do devils like you come from?”
“Do you know anything about the men that robbed me?”
“I know everything about the men that robbed you,” Carl said smiling.
“What do you mean?”
“They were my people. I had them fly over from the Philippines. They run a bar there but always wanted to be actors. By the time you woke up in the back of the car they were already in the air on their way back to Manila. Three million dollars and some change was a lot more than I expected you to have lying around in cash, a nice surprise. All of it is safely in an offshore bank account that is under my control. By the time I’ve paid the boys and bought a very expensive watch I should have two million dollars left for my retirement plan. They were harmless theatrical types and they wouldn’t really have hurt you. Must’ve been good, I wish I’d seen them scamming you. The artist Caravaggio used to threaten to boil his enemies’ balls in oil when he was drunk. I never forgot that dreadful imagery.”
“But everybody said you were straight. Nobody said you were a criminal. That is why we didn’t suspect you were involved,” Inman said looking at the general for his reaction.
“Psychopaths like you make me think like a criminal and then it just becomes a bad habit. It takes people like me to put animals like you out of our misery.”
“Amnuay, you can fix this! Please, you have to get me out of this!” Inman pleaded to his old friend.
General Amnuay did not answer him. Inman stood in front of him shaking and twitching. Carl was enjoying it too much so he decided it was time to leave.
“General, you don’t need me talking to the police today,” Carl said. “It’ll be easier for you if I leave.”
“Go away!” the general barked. But as Carl moved to walk out the general stuck out his hand and stopped him. “You have two million dollars? You will deliver half to me in cash. I want a million of it.”
This was what Carl had hoped would happen. For the first time that night he felt safe and confident he was going to get to walk away and have a future. He’d held out the money and General Amnuay had taken it. He had even left Carl with half of it so he obviously had no idea how much Carl would have paid. Thailand was home and he had not wanted to have to leave it. Deal done.
Bart Barrows had his lips squeezed tightly together in an attempt to suppress laughter. Anthony Inman was whimpering and tears ran down his face. He knew that without the general’s protection Thailand was about to eat him alive. His game was over and there would never be another godlike day to feed his addiction. In a matter of a few minutes he had become completely powerless. This was confirmed by the general cutting himself in for half of the money as if he wasn’t even there and they hadn’t been in business together for almost forty years.
“It will be done, general. And should you need me to answer questions to the police or media I will answer only as you instruct me to. I’ll contact your office and let your people know how to reach me.”
Carl went out the door and down the stairs past the dozen men with shaved heads and heavy boots. They opened the way and let him pass, as they had not been ordered to the contrary. He left the hideous building by its front doors, rolling up the rusty metal shutter. He stepped out onto the pavement of the main road where he saw George sitting quietly in the unlit car. Carl got in.
“It’s done,” he told George.
“Where are we going?”
“The worst bar on Soi Cowboy, or possibly the best, depending on how you look at it.”
“You think it’s safe now?” George asked as the car moved forward.
“We can assume it is. We head south in the morning to let things calm down. Oh, and by the way George, thank you,” Carl said as he stretched his aching back.
“Think nothing of it. Someone has to look after you,” George said with a smile.
George dropped Carl at Soi Cowboy then went to dump the car. There were too many CCTV cameras around Bangkok to continue using the stolen car after the case went public. Anyway, they wouldn’t need a car on the island. George had told Carl that he would go to their houses before dumping the car and pack bags for them. Carl had handed him a key and told him some things to grab for him, not that George needed a key.
Carl walked up the narrow lane that was Soi Cowboy with its over forty bars with their neon signs advertising adult Disneyland. He knew where he was going. Carl pushed through the curtains and went in.
He was well on his way to being drunk and was contemplating calling Jacqueline when a pretty young girl sat down beside him watching as he consumed glass after glass of whiskey. She was naked from the waist up and her pert young breasts became the focus of Carl’s attention.
“Why do you drink so much?’ she asked him.
“I drink to forget,” Carl said to her left breast.
“What’re you trying to forget?” she asked with concern.
“I can’t remember,” Carl told her.
Epilogue
