An Autumn Hunting

Chapter 47

As Saltanat had organised, Achura’s body was gone, perhaps transported in a laundry basket. There was going to be hell in the morning when it was time to wash the sheets and pillowcases.

‘Do you wish you and Chinara had kept your baby?’

We were lying in bed together, close but not quite touching, having wordlessly agreed on a truce once I got back to the room. It was a question I’d often asked myself, both before her death and after, and I’d never been able to resolve the issue in my mind.

‘Hard to bring up a child without a mother,’ I said. ‘Almost cruel, even.’

‘And what if there is no father?’

‘That’s a little different,’ I said. ‘Look how many Kyrgyz fathers don’t see their children from one year to the next. I don’t mean the ones who just get divorced once they get bored of the sex and the responsibilities, I’m thinking of the ones who go to Moscow to work shit jobs for shit pay, so they can send roubles home. They’ve got no choice, so the kids grow up under their mother’s influence. Is the absence of a father good or bad? I don’t know, but for most people there isn’t a choice.’

‘So you think I should keep it?’

‘I can’t tell you what to do, Saltanat, I never have been able to do that. It has to be your choice, but I’ll support you totally in whatever you decide.’

We lay there in silence, until I felt her hand reach over, take mine. I rolled towards her as she did the same, our heads colliding in the dark. I winced, awakening the bruise from the headbutt I’d given Achura, then felt Saltanat’s hand on the back of my neck, her breasts soft against my chest, her thighs tight and determined against mine.

We kissed, hesitant at first, the way you do after an argument, when you’re not sure if the bond between you has fully returned, then with more passion as the memory of being a couple surged back again. And then all memory dissolved into the moment…

It was still dark when Saltanat shook me awake from a dream in which Achura kept advancing towards me, a grim smile on her face, while I pumped bullet after bullet into her with no effect.

‘I’ve put the do-not-disturb notice on the door, so we’ve got at least until noon to get out of here, and out of Malaysia,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve already booked our tickets while you were asleep.’

I sat up and looked around the room. I knew that half an hour after we left, I’d remember nothing about it, and it struck me I’d lived a lot of my life in just such a fashion. And the things I did remember were precisely those I wanted to forget.

‘You’ve got time for a shower,’ Saltanat said, throwing a towel at me, ‘or I’m not sitting next to you on the plane.’

‘Where are we going?’ I asked, heading for the bathroom door. ‘Or is it a secret?’

‘It’s time to end this. I’m sure you’ll be pleased. You’re going to Kyrgyzstan.’

‘I wonder how Quang enjoyed his first night in captivity. A very different Bangkok Hilton to the one he’s used to,’ I said, with a certain malicious satisfaction.

‘Money talks, you know that, sometimes in whispers, sometimes by banging on the table, shrieking in indignation at the top of its voice. A comfortable cell, food brought in from outside, a lawyer arriving to negotiate his release,’ Saltanat said. ‘He’ll be out and organising repairs to his property while we’re still in the air. Getting the army to do the work, I wouldn’t be surprised.’

With our diplomatic passports, we were through and sitting in a coffee shop in a matter of minutes. I was pretty certain there wouldn’t be anyone from Quang’s team stalking us; presumably they’d be waiting until Achura reported the two farang problems had been suitably disposed of.

‘You still haven’t told me why we’re going to Kyrgyzstan. You said yourself I’m going to end up in a grave there.’

Saltanat sipped at her coffee, pulled a face.

‘How do people manage to make coffee as weak as this?’

‘I’m sorry the coffee isn’t to your liking, but to get back to what I was asking…’

Saltanat put her cup down with a clatter that almost made the barista drop his mobile phone.

‘Simple. Quang will be out of his cell and back in business in a few hours. He agreed a deal with you, and for all he knows, you’ve passed that information on to Aliyev. Right?’

I nodded.

‘Well, he has to honour that agreement, or his reputation gets a hammering. Once suppliers, dealers, his whole network get the impression he can’t be trusted to keep his word, then it’s only a matter of time before he’s deposed.’

‘OK,’ I said, not entirely sure Saltanat wasn’t looking too much on the bright side.

‘Then there’s the problem he faces if the government legalise yaa baa. He needs a new product, and the simplest, cheapest and most profitable way to get that is through Aliyev. So Quang might be pissed off with you, especially after you killed his girlfriend, but as far as Aliyev’s concerned, everything went well.’

‘Suppose Quang decides he wants my head in return for keeping to the deal?’ I asked.

‘Aliyev needs you as well,’ Saltanat said. ‘Think about it. You’re famous as the ex-cop who shot the Minister of State Security. You’re living proof Aliyev can go anywhere, do anything, with complete immunity. The government can’t stop him, the army can’t catch him, and the security forces are too busy wondering who’ll be blamed for the assassination attempt.’

She finished her coffee. The waitress came to collect our cups.

‘How was your coffee?’ she smiled.

‘If it hadn’t been so weak, it would have been disgusting.’ Saltanat smiled in return, stood up, shouldered her handbag.

The waitress gave me a puzzled look, unsure whether she’d just heard a compliment or an insult. I stood up, shrugged, and joined Saltanat. It was time to go home.