Betrayal

She read the account, which described a series of seemingly unrelated bits of intelligence describing a new gang in the Golden Triangle headed by a farang — a white devil rumored to feast on human hearts and dance in the moonlight covered with his victims’ blood. The rumors were that he was impossibly rich and had a hundred men armed with the latest weapons, and was a ghost that even the Myanmar military was terrified of.

Two men had gone in.

Never to be heard from again.

Both were seasoned combat veterans with extensive histories operating in the most dangerous environments on the planet. Africa. The Middle East. The Balkans.

They had gone into the jungle a week ago.

And disappeared without a trace three days later.

The detail of the report described a group in Bangkok that specialized in underage prostitutes and sadism, offering more extreme versions of the spectrum to an international clientele that traveled from all over the world to partake in the forbidden fruits it provided. The head of the organization was a man by the name of Lap Pu, no doubt an alias, who was almost as much of a phantom as the farang.

Pu was rumored to have a relationship with the white ghost, and acted as his eyes and ears in Thailand.

She read for another hour, but the Byzantine maze of relationships, rivalries and rumored allegiances was overwhelming and would require much more study if she was going to formulate any kind of coherent plan.

But one thing seemed obvious to her.

The trail began in Thailand. That was where Hawker had been based, so that was where his contacts would be. Find a weak link in his associates, and with any luck, they would lead her to him.

Chapter 9

After two hours of shopping, Jet was reasonably outfitted, and when she made it back to the house, she was glad she’d decided to get her own clothes. Even though she was as drip dry as they came, it was nice for things to fit correctly and not look awful.

She pushed the door open, toting three plastic clothes bags, and found herself face to face with Arthur, who was sitting in the living room sipping a diet soda through a straw — a requirement, given the state of his face.

“Ah, so you’re back. Did you find everything you need?”

“I got the necessities. What are you doing here?”

“I was hoping you have come up with some preliminary thoughts about our situation.”

“You mean the one where you kidnapped my daughter and are blackmailing me so I’ll kill someone for you?”

He ignored that.

“No, more the question of how to find our rogue agent, and what will be required to do so.”

She set the bags down and stared at him in disbelief.

“I just finished reading the last of the files before lunch. Are you kidding me?”

“You are rumored to be the best. I suppose I was overly optimistic…”

“That may be, but I’m not a magician. This could take weeks to plan. I don’t have a lot of information to go on. Other than some rumors of your man having gone native, the files are thin on supporting intelligence.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that. We’ve actually received new satellite footage, but it isn’t going to be of much help. It’s such a large area. And there are caves, villages, and plenty of questionable encampments set up by the smugglers, any of which could be the target or a red herring.”

“I’ll need a day or two to think this one through, and then I’ll probably want to nose around on the ground in his old stomping grounds. Bangkok. I’ve never been there, so that will increase the difficulty level. Ideally you would have gotten all the information on where to find the target, and then I’d take it from there. This is a completely different situation. So, not only do I have to figure out how to get the diamonds back and take him out, but I also need to find him.” She fixed him with a cold stare. “I don’t have a magic wand or I’d bring Hannah back and make you disappear.”

“I’ll need forty-eight hours to get you an ID and put a cover in place.”

“No, you won’t. You’ll just need to give me back my Belgian passport and identity cards. And come up with a big wad of cash to spread around so I can get some answers over there.”

“Money’s not a problem.” He stood, looking around the small room, then moved to the door. “I have every confidence in you. But I don’t have unlimited time. Sooner the better is what I’m trying to convey.”

“This is the type of operation that would ordinarily take a month to think through. Assuming I had the kind of support I’m accustomed to. David was the best at what he did. But now he’s gone, and you’re handing me a black box and asking me to pull a rabbit out of a hat. Your last two attempts on this target failed. Have you considered that might have been a function of how ill-conceived they were?”

“Yes, I have. Which is why I brought you into this.” He waved a gloved hand dismissively. “You’ll figure it out. Just don’t take too long.”

“It’s like making a baby. Still takes nine months no matter what you do or say.”

He opened the door. “Point taken. Whenever you need to get in touch, call me,” he said, as he reached into his jacket for a cell phone and tossed it to her.

Her eyes remained fixed on him as she snatched it out of the air.

“Will do.”

Jet spent the rest of the day studying the reports, going over the satellite footage, trying to piece together a strategy. By nighttime she was worn out and seemed no closer to a breakthrough than when she’d started the day. The target had an armed encampment, but they didn’t know where, other than it was in the territory of a hostile regime that was notorious for being a drug production and smuggling center. And the warlords in the heroin business there were every bit as dangerous as the Myanmar military, if not more so.

The information that the Thailand CIA team had been able to glean from informants wasn’t promising, and contradicted itself in as many places as it agreed. The only thing for certain was that she would need to get to Bangkok sooner than later and do her own nosing around. Which was how the last team had discovered the lead that directed them into the jungle, even if the ultimate outcome had been disastrous.

As she lay on the bed in the dark, staring at the ceiling, a whirlwind of possible approaches ran through her mind. Eventually she closed her eyes and pushed the rush of ideas to the side, replacing them with the image of her daughter laughing delightedly in her car seat, oblivious to her role as a pawn in a deadly chess game.

Her last thoughts as she drifted to sleep were of David, confessing his betrayal as his life seeped from him on the deck of the Russian’s mega-yacht, his strained apology an inadequate lullaby to accompany her slumber.

The following afternoon, Arthur tipped the brim of his hat in greeting and took a seat opposite Jet, who ignored the formality and cut straight to the chase.

“I want to be in Bangkok within twenty-four hours. I’ll need twenty-five grand in cash, a debit card that will allow me to withdraw another seventy-five and a contact there who can get me weapons and anything else I need,” Jet instructed. There was no point lingering at the safe house when all paths led to Thailand.

Arthur regarded her impassively, nodding as she outlined her requirements.

“So you are ready to get started. Good.”

“My big problem is that what you’ve supplied is all but useless for finding the target or understanding what his true defenses are, which means I need to dig around on the ground there and see what I can stir up. And that will require time and money.”

“As I said, we have money. Time isn’t in such a generous supply.”

“What’s the rush?”

“I’m receiving pressure over this regrettable incident, and my superiors want the matter concluded. They don’t have the same appreciation of the delicacy of the dynamics that we do.”

“Well, there’s nothing I can do about that. I’m not going to go charging into a situation I know nothing about. If you’re in such a hurry, how about finding out where his camp is? Then all I need to do is figure out the logistics of