Mortal Crimes: 7 Novels of Suspense (231 page)

If Logan hadn’t miscounted, the only ones left inside would be Bell, his Myanmar client, Elyse, and Sein. There was also the driver, of course, if he had access to the back area. But he was currently preoccupied.

On hands and knees, Logan crawled past the open back door so as not to be seen. Once he was clear, he got up, and peeked around the other side. There were five of the refugees there now, one talking to the driver, while the other four talked with the three men who’d gotten out to see what was going on.

When Logan was sure the only people who were able to see him were the refugees, he took a step out, and gave them a quick wave. The one who saw him first said something to his friends.

Suddenly there were guns in their hands pointed at Bell’s men. Logan held a finger to his mouth, reminding them they all had to stay quiet, then turned toward the back doors.

Before he entered, he pulled out the small, palm-sized digital video camera. This would be the cherry on top of the other footage Daeng’s friends had taken. He turned the camera on, and stuck it in the front pocket of his pants so that only the portion with the lens and the microphone were exposed.

He then took two deep breaths, gripped his gun, and jumped into the back of the van.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

“EVERYONE STAY WHERE you are,” Logan said, sweeping the interior with the barrel of his gun.

Immediately, he saw he’d made a miscalculation. Instead of the four people he expected to find, there were five.

Sitting on the bench that ran along the right were Bell, Elyse and the guy from Myanmar. On the bench to the left were Sein, and the man who’d been sent to kill Tooney.

Tooney’s attacker stared at Logan, shocked.

“Nice to know you remember me,” Logan said.

“Remember you?” Bell asked. He looked at his man. “Who the hell is he?”

But the guy seemed too stunned to speak, so Logan explained for him. “We met last week in a refrigerator in Cambria.”

“Cambria? Wait. You’ve got to be kidding me, right?” He looked at his man sitting next to Sein. “This is the guy who screwed you up? What the hell’s he doing here?” He turned back to Logan. “Hey, what the hell are you doing here?”

“All of you. Toss your weapons over here,” Logan told them.

“I asked you a question,” Bell said.

“And I gave you an order,” Logan told him.”

Bell smiled and shook his head. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with, do you? If I were you, I’d back right out that door, and get the hell out of here.”

“Is that right? Well, I’ve recently been told I’m stubborn, so that’s probably not going to happen.”

“If you’re still here when my men come back, I’m not going to be able to let you go. But I’ll tell you what, if you leave now, I’m willing to forget about it.”

“You’d do that? You’re a real generous man, Mr. Andrews.” Logan paused, then said, “Oh, sorry. I should probably call you by your real name. Mr. Bell.”

Bell’s smile faltered.

“Yeah, I
do
know who I’m dealing with,” Logan told him. “I also know your friend here is with the Myanmar secret police. And, if I’m not mistaken, you were planning on transferring these two ladies to him. Now, I’m not a lawyer, nor do I work for one like you do…what’s that firm’s name? Bracher Schwartz? Anyway, this looks a lot like human trafficking to me.”

“What’s your name?”

“Logan Harper.”

“You are
so
out of your depth, Mr. Harper. This is not going to end well for you.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Absolutely.”

“How, exactly, do you think you’re going to pull that off?”

“My reach is a hell of a lot longer than yours.”

“Oh, that’s right. You’re the guy who makes things happen, aren’t you? Like this business deal? Sein, here, for Burmese offshore oil rights? I’m pretty sure LRB Oil’s shareholders aren’t going to be too happy when news of this transaction comes out.” That had been the connection Logan found during his web search on Daeng’s phone, a direct link between LRB Oil and Lyon Exploratory Research.

Bell glanced at his man. “Perry, shoot him. Now.”

Perry fumbled with his coat, then started pulling a gun out from under it.

“Don’t do it, Perry,” Logan told him.

But he didn’t listen. As soon as Logan saw the handle of the man’s pistol, he pulled his own trigger.

Logan had killed two men before that moment, including the man who shot Carl. Perry was his third.

In the distance, he could hear sirens. They weren’t the same rhythms and tones he was used to from the States, but there was no mistaking the police were on the way.

“Either of you two armed?” he asked Bell and his client.

Bell shook his head, while the Myanmar man reluctantly pulled a gun out of his pocket, and tossed it on the floor.

“Good. So, shall we just sit and wait?” Logan asked.

“Do something,” the man from the secret police said to Bell.

“You can have the women,” Bell told Logan. “Just let us go.”

“No!” the other man blurted out. “That woman is traitor to her country.” He shot up from the bench, and stepped towards Sein. “She commit crime against my government. She tell lies everywhere she go. She come with me.”

As he reached out to grab her arm, Logan said, “You don’t want to touch her!”

But he did it anyway, or at least he tried. As his fingers brushed against her arm, Logan pulled his trigger again. The only difference this time was that he wanted this guy to live. The bullet hit the man just below his knee, and he collapsed screaming onto the floor of the truck.

Bell, who had been keeping Elyse close to him, suddenly let her go. “She’s all yours. Please, I’m not going to do anything.”

Sein immediately rushed over to her daughter, and threw her arms around her.

“Take her outside,” Logan said. “And shut the door.”

Sein looked at him for a moment, then nodded, and helped Elyse to her feet. As they passed, she whispered, “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”

“Don’t even worry about it. Just get her out.”

As soon as the door was closed, Bell said, “What are you? Some kind of mercenary?”

“No. Auto mechanic.”

Logan pulled the camera out of his pocket. He stopped the recording, then started it again so he’d have a new file, and then pointed it at Bell.

“Let’s you and I have a little talk.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

TO SAY IT was a bit of a diplomatic mess was probably an understatement.

The only way to stem the fallout on the U.S. side was to swiftly move to arrest those suspected of being involved in the “Kidnapping for Oil Scheme,” as it was soon labeled by cable news.

Within 24 hours, Charles Bracher, Samuel Schwartz, David Lyons—the CEO of Lyon Exploratory Research and the “L” of LRB Oil—and several other employees of all three companies were behind bars. The government had also filed extradition papers for Scott Bell, Aaron Hughes, and the remaining members of Bell’s team with the Thai government.

As for the secret police team from Myanmar, Logan was never really sure what happened to them. But he had a feeling that even if they were sent back to Burma, things weren’t going to go very well for them.

He heard later there was a little bit of confusion when five Vietnam vets showed up at the Federal Building in West Los Angeles with three people they claimed were connected to the matter. But it was soon cleared up, and Elyse’s former roommate Angie, along with a Mr. Williams and a Mr. Dean, were turned over to the FBI.

Logan was a big part of the mess. He had actually killed someone,
and
shot a member of the Myanmar secret police. For those reasons, it had been decided early on that his name wasn’t to be mentioned in connection at all with the case. Like what his father and the rest of the WAMO gang had decided about the attack on Tooney, Logan was apparently not involved in this incident either. That was okay with him. He wasn’t interested in the publicity.

Still, the authorities didn’t know what to do with him, so he was detained for nearly a week, talking only to governmental representatives of the U.S. and Thailand.

It was Sein who finally got him out.

They were all in a room somewhere in Bangkok—Sein, two men from the U.S. embassy, three from the Thai government, and Logan. After they’d gone on for a half hour about how it was impossible for Logan to just walk away without paying some kind of price, Sein reached into her bag, and pulled out a laptop. Setting it on the table, she turned it so everyone could see the screen.

“One,” she began. “Mr. Harper is to be release
today
, within the hour, with no charges made against him.” She looked at the representatives from the U.S. “This includes anything that may have happened in California before he left for Thailand.”

Detective Baker was not going to be happy to hear that, Logan thought.

“Two, if anything happens to Mr. Harper, now or in the future, and I mean
anything
, I will make a point of including both of your governments’ involvement in the blame when I talk about what happened here. And then I will show this.”

She tapped the spacebar, and a movie began to play on the screen.

As Logan watched, a smile grew on his face. Someone had done a pretty damn good job of cutting together all the footage that had been shot at Doi Suthep. Logan’s footage was there, too, because he made sure to slip his camera to one of Daeng’s refugee friends before the police had taken him in. But there was more than just what they had shot. Intercut at strategic points was news footage and stills showing prominent leaders from both the U.S. and Thailand in the company of Mr. Bracher and Mr. Schwartz and Mr. Lyon.

Logan was released the moment the meeting was over, and was even given a free flight home, courtesy of the Thai government.

He did get to see Daeng one more time, though. They had lunch in Bangkok the afternoon before his flight left. Daeng seemed energized and more focused than ever.

“Word of our…
work
is spreading in Burma. More and more people know what happened to Sein Myat and her family, and that she survived to continue working for their freedom.”

“If it helps, I’m glad to hear it,” Logan said.

“I told you, it’s a long fight for us. Years, decades, whatever it takes. At some point my mother’s people will be free again. And you. They know about you, too, and the part you played.”

“Yours is the one they need to know about. Without you, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere. And you’re still here helping them.”

“Of course they know my name. I’m not stupid.”

They both laughed.

“If you’re ever looking for a change of scenery, you’ll always be welcome to come here and work with me,” Daeng said.

“Thanks,” Logan told him. “And if you’re ever back in L.A., give me a call, and I’ll drive down.”

Daeng smiled. “I’ve been craving a little bit of that mild weather, so I’m sure I’ll make the trip soon enough.”

“Please tell Christina thank you for introducing us.”