate. “What a peculiar name. Since we’re both putting everything on the table, I’m assuming you have some safeguards in mind.”

“Lots of them.”

“I’m listening.”

“You’ll have your guys on hand, and I’ll have my own. I’m keeping one of your guys with me-the fat one,