Grandad, Thereэ's head on the beach

'Did they leave anything behind?' asked Meaty.

'A busted TV,' said Mair.

The safari came out of the room shaking his head.

'We'll be back,' said Meaty. 'You're to do nothing. Tell no one about this visit. If the women come back for their car, you'll call this number immediately.'

He handed me a card with nothing but a cell phone number on it.

'Mr….?' I said.

The unwanted visitors turned and hurried back toward the car.

'Who's going to pay for all this damage?' Mair shouted.

I squeezed her arm. The car doors slammed, the tires kicked up gravel, and they were gone. The engine sound soon blended into the growl of the surf. I smiled and walked around to each of the members of our cast and squeezed their hands. It had been a creditable ensemble performance. Chompu came over to join us.

'My knight,' I said. 'Thanks for coming, Chom.'

'I'm not sure I helped at all.'

'I don't know. They were a scary bunch. Who were they?'

'I've been ordered not to tell you that they were from Special Branch. But some elite faction that deals with- what he referred to as-higher matters.'

'You'd better not tell us then.'

'Sounds like the gray squad,' said Grandad. 'They only come out when there's something heavy-duty happening. And if they've been running checks on the banks and the post offices, that's a lot of manpower. Exactly what have your two ladies got themselves tied up in?'

'Exactly what two ladies are we talking about?' asked Chompu.

I'd had very little time to explain the details of our resort resident problem.

'I assume this has nothing to do with the Burmese?' he said.

I remembered Aung.

'The Burmese. Right,' I said and I turned my phone back on. 'I tell you what, Captain Waew, why don't you brief the lieutenant? We can't have any secrets here now. I reckon we'll have a couple of hours at the most before they've scoured all the resorts and come back here for a second round. We have to get the Noys to a safe house.'

'We've got a little house out back,' said Somjit of the co-op. 'It used to be our grandmother's till the cow fell on her. It's comfortable though. Not much of a hike to the outside toilet.'

'They can wear disguises,' said Ning.

The girls had no idea what was going on, but they were quick to get into the spirit of things. Even when we'd first dragged them over from the shop and told them the Noys were in danger, they'd been quick to strip off.

'Call them up,' said Grandad.

Waew let out an impressive whistle without the use of his fingers, and two of the cockle collectors looked up from beneath their broad cowboy hats. He gestured them over. The Noys walked up the sand wearing the sarongs and

T-shirts the co-op ladies had been wearing earlier. Their cockle dredgers were cardboard election placards. Their shell harvest was unimpressive, but they had survived. All that remained was for them to collect their things from cabin three and prepare their escape. Mair kept watch in case the safaris returned. I dialed Aung.

'Aung. What's up?'

'Where have you been?' he asked. 'I've been-'

'You're not my only emergency. Is it Shwe?'

'He called. His battery's very low. They were being herded into a small boat,' he said. 'I'm not sure, but I think he said the name of the boat had the word AMOR written on one side. He couldn't read the Thai on the other.'

'Did he say how many they were?'

'Seventeen. Four women. They'd brought over another bunch from a different holding center.'

So, they'd got their new crew. I wondered what had happened to the previous one.

'Can you help?' he asked.

'I hope so,' I said. 'Keep your phone on.'

And I clicked off.

I wasn't ready. I needed another day at least. I needed more people. I needed…I needed a miracle. I called Captain Kow.

'What is it?' he said. His voice sounded like rust deep in the back of the phone.

'Where are you?' I shouted.

'Nam Jeud,' he said.

'It's started. I know it's short notice, but did you get in touch with anyone?'

'Ha! Started, has it? I haven't got through to everyone yet. I focused on boats around Sawee, like we agreed. My brother's up there.'

'Are there any boats out at the moment?'

'This time of day? Not many. Only the squid trapmen checking their traps.'

'Are they on walkie-talkie?'

'Normally they wouldn't need to be. They only use the wireless at night to tell each other where the shoals are. The trappers have permanent spots, but the transient boats have to follow the squid.'

'But?'

'But, well, there's the karaoke.'

'The karaoke?'

'The nights can be a bit long and boring, waiting for squid. And a lot of fisherfolk like to sing. So about a year back we started entertaining each other by crooning over the short wave. And someone came up with the idea of bringing along tape players and singing along with the music. So they-'

'Kow! We've got seventeen people about to be beheaded. Is there a short version of this?'

'Sorry. Almost done. So, every night you'd take your turn to sing. And the M-150 energy-drink people heard about it, and they launched a CB transceiver karaoke competition with cash prizes. The competition's next week and everyone's rehearsing. Night or day we have our channels open. Sing a bit. Get feedback from your mates.'

'So what you're telling me is that the trap setters are on air.'

'You could say. Them and the night boats.'

'Can you contact them?'

'My brother Daengmo can.'

Daengmo? Now, why did that name ring a bell?

'All right,' I said. 'Ask them if anyone saw a small boat leave Sawee before midday. It might be called Amor. At least that's what's written in English…or French. There were seventeen Burmese on board. You can't hide seventeen people in a small boat, so someone must have noticed it. We need to know what direction it was headed. And someone has to get after it.'

'I'm on my way,' he said.

'Where to?'

'If I can get the headings from Daengmo and the karaoke crowd, I can set a heading to intersect with it. It's all in the angles.'

'Are you alone?'

'Yes.'

'You have to be careful with these people. How far out before you lose this cell-phone signal?'

'About thirty kilometers unless I'm heading toward the islands.'

'Then how do we keep in touch?'

'I'll give you Daengmo's number. I'll use the wireless transmitter. You'll be able to get the bearings from him.'

'Kow?'

'Yeah?'