It was built into the cliffs in the same way as the luxury residences back on Ko Samui’s “Millionaire’s Mile”, and flanked on either side by two enormous waterfalls which crashed down into the warm waters of the Gulf of Thailand far below.
The main construction was glass and steel and elaborately dressed up with floating staircases leading to an impressive rooftop balcony. The views at sunset must have been breathtaking, but of more interest to the Australian were the small outbuildings placed in strategic locations around the perimeter.
“More guards,” he said. “And judging from the number of those guardhouses this bloke must be more paranoid than Stalin.”
“Stand up, drop the guns and turn around very slowly.” The voice was cool, and measured. “If you try and use the rifles I will kill before you can aim them.”
Riley cursed himself for letting someone get the better of him but whoever had done it was damned good — he knew that much.
They obeyed and saw a man in a smart suit. He was training a pistol on them, and the muzzle was too close for comfort.
“Great,” Selena said, turning to Riley and lowering her voice. “The fact you got us caught like this raises significant doubts about your competence, Mr Carr.”
“Thanks, babe.”
12
“Mr Kuan is expecting you,” the man said confidently. “You’re already late for your meeting and he’s not the sort of man who likes to be kept waiting.”
“Meeting?” Selena said. “I don’t understand.”
“He will explain.” The guard took a long look at the woman and then turned his attention briefly to the six and a half foot man standing slightly behind her. “Now get up and leave the rifles on the ground.” He waved the gun in their faces.
“My pleasure, mate,” Riley said. “Can’t wait to get this show on the road.”
“Me too. I want this over and done with.”
“Not only that,” he said. “I really need a slash.”
Selena rolled her eyes and sighed. “You’ll just have to hang on to it. Something tells me Kuan isn’t the kind of man who would respond kindly to finding you piddling all over his fan palms.”
The man marched them past the second tier of guards and into the sprawling compound. As they drew closer to the villa they realized just how much money there must be in pushing heroin around the world. It seemed to go on in every direction as far as the eye could see, and now they turned the corner of yet another section of the sprawling Modernist villa and walked beside a high wall punctuated with fold-back windows.
“This way.”
They ascended a floating staircase until they reached the upper storey where a cantilevered infinity pool jutted out over the cliff, shrouded by the tropical undergrowth of flame trees either side of it. The pool pointed out into the hot Thai night and reflected the tropical stars in its smooth surface like speckles of silver on black oil. The sound of waterfalls could be heard roaring in the distance.
Kuan’s man marched them around the wraparound deck and made a big show of his new prisoners for his boss who was sitting just a few yards away. Now, they reached their final destination and looked at one another.
They were in the bizarre setting of a pool party.
Kuan’s eyes widened and a look of smug satisfaction appeared on his face. “Ah — my guests have arrived.”
The crowd of party-goers that was gathered around the poolside table parted to reveal a clearer view of a small man in a sharp suit. A large cigar burned in his right hand. He clicked his fingers and the crowd of people dispersed, leaving behind only two men standing a step or two behind him, each with roughly the same dimensions as a walk-in cooler.
“Are you looking for this, by any chance?” he said, and held up Stanhope’s journal.
Riley and Selena shared a glance but said nothing.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” Kuan said, smiling warmly. “I am Lee Kuan, the man you have been antagonizing for the last few days.”
“How did you know we would be here tonight?” Riley asked.
“I did not know you would be tonight, but after a brief consultation with a colleague it became apparent you were actively looking to retrieve the journal. Due to this colleague’s gross incompetence, it was only a matter of time until you got here.”
“That was my journal and you stole it!” Selena said.
“I’m going to kill you in a few moments, my dear,” he said coolly. “So if that doesn’t concern me you can imagine how little I care about the theft of an old book. You see what happened to the last man who antagonized me.”
He gestured toward the pool where a giant inflatable dragon was bobbing about. Selena realized with horror that there was a dead man stuffed inside it.
“You remember poor Kunchai from your exploits in Bangkok, no doubt.”
He began to laugh — a coarse, weak and dry affair that sounded more like someone coughing, but soon his terrified entourage burst into laughter as well. Selena and Riley shared an anxious glance. “He, of course, is the aforementioned colleague. I’m delighted to say I was forced to terminate his employment after his bungling in Bangkok.”
“This is insane,” Selena said.
“You call getting paid ten million dollars for a book insane?”
Kuan looked carefully at his guests and repeated his words. “She calls getting paid ten million dollars for a book insane.”
Everyone laughed, except for Kuan. “My employer has — shall we say… mystic interpretations of our world. He is driven by more than simple material greed. I am not.”
“Who is you employer?”
“You have no need to know this,” Kuan snapped. “You need only know that your role in this is now over. You used your skills to locate the journal and I was hired to retrieve it from you. As you have seen, we had a slight problem with Kunchai’s end of the operation in Bangkok. It was due to his bungling that I increased my security on the island and now you can see this has all been settled to everyone’s satisfaction. With you out the way the last loose strings have been tied.”
Selena glanced at Kunchai once again, still bobbing up and down on the inflatable dragon with a cocktail glass in his hand and a party hat on his head. “You’re sick.”
“If I am, I will soon be able to afford the greatest doctors in the world.”
More laughter.
“Now, it is time for you to join Kunchai, and exit our party. You’re… what’s the expression — bringing down the vibe?”
“You son of a bitch!” Riley said.
“Don’t worry — it will not be painful or humiliating like poor Kunchai’s death. I have respect for you both. You have already met Vòng here — he is the one who found you stalking outside my villa. He is my most highly trained man, a former soldier in a very covert Vietnamese Special Forces unit you will not have heard of. He will make your deaths fast and painless.”
“How kind,” Selena said.
“This does not mean to say they will not be entertaining for us, so we will now watch as Vòng dispatches you. I presume you are both happy with a burial at sea?”
Before they could reply, Kuan gave Vòng a series of clipped orders in Vietnamese and he waved them over to the infinity pool with the barrel of the gun. The Big Boss then rose from his chair and walked beside the Vietnamese commando.