An Autumn Hunting

Chapter 36

I’d been shown into a guest bedroom by Quang himself. The room was spartan in contrast to the meeting room, but the bed was a welcome sight. The adrenalin my speech had ridden on was beginning to fade, and I thought perhaps thirty minutes’ rest would revitalise me.

‘Our climate can be rather wearing for people unaccustomed to it,’ Quang had said before leaving the room, ‘especially from your part of the world. Please take some time to relax.’

I unlaced my shoes, took off my jacket, lay down on the bed. An air-conditioning unit ruffled my hair, and tiredness hit me like a club. Even as my eyes began to close, I heard the door open and close behind me. I turned around, half expecting a summons back to the conference table, but what I saw was completely unexpected.

A young Thai woman in some type of kimono was carrying a tray filled with small cut-glass bottles. As I stared at her, she placed the tray on the bedside table, unstoppering the bottles, so the scent of perfumed oils filled the air. Long thin fingers with beautifully manicured and red-painted nails began to undo my shirt, while a shy smile revealed small white teeth.

I began to rise up, to protest, but a hand pressed me back against the mattress.

‘From Khun Quang. Only for most honoured guest. My name Achura.’

Her voice was soft, clear enough without the sing-song Thai accent so that even with my basic English I could understand her meaning.

I put my hands to stop her, protested I was honoured but didn’t need a massage, but that didn’t deter her. I told myself Thai massages were said to be the finest in the world, with several temples containing schools to learn the art. Quang would certainly employ only the most skilful practitioners. And I would have been lying if the idea of having a beautiful stranger stroke my skin didn’t have a certain erotic frisson.

The thought of Saltanat’s opinion made me reluctant, but then I considered she and I had never made promises to each other, that she was a free agent in these things just as much as I. It’s very easy to be noble when temptation isn’t a few inches away, gazing at you with enormous dark-brown eyes, framed with gold and silver eyeshadow and tinted lashes that set off high cheekbones and honey-shaded skin.

Finally I removed my shirt, rolled onto my stomach, felt the delicious coolness of the oils poured onto my back. My body heat released their perfume: jasmine, rosemary, herbs I couldn’t identify, all mingling together into a musk soaking into my skin.

Achura’s hands pressed into the muscles around my neck and shoulders, surprisingly strong, kneading out any tension placed there by the stress of my trip. I shut my eyes, let my thoughts drift away into pure sensation.

The fingers on my back pressed hard then soft, hard then soft, in an unending circular movement. I could understand why people became devotees, swore by its power to provide tranquillity and harmony with the world.

I was drifting off into a state of total relaxation when I felt the hands tap me on the top of my head, a sign the massage had ended. I opened my eyes to find Achura already stoppering the glass bottles, her movements precise and delicate. I watched as she bowed and exited the room, leaving only the perfume of the oils like a fading memory.

A thought struck me and I looked up at the ceiling. The camera was almost impossible to spot, if I hadn’t been looking for it; I wondered if Quang filmed all of his guests, perhaps as a bargaining tool or even for blackmail. I sat up, struggled back into my shirt, thankful I hadn’t been tempted into doing something foolish.

In an earlier case, in Dubai, I’d been drugged and photographed with a woman, both of us naked, posed to look as if we were hard at it. Saltanat had seen through that particular set-up, although I didn’t fancy my chances of appeasing her a second time. It’s never a good idea to cheat on a trained assassin. Thankfully, that was one bridge I didn’t have to cross. But first of all, I had to deal with Quang.