See You in Saigon (12 page)

“Where are you
taking us?”
Bà
demanded. “I have never seen such a coward in my life.”

Scorpion gazed at
her then turned to Viet. “If your mother says one more word or doesn’t do as I
say, I will take the little one from you and you will never see him again.
Please go sit in the living room and make her understand.”

* * * *

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon),
Vietnam, early afternoon

“You are not
hurt?” asked General Quang with concern as he fought to control his anger and
despair. “I can send a car for you.”

“There is no need.
I am physically fine,” replied Lieutenant Nguyen, “But I am ashamed for having
failed you and our Canadian allies. I was to protect their wives and now they
have been kidnapped and are in danger.”

“We cannot change
what is done,” said Quang. “Return here immediately and we will start working
on rectifying this situation. I will call Jonathan to inform him of what has
happened.”

“I am on my way,”
said Nguyen. “Once again, General, I apologize for not living up to my
responsibilities. I will accept any discipline you feel I deserve.”

“Just get back
here, Lieutenant,” Quang ordered. “We have work to do and no time to waste.”

He cut the
connection and sighed then speed dialled a recently added number on his private
mobile phone.

“Jonathan,” he
said when the call was answered. “I need to meet with you and your team to
discuss an urgent matter. Where are you? Very well. I will be at your hotel in
fifteen minutes.”

“Good afternoon,
Ty,” said Jonathan as he ushered Quang into the living room of his suite where
Chris, Dave and Leslie waited expectantly. “We’re looking forward to hearing
what you have for us.”

Quang nodded to
the others in greeting then said, “I’m afraid it is bad news. Your wives have
been kidnapped.”

“What?” Dave
exclaimed as he bolted from his seat in rage. “Wasn’t your man supposed to be
there to protect them?”

“Easy, Dave,”
Chris cautioned, rising to his feet next to his colleague. “Let’s keep our
heads together here.”

“Yeah, you’re
right,” said Dave before looking at Quang. “I’m sorry about that, Ty.”

“I understand
completely,” said Quang as Chris and Dave returned to their seats, “And, to
answer your question, yes, Lieutenant Nguyen was with them. Late this morning,
they left Tay Ninh and stopped at a lookout point by Dao Tieng Lake which
offers a lovely view. While they were there, six men arrived in two vehicles and
took Nguyen and your wives by surprise. Nguyen was locked in the trunk of his
automobile and shortly after, he heard the two other vehicles leave. He
eventually managed to get out by kicking his way into the back seat and his
mobile was where he had left it so he immediately called me.”

“Was he injured?”
asked Jonathan.

“He was not,”
Quang replied, “But he is devastated by this. Nguyen is a proud man who does
not accept failure well.”

“I should have
gone with them,” Leslie muttered. “We wouldn’t be having this discussion if I
had.”

“You don’t know
that, Les,” said Chris. “You might have been nabbed as well, or hurt, instead
of being here to help us find them.”

“Chris is right,”
said Quang. “These men were armed and organized.”

“How did they know
where our wives were to begin with?” asked Dave.

Quang shrugged.
“As you already know, any number of people on my force could be on Scorpion’s
payroll. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn I’m being monitored everywhere I go.
Perhaps this is also true with the members of my security team such as Nguyen.
I unfortunately don’t believe following him and your wives today would have
been a difficult task. Even knowing which car had been assigned for his use
would have been easy information to obtain.”

“I guess we should
have thought of that before letting them go,” said Dave, shaking his head.

“Do you actually
believe any of our wives would have agreed to stay holed up in here?” Jonathan
countered. “I certainly don’t. We knew there was some risk which is why the
lieutenant went with them. What we need to focus on now is finding them and
taking care of this bastard, Scorpion, once and for all.”

“I can’t argue
with that,” Chris agreed as he turned to Quang. “What information do we have to
go on so far?”

“We don’t have
much,” Quang admitted. “The two vehicles used by the kidnappers were a black
Kia K3 and a white Izuzu box truck, both which are rather common. Nguyen was
unable to a license number from either. A lookout alert has been sent out but,
I repeat, these are not unique vehicles.”

“What about the
kidnappers?” asked Jonathan.

“All six were
Vietnamese, in their mid-twenties to early thirties,” Quang replied. “Not
surprisingly, none looked familiar to Nguyen. He will be looking at booking
photos as soon as he returns to see if he recognizes anyone. It’s possible some
of these men were previously arrested.”

“But, besides
that, we have nothing to work with,” Dave stated, his frustration obvious.

“Not yet but
remember I only spoke to Nguyen briefly over the phone,” Quang replied. “We may
possibly get some useful information once we question him at length. It would
also be helpful if you could supply me with photos of each of your wives.”

“That shouldn’t be
a problem,” said Jonathan, glancing at the others who nodded in agreement. “We
should also try to track the girls’ phones. We might get lucky if –”

The chirping of a
mobile, Quang’s as it turned out, interrupted the discussion. The general
pulled the phone from his breast pocket and frowned as he glanced at the
screen.

“
A-lô
,” he
answered then listened as the blood drained from his face. Without speaking
another word, he ended the call after a moment before dropping the phone in his
lap.

“What’s wrong,
Ty?” asked Jonathan.

Quang looked up
with fear in his eyes. “That was Scorpion. He was calling to inform me he has
taken my wife, daughter and grandsons.”

“Aw, crap,”
Jonathan replied. “Are you sure he wasn’t lying?”

Quang nodded. “He
called me from my wife’s mobile.”

“What did he say?”
asked Chris.

Quang took a deep
breath then said, “He told me he had taken them and would call back later to
discuss arrangements for their safe return. Then he thanked me for making their
abduction so easy for him though he was a bit disappointed Vietnam’s top cop
hasn’t been more of a challenge. Unfortunately, I’m afraid he’s right.”

“Excuse me, Ty,”
Leslie stepped in, “But, with all due respect, that’s bullshit.”

“I beg your
pardon?” Quang replied, taken aback.

“Sorry, but I call
things what they are,” Leslie continued. “Whatever has happened wasn’t your
fault or because of anything you did or didn’t do. Yes, you unfortunately have
some traitors in your midst you were unaware of who are helping this animal.
However, he’s kidnapped your family as well as three dear friends of mine and I
certainly won’t make it easy for him to get away with it and you damned well
won’t either. We’ve got a job to do and that’s finding the bastard and making
him regret he screwed with us so, let’s do our job, General.”

Quang stared at
her in silence for a moment then smiled faintly as he stood and saluted. “I am
happy we are on the same team. Yes, we will do our job starting immediately.”
Turning to Jonathan, he added, “I will return to my office to report the
kidnappings and launch a country-wide search for Scorpion while I wait for
Lieutenant Nguyen’s return. Perhaps you or one of your team wishes to join me
when I question him?”

“I’ll go with
you,” Jonathan replied before addressing the others. “Email me photos of Sandy
and Cathy for Ty. I’ll contact Jerry Washington about tracking the girls’
phones. Anything else you can think of?”

“It’s a long
shot,” said Chris, “But maybe the Pham brothers know something which might
help. I’d like to have a chat with them if we can find them.”

“There is a place
called
Cock-Tails
,” said Quang. “It belonged to Cao and is managed by
the Phams. It is one of the places mentioned in the information I gave you.
There is a good chance you will find them there.”

Chris glanced at
Jonathan with a brief smile before replying, “We weren’t aware they ran the
place but Jon and I happened to bump into them at
Cock-Tails
yesterday.”

“You did?” Quang
replied in surprise. “I’m certain they were not happy to see you. Did they give
you any trouble?”

“Nothing we
couldn’t handle with a reasonable discussion,” said Chris. “In the end, we
didn’t even have to pay for our beers.”

Quang nodded in
approval. “They may already be regretting their association with Scorpion. If
so, they may indeed agree to supply you with helpful information.”

“We’ll do our best
to convince them,” Chris replied as he, Dave and Leslie rose to their feet.
“We’ll keep you posted.”

“Let’s stack the
odds in our favour,” said Jonathan. “I’ll ask Washington to swing over there
with his guys. Wait until they show up before going in, okay?”

“The more the
merrier,” Chris replied, “And it would be wrong to start the party without
them.”

* * * *

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon),
Vietnam, mid-afternoon

Gazing across the
street, Leslie said, “There are Jerry and Brian,” as they ambled along the
sidewalk, a block away from
Cock-Tails
.

As if on cue, they
saw Washington slipping his mobile out and seconds later, Chris’ phone
vibrated.

“Good afternoon,”
he answered.

“Huh,” said
Washington. “Glad you’re keeping your morale up. Where are you at?”

“Across the street
from you at the corner,” Chris replied. “There’s only the two of you?”

“No, my two other
buddies are unknown by these morons so far,” Washington explained. “They’re
checking out the place right now, trying to get a handle on what we may be
dealing with. We’ll stay back until they call me then decide how to run this.”

“Works for me,”
Chris agreed. “Staying a block away. Talk soon.”

They continued
their stroll, losing sight of the two Americans but knowing they would all be
at a distance which would allow them to reach the club at about the same time.
A few minutes later, Washington called again, this time with more definite
information.

“No vehicles in
the alley and the door was open so Steve peeked in. He only saw one guy inside
washing glasses. He hooked back up with Chuck and they’re inside now. Only two
other customers in there right now, two guys in their fifties in suits. One guy
manning the bar, reading and looking bored. Both my guys think he’s a Pham
based on photos but they aren’t sure which one.”

“Longer hair or
short?” Chris asked.

Washington
chuckled. “I like how you think, Chris. I asked the same question. Hair is
short and styled.”

“Tuan,” said
Chris, “The smarter of the two idiots.”

 “That’s a fact,”
Washington agreed. “Chuck went to use the bathroom and saw a small office back
there, door was open, nobody inside.”

“So, we’re looking
good except for those customers,” said Chris. “And an absent brother.”

“We should be able
to coax the customers out easily enough,” Washington replied. “If not, we’ll lock
them in a room somewhere. As for the other brother, we already agreed he’s the
dumber one. Chuck and Steve can cover the front and back doors in case he, or
anyone else, shows up while we’re there.”

“Okay, we’re on
our way,” said Chris. “We’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”

“I’ll meet you at
the front door,” said Washington. “Brian will go in by the back to get the door
shut and invite the kitchen help to join us. I’ll call my guys to let them know
we’re coming in.”

“We’ll be here.
I’ll see if I can find something out while we wait,” said Steve Chen before
ending the call.

He slipped his
mobile into his shirt pocket as he left the table and headed to the bar.

“Hello again,” he
said to Tuan who had returned to his book after serving them. “I hadn’t recognized
you at first but we met you here last week. You got you haircut since then,
right?”

“No,” Tuan
replied, barely glancing up at him. “You must have met my brother.”

“Oh, that was your
brother,” said Chen with a smile. “Great guy. Is he here?”

“No, I am here
today,” replied Tuan, obviously anxious for the disturbance to end.

“Will your brother
be coming in soon?” asked Chen.

“There are not
enough customers during the day,” Tuan explained, his patience wearing thin. “I
am here this afternoon. My brother, and other staff, will only arrive at four
o’clock to be ready for happy hour.”