Little Girl Gone - By Battles, Brett Page 0,64
It’s already done.”
“Do you trust this person enough that he won’t tell anyone you talked to him?”
“He’s a decent guy. He won’t say anything.”
“So which client is Bell doing work for now?”
“That, I don’t know. But my friend did tell me who some of their clients are, though.”
“Who?”
She let out a not quite tension free laugh. “You have any openings at your garage? I might need a job after this.”
“We’d be happy to have you.”
She paused, then said, “One of their big clients is a Silicon Valley tech firm called Okomoto Systems. They specialize in mobile devices and applications. Then, of course, there’s Laredyne Industries. You’ve heard of them.”
He had. They were a defense contractor like Forbus. “What about their connection to Burma?”
“I didn’t really look into them, but I doubt it. Again, it would be illegal.”
“True, but how many times has Forbus gotten into gray areas overseas?” Logan asked.
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He smirked. “What about other clients?”
“LRB Oil, H. Wick, a medical supply company out of Indianapolis, a regional fast food chain. That’s about all I got at this point.”
H. Wick? He’d heard that name recently. But why would a medical supply company be involved in—
Angie.
The company she had stolen the money from. Hadn’t she said it was H. Wick Medical Supply? The company may very well not have been part of what was going on, but at the very least their attorneys—Bracher Schwartz—would have been aware of Angie’s embezzlement. She would easily have become an asset they could exploit.
“Thank you, Ruth. You’ve done more than I could have ever hoped.”
“You know, you never actually told me where you are?”
“You sure you want to know?”
She paused. “Please tell me you’re not in Burma.”
“I’m not in Burma.”
There was another pause. “You’re in Thailand aren’t you? That plane.”
“Yes.”
“Be careful, okay? And…and I hope you find the girl.”
“Me, too,” he said, but by then she’d already hung up.
After he showered and got dressed, he looked at Bell’s picture again.
A law firm fixer with a penchant for kidnapping, and, if Logan was right, murder. What kind of game was he playing? And was this actually for the law firm, or was he acting for someone else entirely? The generals in Myanmar, perhaps? As ludicrous as that idea had been at one point, Logan felt it was a very real possibility now.
He called Daeng. “Sorry to wake you,” he said as soon as Daeng picked up.
“You didn’t. I just got off the phone with one of my men by the river.”
“And?”
“Go downstairs. Someone will pick you up in a few minutes.”
Knowing he needed to stay flexible, Logan brought his backpack with him as he headed out of the hotel. At the curb, he found the same motorcycle driver who’d taken him to Christina’s the night before.
This time the ride only lasted fifteen minutes before the driver pulled to the curb a couple of blocks shy of the river, in an area where there seemed to be few other farang around.
Daeng was standing in the doorway of a pharmacy a few feet away, talking on his phone. There was a bandage on his injured ear, but otherwise he looked the same as he had the night before, save for the T-shirt. Einstein was out, and Bender, the robot from Futurama, was in.
As Logan walked over, Daeng nodded a hello, then held up a finger indicating he wouldn’t be long.
When he hung up, Logan asked “What’s going on?”
“We figured out what building they were in.”
“Were?”
“That’s the bad news,” Daeng said. “Either they were already gone by the time my men were in place, or they snuck out this morning and we missed them.”
Disappointed was not nearly a strong enough word for what Logan suddenly felt. “Is that possible?”
“Anything is possible,” Daeng said. “But I chose my men carefully. It would have been very unusual for them to have missed anything. But there is good news. They’re not all gone.”
“What?”
“The girl and most of the others, they’re not there anymore. But two farang men were still inside when we found the building.”
“Did you detain them?”
Daeng shook his head. “Not yet. They’re still there. Apparently, they’re cleaning up.”
Of course, Logan thought. Making sure there were no traces that they’d been there. Just like back in L.A.
“Do you want me to have my men move in?” Daeng asked.
Logan said nothing for a moment, thinking. If Daeng’s people grabbed them now, who knew how long it might take to get them to divulge where Elyse