“Here? With us?” said Jack. “What the hell? I thought we were only going to get a glimpse of it, not smuggle it ourselves.”

One look at Laura’s pale face revealed her dismay at the situation.

American Eagle gave a command in Thai and they were then on their way back across the river. As they neared the stationary raft with the three soldiers, Jack could see that the soldiers were selecting passing boats at random to come in for inspection.

“Don’t worry,” said American Eagle. “Never stop us.”

As they passed, one soldier yelled to them and waved them to come over. Jack saw the immediate terror in the eyes of the crew and heard their panicked whispers.

American Eagle looked back at Jack and said, “Wrong soldier working today.” He put his fingers to his lips and said, “Top secret. Say nothing. Top secret!”

No, shit!

Jack watched as one of the crew members purposely ground the gears on the boat while the other held his hands open in dismay for the soldiers, telling him their boat had trouble with the reverse and they would stop next time.

N-F-L, thought Jack. He was right. The soldiers started yelling, and for a moment Jack wondered if the crew would try to race away. He turned to Laura and said, “If they make a run for it, we’re going in the water. It’ll be safer than being sprayed with machine-gun fire.”

Oh, man …

American Eagle quickly calmed the other two crew members enough to convince them to make a wide arc and return to the raft. As they pulled up to the raft, Jack saw American Eagle pop a handful of breath mints into his mouth and give a big smile as he walked to the brow of the boat to welcome the soldier aboard, before shaking hands with him.

They spoke in whispers for several seconds and Jack saw American Eagle eventually nod his head and gesture to the plastic bag containing the contraband cigarettes, whiskey, and Viagra. The soldier nodded and American Eagle discreetly handed him a wad of money and they were allowed to continue.

Once they arrived back at the warehouse, Jack and Laura rushed off the boat and met with Lee, who was waiting in the van.

“So,” said Lee, glancing at his watch. “Right on time. I told you there was nothing to worry about. These boats run tourists back and forth all day to get their passports stamped to allow them to extend their stay in Thailand. Dozens of boats a day and this is only one spot. Upriver there is even less interference from the military, but it is more difficult for me to take you there. Also, too many mosquitoes.”

“I hadn’t expected that Laura and I would be bringing it back with us,” said Jack, vehemently. “You risked us getting caught and receiving the fucking death penalty!”

Lee looked genuinely startled. “There is no risk, that is the point,” he replied. “If the soldiers had found something, it would have either been returned to us later, or at worst, one of the crew members would have been charged with it. He would have been executed, not you. Relax, everything is under control.”

“You should have warned us,” said Jack. “I don’t like taking risks I don’t need to take.”

“I thought you wanted to stay with the product until it was put on board?”

“I don’t need to see every step. I’ll be happy to see it placed on a ship, and where it is hidden, but I do not need to babysit it every step of the way.”

“Good, that makes it easier for us,” said Lee. “So everything is okay. You have seen that you can trust me.”

“N-F-L,” said Jack and Laura in unison.

“You want to watch football?” asked Lee, confused.

It was seven o’clock that night when they turned off the main highway and onto a rutted road leading to Bill Resort.

“You have not asked for a sample,” said Lee. “Do you trust us enough to believe the drug is pure?”

“No, I would like to obtain a sample from the shipment as it is loaded on the boat,” replied Jack.

“And what would you do with this sample? We will want our down payment before you leave Asia.”

“I’ll mail it back to Canada,” replied Jack. “I’ve got a friend who can analyze it for me.”

“That will take time,” replied Lee. “We would require a financial down payment as soon as you see the shipment. Perhaps I could convince you in some other way that our product is ultra pure.”

“How?” asked Jack.

“My boss has come up with a somewhat amusing illustration,” replied Lee. “We have done this many times before with others who wanted proof of the quality of the merchandise. Let me demonstrate,” he said, and took a pen and paper from the glovebox and wrote several names on the paper and handed it to Jack.

“What’s this?” said Jack. “Looks like a list of hotels?”

“Hotels and districts in Bangkok,” said Lee. “Well-known locations where heroin addicts congregate. Point to one of the districts or hotels. Any one, it doesn’t matter.”

“What for?” asked Jack.

“You will see. It is like a game. Quite amusing.”

Jack looked at the list and randomly pointed to a district called Soi Ngam Duphli. “Now what?” he asked.

Lee smiled and said, “Tomorrow my friend, I will show you something interesting, but now I need to use the Internet and call it a night. It has been a long day.”

Late the following afternoon, Lee met up with Jack as he lay on a lounge chair by the pool. He waved at Laura, who was swimming, and then tossed Jack an English edition of the Bangkok Post and told him to turn to a small article buried deep within the paper:

Eleven people died last night in the Soi Ngam Duphli district of Bangkok. The victims were all believed to be heroin addicts who evidently did not realize they had been sold a very pure form of the drug. Countless other victims were rushed to hospital and treated for overdoses. The police are continuing to investigate as the probability of more deaths is likely to occur over the next few days, before all the addicts know to take extra caution …

“So, Jack,” chuckled Lee. “Do you have any more doubts about our product? Or would you like to see this rather amusing display repeated in some other district?”

Jack felt numb as he slowly shook his head. The real Happy Jack wouldn’t have minded.

“Is everything okay?” asked Lee.

Jack looked up and smiled. “You bet. Your boss certainly has a way of illustrating things. I’m convinced.” Convinced I’m going to kill him.

“I’m going to get a drink,” said Lee. “Would you like one?”

“No,” replied Jack, watching as Lee whistled a tune to himself on his way to the bar.

“What’s up?” asked Laura, climbing out of the pool.

“I just killed eleven people,” said Jack, lamely pointing at the newspaper.

Moments later Lee returned with a pina colada in his hand, sat down beside Jack, and sucked on a fresh piece of pineapple from the rim of the glass. “These are really good. You should have one.”

“No, thanks.”

“Where did Laura go?”

“To her room. She’s feeling ill.”

“See? You should move back to the Pavilion where I am.”

“The cook there was trained by Bill Resort.”

“It is still nicer.”

Jack leaned back and closed his eyes. He could hear the wind rustle the newspaper. Ophelia appeared in his mind. Leaning against a doorway. A woman’s words came back to haunt him. “Don’t stare, honey. That’s just nobody.” Was Melvin another nobody, too? Like eleven other nobodies in Bangkok last night? Eleven people who died because I selected their fate.

34

That night, Jack met with Lee over dinner at The Patio Restaurant in the Pavilion resort, which overlooked a fountain and the ocean beyond.