For Mayhem or Madness
12
Just Another Delay
MY CLOCK was finally getting adjusted to the time zone. Or maybe I was just too restless to sleep at a decent hour like everyone else did. I didn’t know what to think of Char. It felt like being set up for a serious fall. I’m not into casual affairs. In fact, I haven’t been with anyone since… It was too painful to remember my short time with Andi. I needed something to occupy my mind.
I hadn’t made direct contact yet, but I was confident I’d found Terrance Whiteman. There was no sense making up searches that could expose my location to Uncle Sam. I did check in on my network at my office. Everything was running fine and I quickly sorted through my email, not the least of which were half a dozen messages from Jordan demanding to know where I was. The last one was just two days ago.
I had a computer in my vault that I could take over remotely. I composed a quick email to Jordan and sent it from the slaved computer. It would look like it came from my office in Seattle.
On the trail. May have info by the end of the month. Africa is hot.
I figured that should hold him for a couple of days. His messages had started about the time I caught my flight to Singapore, so if anyone was still trying to track me, a lead to Africa was as good a distraction as any.
While I searched through my files, my email lit up with another message from Jordan. He must be working late as well. Then I computed the time change. It was just after midnight in Thailand, which meant Jordan was in his office working at ten a.m. yesterday. I opened the email.
That’s not what the Ruskies say. We have two tailing them. They’re not as good at disappearing as you.
He attached a grainy photo of me in an airport, obviously captured from a security scan. If I had to guess, it was my arrival in Singapore. I needed to be somewhere different.
After looking for nightlife in Chiang Mai, I called a tuk-tuk and in twenty minutes was headed into town. This is a twenty-four-hour city. The traffic was only slightly better than it was at six in the evening. The driver dropped me off at the Night Bazaar in the middle of the city. I needed to do some shopping and this would be a good place to be lost for a while. I intended to pick up a new look.
I’m a conservative dresser. It used to be just jeans and T-shirts until Andi and Cali got hold of me. When I went to work undercover at EFC, they insisted I look more corporate. Since then, even when I was working at home, I wore gray suits and white shirts. For this little trip, I’d dressed down but that only meant I was wearing slacks and short sleeved dress shirts. I really stood out when I was around other, far more casually dressed tourists. It was time to get with the program.
I dragged myself into the kitchen with the others getting coffee and an incredible sweet cake David made. I didn’t think the coffee would help, but I needed to see Char as soon as possible.
“I thought you were a computer geek,” she said when she slid into the seat next to me and began sipping her coffee. “Why are you here so early in the morning?”
“I haven’t been to bed yet.”
“That makes sense. He was up all night, too. Just dropped off to sleep. If you go to bed now, you’ll probably wake up about the same time.”
“I don’t think I dare do that. I was spotted in Singapore. It won’t take them too long to figure out where I went. I need to lead them away,” I said. “We don’t need anyone coming around here.”
“I was just getting to like you. It’s not nice to run away.”
“I’m sorry. It’s not my choice. I’d like to see him before my flight tonight.”
“He’s already arranged things,” Char said. She reached into her ever-present bag and hesitated while the last of the others left for their day’s activities. She pulled out a document folder and handed it to me. Inside were two tickets to Ho Chi Minh City. One for me and one for her.
“He’s as good as I thought. But why is there a ticket for you?”
“There needed to be a reason you were here and a reason you left. I get to be the reason. Supposedly, I’m leading you to him.”
“I should have left a trail they can track more easily.”
“Don’t worry. He used one of your credit cards. He said he’d reimburse you. You need to check out here and pack. Do you always wear such formal clothes?” she asked.
“I went shopping last night.”
“Good. Go get some sleep and be up in three hours to meet with him before we go to the airport. Do you need me to come tuck you in and sing you a lullaby?”
“I’m afraid if you came with me, I might not get any sleep at all.”
“There is that. Not a bad prospect. Can I make you another cup of coffee?”
“Char…”
“Don’t worry, Stefan. Not this time. It’s going to be a restless night tonight. Our flight is at six and we don’t get in until nine in the morning. There’s a layover in Bangkok where we can be seen together. And I’m sure by the time we get to Ho Chi Minh City, we’ll both need sleep. First.”
“I’ll see you in three hours,” I said. I headed for my bungalow and stretched out to sleep.
I was having a hard time reading Char. Sometimes she was all professional and concerned about Terry. Sometimes she seemed not to have a care in the world and flirted with me. Her suggestions made it seem like this would be a holiday for her and she was looking forward to traveling with me. But I also knew she was operating under Terry’s suggestions. She was about five-six and nicely built. I’d confirmed that when we went swimming yesterday. She had closely cropped dark brown hair. Her smile lit up her whole face and her brown eyes reflected fire, no matter what the lighting was.
My dreams were full of her and I was reluctant to wake up when my phone alarm roused me. I showered, dressed in my new clothes, and went to my first meeting with my quarry.
“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Dag Hamar,” he said when I walked into the bungalow. He sat in a chair with a blanket over his lap, which I thought must be hot as hell in the eighty-degree weather with eighty percent humidity. I was dressed down in pre-distressed jeans and an open-collar print shirt. I had T-shirts, but didn’t feel comfortable traveling in one. I wore my new Panama hat that I’d slept on so it looked a bit squashed. I was wearing sandals that I’d picked up in the market. They weren’t particularly comfortable, but they fit. “Please forgive me for not standing to greet you. I don’t move much these days.”
He had a rolling cart with his computer on it. He pulled it to him and sighed. He was mostly bald, not at all like the pictures I’d seen when I visited his wife. His eyes were sunken and his cheeks were hollow.
“The pleasure is mine,” I said. I didn’t get too upset when he used my name in front of Char. I figured by now he knew more about me than I did. He asked Char to wait outside and she took a book to go lounge in one of the cabanas. We could still see her through the open front of the cabin. “I promised your wife I would give you her love.”
“The saddest part of my situation is not being with her or my son. We pass clandestine messages but that is all we’re able to do. But I can’t let her see me like this. It’s too painful to even look in a mirror. Char does her best to bathe me and keep me from smelling too bad, but I’m self-conscious even around her.” He was a very sad man and it looked like he’d already outlived his expectations. I didn’t think he had long to last.
“Will you be okay without her for a couple of days?” I asked. There were a million questions on my mind but I just couldn’t bring myself to dive into them.
“David will bring me food and I can do without a bath for a couple of days. I saw the message regarding the Russians who were following you and managed to track them. They are scheduled to arrive in Chiang Mai an hour before your departure. I hope to have arranged things so that you can be seen leaving as they arrive. With luck, they won’t bother to leave the airport, but you should have a day of lead time on them by the time they can get out. They might cross paths with you in Bangkok on your layover, but will still be unable to catch the same flight out.”
“You’ve thought this through. How soon do you expect us back?”
“I’ve laid a complex route for you, but you won’t be following it. From Ho Chi Minh City, you are routed to Hong Kong and then on to Seoul. But you’ll get off the plane in Hong Kong and fly to Manila, then back to Bangkok. It’s a whirlwind trip and you’ll be back here in four days. I’m sorry it won’t allow you too much time to get to know Char better except on the plane. But I need the four days to finish my work. I’ve not been able to work the hours I once did. I might be the same age as you, but I feel twice that,” he said.
“Do you plan to erase more people while I’m gone?”
“No. I plan to finish the software that will enable you to do it.”
“What?”
“You came to my attention with your attack on the virtual city Philanthropolis. I could see what you were doing. It was good. It was noble. I stepped in to clean up a few loose ends and take credit for the attack. But I have only made token forays since then.”
“What do you mean by enabling me to do it.”
“Are you a good man, Dag Hamar?”
“I try to be. Sometimes I think the definition is a bit ambivalent.”
“And you understand that ambivalence. I’ve reached a point where I don’t. I can’t carry out my ultimate plan. I intended to attack corrupt officials around the world. I know no national boundaries and I have no political connections. But corruption is something I can’t stand. The people I have targeted… I believe they are sapping the world of its future. But I don’t know if they all deserve what I have planned for them.”
“And you want me to decide that?”
“That and to examine the morality of what I have planned. If I pulled the trigger on all of them at once, the world would fall into chaos. They would need to be taken down one at a time over intervals. My time is short. And I don’t know if I’m doing what is right. I have the means—the weapon—but I can’t pull the trigger.”
“What makes you think I can?”
“I think you will decide if the trigger should be pulled.”
That gave me pause. Was I a good enough person to make that kind of decision? The lines of what is legal and illegal are often not the same as the lines of what is right and wrong. I knew I walked precariously along one or both.
I was suddenly glad for four days during which I could think.
Char was going to make thinking difficult to do. When David pulled his car around to take us to the airport, she showed up in a mini skirt and tank top that showed every delicious bit of her figure. The heels on her sandals shaped her calves but weren’t high enough to hamper her walking quickly. And I couldn’t help but notice the tents her nipples were making in the tight shirt.
I was wearing my new distressed jeans, gaudy shirt, and Panama hat. We’d make quite the couple in the airport. Which was the plan. I needed to look like I was evading followers but attract enough attention that they would follow me out of Chiang Mai. I didn’t like the idea of leaving Terry alone at the resort, but David promised he’d make sure he was fed.
We pulled our suitcases through the airport. They were just small enough that we didn’t need to pay another 500 baht for checked luggage. We sat on the concourse in front of a coffee shop where everyone leaving had to pass.
The spies weren’t that difficult to spot. They did an about face when they spotted us and went into the coffee shop. Most people arriving at the airport are in too much of a hurry to get home or on vacation to stop at an airport coffee shop. Most of the coffee shop business is departing passengers or people delayed between flights. The two rather nondescript men sat together in a far corner of the restaurant where they could see us. When we left to go to the gate, one followed us and the other turned toward the ticketing counter. We waited until the last minute before we rushed to the right gate and boarded our plane. Neither man followed us on. I was pretty sure the one following us was on the phone to his partner trying to get a ticket on the next flight to Bangkok.
We settled in for the short flight and didn’t really have time to become uncomfortable in the cramped coach seats. This was an economy airline and didn’t have a first class or business class section. The timing was such that we’d have some nine hours in the Bangkok airport but the arrival and departure were at Don Mueang airport. We didn’t need to shuttle to Suvarnabhumi. Char made the wait entertaining and I learned more about her adventures as a nurse with Médicins sans Frontières. When we boarded for the two-hour flight to Ho Chi Minh City, she snuggled up next to me and went to sleep.
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