Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2018 16:42:26 +0000
From: Nikkie Silk <nikkie.silk@outlook.com>
Subject: Cockatoo Part 46. TV

Cockatoo Part 46

"Dao, Dao, calm down. What do you mean she's been taken?"

Alex wrenched the phone from me and talked to Dao in Thai. At the same
time, Alex's phone rang.

"Jamie, it's Shane. I tried to call your phone, but it's busy."

"Alex is on my phone to Dao. She says Areeya's been taken. What the fuck's
going on?"

"Thaksin just called to warn me. Jandaeng was being taken under guard to
hospital to have treatment on his arm. They were jumped between the prison
and the hospital, and he was sprung. He's in the air. Two guards are dead,
and a third isn't expected to make it."

"Where's Areeya?"

"As soon as I heard about Jandaeng, I called Areeya's close protection
guy. No answer at all. There's a guy with Areeya 24/7 now she's running
Kritsada's operations. We have a tracker on her car, it appears to be
stationary somewhere in Sukhumvit. There's a team on the way there
now. They should be there in 10."

"Shane. this isn't a coincidence is it?"

"No, it has to be Jandaeng somehow."

Alex grabbed my arm, "Tell him Dao is sending the plane down to pick us
up. We'll be in Bangkok in four hours."

"Did you get that, Shane?"

"Copy that. I'll have someone waiting for you at the airport. I'll call
back when the team reaches her car."

Alex fell back onto a chair. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, this has to be Jandaeng,
doesn't it? Why didn't that shot kill him?"

My heart hammered in my chest, and my knees buckled as it hit me what had
happened. I slumped down with my head in my hands unable to look at Alex.

"This is all my fault."

Alex turned to look at me. "What do you mean? This isn't your fault, it's
Jandaeng."

"It is my fault. I didn't tell you everything that happened that night in
the garage with Aki." I took a deep breath, "It's my fault because I could
have killed Jandaeng that night."

"How? I mean it was an accident Jandaeng got shot, right?"

"Yes it was, but it didn't happen the way I told you. When Aki took me into
the garage, he pushed a gun in my hand and told me to shoot Jandaeng. He
even held my finger on the trigger. I couldn't do it, and the gun fell to
the floor and went off, hitting Jandaeng in the arm."

"You're telling me you could have got rid of Jandaeng, and you didn't do
it?"

"Alex, you weren't there. You don't know what it was like. I couldn't shoot
him tied up on a chair. I thought Aki would shoot him, anyway. That's when
they blew open the door."

My phone bleeped. It was Shane calling back.

"Shane, It's Jamie, I'll put you on speaker."

"It's not good news. We found her car in Sukhumvit. Her bodyguard was dead
inside the car, but there's no sign of Areeya. The only good news is that
there was no sign of blood on Areeya's side of the car. There was a witness
who said she saw a woman pulled from the car and bundled into a white
van. That's all we've got so far, but the Thai police are all over this,
and Thaksin is keeping us in touch with anything they uncover."

Alex slumped back in her chair. "Fuck, there must be something more we can
do?"

"Alex, we're doing everything we can do from here. Kritsada is pulling in
every favour he can. We will find her."

None of us wanted to say the obvious, would it be in time?

"Shane, Jamie again, we will give you an ETA for our arrival as soon as we
have one."

"Copy that, we will find her."

Alex got up and walked into the apartment. I heard her crying, and it broke
my heart to hear her. I went inside to comfort her.

"Get away from me. I don't want you near me." The words cut me like a whip,
and I retreated outside. I thought she would never forgive me after this,
and I was about to lose everything I loved. I swore to myself that if I had
another chance, I would kill Jandaeng without a second's hesitation.

My phone beeped again.

"Shane, any news?"

"No, but your plane is about an hour out of Samui, so get yourselves out
there now and they'll do a hot turnaround."

"Thanks, Shane. See you soon."

I called a taxi and went back inside.

"Alex, we need to go, the plane is due soon. I've called a taxi."

She said nothing, stood up and walked past me as if I didn't exist. As the
taxi pulled up Alex slipped into the front seat leaving me alone in the
back. We didn't speak a word on the way to the airport. Alex stared
straight ahead all the way, and all I could do was go over what happened in
the garage time and again, hating myself for what had happened.

They rushed us through the airport and onto the apron where we watched as
the company plane landed, turned around at the end of the single runway and
taxied towards us. The rear door opened and a set of internal stairs
deployed as the propellers kept turning. We ran over and climbed the stairs
into the cabin. An attendant retracted the stairs and as soon as the door
locked shut, the pilot gunned the throttle and we were off down the
runway. I barely had time to buckle my seat belt before we were
airborne. The plane had been on the ground for less than three minutes.

We landed at Dom Mueang airport an hour later. Alex had taken a single seat
and spent the entire flight staring out the window. She obviously hated me,
and Areeya was in Jandaeng's hands. It was all my fault, and I had never
felt more miserable and alone in my life.

Nin met us on the apron at the airport in an SUV with another one close on
our tail. Shane was taking no chances now. She kissed me on the cheek and
turned to Alex who snapped at her, "Just get us to Shane." Nin looked at me
and I shook my head, trying to tell her it wasn't her. Alex couldn't avoid
being in the back seat with me, but she edged as far away from me as she
could.

Nin spoke from the front seat. "We have command centre at Kritsada's
office. We are going there now. No news yet from anyone. Police have
roadblocks all over city stopping and searching cars."

In our panic about Areeya, I had almost forgotten that at least two
policemen had been killed. The Thai police had as much interest in catching
Jandaeng as we did, and we passed one roadblock, adding even more chaos to
the usual traffic. We arrived at the office and went straight up to
Kritsada's floor where he met us at the lift. Alex embraced him and they
held each other for a while, their fears obvious to everyone. Kritsada
turned and we hugged, "Jamie, we will find her, won't we?"

"Yes sir, we will. I will do anything to get her back safely."

Alex snorted and Kritsada looked at her in surprise. She ignored us both
and said, "Where's Shane?"

Nin led us to what was clearly their command centre. TV monitors were
showing continuous news feeds and a huge map of Bangkok covered one
wall. There were two huge PC monitors, one of which was showing GPS
locations and the other streaming social media sites.

Shane appeared, hugged me and turned to Alex, who shook him off, saying
"What's going on, why hasn't she been found yet?"

Shane frowned and shot a puzzled look at me. I shrugged. Alex snarled,
"Don't look at her, she's no use whatsoever."

Shane looked from me to Alex. "What's your problem? You two fighting won't
help us find Areeya."

Alex glared at me. "Why don't you tell him, as this is all your fault."

"She's right, Shane, it is all my fault. I had the chance to shoot
Jandaeng, but I couldn't do it. It didn't happen as I told you all. Aki
took me into the garage and gave me a gun and told me to shoot him. He put
his hand over mine and pointed it at Jandaeng's head, but I couldn't shoot
him like that. I thought Aki would kill him so I dropped the gun and it
went off. That's how Jandaeng got hit. Before Aki could do it, the police
blew the doors open. As she said, it is my fault Jandaeng's alive, and now
he's taken Areeya."

Shane looked from me to Alex. "Alex, come with me." He grabbed her arm,
pulled her into a side room and closed the door. I couldn't hear what was
being said, but Shane seemed to be doing most of the talking. I thought it
wouldn't matter anyway, my life here was finished. Whatever happened, Alex
wouldn't forgive me, and I would lose everything and everybody I loved. I
felt so wretched I thought I was going to be sick as the minutes ticked
by. Nin took my hand and squeezed.

"I sure it will be all right, Jamie." I tried and failed to smile at
her. Shane opened the door and closed it again leaving Alex inside.

"Jamie, I will let you talk to Alex in a moment, but you need to get it
through your head this is not your fault. Nobody can see into the
future. You did what you thought was right. You could not have foreseen
what would happen afterwards. This is all on Jandaeng and nobody else." He
held me by my shoulders. "This is not your fault. Now, go talk to Alex."

He pushed me into the room with Alex and shut the door behind me. I flopped
into a seat and kept my eyes to the floor, not wanting to look at
her. Neither of us spoke for a few minutes, and I considered getting up and
walking out.

"Jamie, look at me." She said. I didn't move. I was scared of what she
would say. "Jamie, look at me, please?" She sounded close to tears. "Shane
has spent the last ten minutes telling me to stop being a selfish bitch,
his exact words, and that none of this is your fault, to apologise to you,
and for me to quote get my shit in order unquote."

I looked up at her in amazement.

"What did he say?"

She heaved a sigh, "I will cut out the swearing, but what he said was
nobody can see into the future, that killing another human being is the
toughest thing anyone could do, that in a kill or be killed situation it is
justified, but shooting an unarmed man tied to a chair would be
cold-blooded murder and could only be done by a heartless bastard. He said
you did what you thought was right, and he was proud of you, and the only
thing anyone of us should worry about is getting Areeya back safely." She
mustered a wry smile. "I feel like I've had my pants pulled down and my
arse spanked over his knee, but I deserved it."

She sniffled and wiped her nose with her sleeve.

"Jamie, I hope you can somehow forgive me for being such a cow. When we had
our fight about what I was doing with Kritsada, you told me afterwards you
didn't think about what I had gone through. You said all you thought about
was how it affected you. You then risked everything to make it up to me."
She brushed away a tear. "The lesson didn't sink in because when you told
me what happened in the garage, I lashed out at the person who loves me
more than anyone else in the world. I blamed you because I was angry and
somebody had to take the blame. I didn't stop to consider what a terrible
choice it must have been for you. I should have known the Jamie I love so
much would make the right decision. Please forgive me."

I blinked away the tears pricking the corners of my eyes and wrapped her
into my arms. She cried on my shoulder, and I held her tight and stroked
her back until the sobbing stopped.

"Alex, there's nothing to forgive. I love you too, and we both want to get
Areeya back so badly. That's all that matters now."

As she sobbed on my shoulder, I thought even if Alex forgave me, there was
only one way I could forgive myself, and that was to cut off the snake's
head.

Alex and I emerged from the room holding hands to be greeted with a nod by
Shane and a relieved smile from Nin.

"Did you really call her a selfish bitch?" I whispered to Shane.

He nodded. "Heaps of other things too."

I reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, my friend."

He squeezed my arm, "Glad to have you both back in the fight. Now, let's go
find Areeya."

Dao had arrived, and we hugged her before Shane called us together for an
update.

"Nin is the point person with Thaksin, so I'm asking her to give us a
rundown on what we know. Nin, over to you."

"Jandaeng was being transferred from Bang Kwang prison for an operation on
his arm. They originally thought they would have to amputate. It was saved
but he cannot move his left arm. It is useless. This was check-up visit. He
was guarded by three armed police but their armoured van was hit by a
hijacked van driven into the side, here." She pointed a laser pen on the
map at a location near Chatachuk Market. "Back doors were blown off, and
two guards in the back shot, the driver badly injured, he is still
critical. Jandaeng escaped in a van later found burnt out in Nonthaburi,
here." She used the laser pen again. "We assume they changed
vehicles. There were no witnesses to the exchange, so we do not know the
second vehicle."

"Nin, how many men were involved in the ambush?" I wanted to know what we
were up against.

"At least four, from what witnesses say."

"This happened at 08:27. At 09:05 we receive call from Thaksin telling us
of Jandaeng escape. We immediately call Areeya bodyguard and no
reply. Checking GPS, Areeya's car stopped here at 08:55." The laser pen
pointed to a spot in Sukhumvit, well away from where Jandaeng had been
freed. "We attended at 09:25. Bodyguard dead, no sign of Areeya. I am
sorry."

Nin paused, but nobody broke the stunned silence, and she carried on.

"It mean there are two groups involved. We assume at least 6 men maybe
more. Thaksin mobilise police with road blocks and internal
investigations. Jandeang's old team seems to have disappeared. Thaksin
thinks these are Jandeang's men."

Nin's phone rang, and she listened, then waved her hand for silence before
scribbling something on a pad. Shane grabbed it and turned to us. "It's
Thaksin, they think they have located some of Jandaeng's men in a warehouse
out by the river in Pak Kret." He looked at the map, "Up here." He pointed
to a location to the north of the city.

Alex was quickest to respond. "Is Areeya with them?"

Nin had come off the phone by then. "They not sure. There was a tip off
from someone about the warehouse. Their SWAT team there now."

"Nin, get back onto Thaksin and tell him not to send in the SWAT team until
I get there. They'll be trigger happy with two cops down. Jamie, you're
with me. Alex and Dao, stay here and wait for our call."

Alex shook her head. "Fuck that, Rambo, we're coming with you."

Shane shrugged, "OK, but stay out of the way when we get there." Alex
glared at him, but I dragged her away before she could say anything. We
came out of the building to see the traffic at a standstill.

"Shit," said Shane, "It will take us forever to get there."

Alex turned to Dao and said something in Thai. Dao nodded, "We use Khlong
Saen Saep, it will be much faster, take us to river then up to Pak Kret. It
just round corner from here."

Alex noticed my puzzled expression. "It's a canal linking the Chao Praya
all the way to Prachinburi. We can get a long-tail boat along the canal and
then up the river." She glanced at Shane. "Good job we came along." He
grunted as Dao led the way, and within a few minutes we were in a long-tail
boat heading along the Khlong towards the river. It was slow going along
the Khlong but when we reached the river, the driver opened up the massive
truck engine with a deafening roar and we hurtled along the river playing
dodgems with the other river traffic.

We took less than fifteen minutes to get to Pak Kret, where the boat landed
us close to the warehouse. The police had cordoned off the area with guards
holding back people attracted by the police presence. Shane called Thaksin
who came over to let us through and he led us through to an office he had
commandeered.

"We believe some of Jandaeng's men are in the warehouse, but we don't know
how many or if Jandaeng is with them."

"Do you know if Areeya is in there?" Shane's question was the one we all
wanted to ask.

Thaksin shook his head. "No, we don't know who is in there. We have the
warehouse surrounded and are trying to establish communication with
them. We had a tip off from an informer. Jandaeng has made many, many
enemies."

"Look, Thaksin, you have to take this carefully in case Areeya is in there,
right?"

"I promise you we will not move in for the moment. But, if they start
something..."

"No, you must not risk Areeya." Dao screamed at Thaksin, before Alex put
her arms around her and made her sit down.

"We will do everything we can, but these men have already killed two
policemen and one of your guards. We cannot take any risks with them."

I put my hand on Thaksin's arm. "Thaksin, I know you will do your best."

He nodded. "I have to go now. One of you can come with me, but the rest
will have to wait here."

"Shane, I think it should be you." I said, and the others nodded. "Just
keep us in touch."

"I will, can you let Nin know what's going on?"

"Sure," I said, "Alex, can you talk to Kritsada?"

Alex called Kritsada, and I rang Nin. "We don't know much, Nin. Not even
who is in there. Shane's gone with Thaksin and all we can do is wait. I
wanted to say you are doing great, you are on top of everything."

"Thank you, Jamie. That means a lot. I think Shane and I work well
together. There's no more news from here, I think we all have to wait."

"If you hear anything let us know."

"OK, Jamie, and stay safe there."

I ended the call and Alex came and sat next to me. "Kritsada is using all
his clout, but nobody seems to know anything."

"Nothing from Nin either."

As I reached for her hand, the crackling of automatic weapons erupted
outside. There was a pause in the gunfire, then it started again; short
bursts followed by screaming and shouting. The shooting sounded close, so I
grabbed Alex and Dao and pushed them to the floor. There was another short
burst from what seemed to be right outside the door. I looked around for
something, anything I could use to defend us.

Alex and Dao had crawled under a desk, and I picked up a wooden chair and
smashed it against the floor. It broke into pieces and I picked up what
remained of one of the legs. It would have to do. I stood to one side of
the door holding the chair leg like a baseball bat as someone turned the
handle from the outside. The door opened and a man burst in holding a
short-barrelled automatic weapon. Dao screamed as she saw him, and as he
whipped round to face the noise, I swung the chair leg as hard as I could
straight into his face. It splintered into pieces, but I heard the crack of
his nose breaking. He screamed and dropped the rifle as he fell to the
floor holding his face with blood pouring through his fingers.

I picked up the rifle and locked the door. The man was now rolling around
on the floor making sickening grunting noises, but I was taking no chances
and kept the gun trained on him. I jumped as another burst of gunfire came
from outside, followed by long bursts from several guns at once. The firing
stopped, then one shorter burst and no more.

In the sudden silence we heard the wail of an ambulance, and a helicopter
clattered overhead. Alex had picked up a piece of the broken chair and was
beating the man with it and screaming something in Thai. Dao said, "She's
asking him where Areeya is."

The door handle rattled, and I pointed the rifle at the door, my finger on
the trigger. I would take this one out if he came through the door.

"It's me, Shane, open the door."

I almost collapsed with relief and unlocked the door. He pulled up as he
saw me with the rifle.

"Whoa, Jamie. Let me take that."

"With pleasure, Shane."

He took it and unclipped the magazine. Alex had stopped hitting the man,
but she was still trying to get him to answer her questions. Shane bent
down, pulled her away and cuffed the man's hands behind his back with cable
ties from his pocket.

"Alex, he won't be answering questions for a while, not with the way his
face has been rearranged. Who did this to him?"

Dao pointed at me. "It was Jamie, she saved our lives. He would have shot
us I'm sure."

"Fair dinkum, Jamie. I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

Alex jumped in. "What the fuck happened? Is Areeya OK? I thought they
weren't going to start anything."

"Jandaeng's men tried to break out to get to the river. They started
shooting, and Thaksin's men had to return fire. Nobody says they saw a
woman, but we'll have to wait until they have cleared the place."

"It's clear now." Thaksin stood in the open door. "I can tell you we have
found no trace of your friend or Jandaeng, they were not here."

He stared down at the man on their floor who was now whimpering, then
looked at me. I shrugged. "You don't have to say it, I was in the wrong
place at the wrong time."

"You are wrong, this time it seems you were in the wrong place at the right
time. I am sorry, we should have stopped him. He should never have reached
here."

I wrapped my arms around Alex and Dao, but our relief was short lived. If
Areeya hadn't been here, she was still with Jandaeng somewhere. As if
reading our thoughts, Thaksin said, "Jandaeng is on his own. He cannot run
and hide much longer. We will find him soon. I would ask Jamie to stay to
give us a statement about how this piece of shit came by his accident,
shall we call it?" He paused to prod the man with his foot which set off
another round of moans. "But it's a formality. The rest of you can go."

Alex squeezed my hand. "Do you want me to stay?"

"No, you all go. You'll do more good back at the centre. Bring Kritsada and
Nin up to speed. I won't be long."

Dao came over and kissed me on the lips. "Thank you, Jamie. That was so
brave."

"Not brave, Dao. Desperate."

Alex snorted. "When will you believe us when we say you're brave?" She
kissed me too. "Hurry back."

The three of them left and after some of Thaksin's men had dragged the man
away, we sat and I wrote out my statement.

"Will this one get lost in the system too?"

He smiled. "The inefficient bureaucracy in the Kingdom can sometimes mean
documents are lost, yes. I am sorry we have met again under these
circumstances. I will do everything to find Jandaeng and your friend."

"Thank you, I know this was none of your doing, but we want her back so
badly."

"We want to find him too, he has many things to answer for. Do you want an
escort to take you back?"

"No, don't worry, I'll make my own way back. I'll pick up a boat and go
back along the river."

He walked me out through the barricades and we shook hands. "Keep us in
touch, Thaksin." I said as we parted.

I walked towards the river and was almost there when my phone rang and I
stopped to answer it. I almost dropped the phone as I heard Jandaeng's
voice.

"Listen farang whore. If you want to see your friend alive, then you do
what I tell you."

"Fuck you Jandaeng, where is she?"

"I have her here. Bitch, tell the farang you are here."

"Jamie, I'm here but don't do what he wants."

I heard a slap and I felt sick as I thought of what he was doing to her.

"If you want to see her again, then do as I say."

"OK, OK."

"I want you to come here. I will give instructions. Catch river bus to
Asiatique. I will call you in 30 minutes with more instructions. Do not
tell anyone else. If you do not come alone she dies."

The line went dead, and I had to hurry to catch the river bus which had
just pulled up. What the hell should I do? Would he carry through with his
threat if I called anyone? Could I risk calling his bluff? It took me the
whole of the ride to Asiatique to decide that I had to do what he said. If
there was a chance to free Areeya, I had to take it. It would go a long way
to make up for the guilt I felt.

Asiatique is a shopping mall on the riverside packed with tourists and
locals. I got off the river bus and my phone rang as I walked into the
mall.

"Go through to road and catch tuk-tuk to Mandarin Hotel. Remember, if you
talk to anyone, she dies. I give you 20 minutes."

I pushed to the front of the queue for tuk-tuks and told the driver to get
there as fast as he could. Traffic was worse than usual due to the many
roadblocks, and we got there with a few seconds to spare.

His call came as I paid the tuk-tuk. "Walk through hotel and there is
service area at back. Go straight through. If I see anyone else, I will
kill her."

I did as he said and emerged into a dark alley at the rear of the hotel. As
I looked around, I felt something poke into my side and Jandaeng
whispered. "I have gun in your side, we walk now."

He pushed me forward, and we walked down into a maze of passages and
alleys. I had no idea where we were.

"Take out phone, then drop on floor." I did, and he stamped on the phone,
smashing it into pieces. There would be no chance of anyone tracking me
now.

"Where are we going?" I said.

"Fuckin' shut up." He pushed the gun harder into my side. We emerged onto a
street where he stopped a tuk-tuk and pushed me inside. Keeping the gun
well hidden under his coat he gave the driver an address. He kept checking
the back window, but seemed to be satisfied we weren't being
followed. Telling the driver to stop he pushed me out in the middle of a
deserted side street. He hustled me down an alley, and I thought this was
where it was going to end. Jandaeng would shoot me here and leave me dead
in a grubby Bangkok alley. I steeled myself to try to jump him, but he kept
the gun pressed hard into my side. He stopped and opened a door, pushing me
inside. I gasped as I saw Areeya tied to a chair with duct tape around her
mouth.

"Areeya, are you OK?"

"She fine, I make her stop talking. She talk all the time."

"If you hurt her, I will make you pay for it."

He laughed and pointed the gun at my face. "You in no position to make me
pay for anything."

"What do you want, Jandaeng?"

"I want my fuckin' arm back." He yelled, thrusting his left shoulder
forward, his arm hanging uselessly by his side. "The one you shot, you
farang whore."

"It was an accident, I didn't shoot you. The gun dropped on the floor and
went off."

"I don't care, it was your fault."

"Listen to me Jandaeng, it wasn't my fault you got caught while you were
trying to kill Aki. If it wasn't for me, you would be dead. Aki was going
to kill you. You owe me your life."

"Fuck you." he screamed, "I owe you nothing. You will pay for what you did
to me, and Kritsada will pay big time money for his bitch daughter. Maybe
even in one piece if he pay enough."

Keeping the gun trained on me he patted me down. He found the Palad Khik
amulet Areeya had given me in my skirt pocket.

"You think this fuckin' piece of crap will protect you?" He threw it into
the corner of the room. "Nothing will save you now. You should not have
come. You should have shot me when you had the chance with that fuckin'
Yakuza."

I glanced at Areeya and she was staring wide eyed at me.

Jandaeng noticed and laughed. "You didn't know? The whore had the chance to
shoot me, but she couldn't do it. Good for me, bad for you both."

"Areeya, it wasn't like that, believe me."

"Shut up," he screamed and kicked me behind the knee, sending me sprawling
to the floor to the floor. I thought a ligament had snapped because it felt
like my knee had been touched with a red-hot poker. He bent down and
pressed the gun to my temple. "I have the gun now, and I am not scared to
use it like you."

I closed my eyes, waiting for him to pull the trigger.

"But no. I won't shoot you yet. You have to pay for my arm." He stood up
and stamped on my elbow. The pain was like nothing I had ever felt,
shooting up my arm and into the rest of my body. "That's only to start
with." I was writhing on the floor and he kicked me in the ribs, and that
was worse, like a cattle prod had been stuck in my side. I was sure some of
my ribs were broken. Bending down he yanked open my mouth and stuck the
barrel of the gun inside.

"I would put my cock in your mouth and make you suck it like last time, but
you would bite it off. So, suck on this, you whore."

He moved the barrel in and out and I closed my eyes, gagging on it. He
stood up once more, placed his foot on my elbow and slowly increased the
pressure until I was screaming with the pain.

"Now you know what my arm feels like." He moved around and kicked me in the
ribs on the other side. I moved with this kick this time, so it didn't do
as much damage, but it still hurt like hell.

"Before I am finished, you will be begging me to kill you."

The pain in my side and arm had subsided a little, and I knew I would have
to tackle him soon. I would not lay here and have him kick me to death. As
that thought went through my mind, he bent down again and cracked me across
the face with the gun. I turned my head as he hit me, so it was a glancing
blow but it made my ears ring and I could feel blood running down my nose.

I glimpsed Areeya who seemed to be trying to break free from the duct tape
that bound her to the chair.

He kicked me once more in the ribs and then aimed a kick at my head. I
covered my face with my hands which seemed to enrage him, and he hit my
knee with the gun butt making me scream once more, and he laughed. I
couldn't take much more of this, the beating was draining my strength. I
glanced at Areeya again and for a moment I thought she had loosened the
tape a little.

Jandaeng was warming to his task and stood on my elbow once more, making me
scream and writhe in agony. He kicked my ribs again, and I felt more of
them snap. Another kick like that could send a rib through my heart or
lungs. Time was running out fast, and I looked at Areeya for what I thought
would the last time before he killed me. She had got one arm free and was
tearing at the tape on her other arm. I screamed and yelled to cover up the
noise of the tape ripping, and to distract Jandaeng.

He kicked me again and stood in front of me so all I could see were his
shoes. "Say goodbye to your friend, because this is where I kill you." He
drew back his shoe and I tensed waiting for the kick that would slam into
my head.

Instead, I heard him say "Fuck." I opened my eyes to see Areeya had freed
both arms and was ripping at the tape on her legs. Jandaeng ran across to
Areeya and slapped her hard across the face. She fell sideways to the
floor, one leg now free of the tape. As he bent down to slap her again,
something glittered in my peripheral vision, and I realised he had put his
gun down while he dealt with Areeya. I tried to stretch out my hand but it
was just out of reach.

Summoning up all my remaining strength I tried to crawl on my belly towards
the gun. I moved a few inches and then flopped down exhausted. Jandaeng
slapped Areeya again and was yelling at her in Thai. He was trying to tie
her to the chair, but she was fighting back, and with only one arm he was
finding it difficult.

The gun was now only inches away, and I knew this would be my last
chance. Gritting my teeth and ignoring the pain, I moved one, then two
inches and felt the steel of the gun against my fingers. Areeya could see
what I was doing, and she redoubled her efforts to fight Jandaeng. He was
hitting her now to get her to stop. I knew if I didn't reach the gun this
time, I wouldn't have the strength to go for it again. My fingers scrabbled
to get a grip on the gun, and then I had it in my hand. Jandaeng turned
around, saw me and moved back towards me.

I raised the gun and as Jandaeng tried to kick it out of my hand, I pulled
the trigger. The noise was deafening and the recoil from the shot knocked
the gun from my hand. I thought I had lost my chance, he would shoot me now
for sure. I looked up expecting to see him standing over me, but he was
laying against the wall, his hands over his belly trying to stop the blood
pouring through his fingers.

He was looking wide eyed at me and trying to say something. He looked
disbelievingly down at the blood seeping through his hands before his head
slumped onto his chest. My last thought before my eyes closed and the
darkness came was that finally I had cut off the head off the snake.

They told me later Areeya had freed herself and used Jandaeng's phone to
call Shane. When he arrived, he picked me up and carried me to the
helicopter which took Areeya and me to the hospital. Alex and Dao rode with
us while Shane stayed behind to deal with Thaksin when he too arrived.

I spent a week in hospital, then another week in a wheelchair while I
recuperated at Kritsada's house. Alex and Dao watched over Areeya and me
like mother hens while we tried to deal with the emotional trauma we had
experienced. Praew supervised our care and eventually gave Areeya the green
light to go back to work.

Thaksin visited to take yet another statement from me. He said this one
wouldn't get lost, and I was in line for a reward for what I had done. I
told him to donate it to charity, I wanted no part of it.

I took a little while longer to deal with the nightmares I suffered, but in
time they became less frequent and I could sleep without reliving the
events of that night. Areeya had picked up the Palad Khik Jandaeng had
taken from me. I carry it everywhere, and it's sitting on my desk as I
write this.

Which brings me neatly onto why I am writing this. As part of my therapy,
Alex suggested I write down our adventures, and thus Cockatoo was born. She
says I should publish the story, but I seriously doubt anyone else would
find it interesting.

So, what happened to us afterwards?

Kritsada resigned his control of the businesses and became Non-Executive
President. Areeya took over as Chairman with Dao as CEO, and Alex and I
joined the Board. We sold off most of the red-light businesses, but kept
Cockatoo in Bangkok and Samui for old times' sake. We reinvested in the
legitimate businesses and expanded into new markets in Malaysia and
Vietnam. Pao is running both Cockatoo bars, and she is doing such a great
job we are making her a partner soon. A Chinese company bought the property
on Samui which we had bought for the Kathoey showbar and we turned a good
profit on the deal.

Praew and Kritsada married in a beautiful ceremony on Samui and moved to
the US where she has become a leading trauma surgeon and lectures all over
the world on advanced trauma care. She uses my survival after the pirate
attack as a case study. We owe her so much. Kritsada set up a Muay Thai gym
in Los Angeles and already has a few promising fighters on his books. He
sends me a bottle of Glendronach every birthday and New Year.

I bumped into Sam at a tech conference one day in Bangkok. She was shocked
to see me as Jamie, but we chatted and she was cool with it. It turned out
she wasn't happy with her job with the company which had been bought out by
an American tech giant. I told her I felt at a loose end and after talking
a few times we decided our skill sets would complement each other, and we
set up our own IT consulting company. It's gone well, even taking clients
from our old firm, and we're hiring extra staff to cope with demand. Areeya
doesn't mind me working with Sam. She's happy with Dao, and I think she's
forgiven Sam.

Alex got her Michelin star for Koh Samui Blue. She opened a new restaurant
in Bangkok called Bangkok Blue, and it won't be long before it too gets a
Michelin star. She's in Phuket now scouting locations for another
restaurant site. Alex and I decided we couldn't run our various enterprises
from Samui, so we moved our base to Bangkok. Alex still runs Koh Samui Blue
though, and we all use the apartment there as a vacation home. Cockatoo 3
is still there and I've taken my Yacht Master ticket so I can take clients
out by myself, but I keep an eye on any boat which gets too close. We keep
a shotgun on board, just in case.

Do I miss living on Samui? Yes, and no. It is still a beautiful island, and
after all it's where I met Alex and Areeya and where my life changed
forever. But, it harbours mixed emotions for me.

Shane and Nin set up their own close protection security company. I've
watched her training new recruits, and any guys who think someone like her
can't teach them anything have second thoughts when she has flipped them
onto their back with her fist poised to smash their windpipe. Shane and Nin
are not just business partners. They live together and are blissfully
happy. I have, with Alex's blessing, been with them both a few times, and
it's as awesome as you might imagine.

Alex and I are still together. I love her more than ever and we share a
penthouse apartment in Sukhumvit with Areeya and Dao. Yes, we do all get
together sometimes, and it can get steamy. After a lot of soul searching, I
decided to go ahead with breast implants. Praew recommended a surgeon she
trusts, and my operation is next week. Alex said she wants me to get 38
DDs. I will get something more modest, but I'm still not entirely sure she
was joking.

What happened to the others?

Aki didn't spend long in Bang Kwang prison. He was quietly deported to
Japan without even going on trial. There were rumours the Thai Government
were leant on by the Japanese Government. Mysteriously, he didn't go on
trial there either. The Yakuza have a long reach. The Triad leaders were
deported to Hong Kong. Nobody knows what happened to them when they got
there. It ended the turf war, leaving Thai crime back in the hands of the
Thais.

We heard through Sam that her brother Tony, the journalist who had caused
us so much trouble, had been fired from job after job because of his
drinking. Despite her many attempts to help, he died one night when he
smashed his car into a lamp post in Birmingham. His blood alcohol level was
four times the legal limit.

Thaksin was promoted and now heads up the entire country's anti-corruption
force; a tough job in Thailand.

Nancy and Joe separated, but we still do business with her company, and
once or twice I've met her as Scarlett. She loves to use her strapon, and
so do I.

So, that's about it. But, if you are lucky enough to visit Bangkok, find
your way to the Cockatoo bar in Soi Cowboy. You might find Alex, Areeya,
Pao, Shane, Nin, Dao, or Jamie there. If you're very lucky Scarlett might
be in that night. If you do meet any of them, tell them Nikkie sent you.

Laéw-jer-gan

The End