Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“Let’s get down to business.” Daly’s demeanor quickly changed from pleasant gentleman to professional ambassador.
“What exactly can I do for you?” I asked him.
“Colonel—”
“Why does everyone keep calling me that? I’m retired.”
“Perhaps it’s because you’re still acting like your former self,” he said coldly. “You’re a long way from your base of operations in Chicago. I wasn’t aware your business extended past US shores.” Daly stared at me, looking for a crack in my armor, a way in. Like that could ever happen.
“I go where the work takes me,” I said simply, and if this was anyone but the ambassador, Jing would have groaned. She always gave me such crap when I gave platitudes instead of real, thoughtful answers.
“And now that Captain Hunt has been recalled, may I ask who else is working with you? I checked on your men at Torus, and they appear to all be stateside.”
“With all due respect, Ambassador, who I employ is my business.”
“Of course. I only ask because I recently took a call from the prime minister asking if you had American agents running an operation on Thai soil.”
“If you answered no, that was truthful,” I replied flatly. “I’m in no way currently employed by the US government. Clark here can verify that, as I’m sure she’s had me followed. My business here is truly and strictly of a personal nature.”
Clark nodded. “I think that’s the truth.”
“And yet you answered my request to meet, which I sent through agency channels,” Daly pointed out.
“Ten years of working alongside the CIA builds a significant Rolodex. People who need to reach me know how to do so.”
“So let me see if I understand. An American citizen has been abducted.”
“Yes.”
“Well, Americans here are my business, Colonel—Colter,” he corrected himself. “Share what you have, and perhaps I can help you.”
Of course, there was the whole switcheroo with the body that he hadn’t brought up. He either didn’t know, or he did and was standing clear of that topic. “You seem well informed.”
“My counterpart in the Ministry filled me in.”
Throwing caution to the wind, I asked, “Did they also share about the corpse bait and switch they played with my associate’s bodyguard?”
Daly shook his head.
“The prime minister’s office is caught up in this or there are just a few key people on someone’s payroll. Either way, it’s hard to know who to trust.”
“If your man is still in the wind, he’s in danger. Let me help you.”
I took a breath and leaned forward in my chair. “Have you ever made a promise, Ambassador?”
“I’m a politician, Mr. Colter. I make a lot of promises.”
“I’m talking about the type of promise you would lay your very life down to keep. That’s what I made to this man’s parents before they were murdered. And that was before my admission that I love him. So you understand what you’re up against here.”
“In more than two centuries of friendship, the United States and Thailand have strengthened cooperation in all sectors, from bilateral trade to international law enforcement to public health. You running around on some kind of personal vendetta threatens to unseat that.”
“It’s not a vendetta. Not yet.” I had to remain confident that Owen was still alive somewhere in the country. I had to. I wasn’t about to give up now.
“I can’t say I find that comforting, considering the body count. Do you even know how many dead men you left in the street?”
“More than I left in the river,” I admitted, and saw Jing bite her lip so she wouldn’t smile.
“Understand, Colter, I can’t have you tearing up the countryside. My job is to protect our interests here. I have a company of Marines on call. I will have you and your team rounded up and forcibly deported if that becomes necessary.”
A commanding presence was a valuable thing, and something I’d always been told I had plenty of. I didn’t bullshit or bully, people did what I told them to do, and my word was my bond. “Mr. Daly, you’ll need better than a few able-bodied Marines to make me do anything I don’t want to, and more importantly, I’m sure you have a better use for your men than getting in my way. When I have completed my task, I will be out of your hair. You have my word. If you’ve asked anyone about me, they’ll have told you I never break my word.”
“I have been told as much. Your service to your country isn’t in question. But it doesn’t change the fact that your actions threaten to trigger a response from Thai forces. And that will put me in the precarious position of deciding whether or not to allow them to attack American citizens on my watch.”
I understood his dilemma, I did. The problem was, until I found Owen, I had nothing concrete to tell him.