Plausible Denial (15 page)

“That
is right. They did.” Ung Chea brightened. “The hotel clerk told me they had
paid for parking in the hotel garage, so they definitely have a car.”

“Okay,
we will check all the rental car agencies in the vicinity of Chiang Mai and
Chiang Rai in the morning. We will find out what they are driving, and we will nail
them that way. Divert all of our surveillance teams to scour both cities and
every place in between to find that vehicle. Start at the airport. We will find
them, Ung Chea, and then you can have them.”

Chapter Forty-One

S
antos
and MacMurphy spotted a small business class hotel named the Orchid Lodge on
the northern outskirts of Chiang Mai and pulled into the parking lot behind it.

It
was almost four in the morning, and they were exhausted from lack of sleep and
the adrenaline flow they had experienced earlier that evening. They grabbed a
couple of well deserved hours of sleep in the car and then went into the hotel
to freshen up and eat breakfast.

“Maybe
we should reef our sails a bit,” said Santos. They were drinking coffee after
having ordered huge American breakfasts of ham and eggs, home fries, fruit and
juice.

“What’s
that, one of your New England expressions?” MacMurphy was already feeling
better.

“Yes,
and it’s a good one too. That’s what you do when the seas get too rough. You
slow down and ride out the storm. Maybe we should go to the mattresses and wait
until things quiet down a bit.”

“Go
to the mattresses? That’s what the Mafia does when they want to hide out,
right? You’re just a font of esoteric, useless knowledge.”

Santos
toasted him with his coffee cup and a large grin. “Right. That’s what we should
do. Slow down, regroup and strike when we’re ready.”

“We’re
ready now. We just need to get a clean car, transfer our gear and head for the
jungle below Ban Mae Chan.”

“Maybe
Charly or the General can get us a car. We also need a place to stay. We can’t
use these aliases in any more hotels. Humphrey and Callahan are blown.”

“Yeah,
you’re right. And that’s the only set of alias docs we have with us, so I guess
that means no more hotel rooms or rental cars.”

Culler
was thoughtful. “Hmmm, we could steal a car. That won’t be a big problem. I can
hotwire anything on wheels. But we’ll need to use the General or Charly to find
us a place to stay, a safehouse or something.”

“I’d
rather not use the General or Charly any more than we absolutely have to.”
MacMurphy paused and then said, “See that couple sitting over there?” He nodded
at a young American couple sitting a couple of tables away from them. They were
eating breakfast and planning their day’s sightseeing activities with maps and
brochures spread out on the table.

“Yeah,
what about them?”

“I’ve
been watching them. They’re American tourists. Maybe honeymooners. They
probably don’t have a lot of money; otherwise they would be staying in one of
the four-star hotels, not a cheap business one like this. And I’ll bet they
also have a rental car, because it looks like they are on their own.”

“So,
what does that mean? You want to steal their rental car? We could probably do
that.”

“No,
they would scream and report it. The cops would be looking for the car and we’d
be right back where we are now. I think maybe we could buy their car.”

Culler
shook his head. “You think you can buy their rental car from them? Why would
they want to do that?”

“Persuasion
and charm, Mr. Santos, something you techies have very little of. And, of
course, money.”

MacMurphy
got up and went over to their table. “You guys are Americans, right? I
overheard you talking. I’m also American. Where are you from? Are you touring
this little corner of paradise?” He was friendly and non-threatening and
offered them a big, beaming smile that nobody could refuse.

She
was cute, in a plain sort of way, with light brown hair in a bob. She wore
hiking boots, knee-length khaki shorts, and a sleeveless yellow shirt. He was
tall and skinny with longish unkempt brown hair. He was dressed in jeans, boots
and a light blue, Disney World tee-shirt with Mickey Mouse on the front. They
appeared to be in their early twenties.

Culler
watched admiringly as his friend worked his case officer magic on the couple.
Within minutes they were laughing and shaking hands like old friends. Mac
pulled a chair up to their table, and they chatted and laughed as they looked
at the maps.

Ten
minutes later Mac paid their bill, and they all got up together and started
heading for the front entrance. Mac excused himself for a moment to return to
his table where Culler Santos was sitting.

He
winked at Culler. “Okay, it’s all arranged. Pay the bill and join us outside.
We’re going to switch cars.”

Santos’s
jaw dropped and he started to say something but Mac was gone, following the
young couple out the door.
Case officers
, he thought, shaking his head.
They
are indeed a unique bunch, all charm and persuason
.

Santos
suspected the case officer had probably just seduced the young American couple
into lending him their car.

He
found them outside in the parking lot at the side of the building. They were
standing beside a small, white Toyota RAV4 SUV with an Avis sticker on the left
rear bumper.

Mac
introduced him to the couple. “Ralph, meet Linda and Sam Peoples. Linda and
Sam, meet my associate Ralph Callahan.” They all shook hands and did their
greetings while Mac announced that they had agreed to swap cars for a few days.

He
explained: “Linda and Sam really don’t need a 4WD vehicle and we do, and rather
than us having to go back to the Avis counter at the airport and taking the
chance that they don’t have one available, they kindly agreed to swap the 4WD
for our Toyota Corolla. Wasn’t that nice of them, Ralph? It’ll save us a ton of
time.”

“Yeah,
that’s great,” replied Santos, puzzled.

“Would
you bring our car around so we can swap out the suitcases?”

“You
bet. And…thanks guys, really,” he said to the couple.

Fishing
the keys out of his pocket, Culler jogged around to the back of the building.
When he returned he parked their Corolla next to the RAV4.

The
Peoples had very little in the way of personal effects in their car. Most of
their things were up in their hotel room. But their eyes widened at the sight
of Culler Santos and Mac moving all of their gear, including two long, heavy
duffle bags into the back of the RAV.

Mac
dug into one of the bags, located an envelope full of one hundred dollar bills
and counted out five thousand dollars. He handed the stack of bills to Sam
Peoples who quickly dropped the wad into Linda’s large handbag.

“Now
you guys enjoy the rest of your vacation,” Mac said, “and don’t worry about
returning your car. We’ll take care of that. And remember, when you get ready
to depart just leave the Corolla in the parking lot of the hotel, and take the
shuttle bus to the airport. Leave the keys with the bellman and tell him to
call Avis to come pick up the car. We’ll do the same with the RAV4 when we’re
done with it.”

Linda
and Sam were delighted. “Thanks Mr. Humphrey,” said Sam. “This is really going
to make our vacation. The Lord was smiling on us today.”

“He
certainly was,” said Linda with a beaming smile. “God bless you. God bless you
both.” 

Chapter Forty-Two

C
uller
drove and they waved back at the young couple as they pulled out of the Orchid
Lodge parking lot and turned south toward the heart of Chiang Mai.

Culler
was still shaking his head in amazement over what Mac had just accomplished.
“How’d you know what buttons to push with that couple?”

“Well,
it’s really pretty simple.” Mac adjusted the seat back and got comfortable.
“First I put’em at ease, showed’em I wasn’t a threat. Then I elicited
information about them, like the fact they were almost broke, and had to pay
extra for a 4WD vehicle they didn’t want in the first place, and how they got
hassled at the Avis rental counter. You know, stuff like that. Then I just made
up a story that fit with their story.”

 “What
story was that?”

“Well,
I told them you were my father and you were sick and…”

“Bullshit!
What did you really tell them?”

Mac
laughed. “I said we had a mission to accomplish up north on the border. I told them
I didn’t know if we were going to make it in time because we were already late,
and the roads up there are so bad that our two wheel drive car that the same
rental car agency gave us may not make it. I commiserated with them and said we
had ordered a 4WD vehicle, but they didn’t have any when we picked up the
vehicle.”

“And
then you asked them if they would be willing to switch vehicles with you for
five thousand dollars?”

“A
little smoother than that, but you’re right, that’s about it. The exchange fulfilled
all their needs: money, they got rid of the bumpy vehicle and there was no
downside to the deal.”

“They
weren’t the least bit suspicious?” asked Culler incredulously.

“Well,
maybe a little bit at first, but then I explained that we were with Interpol
and that’s why we could be so generous with the money. And when I reiterated
about there being no downside, I mean they would have our car and the money and
all, well, they just bought it.”

“And
we didn’t have to steal one.”

“Right,
if we had to steal one we’d just have the cops on our tail along with Khun Ut’s
crew. Double trouble.” 

Culler
thought for a moment. “But what about those kids? Khun Ut is looking for us and
it won’t take him long to figure out what car we were driving. Aren’t we
placing them in serious danger now? What happens when he finds the car with
them in it?”

“Well,
hopefully Khun Ut won’t find them. And if he does, well, he’ll find out quickly
enough that it’s not us. I mean, maybe he’ll question them and find out what
happened, learn about the switch and all.”

Both
men were thoughtful, considering the possible consequences for the innocent
young couple. 

Santos
broke the silence. “Well, you certainly bought us some time, but those kids are
going to be in deep kimchee if the Cambodian gets a hold of them and decides
to…well, I don’t want to think about it.”

“Yeah,”
said Mac, “I really hope that doesn’t happen.”

Mac
sat up abruptly and looked around him. They were entering the city traffic of
Chiang Mai. “Where are we going?”

“Chiang
Mai. Isn’t that where we want to go?”

“Hell
no! Not now. We’ve got a new car. That’s all we wanted. We’ve got nothing
further to do in Chiang Mai. Our job is in Ban Mae Chan. Turn around and let’s
do what we came here to do.”

Chapter Forty-Three

L
ater
that evening, Khun Ut was enjoying dinner, surrounded by friends at the
expensive Chao Phraya restaurant, when his cell phone rang.

He
dug the phone out of his pocket and glanced at the caller ID. With an annoyed
expression, he announced to his guests, four lovely young women dressed in
traditional long Thai silk sarongs and three men in business suits, that he had
to take the call.

He
walked away from the noisy heart of the restaurant into the foyer and spoke
into the phone. “What is the problem?” He knew there had to be a problem or the
Cambodian would never interrupt his dinner.

“Actually,
there is no problem, Boss. You always think there has to be a problem for me to
call you. This time it is good news. I thought you would want to hear it right away.”

“Okay,
what news is good enough to tear me away from Toi, Daeng and their beautiful
friends?”

“Our
guys found the car. They got it staked out right now. It is parked behind the
Orchid Lodge, a small business hotel on the north side of Chiang Mai.”

“Are
you sure it is them?”

“One
hundred percent. We got the make and registration number from the Avis agent at
the airport. Plates match and it has an Avis sticker on the rear bumper. No
doubt about it, Boss.”

Khun
Ut was excited. He paced back and forth in the foyer, careful not to be
overheard by other guests entering and leaving by the front door. “Did you
check to see if they are registered at the hotel?”

    
Yes, but their names did not show up. They probably registered under different
names. One of the hotel staff thought he saw two guys that matched their
description having breakfast there this morning.”

“Okay,
okay, that is good enough. Good work, Ung Chea. Tell your guys not to spook
them.”

His
mind was suddenly spinning with ideas. Should they wait in ambush and get them
when they get back into their car? Should they try to find them in the hotel
and get them in their rooms? No, he had a better idea.

“Keep
an eye on the vehicle and make sure they don’t leave. If they try to leave,
take them out. Let me see, it is almost ten now so they probably will not be
going anywhere tonight, right?”

“That
is what I think, Boss. They are probably in for the night. They are definitely
not in any of the public areas of the hotel, not in the bar or restaurant or
anyplace like that. We checked all those places.”

“Okay,
listen, call Sunthon right away. Tell him to get over there right away and wire
the car. We will blow the bastards to hell when they start the car in the
morning. Make sure you are there to witness it, and make sure there are no
survivors. Got it?”