Little Girl Gone

42

The road between Wat Doi Suthep and Chiang Mai followed the contours of the mountain down to the plateau where the city lay. The hillside was covered with tropical vegetation. With the exception of where there was a roadside business or home, the plants and trees came right up to the edge of the road, sometimes even creating a partial canopy over the top.

It would have been beautiful if Logan had had time to pay attention, but his focus was on spotting the van that was somewhere ahead of them, not on the local flora. He kept his eyes glued over Kai’s shoulder at the asphalt ahead. If this had been a straight road through a flat countryside he would have seen them right away. But the curves severely shortened his visual range.

Finally, after another sharp turn to the left, he saw the van, then pointed at it.

Kai said something.

“What?” Logan asked, unable to understand.

“What you want do?” Kai yelled.

“Go around him,” Logan said. “And keep going fast all the way to the bottom.”

“Why bottom?”

“I have friends waiting there.”

“Okay.”

Kai gunned the engine, and within seconds they were whipping past the van. Logan made sure not to look at it as they went by, so that those inside wouldn’t know he was interested in them. Soon the van disappeared behind them, swallowed up by the bends in the road.

It had taken Logan and Daeng twenty minutes to climb the mountain to the temple earlier, but the trip down on Kai’s motorcycle took no more than five.

“There,” Logan said, pointing to a wide spot on the side of the road that Daeng had described to him earlier.

They pulled over, and Logan immediately hopped off. He then pulled out another thousand baht note from this pocket gave it to Kai.

“Thanks,” Logan said.

“You need more help?”

Logan shook his head. “Trust me. You’ve done more than enough.”

“Okay, if you sure. Good luck,” Kai said, then took off.

Daeng had told Logan there would be five of his Burmese refugee contacts waiting at the wide spot if they ended up needing them. So Logan was a little surprised to find nine of them there. It seemed the only ones missing were the kids and a couple of the others.

He pointed at the two cars parked nearby. “Yours?”

“Yes,” one of the man said.

“Who’s driving them?”

He signaled for a couple of the other men to join them, and Logan quickly explained what he wanted to do. The main guy had to do a little translating for him, but they all got the gist of it.

“You guys okay with this plan?” Logan asked when he was through.

“Okay,” the main guy said. “No problem.”

“Excellent. Then they should get ready. It’s almost time.”

The two drivers got into their cars, and started their engines.

“Just tell me when you want them to go,” the headman said.

Logan nodded, then, after a moment, said, “Daeng said you might have a gun I can use.”

“You sure you want?”

“Better to have it than not.”

The man retrieved a pistol from the back of the closest car, and gave it to Logan. “Police catch you, not good.”

“I’ll remember that,” Logan said.

He quickly found a good spot, then looked up the hill. Through the trees, he could see a small stretch of the road that was beyond the curve just up from their position. He kept his eye on it, waiting for the van to appear. Finally, the gray van moved by, then passed out of sight.

Forty-five seconds, tops and they’d be here.

“Now,” Logan said.

The headman waved at the two parked cars. Instantly, they pulled into the street. Only instead of merging with traffic, they drove across the lanes, and halted, creating a roadblock. The lead car was all the way on the road, while the second car hung partially over the shoulder.

Immediately cars slowed to a stop and began honking, but the Burmese drivers didn’t move.

The van appeared around the curve only a few seconds later than Logan thought it would. A quick calculation told him that it was going to be about six cars back in the jam up. Other cars were still coming around the bend after it, so it would immediately be hemmed in.

“Stay in the outside lane,” Logan whispered to himself, as he backed into the cover of the bushes. “Stay in the outside lane.”

It did.

Then, as it came down the final part of the hill, it slowed to a crawl, and finally to a stop at the back of the traffic jam.

“Okay,” he said to the headman, then pointed at the line of traffic. “Start them moving around.”

The man nodded, then he and several of his men ran over to the car that was sitting halfway in the wide area. Together they pushed it all the way onto the road, as if it were stalled. Then the headman got the attention of the driver of the first car the outside lane, he moved his hand in an arc, directing the guy into the wide area so he could drive around the blockage.

Soon the next car in line was following suit.

Then the third. And the fourth. And the fifth.

Finally it was the van’s turn.

Logan gave the blockade driver a wave, and the guy acknowledged with a quick nod.

The van turned cautiously off the road, rocking a little on the uneven shoulder, but not stopping. Then, just as it pulled abreast of the roadblock, the blockade car shot backwards, slamming into the van’s front wheel well.

There was a crunch and a rip and an expulsion of air as the van’s tire went flat. It was better than Logan could have hoped.

Quickly, he stepped out from the bushes and over to the back of the van.

As he was sure would happen, someone on the inside turned the handle and pushed one of the back doors open. Logan slipped around the side, out of view, not worried about being seen in the side mirror. He could hear one of the Burmese men arguing with the van’s driver up front on the other side, keeping him busy.

The van rocked, and three people step out. Whoever they were, they headed around to see the damage, and deal with the problem.

If Logan hadn’t miscounted, the only ones left inside would be Bell, his Myanmar client, Elyse and Sein. There was also the driver, of course, if he had access to the back area. But he was currently preoccupied.

On hands and knees Logan crawled past the open back door so as not to be seen. Once he was clear, he got up, and peeked around the other side. There were five of the refugees there now, one talking to the driver, while the other four talked with three men who’d gotten out to see what was going on.

When Logan was sure the only people who were able to see him were the refugees, he took a step out, and gave them a quick wave. The one who saw him first said something to his friends.

Suddenly there were guns in their hands pointed at Bell’s men. Logan held a finger to his mouth, reminding them they all had to stay quiet, then turned toward the back doors.

Before he entered, he pulled out the small, palm-sized digital video camera. This would be the cherry on top of the other footage Daeng’s friends had taken. He turned the camera on, and stuck it in the front pocket of his pants so that only the portion with the lens and the microphone were exposed.

He then took two deep breaths, gripped his gun, and jumped into the back of the van.