Conspiracy

66

Tommy Karr took a sip of the white liquid, swished it around in his mouth, then swallowed.

“Good?” asked the old man who had offered it to him.

“Good’s a relative concept,” squeaked Karr. The liquid tasted like digested coconut mixed with rubbing alcohol.

“You want?”

“I’ll take a Coke, I think.”

The man gave Karr a small bottle of the cola. Karr held out a ten-thousand-dong note for the man. A look of disappointment spread across the vendor’s face.

“No American?”

“How much American?”

“Ten dollar.”

“For a Coke? I want soda, not cocaine.” The old man didn’t understand.

“One dollar,” said Karr, reaching into his pocket.

“Five dollar.”

“Then I pay in Vietnamese.”

“Two.”

“Tommy, Thao Duong is leaving his office,” warned Rockman from the Art Room. “He told his supervisor he’s going for lunch.”

“Here, take the soda back.” Karr thrust it into his hand.

“OK, Joe. One dollar.”

“Next time!” said Karr over his shoulder as he jogged for the bike.

“Fifty cent!” sputtered the old man. “Dime! You pay dime!”

Karr reached the front of the office building just as Thao Duong came out. The Vietnamese official turned left, heading in the opposite direction. Karr turned at the corner, then spun into a U-turn, barely missing two bicyclists and another motorcycle.

“Don’t get into a traffic accident,” hissed Rockman.

“You know, Rockman, you take all the fun out of this job,” said Karr.

As he joined the flow of traffic on the main street, Karr saw Thao Duong walking about a block ahead. He was headed down in the direction of the port, just like yesterday.

Karr drove ahead four blocks, pulled up on the sidewalk, and parked. Then he leaned back against the side of the building, waiting for Thao Duong to catch up.

Karr was still waiting ten minutes later.

“Tommy, what’s going on?” asked Marie Telach.

“Must’ve gotten waylaid somewhere,” said Karr, starting up the street in search of Thao Duong.

“All right, it’s not a crisis if you lose him,” said the Art Room supervisor. “He may be trying to spot you.”

“Gee, thanks, Mom. Hadn’t thought of that,” said Karr.

Karr checked the storefronts along the street as nonchalantly as he could. When he reached the block where he had spotted Thao Duong earlier, Karr turned right down the cross street. There were a dozen noodle shops lined up on both sides of the block. He guessed that Thao Duong was inside one, having an early dinner, but most were located in the base-ments of the buildings and it would have been difficult to spot him without being seen himself.

“What’s the situation, Tommy?” asked Telach.

“Must be having lunch somewhere down this block,” said Karr. “No way to find out without exposing myself.”

“Hang back then.”

Karr felt his stomach growl. He was debating whether he might not go into the noodle places anyway when he spotted someone who looked like Thao Duong coming up from one of the shops near the end of the block. Karr slapped a video bug on the light pole near him, then walked up the street.

“That him?” he asked the Art Room.

“That’s him,” said Rockman.

“You see where he came out of?”

“He was already walking when the bug turned on. Why?

You think he met someone there?”

“No, I’m starting to get hungry and I was hoping for a recommendation.”