This group was a ten-man enforcement squad that one of the larger drug production networks used to keep the locals in line, attacking anything and everything they came across to discourage insurgents from cutting into their turf. In a country where poverty was rampant, it was always a temptation for enterprising upstarts to try their hand at opening a channel to Thailand for their opium instead of selling it at a low price to the cartels. Bodies were routinely found in the jungle as these factions battled it out — a necessary part of the trade and one of the risks that kept most out of it.
The wiry Shan tribesman’s eyes darted to where his fallen men had been shot. Nothing like this had ever happened before. He, Kyaw, was the fist of vengeance for fifty miles. That three of his men had been cut down in seconds was intolerable.
The looming clouds and fog made a difficult situation worse, the moon’s glow cut to near nothing by the overcast. Even his practiced eyes couldn’t make out anything down the trail, and the muffled murmur of voices had fallen silent.
He whispered to two of his men to move up the trail. They rose from their positions and edged towards the unknown enemy, their sandaled feet silent on the wet grass.
The first arrow took the lead gunman by surprise as it penetrated his stomach. He screamed, a tortured yowl, trailing off into a keening as he clutched the protruding shaft with shaking hands, his rifle forgotten on the bloody grass in front of him.
His partner fired into the brush, where he estimated the projectile had come from, and was mid-burst when the next arrow tore his throat out, causing him to flip around and drop into the muddy trail face-first.
Kyaw’s men fired wildly, no obvious target in sight, but determined to pepper the jungle with deadly lead. Kyaw gestured at them to stop after a half minute, in an effort to conserve ammunition.
The weapon down the trail popped and stuttered, cutting down two of the gunmen, stitching them with smoking wounds. Kyaw gritted his teeth. This was a bloodbath, and he had now lost most of his force to a ghostlike enemy that prowled the night in silence, delivering death at its whim. He wasn’t a superstitious man — far from it, he’d killed so many that he’d long ago lost count. But this was unlike anything he’d experienced, and for the first time in decades, he knew fear.
The fighter next to him was turning to whisper something when the arrow skewered his skull. He fell silently against Kyaw, the razor tip of the arrow imbedded in his brain. Kyaw had seen enough. He gestured to his remaining man to follow, and ran along the edge of the path back in the direction he’d come.
When the arrow skewered him through the back of his neck, he collapsed, his body lifeless before he dropped, his spinal cord severed by the arrowhead. The lone remaining gunman emptied his clip at the dark jungle and was reloading when his life was snuffed out by the nearby pop of a single silenced pistol.
Jet surveyed the carnage and waited for any more assailants to show themselves. After a few minutes of silence, she shifted from her position in a tree forty yards away and dropped to the ground, leaving her now empty quiver at the base of the trunk, along with the bow. Perhaps it would be of some use to an impoverished Shan hill person who was willing to reclaim the arrows and find a few that were serviceable. She had neither the time nor the desire to do so.
She ran to the dead men and emptied their pockets of spare clips, then selected two of the newest rifles and made her way back to where Matt was hopefully still waiting.
~ ~ ~
“Did you miss me?”
Matt started at the sound of her whispered voice and exhaled noisily before turning to where she stood with two AK-47s.
“What took you so long?”
“There were more of them than I thought.”
She could see his jaw clench, the muscles in his face tensing, and then he relaxed.
“You were hoping for some new weapons?” she said. “These are slightly used, but I think they’ll do the trick.”
She threw one to him, forcing him to drop the P90 to catch it.
“Nice. What is this, about a thirty-year-old AK?” he asked, hefting it and then sighting down the barrel into the distance.
“A classic.” She tossed two magazines at his feet. “Nice shooting, by the way. For a guy who can’t see anything, you took two out.”
“I didn’t want to hit you, but I figured you wouldn’t be between me and the muzzle flashes.”
“Good guess. Now, hand me the P90, and let’s get going. I don’t want to have to take on any others who might have been drawn by the gunfire. They might not have been the only bad guys roaming around here tonight.”
Matt stood and handed her the little weapon. “That’s a neat gun. I like the dual-stage trigger, although it could use a three-round burst mode. It felt like I was getting off five rounds with each pull.”
“You get used to it. Holds fifty rounds, so if you’re careful, you can get off fifteen pops before you’re out of ammo. An acquired taste. I prefer the MTAR.” She took it from him and checked the magazine quickly. “Feels like it’s still at least a quarter full.”
“You trust me with a gun now?” he asked, only partially joking.
“Let’s just say that I think you’re probably better served being able to protect yourself out here. Besides, as you’ve probably guessed, I can take care of myself.”
“I’ll say.”
They began trudging along the trail, Jet in the lead again, alert and ready for anything the jungle cared to throw at them.
Chapter 27
“You’re going to have to kill him.” Matt had taken the lead at first light, dawn having broken an hour earlier. “Got to cut the head off the snake or it will always be trying to bite you.”
“I know.”
“But we need a plan to get your daughter back. I can predict he’ll screw you. That’s what he does. The challenge is to allow him to think he’s doing so, and in the process figure out what he did with her. I may be able to help with that. In fact, I’m sure of it. It’ll take some time and money, but fortunately I have plenty of the latter. It’s the time element that will be the problem.”
“What are you thinking?”
“He’s predictable in some ways. And most importantly, he believes that he’s insulated from most things you or I might be concerned with. But I have my own assets, and one in particular can probably do enough research to catch anyplace he’s been sloppy. Whenever you catch a spy, it’s because they screwed up. Arthur isn’t infallible. He’s very smart, but remember that this is an under-the-table deal he has going, so he can’t use company resources to do things like find a home for Hannah. Which means that there will be a trail of some sort. We just need to find it and follow it before he realizes we’re onto him.”
“That’s easier said than done.”
“I didn’t say it would be easy. I said it would be expensive and time-consuming. But frankly, I can’t think of a better way to use some of his own money. I’ve been trying to figure out how to bring him down, and this may present an opportunity. What I’m proposing is that you take him out, along with anyone else we can identify as ringleaders in this scheme, so you, and I, are safe. In exchange for that, I’ll spend whatever it takes to find your daughter. This is actually sort of the same deal he made with you, only in reverse. And I didn’t have to kidnap anyone to get you to go along.”
“Let’s say I agree, and we join forces. What’s the next step?”
“You have five million dollars’ worth of diamonds hanging around your neck. The first thing I’d suggest is getting to Bangkok and converting some of that into cash. Once we have cash, we have options. I know a few of the contacts Pu had, and I think I can arrange for you to be able to convert at least a couple million’ worth pretty quickly. Then you have to get some new ID and go to Europe to convert some more — maybe ten million. At that point, you’ve got a war chest. In the meantime, I’ll put my back into discovering whatever can be found. Worst case, I’ve got a pretty simple alternative that can get you close enough to be able to get your daughter back and disappear — after you kill Arthur, of course.”