dropped, his spinal cord severed by the arrowhead. The lone remaining gunman emptied his clip at the dark jungle and was reloading when his life was snuffed out by the nearby pop of a single silenced pistol.
Jet surveyed the carnage and waited for any more assailants to show themselves. After a few minutes of silence, she shifted from her position in a tree forty yards away and dropped to the ground, leaving her now empty quiver at the base of the trunk, along with the bow. Perhaps it would be of some use to an impoverished Shan hill person who was willing to reclaim the arrows and find a few that were serviceable. She had neither the time nor the desire to do so.
She ran to the dead men and emptied their pockets of spare clips, then selected two of the newest rifles and made her way back to where Matt was hopefully still waiting.
~ ~ ~
“Did you miss me?”
Matt started at the sound of her whispered voice and exhaled noisily before turning to where she stood with two AK-47s.
“What took you so long?”
“There were more of them than I thought.”
She could see his jaw clench, the muscles in his face tensing, and then he relaxed.
“You were hoping for some new weapons?” she said. “These are slightly used, but I think they’ll do the trick.”
She threw one to him, forcing him to drop the P90 to catch it.
“Nice. What is this, about a thirty-year-old AK?” he asked, hefting it and then sighting down the barrel into the distance.
“A classic.” She tossed two magazines at his feet. “Nice shooting, by the way. For a guy who can’t see anything, you took two out.”
“I didn’t want to hit you, but I figured you wouldn’t be between me and the muzzle flashes.”
“Good guess. Now, hand me the P90, and let’s get going. I don’t want to have to take on any others who might have been drawn by the gunfire. They might not have been the only bad guys roaming around here tonight.”
Matt stood and handed her the little weapon. “That’s a neat gun. I like the dual-stage trigger, although it could use a three-round burst mode. It felt like I was getting off five rounds with each pull.”
“You get used to it. Holds fifty rounds, so if you’re careful, you can get off fifteen pops before you’re out of ammo. An acquired taste. I prefer the MTAR.” She took it from him and checked the magazine quickly. “Feels like it’s still at least a quarter full.”
“You trust me with a gun now?” he asked, only partially joking.
“Let’s just say that I think you’re probably better served being able to protect yourself out here. Besides, as you’ve probably guessed, I can take care of myself.”
“I’ll say.”
They began trudging along the trail, Jet in the lead again, alert and ready for anything the jungle cared to throw at them.
Chapter 27
“You’re going to have to kill him.” Matt had taken the lead at first light, dawn having broken an hour earlier. “Got to cut the head off the snake or it will always be trying to bite you.”
“I know.”
“But we need a plan to get your daughter back. I can predict he’ll screw you. That’s what he does. The challenge is to allow him to think he’s doing so, and in the process figure out what he did with her. I may be able to help with that. In fact, I’m sure of it. It’ll take some time and money, but fortunately I have plenty of the latter. It’s the time element that will be the problem.”
“What are you thinking?”
“He’s predictable in some ways. And most importantly, he believes that he’s insulated from most things you or I might be concerned with. But I have my own assets, and one in particular can probably do enough research to catch anyplace he’s been sloppy. Whenever you catch a spy, it’s because they screwed up. Arthur isn’t infallible. He’s very smart, but remember that this is an under-the-table deal he has going, so he can’t use company resources to do things like find a home for Hannah. Which means that there will be a trail of some sort. We just need to find it and follow it before he realizes we’re onto him.”
“That’s easier said than done.”
“I didn’t say it would be easy. I said it would be expensive and time-consuming. But frankly, I can’t think of a better way to use some of his own money. I’ve been trying to figure out how to bring him down, and this may present an opportunity. What I’m proposing is that you take him out, along with anyone else we can identify as ringleaders in this scheme, so you, and I, are safe. In exchange for that, I’ll spend whatever it takes to find your daughter. This is actually sort of the same deal he made with you, only in reverse. And I didn’t have to kidnap anyone to get you to go along.”
“Let’s say I agree, and we join forces. What’s the next step?”
“You have five million dollars’ worth of diamonds hanging around your neck. The first thing I’d suggest is getting to Bangkok and converting some of that into cash. Once we have cash, we have options. I know a few of the contacts Pu had, and I think I can arrange for you to be able to convert at least a couple million’ worth pretty quickly. Then you have to get some new ID and go to Europe to convert some more — maybe ten million. At that point, you’ve got a war chest. In the meantime, I’ll put my back into discovering whatever can be found. Worst case, I’ve got a pretty simple alternative that can get you close enough to be able to get your daughter back and disappear — after you kill Arthur, of course.”
“Let’s hear plan B, since plan A sounds like you haven’t come up with it yet.”
“I think you’ll appreciate the irony in plan B.”
“Try me.”
They went back and forth, arguing the possibilities in muted tones, still wary of being ambushed by the region’s unsavory elements, and as the day wore on, the outline of a strategy with a realistic chance of success took form.
The going had become harder, even with a minimum of rain, and as predicted, they didn’t make the kind of time she’d hoped for. Night fell, and they were still in the hills, but within ten miles of the border. They took a two- hour break and then pushed on, Jet driven as if by demons, keeping up the pace even though they were both close to exhaustion.
At four in the morning, they crossed into Thailand and discarded all of the weapons except for the pistol. She stowed it in her backpack and then scraped a hole in the dirt and buried the electronics and the sat phone, on the off-chance that they had some sort of tracking technology in them.
They made their way down the hill into Mae Sai and were in town by dawn. Motorcycles and trucks were already prowling the roads, and after grabbing food at a roadside stand that catered to early-rising laborers and farmers, they found a small guest house where they could clean up and rest.
After they had both showered and rinsed their clothes free of the accumulated sweat and grime, they gratefully fell onto the single hard bed and were asleep within seconds.
The bus to Bangkok was a nightmare of unwashed bodies, poor ventilation and a suspension system that had given up several decades earlier. Jet and Matt tried to make the best of it, but by the time they arrived in Chiang Rai, an hour after departing Mae Sai, both had seen enough, and they got off at the bus station and went in search of a car. After some haggling, they convinced a restaurant owner to have his son drive them to Bangkok, and soon they were on their way in the impossible comfort of air-conditioning.
Once in Bangkok, they found a hotel that was modest but safe and checked into separate rooms. Clothes shopping was the first agenda item they quickly dispensed with, along with purchasing several disposable cell phones. Matt wanted to make some calls and find buyers for the diamonds, as well as reach out to his contacts for
