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)
A handsome man with intelligent eyes stood in front of me. He was well dressed, in a lightweight, single-breasted suit. A second man stood behind him, the same one who had whipped me into unconsciousness, and with the same glare of pure violence burning in his eyes.
“Welcome. We’ve been expecting you. I am called Suwan.” His voice was low and unhurried, and he showed no emotion. “You’ve met Fang, my enforcer.”
Seriously? Why did I feel like I was in a Bond movie? What the hell? “I met his whip,” I said, as we had not, in fact, traded names.
Suwan smiled, but without humor. “He is an expert in many things, Colonel, as you will come to learn.”
“You missed the memo, Suwan. I’m retired.”
“And you would have me believe that makes you any less lethal?” Suwan looked me directly in the eye, the smile fixed on his face. “Don’t be ridiculous. You were a soldier. A soldier doesn’t become a civilian. You remain a soldier.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Suwan took out a gunmetal cigarette case and extracted a cigarette with three gold bands. He looked from me to Fang and back again. “Cut him loose. If he resists, you may damage him a little.” He then lit his cigarette.
I looked into Fang’s face. His expression was deadly serious. There was no doubt the man would kill me if I resisted. Fang moved behind me, and I heard the click of a knife opening before my wrists were cut free.
“Why did you beat my associate?” I asked, rubbing my chafed wrists.
“He suffered some damage. Nothing severe,” Suwan explained. “We all know our place here. It is unfortunate Mr. Moss needed a reminder. Every effort to resist brings pain, just as you were beaten for your impertinence.”
I looked straight at him, examining his face. There was no anger in it, no obstinacy, nothing but supreme confidence. I resolved to remain silent.
Suwan blew out smoke and said, “Shall I explain your predicament? We have things to discuss and so little time.”
“You used Owen as bait to lure me. Does that about sum it up?”
“You think you’ve put it all together, Mr. Colter. We’ve spoon-fed you every clue so that you would follow them here, right where we wanted you.”
“We?”
“My employer, your executioner.”
“That’s not your job?”
“You will die, Colonel, by my hand. But only after I have what I want.”
“Which is what?”
“Money, of course.”
“How very capitalist of you.”
“The world runs on money, does it not?”
“It does. But tell me, why am I here?”
“I am certain you are a man with imagination. Working so closely with the CIA, you made a career in murder. Surely you know you’ve made many enemies over the years. I wonder how many wives you’ve widowed, Colonel, how many orphans you’ve made. You haven’t a clue, have you?”
I had no answer to that, nor was it something I could deny. Violence and death were part of my past. I had killed many, snuffing out their lives without thinking of them as human beings at all. I couldn’t while I worked there. But once my service ended, I never again did things that could be questioned ethically or morally. Even now, if I was needed, I did all my due diligence first. Everything had to be above board for me to step back in the ring. I had to wonder, with Suwan’s questions, what I had done to his employer. Had I taken a spouse or a parent?
“Were it not for your geographical location, we would have had you before now,” Suwan explained, apparently not hung up on my silence. “But your agency protects its own—Torus Intercession, the untouchable tower. Then you expelled Mr. Moss from your ranks. We used one of our many fronts to create a partnership with his new employer. We then created a scenario that ensured his arrival in Bangkok.”
I didn’t expel Owen; the man was being overly dramatic. Owen took on contract work all the time, nothing new about that. That they had created the opportunity, though, that was concerning. Evil, I had learned a long time ago, could be tirelessly patient. I set my jaw.
“With Moss secured, your arrival was inevitable. My only fear was that some of our overzealous colleagues might kill you prematurely.”
Not for a lack of trying. “Why kill his bodyguard?”
“You must chum the water to lure the shark, Colonel,” Suwan answered, blowing out smoke. “To be honest, I’m exceeding my orders, as I was instructed to dispose of Mr. Moss once you were in my custody. That will not go unnoticed for very long, but I have need of his skills.”
Thank God Owen was useful.
Suwan’s eyes turned cold as an iceberg. “As for you, Colonel, my employer’s directive is that you suffer as much as possible before killing you. There are worse things than death, which you are about to discover. Each session will be recorded so your pain can be enjoyed even after your demise.”