Chapter 6
“...could you forgive, my deadly desire?”
Sir Clive at The Excelsior 10:30 P.M.
“Wait for me at the bar.” Bright had been told. It was a Strip club, owned and run by Asians, they specialised in Asian girls.
Sir Clive took a seat at a table near the front, shortly after seating himself he was approached by a waitress who led him away to a table on the far side of the club. Through the dim light and smoke Bright could barely see him.
Sir Clive had been seated at a large oblong table with the Bangkok Chappie facing him. Behind him at the next table sat two burly men who looked like bouncers, behind the Bangkok Chappie sat two Asian girls, he could not quite see them properly.
“Greetings Sir Clive, it is good to see you again.” The Bangkok Chappie spoke with a strong accent.
“Likewise I'm sure.” Sir Clive was arrogant, he ‘didn't have time’ for colonial upstarts.
It was obvious that there was to be no more small talk. The Bangkok Chappie grinned showing his gold teeth as he spoke,
“I believe we agreed on the usual terms? Plus insurance.”
“What!? What the bloody hell is insurance!” Sir Clive was indignant, the Bangkok Chappie raised his hands in placation,
“Let me explain...” He said coldly, Sir Clive held his tongue, “...obtaining girls for the enjoyment of the western world is easy, fathers are always ready to offload their expensive daughters...” He smiled and lit up a black cigarette, “…however, selling them on again is not so easy. In fact, your prudish, hypocritical governments are making it increasingly difficult for me to trade effectively.”
“That's your problem!” Sir Clive interrupted, and annoyance showed plain on The Bangkok Chappie's face.
“Do not interrupt me! Please.” He stared ferociously at Sir Clive who became uncomfortably aware of the two ‘heavies’ sat behind him. He looked nervously towards the bar from where Bright should have been watching, but the shifty chauffeur had his eyes trained firmly on the strippers.
“As I was saying.” Sir Clive turned back to face the Bangkok Chappie.
“Yes, I'm sorry, please carry on my good man.” A smile returned to the Asian's face.
“You will give me two cheques for ￡10,000 each, these are not for me, they are for the families of the girls, for this money they will be silent. For this money they will even forget that they had these daughters. I will see to it. This is your insurance.” Sir Clive had to interrupt,
“Cheques can be traced.” With a dismissive gesture the Bangkok Chappie silenced him before he could object any further,
“Yes, of course they can. That is my insurance. My services have been rendered at the usual terms to you, but if I am questioned about these girls at some future time I will not know if they even existed, your cheques will show only that you bought the girls yourself direct from their families.”
There was a brief silence between the two men, but the Bangkok Chappie had no patience for the pompous English buffoon, he rasped out heatedly,
“Do you wish to own these lovely girls or not? I have other customers you know.” He leaned to one side, allowing Sir Clive a better view of the girls, he couldn't help but look. They were young, they were tiny, and they were pretty. He thought about their brains and dreamed of his own immortality. The Bangkok Chappie encouraged him further,
“They will be yours and yours alone, to do with as you wish. Whatever you want will be their delight” Of course the Asian had no idea what Sir Clive’s real intentions were, he presumed they were for his sexual gratification, he stubbed out his cigarette and took a sip of his drink, confident that the transaction would soon be completed.
Sir Clive was sweating, again he looked across at Bright who was still ogling the strippers. The Bangkok Chappie continued talking,
“See the one on the left, her name is Mai, she is a virgin. The girl on the right, her name is Rita, she has flawless skin. As I said, I do have other customers you know.”
Sir Clive reached for his cheque book.
The house in the Countryside
Early the next morning Richard and Tsuba again took up position in the woods to watch over the house. Richard having vowed to himself that he would try to be more useful and less childish.
They immediately notice the Rolls-Royce parked in front of the house. Richard wondered if it was the car that he’d been transported in. It made him think of the twins and he wondered, bizarrely, if they were okay. He speculated that it might be Sir Clive who arrived in the night, he remembered that the twins had spoken of him once or twice.
A short while later they saw a youngish man drive the car around the house onto the blind side, they presumed there was a garage, Richard guessed that the man was Kelvin Bright, the chauffeur, whom Cairo had mentioned had the shotgun and the dogs. Tsuba was pleased with the extra information.
There was very little activity during the rest of the morning, and at some point Richard gazed around the surrounding countryside until he saw that a houseboat had moored on the nearside riverbank. He did a double take and then quick as a flash he grabbed the binoculars from Tsuba and trained them on the boat,
“It can't be! I don’t believe it, I know that boat!” Tsuba had to grab him and pull him back down into hiding,
“Sit back down you crazy fool! What have you seen?”
“That’s Walther's boat. You remember, the guy that got us involved in all this! He's here!”
“How can you be so sure? They make many boats to the same specification.” Tsuba reasoned that it was unlikely to be the same boat, but Richard wasn’t having it,
“Oh it’s his boat all right, believe me, there won’t be another one like that. Anyway, we have to find out.” Richard was right this time and he knew it, Tsuba knew it too,
“Yes, my friend… you are right. We do need to know. If your friend Walther is on that boat, then I think we can safely assume his mission is the same as ours.”
“Great, let's go then!” Richard eagerly packed up their things, then Tsuba led the way in a great loop around the house always making sure they were hidden from sight. It was nearly half an hour later when they arrived at the boat. They hid for a while and watched, then decided that one of them should approach the boat alone.
“I'll do it, you cover me.” Richard announced in a tone that suggested no compromise.
“Yes.” Tsuba agreed without comment and with no further pause Richard broke cover and approached the boat from the rear. All was quiet except for the birds and the ripples, carefully Richard stepped on to the little deck at the rear of the boat causing it to rock gently. Inside Susan and Walther noticed instantly and jumped into action in case it was anyone from the house. Susan quickly loaded the gun while Walther called out to the stranger on deck,
“Who's there!?”
“I'm looking for Walther!” Came Richard's muffled reply, Susan found the voice disconcertingly familiar but could not quite place it.
“What do you want?” Walther demanded. There was a tiny pause before Richard replied,
“I'm a friend of his, I just happened to be passing by when I saw his boat!” Richard knew as soon as he'd said it that he sounded ridiculous, “So what?” he said to himself, then he shouted through the door again,
“His name is Walther. Is he in there?” Susan felt a cold shiver run down her spine, she moved forward and clutched Walther's sleeve, he turned, she was pale and seemed frightened,
“What is it?” He asked. She shook her head and frowned,
“It’s his voice…“ She said quavering, …he sounds just like Richard!” Walther looked doubtful and gently pushed her behind himself, carefully he opened the cabin door making sure to leave the chain on, and peering through the crack he saw a tall, gaunt, unshaven man who looked vaguely like Richard.
“Walther! It's me! What's wrong don't you recognise me?!” Susan had heard enough, pushing Walther aside she tore open the cabin door, for a second she pause
d, taking all of him in. He was taller, “not possible” she thought, he was much thinner “steak and chips” his favourite meal she remembered, and he was unshaven and very dirty, “you need a shower!” she promised.
“Richard!” She had no words appropriate. He looked at her, and his face ran through as many expressions as possible in three seconds. Shock, shame, fear, relief, and finally joy. The sudden rush of emotions overwhelmed him, his legs gave way and he sank to his knees and cried, swaying there on his own on the deck he cried. Susan watched him, powerless to touch him after all she'd been through.
Walther quietly stepped off the boat and walked away for a few paces to give them some privacy. Tsuba watched impassively from the shelter of the bushes.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I very nearly was! I thought you were dead too.”
“You look like shit.”
“You look great!” Susan knelt down in front of Richard, they wrapped arms around each other and held tight.