Rotten Gold

Abby Kane FBI Thriller

Book 18

Ty Hutchinson

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

A Note From Ty Hutchinson

Also by Ty Hutchinson

1

The teenager’s heart drummed in his chest, each beat a stark reminder that he was still alive—and free. But for how long? The jungle at night was unforgiving: thick with shadows, slick with moisture, and teeming with predators. The elders had always warned him about the seua—the great orange-and-black-striped cat. Once thought to have vanished from these parts, the beast had returned, reclaiming its territory under the cover of darkness.

People were disappearing. What else could be responsible?

Some believed the seua’s return was nothing more than a wild tale—a bedtime story to keep children in line. After all, sightings of Indochinese tigers were so rare that many thought the species had died off completely. But the whispers about the recent attacks felt all too real.

Yet it wasn’t the tiger that had him running for his life.

A gunshot shattered the stillness, its sharp echo bouncing off the trees and sending the jungle’s nocturnal creatures into a frenzy. Beneath the dense canopy, the darkness was absolute. He could barely see a few steps ahead, but that darkness was his only advantage—the one thing between him and the hunters on his trail.

His village was among the smaller ones, with no more than a hundred men, women, and children, and belonged to the Karen hill tribe. While most of the Karen people lived near the lowlands, his village remained hidden high in the mountains. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this isolation was exactly why the men with guns had come for them.

The shouting grew louder, their voices now only yards away. Flashlights cut through the darkness like blades, sweeping the jungle floor. He forced himself to keep moving, every muscle screaming at him to stop, to surrender. But he couldn’t.

Each labored breath burned in his chest as he pushed through the dense undergrowth. Thorny vines snagged his skin, tearing at his arms, while his bare feet stung from the jagged terrain beneath them. Still, he pressed forward, determined to stay ahead.

Suddenly, his foot caught on a tree root, sending him crashing to the ground. He tumbled hard, landing with a jarring thud. Pain shot through his ankle, but he swallowed the cry that clawed at his throat, clutching his leg in desperate silence.

Get up! They’re close!

He forced himself up, biting back the pain that shot through his leg. But before he could make any real progress, beams of flashlights cut through the darkness, locking onto him.

Maybe they will show me mercy. Maybe all they want is my return.

He was just a teenager—no threat to anyone. Why would they fear him?

Yet no matter how hard he tried to convince himself to stop running, to surrender, the truth gnawed at him. The stories were real. He knew why the men had come and what they planned for his people.

The men closed in, their beams of light shackling him in place. He darted left, then right, but his every move was tracked. Surrounded with no escape, he veered right—blocked by an armed man. He swerved left—another blocked his path. It was over. The teen stood, defeated, squinting against the blinding lights.

One of the men approached. “Why did you run? What are you afraid of?” he said in the boy’s native language.

He shrugged, unwilling to make eye contact.

“You have nothing to fear from us. The seua is out here. He is more dangerous. We’ll protect you. Come with us. Let’s head back.”

A sharp pain exploded in his lower back as someone jabbed him from behind with the barrel of a rifle.

The teen suddenly recognized the man speaking to him. He had visited his village before, but during the day, never at night, and certainly not with these gunmen. Why had he returned? What did he want this time?

As they approached the village, he saw his neighbors, the elders, and even his mother, father, and younger brother all gathered in the center. They looked unharmed. Was he the only one who had been scared enough to run?

His mother rushed to him and threw her arms around him in a brief embrace before tending to his injured ankle. She was crying—though it seemed to be from relief. She had to be happy the men brought him back safely. Had he misunderstood everything? Had running when the rifle went off been the wrong decision? A wave of shame washed over him.

“Please, everyone. Come this way,” the man who’d captured him said. “There’s nothing to fear.” The other men instructed people to line up in rows. One of the men took a head count and wrote notes in a small book. Another man walked away as he spoke into a large walkie-talkie.

The teen was confused. If more information about his village was all they wanted, why come at night? Why not during the day?

After a short discussion among the armed men, the leader stood before them, his men standing off to either side of him.

“My name is Thuta. I apologize for our intrusion at this time of night. We needed to come here when all of you were safely home. Please, is there anyone missing? Don’t be afraid. Speak up now.”

The villagers looked at each other, unsure of what to say. One of the elders stepped forward and introduced himself. “We are all here. What is the reason for this? You come at night and scare our women and children with your guns.”

“Yes, and I’m sorry,” Thuta said. “We don’t mean to disturb you. This will be over soon, and we’ll be going.”

“What will be over soon?” the elder asked. “The young ones are tired. It’s late for them.”

“I ask for your patience.”

A few more minutes passed before the walkie-talkie crackled to life. The man holding it engaged in a conversation, speaking a language the teen didn’t understand. After a moment, he handed the device to Thuta, who continued the exchange briefly.

“Okay, we are done here. You see, I told you not much longer.”

His men then raised their rifles and fired on the group.

2

I was relaxing at one of the sidewalk tables outside of Fanelli’s Deli, waiting for Kang to return with our sandwiches. It was a beautiful day in San Francisco: clear skies above, a gentle breeze, and the warmth of the sun on my skin. I stretched my legs out, sliding down a bit in my seat, until the crook of my neck rested on the chair’s back. The tiny bell on the deli door rang out, drawing my attention.

“Finally,” I cried out as Kang exited the small shop. “I’m starving.”

“Yeah, there was a bit of a crowd in there.” He handed me a sandwich wrapped in butcher paper and a bottle of water before taking a seat.

“What did you get?” I asked as I unwrapped my sandwich.

“I got the meatball sandwich. It’s a must every time I come here. The sauce is crack cocaine for me.”

“Ooh, that’s a good one.” I flattened the paper, revealing my sandwich like a newly found species. “Lately, I’ve been addicted to the siciliano special. It’s got prosciutto, salami, mortadella, and provolone cheese with the works.”

“Sounds good,” Kang managed after taking a big bite. “There’s potato salad in the bag.”

After a few minutes of chowing down, we slowed enough to converse like normal people.

“You excited about your trip?” Kang asked.

“I can’t remember the last time I’ve been so excited about something.”

“You should be. You haven’t seen Ryan since he left home.”

My son Ryan had surprised us all with his decision to forgo attending university and take a job with the State Department, so he says. I knew that was complete bull. Why would the State Department hire a kid who had just graduated from high school? But that was the story he stuck to, never once wavering. Even with me using every trick I’d learned in my years of law enforcement to trip up a criminal in an interview. Maybe it was because he knew me so well.

Ryan had been assigned to the field somewhere in Southeast Asia. He wouldn’t say where, but he said he was out and about and moved around a lot. If you asked me, this sounded a lot like the CIA.

His first visit home was supposed to be Thanksgiving last year, but his work axed those plans a week before he was set to arrive. With his sister Lucy having moved out to attend the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, I was so excited to see them both. Ryan must have picked up on my moping. Well, I moped on purpose during our video calls just so he knew how disappointed I was not to have all my children under one roof for a few days.

I had never considered visiting him before because of the secrecy surrounding his job. So when he offered me a chance to meet him, it took me no more than a hot second to say yes and start planning.

“Did you think he’d be in Thailand?” Kang asked as he chewed.

I shook my head as I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “I thought he’d be in Laos or Cambodia. I don’t know if he’s stationed in Thailand. He just said it would make a good base. So that doesn’t necessarily imply that’s where he lives.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Kang unscrewed the cap on his bottle of water and took a swig.

“I told him I had no problem staying with him, but he said we would stay at a hotel in Chiang Rai. He already booked rooms for us in the city—five star, he assured me.”

“Wow. I wouldn’t complain, though I never heard of Chiang Rai.”

“It’s in the north of the country, near a similarly named city, Chiang Mai,” I said as a taxi with a loud muffler slowly drove by.

“There are two Chiang Rai?” Kang shouted above the noise. I waited until the taxi had passed.

“I said there’s a Chiang Rai and a Chiang Mai.”

“Gee, I wonder how many people get the two confused and travel to the wrong place.”

“According to Ryan, Chiang Rai is the smaller city of the two and more mountainous. It’s near the borders with Myanmar and Laos.”

Kang’s eyebrows popped up. “Hey, it must be near the famed Golden Triangle, the epicenter of the opium drug trade back in the seventies, eighties, and nineties.”

“Exactly. Why would the State Department have him working around there if he didn’t work for the CIA?”

“Man, you’ll never quit digging, will you?” Kang shook his head as he laughed.

“I just don’t understand why he doesn’t tell me he works for the CIA. What’s the big deal?”

“Uh, because they’re not supposed to say, and he took an oath.”

“Whatever. It’s a stupid rule.” I folded my arms across my chest. “I’m his mother and should have automatic clearance. I should know, especially if he’s stationed in the Golden Triangle.”

“I don’t think it’s the lawless region it used to be.” Kang met my gaze with a pointed look. “I hope you don’t make this trip about Ryan’s job when you get out there. Enjoy your time with the boy. Take a break from this crazy business we work in. I’m sure he’s eager to spend quality time with you.”

“Ryan has a long list of activities he’s put together, everything from a jungle trek to cooking classes to getting a traditional Thai massage.”

“You see, that sounds great. I wish I were taking that flight with you. I can imagine chilling in a hammock that overlooks the jungle, all while sipping on cold coconut water.”

I watched Kang lean back in his chair with his eyes closed as he pretended to sip from a coconut. “Okay, okay, you’re right. I haven’t had a proper vacation in years. And I really am looking forward to spending time with him. I’m so used to heading into the office day in and day out.”

He popped back to life and sat forward, shoving the last of his sandwich into his mouth. “Look at it this way. You have no jurisdiction over there. You can’t travel with your service pistol. Might as well enjoy it. You have nothing to worry about here. I’ll hold down the fort until you get back. I don’t even want you phoning in for updates. Don’t look at your work email. Take your personal cell phone, not the one issued to you by the bureau.”

“I know, I know.”

“I’m serious, Abby. You need to be a tourist there. An ordinary joe. Can you do that?”

“What? Be a nobody? Sure.”

“Good. Now that we straightened that out, I need you to do a simple handoff to the bureau’s attaché at the consulate.”

“Sure, do I need a disguise while at it?” I asked, thinking Kang was joking, but the look on his face told me he wasn’t. “Wait a minute. You just got done telling me not to think about work while I’m there, and now you’re asking me to be a mule for the FBI?”

“The segue is terrible, but it’s just a small package. An agent I know in the LA office asked if you could take it there.”

“What? Tell him to send it in through the mail or a diplomatic pouch if it’s so sensitive.”

“No can do. It’s not business related. It’s personal. And according to him, the postal service there is spotty.”

“Do I know this guy?”

“I doubt it, but he knows who you are. Look, it’s my fault; I had inadvertently mentioned that you were heading there.”

“Why? You just said I don’t know him.”

“He invited me down to do some deep-sea fishing—he’s got a boat. I said I couldn’t since you would be out of the country. I wasn’t thinking. It’s my fault. Look, you don’t have to do anything—the agent you deliver it to will come to you. You just need to hand it over. That’s it.”

“Oh, wait, before I forget.” I sat up straight, cleared my throat, and said in my most authoritative voice, “Until I return, the office is yours.”

“Ah, nice Game of Thrones reference.” Kang gave an approving nod.

“Yeah, I finally finished the entire series last night. Awesome stuff. I wish I had a dragon to fly around on.”

“Could you even climb on one? It’s not like it comes with a kickstand.”

“I’d make you my squire, so you’d have to lift me up anyways. But seriously, about this package. I’ll drop it off, but if this guy wants me to sit in on something, look over an investigation, or pick my brain for a few minutes, the answer is no. So, pass that along to your fishing buddy so he can prep his guy in Thailand. I won’t get roped into anything work related. I don’t even want to know what’s in this stupid package. This is Abby and Ryan’s time. Got it?”

“I promise it’ll be a simple handoff…five minutes tops—and then you’re done.”

3

After twenty-four hours of travel, I finally touched down at Chiang Rai International Airport midafternoon. It had been a while since I traveled on a long-haul flight with two stops. Playing solitaire on my phone kept me entertained for the first hour of the trip. After that, I was at the mercy of whatever movies and TV shows the airline had available. I was so glad I’d spent the money on a business class seat. Stepping off that metal cylinder felt like being released from a week of solitary confinement. But after a few steps into the gangway, my excitement returned.

I’d already passed immigration during my stop in Bangkok, so I quickly went to collect my luggage. I texted Ryan to let him know I was heading there and would meet him afterward. As soon as I stepped into the arrivals hall, I spotted him grinning from ear to ear.

“Hi, Abby!” he said as he hugged me. “It’s so good to see you. I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you more,” I said, returning the bear hug.

I pulled back and looked him over. He didn’t look as thin as he had in the videos; in fact, he looked twice his size. He had broad shoulders and bulging biceps… I hit his chest twice with a balled fist.

“You’ve packed on muscle.”

“A little.”

I looked up at him. His face had lost his remaining boyish looks, but other than that, he was still my little boy.

“How was your flight?” he asked as he took my luggage.

“Boring and draining, but it was worth it. I’m so excited to be here.”

“There’s so much to do and explore here. Plus, I rented a car, so getting around will be no problem.”

We drove straight to the hotel. I so badly wanted a shower and a fresh outfit.

According to the hotel’s website, which I had viewed before my trip, the Le Méridien Chiang Rai was just outside town and sat on the bank of Kok River. It was absolutely beautiful, with its stunning traditional Thai architecture and the backdrop of trees that kept it hidden. Ryan had booked us two separate suites on a high floor facing the river. I couldn’t wait to wake up to the view. After a quick shower and a change, I met up with Ryan on the hotel’s veranda facing the river. He was sipping a brightly colored cocktail.

“I’ll have what he’s having, please,” I said to the server as I took a seat next to Ryan.

“Feel better?”

“It’s like night and day.” I drew a deep breath. “It smells wonderful, exotic.”

We spent the next two hours catching up and exchanging stories before our stomachs growled. Ryan suggested we eat off site. He had read about a great Thai restaurant downriver, within walking distance.

The restaurant was under large rain trees, with outdoor seating facing the river. Of course, we overordered, choosing a variety of dishes to share. I told Ryan I wanted to try all new dishes, nothing I was accustomed to back home, like pad thai.

“You got it,” he said and proceeded to order while I enjoyed the view.

“I ordered pla tabtim tod, a deep-fried red tilapia, and hor mok talay, a Thai seafood curry dish. It’s served in these little custard cups made of banana leaves. It’s excellent. I also ordered nam prik, which is a fermented relish that you dip raw vegetables in. It sounds weird, but you’ll dig it. And lastly, two bowls of khao soi. You’ve seen me eat this noodle dish in some of our calls. It’s my favorite and the most famous of all the northern dishes. Plus, sticky rice.”

“It all sounds wonderful, and I love sticky rice!”

“Yeah, it’s great for mopping up the juices.”

I took pictures of Ryan and me and the food we were eating and sent them to the group chat I had set up for this trip. That way, Lucy, Po Po, and Kang would all be kept abreast of my travels.

“So tomorrow, I thought we’d start with a jungle trek,” Ryan said. “How does that sound to you?”

“That sounds fabulous.”

“Great. The entire trip will last about six hours. After all that trekking, we can end the day at the hotel getting massages.”

“Yup, sounds perfect. How jungle is the jungle? I’ve been to the Amazon forest, and there were no trails.”

“Don’t worry, there are trails and pathways where we’re heading. We’ll have a guide with us the entire way. There’s even a waterfall where we can swim, plus they’ll teach us to cook our own lunch, which should be fun. Lastly, we get to zip-line through the jungle canopy. And if we’re lucky, we’ll see an elephant.”

“I’m impressed. You have everything figured out. Have you been on this jungle trek before?”

“No, this will be the first. I’ll admit, I might have been here for a while, but barely any of my travels were for pleasure. I can finally be a tourist here with you.”

“So, you live in Chiang Rai?”

“No, I live in a small village away from here. There are a couple of small guesthouses there, but nothing like where we’re staying. And my place is too small to house us both. We’d both be more comfortable here. Plus, Chiang Rai serves as a great base. We’re within driving distance for awesome day trips, and the downtown area is vibrant and offers a lot of shopping opportunities.”

“Aw, I was hoping to see where you live.”

“You are. Look around. This is where I live.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I do, but visiting my apartment isn’t worth the effort.”

“Do you work in your village?”

“Sometimes. Most of the time, I’m traveling. A big part of my job is outreach.”

“Spreading the goodwill of the United States?”

“You could say that.”

He was deflecting. That smile on his face didn’t fool me. Underneath it was a man irritated that his mother was prying. But that was the thing with Ryan; he’d never really gotten impatient with my prying. He knew I loved him and that I was just a nosy mama.

“You mentioned earlier that you rented the car. How do you get around when you don’t have it?”

“Motorbike. If you want, we can rent some and travel the back roads.”

4

The jungle trek Ryan had booked required an early start—5:00 a.m.—since we had an hour’s drive to the site. The tour guide recommended heading out early to avoid the sweltering midday heat. The group was small: just Ryan and me, a couple from Singapore, and two young women from Vietnam.

We began by crossing a rice paddy as the sun rose. I must have snapped over a hundred pictures on my phone; the scenery was just that stunning. Ryan had been right about the jungle—there was a well-trodden path, likely carved by the footsteps of countless tourists before us. Above, the canopy echoed with the sounds of unseen birds and monkeys, a wild symphony that followed us along the trail.

“There!” Our guide, Gop—his name translated to “frog”—stopped and pointed up. Above us were a bunch of macaque monkeys chasing each other. “These are the most common monkeys in Thailand. They’re everywhere.”

“Any snakes here?” the woman from Singapore asked.

“There are a lot, everything from king cobras to large pythons, but so long as you stay on the path, you’ll be fine.”

“And tigers?” her husband asked. “They roam around here, right?”

“They have been making a comeback, but they prefer the mountains. One will rarely come to the area we’re in. And they are not accustomed to humans, so even if they were around, they’d keep their distance.”

The hike to Khun Korn Waterfall was along a winding trail lined with towering trees whose canopies formed a natural roof. The sunlight filtered through into dappled patches on the jungle floor, and the air had an earthy scent of damp soil that smelled surprisingly clean.

As we neared the waterfall, my ears picked up the distant sound of rushing water. At that point, the trail steepened and was laced with exposed roots and jutting rocks.

“Watch your steps,” Gop called out.

After a final push up a small hill, the forest opened to reveal Khun Korn Waterfall. Cascading from a height of seventy meters, the waterfall was a spectacular sight framed by lush foliage. The water crashed into the pool below, creating a fine mist that sparkled in the sunlight. The air around the waterfall was refreshingly cool, a welcome respite after the hike.

“The water is crystal clear,” I said, able to see smooth, rounded rocks at the bottom. Fish darted playfully, and river prawns clung to the sides of the large mossy boulders.

We took a moment to absorb the beauty before Gop spoke, sharing that Khun Korn Waterfall was the tallest in Chiang Rai. Almost immediately after his spiel, the two girls from Vietnam shed their outer clothes to reveal swimsuits and plunged into the pool, screaming from the shock of the cold water.

Encouraged by Gop, who assured us nothing in the water was dangerous, I removed my hiking shoes and dipped my tired feet into the water. Ryan joined me, and together, we found a large, flat rock where we could sit and let the water lap around our legs.

“What a relief,” he said.

“Sure is.” I snapped a selfie of Ryan and me.

Gop came over to where we were. “Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all. Please sit.” Ryan and I scooted over. “Do you ever get tired of coming up here?”

“It’s a different experience every time, especially since I never come here with the same people twice. I love it.”

“Have you explored much of the jungle?” I asked.

“Only a fraction. A lot of it is off limits and too dangerous to hike. If you get injured or lost, it can be impossible for anyone to find you. There’s no cell phone service. But getting lost or injured is the least of your worries. There are dangerous animals. You can get bit by a poisonous snake, even trampled by an elephant. Wild animals are very unpredictable.”

“So, is it all just wild land?”

“The farther up you go, the greater the chance of running into the hill tribes.”

“Hill tribes?”

“There are hundreds of ethnic tribes dotting parts of Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and China. Seven major ones populate the mountains. Some of the villages are small, some are big. Some have no interaction with the outside world, and some do, usually the ones that have settled in the lowlands or close to it.”

“It’s true,” Ryan said. “When I have time, I like to do volunteer work with a local NGO. I’ve gotten to work with the Hmong. Very nice people.”

“Yes, the Hmong are one of the major hill tribes,” Gop said.

“I didn’t know you were doing volunteer work,” I said, my brow crinkled. “Why didn’t you ever mention it before, during our calls?”

Ryan shrugged. “I guess it never came up.”

I turned to Gop. “Can we visit one of these tribes?”

“There are a few that are tourist friendly and aren’t as remote as the ones higher up in the mountains. I wouldn’t advise trying to visit those villages…”

Gop looked like he’d been about to say something else. “What is it?”

He shook his head as he smiled. “It’s silly, but Thai people can be superstitious. There are stories about people who go missing in the jungle in strange ways.”

I perked up, having worked on my fair share of missing persons cases. “What kind of ways?”

“It’s hard to explain. I’ve always heard these stories from other people who have heard it from other people they know. Basically, what I heard is that entire villages disappear.”

“Disappear? You mean the entire place vanishes into thin air?”

“No, the people who work and live there disappear. Some say they are dead. Some say they just moved.”

“Is it possible that they could have abandoned their village to find a better location?” Ryan asked as he leaned in to hear Gop better.

Gop shrugged. “Maybe. I’m not that familiar with their way of life.”

I looked at Ryan. “Have you heard about this while volunteering?”

“If I’m being honest, I have heard something similar, but I’ve always brushed it off as a ghost tale used to scare children; you know, better finish your food, or you’ll disappear like those people.” He chuckled.

Gop stood up. “We’ll need to leave soon to stay on schedule. Our cooking class is next.”

By the time we wrapped up our jungle trek and returned to the hotel, I was ready for some much-needed pampering at the hotel’s spa. Every part of my body seemed to ache, so we headed straight to the spa in our sweaty clothes.

“Don’t worry. We’ll have a chance to shower before the massage,” Ryan said.

The spa was tucked away in a peaceful part of the hotel, far from the usual bustle. We entered through a sliding wooden door intricately carved with lotus flowers and elephants. The moment I stepped inside, the air was cooler, infused with the earthy scent of lemongrass and jasmine dispersed by an aroma diffuser sitting on a low teak table near the entrance.

The waiting room was cozy, furnished with bamboo chairs and cushioned in muted fabrics. A small wooden bench, polished to a soft sheen, sat by the window, holding neatly folded towels and a few decorative orchid plants. Soothing music played in the background.

Behind the reception desk, framed photos showed serene images of a woman receiving a facial and another enjoying a back massage in peaceful bliss. That would be me shortly.

A smiling woman stood behind the desk, hands folded neatly in front of her. Her black hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and her eyes sparkled with warmth as she looked at us.

“Welcome,” she said as she handed us each a brochure listing services.

I took a seat and looked over the offerings. “These packages aren’t that expensive when compared to the ones back in the States,” I said.

“And just think, this is a five-star hotel. It’s even cheaper outside, especially where I live. I’m a foot-massage junkie.”

“I’m warning you now. I might want to be here more than an hour.”

“That’s fine. Better to take advantage while you can. And remember, I’m paying, so get whatever you want.”

We both opted for the ninety-minute aromatherapy massage. I thought about adding a facial, which would take an additional thirty minutes, but I thought I’d save that for another day. My masseuse was a lovely woman about the same height as me. She greeted me with a big smile and the traditional Thai wai before leading me down the hall. She told me her name was Fon, which means “rain” in Thai.

“That’s a pretty name,” I said as I followed her. “My name is Abby.”

“I will take good care of you today, Miss Abby.”

Fon opened the door and gestured for me to enter first.

“Oh wow! This is amazing.”

The room featured a floor-to-ceiling window that offered a breathtaking view of the river below. There was a slight tint on the window, so I realized that while I could see out, no one could see in. Candles flickered gently, and the soft scent of incense filled the air. The same melody of drums, flutes, and bells that I’d heard in the waiting area played in the background. In the center of the room were a massage table and an open shower with smooth pebbles lining the floor and a rain showerhead above.

I stared out the window for a bit before Fon instructed me to remove my clothes and shower.

“I’ll be back.”

The warm water pelted me with the right amount of pressure—it was a massage in itself. I could have stood there for thirty minutes and been happy.

When Fon returned, she instructed me to lie face down on the massage table. She poured oil on her hands and rubbed them together briefly, warming them before placing them on my back. My nose picked up the jasmine scent.

“Good night,” Fon said.

Good night? Hmm, she must have gotten good afternoon and good night mixed up.

A few minutes later, I woke to Fon gently shaking my arm.

“Please turn over,” she said with a smile.

“Huh? But you just started on my back,” I said, looking around, confused.

She laughed quietly and pointed to a clock on the wall. Almost forty-five minutes had passed, and I hadn’t even noticed. Now I understood why she’d said “Good night.” I had slept through the first half of the massage.

“Did I really sleep that entire time?” I asked as I turned over onto my back.

She nodded. “You will sleep again. Everyone does.”

“You are good,” I said. “Real good, but this time, I’ll stay awake.”

Sadly, I woke to Fon gently shaking my arm. She had won.

“Did I enjoy it?”

“Of course. You sleep like a baby. Tomorrow, you can try traditional Thai massage. A lot of stretching. You will stay awake. Now we begin your facial.”

“Facial? I don’t think I ordered it.”

“It’s part of the package. Relax. You will enjoy it.”

I stayed up for the facial, as it was difficult to fall asleep with her touching my face. But they were gentle, soothing touches that I didn’t mind. Afterward, she gave me a body scrub, stating it was part of the package. I didn’t stop her. I mean, who would, right? When we finally finished, Fon pointed to the shower.

Even changing back into the same clothes from the hike didn’t spoil the relaxed state of bliss I had been put in. Any tension or muscle soreness I had before the massage was gone.

I sat in the waiting room and sipped green tea Fon had brought me. My session was longer than I had expected, so Ryan wasn’t around. I assumed he stepped out and would be back. But after ten minutes passed, there was still no sign of him. I asked the attendant at the reception desk if she’d seen him.

“He left right after Fon took you to your room.”

Huh? “But he got a massage, too, right?”

“No, it was just you.”

“Are you sure? Because my son and I both booked massages.”

“Yes, Miss Abby, but after you left, he canceled his and changed your package to our premium package.”

Well, that explains the facial and the body scrub.

“He paid and left.”

That’s so strange. “So, I don’t owe anything?”

“No.”

Ryan changing his mind or paying for me to have a better package wasn’t a big deal, but I was sure he’d been on board for a massage when we came here. Why come to the spa with me, look over the brochure, and select a service only to cancel it right after? It made zero sense. But whatever, I wasn’t about to dwell on it. I’d thoroughly enjoyed my massage and planned on visiting again. I made my way out and ran into Ryan just outside the spa.

“Hey, so what did you think? Relaxing, right?” I watched him stretch an arm over his head and bend his torso at the waist. “It was a good decision to come here right after our hike.” He twisted left and right at the waist.

“I did enjoy it… Where were you?”

“I grabbed an energy drink.” He pulled a small bottle out of his pants pocket. “That massage made me a little sleepy. Did you want one?”

“The receptionist told me you changed my package.”

“Yeah, my treat. I figured you’d like it. And would need it after that hike.”

“I don’t remember much of my aromatherapy massage. Apparently, I slept through almost all of it, but I feel great.”

“Yeah, that’s common for newbies.” He cracked open his energy drink and took a few gulps.

“Did you fall asleep during your massage?” I asked, wondering if he would continue to lie to me.

“Nah, I’m used to it. I get drowsy, and it might look like I’m sleeping, but I’m not.”

“I see.” It was so strange that he acted like he’d completed his massage when, in fact, he hadn’t.

“Are you hungry? We could change into clean clothes and head out to dinner.”

“Yeah, that sounds great.”

As we walked to the bank of elevators, I was still baffled by his pretending to get a massage. He even doubled down and suggested we return the next day. I mean, talk about committing to a role. Why lie about something like that?

5

“Leave her alone,” the young man shouted as he ran toward another man who was dragging a woman out of her hut by her arm. He tried to force him to let go but was quickly knocked to the ground by a brutal backhand to the side of his head. He lay there for a moment, dazed.

All around the small village, men with rifles were either dragging people or pushing them from behind. Those who resisted were punched and kicked. Young children were no exception. One by one, the village was corralled into a tight group in the center of the town.

“Get up!” The young man looked up and stared straight into a rifle barrel. “Get up!” the armed man said. The young man rose to his feet just as the man slammed the butt of his gun into his side. “Move!”

“Why are you doing this?” the man asked as he was ushered to the group, still rubbing the tender area of his rib cage where he had been struck. “We’ve done nothing to you.”

“Everyone, please, listen to us, and no one will be hurt,” another man called out. He at least had a pleasant smile and wasn’t attacking anyone. “My name is Thuta. My men and I are not here to harm you. We just need to collect information, nothing more. Cooperate, and this will all be over quickly. Resisting will only prolong our efforts.”

The village stood shoulder to shoulder, huddled together in a large group. Children cried, and their mothers did their best to soothe them. Two armed men moved through the crowd, asking each person for their name, age, and date of birth. One of them jotted down the details in a worn notebook.

“Please answer the questions truthfully,” Thuta said as he watched.

“I am Zeya,” a man called out. “I’m one of the elders in this village. Why are you asking for this information?” The elder, who looked about sixty years old, took a step forward, his chest puffed out and his chin held up, showing strength.

Thuta walked over to him and looked him in the eyes momentarily. “You are responsible for everyone here?”

“I am.”

“You are concerned for your people?”

Zeya nodded slowly, the crinkles that lined his forehead deepening.

Thuta rested a hand on the man’s shoulder, gently patting. “My friend, we are conducting surveys. The government wants to accurately account for everyone living in the mountains.”

“Why do they need this information? They’ve never bothered before. What do they plan to do? We have a right to know.”

“Your concerns are valid. The government needs this information to properly design programs to help you and your people.” Thuta took a few steps back so he could address the group. “Understand, my men and I are just here doing a job. We need to earn money so we can feed our families. The sooner we can collect the necessary information, the sooner we’ll leave.”

“Why bring these guns with you?” Zeya asked. “Are you soldiers?”

“The guns are for our protection. We’ve heard reports that the seua has returned to these areas.”

Zeya nodded in agreement. The villagers were aware that the tigers had returned to the mountains.

While some of Thuta’s men continued their interviews, others were dispatched to search the huts where the villagers lived.

Hiding in a hut, far from the group, a young teen girl peeked through a small opening and watched everything. She could see her parents standing with the others. Her mother looked in her direction, and the girl waved her hand, grabbing her mother’s attention. Her mother’s eyes widened, and she made the familiar signal with her hand—the same wave she always made when she wanted her daughter to go somewhere.

One of the armed men was approaching the hut she was hiding in. It wasn’t her family’s hut but one of her neighbors’. As soon as she’d seen the men with the guns, she’d ducked inside out of fear. Her mother’s signaling increased. The girl couldn’t understand why she was insisting she leave. Why didn’t she want her to come to them? That was all the girl wanted: to run to her parents and be safe in their arms.

The armed man was now searching the hut next door, her family’s home. Soon, he would enter the hut she was in. Maybe he will take me to my parents. Maybe that’s his job, to find people who are not in the group. She wanted to believe that, but the look on her mother’s face, the look of fear, told her otherwise.

No sooner had she watched the armed man enter her home than he exited, holding a few books. She recognized them. Those were her books. He quickly hurried back to the man who called himself Thuta. After a quick discussion, the man turned to the group as he held up a book.

“Who here can understand what I’m saying?” he said in English. Of course, she knew no one in the group would understand. She was the only one in the village learning English. “Don’t be shy. Who is the clever one here?”

The villagers looked at each other, confused, as they didn’t understand what he was asking.

“Is it you?” Thuta asked a young man. “Do you understand English?”

He stared back, his mouth hanging slightly open.

Thuta spoke in their native language. “Nobody here understood me, but here I am, holding a book to learn English.” He smiled at the crowd. “Let’s not be shy. Tell me, who is learning English? Come on. Who is the clever one? I would like to meet this person. I know someone here owns these books.”

The villagers looked at each other, but none dared say anything, even though most knew she owned the books and was studying English.

“One of my men found this book.” Thuta showed the book to the group. “It doesn’t belong to us. Can anyone tell me who it belongs to?”

A murmur grew as the girl watched her nervous neighbors contemplate and assess their situation. They were all scared, and the man only wanted to know who owned the book.

A group of women, all friends of the girl’s mother, peered in her direction. It was enough for Thuta to notice.

“Is it you?” he asked as he walked over to her mother. “Are you the owner?” Thuta said in English as he stared into her eyes. “Don’t be afraid. I remember when I first started to learn English. It can be difficult, but it’ll come to you if you keep practicing.”

Thuta looked at her father. “This is your husband, yes? Maybe he’s the one studying.”

Her father shook his head. “We don’t understand you,” he said in their native language.

Thuta smiled and switched back to their native language when he said, “Someone here is studying English.” Thuta waved the book in front of her father’s face and held it up high for everyone to see again. “Who is the owner? Tell me. I can only be patient for so long.”

Still, everyone remained quiet. No one wanted to be the one to say what everyone knew.

Thuta walked over to Zeya and stared him in the eyes for a moment before pulling out the handgun that hung off his belt. He pointed it at the old man’s head. “You are the elder. You know everything that happens here. Who is the owner of this book?”

Zeya said nothing. A second later, the gun went off, and Zeya fell to the ground, lying there motionless as blood soaked the dirt under his head.

The crowd erupted in screams. The calm children were crying once again. The armed men were now aiming their guns at the crowd and shouting at them.

“Tell me who owns the book!” Thuta yelled.

The girl pushed her legs to move as quickly as they could across the uneven jungle floor, dodging exposed tree roots and moss-covered rocks. She pushed off trees and swatted hanging vines. She didn’t think to slow or glance back and didn’t question which way to go. The right direction was anywhere far from the village—where the gunfire still echoed in the distance.

Seeing Thuta kill Zeya had been all the encouragement she needed to flee, just like her mother had wanted. But even after witnessing that horror, part of her still longed to run to her parents, to feel safe in their arms.

No sooner had she slipped out the back of the hut than the rapid gunfire erupted, and she understood exactly what was happening. She’d never see her parents again. And if she wanted to live to see another day, she would have to swallow the fear that had crashed over her like a tidal wave and run as fast and as hard as she could.

No food. No water. Barefoot, with only the clothes on her back. Could she survive a day in the jungle? Two days? What about a week? Of course. This was her home—she knew how to find water, and what was safe to eat. The jungle wasn’t the problem. What terrified her were the men. Had someone given her up at the last minute, attempting to save themselves? She wouldn’t blame them if they did. Why should someone die because of her?

If the men came for her, would they kill her? Rape her? No, she believed they were the kind of men who would torture her first, then rape her and leave her for the jungle—easy prey for a python or, worse, the seua.

Her mother had been right to tell her to run. Despite the leader’s calm words and claims of peace, their intentions were clear from the start, and the elders had known it too.

Weeks ago she’d eavesdropped on the elders late at night as they gathered around the fire, whispering about the stories from nearby villages. Men with guns arrived, and then—everyone in the village disappeared. Were they killed? No one could say for sure. There were no bodies, just silence. Some elders believed it; others wanted proof. A few dismissed it as nonsense. They’d argued long into the night, never agreeing on what to do.

Time wasted.

The men came, just as they had feared. Now her village would become another story—another warning whispered.

6

When I woke the next morning, I felt more rested than I had in the past two years. Kang was right about me needing a proper vacation. I checked my phone and saw Ryan had texted that he would be downstairs on the veranda. I took a quick shower and made my way down.

“How did you sleep?” He asked as I sat at his table.

He was drinking coffee and picking at a fruit platter filled with pineapple, dragon fruit, lychee, melon, and mango. I placed an order for hot water, as I’d brought my personal tin full of tea leaves. While I waited, I helped myself to the fruit.

“Mmm, this mango is so sweet,” I said, my eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

“It always is. I’m spoiled. Try the lychee; it’s like biting into a watermelon, it’s so juicy.”

They were already peeled, so I popped one into my mouth, and he was right. An explosion of sweetness coated my mouth.

“What’s on the agenda today?” I asked. “So far, you’re batting a thousand on fun things to do.”

“I thought we could take a drive to the White Temple. Now, before you object, I realize you grew up in Hong Kong, and when you’ve seen one Buddhist temple, you’ve seen them all, but this one is different.”

“Wait, let me guess. Is it white?”

“It is. It literally looks like it’s made from porcelain, but it’s not.”

The server reappeared with my hot water, and I quickly dropped a few leaves in so they could steep.

“Also, I might add, I’ve always thought it looked like it could be the home of the wicked ice queen in the north.”

“I’m in. Is it far?”

“Nah, it’s like a twenty-minute drive out of town.”

As I sipped my tea and took in the view, I remembered Ryan’s little white lie he’d told me yesterday. I hadn’t bothered to bring it up over dinner the night before, as we were having such an enjoyable conversation. I thought about mentioning it now, but it also seemed like we were both in a good mood. Why bring down the mood with something like that? I decided it wasn’t worth knowing. Maybe he changed his mind and didn’t want me to feel bad. And it was just a fricking massage. Who cared, right?

You do, Abby. You hate being lied to.

After breakfast, we made the short drive to the White Temple passing farmland backed by a mountain range in the distance. Upon arrival, I told Ryan he was right about it being porcelain white. The temple was unlike any temple I’d seen, and I’d seen a lot. From afar, it looked like a structure made from bones, not ice. I wasn’t sure how Ryan saw it fitting for an ice queen.

It didn’t take long to tour the place. It was spectacular to look at, but I was familiar with the ins and outs of temples, as was Ryan. We didn’t hover like the other visitors as they took in all the details while snapping photos, though I did take a few pictures to post to the group chat.

Ryan wanted to use the bathroom, so we split up. I was slowly making my way back to the parking lot when I came across a woman sitting off to the side of a pathway. She was holding a large sign. I couldn’t read what it said—it wasn’t in English—but there were photos of people on it. The quality wasn’t great; it looked like it had been taken with an old cell phone from the early 2000s. She spoke to passersby in a language I didn’t recognize. I slowed my pace as I looked over her sign.

“She’s saying those people are missing.” I turned around, and a young woman was behind me. I recognized her from the ticket booth.

“What happened to them?”

“She said they had disappeared. I think they might be family members, but I’m not sure. I only understand a little of the language she’s speaking. She comes from one of the ethnic tribes. People from Myanmar would understand her.”

“What about the writing? Can you read it?”

“It looks like scribble to me.”

“That makes two of us.”

I couldn’t help but wonder if this was what our jungle guide had been talking about. These were missing people from a hill tribe.

“You said these people disappeared? What does she mean by that?”

“I’m not exactly sure. I just understand enough to know she said they disappeared.”

“Thank you for your translations.”

The woman nodded and then continued on her way.

I found Ryan standing by the car. “There you are,” he said. “I thought maybe you doubled back and went to the bathrooms.”

“Nope, I’m all good.” I climbed into the front passenger seat.

Ryan started the engine. “Did you like the temple?” he asked as he looked over his shoulder and backed out of the parking space.

“Yeah, it was interesting. On the way back to the parking lot, I came across this woman from one of the hill tribes. She was trying to get the word out on missing people from her village.”

“How do you know?”

“She had a large, handwritten sign with photos attached.”

“Since when did you start understanding the language of the hill tribes?” Ryan asked and chuckled.

“Since now, you wiseass. One of the staff members from the temple loosely translated for me.”

“The languages the hill tribes speak, and there are many different dialects, aren’t very common. I highly doubt that woman got the translation right.”

“Well, she did admit she didn’t understand everything the woman said, and she couldn’t read the sign, so, yeah, it’s possible, but if you ask me, I think she got the gist of it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because it’s similar to what our jungle guide talked about yesterday.”

“Ah, Abby, you’ve got to understand—people in this region are very superstitious. Everything is a ‘sign.’” Ryan held up two fingers in air quotes. “Anything out of the ordinary is seen as an omen. This is a country where people choose their lottery numbers based on random numbers they spot in the wild.”

“Oh, okay, Mr. I-Know-It-All-Because-I-Live-Here.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“You seem dismissive about everything, and I don’t understand why.”

“Because I’ve gotten to understand the tribes a bit from my volunteering. A lot of unlearning needs to be done for them to navigate the modern world. Superstitions are a large part of how they make decisions. It’s not always productive.”

“Is it possible to visit one of these villages? I’d love to see what they’re like.”

“Absolutely. We can go to one as soon as we finish up here. It’ll be fun. In fact, we’ll kill two birds with one stone.”

“How’s that?”

“Because another place I wanted to take you to today is the famous Golden Triangle.”

7

Earlier I had mentioned the Golden Triangle, but it was more like, “Hey, that’s next to the Golden Triangle,” not so much as a must-see attraction. To be honest, I didn’t even know it was an attraction, but I guess nowadays, if it can be monetized, it will be.

I knew what most people knew about the area: it was once the epicenter of the opium trade. However, a crackdown by the United States, in collaboration with local governments, cooled things down. Really, what helped was that much of the opium production subsequently shifted to Afghanistan, which made the lawlessness of the Golden Triangle seem tame.

“I’m excited now that I know it’s a verified tourist trap,” I said on the drive there. “Have you been there yet?”

“I haven’t, so we’ll see it together for the first time. It’s touristy—there’s even a welcome center and a museum called the House of Opium.”

I laughed. “That sounds like a B movie title from the seventies.”

“You’re right, it does.” Ryan’s voice transformed into that exaggerated tone of a classic movie trailer narrator. “In a world where danger lurks around every corner, they entered the den to get high. But little did they know, they would soon be trapped in…the House of Opium.”

I couldn’t help but join in, deepening my voice to match his. “This summer, fear takes root as their escape becomes a fight for survival.”

Ryan continued, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “Starring Abby Kane and Ryan Yee in an action-packed thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Will they make it out alive, or will they become permanent residents of…the House of Opium?”

We both burst out laughing from our playful banter. The Golden Triangle might have been infamous for its dark history. Still, at that moment, it was just another backdrop for our childish jokes and adventures.

From what I could tell, the area encompassing the Golden Triangle was primarily mountainous. But the center of it, and partly responsible for the name, was the congruence of three countries, Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand, with the Mekong River slicing through all three.

“There’s a small town where other tributaries join the Mekong,” Ryan said.

We found parking and made our way to the riverfront.

“It’s beautiful,” I said as we strolled along the esplanade. “Nothing like one would imagine from its sordid past.”

“Strange, right?”

We snapped a bunch of photos before walking to the House of Opium, which turned out to be pretty neat and informative. After that, we grabbed some street food: grilled pork on skewers and a couple of bags of sticky rice.

“They have an ancient city here we can visit called Chiang Saen,” Ryan said as we sat on a bench, munching on our snacks. “I hear it’s one of the oldest settlements in Thailand.”

“That sounds neat. Let’s go there.”

We made the short walk there. It was a walled city with run-down temples and a brick monument inside. Still, seeing and reading about the city’s history was nice.

Ryan read from the brochure we got at the entrance. “Says here Chiang Saen was a significant center of power for the Lanna Kingdom, which was the entire northern area of Thailand. Apparently, Chiang Rai was the capital.” He looked up at me. “I had no idea that city was that old.”

After that, we headed down to the river to walk along the embankment. Tour boats were on the river, and fishermen were near the water’s edge.

A scream caught my attention. I spun around to find a woman not far from us, pointing into the river. I followed her line of sight and spotted something floating in the river. In fact, many objects were slowly moving along with the current. They looked like bundles of clothing.

“What are those things?” Ryan asked.

No sooner had he said that than we both locked onto a bundle close to the river’s edge.

“That’s a body,” I said.

There must have been about forty of them: men, women, and children. Some faced up, others faced down. But they were all clearly dead.

Just then, the local police arrived in full force with their rifles out. They quickly began dispersing the crowds that had begun to gather along the embankment. I didn’t understand what they were saying. Still, they weren’t being nice as they shoved people who didn’t obey them immediately, even knocking down women who didn’t move fast enough.

“Is this normal behavior?” I asked Ryan.

“No, it’s not.”

One of the officers fired his rifle into the air, sending people scattering.

Ryan grabbed my hand. “It’s not safe for us to be here. Let’s go!”

As we hurried back to where we had parked our car, military vehicles arrived with soldiers. They had begun to set up roadblocks.

“They’re locking the city down,” Ryan said as he picked up the pace. “We need to get out of here before that happens.”

“Why?” I asked, keeping in step with him.

“It’s not uncommon for foreigners to be targeted and rounded up for questioning. If we get caught up in that, we could be detained for days before things are sorted out.”

“Can they do that?”

“The local governments can usually do whatever they want.”

By the time we made it back to our car, the streets were teeming with soldiers, and they were forcibly detaining people, both locals and foreigners, just like Ryan said they would. Ryan started the engine and sped away from the area. Twice, soldiers tried to stop us, and twice Ryan drove around them, nearly hitting one of the men.

“Ryan, are you sure running like this is the right move?” I asked. “We almost hit that soldier back there.”

“Trust me, Abby. We don’t want to get caught up in this mess.”

If the bodies freaking me out wasn’t enough, Ryan essentially driving around armed soldiers and ignoring their calls for us to pull over put me further on edge. I thought at any moment they would give chase or, worse, fire at us. The only saving grace was that we weren’t the only ones trying to get out of town. People were driving like maniacs. It looked like a scene straight out of a horror flick.

“I can’t believe this is happening. Thirty minutes ago, this was a sleepy town along the Mekong.”

As we drove away from the city, we passed a convoy of military trucks heading in the opposite direction.

“I can understand the police presence, but the military seems overboard.”

“The military isn’t here to assist. They’re here for damage control, to make sure word of what happened doesn’t get out.”

8

What had started off as another great day sadly ended under a dark cloud. Conversation between Ryan and me was nonexistent on the ride home; both of us were content to ponder what we’d just experienced. Death was by no means new to me. I’d encountered it in ways that would make the average person cringe. In my line of work, there was a level of desensitization. But one thing I never ever got used to was young victims—children.

Back at the hotel, we went to the veranda and plopped down into two chairs facing the river. Physically, I was fine; mentally, I was beaten up.

After staring at the river for a few minutes, lost in thought, I finally turned to Ryan. “Do you believe what we saw will be covered up?”

“I don’t know. I hear about the occasional murder every now and then, but that…what we witnessed was something entirely different.”

“There were children. And not just one, but several, from what I could see. It’s possible they were families… Ryan, could this be tied to what the jungle guide was talking about, or even the woman I came across at the White Temple?”

He stretched his legs out and clasped his hands behind his head as he leaned back. “Who knows? Neither mentioned mass killings, right? I think what we saw easily falls under that category. I’m just as stumped as you are, Abby. I’ve found people in the region to be very peaceful. Don’t get me wrong—there are criminal organizations, and a boatload of corruption takes place—but I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this.”

“But that’s what has me thinking there’s a connection.”

Ryan turned his head to me. “Gop said the stories he told us were passed on to him from others, who heard them from others. He had no proof. If there is something happening to these hill tribes and there was some sort of active cover-up taking place… This is a small town; it would be tough for them to do that.”

“True. I can’t argue against that logic.”

“I can see it on your face, Abby, that look you get when you start an investigation. You’re not here to work but to relax and enjoy yourself. I’ll admit, the sight of those victims in the water rained on my parade, but I don’t want that to affect your vacation.”

“No, you’re right. We can turn on the nightly news and hear about wrongdoings happening worldwide. But seeing it firsthand… I need to process it. But if there is a cover-up, and I’m not saying that’s what I think is happening, but if there was one, what could be the reason?”

Ryan puckered his lips and swished them side to side as his gaze remained fixed on the river. Eventually, he drew a breath before saying, “Well, the obvious reason is to protect the tourist industry. Tourism is a huge part of the economy. Dead people floating down the Mekong River isn’t exactly something that drums up business.”

“No chance this will make the local news, then.”

“Probably not.”

“I’m sure it’ll disappear and be forgotten in a week.”

“I don’t doubt it, but I’ll tell you what. I’ll bring it up with my colleagues to see if anything official was reported to the US embassy.”

“Does news like that get reported?”

“Sure it does, but we’re just guests here. We’re not here to govern.” Ryan leaned forward. “I can use a cup of coffee. Do you want something?” He signaled for a server.

I ordered hot water for my tea, and we chose a variety of Thai desserts to try. A few moments later, the server returned with the exotic treats. Some were similar to the Chinese sweets I grew up with. We both liked the mango with sticky rice. It was covered in sweetened condensed milk. Coconut was a big ingredient. We had grilled coconut dumplings made from coconut and rice flour, coconut pudding, and mochi rice in a sweet ginger soup. Still, the most exotic of them all was a dessert called khao lam. It was sticky rice mixed with coconut and sugar and then baked in a hollowed-out bamboo shoot. It looked terrible but tasted wonderful.

“Ryan, does your work out here involve anything related to what we just saw?” I asked before sipping my tea.

He shook his head. “It doesn’t. Investigating dead bodies isn’t part of my job description. That’s more your wheelhouse. I’m involved in outreach, spreading democracy and goodwill.”

I rolled my eyes. “I see. You’re a smart kid. It seems like a waste of your talent to handle PR, no?”

He shrugged. “Someone has to do it.”

“Before you left home, you took a big interest in my investigations. You had a knack for problem-solving. You remember?”

“Of course, and I still find what you do interesting, but I wanted to try something different. Maybe law enforcement is something I’ll pivot toward later, but I’m enjoying what I do for now. I’m working in an exotic country with a lot of freedom. A nine-to-five in an office building doesn’t quite have the same pull for me now.”

“I get it. What’s not to like? Do you find it easy to meet people here?”

“The people are nice. There are some colleagues I’ve become friendly with, and when time permits, we blow off steam in a local bar and play pool.”

“The women here are beautiful.”

“I won’t argue with that. And no, I’m not currently dating anyone, if that’s what you were getting at.”

“Why not? You said you and Mui were no longer an item.”

Mui was Ryan’s ex. I loved her like a daughter and thought they would eventually marry. But things didn’t work out that way, as they had different interests they wanted to explore. Staying together would have meant one had to sacrifice. According to Ryan, they took a “break.”

“We’re not official but very much close friends.”

“I worry about you being here all alone. You should meet someone.”

“I’m fine, Abby. Right now, I’m happy with my work. It brings me a lot of satisfaction. I don’t have time to date, let alone put effort into a relationship. Speaking of Mui, how was your office potluck? You know, the one you invited Mui’s mother to attend. I never heard back about that.”

Ah, turning the conversation back onto me. Nice way to counter my nosiness, son.

The profession that Mui’s mother was in was sometimes helpful to the bureau. But she wasn’t the easiest person to get a hold of. The only way I could do that was to go through Ryan, who would then reach out to Mui to convey the message to her mother. I didn’t want to get into the details, so I fabricated a story about having a potluck at the office and wanting to invite her. If Ryan wanted to keep the details of his work from me, I’d do the same.

“You know what? She had to cancel at the last minute,” I said as I pretended to wipe tears from my eyes. “It was such a shame. Everyone at the office was looking forward to her deviled eggs.”

“A tragedy.”

“For deviled egg enthusiasts—heartbreaking.”

Just then, my phone rang; it was Lucy video calling.

“Lucy!” I said as I answered. “What a surprise. Isn’t it, like, three in the morning in LA?”

“Yeah, but I can’t sleep, so I thought I’d call and see how your trip is going.”

I scooted closer to Ryan so we could both be on the call.

“Hey, Lucy,” he said with a wave.

“It’s so weird to see you guys together, and I mean that in a good way, especially since Ryan couldn’t make it back for Thanksgiving or Christmas last year.”

“Yeah, it’s great having Abby out here,” he said.

The three of us talked about everything Ryan and I had done since I arrived, careful to leave out the dead bodies and stories about disappearing people.

“Look at this dessert made with a piece of bamboo,” I said as I aimed the phone at the bamboo shell. “It doesn’t look like much, but it tastes great.”

“Aww, man. I wish I were there with you two. It seems like so much fun.”

“Yeah, you’ll have to plan a trip out here,” Ryan said. “You’d love it.”

“Will you guys visit the elephant sanctuary? I heard you can feed and bathe them, literally taking care of them for a day.”

“I didn’t know about that,” I said.

“Yeah, we could do that. There are some good ones where the animals aren’t just there to make money for the owners.”

We continued our conversation with Lucy for another forty minutes before she started to doze off and Ryan’s and my stomachs began to growl.

Over dinner, I resisted bringing up the bodies or anything related to Ryan’s work. I even suppressed the urge to ask why Ryan had lied about the massage. He’d mentioned on the phone with Lucy that we had gotten massages. I had forgotten all about his fib until he reminded me.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t lied to me before, but that was for expected things like “No, I didn’t eat the last chicken wing” or “I showered already.” But lying about a massage? It made no sense. Clearly, us getting massages was a way for him to sneak off and do something. I wasn’t buying the whole “I needed an energy drink” excuse.

Abby, stop. This will only lead to an argument. Who cares? It’s just a massage. Stop overthinking.

And that’s exactly what I was doing, giving something trivial too much attention, but that was how my mind worked. Especially when my stomach tingled. And when it tingled, that was never a good sign.

9

The day had come for me to deliver on my promise to Kang. I knew little about Agent Abang, only that he was an attaché for the bureau stationed at the US Consulate in Chiang Mai, about three hours away.

While Ryan and I were having breakfast, Abang texted me with a time and location for our meeting: 10:00 a.m. at a local coffee shop in the center of town.

“You said you never met the guy,” Ryan said as he shoved a forkful of his eggs into his mouth.

“I don’t even know what he looks like. As far as I know, I’m just handing over a package and splitting after.”

“Hmm, we could have found a way to take it to the consulate by a delivery service.”

“Well, it’s too late now; he’s driving here. Plus, I promised Kyle that I would hand deliver it.”

“What’s in the package?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care.”

A devilish grin appeared on Ryan’s face. “Little did she know, she’d been recruited to traffic drugs for the notorious Kyle Kang, a.k.a. the Kangmeister,” he said in a movie-narrator voice before breaking character and biting into a piece of bacon. “Seriously, don’t you know you’re supposed to say no if someone asks you to carry a package on a plane? My mother, the drug mule.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Imagine if, for some reason, customs had decided to search your luggage when you got off the plane.” Ryan began acting out the scenario, playing me and a customs officer.

“Customs officer: Ma’am, what’s inside this package?

“Abby: I don’t know.

“Customs officer: This isn’t your package?

“Abby: No, I’m delivering it to someone else.

“Customs officer: To someone you know?

“Abby: No.

“Customs officer: Who gave it to you?

“Abby: A friend.”

“Okay, okay, I get it. It looks very suspicious. I promise never to transport packages for friends to people I don’t know who live in another country.”

“Do you want me to tag along?”

“Nah, I’ll just get this over with and meet up with you after.”

“Okay, I’ll chill here at the hotel, maybe do some work. Nothing serious, just catch up on my emails.”

The hotel had a fleet of tuk-tuks that could shuttle guests to and from the city center. After breakfast, I gathered my things, jumped inside one, and made the quick ride into town. From the drop-off point, it was only a short walk to the coffee shop. On the way there, I passed by a bunch of cute shops and boutiques that seemed interesting. I took a peek inside one and thought I might browse after my meeting and pick up a few souvenirs.

The sound of a police car racing by grabbed my attention. It screeched to a stop at the corner up ahead, where four other police vehicles were already parked. A crowd had started to gather.

My first thought was that someone had been struck by a car, but as I neared, I realized the looky-loos were all looking inside a coffee shop, the one where I was scheduled to meet my contact.

The police weren’t letting anyone inside; besides a handful of staff members, it was empty.

“Do you know what happened?” I asked a white gentleman standing next to me.

“People are saying someone was kidnapped,” he said with an Aussie accent.

“Kidnapped? Are you sure?”

“It’s what I heard. Apparently, it was at gunpoint.”

“That sounds serious.”

“I don’t think anyone was shot, or else an ambulance would be here, I guess.”

I scanned the crowd, looking for someone whose appearance screamed FBI. It was then that I wished I knew what Abang looked like. I had just assumed he would be in a suit and stand out like a sore thumb.

I texted Agent Abang, letting him know I was at the coffee shop. Ten minutes passed without an answer, so I texted him again. Still, no answer.

I hate to jump to the obvious, but…

I was no dummy when it came to crime. Armed men enter a coffee shop and abduct a single person. I’m supposed to meet an FBI agent at the same coffee shop at the same time. The coincidence would be astronomical.

Everything in my gut was telling me my contact was the person who had been abducted, even though I had no proof. But I was probably right if what this Aussie fella said was true and Abang wasn’t answering my text messages.

I scanned the crowd once more. There were a bunch of men. Two were white, one looked like a local, and the others looked Asian. Abang sounded different from a typical Anglo-Saxon name. I approached the men one by one and asked them if they were Mr. Abang. The ones who understood English said no.

It’s not looking good for you, Abang.

I tried talking to a police officer responsible for crowd control, but he was uninterested in what I said and ignored me without so much as a glance my way. It was possible he didn’t understand what I was saying.

When I tried to move toward the front of the shop for a better look, he stopped me and gently guided me away.

Whether the kidnapping victim was my contact or not, I felt like I had to make an effort to find out or, at the very least, report the kidnapping to the embassy just in case. But I was so hands off about this meeting that I didn’t even have a contact number for the consulate handy. Just then, a text notification lit up my phone: Ryan was at a restaurant not far from where I was. Since there wasn’t much more for me to do at the coffee shop, I left.

Ryan was sitting at one of the sidewalk tables of a small restaurant and drinking from a glass filled with fruit juice. I took a seat opposite him and leaned in. “You’ll never guess what happened.”

“Turns out there really were drugs in that package?” He smiled and pointed playfully at me.

“No, worse. I think Agent Abang was abducted.”

I told Ryan everything I’d learned at the coffee shop. I watched the cheerful mood on his face deteriorate in the process.

“Are you serious? Maybe the Aussie fella heard wrong.”

“Ryan, the police were there. They were investigating. Something happened, and Abang is nowhere to be found.”

“You said you sent a couple text messages. Could it be possible that Abang is still on the road and can’t respond because he’s driving?”

“It could, but that would make him very late for our five-minute meeting.”

Ryan picked up the menu and looked over the selection. “Let’s give it a little longer before we think the worst.”

“But if it is the worst, then we’re wasting time.”

He lowered the menu enough so his eyes peered over the top at me. “Wasting time? Abby, you sound like someone who’s starting an investigation. You realize you’re here on vacation, right.”

“I didn’t mean for it to come across that way. I’m just saying if the guy’s in trouble, I should do something.”

Ryan put the menu down. “Okay, let’s hash this out. You said the Aussie guy heard it from someone else, right? That’s hearsay. You have no idea if the facts were changed or filtered in the process. Agree?”

“Agree.”

“It could have started as an argument between two patrons at the coffee shop that turned into a fistfight, with one or both running off after hearing police sirens on the way.”

“Come on, Ryan. That’s ridiculous. Why would so many police show up for a fight?”

He shrugged. “They do things differently here.”

“They were investigating. The coffee shop had been locked down, and the staff were being interviewed.”

“Okay, the fistfight example wasn’t the best, but you also know the point I was trying to make. Look, I believe you when you say something happened, something big enough to merit the number of police on the scene, but kidnappings aren’t common around here.”

“Yesterday, we saw dead bodies floating down the Mekong River. Apparently, violent crime does take place here.”

That comeback silenced him for a second.

“You’re right. They’re not common occurrences.”

“And let’s not forget these ‘occurrences’ happened back to back…”

“Wait a minute, Abby. Tell me you’re not trying to connect the two.”

“I’m not saying that, but you seem to have a very idyllic view of the country you’ve been living and working in for some time now. Maybe it’s a bit darker than you perceive it to be.”

Ryan raised his hands in protest. “All right, point made. But I’m telling you, violent crimes really aren’t common here. For us, well, you witnessing two of them within twenty-four hours is weird and unexplainable. Earlier, you said you had no idea what Abang looked like, right?”

“I don’t.” I pulled out my cell phone. “I need to locate a number for the consulate.”

“Why?”

“Because I need to follow up on this.”

“Abby, you don’t need to follow up on anything. You’re here on vacation. This is supposed to be our time together. It won’t be that if you involve yourself in this investigation.”

“I’m not involving myself in this investigation. I’m just giving the consulate a heads-up about their attaché.”

“I know you. You’ll follow up. You’ll give your two cents.”

“How is this different from someone calling 911 and reporting a crime and then telling a police officer what they saw?”

“Because you’re Special Agent in Charge Abby Kane. That’s why. It’s in your nature to investigate.”

“Look, I promise I’ll stay out of it. But at the minimum, I feel like I should inform the consulate. Better safe than sorry. I just need to locate a contact number.”

Just then, Ryan snatched the phone out of my hand. “I’m sorry, Abby, but I can’t let you do this.”

10

I sat in shock, taken aback by his actions. I wasn’t sure what to say or do. I kept waiting for the determined look on Ryan’s face to turn and then to hear him say “Just kidding.” But the glint in his eyes was anything but playful. And his hand was still tightly wrapped around my cell phone. I’d never seen a side of Ryan that came remotely close to what I saw right then. It scared me. This wasn’t the playful, good-hearted person I’d known and raised all these years.

“Ryan,” I said calmly. “Please explain to me why you just did what you did.”

A few more tense moments passed before Ryan spoke. “I’m sorry, Abby,” he said, the tension in his face subsiding and the tightness in my chest relaxing.

“Give me back my phone,” I ordered.

“I will, but after you promise not to do anything. And I mean it. Not a single mention of what you saw.”

“Ryan, you’re my son, but you’re seriously starting to piss me off.”

“That’s not my intention, but I understand why you would feel that way. I didn’t think it would ever come to this, but it has. You win, Abby.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Ryan looked around briefly before leaning in. “You knew all along. Everyone did. So, here’s your confirmation. I work for the CIA.”

“Well, yeah, no duh.”

“But that’s also why I need you to stay out of this.”

“Wait, is this connected to your work?”

“It’s not, and no, I’m not giving you details on my assignment, but I can’t have you ask questions while you’re out here. If it’s true that Agent Abang was abducted, my first thought isn’t that he’s in trouble—well, he is—but it’s that he’s dirty.”

“I won’t disagree, it’s a valid point, but I need to report it.”

“Abby, right now, you’re just a tourist here. No one knows who you are or that you run the SF headquarters. If Abang was taken because he’s an FBI agent, can you imagine what kind of target you might end up with on your back if word gets out who you are and that you were supposed to meet him? Not to mention if he was, in fact, dirty.”

“Ryan, I think you might be overthinking this.”

“I’m not. Also, you have no jurisdiction here.”

“I know, but reporting something isn’t a big deal.”

“It is. Think about it. We’ve been seen around town together. I’m a normal joe here who is involved with community service. If your identity gets out, it puts mine in jeopardy. Because why would I be hanging out with you? I can’t do my job if my cover is blown.”

Ryan was right. A blown cover could trigger a series of work-related problems and endanger him.

“Okay, so what do you suggest?”

“Let me back channel this through my people. It’s a much safer way forward for both of us. Plus, it keeps us out of it. Can you agree to this?”

“I guess I could.”

“But you’re thinking, What’s the big deal about putting a call in?”

“Exactly.”

“Abby, if you didn’t have to hand this package over to Abang, you’d know nothing of it and continue on your merry way.”

“But I did, and I can’t forget it.”

“Abby, I need you to trust me. For once, take a step back and let me take the lead on this. Please. You don’t have to always be on duty twenty-four seven. The world won’t fall apart.”

I didn’t often take a back seat. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, it’s just not something I did often without good reason. Ryan was no longer a little boy. He was a CIA field officer, and I needed to respect that. The last thing I wanted to do was put him out of a job, even if I disliked the people he worked for. That would be selfish of me.

“You’re right. I’m here to spend time with you, not involve myself in an investigation.”

“I’m so glad to hear you say that. We’ve had a great time so far, and I just want it to continue until you fly back to San Francisco.”

11

To put what had happened behind us, Ryan and I decided to leave Chiang Rai and drive south to Chiang Mai. I immediately saw the appeal, as there was a walled city in the center, full of charming boutiques, restaurants, and coffeehouses. And it just so happened that the day we visited was Sunday—the main road cutting through town was closed to traffic and full of vendors selling crafts, souvenirs, and, of course, street food.

We did the rounds, eating our fill of tasty food while I bought a few souvenirs. After, we visited a nearby temple made entirely of teakwood. According to Ryan, Chiang Mai also had numerous indoor and outdoor markets that were interesting to browse.

“This city is so beautiful and ancient,” I said as we walked. “It even has a moat.”

“I know, it’s one of the go-to destinations in Thailand outside of the islands. I considered booking our stay in Chiang Mai, but Chiang Rai seemed more laid back.”

“I agree; this place has more hustle and bustle. I like that we’re staying in Chiang Rai; much more relaxing and peaceful.”

We visited the city’s national museum, which gave me a better understanding of the north when it was under the rule of the Lanna Kingdom and the capital was Chiang Rai. There was a special exhibit on the ethnic minorities that were spread out in North Thailand and along the borders with Myanmar and Laos, which I also found interesting, considering the stories I’d heard from our jungle guide and the women I encountered at the White Temple.

“Most of the villages are in no-man’s-land,” I said as I studied the map of the region.

“Yeah, the tribes in the mountains and higher up the Mekong, north of where we visited, are very isolated and live on their own with very little oversight from any government. I don’t even think they’re counted in a census.”

After we visited the museum, we walked through a park and rested on a bench under a large banyan tree.

“It’s so peaceful here in the park. Why don’t you live in Chiang Mai? It seems like a person of your age would like the nightlife the city affords.”

“I’ve thought about it, but I’m fine where I’m at. Also, it’s not good for me to be out and about every night partying.”

“I would think that would help you blend in.”

“Yes and no. I prefer low-key. Occasionally, I’ll take a trip down here with some colleagues. That’s plenty enough.”

“How many are there like you in the field?”

“Not many.”

“Any of them stationed at the consulate here?”

“A few.”

“Do you all work on the same assignment?”

“Not really, but sometimes.”

“Wow, you’re just a trove of information. Britannica better watch their back. There’s a new encyclopedia in town.”

Ryan rolled his eyes as he struggled to contain his laughter.

“You realize we’re spies, and if the Thai government could identify us as such, they’d promptly kick us out of the country. Tell me you understand that.”

“Of course I do, silly. I’m just yanking your chain. I don’t want to get you in trouble. Have you heard back from anyone yet on the subject matter we’re not supposed to discuss anymore?”

“Not yet, but they’re aware. Let them handle it the way they feel it needs to be handled. Remember, we’re not in the US, and things operate differently here. And I may not hear back because it may be deemed none of my business. The same goes for you.”

Ryan made a good point. If this was being overseen by the CIA, I was on a need-to-know basis. I wasn’t officially handling this abduction, nor did I have any jurisdiction to do so in Thailand. I’d gotten so used to sitting at the top of the totem pole that it was weird for me to accept someone else’s decision or way of doing things. But it could be a good thing. There was absolutely no need for me to involve myself in what happened to Agent Abang or why there had been so many dead bodies in the Mekong yesterday.

“Also, I might add,” Ryan continued, “we have no proof that the person abducted was Abang.”

“But you would know that by now, right? Surely people at the consulate would know if one of the people is missing.”

“True on the missing part, but not necessarily true on whether I would be privy to that information. A lot of compartmentalization goes on here between people like me and the rest of the people working at the embassy and consulates. Technically, I’m just a diplomat.”

“Yeah, I understand that, but you should be able to get confirmation. I mean, you are a ‘spy.’” I made quotes with my fingers for emphasis.

“The rules are different overseas. There’s a lot of gray area because we operate in a foreign country.”

“Are you even trying, Ryan? I’m serious. I feel like you’re not taking this seriously.”

“You’re right. I’m not. This isn’t my assignment, nor am I in charge of watching out for Agent Abang. And the same goes for you. He is not your responsibility. He is not an agent under your command.”

“But—”

“Abby, did you travel all this way to investigate an abduction or to enjoy a vacation with me?”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. Had Kang not asked me to deliver this package, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”

“Look, I did put a call in. I fed my superior the information. We did our part. What they decide to do from here on out is on them.”

“You’re right. My only directive here is to have fun.”

12

The following day, I woke with a clear conscience. There was no guilt, worry, or what-ifs populating my mind over what may or may not have happened to Abang. Since I’d woken up early, I went for a quick run in the hotel gym before meeting Ryan for breakfast.

“I just love all this fresh fruit,” I said. “I know I can get most of it back home, but it’s not the same.”

“I know what you mean. This…” Ryan motioned around us with his hands. “It adds an extra-special touch to the food.”

“Exactly. If I were home and sliced up some fruit, laid it out on a platter, somehow it wouldn’t taste as good as this fruit.” I slurped a piece of mango into my mouth. “What’s on the agenda today?”

“I need to take care of some work stuff that popped up. It won’t take me more than an hour, hour and a half. I’m sorry.”

“Please, it’s fine. Do what you need to do. I’m not bothered by it. I’ll take a walk into town, maybe get my nails done or get a foot massage.”

“Good thinking, and I appreciate your understanding.”

“Will you work here at the hotel?”

“Yeah, I’ll just hunker down in my room.”

After breakfast, Ryan headed back to his room, and I took a tuk-tuk into town. I remembered seeing a nail salon with a promotion. I usually didn’t spend a lot of time getting my nails done, but since I was on vacation, I figured, why not treat myself to a manicure and pedicure? Lucy would get a kick out of this, as she was always bugging me to go to the nail shop with her.

I didn’t know the name of the shop, but I was confident that I would recognize it if I saw it, so I set about just walking, figuring I’d run into it. In the meantime, I window-shopped and popped in and out of stores until I found myself standing on a familiar corner with a familiar coffee shop.

Walk away, Abby. Just walk away.

I peered inside, and everything seemed normal. There were customers sitting at tables drinking coffee.

Looks like they recovered from yesterday’s debacle.

They have. Now walk away, Abby.

I pushed the door open, and a few people looked my way before returning to their coffee. It was a quaint coffee shop, nothing like a Starbucks. It had a homey vibe and felt more like a cottage on the beach. There were picturesque photos of Thailand on the walls. A bicycle hung from the ceiling, and seashells in jars decorated a shelf, along with a collection of hardback books.

“Can I help you?” a voice called out.

A young teenager behind the counter was staring at me.

“This is a cute coffee shop,” I said.

She smiled as I moved up to the counter. “I’ll have one of those chocolate cookies.” I pointed to the glass case housing baked goods.

“Would you like it warmed?”

“Sure, that’ll be good.”

“Anything to drink?”

“Just a bottle of water.”

She rang up the total, and I paid. I don’t know what prompted me, maybe because I was the only one in line, but I ventured into an area I shouldn’t have.

“I stopped by a day ago to try one of those cookies, but there were a bunch of policemen here, and they weren’t letting anyone inside.”

“Uh, we had some trouble.”

“I hope no one was hurt.”

A frown appeared on her face. “I think a man was kidnapped.”

“Really? I never would have thought that could happen. It’s so safe here.”

“Actually, the police told us he wasn’t kidnapped and not to worry.”

“So why did you think he was kidnapped?”

“Because…” The girl looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to our conversation before leaning forward. “Because men with guns came in here, and they made one of the customers go with them.”

“Sounds like a movie scene,” I said, lowering my voice. “Why would those men do that?”

“I don’t know, but the police made it seem like he was arrested.”

“Were the men with guns wearing police uniforms?”

“No, they were dressed in black.”

“Did you hear what they said to the man?”

“I only noticed them when they were walking out with the customer. It happened really fast, and I was busy taking another customer’s order. Really, another customer complained about what they saw.”

“That’s why the police were called?”

“Yes, and we watched what the security camera recorded.” She pointed to one of the cameras.

“You have it all recorded?”

She nodded.

“You know, I was supposed to meet my friend here that day, but he never showed. And now he’s not answering my calls or text messages. Do you think it was him the men took?”

“I don’t know. What did your friend look like?”

This was a tricky question since I had no idea what he looked like. Abang didn’t sound like a name that would belong to a white person, but I didn’t want to assume that was the case. So I gave an answer that wasn’t really an answer.

“He looks like a normal person. You know what I mean?”

“Yes.”

“Do you still have the recording?”

“Yes! My boss told me to delete it, but I forgot.”

“Oh, do you think I can see it? I just want to know if it was my friend. Please, I’m really worried.”

From the uncomfortable look on her face, I might have taken the conversation too far.

“I promise it’ll be very fast. I really need to know. He has a wife and kids, and they are worried.” I then slid a thousand-baht note across the counter. The girl hesitated before snatching it up.

“Come quickly.”

I followed her through a doorway and into a small office. There was a laptop on a small desk. She used the mouse to bring up the video footage.

“There are different cameras,” she said. “But this camera recorded everything.”

The video footage was from the camera she had pointed at earlier and covered most of the seating area.

“There, this is the man who was taken,” she said as she pointed at the screen. “Is that your friend?”

The man was looking down at his phone, so I could only see the top of his head.

“I’m not sure. I need to see his face to be sure.” I was pretty sure it was Abang, given that he was wearing khaki pants and a light-blue button-down. Not exactly dressed like the typical tourist walking around Chiang Rai. “Let’s keep watching.”

At that point, I pulled out my phone and started recording the footage. “Just in case it’s him,” I said. “His wife will want to know.” The girl nodded.

A few moments later, three men dressed in black entered the coffee shop. They were armed and made no attempt to hide their guns. One of them remained by the door while the other two made a beeline straight to their target. I say target because they didn’t need to look around or reference a photograph. They knew exactly who they had come for.

Abang looked up just as the men reached his table. Before he could protest, one stuck a handgun into his face. It looked like he said something.

“Is there sound?”

“No.”

Well, whatever he said, Abang got up quickly and walked out with them. He didn’t argue or physically resist. In fact, if I had to say, I’d say he went willingly. As he walked closer to the exit, I got a better look at Abang’s face. He didn’t look frightened, though that would have been completely normal. He seemed resigned to the matter, suggesting he knew the men.

13

My hips were doing double duty as I speed walked to meet up with Ryan. He had finished his work sooner than expected and texted me a location in town to meet him. What I had learned was huge. I had proof that an abduction had taken place. Well, I was pretty darn confident that was what had happened. Second, it had to be Abang. Who else fit the profile in that coffee shop? But anyway, his identity could easily be confirmed by the consulate.

While I was excited by the information I discovered, I also felt like I’d dropped the ball, but I knew those feelings were only being fanned because I hadn’t followed through. I’d turned it over to my son. I trusted him, and I was sure he’d done exactly what he said he did. So why did I feel guilty? Did I really not trust Ryan?

Wait a minute, Abby. You trust Kyle one hundred percent. Why should this be different?

The only answer I had was that Kang had proved his worth over and over. He had years of experience, and I’d seen him in action. He’d saved my life once or twice.

But Ryan… I loved that kid to death, but he was young and short on experience.

You don’t know that for sure. He’s gone through training and has been in the field for a while. If the CIA trusts him to do his job, shouldn’t you?

I couldn’t argue with that, so why was I second-guessing him? Why couldn’t I just let it go? Trust the process? And what he said the day before was absolutely true. What actions were taken was not up to us, especially me. I wasn’t here on official business. If anything, Ryan had more reason to act, which he had done. He’d done exactly what I had intended to do: alert the powers that be.

So, what was my game plan? I had done exactly what I’d said I wouldn’t do: meddle. And now I was running to Ryan to show him a video of the abduction. Was I seriously intent on sabotaging my own holiday?

Ryan was waiting for me at a restaurant with outdoor seating. He smiled as I approached, and a guilt punch socked me in the gut.

“Hey, so did you end up getting your nails done?”

“I didn’t.”

“Foot massage?”

“I didn’t do that either. I got distracted by the endless shops.”

“There are a ton of them.”

I cleared my throat. “I have something to tell you, but you have to promise not to get angry.”

Ryan’s smile flatlined. “You went to the coffee shop, didn’t you?”

Damn, he knows me so well.

“Not intentionally. I was looking for the nail shop I’d previously seen touting a promotion when I found myself standing on that exact same corner.” I shrugged. “So, I went inside for a peek. Tell me honestly you wouldn’t have done the same.”

“I wouldn’t have. So, what happened? Did you have an epiphany?”

“Not quite. While I was checking the place out, an employee asked if I wanted to order, so I got a chocolate chip cookie.” I held up a bag. “Anyway, my natural instinct kicked in, and before I knew it, I was asking questions about what happened.”

I gave Ryan a quick rundown of what the girl said and how she’d offered to show me the video footage.

“Wait, you actually talked her into taking you into their office and showing you the footage?”

“Yeah. Even I was surprised.”

“What did you see?”

I pulled out my phone. “Why don’t you watch for yourself.”

“Really?” Ryan took my phone from me.

“I just recorded it while it played on their computer.”

Ryan watched the video a few times over before looking up.

“Thoughts?” I asked.

“They knew what their target looked like. And it looks like this individual knew the men because there was no resistance, it’s like he accepted his fate. Are these your thoughts so far?”

“Yes.”

“But we can’t say for sure if this is Abang, though I think it’s safe to assume it is.”

“I thought you’d be irritated because we promised each other we’d put this behind us.”

“I am, but I also can’t ignore what you have here. If you want, I’ll pass this on, but I’m hoping you don’t think this video, which the embassy might already have, is reason enough for you to be involved. Wait, let me rephrase that: ask to be involved.”

“I don’t. I just⁠—”

“Wanted to make sure there was follow-up.”

“Right.”

“Follow-up that matches what you would have done, which is investigate.” Ryan handed my phone back to me. “Look, Abby, things are different out here. We don’t necessarily operate the same way that you or any of your agents would. This is Thailand, not the United States. We have no authority here. This abduction would be investigated by local law enforcement, not by us. We can certainly consult, but that’s it. In fact, I’m sure concerns about Abang’s whereabouts have already been communicated to the Royal Thai Police.”

“I’m not saying I don’t believe you. I just want to cover all bases. Understand, this is difficult for me to stomach because someone I was supposed to meet was clearly abducted. Add that he’s also an FBI agent, and you can see how difficult it can be for me to sit back and feed myself a mango.”

“I get it. I would feel the same way. But my thoughts on this are still the same. There’s not much we can do. If we continue to dig into this, I—not we, but I—run the risk of bringing unnecessary attention to myself. I have a very important job that I do here, one I can only do if I remain a nobody. I have no choice but to stay out of it.”

I had no rebuttal. I certainly didn’t want to get Ryan in trouble or jeopardize his job. My not being able to turn a blind eye to this was my issue, not his. I shouldn’t make him a part of it.

“But…” Ryan said, grabbing my attention. “If it makes you feel better, we can certainly theorize on it, and if anything comes of it, I will pass along these findings. But our agreement remains the same: you can’t physically involve yourself. What you did today is a perfect example of what I don’t want you doing.”

I really appreciated Ryan’s understanding. I think he realized that unless I talked this through, it would continue to nag at me for the remainder of the trip.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. It was a selfish move to suit my needs. I’m not the one who can get in trouble. It’s you. And I don’t want that to happen.”

“Good, because for a minute there, I thought I had to eliminate you. How would I explain that to Lucy?”

I laughed, happy to see Ryan make light of the situation, even though he was bothered. That took maturity.

“What are your thoughts?” I asked. “So far, it’s just been me talking.”

“After watching the video, I don’t think this is a shakedown, like bad gambling debts or anything having to do with drugs. These men looked professional and acted that way. This suggests they’re familiar with picking up people of interest. They’re most likely members of Sam Gor. Have you heard of them?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No, why?”

“This is too coincidental. My last investigation involved them.”

I quickly brought Ryan up to speed on my connection with the criminal organization and their involvement with drug trafficking in the Bay Area.

“After we returned to the San Francisco Bay, we parted ways with Archer, his crew, and the Sam Gor member we fished out of the waters. Later, I found out that the guy wasn’t just a foot soldier but a high-ranking member of the organization. His men rescued him, and Archer was killed in the process. I didn’t find this out until I was approached by someone who worked with Archer. His name was Diego. He manned the RIB that night of the operation.”

“Do you have a name for the guy you fished out of the ocean?”

“Chi Long. Does it ring a bell?”

Ryan shook his head. “Abby, what exactly was your involvement with this guy? I mean, did you participate in interviewing him or even just talking to him?”

“None. He was swimming to our boat just as we were getting ready to leave and suggested Archer take him for questioning. After the boat ride back, I never laid eyes on him again, nor did I inquire what happened. My office remained totally hands off.” I paused for a moment. “Wait, don’t tell me your work here involves these guys.”

“It doesn’t, but I’m aware of them. I was thinking more about what would have happened had you been a few minutes early.”

“I didn’t recognize any of the men in the video, so I don’t think they would have seen me as anything more than a customer⁠—”

“Who happens to be sitting at their target’s table. I have to assume they know Abang’s position here.”

“Well, I wasn’t early, and my plan was to simply identify him as Agent Abang, hand him the package, and walk away. I had no intention of sitting down and chatting over a cup of tea.”

“And you never looked in the package.”

“Nope, it was sealed, and I purposely told Kang I didn’t want to know what was in it…but now I wish I did. The only thing he mentioned is that it was personal, not business related. I wonder if that package is connected to all of this.”

“It’s possible, but even if Abang was dirty, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to involve you in his dealings.”

My gaze drifted off to the side.

“What is it?”

“What if the point of the package was to simply get me there?”

“Meaning you were the actual target? Nah, they would have watched him and waited until you were there.”

“True.”

But even as that word left my lips, I was already searching my memories. Had I missed something that night on the water? Had I made unnecessary contact with Chi? I didn’t think I’d spoken a single word to him.

“I kept shuffling through the events of that night, but nothing pops out that would make me a target later. Also, I wasn’t the only one in the boat. Kyle was there, so was Archer’s partner, and then there were the crew members from the crabbing boat.”

“Were you giving orders or directing men, signaling you were in charge?”

“No, Archer was calling the shots.”

“Then let’s not worry about it. It’s got to be purely coincidental. But let me repeat this: I need you to forget about this, especially since it’s possible that Sam Gor might be involved. Send me that video, and I’ll get it over to my people. This is us doing our part, and we need to be okay with that. Are you?”

“Of course.”

14

The girl used her hands to scoop water from the small stream to quench her thirst. She’d been surviving primarily on fruits and leafy plants she managed to forage. Sleep didn’t come easy, as she was too afraid to doze off completely. She couldn’t be sure if those armed men were still looking for her, but their shouting had died down long ago.

Aside from them, her only other worry was the jungle’s natural predators that could take advantage of her while she slept. The reticulated python could grow up to thirty feet and weigh up to two hundred and fifty pounds, and it was more than capable of stalking her from treetops and ambushing her as she passed. But what worried her more were the aggressive Burmese pythons, known to go after small children in the area. They had been known to chase their prey.

She found a small flat rock she could sit on while she rested a bit. She wore traditional clothing: a long skirt with a blouse on top. Both contained colorful embroidery. They weren’t ideal for running around the jungle. Wrapped around her waist were bands of cloth that acted as belts. Tucked inside them was her most prized possession.

A quick look around confirmed she was alone. She removed a smartphone from the material. She had gotten it as a gift from a local NGO worker who had started teaching her English. It never worked in her village, only atop a nearby hill she was forced to hike to. The only other option was to head to the lowlands.

She powered on the device. There was no service, though she didn’t expect there to be any. The battery was at 40 percent. She shut it off. If she wanted her phone to work, her only option was to continue down the mountain until she reached the lowlands. Much of the region southwest of her village was unfamiliar territory, but to get to the lowlands, she had to travel through it.

Her parents had always warned her to stay away from there, that it wasn’t safe. Those villages there weren’t known to be friendly to her people. Her parents never explained exactly why, and she’d never bothered to question them. Tears began to flow from her eyes as she remembered watching her mother and father mixed in with the others; the urgency her mother had conveyed that she must leave was so vivid. And then the gunfire. She knew what had happened. She could never return to her village, even if those men had left. What was waiting for her there besides emptiness and pain?

Her gut told her it was better to find service for her phone. Before escaping from her village, she had made a video of the armed men rounding up the villagers. She had heard the stories from the elders, but lack of proof hindered people from believing something bad was happening. She now had proof, or at least something to warrant help.

The position of the sun overhead told her that noon had recently passed. Following the stream could be a good thing, as it led down the mountain. There must be other villages nearby. The stream would be a source for them.

She moved carefully, watching her step. There was an abundance of smooth rocks along the bank; some were covered in moss, which became slippery when wet. She wasn’t looking ahead but down, concentrating on what step to take, when she heard voices up ahead. She stopped and dropped to a crouch.

While she couldn’t see them, it was clear that more than one woman was talking. The girl carefully moved forward, making her way around a bend in the stream until she saw three women. They carried baskets, most likely filled with edible plants they had picked. Two of the women continued while one sat and rested her feet in the cool waters of the stream.

The woman looked the same age as her mother and seemed friendly enough that the girl thought she’d be willing to help her or, at the very least, point her in the direction of the quickest way to the lowlands. Carefully, she approached.

“Hello,” she called out, hoping the woman spoke the same language.

The woman looked up, a frown covering her face. For a second, the girl thought she’d made a mistake, but then the woman smiled. “Hello.”

Relief rippled throughout her body as she let out a sigh.

“Where are you from?” the woman asked. “I don’t recognize you.”

“I’m from a village northwest of here, higher in the mountains.”

“What are you doing away from home?”

Unsure whether she could fully trust this woman, she paused but decided she seemed nice enough and physically nonthreatening.

“I need help. I’m tired.”

“Come with me, you can rest in my village. What is your name?”

“My name is Sua.”

“Come, Sua. I will show you the way.”

The woman picked up her basket and led the way back to her village. Had the girl continued following the stream, she would have passed it without knowing.

“Where is your family?” the woman asked as they walked.

“My mother and father are back at my village.”

“Did they send you away?”

“Sort of. I need to travel to the lowlands.”

“But you said your village was higher in the mountains. Why travel so far? What is so important?”

“We have family in another village, in the lowlands.”

“You must be hungry. When we reach my home, I’ll fix food for you.”

Sua thanked her. For the rest of the walk, the two said nothing. It took about twenty minutes for them to reach a clearing from which she could see the village ahead. It looked to be similar in size to her village, filled with men, women, and children of all ages. The adults were busy with chores while the children played.

The woman’s hut was near the edge of the village, which Sua was thankful for. Being paraded through the town was the last thing she wanted to happen—more questions. More lies. They stuck to the tree line, remaining unnoticed except by a few curious children.

“Come inside.” The woman pointed to the doorway.

Like Sua’s, the woman’s home was a ground-level wooden house with a roof thatched with leaves. She figured the village belonged to either the Akha or Hmong tribe, like her. The Karen tribes were known for building their homes off the ground on bamboo stilts.

It was a lot larger inside than it looked from the outside. It was one large room, just like most of the homes were. A few were partitioned by walls into separate areas, but most weren’t. It felt and looked homey, much like hers. The chairs and wooden planks on stilts provided a frame for a bed, which was covered with colorful blankets. The floor was compacted dirt, and in the corner was a cooking area where giant plastic jugs filled with water sat. Clothes hung on a rope stretched across the room. Sunlight seeped through the narrow cracks between the wood planks forming the walls. And last, lying on a bed was a man about the same age as the woman.

“This is my husband,” the woman said as he sat up.

“I’m Sua. Thank you for welcoming me into your home.”

The man nodded and motioned for Sua to sit while the woman tended to the fire. A short time later, the woman put a plate of rice on the table and strips of steamed chicken and raw vegetables. The woman took a seat next to Sua and watched her eat.

She made short work of the meal, washing it down with water. “Thank you,” she said in between bites. “It’s delicious.”

“So young to travel by yourself,” her husband said.

“She said she has family in the lowlands,” the woman added.

“Still, a long trip just to visit,” he said.

Sua still felt apprehensive about giving more information than was absolutely necessary. But since the couple was kind enough to take her in and feed her, she didn’t see the harm in telling them why.

“I can get cell reception in the lowlands.” Sua held up her phone.

The eyes of the man lit up. “A phone. Can I touch it?” He held his hand out, but Sua didn’t want to hand it over. It was too precious to her.

“Not many people have phones… What do you need a phone for?” the woman asked.

Sua shrugged, hoping that was a good enough answer.

“It’s dangerous to be out in the jungle, especially at night,” the man said, now motioning for her to hand over the phone.

The woman leaned in, placing a comforting hand on Sua’s thigh. “You have nothing to be afraid of here. Give your phone to my husband.”

“My village… There’s been some trouble.”

The woman glanced over at her husband before looking back at Sua. “What kind of trouble?”

“Men we don’t know came to our village. They had guns and were yelling at everyone to stand in a group. They searched our homes.”

“What were they looking for?”

“I don’t know, but they wanted to know everyone’s names and ages and the responsibilities in the village.”

“Are you sure?”

“I promise it happened. I’m not lying. I have it on my phone.” She navigated to the video she’d made. “Look for yourself.”

The woman took the phone from her and watched the video before showing it to her husband. She then looked back at the girl and said, “Where did you get this video?”

“I told you. I made it.”

“Don’t lie. You said everyone was standing together. How could you film this if you were standing with everyone?”

“I wasn’t. I was hiding. And then, when the men came looking for me, I ran.

“I want my phone back.” She snatched it from the man before he could react. He quickly got up and left.

The look on the woman’s face, her husband leaving… Sua could tell something was wrong. Outside the house, she heard shouting in the distance, growing closer.

The woman tried to take the phone from Sua while she was distracted by the shouting.

“Give me my phone!” Sua shouted as she fought for control of the device, eventually wresting it from the woman’s grip.

Sua shot to her feet and ran out of the house. Four men and the woman’s husband were hurrying toward her. Sua ran straight for the jungle as fast as she could as the men gave chase, shouting at her to stop.

But everything inside of Sua told her if she did as they asked, it would be the last thing she did. Something strange had happened there. She’d picked up on it when they first arrived. Something was off. She understood now as she ran along the tree line. These people looked busy, but they weren’t really doing anything, at least nothing constructive. They looked busy just for the sake of looking busy.

Later that evening, armed men arrived at the village to speak to the woman and her husband who had fed Sua.

“She has a video of you and your men at her village,” the woman told them. “She’s heading to the lowlands to get cell service.”

“Who will she send the video to?”

“I don’t know. We tried to stop her from leaving, but she was quick.”

“We searched for hours but couldn’t find her,” the husband said.

The woman went on to describe what the girl looked like and what she was wearing.

“She’s educated,” the woman said. “She’ll tell anyone who will listen what’s happening. You must find her and destroy that phone!”

15

It was early evening. Ryan and I were chilling at the hotel. We’d eaten a ton of street food earlier, so we pushed dinner off until later in the evening. Ryan was feeling antsy and wanted to get a workout in. I was content to sit on the hotel’s veranda and listen to the crickets.

I would be lying if I said I was zoning out; I wasn’t. I still couldn’t shake that video out of my head. It was so telling. How could I just forget about it and continue my holiday? Yes, I know what Ryan said was true. Had I not been asked to drop off that package, I’d be none the wiser. I’d be sitting here without a care in the world.

Here’s the problem, Abby. You feel guilty that you’re not doing more.

Ain’t that the truth. The guilt dragged me down as if I were underwater with a hundred-pound weight around my waist and trying to swim to the surface. I’d been in law enforcement for most of my life. Protect and serve. The fight for justice. These were my mantras. And now I was being told to do nothing, kick back, and forget what I had seen. To be fair, I was being told to delegate the problem to someone else.

Why was that a bad thing? I had dozens of agents under my command whom I delegated to and never gave it a second thought.

It’s simple, Abby. In your office, you can always check your agents. You can’t check anything here. You have been stripped of all authority and power.

Was that it? Was I that much of a control freak? I didn’t think so. I’d never been one to micromanage.

No, that’s not it either. You feel the need to be absolved of any wrongdoing. That’s the only way you can let go of the guilt. You need someone to tell you “We’ve received your information; we’ll take it from here.” A proper handoff.

That had to be it. I didn’t want to feel like I was on the hook if something terrible happened. But Ryan had told me it was being handled. Shouldn’t that be enough?

Why did I doubt my son? Aside from him not having years of experience, what gave me reason? The CIA trusted him. His colleagues trusted him. And I imagined his direct report did as well. What was my beef?

Could it be the lies he’s told you since your arrival?

Just then, my phone rang. It was Lucy video calling me.

I answered the phone, but all I saw was a black screen. I could hear people talking, and I even heard Lucy’s voice.

“Hello, Lucy? Can you hear me? Lucy?”

There was movement, and the black screen was replaced with Lucy laughing. “Oh my God! I butt-dialed you by accident.”

“That’s funny. Another late night or a party?”

“Both. Just blowing off a little steam. Where’s Ryan?”

“He’s in the gym, and I’m relaxing and enjoying doing nothing.” I turned the phone around so she could see my view.

“That does look relaxing.”

I remember when I flew down to Los Angeles with Lucy to settle her in the USC dorms. She mentioned that she texted almost daily with her brother, which was a thousand times more contact than I had with him.

“Hey, Lucy, let me ask you something. You talk a lot with your brother, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Have you noticed any changes in his behavior since he’s been in Southeast Asia?”

“Not really. Why, is something wrong?”

“No, it just seems like he’s different. Not in a bad way, but just different. I can’t place my finger on it. Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen him since he left home.”

“It’s gotta be that. People change, and you’re not around him every day, so that might be why you notice things you might not have otherwise. To me, Ryan’s still the same person but more mature. Confident would be a word I would use to describe him now.”

“Yeah, I definitely picked up on that. Okay, just asking. I don’t want to keep you from your friends. Have fun, and I’ll talk to you later.”

After the call, I decided to join Ryan at the gym, thinking I could use a run. It had only been about forty-five minutes since he’d left, so I figured he was still there. I quickly headed up to my room, changed into workout clothes, and made my way to the gym. But when I arrived, it was empty.

I looked around for a sign that he was there, such as a towel or water bottle, but there was none. I stepped out and checked the steam room. He wasn’t in there either. Thinking maybe he was at the pool swimming laps, I made my way there, but he wasn’t there either.

Had he gone for a run off site?

It was possible he’d decided to forgo the treadmill. I returned to the gym again for another look, but it was spotless. There was no sign of anyone there.

Maybe he hadn’t made it down to the gym yet. He could still be in his room.

I took the elevator back to our floor and walked to his room. Just as I was about to knock on his door, I heard my name called.

“Hey, Abby.”

It was Ryan. He walked toward me dressed in workout clothes with a hand towel around his neck.

“Did you have a good workout?” I asked.

“Yeah, it was short but productive. Did you want to work out as well?” He’d noticed I had changed clothes.

“I was thinking about it. Thought I would stop by your room to see if you’d finished.”

“If you want, I can head back down with you. Maybe I’ll chill in the steam room, and after we can get something to eat.”

He’s lying again.

Is he, Abby? He might have been in the men’s restroom. You didn’t poke your head in there.

“Yeah, that sounds good. Let’s do that.”

16

One white lie? Who cared. Two? Forgettable. But we were now on his third. And this coming from a person I’d known most of his life. He’d always told the truth before.

Are you sure about that, Abby?

Of course I was. I knew my son like the back of my hand. That wasn’t in his nature. I’d raised him to be an honest person.

I was running on the treadmill, staring at myself in the mirror. From the look on my face, anyone in the gym could see that I was having an internal conversation. Ryan would have picked up on it. Thankfully, he’d opted for the steam room.

What bothers me the most is that it’s for stupid things. Like, who cares if you worked out or not or didn’t want a massage? And if this is about sneaking off to do work, just say, Hey, I need to step out and make a call. Or I have to meet with a colleague for thirty minutes. Of course I would understand. In our profession, we’re always on call. I don’t need to be babysat while I’m out here.

I just didn’t get where the lying was coming from. It was totally out of Ryan’s character. Sure, he was in a profession where he couldn’t tell me anything about what he did, but I wasn’t asking that. Need to make a call? Go right ahead; I didn’t need to know who or what it was about.

And what got my goat even more was that the lie was so obvious. Why was it that men always thought they were being clever and getting away with something? We always knew when they were lying. Especially me. It was my job to know when someone was lying. Sheesh!

Calm down, Abby. You’re getting yourself worked up in a frenzy over something you already admitted isn’t a big deal. This is your son we’re talking about here. Not a suspect. There’s probably a perfect explanation for all the lies he told you. They might not even be lies. Remember, he could have been in the bathroom while you searched the gym for him.

I stepped off the treadmill, irritated by my overthinking. What started off as me feeling guilty had now become all about Ryan and his white lies. What was I doing? Was I making a mountain out of a molehill or simply looking for an excuse to make myself feel better? I was supposed to be relaxing on vacation.

Get it together, Abby!

Later in the evening, we were hanging out in the hotel’s lounge, having drinks. I think the whiskey helped me unwind. We had healthy, interesting conversations, and not once did work, what had happened over the past few days, or even the lying rear its ugly head. We were enjoying each other’s company. We even talked about Po Po and how she no longer cooked like she used to, since Ryan and Lucy were no longer home.

“She’s spending a lot more time with her friends,” I said, “which is a good thing. I’m happy to see her enjoying her time. But you should have seen her when Lucy came home for Thanksgiving. Talk about overcooking. She practically lived in the kitchen, trying to feed Lucy every minute of the day. Lucy ended up doing a bunch of content revolving around food. The series was called ‘What my grandmother is feeding me now.’”

Ryan slapped his thigh and threw his head back in laughter. “I remember seeing a few of those TikToks. It was so funny because the sheer amount of food seemed fitting for what someone would eat in a week, but it was really what she ate in a day.”

“That’s right. And then she insisted Lucy take a bunch of food back to school. I can only imagine what would have happened if you had made it home.”

“Leftovers for a year.”

“Probably. Even Kang had to tap out, and that guy is a human garbage disposal. He’ll eat anything put in front of him.”

“So funny. I wish I was there,” Ryan said. “I need to come home. It’s been so long. I’m glad you came out here, Abby. I’m having a great time.”

“So am I. Too bad Lucy couldn’t come. She’s so busy with her influencer career. She’s really grown it to a level I never thought possible. The amount of brand deals that she’s securing is insane.”

“With Lucy’s financial success, she’ll tell you to retire.”

“Oh, wouldn’t that be wonderful.”

“She needs to be careful, though.” Ryan shifted in his seat. “Popular influencers do topple, and it’s almost always because of something stupid they did in their private life. They forget that they’re under a spotlight twenty-four seven. It’s impossible to do something without someone finding out about it.”

“That’s true. But Lucy has a good head on her shoulders.”

“She does.” Ryan downed the last of the whiskey and soda in his glass. “You ready for another?”

I drank the last of mine, the liquor warming my throat and chest. After the server delivered fresh drinks, we sat quietly, sipping. We had moved out to the veranda, as the night air was mild and the termites flying around earlier had retired by then. It was calm and peaceful, staring out at the river. The moon was bright that night, with its reflection glimmering off the water. Occasionally, the shadow of a small boat would pass by as crickets sang in the bushes below us.

“Did you know crickets are farmed and eaten here in Thailand?” Ryan said. “They’re a real delicacy in the Isan region, which is east of us.”

“Have you tried them?” I asked as I stretched my legs, crossing one over the other.

“I have. They’re not bad. They’re fried. It’s like eating a potato chip. They’re cooked in sweet and salty sauce, so they’re very tasty, almost like a teriyaki flavor.”

“Sounds good.”

“Usually there’s a stall in the night markets selling insects. We’ll have to find one and try everything on the menu. You up for that?”

I lifted my glass, and Ryan clinked his glass against mine. Our trip was officially back on track, and I was keen to keep it that way.

17

My phone’s ringing had me confused for a moment. I thought I was dreaming, but a few seconds later, I realized it really was ringing. I looked at the screen; it was Kang calling.

“Kyle, do you have any idea what time it is here?” I said in a soft voice as I rolled over onto my back. “It’s still dark outside.”

“I know. I’m sorry to call so early. But I needed to speak to you sooner rather than later.”

I could hear it in his voice. Something had happened. “What’s wrong?”

“Abby, did you hand that package off to Agent Abang?”

I’d never thought of calling Kang and filling him in because of the discussions Ryan and I were having. And also, what would Kang do all the way from San Francisco? Alert the same people we’d already alerted?

“No. I mean, yes, sort of.” I mentally ran through what had happened, looking for the best starting point to bring him up to speed. “It’s a long story, but⁠—”

“I just got word that a body was found floating in the Mekong River,” he said, throwing off my train of thought.

Is he talking about the bodies Ryan and I saw floating? Did it make international news?

“It’s confirmed to be Agent Abang.”

I took a quick breath, immediately shook off any sleepiness I was still experiencing, and propped myself up on an elbow. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“He’s dead, Abby.”

“How do you know?”

“The agent in Los Angeles, who invited me fishing, told me.”

“So, it’s hearsay?”

“It’s not hearsay. It’s confirmed, Abby. He’s asking if you met with Agent Abang. Did you meet with him? You said yes and then no. Which is it?”

“It’s both. I went to visit him, but something happened.”

I slipped out of bed and over to an armchair, knowing I’d have to walk Kang through everything.

“Wait, what do you mean he was kidnapped?” he asked.

“Allegedly, Kang. I don’t know for sure since I don’t know what he looks like. Look, I know how this looks.”

“Do you?”

“I do, Kyle. It looks like I sat on the information. I didn’t. Ryan reported everything to his people at the consulate. The ball was in their court. It’s not my job or Ryan’s job to investigate this. And believe me, I started to, but Ryan convinced me not to.”

“Why?”

“Well, for starters, I have no jurisdiction here. Two, it’s an investigation that will be handled by local law enforcement. Trust me, it was hard for me to sit back, but Ryan was right. All we could do was report what had happened. And to be honest, I wasn’t one hundred percent sure. My only interaction was responding to his text naming the meeting location and the time. That’s it.”

“But you said you saw the video footage.”

“I did, but I have no idea what Agent Abang looks like. I could only assume that was him. And he went willingly with the men, I might add. He didn’t put up a fight.”

“So, he knew them.”

“That’s what I’m thinking, which means…”

“He was crooked.”

“Even Ryan thinks the same. That’s another reason why we stuck to reporting everything we know. If he was crooked, that’s a bigger issue, and I’m not sure how they would want to handle it. I’m sorry, but I didn’t think to call you because of the situation. You didn’t know the guy, either, so why update you?”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s just that I was blindsided by the call I got earlier. I mean, the guy is definitely dead. They fished his body out of the river.”

“When?”

“I don’t have the details of that. Could have been today, could have been a few days ago.”

“So, what does your fishing friend want from me? A statement?” It was hard enough shutting off my investigative mind. If I had to go to the consulate now and give a statement, it would trigger me to do more. “I’m supposed to be on vacation, Kyle, and I don’t want to ruin it, especially since it felt like we had put it behind us. This isn’t just for me but for Ryan as well.”

“I’ll tell them that you’ve already reported what you know to the consulate in Thailand. I’ll also relay to my guy what you told me, letting him know there’s nothing more to add, but you’ll be happy to repeat the same information in one week, when you return. The guy’s dead, so it’s not like they have a hostage situation and time is of the essence. Maybe send me the video footage you obtained in case the LA office doesn’t know about it.”

“Kyle, do you think I made the right decision…deferring?”

“I don’t think you did anything legally wrong. How much you want to follow up or involve yourself is a personal decision. You’re not to blame for this agent’s death, is what I’m saying. I don’t believe that at all for one minute. Plus, your actions were based on the counsel you received from Ryan, a CIA officer stationed at the consulate. If anyone has reason to involve themselves further, it’s him. This is off topic, but I’m surprised he finally came clean to you.”

“He had no choice; I was on the verge of escalating things. If the people who abducted Agent Abang knew I was an FBI agent meeting with him, a crooked agent, they could easily assume he was confessing something. It endangered me and put Ryan’s cover at risk, since we’ve been seen all over town together. You understand, right?”

“Sure. Blow his cover and he could be fired from his job. So, what came of it? Any feedback with the information you guys handed over?”

“Zilch. But Ryan said that doesn’t mean anything. Whoever’s in charge of making decisions is under no obligation to notify Ryan about anything, let alone me. No one here knows who I am.”

“It could be that. Or it could be that Ryan can’t tell you what he’s learned.”

Kang was right. I believed all the reasons why Ryan hadn’t heard back. I might very well be on a need-to-know basis.

“Go ahead and tell Ryan what I told you,” Kang said. “The FBI has nothing to hide.”

“I will tell him. It might be something that can help the investigation on this end.”

Kang’s mentioning that the FBI had nothing to hide triggered my memories of Ryan’s white lies. Was he holding out on more information? Did it even matter at this point? That FBI agent was dead. Sure, he might have been into something shady, but we didn’t know that. I needed to have this conversation with him to fully clear my conscience and make sure Ryan and I were on the same page. It was unavoidable.

But just as I had that thought, another one popped into my head. It had just dawned on me that I still had Abang’s package. After my meeting with Abang went south, I had thrown the package into my suitcase when I returned to the hotel and forgotten all about it. Out of sight and out of mind. “You know, I still have the package, but I never bothered to open it. Hang on.”

I retrieved the envelope from my suitcase and opened it. Inside it looked like it had copies of mortgage papers for a house. Why couldn’t this have been mailed?

“Kyle, you’re not going to believe this. It’s just a bunch of paperwork for a mortgage.”

“Really? That’s strange. That could have been mailed.”

“Exactly.”

18

There was no way I would fall asleep after talking to Kang. I looked over at the clock. It was a little after five. The hotel’s breakfast service didn’t start until six, and I didn’t feel like lying in my bed any longer. After a quick shower, I dressed in clothing appropriate for a hike, since Ryan had suggested one last night, and sat in my room, sipping tea while replaying everything that had happened since my arrival and the decisions I’d made. Would a different action or decision have saved this agent’s life? I was deep in my thoughts when Ryan texted.

He’s up early.

He couldn’t sleep and wanted to know if I was up. I texted him back that I was. A few minutes later, there was a knock at my door.

Ryan plopped down into a chair, a small table separating us.

“Do you want to order coffee?” I asked. “They might be able to manage that at this hour.”

“Nah, I’m good. So why can’t you sleep?” He had an inquisitive look on his face.

“I got a call from Kyle.”

Ryan’s eyes popped. “Uncle Kyle calling this early in the morning isn’t good.”

“No, it wasn’t. He called to tell me that Abang’s body was fished out of the Mekong.”

“Are you serious?” Ryan leaned forward. “What happened?”

“Are you telling me you knew nothing about this?”

Ryan held up both hands in protest. “I swear I had no idea.” His brow crinkled. “You do believe me, don’t you?”

It’s now or never. There won’t be a better time, Abby.

“You’ve been lying to me.”

Ryan cocked his head, his face twisted with confusion. “Why would you say that?”

I named the two instances when I thought he’d lied to me and explained why I thought he’d been lying. “Am I wrong? Now’s the time to clear the air.”

“Fine. I’m sorry. I did tell you some fibs. But they weren’t meant to deceive you. I swear.”

“Are they work related?”

“You know I can’t talk about that.”

“I just don’t understand why you felt like you had to lie.”

“I just thought bringing up my work would lead to more questions, and it was better to avoid the entire subject. That’s all.”

“Did you turn over all of our information about Agent Abang?”

“I did. Everything you told me and the video you sent to me.”

“And you never heard back, not so much as a peep.”

“Nothing more than a thank-you, and if they had questions or need additional help, they would let me know.”

“Clearly, your people know Abang is dead,” I said.

“I would think so, and maybe they have a good reason for not broadcasting it.”

I didn’t say anything, prompting Ryan to keep talking and keep the awkward silence from continuing.

“Abby, you never answered my question. Do you believe everything I’m telling you right now?”

“I believe you’re telling me as much as you can.”

“If that’s true, can you live with that?”

“I guess.” I picked up my cell phone.

“What are you doing?”

“I just remembered that Kyle asked me to forward that video footage to him.”

As I navigated to Kang’s number, Ryan snatched my phone out of my hand. That was the second time.

“I hope you have a damn good reason for doing that again.”

“I’m sorry, Abby, I can’t let you do that.” His stare challenged me to make a move.

“Give me back my phone,” I said in a lowered voice, my words clipped.

Ryan shoved it into his pocket. “That’s not happening.”

He dipped his other hand into his other pocket and pulled out what looked like a cloth. Before I could get another word out, he slammed the fabric over my face, holding it tight. I knew I was inhaling some sort of chemical, and I kicked at him hard, hoping to jolt him enough to relax his grip.

But he only doubled down.

Within seconds, Ryan had moved on top of me, overpowering me with his strength as he applied pressure. The line in the center of his brow deepened. I remember staring into his eyes and thinking to myself how dead they looked, vacant of emotion. It was as if Ryan had no recollection of who I was to him.

What had happened to my son?

19

I woke to a dull throbbing in my head. I tried to swallow, but the dryness in my throat triggered a hoarse cough. I blinked my eyelids until my vision cleared, revealing the small, unrecognizable room I was in. It wasn’t entirely dark, as light seeped in through spacing in the walls. After staring for a moment, I realized the wall was made of bamboo. I was lying on the ground—well, a thin mattress on the ground, which was packed dirt. This wasn’t the five-star hotel room I had grown accustomed to.

The room was circular, big enough for two people to lie down. It had a thatched roof, and the door was directly across from where I lay. It didn’t seem secure, but I was.

My hands were tied behind my back, and my ankles were tied together. I was fully clothed, still wearing the T-shirt, shorts, and shoes I had worn at the hotel. But other than that, I didn’t see any of my personal effects, certainly not my phone.

The events that had happened prior materialized in my head. Ryan and I had been in my hotel room early in the morning. We’d discussed my phone call with Kang, and then I said I needed to send him the video from the coffee shop. That’s when the attack started. He’d taken my phone first, then forced me to breathe in a chemical from a cloth he had pressed against my face.

It was hard to accept. I wanted to believe this was all a dream, some wild nightmare that I would wake up from and then retell to Ryan as we laughed about the absurdity of my son attacking me and then imprisoning me like he was some low-life piece of trash. But this was the reality. My holiday in paradise had become a nightmare.

I ran my tongue under my lip. It was still tender from the force Ryan used to pin the cloth against my face. But why?

I think you already know the answer, Abby.

What? By digging into what happened to Abang? Please, I didn’t dig. Kang clued me in to his murder, and all I did was let Ryan know. We had agreed to report everything we knew. This needed to be reported. That’s hardly getting involved with the investigation.

I ran through that scenario repeatedly, searching for something that would provide the explanation I desperately sought. I considered what we’d discussed, even body language, but nothing stood out. His mood had seemed normal for that early hour. I didn’t sense he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Our conversation was standard; maybe we spoke a little quieter because it was early. Wait… Ryan said he had trouble sleeping. Why?

Just then, the door opened abruptly, and two men with rifles slung over their shoulders entered the hut. One was also carrying a bottle of water. While the other pointed his rifle at me, the one with the bottle knelt next to me and began pouring water into my mouth.

“Drink!” He had an accent.

I was parched and did my best to swallow as much as possible. He removed another bottle of water from a satchel he wore.

“More?”

I nodded, as I wasn’t sure when I would get another chance to drink water. He certainly wasn’t trying very hard to get the water into my mouth, as I again struggled to consume all of it.

A devious grin grew across the other man’s face as his gaze slowly traced my body, pausing on my chest and eventually lingering at the area where my thighs met.

I finished the last of the water, and the man crushed both bottles and shoved them into his satchel. The other man dropped to his knees and ran his rough hand along my thigh. His smile grew as he moved his hand higher. The other man smacked his hand away and shouted in a language I was unfamiliar with as he yanked the guy to his feet. I was thankful one of them hadn’t confused guarding a prisoner with raping a prisoner. Both men left, and I was once again alone.

It was surreal to lie there, overwhelmed by thoughts of my own son turning on me. While Ryan wasn’t my own flesh and blood, I treated and thought of him as if he were. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him.

I wanted to believe with all my heart that there was a perfectly good explanation for his doing what he did. Maybe he was being blackmailed and these men were forcing him to do things. Were these men associated with one of the surrounding countries’ governments? Was Ryan being made to pass secrets to them? Had they flipped him?

He was a CIA officer. What other use could they possibly have for him?

I didn’t want to believe it. I refused to believe it, even though if it were anyone else, that would be the first thought to come to mind. If someone were to ask me what the worst thing I could imagine Ryan doing would be, I would probably say, “Silently fart in a car while the windows were up.” And even then, I would say “Maybe.” He had always been a by-the-book kid. Straight as an arrow. He never did anything bad growing up and was always willing to lend a hand to others. I just couldn’t accept that my son had become a traitor to his country.

20

I dozed off again, and this time, when I woke, the light shining through the bamboo poles had dimmed, telling me it was probably late afternoon. I vaguely remembered crying myself to sleep earlier as I tried to understand what had happened.

My body ached from having to lie on my side. The constant strain on my shoulders made them throb. I was sure my circulation was affected. I rolled over to my stomach to take the pressure off my rib cage, burying my nose in the musty mattress I lay on. I didn’t want to think about who else had the pleasure of using this mattress before I did.

A constant buzz of insects easily penetrated the flimsy walls of my hut. Occasionally, it was interrupted by what I could only guess were monkeys shrieking. I didn’t even want to think of the sheer number of creepy crawling things on the jungle floor that could access the inside of my hut. A new fear was unlocked: an insect burrowing into my ear canal while I slept.

I couldn’t tell if my handlers were stationed outside my hut. I assumed they had been assigned to watch over it. I figured I’d been here most of the day. One would think whoever was in charge would have come to have a conversation with me and tell me why I was here or, at the very least, what they wanted from me.

What about Ryan? Where was he? Was he back at the hotel, enjoying the river view from the veranda? Was he stuffing his face with street food without a care in the world? Surely I hadn’t been brought here to simply stop me from digging into Abang’s murder.

Swallowing reminded me that my throat had grown dry again. But more importantly, I had to pee. Was I expected to pee my shorts? I could, but I preferred not to. I figured it was worth asking for a bathroom break, so I called out.

“Hey! Gunmen!”

I waited, unsure if they heard me or even understood English, but I didn’t think they needed to. Common sense would tell a guard to check on the prisoner if they’re shouting, right?

“Hello? I have to pee!”

The door opened, and one of the guards walked in. Not the one who had raped me with his eyes, but the one who had given me water. A second later, the raper guy appeared.

“I need to use the bathroom…toilet. Understand?”

This would be so much easier if I could mime, but my hands were tied together.

“Toilet?” he asked.

And I nodded. “Yes, yes.”

The nicer of the two had gotten the memo. While the wannabe raper aimed his rifle at my head, the other cut the ropes, freeing my hands. The immediate release was magical as my circulation returned, the needles in my shoulders faded, and the feeling started to come back. I sat and wrung my hands for a few seconds while he cut the rope securing my feet together.

I tried standing, but my legs were useless, and I lurched out toward the guard, grabbing a fistful of his shirt to prevent myself from collapsing. Surprisingly, he helped steady me until I regained control of my legs.

They led me out of the hut, and we followed a path. For the first time, I got a look at where I was. Definitely in the middle of the jungle, but it was a village. I assumed it belonged to one of the hill tribes. A clearing was in the village’s center, perhaps their town square. Huts of various shapes and sizes surrounded the area, forming a long oval. I wouldn’t say it was a large village brimming with activity. My hut, or jail cell, was on the far end, away from the others.

I slowed my steps to take in as much detail as possible. I didn’t see any villagers, but I saw other armed men resembling my handlers.

The raper guard behind me jabbed his rifle into my back, keeping me moving. We were heading away from the village into the jungle. About twenty yards in, we stopped, and the leader of the two pointed to the ground.

From the look on his face, he expected me to squat and go. I waited for them to turn around or at least step back a foot or two, but after a few seconds of them staring at me, I realized they weren’t moving. I undid my shorts and squatted. Raper Guy moved in closer. I swore right there that as soon as I had a chance, I would pummel that stupid smirk right off his face.

After I finished my business, we retraced our steps back out of the jungle. Again, I walked slower than usual, hoping to take in as many details as possible. Was there a chance for escape? I wasn’t sure, but I’d be damned if I didn’t try.

In the village, there were probably five or six men milling around, a few entering and exiting huts, so there could be more. They were all armed. It wasn’t looking good for me, even if I could free myself and get past the guards watching me. I needed a weapon: that was clear to me.

Just then, a black SUV appeared. That was unexpected, but it told me there was a road nearby. We weren’t in the middle of nowhere. There was access.

The vehicle came to a stop, and the front passenger door opened. I drew in a sharp breath as a man stepped out. I recognized him right away, even from that distance. Archer and his crew had taken the Sam Gor member we fished out of the ocean for questioning: Chi Long.

I blinked my eyes rapidly, focusing on paying attention. Getting a solid look at his face was challenging, as he kept looking around and talking to the men around him, but I was confident it was Chi.

Did he recognize me from that night on the water? It was the only thing that made sense.

Maybe your son told him.

That thought made my stomach turn. I was here because of Ryan. I couldn’t ignore it, no matter how much I wanted to believe otherwise. I was confused, though. I wasn’t a part of anything about Chi’s interrogation. Could Archer have mentioned me to him? No, he would never do that. What value was I bringing to the table? Assuming Ryan had told him who I was, I still couldn’t understand how I was helpful.

Abby, the question you need to ask is whether Chi knows you’re Ryan’s mother.

That was a good question. I had to assume not, because that would make Ryan look bad, like he was reaching out for help.

Chi appeared to be running the show up here. He acted like a leader, pointing around and ordering men to do stuff. They all seemed to look to him for direction. Then the rear passenger door opened, and out stepped Ryan, smiling as he joined Chi.

21

Back in my hut, I sat on my mattress, dumbfounded by what I had just witnessed. Every excuse I had come up with to explain Ryan’s actions went out the window. There was no denying what I had seen. Ryan was standing next to Chi, and the two were chatting it up like buddies. One a known member of the Sam Gor criminal organization and responsible for the death of a CIA officer. The other one my son, who had sworn allegiance to the United States, promising not to disclose intelligence to our enemies or participate in a strike against the United States government. Seeing the pair made me nauseous.

No longer could I accept the bullshit excuses I’d fed myself earlier to explain my son’s actions. I’d seen the proof with my own eyes. My own son had turned me over. Just thinking that sent a shiver up my arms. I’d raised that kid since he was six. Sure, we’d had our disagreements, but that’s all they were. Minor at best, quickly resolved and forgotten. Ryan never locked himself in his room like teens sometimes do. Nor did he ever avoid me or any other member of the family. He certainly wasn’t one of those angry kids who lashed out at loved ones. No, Ryan had been kind, caring, helpful around the house, and a straight-A student all through his years of schooling. I couldn’t have asked for a better son. So why had he knocked me out and turned me over to Sam Gor? What had happened to him in the course of the last two years?

That was the million-dollar question.

And as for me, I, for my life, couldn’t explain why Sam Gor would have an interest in me, aside from some vengeance angle. I’d been part of a team that disrupted their newly formed route to traffic drugs into America. But I was one of many people who had been attached to the operation that night. Plus, drug routes were shut down all the time by the DEA. The traffickers just created new ones. This was the cat-and-mouse game that law enforcement and the drug cartels played. And as far as I knew, drugs were a big part of Sam Gor’s operations. This modus operandi couldn’t be new to them.

I also hadn’t hauled Chi to some black site for unauthorized conversations. I’m sure Archer had tortured the crap out of him. But again, I hadn’t been there. In fact, no FBI agent was there.

There were way bigger targets than me. The CIA, for starters.

Diego had been Archer’s partner in the operation. He’d helped secure Chi and whisk him off to the black site. Why not go after him? Why come after me?

Wait, Abby. Are you sure these men know who you are? Maybe they think you’re CIA.

I hadn’t considered that. Assuming they knew Ryan was CIA, they could easily assume I was too. It would explain why Ryan was outside laughing it up with Chi while I was on a moldy mattress.

But if that was true, I’d have to consider that Ryan had told them I was CIA. Why the CIA and not the FBI? Why tell them anything at all? Why turn me, his mother, over to a criminal organization? I had millions of questions and not a single answer.

I wasn’t even investigating Sam Gor. If I were, I could at least see the reasoning behind keeping me hostage. What did they think I could do for them? Surely they perceived me as having some sort of value. Had Ryan created that value for them?

There were two obvious questions.

Why had Ryan turned on me?

What did Sam Gor want with me?

Maybe he had no choice, with all your prodding and poking into his personal life.

Wait, what? Ryan’s my son. Since when did showing interest in his life become a crime?

He’s not a ten-year-old boy. As Kang has told you time and time again, “Ryan is a grown man, an adult free to make his own decisions.” Admit it. You never quite let that go. You continue to treat him like he’s still a child.

I do not treat him that way.

Really? Are you sure?

Had I pushed things too far with Ryan? Could I have pushed him to… No, wait a minute. If Ryan had decided to work for Sam Gor, I had nothing to do with that. I’d raised him to know the difference between right and wrong. I would not be that punching bag. No way would I take any blame for that. His involvement with them was of his own doing.

Okay, okay, but he attacked you, and now you’re being held captive by men associated with Sam Gor. Think about it, Abby. Did you box him in? No matter how many times he told you to stay out of Agent Abang’s abduction, you continued to push the issue.

Again, I did nothing wrong. Those questions were pushy because he was working with the enemy, and I simply did what any normal person working in law enforcement would do.

But you ignored his pleas to drop it, and you pushed.

So, this is my fault?

If the shoe fits…

It takes two to tango. I’d admit that my innocent questioning might be why I had ended up a hostage. Still, it had nothing to do with Ryan’s involvement with Sam Gor.

I let out a defeated breath as I rolled onto my back, brushing the hair off my face. This time, when they tied me back up, I’d convinced them to at least allow me to keep my hands in front. The nicer one agreed.

As I lay there, struggling with the fact that my son had sacrificed his own mother, it dawned on me that Ryan was most likely acting as a double agent. Treason. It didn’t get any worse than that. I guessed it could be about money. Maybe the temptation was too great. I’d feel a bit better if they had found a way to coerce him rather than it being all about greed. Or somehow, Ryan had become some tormented soul, disillusioned by our government or country. Even that would be better.

So, what did they have on him? How badly did one need to screw up to be indebted to Sam Gor? There had to be a way to walk it back. Had he even tried? Or worse, had Ryan sought Sam Gor out?

I had to consider every option. I had to look at the situation seeing Ryan not as my son but as a CIA agent who’d gone off the rails while in the field.

Also, Ryan was smiling out there. It didn’t look like they were twisting his arm and forcing him. He looked like a willing participant if I’d ever seen one.

I started to speculate on the information Ryan was feeding them. It had to be something that would help with their trafficking efforts. A rush of all our past conversations flowed back into my head—conversations about my investigations and how we were handling them. Over the years, I’d become more open with Ryan when it came to work.

There was a time when I kept everything from him and Lucy, but as he got older and more interested in my job, I spoke openly about what I was working on. There were some details that I never shared, anything critical to the investigation or classified for anyone outside of the bureau. Some or all of it could easily paint an understanding of how the FBI approached investigations, but not necessarily drug trafficking. That was really the DEA’s expertise. My area of mastery had always been heinous crimes, and Ryan knew that.

I continued to scour our conversations over the last year. Had he shown more interest in my work than usual? Nothing stood out. Had he taken an unusual interest in any of my investigations? Not by my memory. But one thing I knew for sure: I’d never spoken about Sam Gor or that drug bust with Ryan until I got out here. And that was just a few days ago.

Not wanting to incite a full-blown headache, I took a break from my guesswork. I reached down and tugged at the knot binding my feet, which was tied tight. There was no way I could undo it with my fingers.

Curious about what was happening outside, I rolled to face the hut’s wall to look through the spaces between the hollow bamboo culms. That direction faced the jungle. I managed to get to my feet without grunting—I didn’t want to alert Tweedledee and Tweedledum outside. I then shuffled around the hut, looking through the gaps until I found an area facing the village center. It wasn’t a clear view—another hut partially blocked it—but it was better than nothing.

The tail end of the SUV was within view, the rest of the vehicle hidden behind another hut. I didn’t see Ryan or Chi anywhere. Most likely, they were inside one of the huts. Was this a Sam Gor base in the hills? Was this the source of all those ghost stories?

Criminal organizations like to work under the radar, so I understood why they had this compound in the jungle. It was smart if they’d modeled it after one of the hill tribe villages to blend in. Did the drug production take place here? Probably. Those dead bodies in the Mekong, were they employees of Sam Gor? Had another village stumbled across their secret here? If so, killing what most likely was an entire village seemed a little overboard. Regardless of the reason, killing many people in one go seemed evil.

I finally spotted two women. They were dressed in traditional clothing that matched some of the photo advertisements of the hill tribes I’d seen at the hotel concierge’s desk. They were also unarmed. Employed workers or real villagers? I couldn’t tell. A few kids followed, kicking a ball between them. Okay, it’s starting to feel more like a village. Then men hauling large pieces of wood passed by my view.

Well, maybe this village still functions, and Sam Gor is utilizing part of it for its operations.

Movement outside my door caught my attention, and I quickly returned to my mattress. The same two men entered my hut. Raper Guy pointed his rifle at me while the other one handed me a plate of rice and some sort of dried meat. No utensils, but I didn’t care, as I was famished. I used my fingers to shovel it all into my mouth as they watched. As I neared my last few bites, I thought of asking what was for dessert, but I figured that joke would go straight over their heads.

“Water?” I asked, making a drinking motion toward my mouth. The one who gave me the food fetched a water bottle from his satchel. Why didn’t you just give it to me to begin with? Are we rationing or something?

I downed the entire bottle and handed him back the empty, and they left.

22

I continued to request bathroom breaks, which I was given without pushback. It’s not that I had an overactive bladder. Each trip allowed me to survey more of my surroundings. There were definitely villagers mixed in with Sam Gor members. From what I could gather, the villagers outnumbered the Sam Gor men. Maybe I could talk one of them into helping me. Or maybe they would provide the cover I needed to escape. I still needed to ditch my babysitters, but that was the least of my worries.

If I managed to free myself and escape from the village, my biggest concern was the jungle. I had no way to navigate, but I knew I was in the mountains, so heading downhill was the right way. The right course could place me just hours from Chiang Rai. The wrong course could put me in even greater danger. How long could I survive in this environment with no food or water? I might be able to find water, but food was a bigger gamble, unless I found a recognizable source. I wasn’t trying anything that looked sort of edible only to end up foaming at the mouth a few seconds later. And killing an animal? Forget about that. I was more worried about crossing paths with one of those elusive tigers. I’d make a tasty snack.

My only saving grace was that I knew a highway was somewhere nearby. It might be heavily trafficked, or it might not, but following it should lead me to Chiang Rai. If I could make it to that road, I just might have a shot at surviving this ordeal.

The other option was to wait and see what happened. Yeah, I didn’t like my odds. I wasn’t about to leave my life to fate. Not while I still had a chance to change the outcome.

During one of my bathroom breaks, I noticed the SUV had disappeared. Did that mean Ryan and Chi had left? Strange that they would come here and then leave without so much as peeking their heads inside. At the very least I thought Ryan would have come to speak to me.

Emptiness developed in my stomach as it became clear that I was wanted enough to be kidnapped but not prized enough to merit a conversation. In my line of work, that meant I was completely and totally disposable.

With nightfall, trips into the jungle would no longer be advantageous. My babysitters had brought me more of the same food: rice and dried meat. Considering they were feeding me, I assumed they wanted me alive and somewhat healthy. But for what?

I had to make a move soon. By sneaking peeks between the bamboo tubes, I’d already determined that my babysitters were stationed not far from me. There were times that they took breaks and only one of them stood watch near the door. They weren’t looking at their phones, aside from checking the time. That told me there was no reception where we were, or they would have been scrolling social media to pass the time. They also talked sparingly.

Given the situation, I was certain they would become tired and let their guard down. Most likely, dozing off was inevitable in the early mornings, when the village would be quiet. That’s when I would make my move. However, I still had one problem: the rope securing my hands and feet.

My father always told me a trapped animal was an unpredictable animal. Unpredictability would be my way out.

I kept an eye on the two guards all through the night. There didn’t seem to be a set schedule for when they’d split, but I knew my best opportunity would be with Raper Guy.

They had taken my watch from me, so I had to guesstimate the time. I figured it was closing in on sunrise. Both men were sleeping: not exactly what I had hoped. I wanted them to be separated. Raper Guy was closest to me, his friend a few feet away from him, snoring.

“Pssst!” I whispered. Raper Guy didn’t move a muscle. I tried again but louder, and this time, he turned over to his side, facing me. “Hey!” I called out in a much louder whisper. His eyes opened.

I started moaning. The kind of moaning that would attract Raper Guy. A beat later, he was on his feet. I quickly lay down on the mattress and waited for him. The door opened, and he stood in the doorway as I continued my moaning, my hands swimming across my body.

“I want you,” I whispered.

It took a second for him to lean his rifle against the wall and start undoing his pants. He almost fell over as he hopped toward me. He worked on his boxers as he stood at the foot of my mattress. My legs were straight, pointing directly at him.

“Come to me,” I said.

He got down on one knee, and that’s when I kicked as hard as possible. My heel slammed into his nose, snapping his head back. I kicked him once more in the face as he fell forward, unconscious, and his limp body crumpled onto the mattress. I shimmied over to his pants, where he had a sheathed knife hanging off his belt, and used it to free my hands and feet.

If I was to survive, I would need to put as much distance between me and this place as I could, as quickly as possible. Raper Guy started to regain consciousness. With one swift movement, I sliced his neck open and left him gurgling on the ground. Outside, his partner was still snoring. I crept over to him and drove the knife into his neck. He woke in a panic, but it was already too late for him. His legs and arms flailed as the life streamed out of him, eventually slowing and then stopping.

I searched both men for anything that could help me survive in the jungle. I took one of their watches and their money. Raper Guy didn’t have a password on his phone, so I took his. Last, I grabbed a rifle and all the ammunition they had on them, which was only a couple of magazines. I shoved them into a satchel I’d lifted off one of my captors, made my way to the front of my hut, and crouched, surveying the area.

My luck: people were already up. I saw a fire by one of the huts, with shadows nearby. They were women, maybe getting started on breakfast. I crept to the next hut and heard soft snoring inside. I moved to another and waited and listened. I had a better look at the individuals by the fire. They were two women. To my left, coughing caught my attention. Another woman walked into view. I wasn’t sure what hut she was from, but she was heading to the women near the fire. The three conversed as they warmed their bodies. It was slightly chilly, but I knew the temperature would rise as the day wore on.

From what I gathered, the women had been the first to rise. What about the Sam Gor members? Were they late risers?

Across from me, I could make out a dirt path leading out of the village. But I would need to pass by the women. Suddenly, a woman walked out of the hut opposite them, near the pathway, and started to build a second fire. The longer I stayed put, the more I’d have to contend with. It was dark enough still that I wondered if I walked by with my rifle, pretending to be one of the Sam Gor members, would the women notice, or even care? Unless there were no women in the organization.

Movement inside the hut I’d crouched beside drew my attention. A man cleared his throat, and I quietly stepped backward until I was near the rear of the structure. Still, I realized whoever was inside could see my movements if the spacing between the bamboo poles was the same as in my hut.

A man’s voice called out, “Hey!” That was my cue to run.

I ran in the direction opposite the path out of the village, not by choice but because I had no other option. Whoever was in that hut had seen me and sounded the alarm. I could hear men shouting behind me.

The sun had started to crest the horizon, which made running easier. But it was bad because I no longer had the security of the dark.

Maybe they won’t see me.

A bullet whizzed past my head.

Scratch that.

I did my best to keep moving forward even though I had no idea where I was heading. I imagined exiting the jungle into a clearing only to find I was perched at the top of a tall waterfall, with jumping as my only escape.

More bullets flew past me. It seemed like they were randomly firing, perhaps unable to keep me in their sights. I wasn’t bold enough to think I was anywhere close to losing them.

Running straight won’t get you anywhere.

I cut left and ran diagonally for a good while before cutting left again and continuing. While I could still hear gunshots in the distance, there were no bullets zipping by me. With each stride, it seemed as though I was pulling farther away from them.

I kept my pace for another thirty minutes or so, until the gunshots were far enough in the distance that it felt safe to slow down. I was winded and desperately needed to catch my breath. I slipped behind a tree, crouching with my back against the trunk. Up ahead, all I saw were more trees with leafy vines hanging from them. There was nothing that said “Go this way.” I might as well have been looking into a mirror.

The canopy above was thick, creating rays of dappled light. I peeked around the tree, back where I’d come, looking for movement, but saw none. Monkeys screeched in the distance, making me wonder how friendly they were. At least I had a weapon, but discharging it was the last thing I wanted to do. No need to wave my hand in the air and shout, “I’m over here!”

I’d also underestimated how difficult running in high humidity would be. I wiped the never-ending slickness off my face with my shirt and shooed away flying insects. The back and front of my shirt were damp from perspiration. And it seemed that keeping my palms dry so I didn’t lose my grip on the rifle would also be a never-ending task.

But I’d made it out. One hurdle at a time, right?

First things first: I needed to get my bearings. I pulled out the phone I’d taken from Raper Guy. There was no cell service. No surprise there, but at least I could get my bearings from the GPS—or if I was lucky, a map of the area would have been downloaded.

No luck with the map, but I could at least see where I was: somewhere in North Thailand. There were no landmarks to help guide me. Just gray and a blue dot. Raper Guy also only had 20 percent battery left on his phone. At least I knew I needed to head south. I wasn’t exactly sure where Chiang Rai was, but heading down the mountain and south was my best bet. I powered down the phone to conserve battery life.

I brushed off my hands after pushing myself up. I was about to take a step when I heard heavy breathing coming my way. I pressed up against the tree. Whoever was breathing hard was heading in my direction. I adjusted my grip on the rifle, finger resting lightly against the trigger. I held the rifle vertically, barrel facing upward.

Best-case scenario, they’d run right past me and keep on running.

Worst case, they’d see me from the corner of their eye, and I’d shoot them.

I readied myself for either scenario.

The steps closed the distance.

Any second now.

A second later a flash of movement was followed by a thump that knocked me back off my feet. As I fell, I watched the person who’d run into me fall in the opposite direction from the force of the collision. It wasn’t one of the Sam Gor members but a young girl.

23

Even though she had a tangled mess of black hair covering parts of her face, her bulging eyes told me she was just as surprised as I was. I could only assume her heaving chest meant she was running from something. Certainly, she wasn’t out for a morning jog.

It didn’t take much to assume she was from one of the hill tribes. She wore an indigo-colored top with intricate embroidery that ran from the collar down the front of her chest. It was embellished with silver coins and colored beads, some barely hanging on by a thread. She had a matching pleated skirt with thin horizontal stripes of various colors across the waist and more of the same detailed embroidery seen on her top running down the sides.

We were both sitting on our butts, propped up by our hands only a few feet apart. The rifle lay on the ground off to the side of us. I glanced over at it, as did she. A beat later, we both scrambled for the gun. I was closer and much quicker, and therefore won control of the gun.

With the rifle aimed at her, I stood. She remained on all fours, her mouth open as she continued to draw deep breaths. In the distance, men were shouting. Are these the men chasing me or the men chasing her? She swallowed before looking back over her shoulder and then to me with her jittery eyes.

“English?” I asked.

“Yes!” She nodded.

I lowered the gun, as it was clear to me this young girl wasn’t a threat. “Those men are after you?”

She nodded and then glanced again over her shoulder once more. “They’re coming,” her shaky voice said with an accent.

“Then we need to start running.” I reached out, motioning for her to take my hand. She looked at it and then back over her shoulder.

“I won’t hurt you, but those men will.” She hesitated briefly before grabbing hold of my hand. “Now, which⁠—”

She took off sprinting before I could finish my sentence. I hope you’re running from the men and not me. I had no choice but to follow her or be left behind. The only positive I saw in trusting my entire fate to a strange girl I’d bumped into in the jungle was that she was being chased by men. We continued in the direction I would have gone had I not stopped to rest, which was comforting, considering the situation.

She was barefooted and light on her feet, deftly avoiding rocks jutting from the ground and exposed tree roots waiting to trip up passersby. The long skirt didn’t seem to hamper her. She occasionally hiked it up to leap over a fallen tree trunk. There wasn’t much I could do but follow in her footsteps and hope we were putting distance between us and those men.

We continued running long after the shouting of the men had died down. She didn’t appear to be tiring as fast as I was. Or maybe fear fueled her steps. Eventually, we came across a small creek, no more than ten or twelve feet across and no deeper than a foot. She knelt and began scooping handfuls of water into her mouth.

I guessed it was safe to drink, so I knelt beside her. The water was crisp and cool, a savior for my parched throat. She grabbed hold of my hand, stopping me after a few mouthfuls.

“Not too much.” She pointed to my stomach. “Crimps.”

Crimps? Is that a parasite?

“Crimps,” she said again, this time pointing to her stomach and making a face.

I realized then what she was saying. “You mean cramps.”

“Yes, cramps.” She scooped a few more handfuls into her mouth before dipping her hair into the water and soaking it. She motioned for me to do the same. “Keep cool.”

I did what she said and soaked my hair in the water. As I wrung the excess water out of my hair, I watched her clean her feet. She couldn’t be older then fifteen or sixteen, but her behavior was mature for her age. She had golden brown skin and large eyes, with eyelashes most women pay for at the salon.

“My name is Abby,” I said, smiling at her as she looked at me, still hesitant to trust me. “What can I call you?”

She pulled her feet out of the water. “I’m called Sua.”

“Sua? That’s a pretty name.”

It was the slightest of all smiles, but it gave me hope that I might just break down the wall she had up around her. She wasn’t a threat to me. I had the gun. But I could understand her apprehension toward me. A stranger in the woods, clearly not a member of any hill tribe, was carrying a rifle.

“Do you understand everything I’m saying?”

She nodded and sat on a nearby rock that was smooth, like a stool.

“Do you live in a village near here?”

“No.” She looked away. She still couldn’t maintain eye contact with me, but considering the situation, I got it. “My village is far from here. Higher up in the mountains.”

I nodded, wondering what she was doing alone, chased by men. “Your English is good.”

This time, she couldn’t contain her smile as she looked up with bright eyes. “Really? I taught myself. I have books, but it’s difficult to practice. I’m the only one in my village learning English. I try and…”

She looked away, the smile on her face now flatlined.

“Learning by yourself is impressive,” I said. “A lot of people have trouble even with a teacher.”

The gloom that washed over her face remained. I wasn’t sure if it was because she didn’t have anyone to practice with her, or perhaps…it had something to do with her being alone in the jungle.

“What happened, Sua? Why are you away from your home and all alone?” She pressed her lips tighter, evidently debating whether to answer my question. “Why were you running away from those men?”

“They are bad.” She lifted her head, and her gaze settled on me. “They have the same as you.” She pointed at the rifle. “Why are you here alone?” she shot back.

“I’m not like them,” I said. “I took this from one of them to protect myself. And I’m here”—I pointed around us as I shrugged—“it’s a long story. But I don’t want to be here. It’s dangerous. Maybe we can help each other.”

“How?” Her eyes narrowed as if nothing I said had registered with her.

I showed her my cell phone. “I need to get to a location where there’s cell service… Do you understand what cell service means?”

“Of course I do. You’re not the only one who has a phone.” Only then did I notice the small satchel tied around her waist. From it, she pulled out a smartphone. “I usually go to a place on the mountain where there aren’t too many trees, and I can get service. Sometimes it’s slow, but it’s very far from here and dangerous because the men are there. We must continue down the mountain to the lowlands, where the service is strong.”

“I heard there are tigers here,” I said, unsure what prompted me to say that.

“I’m not afraid of the tigers. The men are more dangerous. They attacked my village. I had no choice but to run away. Away from my family, my parents.”

I feared the worst. “Why did they attack your village?”

She shrugged and kept her mouth shut, but I had a sneaking suspicion she knew more than she was letting on. “Sua, we need to trust each other. You can tell me.”

“I heard the elders in our village talking about the other villages being attacked, and they worried we were next.”

“What do you mean when you say attack? Did they hurt people or steal stuff?”

“They killed. We hear stories.”

“How do you know it’s true?”

“I have proof.” She glanced at her phone.

“Did you make a video? Is it on your phone?” I moved over to the rock she was sitting on, startling her. “It’s okay, sweetie.” I sat on the edge of the rock. “See, I’m just sitting. Can you show me the video?”

She nodded and her rigid body relaxed. “My battery is low, so I don’t want to keep it on. Only thirty percent.”

“That’s better than me. I’m at twenty percent.” We waited for her phone to power on. “I’m curious. How do you charge your phone in the jungle?”

“I have a small solar panel. It takes a while, but it charges.”

“I’m guessing that panel is still in your village.”

“Yes, I’m so stupid for forgetting it.”

“I wouldn’t be so hard on yourself. It sounds like you had to leave in a hurry.”

With her phone on, Sua tapped at the screen. Shaky footage appeared. But aside from that, the video was clear, except when she ducked behind something.

“I was hiding when I filmed them,” she said. “I was afraid and didn’t know what to do. There were many armed men shouting at villagers, my parents. They made everyone gather in one place.”

“Who is this man speaking?” I pointed. “He looks like their leader.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before. I went to use the bathroom in the jungle, and when I came back, the men were there. So I stayed out of sight. I saw my parents, and my mother saw me and waved at me to go away.”

“What’s he saying?”

“He wants to know who speaks English. He’s telling everyone not to worry, that no one is in trouble. He wants to meet the clever person.”

“How did he know someone in the village spoke English?”

Sua pointed at the video. “The other men found my English-tutor books.”

“Do the other villagers know you can speak English?”

“They know.”

“Is this why you were hiding?”

Sua nodded. “I was so scared. I wanted to go to my parents, but my mother kept telling me to go away. I made the video because I wanted proof that this was happening.”

Suddenly, one of the men grabbed an older man and brought him to the front. He yelled at him before pointing a gun at him. The video ended abruptly at that point.

“What happened?”

“One of the men who was searching our homes was coming closer to me. I ran into the jungle and have been hiding ever since. I didn’t want to leave my parents but was so scared.” Tears streamed down the sides of her face as her breathing became erratic. I put an arm around her and brought her in against my chest. Her head rested against my shoulder. “It’s okay, you’re safe now.”

“There was a gunshot,” she choked. “And…then more.”

She cried uncontrollably, and I did my best to comfort her.

“It was brave of you to make that video. Now there is proof of these men terrorizing villages. They won’t get away with it.”

I felt terrible for the girl, knowing her parents had most likely been executed. I took the phone from her hands and checked the meta information for the date and time the video was made. My heart dropped. It was made the day after I arrived, right around when I got my spa treatment. I had been in bliss while she was being terrorized.

I played the video over, watching carefully this time. In some parts, the video was sharp; in other places, it was blurry and very shaky. Right before the footage ends, another man briefly walked into the scene. He glanced quickly in the direction Sua had been filming from. And even with the pixelation, it looked like Ryan. I prayed I was wrong.

24

Thuta walked over to the small creek and knelt to study the prints his men had found along the muddy bank. He took a long drag on his cigarette, exhaling slowly enough that the plume of smoke remained concentrated around his head.

“She’s not alone,” he said to one of the men beside him.

Thuta was a high-ranking enforcer for the Sam Gor criminal organization, one of a dozen handpicked to confiscate villages belonging to the hill tribes. Thuta had taken over ten so far without issue, the most by any single enforcer.

Over the years, he had developed a reputation for flawless execution of every task assigned to him. He’d worked his way up to the role of an enforcer quicker than anyone and was seen as someone on the fast track to management.

His team of men was ruthless and had a reputation within the organization for their vicious and violent way of containing and eradicating problems the minute they arose. Up until now, he could do no wrong. Until the girl escaped.

His first thought was that it wasn’t a big deal; they’d track her down and kill her later. But some of the villagers, to spare their own lives, had told Thuta she was the one who spoke English. Now, there was a problem. Someone speaking English could easily convey what was happening in the mountains.

Not only was he under immense pressure to contain the mess, but he had also made the mistake of initially keeping this incident from his superiors. Initially, Thuta had thought he could find her quickly. No need to worry his bosses unnecessarily. But she proved to be more challenging to catch than he had assumed.

The situation was dire for one reason: it was assumed the girl could speak and write in English well enough to alert the authorities to what was happening. What had made Sam Gor so successful in confiscating these villages for their own needs was that none of the villagers spoke English. Their dialects were not common among Thai people. Still, enough Thai people understood English to make the girl a threat if she started blabbing.

Up until then, the villagers had no way to tell outsiders what was happening to them, to report the brutal beatings, the rapes, the deaths. Even if they could relay what was happening, proving it would be challenging. Sam Gor had initiated a propaganda campaign, turning these murmurs among villagers into ghost stories and nothing more.

The hill tribes had kept to themselves for decades, a closed society, and their way of living was unique to themselves. It was always easier for Myanmar’s, Thailand’s, and Laos’s governments to let them be rather than force them to acclimate to society. Sam Gor saw this as an opportunity and exploited it for their own selfish needs.

Thuta stood and pulled one last drag on his cigarette before flicking the butt into the water at his feet.

“What makes you think she’s not alone?” one of his men asked.

“She’s always been barefoot,” he said. “Now she has shoes to wear? I don’t think so.” He shook his head. “She’s met someone.”

“Someone from a nearby village? The closest ones are all under our control.”

“Which makes it even more important that we find her and this mystery person with shoes. This person isn’t a villager. They’re a bigger threat.”

“You think she’s been in contact with someone and has finally met up with them?”

Thuta adjusted his grip on his rifle as he looked around. “I don’t know, but we’ve wasted enough time here. Spread out. Let’s find her.”

Just then, Thuta’s satellite phone rang.

A familiar voice on the end spoke. “Thuta. Tell me you have good news.” The man calling was Thuta’s boss Chi Long.

“Chi, we have good news. We’ve picked up her trail again. We’ll have her soon.”

An ominous laugh echoed on the other end. “I’ve heard this story before. You should tell me the real news. Wait like you did last time, and I will assign someone else to do your failing job.”

Thuta swallowed and then, in an even voice, said, “We’ve found her trail, but someone is with her, and it’s not a villager. We found shoe prints.”

Chi had personally mentored Thuta over the last two years. Things had gone well enough that Chi believed Thuta could be a rising star. But this missing girl debacle caused a rift in their relationship. Chi had begun to sour on Thuta, and he could sense it. Finding the girl was the only way to fix things.

“I won’t let you down. I promise both are dead when we catch up to them.”

“I’m not a fan of promises. They break easily, and they make me look bad.”

Chi was one of the golden boys in the organization. A name revered by many and feared by all. He was the man who had successfully escaped capture by the CIA. He’d since been promoted and wielded more power than anyone within the organization except for the leadership. To Thuta, Chi was a hero, someone he mirrored daily.

“You can never look bad. You are the lifeline of this organization. The ideas you have…no one else can come up with but you.”

Even with the failure of his plan to distribute drugs into the United States, management had not blamed Chi entirely. The way Thuta saw it, upper management had rewarded Chi’s failure in San Francisco. He had proved to them that Sam Gor need not follow the tried-and-true way of trafficking drugs the way their predecessors and competition continued to do. They saw Chi Long as a visionary. No one else in the organization had that sort of out-of-the-box thinking, and Thuta longed to be like him.

“Thuta, I know you will work hard not to tarnish my name. So instead of twenty-four hours, you have forty-eight hours to give me two bodies. If you don’t, you and all your men will suffer my wrath.”

“Chi, I will not let you—” The line fell dead.

The village plan was Chi’s baby, years in the making, and had been a huge success so far. When Chi Long had been given the okay to expand the operation, he’d handpicked men he could rely on. Thuta was one of the first selected. He remembered how proud he’d felt that day to be singled out in front of everyone. But now Thuta’s recent misstep threatened the operation and his relationship with Chi.

“Was that Chi?” Thuta’s second-in-command asked, his words laced with worry. “What did he say?”

Thuta squared his shoulders and held his chin up, projecting strength to his men. “Our leader has graciously extended our deadline to fix this problem to forty-eight hours. Let’s make him proud.” Or it will be the last thing we all do.

25

Sua and I crouched next to a large mossy tree, peering through trees ahead. Beyond was a village. Sua had never been there and therefore couldn’t tell if they would be friendly to our situation. But we needed food. What we’d been able to forage, thanks to Sua, wasn’t enough to keep up our energy. We needed protein. And according to Sua, we still had a long way to go to the lowlands.

Through the trees and hanging vines, we saw flashes of villagers carrying on with their daily activities. They seemed normal enough to me: men were building a home, children played chase with each other, and women either tended to fires with pots on them or sat in groups chatting.

“What are you looking for?” I whispered. She’d insisted we watch just to be sure it was safe to approach.

“I’m not sure.”

I turned to Sua, and the intensity of her face told me she wasn’t joking. While it wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear, I was out of my element. I had to trust her instincts and follow her lead. A flying insect tickling the tip of my nose finally found its way into my nostrils, sending me into a fury of snorts as I waved my hands in front of my face like a madwoman.

“Keep quiet,” Sua barked.

The number of annoying bugs buzzing around seemed especially high in this area. This part of the jungle was wetter, forcing me to use my sleeve to mop the perspiration on my face. It made no real difference, considering how damp my clothes had become.

“How aren’t you bothered by all of these flying…whatever they’re called?”

Sua shrugged. “Just ignore them.”

It was kind of hard to ignore a bug flying up your nose. “Look, everything looks normal to me. Do you see something that’s bothering you? If not, let’s go.”

She shook her head slightly. “I just want to be extra sure because of what happened last time.”

During our walk here, Sua told me how she’d been tricked by the couple giving her shelter and food at the last village. She said they’d seemed so friendly. I got that she didn’t want to fall for the trick twice. Nor did I want to experience it.

Sua had also picked my brain as well, quid pro quo. Of course, I kept the information I gave her to what was needed. My trust meter just wasn’t at 100 percent. When your own son turns you over to a notorious criminal organization, it’s hard to trust anyone.

I didn’t mention Ryan to Sua, nor did I get into detail about what exactly happened. As far as Sua knew, I’d traveled solo, exploring the country. I told her what had happened at the coffee shop in Chiang Rai and how I was supposed to meet a friend of a friend to deliver a package. I left out the details about us both being FBI agents, and I said I wasn’t aware of what was in the package. I had assumed documents. The way I positioned it was that those men who took him must have thought I was an associate and decided to abduct me. As far as I could tell, she believed me. She had no reason not to.

“We need a story,” I said. A crinkle formed between Sua’s brows. “We can’t pass ourselves off as mother and daughter.” I pointed at her traditional clothing. We weren’t dressed the same, nor did I look anything like Sua. “We need to explain why we’re together. I got lost hiking, and you agreed to help me. I think that’s believable.”

“And after? We both got lost after that?”

“Yeah, unless you’ve got a better idea.”

Granted, it was a simple story, but I didn’t see any real threats from my observation. The men weren’t intimidating. Physically, they were short and thin, looking more like average twelve-year-old boys. We could probably fit into the same pair of jeans, and I had yet to see any of them wield any weapon.

“Do your people have weapons?” I asked. “Guns, knives, swords?”

“We don’t have guns, but we have bows and arrows that the men use for hunting. Trading in the lowlands has given us steel knives used for cooking or cleaning an animal after a kill. We’re peaceful people and are nothing like those men with the guns.” She glanced down at the rifle I was holding. “Are you taking that with you?”

Sua had pointed out the obvious. It would be hard to explain the assault rifle.

“You should leave it here, hide it in the tree. We can come back for it later.”

The last thing I wanted to do was part ways with that rifle. It was the only protection we had. But since we were only looking for food and directions, I didn’t anticipate us sticking around very long. In the end, I agreed, and we hid the rifle.

With our story straight, we made our way into the village.

26

One by one, the villagers turned to us, mainly me. My presence set off a series of double takes that should have accompanied a “boing” sound effect. The children stopped playing and followed us. The chit-chat among the women became a murmur as their attention and fingers focused on us. The men working on a nearby hut were the least obvious in their efforts to find out who this foreign woman was.

Two shirtless men approached us, wearing loose trousers. From their age, I had to assume they were the village elders. They smiled at Sua as they spoke to her in a foreign language. Laughing children surrounded me, their quick pokes at my arm fueling their curiosity. I poked one back in the belly, causing him to giggle.

“We are welcome here,” Sua said to me.

The elders escorted us into a large nearby hut. It must have been a communal space because the inside didn’t resemble the tribal homes I had visited with Ryan. There was an ample center space, with a plastic tarp laid across the ground. On that were colorful square pillows with embroidery similar in design aesthetics to the decorations on Sua’s top.

“This is where they hold meetings,” Sua said. “We can rest here, and they will bring us food.”

I returned the friendly smile the elders had on their faces. Sua spoke with them a bit more before they left us alone. “When they return, they want to hear our story.”

“Do you think they’re good people?”

I studied Sua for any sign that she might not be truthful to me. But all she did was swish her lips from side to side as she pondered my question. “Yes.”

Sua dropped down to a pillow, and I followed her lead.

“Did they ask about me?”

“No, but they might be saving their questions.”

“Remember to stick to our story.”

Sitting on something other than a rock, a tree trunk, or the muddy ground felt good. I let out a soft groan, more like a moan, because pleasure was exactly what I felt. “I’m afraid if I lie down, I’ll fall asleep and not be able to wake up.”

A woman entered the structure carrying four bamboo containers of various sizes. One held sticky rice, another held dried meat, and the last had a variety of steamed vegetables. The smallest container of them all held a thick red sauce resembling a relish or salsa of some sort. She left us a plastic jug filled with water.

“I’ve had this before,” I said as I bit off a strip of dried meat. The men I escaped from had fed me something similar, but this one tasted one hundred times better. “Is this beef? Can cattle survive here?”

“No, it’s traded with the village at the lower levels. It’s necessary to dry meat so it won’t spoil.”

The veggies consisted of leafy plants and roots. I didn’t know what they were, but they were tasty enough.

“I’ll show you how to eat our food,” Sua said. She grabbed a piece of sticky rice and pressed it together with her fingers into a ball. “Dip into the sauce and eat it with some meat and vegetable all at once.” I did exactly what Sua said, being very generous with the sauce on my rice ball. I coughed immediately, as the sauce was very spicy, much more than I was used to.

“I forgot to tell you that the sauce has chilies.”

“Did you or did you not want a laugh at my expense.” I grabbed the jug and gulped a bunch of water. I let out a large breath after and wiped away the tears that had formed in my eyes. “Spicy but very good. I like it.” The next time, I refrained from dunking my entire rice ball into the sauce.

The two elder men returned while we were eating. They sat opposite us, grinning from cheek to cheek, still only wearing trousers. No shirts.

“Is it common to walk around shirtless?” I asked out of the corner of my mouth. “The ones working on the home outside were fully clothed, not that I have a problem with it. I’m just curious.”

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to ask,” Sua said right before one of them began to speak.

Since I didn’t know what was being said, I continued eating my fill as long as I wasn’t directed to stop. The concentration lines on their foreheads deepened as Sua spoke. There were occasional concerned nods and shifting in the seats, but both men kept quiet, preferring to listen for the time being. After what seemed like an eternity, Sua turned to me. “They want to know your name.”

“My name?”

Sua nodded. “I haven’t told them yet. I thought I should ask you.”

Telling them my real name made no sense. I told her to tell them it was Jane Doe, since the chance of their knowing what that meant was zero to none.

She turned back to the men and continued the discussion. I thought they would have had more questions, unless Sua was ad-libbing. The conversation continued, with mostly Sua talking. I suspected she was giving detailed answers, as one of the men would say something short, and then Sua seemed like she would speak for fifteen minutes straight without so much as a breather. Eventually, the men left.

“I told them what we agreed to, but I also told them the truth about my village,” Sua said, recrossing her legs for comfort. “I didn’t mention the video. They said they heard stories about men with guns causing trouble. Another village about a forty-five-minute hike from here was attacked. When I asked if they were worried, they said no.”

“Why’s that?” I asked as I uncrossed and recrossed my legs.

“They said the men killed everyone who lived there and then replaced them with other people.”

I jerked my head back. “What do you mean by others?”

“They said people living and working there look like they belong, but they are all strangers.”

What Sua was telling me made no sense. I could understand Sam Gor taking over an entire village and using it for their needs, even forcing the inhabitants to work for them. An asshole organization did things like that. I even got why they would kill everyone and bring in their own people: no one left to bring attention to what they were doing. But what Sua was saying was different. It sounded like they just replaced the villagers with a new set of villagers.

“Has anyone here met any of these new village people?”

“I’m not sure. Someone from this village saw what happened in the other village and reported this to the elders.”

“Did this person speak to anyone or just observe?” Sua looked at me with a blank face. I kept forgetting that Sua was learning English and not completely proficient. “Did this person talk to anyone in the village?”

She shook her head, and her face relaxed.

“Were the elders worried that this could happen here?”

“No, because they believed it would have happened already.”

“So, they think they’re safe because of that?”

Sua nodded.

Well, that was one way to avoid a problem you didn’t understand.

“They said we can stay as long as we want.”

Sua yawned, triggering me to do the same. Sitting comfortably for the last forty-five minutes and having a full belly made me drowsy.

“We should keep moving,” I said.

The look on Sua’s face had a different answer. “Night will come soon. Maybe we stay here until morning.”

I totally hadn’t taken that into consideration, and I wasn’t keen on walking in the jungle at night if I didn’t have to. But sleeping here, around people I barely knew, was a recipe for disaster. I would be vulnerable.

“I trust you, Abby. You can trust me too,” she said as if knowing exactly what I was thinking.

This was a fine example of the pot calling the kettle black. If anyone was hoarding secrets, it was me. But what good would it do to tell Sua my son was working with the evil gunmen? If she even harbored a kernel of mistrust of me, that certainly wouldn’t help. Even telling her I’d been double-crossed wouldn’t make a difference. It wouldn’t be far fetched to think I was working with them.

Sua batted away an insect. “The people that live here… I’m the same as them.”

I could already see where this conversation was heading, to a place I wanted to avoid.

“I’m so tired of running. So tired of being frightened. So tired of everything.”

“Do you want to stay here?”

Sua looked away, then glanced back at me quickly before gazing at the pillows we sat on. She was a teen thrust into a dangerous situation, and now paired up with me, a foreigner. Of course she’d want to stay with people familiar to her.

But without Sua, I had no way out. That was the truth. I needed her more than she needed me. In fact, she didn’t need me at all. We were on her home turf. It would have been a different story on the streets of San Francisco. What would I do here? Aim my rifle at her and force her to take me to the lowlands?

That’s not a bad idea, Abby. Sua’s not your friend. She’s not an ally. But you do need to get to the lowlands. Sometimes we need to do things we’re not proud of.

“Those men are after you, Sua. I don’t think they will stop looking for you. And from what you’ve told me and what we’ve learned today, your home, family, village, all the people you know…” I didn’t want to say it. She’d been exposed to things no person should have to face. “But they’re gone. I think you know that.”

She broke down in tears, quietly sobbing into her hands as her shoulders bounced with each ragged breath.

“I know these people are from the same tribe as you, but will they protect you if those men return?”

“They said they wouldn’t come back. They’re sure of it.”

“But if they did, would they protect you? Would they stop them from taking you if they had to choose between giving you up and protecting themselves?”

“It’s not just the men. The elders said there have been more tiger sightings. One person from the village is already missing.”

“We have protection.” I thought back to the rifle, hoping it was still hidden where we’d left it. “Don’t forget that.”

“Tigers stalk their prey and move quietly through the jungle… What do you know about tigers? Have you hunted one?”

Her accusatory eyes questioned me, forcing me to bite my tongue. The girl had a solid point. But this wasn’t my first rodeo. I’d been in more dangerous situations than I cared to admit. Staying put was akin to giving up. It never worked out for the best.

That said, I was losing her. I could hear it in her voice and see it in her swollen eyes. If I didn’t turn this ship around now, I’d be alone.

Value, Abby. What can you offer her? You told her she’d be safer with you and your rifle, but that’s all you’ve done. She led you to water, found fruits that weren’t poisonous, brought you to this village, negotiated with the elders on your behalf⁠—

All right, okay, I get it. Sheesh!

Sua had lost all that was important to her. Settling in with this tribe could at least provide her with familial comfort. But what if those men had never come to her village? What if her parents had still been alive? Where would her life have taken her? She’d learned English on her own. A drive inside of her had pushed her to achieve something no one else in her village had. What kept the fires burning and the wheels churning?

Sua’s eyes welled as she lay on her side, her head resting comfortably on a pillow.

“Sua, tell me about your dreams. You learned English for a reason. Was your plan to leave your village when you were older? Did you want to attend school? Work in the city? Tell me.”

Her eyes found mine.

“Tell me. Maybe I can help you with something.”

“Help me how?”

“I don’t know, but you learned English for a reason. Tell me that reason, and I’ll see what I can do.”

Her eyes closed, and she was fast asleep. Her soft breaths lulled me like a sweet lullaby to join her. Suddenly, I was overcome by the need to sleep too. As much as I tried to fight it, the pull of the soft pillows, the cool air inside the hut, my full belly…it was all too much to withstand.

Shut down the engines.

Aye, Captain. Shutting down engines.

I could barely keep my eyes open as I lay next to Sua. A quick catnap. Twenty minutes max. And I drifted off to sleep.

27

Loud voices shattered my sleep, yanking me awake. My eyes snapped open just in time to see three men with rifles storm into the hut. One jabbed a finger at me, shouting in a language I couldn’t understand. Wait—am I dreaming? Or is this real? Before I could process, two of the men grabbed my arms and hauled me to my feet. Ouch! That felt real.

The shouting man hadn’t let up since entering the hut. In fact, he moved in front of me so his verbal assault could also pepper my face with spittle and suffocate me with breath that could only be caused by rotting meat stuck between his teeth. Seconds later, my hands were secured with plastic cuffs. I didn’t recognize any of these men as the ones chasing me or the men from the video on Sua’s phone. Speaking of Sua, where is she?

I glanced around the hut, but besides me and the three men, she was nowhere to be seen. The shouting man continued his one-way conversation, making me wonder what on earth he could say to me.

The door to the hut swung open, and in walked a face I knew all too well. I recognized him from Sua’s video, and he did not look happy. His jaw was clenched tight, and his eyes blazed with fury.

I’d been right. They had caught up to us. The elders walked in after him. Clearly, they’d sold us out. Had they cut a deal to further protect their village? Was there money involved? I wouldn’t say I blamed them. If anything, I was angry at myself. I had known staying put was a mistake.

Then Sua walked into the hut. She avoided my gaze, her head bowed as she slipped behind the elders. My stomach plummeted. She had turned on me.

But why were they interested only in me? Hadn’t they been chasing her to begin with? She had video proof of their crimes. Clearly, that wasn’t known to them. Had she dumbed down her English language abilities? What changed their minds? What deal did you make, Sua?

Twice in one week, people I trusted had turned on me. Did Ryan even count? His betrayal was unexpected—an anomaly, really—one I was still struggling to process. But Sua? I should have known better. I should have kept my guard up with her, and I should have made her keep moving. After leading me to the lowlands, she could have easily made her way back to the village. All she’d have lost was time.

“You have caused a lot of problems for my colleagues. Many men are looking for you,” he finally said to me in English. He was educated. I’d give him that.

I found his words interesting. He didn’t seem to be aware of why I’d been abducted. What had Sua told him to get her off the hook and keep me as a prize?

I eyed Sua as the men escorted me past her, but she wouldn’t meet my gaze. No surprise there. My blood boiled hotter with every step, and my jaw clenched tighter with rage. I didn’t want to accept that I’d been caught again—especially when it could have been easily avoided. That was what had me fuming. It was easy to blame Sua, but the fault lay with me. I should have known better. She was just a frightened child.

Outside the hut, it seemed like the entire village had gathered to watch the shamed woman walk a gauntlet of judging eyes and whispers. What had Sua told them, too, to paint me as the villain? I’d been abducted while on holiday—I hadn’t asked to be here.

Abby, you’re wasting precious time and energy looking for answers that won’t help your problem.

Those were wise words my father had told me repeatedly when I was a teen, always quick to point out when I was solving the wrong problem. Not to belittle me but to force me to set my emotions aside. Letting your feelings solve your problems will lead you down a path of regret, he’d tell me. Use your brain.

I took stock of my situation, quickly assessing the number of villagers, the armed men, and potential escape routes. I glanced at the morning sun to orient myself, noting east and west. The distant mountains caught my eye, and I mentally marked them as landmarks. In just a few seconds, I had a solid sense of the direction I needed to travel to reach the lowlands. Unfortunately, I was heading the wrong way—away from my freedom.

The villagers weren’t a threat. Even with my hands secured, I could drop-kick any one of them. The armed men, though small in stature, had rifles. I’d like to think I could outfight them—until proved otherwise. There were four in total. Two were distracted, flirting with the women as we passed. That didn’t necessarily make them weak links, but they might be the type that always needed to be told what to do. An advantage.

One of the men struck me as the second-in-command. He shadowed the leader’s every move, always just a step behind, never farther away. He was either a trusted lieutenant or a lackey who did whatever he was told without question. I needed to watch him more closely to determine which camp he fell into.

The leader of this gangster platoon moved with purpose, his focus unwavering. I was sure that if I could see his face, it would still bear the same scowl I’d seen earlier. His grip on the rifle was firm, and he wasn’t distracted by the crowd around us. People parted as he passed, giving him a wide berth, as though staying too close might give him reason enough to execute them.

But if I had to put money on it, I’d say he was the most worried one in the group—the one with the most to lose. I’d seen his type before. They love to project strength and bravery, relying on intimidation as their go-to tactic. They’re loud and obnoxious and need everyone to know they’re in charge. But it’s all a farce.

It’s the quiet ones that are the most dangerous.

28

We walked in a single file. The only sound announcing our approach was the rustling of our feet against the jungle floor. The leader was up front, followed by his second-in-command, then me, with the two weak links bringing up the rear. I waited until we were clear of the village and deep enough into the jungle before making my move to reach the leader. A hand yanked me back by my shirt as I tried to step forward. I fought off the grip and made a second attempt, but two hands clamped down on my shoulders, holding me firmly in place.

“You stay here,” one of the men behind said.

“I only speak to leaders,” I said over my shoulder. “And he’s in front.”

A fist slammed into the side of my face, splitting the corner of my lip. It stung like hell, but I fought my best to tame my reaction to one of annoyance rather than letting him know he had hurt me.

“Beat me too much, and then I’m useless to whoever you’re taking me to.”

I broke rank again and took hurried steps to the front. The second-in-command turned to face me. “Stay where you are.”

“You heard what I said to your friends back there. I only speak to the leader, and he’s in front.”

The corner of his upper lip curved into a snarl. “You will speak to who I say you speak to.”

“I’m afraid not. I speak to leaders, someone my equal.” I called out over the man’s shoulder: “Leader, you are the only one worth speaking to here, are you not?”

He looked back over his shoulder at me, half a grin revealed to me. His ego was inflating like a helium balloon. “Let her come up here.”

“How shall I address you?” I asked as I walked in step with him.

“You can call me Thuta.”

“Thuta? I’ve never heard that name before. But I guess it only suits certain men. Am I right?”

His hardened face softened. “Thuta means ‘knowledge.’”

“A deserved name for a man of your standing.”

“You have a sweet mouth to match your sweet looks,” he said without looking my way. “You speak as if you know me.”

“I know you’re the leader responsible for delivering me to someone not everyone has access to. I also know you were able to catch me when others have failed.”

“Did you really think you could make it in the jungle, a foreigner with no firsthand knowledge of how to survive out here?”

“Would you spend a lot of time overthinking what-ifs if you were abducted?”

Thuta ignored my question, keeping his focus on the path ahead, and I got the feeling I didn’t matter to him.

“Why are you so valuable to my bosses?” he asked, finally glancing over at me.

Okay, he’s out of the loop about who I am. That’s good. “I’m not sure. I came here on holiday, and then I was abducted. Is that so hard to believe?”

“We don’t abduct people for fun. You have knowledge about something that is of interest to us.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You were alive long enough to escape.”

I guessed that was a positive. Maybe they weren’t sure how to utilize me. But if they had already killed Abang, why not question me and then slit my throat?

“I can’t say why that is, but I’m surprised you tracked me down, considering you weren’t actually looking for me.”

Thuta looked in my direction, holding my gaze this time. “What makes you think we weren’t looking for you?”

“Because I was traveling with a girl, the young one back at the village, who was being chased by men. I believe it was you she was running from. Am I right?”

“For someone who claims to be a tourist in the country, you don’t act like one.”

“I watch a lot of crime shows on television. You think I’m worth more to your bosses than the girl is.”

“I know enough to know that my colleagues were searching for someone who fits your description.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. I thought we were trading information here. I give you something, you give me something. The more you know about me, the better you can present your case on why you left that girl behind.”

“She’s a stupid villager that ran away during a roundup, that’s all. She’s of no value.”

“And yet you left her there, alive. Maybe you do have a soft heart after all.” Or something else is at play here.

We walked a few more steps without another word from him.

I cleared my throat. “The elders in that village mentioned something to me about you.”

Thuta’s head snapped in my direction. That got your attention quickly.

“What did they tell you?”

“Ah, wouldn’t you like to know?”

Thuta wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, his eyes shifting more than usual as he tried to give me a look of indifference. But I wasn’t buying it. This man was deep in conversation with himself.

“You said earlier we were trading information,” he said. “I told you why we left the girl behind. Now, you tell me what the elders said.”

There was no point in holding back on what I knew. “They said their village wasn’t in danger, not like the others. They said men like you weren’t interested in them, and they had nothing to fear.”

Thuta let out a huff. “Is that what they think? They can be squashed just as easily as the others.”

“I think you and your three men could have taken care of them all by yourselves.”

“Of course. We’ve done this many times already.”

“So why didn’t you? You were there. You had your opportunity.”

“Your turn,” he growled. “Tell me something.”

“The girl. I know why your boss wants her. She has information.”

“She has nothing. She was searched thoroughly by me personally.”

Hmm, she must have hidden the phone somewhere.

“I’m just saying, if you guys are as good as you say you are, why are you chasing ‘a stupid village girl’? That’s what you said, right? Why were you given the least important person to chase and not someone of value, like me?”

“You think I’ll fall for your mind tricks. It won’t work. I follow orders. I don’t question them.”

“The angry ones always say that.”

Thuta stopped and turned to me. “You think you’re clever, don’t you? I can snap your neck right here and sleep like a baby later. Don’t think you are so valuable I can’t hurt you.”

“Why attack one village and leave another alone? Answer me! The elders were so sure that their village was safe. They didn’t fear you or your men.”

“That is none of your business.” He continued walking.

“Ah, it’s a strategic decision. Some villages have value, while others serve no purpose. Am I getting close?”

“I should just kill you right now.”

“You won’t. You want to be the one to deliver me. Especially since you weren’t the one ordered to hunt me down. I think I’ll buy some goodwill from your boss. Did you do something stupid earlier?”

Thuta struck my face with his hand, sending me flying to the ground. I landed on my side, hard. A sharp pain erupted in my rib cage as I struggled to draw a breath. After a few panicked moments, I sucked in a breath. The rest of his men gathered, looking down their noses at me.

“I want to fuck her,” one of the men said.

“Yes, we should all fuck her!” another said.

Thuta knelt down next to me, leaning in close enough that I could feel his hot breaths blowing across my face.

“You are not that special. Nobody knows we have you. If I end your life right now, nothing will happen to us.”

“Then end it! End my life. Let’s see what kind of a hotshot you are.”

Thuta removed a knife from a leather sheath strapped to his right calf. It was polished stainless steel with rigid teeth along the top and a smooth blade on the bottom. He placed the pointy part against my cheek, gently applying pressure. “Have you ever heard skin pop?” He used his other hand to spread my cheek so that it was taut and then pressed harder. I felt a prick in my cheek. The tip of the knife had broken the skin. “Pop!” Thuta lifted the knife and placed the tip in a different area.

“Did your boss ever tell you why he wanted the stupid village girl?” I said as I prepared for another prick to my cheek.

“I don’t question his wishes. I execute them.” He punctured my skin again. “Pop!”

The other men were salivating at the mouth. One even drew his knife, apparently wanting a turn with me.

“She’s fluent in English,” I blurted out. “Did you know that?”

Thuta didn’t waver or pause. He was more interested in puncturing my cheek a third time. “Did you hear me? She speaks fluent English. As well as you!”

The other men laughed. “She speaks English,” one mocked in a high-pitched voice.

I needed to turn this around quickly. The tip of the knife punctured my cheek again, causing me to wince in pain.

“She can spread the word about what is happening. Imagine the newspapers finding out. What would that do to your operation in the mountains? How many months of work would be affected? So, I ask you again, did you take the right person?”

For the first time since he’d started making holes in my face with the tip of his knife, Thuta stopped.

“It’s the only reason why he would send you and your men after a… What did you call her? ‘A stupid village girl.’ It’s not too late. You can send a man back to the village and cover yourself either way.”

Thuta took a long breath and sheathed his knife before giving orders to his two lackeys. They took off running, heading back in the direction of the village. It was now two to one, and I had just increased my odds of escaping.

29

Chi Long leaned back into the white chaise lounge with gold embroidery and stretched his legs. He took a long swig of beer from a chilled bottle, his eyes closed, an upturned smile on his face. He’d been staying in the presidential suite at the Le Méridien hotel in Chiang Rai. The suite took up the entire top floor, boasting high ceilings and a sunken living room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the river. It featured three bedrooms and three bathrooms, a pool table, a bar, and a sitting room / library. The outdoor patio ran the length of the building.

But the prize in Chi’s head, the reason he insisted on staying in the presidential suite, was the master bedroom. Chi never imagined he’d one day sleep in a bedroom that was larger than the house he grew up in, which had housed three separate families.

His involvement in Sam Gor, an organization quickly becoming a force worldwide, was responsible for his success. He had a unique ability to devise new ways of trafficking drugs. The ideas that Chi dreamed up were nothing like the tried-and-true methods used by most traffickers. He could see what others overlooked. While a lot of his ideas didn’t work, what kept upper management believing in him was that the few that did work worked exceptionally well. So long as Chi could deliver fat profits, he had free rein to do whatever he wanted.

The hiss of a bottle being opened was followed by muffled footsteps across the thick carpet. Chi opened his eyes just as his number two approached. He drained the last of his beer and swapped it for the new one.

“Denpo, can you believe we’re up here, chilling, drinking beers?”

The stocky, muscular man with a square jaw and a grin that never seemed to leave his face was a childhood friend of Chi—perhaps the only person he ever truly trusted. In fact, Denpo meant “truth” in Burmese. Their relationship had grown over the years, ever since they met as little boys hustling in the streets of the old capital, Yangon.

“We would dream of this when we were kids, and now we are here, brother. It’s because of your brain.” Denpo plopped into a cushy armchair and kicked his feet up on the ottoman. “You were always a clever one.” He raised his bottle and, with a tilt of his head, toasted his friend.

“And you were always the loyal friend I could count on.”

When business allowed, Chi would come to Chiang Rai and stay in this suite. He liked to think his time spent here helped him generate more out-of-the-box ideas for his organization. He always believed that tradition was the Achilles’ heel of a trafficker. Sam Gor was anything but traditional. They saw themselves as an innovative business structured to evolve and adapt with the times. They viewed themselves as leaders, paving new roads in the drug trade, while their competition could only react and try to catch up.

The tried-and-true ways, while they had long been successful, were limited, and there was no doubt that over the years, returns diminished. Sam Gor encouraged their members to devise new methods. Only when Chi came along did they really see success as they envisioned.

Most traffickers blamed failure on the usual suspects: a mole in their organization, sloppy work by their own men, the competition, or law enforcement catching a lucky break.

Chi refused to believe it was for any of those reasons. The drug trade was constantly evolving, and the technology used by law enforcement was top notch. Staying a step ahead was simply not enough.

Those are not lucky breaks, Chi would argue with his superiors. They have better tools now. Luck is a fool’s crutch, a way to explain why something happened without accepting blame.

“You seem in a good mood,” Denpo said. “But I’d feel better if that girl was caught. Thuta has screwed up enough. How many chances are you giving him? We should take care of this.”

Chi was concerned, but he knew that no matter how hard he tried, something would always go wrong. It was impossible to have no problems. He tried not to stress too much about it. He let Denpo do all the stressing.

“I’m serious, man. We need to find this girl and be done with it. And after doing that, you need to get rid of Thuta. Remember your own words. Hire fast, fire fast.” Denpo took a long swig of his beer, knowing “fire fast” meant leaving in a casket.

Chi continued to stare at the river. “He’s failing. There’s no argument there.”

“Yes, brother. Let me take care of him for you. Just give me the word.” Denpo snapped his fingers. “I’ll end him.”

Chi took a lazy swig of his beer before answering, changing the topic in the process. “What about the woman? She’s still missing?”

“She is.”

“How is it our men suddenly don’t know how to find people? I don’t understand the problem. Remind me why we even took this woman in the first place.”

“She was seen talking to staff at the same coffee shop from which we took Agent Abang. I investigated and discovered she was an FBI agent. Remember now?”

“That’s right, now I remember. I thought I sent someone to kill her at the hotel.”

“Ryan got involved and stopped it. He convinced you to question her first, and you agreed, but then you got sidetracked, and she escaped. We have a team hunting her, but like Thuta, they’re also coming up short. Do you still want to talk to her? It might make it easier if the order is to kill her on sight and not bring her to you. I don’t think we can utilize her. Really, our only option at this point is to kill her.”

Waiting for an answer, Denpo watched his boss as he stared out at the river. It was clear that Chi couldn’t remember ordering the kidnapping. Denpo promptly pulled out his phone from his pants to produce a photo of her. “Have a look. She’s pretty.”

Chi wasn’t involved in the kidnapping and had not been in contact with her while she was being held. This would probably be the first time he laid eyes on her, but it took only half a second for him to perk up. “I know this woman.”

“Yes, she’s on the security footage from the coffee shop. Did you look at it? I sent it to you.”

“I know this woman from someplace else. San Francisco. She was part of the team that disrupted our trafficking efforts with the crabbers.”

“Are you sure? That was a long time ago.”

Chi nodded. “Order more men to search the jungle…and I want her alive. She’s a top priority.”

A knock grabbed the attention of both men. Denpo hurried to the door, and after a few hushed words, he stepped to the side, revealing the visitor.

“Ryan!” Chi said, his eyebrows shooting upward. “Just the man I want to see.”

30

Take a vacation. It’ll do wonders for your mindset. You’ll come back refreshed and rejuvenated. What a load of crap.

I was sitting on the muddy floor of a jungle, swatting winged pests from my face and flicking creepy-crawlies off my legs. My clothes were permanently damp. I smelled. I had been lapping up the luxury with my son at a five-star resort just a few days ago. At least I was no longer serving as a pincushion for a psycho. I ran a finger across three blood-crusted puncture marks on my cheek.

My son. Boy, would I love to tear into him right about now.

I’d done my best over the last day not to think about his role in what had happened to me. Did it matter? Was there any reason to do this to me that was forgivable? I balled my fists, thinking of how foolish I’d been to trust him. But why wouldn’t I? He was my son. I’d raised that boy since the age of six. Why would I ever suspect he’d turn on me? Would he have done the same to his sister, Lucy, or Po Po? Kang was like a father to him, teaching and giving guidance when needed. Would that all be tossed aside? Had all of us served our purpose and outgrown our usefulness to Ryan?

Half of me agreed, as all I needed to do was look at my situation. The other half of me hunted for a better reason, one that would explain his actions. I wanted something to grasp that could justify what he’d done. Seeing my son as a corrupt individual was so hard for me.

Was it the money?

I looked at Thuta and his men and didn’t get the impression they had loads of money, not even a decent watch or hiking shoes. What were they getting out of all of this? Power? Ryan didn’t need power. He had plenty of it, which would only increase with his career. Why would my son socialize with this riffraff? They beat, killed, and raped. There was nothing he could possibly have in common with Thuta.

Thuta and his minion sat on fallen tree trunks, conversing in their own language. Their faces and their hand movements painted a look of normalcy. In any other scenario, they could be hunting deer. But the truth was they hunted humans, and it didn’t bother them. This was just another day at the office. For all I knew, they were talking about their favorite soccer team.

“I’m thirsty,” I said. My words went unnoticed by them. I cleared my parched throat and spoke louder the next time.

Thuta held his tongue in midsentence as his gaze slid over to me. A look of contempt appeared on his face, screaming “Tough shit.” Slowly, the lines gracing his forehead lightened, and a forced smile appeared. Reason had wormed its way into his head. He needed me alive or, at the very least, healthy enough to be questioned. He nodded to his underling, who handed me a water bottle from his backpack.

The water was warm, but the relief it brought to my throat gave me the internal pep talk I needed to make a move soon. Both men had their rifles slung over their shoulders. Thuta kept a sheathed knife on his belt. My hands were secured but in front of me. I had a fair amount of mobility.

One thing I thought favored me was the lackadaisical attitude toward me. These two men might as well have been having afternoon tea with crumpets, what with the way they were chatting with each other. They underestimated me.

They had put on a solid front when they first barged into the hut. Their movements and voices were all geared to intimidate, especially Thuta’s. He had a fixed look that could drill through a person. But looking at him now, I realized this was the real Thuta. He was an employee punching in daily to collect his salary. He had put on an act back in the village; a true leader’s demeanor would not have changed. Both of them reminded me of those individuals who are always in the break room chatting with others. Then, when fired, they walk around the office, stupefied at their dismissal. Even Walter in the mail room would have seen that one coming, if they had a Walter in the mail room.

“I have to pee,” I said.

Thuta stopped talking, and his animated hands froze. He let out a loud, long breath to announce his annoyance. “So, pee.”

“You want me to pee my pants? Help me stand up.”

Thuta rolled his eyes, and with a wave of his hand, his second-in-command approached me.

I raised my hands, and he tried jerking me up with one hand, but I was a pile of deadweight. He needed both hands to pull me to my feet.

“Don’t let her out of your sight,” Thuta said.

I led the way, making a beeline for an area behind a large tree so we were out of view of Thuta.

“Stop! This is far enough,” he said.

I knew privacy was out of the question. I faced him and held eye contact as I unbuttoned my shorts. His eyes drifted down across my chest to my stomach, settling on my crotch. He licked his lips as I undid my zipper. In one swift movement, I pulled my shorts down as I squatted. I kept my eyes locked onto his, the grin on his face growing with every second.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Why do you care?”

“I like to know who I’m pissing in front of.”

“Call me Boss.”

After finishing, I remained squatting and did my best to hike up my shorts. I got as far as the top of my thighs, but that was as far as I could move them with my hands secured. “Pull me up, please.”

He grabbed my wrist with both hands and yanked me up. My shorts fell back down to my ankles as I stood there, vulnerable from the waist down, my shirt barely covering my privates.

“Can you pull them up for me?”

His lips thinned as his smile stretched across his face. He swung his rifle around so that it hung across his back and got down on one knee. His eyes settled on my privates as he slowly pulled up my shorts. As he zipped me up, I made my move, grabbing the back of his head and drilling my knee as hard as I could into his face. The blow struck him hard, and he toppled over to his side, dazed, with his eyes rolled back into his head. I jumped onto his chest, pinning his arms down with my knees. I punched my fists down on either side of his neck, and the plastic locking mechanism buried itself in his throat. I threw all my weight into pinning him down. He struggled for air, but even a gasp was impossible. He gurgled, and I leaned in harder, silencing him. My face was now inches from his.

“Die,” I said in a whispered breath. “Die.”

He shook his head from side to side, choking for breath as I watched the color drain from his face. His eyes opened, frozen in a death stare, when he finally went still. I kept the pressure on, wanting to ensure his death. Then I pushed myself off him and quickly buttoned my short. As I rolled him over to pull the rifle free from underneath, something hard slammed into the back of my head.

“Touch that rifle, and I swear I’ll blow your fucking head off.”

I slowly raised my hands and looked over my shoulder. Thuta was staring down the length of his rifle. I was a hair trigger away from having my brains scattered across Boss. But I wasn’t deterred. One down. One more to go.

31

Chi eyed Ryan as he entered the suite. He wore blue jeans and a long-sleeved button-down and was carrying a nearly empty water bottle. It always bothered Chi that Ryan dressed so American. Couldn’t he dress more like the locals? Did he think he was better?

“Ryan, sit. Do you want something with more taste?” Chi held up his beer bottle.

“Thanks, but water is fine for me.”

Denpo brought Ryan a fresh bottle of water from the fridge, removing the cap before handing it to him. Ryan nodded as he took it.

Even though Ryan had proved himself valuable, Chi would not, could not, relax entirely around him. Letting his guard down that much wouldn’t be wise. He also continued to see value in keeping the CIA officer on their payroll. Was it risky? Absolutely. But the rewards were great. The way Chi saw it, things had worked well when he bent the arm of an FBI agent. It would work better with the CIA.

However, Agent Abang had been a different case. Chi had hated him as much as he’d liked him. He thought Abang was a weak man with no spine. How he managed to secure a career in the FBI was beyond anybody’s comprehension. Chi saw Abang as a person who held no loyalties. He would say what people wanted to hear and act in a way that would please them. None of his actions or words carried weight. But once you learned this about a person, it was very easy to control them.

Abang had already been crooked when Chi was made aware of him. He had gotten involved with the local mafia’s gambling and prostitution operations. Abang’s connections helped them avoid raids by local law enforcement. Every once in a while, they’d have to give up something so that the police could have a positive news story, but for the most part, the mafia operated with zero oversight.

In return, Abang was well paid, allowed to have his way with the women in the brothels, and free to act like a bully in the local bars because people were aware of his connection to the mafia. It gave him a big head.

Chi figured he could utilize Abang. So he’d kidnapped the man, tortured him, beat him nearly to death, and then threatened to ruin his life by revealing all his wrongdoings to his government. He’d be a disgraced man charged with a number of crimes by his own country, even treason.

But treason wasn’t the word that scared Abang. No, no, no. The one that got him all choked up, that had him crying like a little bitch, was the word pedophile. Abang had a taste for young girls under fourteen. Having his preference leaked to his family, friends, and colleagues was social suicide, not to mention Chi had proof of Abang committing these crimes on American soil. Being extradited back to the United States for crimes of pedophilia was something Abang wanted to avoid.

Option two was to work for Sam Gor.

The three-year partnership had worked until Abang started to operate as if he ran the show. He demanded more from Sam Gor, believing his efforts were producing large profits for the organization and weren’t in line with what they were paying him. And that’s how Abang had ended up doing the backstroke in the Mekong River. Copacetic. That’s how Chi had explained Abang’s death to Ryan. The relationship worked very well for both parties until Abang’s greed took over.

“Have you found her?” Ryan asked as he leaned back in his chair.

Chi knew who Ryan was talking about. No other details were required.

“We were just talking about her before you arrived. She’s elusive, like that monster, what’s the name…” Chi snapped his fingers in quick succession. “Loch Ness monster!”

“It appears that way.”

“The jungle is a dangerous place. She could have slipped and fallen off a cliff, or while she slept, a giant anaconda could have slithered by and swallowed her whole. But just in case, I’ve ordered more men to join the search.” Chi leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. “You look bothered.”

“You wasted no time eliminating Abang, but I feel you’re dragging your feet with the woman.”

Chi tilted his head slightly as his eyebrows dipped. “Dragging my feet. That’s a new one. I’ll never understand you Americans and your love for colloquialism. But I like that one. A new way to say taking a long time.” Chi turned to his friend. “Hey, Denpo, why is the restaurant dragging its feet with my food? No, wait, here’s a better one. The line at the doctor was so long, it was dragging its feet.” Chi slapped his hand against his thigh as he laughed. “You see, Ryan, I can make them up too.”

“Eh, that last one doesn’t quite work. It’s not a literal translation of taking too long; it’s more like if things could be hurried along, but they’re not, then that would be like dragging one’s feet.”

“Denpo, they even have stupid rules for these weird sayings.” Chi tilted his head back and drained the rest of the beer from his bottle.

“Here’s another example. You had the woman in custody and failed to mine her for information. That’s dragging your feet.”

“Let me be clear, it was your idea to abduct this woman. Not mine.”

“You can’t go around killing people because you view them as a threat.”

“She was meeting with Abang.”

“Allegedly.”

“She returned to the coffee shop the following day, asking questions. She even viewed the video footage from the shop.”

“Look, you pay me for counsel. My advice was to watch the woman, but no, your knee-jerk reaction was to kill her and dump her body in the jungle. A dead FBI agent was just fished out of the Mekong. There are a lot of eyes on Chiang Rai at the moment. You need to be smart. That’s the only reason I suggested questioning her. We could have drugged her after. She wouldn’t have remembered any of it.”

“You still don’t think she’s an FBI agent, do you?”

“No, I don’t. I think she’s just a tourist. Maybe she was banging Abang, and that’s why she was at the coffee shop. Who knows? But now you have a situation where you kidnapped a woman who’d managed to escape. Now, you have no choice but to find her and kill her. Drugging her won’t make her forget this ordeal of running through a jungle. I told you, the media loves stories about horrible things happening to women travelers from Western countries.”

“I’ll admit, I should have made an effort to talk to her sooner rather than later, but I was busy.”

“You should have let me interrogate her. I mean, it’s what I do for a living.”

When Chi had first proposed flipping a CIA agent, his bosses thought he was insane. They considered it the most reckless idea he had ever suggested. Their initial response was blunt: if the agent posed a threat to their operations, Chi should chop him up and bury the pieces in the jungle.

However, Chi countered that Abang had proved his worth despite being a constant thorn in their side. Abang had gotten to know Ryan and discovered his mission in Southeast Asia was to learn more about the Sam Gor organization.

“What makes you so sure this man will cooperate with us?” Chi’s superiors had asked. “Maybe he’s here to investigate us, perhaps even try and infiltrate our organization.”

“He’s angry at his government,” Chi explained. “Abang said Ryan believes his government is just as corrupt, just as evil, as the people he’s hunting. Let me test the waters. If I sense he’s still loyal to them, I’ll tell Abang to stop having contact with him.”

After three months of casual conversations over beers and pool, Chi realized Ryan was far more valuable than Abang. All Abang did was help grease the wheels. But Ryan? Chi believed he could be more—a double agent. Not only could Ryan supply intel, but he could also pass carefully curated disinformation back to his superiors.

Ryan lifted his left foot and rested it on his right thigh. “This woman became a liability the day she escaped. You need to find her and kill her. End of story.”

“So quick to dismiss a woman you were spending time with.”

“And I’ve already explained to you what was going on.” Ryan dropped his leg back down and leaned forward. “I get the feeling you don’t believe me, which is a shame, but please don’t mistake me for Abang. I’m here because I want to be here. Abang had no choice.”

“You’re an intelligent man. Maybe this woman can be helpful. We should find out more about her before killing her, don’t you think?”

“Helpful? I don’t see how. Question her and see what she says. Maybe drugging her is still an option. But unless she’s found, we’ll never know.”

Chi let out a low growl. “You speak to me like we are equals.”

“We are equals.”

Chi drew a handgun and aimed it directly at Ryan’s chest, but he didn’t flinch, not even the tiniest bit. He sat there, chin up, shoulders squared back, eyeing Chi.

“You want to shoot me? Go ahead. It’ll be the last thing you do.”

An illuminated red dot danced in the middle of Chi’s chest. He looked over at Denpo, and he had a similar death dot on his forehead.

“You brought friends today.”

“My friends are with me every day.”

Chi popped his eyebrows. “What, you don’t trust me?”

“You pulled a gun on me. I told you to never do that. Consider this your one reminder.”

Chi lowered his chin, turning his eyes into black slits below his brow. “You work for me,” he grunted. “I pay you.”

“This is not an employee-employer relationship. Let’s be clear about something. I’m selling you the intel you need. I’ve been doing this for almost a year. Let me know if you think you can grow your operation without my help. We can end our agreement.”

Chi adjusted his grip on the handgun. At this close range, it would only take one shot to the chest to shut Ryan up for good.

“I might hate my government, but I am not someone you can push around,” Ryan said. “I’m not Abang. I’m nothing like that piece of shit. I had full authority to take that fucker out if I wanted to. You killing him doesn’t frighten me. I have one less thing on my to-do list to think about. So, if you want, end all our lives right now. I don’t give a fuck!”

Chi tilted his head as he pondered Ryan’s answer, admiring his boldness. Ryan had always been a straight shooter, never mincing words with Chi. And he had been clear from the start that their relationship would survive only if there was equality and respect for each other. Those terms were laid out, and Ryan insisted he would not stray from their agreement.

Abang, however, would have backed down immediately and dangled additional intel. He would have rushed to give up more than was needed. Chi might have thought Ryan was being insubordinate, even dissing him in front of Denpo, but one thing Ryan wasn’t was a weak man. And Chi liked that about him.

A second later, he lowered his gun and placed it on the coffee table. The red dots disappeared.

32

“I should kill you right now.”

Thuta seethed, still aiming his rifle at my face. His eyes were jittery, and I noticed a tremor in the barrel. Was it the weight of the gun, or had killing his man broken him? It was just the two of us now. No backup, no men for him to hide behind. I was about to find out how tough he really was.

Not only had Thuta not fired, but he’d also allowed me to get off the dead man I’d been straddling. Either he was afraid to pull the trigger, or I was much more valuable than I had realized.

Thuta looked down at Boss, his lifeless eyes still open, staring blankly into the treetops. “Why did you kill him?”

Hmm, that’s a ridiculous question. Is he really expecting a good reason? “I didn’t like him.”

“What does that mean?”

“He existed, and I didn’t like him,” I growled, my patience with his asinine questions growing thin.

“You planned all this, didn’t you? You made me send my other men away so you could kill him, and it would leave us alone.”

I took a step forward, and Thuta jerked his gun. “Stop, or I’ll kill you. I swear.”

A smile formed on my face.

“You think you won. You won nothing. The village is near, and my men will return soon. Your plan is dead. You’re still my prisoner.”

The more Thuta spoke, the more I realized how unsure of himself he was. His chest-beating, his yelling, all that gun waving: those antics were an act. He wasn’t a leader. He was a man promoted to a position beyond his capabilities, and he was afraid of being found out, maybe demoted, humiliated, or worse, cast out of the organization and killed.

“Either your arms are tiring from holding that gun, or you’re nervous.”

“Shut up, you stupid bitch!” he mocked and charged me, but I stood my ground, my chin up and my chest out. I wasn’t about to cave to his intimidation tactics. And that’s what they were. Thuta was nothing more than a bully who would fold like a cheap suit when push came to shove. And the best part? I was pretty sure this guy had no idea who I was.

“Do you even know why your bosses are interested in me? Why they’re wasting valuable resources hunting me down instead of letting me, as you said before, die in the jungle?”

The flat look on his face told me he was unsure of how to answer. Bullshit me, and I could call his bluff and prove my point. Admit that he didn’t know, and I proved my point. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and the sweat on his forehead mimicked a cold glass of water in the sweltering heat.

“I don’t question my bosses. I do what they ask of me,” he finally said.

“So, you’re not important enough to be in the know. I didn’t think you were a foot soldier like your other men. I thought you would have had access to top-level information.”

“I can’t possibly know everything,” he shot back in defense. “And I don’t care who you are. It doesn’t matter to me.”

“It should. If your bosses think I’m important enough to chase down, has it occurred to you that my people also find it equally important to track me down? By the way, if they catch up to me, and they will, you’ll be outnumbered. I promise you that.”

He chuckled. “You don’t fool me with your bloody lies. No one is coming to rescue you.”

Thuta wasn’t necessarily wrong about that. No one would suspect anything was amiss until I was due back in San Francisco and I didn’t show up. “We’ll see about that.”

Just then, the snap of a twig caught our attention. Standing off to the side, next to a tree, was Sua—aiming a rifle straight at Thuta.

She said something in her language. I had to assume it was something along the lines of “Drop your gun.” But her voice cracked, and the rifle trembled in her hands more than Thuta’s. Did she even know how to fire that thing?

“This is the help you were talking about?” Thuta laughed, his belly jiggling with the sound. “Look at her. She’s scared. She can barely hold the gun up.” He turned to her, motioning for her to lower the rifle as he spoke in their native language. He kept smiling, playing nice. I could see the terror in Sua’s eyes—or was that regret? Regret that she’d tried to rescue me and now found herself in a situation she wasn’t sure she could handle.

“Shoot him, Sua,” I said. “Pull the trigger.”

“Hey! Hey!” Thuta called out, the playfulness gone from his voice as he momentarily pointed his rifle at Sua before realizing he had left me unchecked and quickly aimed it back at me. He shouted at Sua. I had no idea what he was saying, but this quickly turned into a game of who could convince Sua to do their deed.

“He killed your family,” I said. “He’ll kill you too.”

Thuta raised his voice to drown me out. “She’s lying and wants to use you.”

“Don’t believe a word this man says,” I continued. “He’s the one lying. Don’t trust him.”

Sua’s eyes darted back and forth between Thuta and me as we each urged her to ignore the other. At one point, she even aimed the rifle at me.

“Sua, you know me. You know what I want. I will help you,” I shouted. “Don’t let this man fool you!”

She moved the gun away from me but not entirely back to Thuta. The barrel of the rifle rested right between us two.

Thuta spoke faster and louder, his rifle still trained on me.

“Shoot him, Sua,” I shouted. “Do it now!”

Bam!

A loud crack echoed through the air, sending a flurry of birds overhead, flapping away in a frenzy. Bushes and leaves rustled as unseen creatures darted off. Sua stood frozen, gun lowered, aimed at the ground. I glanced over at Thuta. He stood unsteady, shock spreading across his face. A bright-red spot bloomed in the center of his chest. His wide eyes shifted to Sua before his knees buckled, collapsing beneath him. His rifle hung limp in his grip.

I took a step forward, intent on getting the weapon away from him. But just as I reached for it, he lifted it and aimed in my direction. I dove to the left as he fired. The shot went wide.

I took cover behind a tree as Thuta fired another shot in my direction. Sua remained frozen in place, shock gripping her. Despite his wound, this standoff wasn’t over. If he shot Sua, he still had enough fight left in him to come after me. His coughs were wheezy and wet—his lungs filling with blood.

There was no telling where Thuta’s men were; surely they’d heard those gunshots and were on their way back, especially if they hadn’t found Sua at the village.

Abby, run! That window of opportunity is closing.

All I had to do was turn and go. It was as simple as that. Except that it wasn’t. Was I better off with Sua or without her? She had come back for me, after all. Either she’d had a change of heart, or this was part of her plan—a damn risky one.

I peeked around the tree. Neither of them had moved, but Sua wasn’t in any shape to do more. I was surprised she hadn’t already collapsed into a crying mess. Thuta, on the other hand, still had enough life in him that if I stepped out, the odds of taking a shot were in his favor. Before I could decide, something hard pressed against the back of my head. Not again.

“Don’t move,” said a voice.

33

My new habit, learned over the last two days, was raising my arms slowly. From the sound of his voice and his accent, it was no doubt one of Thuta’s men. My luck, it was the one who’d wanted to rape me. I should have run when I had the chance. Dammit!

“Move!” A sharp kick to my outer left thigh propelled me in the right direction. Bastard!

I stepped out from behind the tree. Thuta was no longer on his knees. He’d fallen to the ground, lying a few feet away from Boss. His breathing was still labored, and the entire front of his shirt was soaked with his blood. If I had to guess, he had a minute or less of life.

Like me, Sua was on her knees, hands up in the air. She was visibly trembling—raw fear. One of Thuta’s men stood behind her, pointing a rifle at the back of her head. It wasn’t the guy who expressed his desires for me, but I found him equally revolting.

But what I found even stranger was that neither of them seemed concerned that one of their colleagues was dead and their leader was on his way to the same demise. In Thuta’s last minutes of life, he was experiencing firsthand how loyal his men were. Neither of them showed any concern for him. Granted, I didn’t think they had a chance to save him, but at the very least, they could have checked on him. Showed some sign that he meant something to them.

Instead, I’m sure both men were angling to see who would step up into that position of power. It wouldn’t surprise me if that was the only thought on their minds.

I glanced over my shoulder. No surprise: it was my raping friend, who appeared joyous about the situation. I liked the odds, though. Neither man frightened me. In fact, as far as I was concerned, it was about waiting for the right time to strike. That was all that separated me from my freedom. I looked over at Sua. I couldn’t leave her. In fact, I still needed her. She could navigate the dangers of the jungle, but I couldn’t. Plus, she’d come back for me. She got points for that.

The man watching over Sua urged her to her feet, then kicked her back as she stood. She stumbled forward, breaking her fall with her hands before finding her balance.

“Your leader is dying. Will you just watch?” I asked no one in particular.

Sua’s guard walked up to Thuta. A few words were exchanged before he promptly fired a bullet into his head. He looked at me and smiled as he raised the rifle in the air and cheered in his language. He looked so proud, as if putting that man out of his misery was an achievement worth celebrating.

With one hand holding his rifle above his head, he beat his chest with the other. It appeared he had assumed the position of leader.

A throaty roar snapped my attention. I barely had time to turn my head before a flash of orange and black shot past me, leaping at the man midcelebration. The massive tiger pounced, its powerful jaws clamping down on the man’s neck. With a violent shake of its head, left and right, a dull crack echoed as the man’s neck snapped, his body flopping in a grotesque, unnatural way. A second later, the beast dragged him off into the jungle with little effort.

I wasted no time, throwing a spinning elbow that connected with the face of the man behind me. Caught off guard, he crumpled to his knees, both hands flying up to his face. Blood gushed from his broken nose as he cried out in pain. Facing him, I grabbed the back of his head and yanked it down, driving my knee up hard and knocking him out cold. I managed to snatch the rifle off the ground with my bound hands and fire a shot into his head, before spinning around, pointing the gun at Sua.

“Get away from that rifle,” I said. “Now!”

As I approached Sua, she started to cry. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want this to happen.”

“Why did you turn me over to them?”

“I had no choice. I thought they would kill me. I had to play along. Why do you think I came looking for you?”

Her body language, the tortured look on her face… I didn’t need more convincing. I believed her story. I lowered the gun. “I didn’t know you knew how to fire a gun.”

“I didn’t. That was the first time.”

“I, for one, am glad you pulled that trigger. What about the people in the village? Will they come after us or alert more of these men?”

“I don’t know, but they are not who I thought they were.”

“What do you mean?”

“After talking to them, I started to see similarities with the other village I went to for help. Nothing about their activities or how they act is the same.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone in a village has a duty, a responsibility. We share the work. It’s the same in every village, but these people look like they’re just living there… It’s hard to explain.”

“Why didn’t the men take you after searching for you all this time?”

Sua looked away. A mask of shame covered her face as she shrunk and avoided eye contact. I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, letting her know I wasn’t angry. “I pretended not to understand English. I told them you had a map and wanted me to take you to a location. I told them I didn’t understand anything else you were saying, only that you wanted to go to the lowlands. And then I told them you started to hit me until I agreed to help you. I know it sounds terrible, but if they took us both, we’d have no chance of escape. The only way to make it work was for one of us to be left free. You have to believe me.”

“I do. It was a risky plan, but it worked.”

She smiled, a wave of relief washing over her face. She reached up and gently caressed my cheek. “You’re hurt.”

“I’ll heal. Look, grab that knife off that guy over there and cut my hands free. I suspect there’s more to these men taking over these villages than we know, but I’m not interested in sticking around to find out. Are you still willing to take me to the lowlands?”

“My family is gone. There is nothing left here for me.” Sua removed her phone from the waistband of her skirt. “And I still have a story to tell if people are willing to listen.”

“Good. Grab that rifle. You fired it once; you might need to do it again. The tigers are a real thing.”

34

Ryan walked out of the suite on edge. More so than usual. The friction between him and Chi had grown steadily over the last few months, even though he hadn’t given any reason for it to be there. Ryan never expected they would be best friends and spend evenings drinking beer, shooting pool, and sharing their goals and dreams. The nature of who they were and their business type drove their interactions. At best, it would be cordial and respectful. At worst, someone ended up dead.

Ryan knew Chi would never trust him, and the feeling was mutual. This relationship needed to benefit both parties equally for it to be sustainable. Period. So long as Ryan continued to deliver the right intel and Sam Gor paid the right price, plus information, the relationship would forge ahead. But Ryan couldn’t help but notice in the last few months that Chi had been testing the waters with his authority. Maybe it was the alpha male in him, maybe it wasn’t, but anytime Chi started to beat his chest, Ryan stopped it. He had to, or Chi would lose all respect for him, just like he had for Abang. Ryan needed Chi to understand he couldn’t be fucked with.

As he waited for the elevator, the door to the suite opened, and Denpo walked out. He stood next to Ryan, and both men watched the numbers on the display climb higher. Coincidence, or had Denpo been told to keep an eye on Ryan?

“Everything okay?” Ryan asked. “Chi seemed on edge back there.”

“Everything is fine.”

“If a problem involves me, the best thing you guys can do is tell me.”

“Maybe speak to Chi with more respect.”

“I’ll show the same respect that I’m given. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

The elevator chimed, and the doors opened. The two men entered, and Ryan hit the button for the lobby and then looked at Denpo, who nodded.

“Do you worry about him shooting you?” Denpo asked as he buried his hands in his pants pockets. “He’s only testing you.”

“We’ve been working together for over a year now. He might think I’m weak because I’m giving up intel, but I’m not anyone’s bitch. I have my reasons. It’s not like you guys are doing charity work, so tell him to control his trigger finger.”

“He wants to ensure you’re still the person he made a deal with. A year is a long time.”

While Denpo was no pushover, Ryan did have a solid foot on the guy, plus he had also packed on thirty pounds of muscle since his arrival in Southeast Asia. He turned to Denpo, crowding him on purpose in the small space. “I’m not bothered by it because I need to know the same thing. People change, organizations change, wants and needs change. Someday, our needs might outgrow our relationship. Is that what’s happening here?”

Denpo tried stepping back to create some distance between them, but he was already flush against the side of the elevator.

“Don’t take it personally. Chi doesn’t trust anyone.”

“He trusts you.”

The elevator came to a stop, and Ryan allowed Denpo to exit first. They parted ways, Ryan heading toward the hotel exit and Denpo heading who knew where. Ryan looked over his shoulder just as he passed through the front entrance but didn’t see Denpo. He hailed a motorcycle taxi and left. After a few minutes of riding, when he was convinced Denpo wasn’t tailing him, he gave the driver directions to another destination.

Some days, Ryan still couldn’t believe how far he had infiltrated the Sam Gor organization. Chi Long was a rising star, trusted by the men running the show. If someone asked Ryan if he thought he’d be in this situation two years ago, his answer would have been, “You’re kidding, right?”

His initial assignment had been to investigate Agent Abang. The CIA had gotten word that he was dirty and selling intel to the local mafia. Ryan was given the responsibility of confirming that and then bringing him in, dead or alive. But as he dug around, he discovered something much bigger. Sam Gor had somehow gotten their hooks into Abang. Ryan convinced his bosses to let him see what he could learn about Abang’s relationship with Sam Gor. One thing led to another, and the next thing Ryan knew, he was playing the role of a young, angry male who had adopted far-right ideology and viewed the US government as an evil entity that was no better than the foreign enemies he’d been charged with fighting against. Ryan had given an Oscar-worthy performance as he was introduced to one person, then another and another, until he finally met with Chi.

The motorbike approached a rickety wooden bridge that only bikes and pedestrians were allowed to use. Ryan hated this particular crossing and always expected it would come crashing down when he was on it, but the locals liked using it because it was a shorter way to the other side of the Kok River.

On the other side, Ryan got off the bike, paid the driver, and continued on foot. He followed an unpaved road alongside the river, walking for twenty minutes until he reached a small village. Most homes there were made of recycled wood, tarps, sheet metal, and corrugated plastic. The ones along the river were built on bamboo stilts, so they sat above the water. Children played along the unpaved road, and stray dogs roamed alongside chickens and the occasional buffalo.

Just as he reached the edge of the village, he ducked into a narrow two-story building. He headed up one flight of stairs, which led to a landing with a door. He knocked, and a bearded man opened the door a few seconds later. “That was another close one,” he said.

“No shit.” Ryan walked into the small apartment. The bearded man who opened the door was Ken Mazza, but everyone called him Maz.

“Hey, it’s Crazy Ryan,” said a guy sitting next to the window. He had been peering through a sniperscope. “Did you have fun dancing with the devil?”

The bodybuilder-looking guy at the window was Wayne Harrington. Both men had seniority on Ryan, serving in the special ops as highly trained urban snipers. They had been recruited by the CIA’s Special Activities Center: Maz from the Navy SEALs and Harrington from the Army Rangers.

“Is that asshole still there?” Ryan asked as he crossed the room.

Harrington lowered the scope. “He’s still there.”

Ryan grabbed the scope and peered through it.

“Hey, this last time felt different,” Harrington said as he tilted his chair back and balanced on two legs. “Do you think that bastard suspects? That standoff felt like it lasted an hour. I won’t shit you; we were seconds away from pulling the trigger and ending this operation.”

“Yeah, man.” Maz grabbed a bottle of water off a table. “You’ve earned our respect, but what you’re doing is dangerous stuff. Take it from two guys who have seen a ton of combat.”

Ryan lowered the scope. “We stick to the plan. You shoot only if they shoot. If Chi even sniffs a hint of weakness on my part, I could lose everything I’ve built up with him.”

“Man, I never met someone with that big of a hard-on for death,” Maz said as he came up behind Ryan. “These guys will cut you down and not think twice about it. I know this is your operation, but Harrington and I are responsible for keeping you alive.”

“What the fuck were you guys talking about, anyway?” Harrington took the scope back from Ryan.

“Same shit as usual. Don’t worry. Chi’s just pushing buttons to make sure I’m still worth dealing with. He’s looking for cracks.”

“So, he’s still convinced you’re working with him?”

Ryan nodded. “I’m close, though. I’ve got most of their operations in the mountains figured out.”

“I hate when you’re up there,” Maz said. “You lose our support.”

“I know, but I can’t risk having you guys in the area. And anyway, I don’t need you two playing Hansel and Gretel and screwing up my operation. I just need more time to gather more intel on their operation.”

“All this hard work, and we still have no word yet if we can take down their drug operation. What are you hearing?”

Ryan looked at Harrington. “We need to find something that puts it in our best interest. If we can’t produce that, this will just get buried because no one cares enough.”

“Total bullshit,” Maz said. “I mean, these assholes are literally stealing entire villages just to cook up drugs.”

“That’s why we need the right information, so it forces governments to act. Remember, Sam Gor didn’t just steal the villages; they killed the people living there, then replaced them with their own people, from the elderly right down to the children. They all work for Sam Gor and are just pretending to be villagers. And because no government kept track of the people in these villages, it appears like nothing happened.”

“Fucking next-level drug trafficking,” Harrington said as he continued to rock on the hind legs of his chair. “I’ll give those bastards that. If that isn’t enough to convince people to do something; I’m not sure what it is.”

“They’ve quadrupled their drug production with this assembly line they set up,” Ryan said. “It runs straight through the mountains down to the Mekong. From there, it’s mass exported all over the world. If we can trace a direct trail to the US, we can raid them.”

“All those people killed.” Harrington shook his head. “I bet there are mass graves spread out all over the place. If we can locate just one, that’ll make international headlines.”

Harrington and Maz gathered their belongings. Ryan was there to cover surveillance so they could have some downtime.

“You want us to bring you anything back?” Maz asked.

“I’m good. I’ll see you guys in three hours.”

Harrington and Maz headed down the stairs and out of the building. Once they were far enough away, they stopped. Harrington leaned back against the wall as he fished a cigarette from a crumpled package in his pants pocket.

“What do you think?” Harrington asked as he fussed with his lighter. “Did we lose Ryan?” He took a long pull on the cigarette.

“I still can’t tell,” Maz said as he looked out over the river, his arms crossed over the front of his chest. “Either he’s very fucking good at his job, or we’re just not seeing the signals.”

Harrington blew out a plume of smoke away from Maz. “The actionable intel he’s coming back with from Sam Gor has been really hit-and-miss. You and I both know that’s a major sign that they flipped him, and he’s bringing back bogus information but trading real secrets.”

“I know. Part of me thinks Ryan’s still on our side. But then there are some questionable things like what happened today. Chi pulling a gun on Ryan: Was that all planned for our benefit? Sometimes, I think Chi flipped him.” Maz shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“I hear you. I’m toiling with the same thoughts. And let’s not forget about that woman he was hanging out with. For someone he just met at the hotel, they sure spent a lot of time together.”

“Maybe he really was banging her, like he said.”

“I could kick myself in the ass. We should have grabbed photos of her and ran a check just to be sure she was a nobody on vacation in Thailand.” Harrington took one long last pull on the cigarette before dropping it and smothering it with his shoe. “If that comes back to bite us in the ass…”

“She’s gone. Forget about it.”

“But it’s shit like that that has me twisted. It’s plausible, but out of nowhere. You know what I mean?”

Maz looked over at Harrington. “Don’t start overthinking this. We were here to determine if Ryan’s been compromised. Period. We can’t get caught up in other stuff unless it’s directly related. I’m not so sure that woman is.”

“It’s fucked up because I really like the guy.”

“Remember, we’re not here because of his operation; we’re here because of the side operation we’re running. We have our mission and objectives we need to adhere to. And if I need to put him down, I’ll put him down. I have no trouble taking out a traitor.”

35

The more Ryan watched Chi, the more he hated the man. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep up the act, but he didn’t have much choice as it stood. His mission had changed. He already had enough to make moves if it was only about gathering intel on Sam Gor’s operation in the mountains. But an unforeseen circumstance had happened. He’d kidnapped his mother and handed her over to Chi.

Not for a minute since that fateful morning had he wondered if he had made the right decision. It wasn’t like this scenario had occurred during his training at the Farm. Sure, there were protocols and contingency planning for a partner or an asset in trouble, but not your mom. But Ryan kept coming back to the same answer. He was certain she was minutes away from being gunned down. Him as well. Had he not done what he did, there was no doubt in his mind they’d both be dead, and their bodies never found.

Ryan hadn’t had time to check with his superiors or fill in Harrington, Maz, or even Abby on the situation. He’d had seconds to decide that morning at the hotel. And he prayed he’d made the right call.

I should have never told Abby to visit. I should have canceled.

Should have, could have, would have. It’s too late now. Either figure out a solution, or you’ll be telling your sister her mother’s dead. And it’s all your fault.

I’ll take the blame for putting Abby into this situation, but it’s not my fault. Chi was supposed to be out of the country, leaving the day Abby arrived. It’s the only reason why I allowed her to visit. How could I have known he would change his mind the day he was supposed to leave?

Contingency plans.

Oh, that’s helpful now.

Any foreigner Ryan interacted with was watched closely, so Ryan was cautious about meeting with his own people. So naturally, Chi had picked up on Ryan and Abby. From the day Chi inquired, Ryan had always maintained that she was an American on a solo vacation and he was providing some bedroom fun. While it felt weird to talk about his mother that way, anything else would have been seen as a red flag to Chi. He could at least understand banging some woman on holiday.

So now Ryan had to figure out a way to rescue her without getting her or himself killed. He had no support because no one knew who Abby was to him. He had managed to keep the fact that she was his mother a secret. Even Maz and Harrington thought she was some woman he was having fun with. When he turned her over to Chi, he told them she had left, which was the end.

In their last meeting, Chi had confirmed that he had yet to find her but was sending out more men. That wasn’t good news. If there was a silver lining, it meant she was still free. And hopefully, still alive. But the odds of continuing to elude Chi’s men weren’t in her favor. Also, how much longer could she survive in the jungle? Was she eating? Was she able to find fresh water? Abby might not be your typical woman, but she wasn’t Superwoman.

Sure, she was a Special Agent in Charge for the FBI, having spent her entire career in law enforcement battling violent criminals. She had years of experience that the average person never would have.

She’d been kidnapped.

She’d been beaten, tortured…nearly killed.

And she’d survived it all.

If there was one person he thought could survive the situation he’d placed her in, it was his mother. He had no doubt her survival instincts and her training would kick in. She was a fighter who would go down swinging. But he also realized she wasn’t invincible. Time was a vicious and unforgiving enemy. The longer she was left to fend for herself, the more likely she’d end up dead.

Ryan peered through the sniperscope and continued to watch Chi as he lay like a sloth on the couch. He took a brief phone call, quickly changed out of his shorts, and put on a pair of jeans. Where was he heading? Downstairs to meet Denpo? Usually, people came to Chi for meetings, not the other way around. Chi put on the rugged hiking boots Ryan had gifted him a few months ago. That meant he was heading into the jungle. Had he received word about Abby? Ryan continued watching until Chi left the suite. What was so important that it had Chi out the door so quickly?

Ryan pulled out his cell phone and opened a tracking app. He had built a tracking device into the sole of one of the boots. He could track Chi’s movements via GPS. Sometimes, he experienced lag deep in the jungle; outside that, the tracking device could pinpoint Chi within half a mile. The blue dot on the map blinked back at Ryan. Everything was working just fine.

Just then, a notification popped up on Ryan’s phone, a text message: I’m here.

Ryan answered: Be ready to meet in three hours. I’ll text a location at that time.

36

Sua and I kept a faster pace than usual. Seeing that tiger snap that man’s neck in a series of swift movements was all the motivation we needed. I wasn’t sure how often a tiger ate or whether that man could keep its belly full. But the way I saw it, if we ran into that beast again, hungry or not, it might attack, not out of hunger but because it viewed us as a threat.

When I asked Sua if she’d heard the tiger before we saw it, she said no. “It’s almost impossible to hear or see them when stalking prey, but they normally don’t attack humans. We don’t taste that good.”

“How do you explain that attack back there?”

“I’m not sure. We’re slow and weak, so it might be an old tiger.”

“Sheesh, if that’s the work of an old tiger, I don’t want to meet a young one.”

“No, me neither. But we’re taught if we see the tiger, we should back away slowly and not show aggression. It’s the only chance for survival. But normally, every attack is by ambush, so…”

“Way to keep things positive, Sua,” I said with a nervous laugh.

“I’m more afraid of the men. A hungry tiger has a lot to choose from in the jungle. But these men, they’re only looking for us.”

She made a good point. For someone her age, facing what we were facing, I admired her bravery, especially her ability to keep her head on straight. She’d shot and killed a man. Killing a person isn’t as easy as people think it is. The mechanics of firing a gun for the first time can be intimidating, let alone firing at another person. Even in the heat of the moment, there’s hesitation because you are about to end another human’s life. But in fight-or-flight mode, instincts kick in, and I think that’s what happened when Sua shot Thuta.

“Look!” Sua pointed up to a tree. “Maprang. We are so lucky, and they’re ripe.”

I followed the line of her finger to a large, leafy tree dotted with yellow clusters of what I assumed were fruit. They looked like oversize grapes. Before I could inquire, Sua handed me her rifle and quickly climbed the tree to reach one of the clusters. “Catch it, Abby.”

She twisted the cluster until it was free and then held it. “No, don’t use your hands. Pull your shirt out and use it to catch it.”

I grabbed the bottom of my shirt and stretched it out so it acted as a net and then positioned myself right under her. “Are you ready?” I nodded, and Sua counted to three before releasing the cluster. It fell perfectly into my makeshift net. She picked two more bundles, and I caught them both before she climbed back down.

“These look like miniature mangoes. Do they taste the same?”

“Kind of. I love them!” She bit into one, and her face lit up like a child having the first bite of her birthday cake. “Go on, try it.”

I took a bite. It was juicy and sweet with a sour tang, which I was guessing came from the rind. It kind of reminded me of a plum.

“Do you like it?” she asked.

“It’s delicious.”

We sat down on a fallen tree trunk and ate our fill of maprang. For a moment, Sua looked as if she’d forgotten all about her troubles and what she’d been through the last few days. It made me happy yet sad at the same time. Her parents were gone, and I didn’t get the feeling she had other family to turn to. She was alone. How would she survive? What would she do?

But an equally big question was, What would I do after reaching my destination? Would I simply shake her hand and say thanks? I wasn’t thrilled about parting like that. I needed to help her.

“Sua, have you thought about what you will do after we reach the lowlands?”

She took a bite of her fruit as her brown eyes found mine. “No,” she said softly.

Way to go, Abby. You just spoiled the one happy moment she was having.

“I’m sorry. I know this must be difficult.”

Difficult? She has no place to live. No money. Her education is probably all self-taught. She’s screwed!

“I’m very thankful for all your help, and I intend to pay you back. When we reach the lowlands, and we’re safe, I’ll return the favor and help you as much as I can.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Really? You’ll help me?”

“Of course I will.”

A crooked smile appeared on her face. “Thank you.” She took another bite before asking about my plans.

“Good question. I’ll need to make my way back to my embassy. We’ll go there together. We need to report what is happening to the villagers. We have your video for proof.”

“Do you think they’ll do anything?”

“I’ll make sure they do something. I promise you.”

“You can do that? Are you powerful?”

“I’m tenacious. Do you know that word?”

She crinkled her brow as she shook her head.

“It means I only stop when I get my way.”

“I like that. I want to be like you.”

Until then, my entire focus had been survival and reaching the lowlands. I hadn’t really thought about the next steps. The embassy seemed like a good starting point. But the bigger problem was Ryan. How would I handle that? He’d kidnapped me and turned me over to a criminal organization. If he could do that, was killing me out of the question?

Just thinking about it sent my stomach flip-flopping. Did I really need to prepare to defend myself against my own son?

Maybe Ryan had a reasonable explanation. But man, it would have to be dynamite. I wished I could contact Kang. If there was ever a person I could turn to for advice on my predicament, it would be him. He’d known Ryan since he was a little boy. What would he say? Would he tell me I was nuts and that Ryan was my son? Probably, but he wasn’t here, trudging through a jungle. He hadn’t been kidnapped and held at gunpoint. He hadn’t almost been eaten by a tiger. All that happened because of Ryan. I could still visualize him reaching out to me and slamming that cloth across my nose. I could still remember smelling that chemical. No one had forced him. No one had a gun pointed at his head. He’d done that!

I wasn’t sure I could forgive that. I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

I knew at some point I’d have to come face to face with him. Every step forward I took was a step toward the inevitable. I did not anticipate dying in this jungle. But facing Ryan… I couldn’t even fathom what that would be like.

Calm, followed by an explanation?

Rage, followed by gunfire?

Both seemed likely.

Either way, I had to prepare. I could no longer look at Ryan as my son. He was the enemy until proved otherwise. Would he come at me with the same thinking and plan of attack? Would he shoot first and ask questions later?

“Are you okay, Abby?” Sua asked, pulling me out of my dilemma. “You look troubled.”

“Sadly, I am.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we make it to the lowlands.”

If only that were my biggest concern.

37

Harrington and Maz returned on time to relieve Ryan from his surveillance watch. Ryan never asked what they did or where they went during their downtime; they always offered up some information. Was it bullshit? Who knew.

Maz settled into a chair next to Ryan while Harrington headed into the bathroom. “I know you didn’t ask, but we got you a cheeseburger.” He handed Ryan a paper bag soiled with oil stains. “New place in town that makes smashburgers.”

“I appreciate it.” Ryan looked in the bag.

Maz kicked his legs out as he looked out the window. “Our boy still lounging in the suite?”

“Nah, he left shortly after you guys did. Hasn’t returned yet.”

“I’m guessing he’s in the jungle.” Maz used the sniperscope for a better look. “Every light in the suite is on. Hasn’t this guy ever heard of conserving electricity?”

“Most likely not.” Ryan shook his head as he took a bite of the burger and acknowledged the taste by popping his eyebrows a few times.

“You gonna search him out? Should we shadow you?”

“I want you guys here in case he comes back. Text me the moment he returns.”

Ryan shoved the rest of the burger into his mouth. His cheeks bulged like a chipmunk’s as he chewed, flashing a thumbs-up. “Thanks for thinking of me,” he managed through a mouthful. He balled up the paper bag and tossed it like a basketball across the room, making it into the trash can.

Harrington exited the bathroom just in time to see the ringer. “NBA material right here.”

“If I were only taller…” Ryan stood and brushed off his hands. “Don’t forget, text me as soon as Chi returns.”

When Ryan left the safe house, the sun had already dipped below the horizon. He fired off a text message with a location attached and waited for a reply. A few seconds later, he got a text with a thumbs-up.

Thirty minutes later, Ryan stood in the shadows of a large tree in a public park near the city center. There were park lamps along a few of the larger pathways, spread out far enough that they lit only a small area. The sky had scattered cloud coverage, so the nearly full moon didn’t help much. Aside from a random jogger and a couple of drunk teens, the park was empty and quiet.

From his location, Ryan had a clear view of the meeting point: a metal statue of a couple and their child riding a bicycle. He had made sure to get there as quickly as possible so he could scout the location. Nothing made his gut tingle as he waited.

A lone figure approached, making its way toward the statue. Ryan couldn’t make out any facial features. Still, gauging the size and physicality of the person, it was clearly a male. He stopped near the statue and lit a cigarette, the end burning bright on the first pull: the agreed-upon signal.

Only then did Ryan step out from the shadows. “There’s no smoking in the park.”

The man turned to Ryan and dropped the cigarette, smothering it with his shoe. “Good, I hate cigarette smoke.” He stuck his hand out. “Diego.”

Ryan shook his hand. “I appreciate you coming out here. I know I’m asking a lot.”

“Look, these guys killed a good friend of mine. If I have a chance to return the favor, I’m all over it.”

Diego was a CIA officer who had worked with Archer, the officer who’d lost his life while interrogating Chi after disrupting their plans to traffic drugs into San Francisco. Ryan had contacted him earlier in the week, bringing him up to date on the operation he was involved in. Once he’d mentioned the name Chi Long, Diego was all in. The details didn’t matter so long as he had a shot at taking Chi out. Outside that, Diego knew the primary mission was to extract a person and that they would need to move fast.

The two men slipped back into the shadows and sat on a nearby bench, out of sight.

“Where’s Chi now?” Diego asked.

Ryan pulled out his phone and fired up the tracker app. “That’s him. He’s in the jungle.” Ryan quickly brought Diego up to speed on their drug operation in the mountains, utilizing the villages.

“Wait, let’s make sure I’m hearing you straight. They’re coming into these villages, massacring everyone there, and replacing them with their own people to act like the villagers so that no one suspects anything?”

“That’s right. Thailand’s, Laos’s, and Myanmar’s governments have never kept records of hill tribes. They’re essentially ghosts. So, an outsider looking in just sees villagers. But really, they’re all involved in drug production. He treats the villages like an assembly line. It’s efficient and highly productive. The sheer number of drugs they’re moving out of the Golden Triangle rivals the past, when the area was a lawless free-for-all. Except they have a lock on it all. A total monopoly. None of the governments have a frickin’ clue.”

“What a bastard this guy is. He doesn’t give a shit about anyone.”

“It’s his job to devise fresh approaches to drug trafficking. While everyone else is using the old playbook, he’s reinventing the business. Left unchecked, they have the potential to corner the market globally. I’ve been in with this guy for a year and a half and have seen firsthand how he operates. People are nothing more than a tool to him, something he can utilize to further his ideas.”

“How high up the food chain is this guy?”

“Pretty far up. He’s got the trust of the people running the organization. He’s been the driving force to their expansion and reach.”

“Anybody else in the organization come close to doing what he does?”

Ryan shook his head. “Not that I know of. Take him out and the effects will be noticed.”

“What about the extraction? Is it one of our guys?”

“No, FBI. She has no connection to the operation. Just the wrong place at the wrong time. I have everything I need to turn Sam Gor’s operation upside down, but this mishap happened at the last minute, and I need to get her out before we blow this up.”

Diego shrugged. “Okay, are they holding her?”

“She was being held in one of the villages that they took over. I had a plan in place to get her out, but she managed to escape before I could get to her. She has no idea we’re here to help. She believes she’s all alone.”

“You’re telling me she’s lost in the jungle?”

“That’s what I’m telling you. It’s been two days, going on three soon.”

Diego ran a hand through his hair. “Are you sure she’s still alive?”

“No, but I need to try.”

Diego eyed Ryan for a moment. “You have a connection to this woman? She a girlfriend or something?”

“She’s my mother, and you know her.”

38

Sua and I had been walking at a consistent pace through the jungle, occasionally stopping for a rest but never lingering. We were both terribly thirsty, and munching on maprang helped a little, but after a while, the sweetness of the fruit became too much and made us crave water even more. Finally, we came across a small pool of water that was stagnant, with no source pouring into it. Even I had concerns.

“This water is no good,” she said. “It was created by rainfall. We need moving water.”

The sky was darkening by the minute, and soon it would be nightfall. While finding water was a concern, spending the night in the jungle worried me. Common sense told me animals slept during the day and hunted by night—for instance, snakes. Large pythons. Sua must have seen the troubled look on my face.

“Abby, everything will be okay. The night isn’t as bad as you think it is.”

“Easy for you to say. This is practically your backyard.” I twirled in a circle, taking in our location. “What’s safer? The ground or up in a tree?”

“Almost every animal in the jungle can climb, so it doesn’t matter.”

“The snakes are in the trees, right?”

“Yes, but sometimes they’re on the ground. We should take turns resting. It’s the safest way.”

Sua found us a better location, a small clearing free of plants and hanging vines. In the center was a large smooth rock covered with green moss. I saw it as our stronghold from the encroaching trees, plants, vines, and thousands of inhabitants.

Sua climbed up onto the rock and spun around. “This is perfect.”

I joined her on the rock. It was off the ground, which made me feel better. It was about as wide as a single bed but a little shorter. I looked up into the patchwork of gray and black and slivers of dusk. “How are we supposed to see any animals when it’s completely dark?”

“We don’t. We need to listen. We concentrate on the different sounds.”

Uh, okay, jungle whisperer. I was sure Sua had the skills to pick up slight variations in the hum of the jungle, but me? All I heard was a cacophony of buzzing insects.

Look at it this way, Abby. It’s no different from clearing an old factory with a lot of nooks and crannies. You’re listening for your threats.

“I’m more worried about those men finding us than a snake.” Sua plopped down onto the rock and leaned back, her arms behind her to support her weight.

Her face looked drained and pale, even in the shadows of the trees. I told her to rest first and that I would wake her later and she could take over guard duties until sunrise. Sua didn’t put up a fight and lay on her side. I sat next to her, one ear focused on the living, breathing, mostly nonthreatening life-forms while the other focused on her breath. As I listened, it became softer and gentler until it was gone. She’d fallen into a deep sleep, trusting her life to me.

I couldn’t imagine how dark the jungle could be at night until the last of the sunlight had disappeared. It reminded me of the ocean. Unless there’s a full moon with clear skies, it’s pitch dark, and there is no delineation between where the horizon stops and the sky starts. Most people think it looks the way Hollywood portrays it in the movies.

I kept waiting for my eyesight to magically adjust, at least to the point where I could make out shapes and shadows. But it never did. Maneuvering at night out here required night vision or, at a very minimum, a flashlight. I thought about switching on my flashlight app, but I didn’t want to drain my battery even though I was powering it off and on to check the time. Plus, the image of me turning on my flashlight and revealing a tiger sitting a foot from me popped into my head. I shivered at the thought.

Having Sua with me was a godsend, no denying that. Navigating this place at night by myself would have been impossible. I could have walked right off a cliff or stepped into a den of king cobras. To keep myself busy and my imagination from flying off the rails, I focused on happy moments with Lucy, Po Po, Kang, and Ryan. I sang songs internally. I thought about what I would eat once back in civilization. I did my best to keep my mind occupied.

The six-year-old inside me, who believed every creak and thump I heard outside my bedroom door was an intruder who’d come to kill us, was resurrected in full force. Staying up wasn’t as difficult as I’d thought it would be. When midnight rolled around, I decided not to wake Sua and to continue facing my fears.

Eventually, the night began to fade, making room for the morning light. We’d made it through the night without dying, even though every noise I’d heard I thought was the end of us. That was one for the bucket list, whether I liked it or not.

39

Confusion erupted across Diego’s face as he processed what I’d just told him. “Wait, your mother is the extraction target?”

“She is. And it’s my fault.”

Diego pulled his head back before letting out a breathy laugh. “Oh, I gotta hear how this happened.”

“First off, you know her as FBI Special Agent in Charge Abby Kane.”

Diego’s expression changed to one of disbelief. “You gotta be kidding me. She’s your mom? But your surname⁠—”

“Stepmom.”

“Stepmom, real mom, I’m not picky.” Diego crossed a leg and rested his elbow on his thigh so he could playfully support his chin in his palm. “Do tell.”

“The theatrics aren’t needed. It’s not like I feel good about what happened.”

“I’ll do my best to keep my commentary to a minimum, but do carry on.”

Ryan went on to explain how Abby had ended up in the hands of Sam Gor, letting Diego know just enough to sell the story. There was no need for him to know everything.

“Man, talk about rotten luck. I mean, you had a plan in place. I’ll give you that. With Chi out of the country and your mom visiting during that time, the timing would be perfect.”

“Yeah, only that ass didn’t leave. And it doesn’t help that Chi has become more erratic over the last three months.”

“You think he’s questioning your relationship?”

“Definitely. The information I turn over to him is helpful, enough to keep him engaged.”

“What about the intel he’s providing?”

“Most of it is useless, but I haven’t let on about that. All my real intel has been gathered over the last year by watching and listening when he’s not around. There was a time when he took me everywhere. He wanted to show me off as a shiny toy. It was an ego boost for him and made him look like a hot shot within his organization.”

“A CIA officer on a leash. What could be better? So, what happened?”

“I’m not sure. Chi started to cut back on our time together.”

“He’s wondering how loyal you are to them.”

“Definitely, but by then, the damage had been done. I already knew how their operation worked and what they intended to do. I was close to wrapping things when my mother visited.”

“Timing is a bitch, ain’t it?”

“I had my report ready to file with my recommendation on how to move forward. I was going to do it right as she left.”

“So, what happened? Did Chi recognize her?”

“He didn’t. That’s the funny thing. I’m still not sure if he knows who she really is.”

“Wait, back up a minute. You mean he doesn’t know she’s your mother, or that she’s a top agent at the bureau?”

“Both…possibly. He definitely doesn’t know Abby’s my mother.”

Ryan watched Diego toss the idea back and forth in his head. “It was dark that night,” he recalled. “There were a lot of people on the RIB, and Archer was in Chi’s face during the ride back into the bay. I mean, I guess it’s possible Chi was smart enough to take notice of who else was in the boat. But why would he be interested in her if that’s the case?”

“He’s not, but he got wind of me hanging out with her. She was here on vacation, so we did stuff. I tried to make sure we did stuff away from the city… Look, a million things could have gone wrong, and half of them did. I thought Chi would be out of town, so I even booked us rooms in the same hotel.”

“Are the hotel workers loyal to him?”

“Yeah, but they know I’m with him, so it shouldn’t have raised a flag. The trigger for Chi was her showing up at the coffee shop the day his guys escorted Abang out by armed force.”

Ryan gave Diego the entire rundown on how that had played out and how Abby’s curiosity had gotten the best of her and she’d visited the shop the next day.

“He had people watching the coffee shop, and that’s how she became a person of interest for him. It was only after that he discovered my connection with her. I told him she was a lonely traveler, and I was boning her.”

“Sheesh, now I’ve heard it all.”

“He still wanted her picked up. I tried to talk him out of it, telling him it would draw unnecessary attention. I probably pushed him a bit too far. You know Chi places very little value on human life, so when I got wind that he was going to execute her and wash his hands of the matter, I rushed up to his suite to try and talk him out of the hit without making it look like I had any skin in the game. Do you know how difficult that was, to fight for someone I was supposed to not give a shit about? I just kept reiterating that he didn’t need unwanted attention, especially since he’d killed Abang and thrown his body into the Mekong. Anyway, my case fell apart. He already had a hit squad ready to take her out that morning. I had minutes to react, and somehow, I convinced him to abduct her instead and question her first. He listened to me.”

“And if he hadn’t?”

“I’d have to act to save her. I couldn’t just let him kill her. And even then, I wasn’t even sure I could protect us both from the hit squad if I did act.”

“That takes balls. Worst-case scenario was a real possibility.”

“You don’t think I know that? But I had to buy time. And if it was anybody else, it probably wouldn’t have worked, but my mother is the toughest woman I know. If anyone can survive through that, it’s her.”

“And what happened when he questioned her?”

“He didn’t. He got sidetracked, and during those hours, she managed to escape.”

“Her escaping only proves his point and weakens your case.”

“Exactly. That’s why I called you. I need help out of this quickly.”

“I’m assuming your supervisor doesn’t know anything about this, because you would have been fired already.”

“They don’t. I have a sniper team covering me, but I suspect their real reason for providing this support was to monitor me.”

“They’re running a side operation on you?”

Ryan nodded. “I can’t do anything about it. I need to pretend I have no idea, or it’ll just make matters worse.”

“Do they know about your mother?”

“No, I fed them the same story I fed Chi. That’s all I can tell you, so no more questions. But let me make one thing very clear. This is an unsanctioned operation with a high risk of things turning sideways. I can’t promise you’ll come out unscathed, but you will have a shot at Chi. I need to know right now. Are you in or are you out?”

Diego smiled. “Let’s go get your mom.”

40

Eight months ago, Ryan had set up a stash house. It was different from a safe house in one major way: the CIA wasn’t aware of it. It was Ryan’s insurance against the event things went sideways and he got into a situation he hadn’t thought of having a contingency plan for. For instance, helping Sam Gor abduct his mother.

It was in a small village a few miles outside the city limits. Most of the people there were farmers with families. No more than one hundred people lived in the area. Ryan had secured a small plot of land with a small house. Outside of reinforcing the doors and windows, Ryan had done nothing else to the structure, leaving it the way it was so that it blended in. He also made a point of developing a trusting relationship with the elders and compensated them for watching over the stash house.

Two motorbikes dropped him and Diego a half mile from the village, and they walked the rest of the way along an unpaved road.

“It’s peaceful,” Diego said, looking up at the clear skies. “Living in the city, one forgets what the night sky looks like without light pollution screwing it up. I can’t remember the last time I could easily spot the Little Dipper. Do you spend much time out here?”

“Nah, I only came here to stock supplies or check on the place. I didn’t want to draw attention to it.”

“I could retire here. Find me a nice wife, get some land, grow some crops… What’s not to like about that?”

The village looked deserted as they walked along the dirt road into the tiny settlement. A few faint lights flickered inside some of the homes, casting a weak glow through the wooden slats. The air was filled with the sounds of nocturnal life—crickets chirping, frogs croaking, and the occasional rustle of unseen creatures. The stillness made the village feel as though it was a ghost town.

“I thought you said people live here. This place is dead.”

“They sleep early here and rise early, like at two a.m., to work their farms. The sun can be brutal come midday. They try to finish as much work as possible by ten or eleven in the morning.”

Ryan led Diego across a plowed field toward a lone structure about the size of a beach bungalow. The paint was cracked, and the roof looked like it had been patched with whatever material was available. Behind it was a stand of trees. Diego noted their uniformity. “Is that your handiwork?”

“Those are rubber trees. I own them, but my neighbor takes care of them. I let him harvest the rubber and sell it.”

Ryan looked around before removing a small panel of wood near the entrance. Behind it was a keypad, into which he punched in a code.

“The rest of the house looks easy to punch through. Why the digital lock?”

“This security panel is for the loud alarm that will rip through your eardrums should one enter without disarming it.”

“Cozy,” Diego said as Ryan turned on a few lights.

There were two couches and a recliner in the living room. The open kitchen was small and equipped with aged appliances. On the walls were faded paintings of Thai countryside housed in termite-eaten frames. There was also a framed portrait of the king and queen.

“I take it all the décor is courtesy of the previous owner.”

“It serves its purpose. The structure looks old as shit, but it’s sound. Windows are bulletproof and reinforced. So are the doors. Most importantly, there’s hot water.”

Ryan picked up the coffee table and moved it off to the side before removing the area rug beneath it to reveal two metal doors in the floor. Ryan fished a key out of his pocket and unlocked them. There were stairs leading down.

“I added the basement. Come on, I’ll give you a tour.”

The basement was the same size as the house, with reinforced concrete walls and floors. Along the walls were steel storage units, and in the center of the room, a rectangular table. Ryan unlocked the storage unit nearest them to reveal an array of rifles.

“M4 carbines and SPAS-12 shotguns are in here,” he said as he continued to open the remaining storage units.

“Here we have handguns, tactical knives, stun and smoke grenades, and other goodies. And this last unit houses three sniper rifles, two long range and one urban.”

“What’s in the chests?” Diego asked, his eyes drawn to the metal containers on the floor. Ryan unlocked one, and Diego peered inside.

“Drones? Man, you got a nice stash here.”

“It’s my insurance policy, my get-out-of-jail card, my whatever.”

“Smart.”

Ryan rolled out a map across the table. “This covers the mountains in the surrounding area. This area is the Golden Triangle; here’s the border of Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos. Up here is China. And this is the Mekong River cutting through them all. All of this area”—Ryan used his finger to trace the map—“is a rainforest, essentially jungle.”

Diego looked up at Ryan with pleading eyes. “Tell me this isn’t our entire search area.”

“Yes and no. These starred locations are villages inhabited by the hill tribes. These aren’t all of them, just the ones I’m aware of. It’s a no-man’s-land up there with over two hundred ethnic groups. None of the surrounding governments take full responsibility for them.”

“You said yes and no. So cut out the part I don’t have to pay attention to.”

“This is where my mother was last being held. It’s about a two-hour drive outside of Chiang Rai. My gut tells me that when she escaped, she headed this way, deeper into the jungle. Because of the downhill angle, anyone without a map would think they’re heading the right way.”

“She could have even got turned around and headed this way, toward Myanmar.”

“That’s right, but I assume she’s somewhere in the area for now.”

“At least that’s still heading downhill and keeping her in the country. Eventually, she’ll pop out into the rice field. You said she’s been out there for two days now with no supplies or rations you know of.”

Ryan nodded.

“The map indicates numerous water sources, so hopefully, she’s getting enough to drink. Food-wise, I imagine she’s hungry. The weather is mild at night and hot during the day. That won’t kill her, but I know in any jungle, there are a lot of venomous snakes, spiders, and even frogs that can create problems.”

“She’s athletic, in shape, and should be able to weather the elements and the hike. But without food, she’ll weaken as the days go on.”

“There’s an abundance of fruit in the jungle if she knows what to look for.”

Ryan shrugged. “She can tell when someone is lying, but I’m unsure if she can tell if something’s edible or poisonous. I’m hopeful.”

Diego rested his hands on his waist. “No reception up there, I take it.”

“Zero in the mountains. Nothing works until you’re in the lowlands. I have sat phones we can use.”

“What about transport? We on foot?”

“I have access to ATVs. We’ll head in with them, but the terrain is unpredictable, and it might mean ditching them.”

“Is there an extraction point once we have her?”

Ryan placed a finger on the map. “If we can get to this village in the lowlands, I have a contact that can transport us straight to the consulate in Chiang Mai.” He moved his finger further down his map.

“Whoa! That’s a different city.”

“We have no choice. If we remain in Chiang Rai, we won’t be able to escape Sam Gor. They have too many men in the area. I assume my cover will be blown with Chi, or if you get your wish and take him out, we’ll both be targets. Our best bet is to get to the consulate.”

Diego slapped a hand down on Ryan’s shoulder. “The night is still young. Let’s gear up and get going.”

41

Morning in the jungle was a very calm, quiet part of the day, as far as I could tell. Even my clothes had dried out and felt light on me instead of dragging me down with every step. I stood and stretched my arms above my head.

Sua hadn’t moved all night, not even to lie on her other side. Even her long black hair remained tucked behind her ear. She looked peaceful, lying there, as if she could once again be a teen girl and not a person on the run from men wanting to kill her. She was too young to have to face the evils of the world. I was staring at her when her eyes fluttered open.

“Good morning,” I said, looking down at her.

It took a moment for her to realize she’d slept right through the night, but as soon as it hit, her eyes widened, and she drew a sharp breath as she sat up. “I’m so sorry, Abby. I didn’t wake up for my turn.”

“It’s okay, I didn’t wake you. I think you needed the sleep more than I did.”

Sua stretched and yawned and rubbed her eyes. A slice of sunlight hit her face at an angle that made her hair shiny.

“We should start moving. Do you know how much farther we need to walk?”

“I think we will reach the lowlands today, in the afternoon. Maybe sooner. It depends on where on the mountain we are. We could be anywhere.”

“Oh? I thought you were following a path or something,” I said as I lowered my hand and helped Sua to her feet.

She shook her head. “I’m just walking downhill. It can only end in the lowlands.”

Duh! When she put it that way, it made complete sense.

The last time I’d checked for a signal was at the previous village. It was also there that I’d decided to keep my phone tucked down the inside of my left hiking boot. It was the only reason why Thuta’s men hadn’t discovered it. I took it out to check for a signal.

“Do you still have your phone?” I asked, as I wasn’t exactly sure if she still did.

“I do, I keep it here.” She lifted her blouse, and I saw the phone tucked into the waistband of her skirt. It wasn’t the safest place to put it, as it could slip out easily.

It was only then that I realized she was wearing shoes—trainers. She had been barefoot when I first met her.

“Hey, where did you get the shoes from?”

She shrunk a little and, in a lowered voice, told me she had stolen them from the last village.

“Nothing wrong with that,” I said boldly. “We women do what we gotta do, right?”

Sua smiled and straightened up. “That’s right. We do what we gotta do.”

After a few moments, the screen on my phone lit up. My eyes teared up: the lock screen should have shown me a picture of Ryan and Lucy when they were young. But this wasn’t my phone. I had lifted it off one of the guards who were watching over me when I was first abducted. I wiped a tear away as the memory of the day my lock screen photo was taken rushed back to me. We were at Fisherman’s Wharf eating ice cream. They looked so innocent and carefree, much like Sua this morning while she slept. I thought of young Ryan’s grinning face and wondered when it started. When did he begin to change?

“Does your phone work?” Sua asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Uh, no. Still no service. My battery life is okay, fifteen percent. What about your phone?”

Sua powered up her phone. A few moments later, she shook her head. “Same. My battery doesn’t hold a charge long.”

“Hey, I keep my phone tucked into my left boot for safekeeping. Do you want me to put yours in my right boot?”

Surprisingly, she turned it over without issue.

We remained quiet during our hike down the mountain, Sua leading and me following her exact steps. I hadn’t thought to do that before and had slipped on a mossy rock. Thankfully, I hadn’t twisted my ankle. “Step where I step,” she’d told me.

“Do you have a family?” she asked, her question taking me a bit by surprise. I hadn’t divulged much personal information about myself. In fact, I knew way more about her than she did me. She hadn’t pried much beyond my story that I’d gotten lost hiking. She knew nothing about my abduction and escape or even that my son was the reason why it happened. And I certainly kept my mouth shut about my profession. I believed I was better off being a nobody to everybody.

With that said, I did feel like I could divulge a bit more about myself. “I have a son and daughter. Both are adults.”

“Can I ask their names?”

“Sure. Lucy and Ryan. Lucy is in her first year at university.”

“That’s my dream.”

“To go to university?”

“No, just to go to school.”

Come on, Abby. You think they have a school system in the mountains? Sheesh! I was a bit embarrassed by my statement. “Are you completely self-taught?”

“My parents teach me about life in the mountains and how to survive. All parents do this with their children. We’re taught to read and write in our language. We can add and subtract numbers. But we don’t have a school like other children who live in the lowlands.”

“How did you learn about life outside your village before you got a phone?”

“I didn’t know anything, but one day, a young man visited our village and had a phone,” she said over her shoulder. “I spent hours looking at videos and pictures. I knew I wanted a phone from that point on.”

“And how did this man come to know all of this?”

“He lived in the lowlands and would visit villages in the mountains offering help. To teach them a new way of living.”

“So, he got you a phone?”

Sua stopped walking so she could turn to me. A broad smile stretched across her face, showcasing her white teeth. “He gave me his phone; the one inside your shoe was his phone. I’m very lucky to have got it. But he told me I was the first person interested in learning about the outside world. That’s what we call it. I think he was so happy and that’s why he gave me the phone. The next time he visited, he brought books that would teach me to read and write English. In the beginning, he would spend time teaching me until I could do it myself. When I was better, I watched videos on YouTube to practice saying the words right.”

I was very impressed as I listened to her story, knowing not many people in her position would have achieved what she had. “You’re very special. I think this man saw this in you. When was the last time he visited?”

“I haven’t seen him in a long time. More than six months.”

“Do you know how to contact him?”

She shook her head. “I want to find him. He might be able to help me.”

“Well, I’ll do what I can to help you with that.” I figured once we had cell reception, I could go through her phone and see if numbers or addresses were saved. Since it was his phone, there might be old contact information for him, and she just didn’t realize it.

I rested an arm around Sua’s shoulders. “Come on, let’s keep moving.”

No sooner had I said that when a strange buzzing noise caught my attention, like a swarm of bees, but I knew it couldn’t be that. But it differed from the usual buzz of flying insects circling us. I kept thinking it was familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

“What is that noise?” Sua asked.

“You hear it too? I’m not sure.”

We stopped near a tree and looked around us. It seemed like we could hear it from every direction for a moment. But then it grew loud, and my sight line shot upward just as I figured out what it was.

I pulled Sua down into a crouch. “Quick, move behind these plants.”

“What is it?”

“That noise is coming from a drone. Do you know what that is?”

Sua shook her head.

“You know what a helicopter is?”

“Yes, I know that. I’ve seen pictures.”

“Okay, a drone is like that, but it’s smaller and has a video camera. It’s controlled by someone on the ground, and they can see what the drone sees. I think it’s looking for us.”

I couldn’t see it, but it had to be just above the canopy, circling. After a few moments, the buzzing grew distant and then disappeared. I didn’t know how many drones were searching for us above the jungle. But we were at a severe disadvantage if there were many of them. The canopy was thick in some areas but still patchy. In other places, it was open, allowing us to see the sky without obstruction. A drone could easily spot us if we weren’t careful.

“What do we do?” Sua asked, her eyes shifting back and forth between mine.

“We’ll need to stay under the trees when we walk.” I pointed up. “Stay away from the open areas. If we do that, it’ll be harder for the drone to see us.”

We were on the move again, and Sua did her best to navigate the uneven ground and the patchwork of tree coverage above. No more than five minutes had passed when the buzzing sound returned. Within seconds, it grew louder than ever, and in an instant, a large drone dropped in front of us, stopping us. Sua pressed back into me, and I held her tight.

The smoky metallic body of the drone was about the size of a large pizza box and was equipped with four whirling propellers with blades that looked like they could shave razor-thin slices from a salami stick. It zipped left, right, up, and down, showcasing its agility and speed. It hovered at the level of our eyes. A clear casing was attached to the drone’s underside, and I spotted a video camera inside. I could clearly see the lens panning up and down and focusing. Whoever was controlling the drone was getting a very good look at us.

A second later, an identical drone dropped down behind us.

42

The two drones circled slowly around us like we were prey, making me feel like we were being poked, prodded, and sized up. Did they think that would intimidate us into giving up? Sorry, that wasn’t happening.

“What do they want?” Sua asked, her body trembling against mine. “Why are they flying around us?”

“These drones are owned by the men chasing us. We’re so good at escaping, they needed help. I’m sure they found the dead men we left behind.”

“If they know we killed some men, they will try to kill us. How do we get away?”

I whispered into Sua’s ear. “I don’t think we can outrun a drone, but there is one thing we can do. When I count to three, I want you to fall to the ground and stay there.”

“Why?”

“Just do as I say.”

The drones were still circling counterclockwise, one to our left and the other to the right. As the one on the right made its way to the front of us, I started my count. “One. Two… Three!”

Sua dropped to the ground near my feet as I lifted my rifle, firing twice and striking the drone. It sputtered and jerked as I spun around to fire at the drone behind us. Three rounds struck it, and it dropped like a rock. The other drone was still struggling to fly as it gained altitude. I took aim and fired. The drone dropped to the ground, white smoke rising from it.

“You killed it!” Sua shouted. “How did you know you could kill it?”

“I didn’t exactly kill it. These are machines. The bullets were enough to destroy it.”

Sua examined the drone, lifting it up a bit. I heard a whirring noise. The video camera on that drone was still functional and most likely relaying footage.

“Don’t touch it!” I pulled Sua away from it. “We might have crashed their drones, but they still know where we are. We need to get as far away from this spot as possible!”

I had to assume more drones were combing the jungle for us—a real threat we might not escape the next time. This was cheap technology, and Sam Gor could deploy huge numbers to hunt us down. It was much more effective than searching by foot. If a drone managed to get a lock on us again, it would be impossible to escape it so long as it kept its distance.

“You were awesome!” Sua said as we walked away.

“Yeah, I guess that was pretty awesome.” Might as well take a win so that it wasn’t all doom and gloom.

“When I grow up, I want to be like you. You’re not afraid of anything.”

I’m afraid of my son.

A look of discontent grew on Chi’s face as he stared at the monitor, his fists tightened at his sides. Denpo stood next to Chi but stepped back when he heard him growl. In the past, Chi had been known to lash out at the person nearest him, and Denpo wasn’t interested in becoming collateral damage.

They were up in the mountains at one of the villages they’d taken over to support Chi’s operation, dubbed Project Ravage—his plan to produce drugs in the mountains using the villages as an assembly line for production and distribution. Ravage was an acronym: Regional Assembly for Vital Acquisition and Global Export.

The hut they were in served as their command center. The walls were covered with maps of the mountains, revealing the villages they had secured so far and the ones they were targeting. So far, they had replaced over a thousand villagers with their own employees, quadrupled drug production, and tripled their exports out of the Golden Triangle.

Earlier, the drone operator had discovered the bodies of Thuta and his men and begun focusing on the surrounding area, primarily searching downhill from there. Chi and Denpo could see everything the drone saw on a large video monitor. When the drone operator first spotted the two, the hut erupted in cheers, followed by chest-beating and slaps on backs.

“Nobody gets away from me,” Chi had proclaimed. “Nobody!”

But all that posturing quickly dissipated as they watched the drones get shot down. To make matters worse, one of the drones landed on the ground and angled the video camera so that they could watch the two women walk away. The kicker was the high-five they exchanged just before dipping out of view.

“I’ve lost control,” the drone operator said as he looked up.

“I can’t believe she shot them down so easily,” Denpo said.

“Battery life was low anyway,” the drone operator said. “But we know their location and can move closer before launching new drones.”

Everyone stood quietly, staring at the video monitor. Chi threw his arms up in frustration. “What are you waiting for? Find them again, and don’t get shot down this time!” he shouted before storming out of the hut with Denpo on his heels. “Gather the men. I want to hunt that bitch down myself.”

43

Ryan and Diego rode their ATVs into the jungle strategically; assuming Abby had been moving downhill, west of Chiang Rai, they cut across the lowlands first and then headed into the jungle. They rode all night, maneuvering around jutting rocks and climbing exposed tree roots. They crossed creeks and navigated shallow pools of muddy water. So far, they hadn’t encountered areas that hindered the usage of ATVs and were able to ride through the night.

Ryan brought his quad bike to a stop, and Diego pulled over beside him. “What’s up?” he asked.

“I just want to check our location. The sun will be coming up soon.” He pulled out a handheld GPS device. The screen lit up and showed them where they were. “She should be somewhere around here.” Ryan pointed to a spot on the screen.

“Important keyword there…should.”

“Tell me you’re not giving up so easy.”

“No, but I’ve been thinking. You mentioned you handed her over to Chi, right?”

“Yeah, and?”

“Well, what makes you think she’ll trust you now? In her eyes, you’re the enemy. I mean, I know she’s your mother, but I’m just saying her background would tell her to treat you as an enemy combatant until proven otherwise.”

“I realize that, but I’m hoping I can convince her quickly that I’m here to save her.”

“So, no plan.” Diego looked up at the canopy. “It’s starting to lighten up. I’d like to get a drone in the sky, just to get the lay of the land.”

Diego readied the drone for flight. A few moments later, it hovered beside them, propellers barely audible. “Wow, this is an improvement. Normally, you can hear these things flying above you.” Diego slipped on the first-person-view goggles that would allow him to see what the drone saw.

Ryan had a handheld video monitor that could tap into the same video feed supplied to Diego. “My video’s working.”

The drone zipped straight up, punching through a hole in the trees, giving them a 360 view of the lush green jungle.

“Looks amazing,” Diego said as he maneuvered the drone around. “Miles of rainforest. The tree coverage is dense, though. Flying from this height won’t help much. We might need to fly closer to the ground. What’s the battery life on this?”

“Four hours max.”

“So, two hours out, then we need to come back or lose the drone.”

“Pretty much.”

Diego maneuvered the drone back down and landed it next to him before slipping off the goggles. “Check your tracking device, see if he’s moved.”

Since leaving his stash house, Ryan had repeatedly monitored Chi’s location. Each check showed Chi stationary at the village he used as a command center. Ryan slipped his cell phone into the sat sleeve and linked to the internet. “Shit! He’s on the move!” he said, nearly dropping his phone. “It looks like he’s heading toward our direction.”

“You think he’s got a lock on your mother?” Diego asked.

“Must be if he’s heading this way. That also means we’re on the right track. We just need to catch up with her, which shouldn’t be a problem with the ATVs.”

One look at Diego’s face made Ryan realize what he was thinking.

“Now is a good time to split up,” Diego said. “I’ll move ahead toward Chi. You go find your mother.”

Ryan nodded. He knew there was no convincing Diego to stick with him, not with Chi on the move.

“It doesn’t appear they’re on foot,” Diego said as he stared at the blue dot.

“He has access to ATVs. It’s the reason why I secured a couple for myself.”

Diego handed his sat phone over to Ryan and kept the cell phone with the sat sleeve. “We’ll keep in touch with the phones.”

Ryan slapped Diego on the back and then climbed aboard his quad bike. “Do what you need to do, then head to the extraction point.”

There were pros and cons of sticking together versus splitting up. If they stuck together, either side would have a chance to ambush the others. Chi would have better odds, depending on how many men he’d ordered to look for Abby. Ryan and Diego could easily be outnumbered by Chi’s men. If they split up, the odds favored Ryan and Diego, but only insofar as an ambush would result in one of their deaths instead of two.

Ryan figured the real reason Diego wanted to split up was to go after Chi. The guy had a hard-on for Chi. Ryan never asked for details about what had happened when interrogating Chi, but it must have been bad. Ryan figured it was fine to let Diego run interference. If he could keep Chi and his men busy, Ryan could focus on finding and securing Abby without the trouble of fighting off Chi’s men.

What Diego said earlier about Ryan being an enemy combatant weighed on him heavily. In hindsight, he knew he had made a bad decision, but was there a better alternative? Ryan had gone over that scenario a billion times. What could he have done differently in that short time frame? The fact of the matter was he’d had no other choice. He’d had to save Abby’s life—both of their lives. And the only way to do that was to delay death so he could come up with a plan.

The day Ryan gave Abby the okay to visit was a day he wished had never taken place. Had he never invited Abby in the first place, she’d be okay. He’d be okay. And Chi and his men would be meeting the fate they deserved.

The guilt bubbled up as the realization of what he had done hit him harder than ever before: He had turned his mother over to a criminal organization. The woman who had fed him, clothed him, educated him, and put a roof over his head. Was this how he repaid her for her generosity and love?

To make matters worse, she was an FBI agent, a Special Agent in Charge who could be used as a bargaining tool or executed because of who she was. Chi was aware of her profession but didn’t seem to realize how powerful she was. He most likely viewed her as another Abang. But more importantly, Ryan was positive that Chi or Denpo had no idea she was his mother. If they did, he’d be dead already.

While they never said it out loud, Ryan knew there was a chance that Abby could be dead. He could confirm that she was alive only when she escaped Chi’s men. At first, Ryan had been thrilled that she had managed to free herself. He’d thought he’d find her straight away, but sadly, that hadn’t been the case. Ryan couldn’t risk getting caught in the jungle. Chi would automatically suspect Ryan had played a part. Ryan had no choice but to abandon his search temporarily while he devised another plan.

Ryan had begun to doubt his abilities, experience, and decision-making like never before. It was the reason he’d called Diego for help. Diego was a seasoned officer and had been through hell and back. He had the expertise and knowledge that Ryan lacked. Last, he had a history with Chi. Diego was everything Ryan needed, and he didn’t need to jump through hoops to convince him to come on board.

Three days had passed. Was Abby still on the run? Could she be injured and dying a slow death? Had she already been captured, and Chi had kept this information from Ryan? Unlikely, but still a tiny possibility. The worst-case scenario would always be death. Her body never to be found, swallowed by the jungle for eternity.

With so many variables at play, his head became a murky mess that had him struggling to remain positive and focused. Diego gave no indication of what he thought the success rate might be on this mission, or even if it was doable. He remained positive and committed.

Focus, Ryan. You’re on her trail. Secure the package and get to the extraction point. That’s all that matters right now.

Ryan gunned the quad bike, trying his best to maneuver faster. He wasn’t sure how long the buzzing sound had blended into the chatter of the jungle, but at one point, it stuck out. Ryan brought the bike to a stop and listened. Definitely buzzing. He knew it wasn’t Diego checking in on him, as the drones he had didn’t buzz like that.

He craned his neck as he searched the treetops, the buzzing growing louder each second until a drone zipped right by his face, causing him to jerk his head back. The drone circled back and hovered a few feet away. It wasn’t his, which meant this one belonged to Chi.

Looks like the cat is out of the bag.

Ryan pulled out a handgun and fired, just missing the drone as it sped upward and disappeared.

44

I was in the zone, following in Sua’s footsteps as she navigated the unforgiving terrain like it was second nature. Ever since I’d taken her advice and stepped where she stepped, I hadn’t tripped, slipped, or stumbled. We had found our rhythm. Step. Step. Step. Step.

A sharp crack in the distance snapped me to attention. I froze, tilting my head slightly to the side.

Sua glanced back at me, slowing to a stop. “What is it?”

“Shhh.” I raised a finger as I concentrated, my brow furrowing. She stayed frozen, her eyes fixed on me. I listened carefully, filtering out the trilling birds and the hum of insects. That sound was all too familiar. “I thought I heard a gunshot. Did you hear it?”

She shook her head. “Are you sure it wasn’t a branch breaking or⁠—”

“I know a gunshot when I hear it.”

Sua inched closer to me, her eyeline tracing the same path as mine. “Are they close?”

“Possibly, but I don’t think they know exactly where we are. We’ll need to be extra careful.”

There was a slight chance I’d imagined that gunshot, or maybe Sua was right—I had mistaken something else for it. I couldn’t be entirely sure, but I’d heard enough gunshots in my lifetime to know what they sounded like.

With my head constantly swiveling, I fell out of step with Sua, stumbling occasionally and cursing quietly under my breath. A small price to pay. The last thing I wanted was another drone spotting us. Shooting the last one down had been a stroke of luck, and I doubted the operator would let it happen again. Still, I kept my rifle ready just in case.

We stopped abruptly, this time on Sua’s lead. I nearly ran into her. “What is it?” I asked, catching myself. “You hear something?”

“Get down,” she whispered, crouching. I followed, peering over her shoulder. It took a moment, but then I spotted him—an armed man, moving carefully, methodically, about fifty yards ahead. Sua pointed farther, and I picked out two more. They were spread out in a horizontal line, each separated by about twenty-five feet as they walked. If we’d kept moving, we would’ve run right into them.

“They’re heading toward the lowlands,” Sua said. I wasn’t surprised. I figured they assumed we’d want out of the jungle. But there were many ways to exit. If we let them pass and stuck to our current path, they’d never know we were even here.

We waited, watching as they moved far enough ahead for us to safely slip behind them without being detected.

“That was close,” Sua said, watching them disappear beyond the trees. “Do you want to keep moving? Abby?”

I didn’t answer her, as I was occupied with the drone that had sneaked up on us. It was ten feet away, hovering about three feet off the ground with barely audible propellers. It appeared Chi had upgraded to higher-end machinery. I could shoot it down, but that patrol was still close enough to hear a gunshot.

Sua’s breath warmed the left side of my cheek, signaling she had turned and was now staring at the drone. “What do we do?” she whispered into my ear.

Good question.

Ryan couldn’t believe he’d found her. He had been splitting his time between riding the quad and searching with the drone. On a hunch, he decided to follow a creek from above, thinking that if Abby had stumbled across it, she’d follow the water downhill.

He almost missed them with the drone—Abby and another person crouched behind a tree, hiding or watching. It didn’t matter. Ryan lowered the drone and crept closer, stopping only when Abby turned around. A tidal wave of relief washed over him at the sight of her. She was alive and didn’t appear injured. But the look of distrust on her face made it clear she wasn’t happy to see the drone.

Crouched behind her was a teen girl, who Ryan assumed was from one of the hill tribes—likely one that had been attacked by Chi’s men. He figured she had escaped and run into Abby. Knowing his mother hadn’t been alone the entire time eased some of the guilt he’d been carrying. But not much—he suspected Abby was this far down the mountain because the girl had been navigating the jungle. Ryan wasn’t sure how they were communicating, but it didn’t matter. It also didn’t get past him that she had a rifle clutched in her hand. Of course she would. She was Abby Kane.

Ryan now knew Abby’s exact location; she wasn’t far away. But that also meant Chi and his men were likely closing in. It was right then that he wished he had the tracking device. Trust Diego. He has vengeance driving him.

Ryan navigated the drone back to his location as fast as possible. He wanted to quickly zero in on Abby’s location, fearing the two could take a sharp turn and veer in another direction. From what he gathered, they were hiking in a southwest trajectory. The quad bike would get him there much quicker than traveling on foot, but stealth was an advantage he couldn’t pass up. He had to assume he’d made Chi’s list of people to kill—ditching the bike was a no-brainer. Plus, there was still the issue of Ryan being enemy number one for Abby.

Sua and I watched the drone rise, disappearing past the treetops. I had to assume Chi knew our location, but what puzzled me was why he didn’t have a drone shadow us from above like a helicopter tailing a suspect on foot. It was nearly impossible to escape the eye in the sky, and it could easily relay our position to his men on the ground. Plus, shooting it down—while possible—would be hard at that height; it was tiny and darted around like a hummingbird.

“Are we safe now?” Sua asked, still crouched beside me, her hand resting on my back.

“Yes,” I lied. “We should keep moving. The sooner we’re out of the jungle, the better.”

I had no plan once we achieved that. I had no contact meeting us. No backup waiting. Nothing. If anything, we would be out in the open, easy targets, but we’d have reception. I had to believe I’d figure a way forward when we arrived. If I didn’t, all this would be for naught.

45

As Diego closed in on Chi, he ditched his quad bike for quieter, more fluid movement through the green tangle of the jungle. He continuously checked his sat phone to ensure Chi was still moving in the same direction, even risking running the battery dangerously low.

He still had nightmares about that fateful afternoon when he’d found his good friend and colleague dead by the kitchen table. His eyes had been vacant, cold—staring right through Diego. His head bashed in, his throat slit, with his lifeblood pooling beneath him. Diego had been so shaken by the sight that he left himself vulnerable, and the attack had come seconds later. As he lay on the ground, his head throbbing from the blow, he thought for sure this was how it would end for him.

Footsteps approached, and then bare feet came into his blurred line of sight, close enough for the stench to hit his nose. The room tilted on an axis as a figure bent down, bringing a face inches from Diego’s. He never forgot the cocky grin stretched across Chi’s face as he chuckled.

Chi had intentionally left Diego alive—to tell the story of his escape. He wanted to be known as the man who’d outsmarted the CIA. But that day, Chi became the man Diego swore he would hunt down and kill, even if it cost him his own life. Diego promised himself he’d have the last laugh.

Since Diego couldn’t tell by the tracking device how many men were with Chi, he’d have to adjust his attack strategy on the fly. It didn’t matter whether Chi was surrounded by five men or twenty—Diego’s opportunity for revenge was finally within reach, and he wouldn’t waste it with poor decisions. If Diego had anything to say about it, today would be the day Chi drew his last breath.

Diego positioned himself in a patch of dense undergrowth, blending seamlessly into the surroundings. Only an animal with a sharp sense of smell would know he was there, lying in wait, ready to ambush his prey.

He used the scope of his assault rifle to scan the jungle, searching for any sign of movement. Would Chi and his men move stealthily, or would they crash through the jungle as if they owned it? At the rate they were moving, they were likely on ATVs, just as Ryan had suggested.

Minutes passed as Diego waited, occasionally checking the sat phone to ensure Chi’s course hadn’t changed. It hadn’t. Diego shifted his weight from one butt cheek to the other, his eyes never leaving the scope. He was ready to wait as long as it took.

He heard it first—the familiar revving of a quad bike engine. The sound tickled Diego’s ear, alerting him to their approach. He scanned the landscape through his scope, searching for movement. The engine noise grew louder, and seconds later, the first bike came into view, stopping at a large, exposed tree root. The rider revved the engine, making the bike hop over it, then paused to scan the area ahead. His eyes passed right over Diego’s hiding spot. He was clearly assigned to point.

The others were still a way back, moving slower, their engines faint. Diego centered the crosshairs on the man’s face and watched him light his cigarette. It would be so easy to put two bullets through his forehead. Diego’s rifle had a silencer, but even the muted shot might be heard by the others.

A sudden whizzing sound caught Diego’s attention. A drone zipped by, continuing ahead. He smirked. Even the point man had someone on point.

The drone made Diego’s job harder, even though he could hear it a mile away. If he was spotted, it would lock onto him like a bloodhound on probation—relentless and determined. Just as he weighed his options, a second drone flew by, making things worse.

Diego reconsidered his plan of silently taking the men out one by one. Screw it! He put two bullets into the point man’s head and moved forward with the attack. He still had the advantage of surprise. Even if they heard the shot, they had no idea who fired, how many were attacking, or from where.

Crouched near a tree, Diego peered through his scope. The hum of quad engines had faded—they were off. Chi was on foot now. The buzzing of drones signaled their return, and Diego quickly spotted them. He moved to the other side of the tree to stay hidden. The drones hovered over the dead point man briefly before splitting off in opposite directions.

One of the drones flew past Diego, and he quickly locked his crosshairs onto it and fired. The drone’s engine seized, and it crashed to the ground. Drones couldn’t hear, so the second one had no idea. It kept flying in the opposite direction, still searching for whoever had taken out the point man.

Diego advanced in short, measured bursts, careful not to expose his position, until he spotted an armed man moving cautiously, his eyes sweeping the area. No one else seemed to be nearby. They must have spread out. The man unknowingly angled toward Diego’s location. Perfect. Diego struck fast, slitting the untrained man’s throat before dragging his body into the underbrush.

He checked Chi’s location on the tracker again. Chi was close. Adrenaline surged through Diego’s veins. He was nearing his goal—the man who had taken his friend. Staying low, Diego advanced, only to hear voices up ahead. He dropped into a crouch and peered through his scope. Two men were talking in the distance, but neither was Chi. They exchanged a few words before both turned to face a tree. That’s when Diego saw movement—a hand, barely visible, shifting behind the tree. A third man was there.

Was that Chi?

Diego looked through the scope of his rifle for a closer view. All he could see were two hands and part of a forearm moving. The man’s face was entirely obscured by the tree. The other two men were listening intently. That had to be Chi talking to his men.

Diego fired twice, the shots precise. One man crumpled instantly, while the other fell, clutching his stomach as he hit the ground. Diego unleashed a volley without hesitation toward the man behind the tree, hoping to land a hit. The target had slipped out of view. For a moment, Diego listened intently—silence. Where was the other drone? Where was the operator? Was he positioned elsewhere, perhaps farther back? With no sign of additional threats, Diego advanced quickly.

One man lay lifeless, the other crawling in a futile attempt to escape. Diego ended it with a clean shot to the back of his head. The jungle fell eerily quiet once again.

Two legs stuck out from behind the tree, and the body slumped against the trunk. Labored breathing filled the air. Diego adjusted his grip on the rifle, moving carefully as he approached. The man’s head hung low, his shirt dark with blood from a bullet wound in his side. An assault rifle lay next to him. Diego kicked it away.

“Look at me, Chi.”

Slowly, the man lifted his head, blood smeared across his mouth as he coughed, struggling to breathe. His lips twisted into a weak smile with blood-streaked teeth visible in the dim light. Diego’s heart raced, but when their eyes met, a cold realization hit—it wasn’t Chi.

The high Diego had felt moments before crashed. Anger bubbled up, hot and immediate.

“Where is he?” Diego snarled, his voice low and dangerous. He resisted the urge to pull the trigger, to end this man’s life right there. His finger twitched on the trigger as he leaned closer, his fury barely contained.

The man coughed again, choking on blood, but that twisted smile never left his face. Diego had no patience for riddles. Today was supposed to be the day he killed Chi, the man who had taken his best friend. But now, all he had was this dying lackey mocking him with his silence.

The man’s breaths grew weak and ragged, each one a struggle. He didn’t have long. Diego knew if he wanted information, it was now or never. Dropping to one knee, Diego leaned in close, his voice low and sharp.

“Tell me where he is, and I’ll end it quick. No pain.”

The man’s blood-slicked lips twitched, his tongue thick with blood. For a moment, Diego thought he might actually speak, but then the man rasped out, “Fuck you.”

Diego didn’t hesitate. One shot. Done.

Diego checked the tracking app. The signal still showed Chi nearby. In fact, Diego was practically standing on him. He frowned, scanning the ground. Something didn’t add up. He glanced down at the man’s shoes. A chill ran through him as it clicked.

“He switched shoes,” Diego muttered. “That son of a bitch.”

46

Chi had deliberately used his men as decoys, allowing him and Denpo to search for Abby without interference. It had been Denpo, with his deep-rooted suspicion of everyone—especially Ryan—who discovered the tracking device hidden in the shoes Ryan had gifted to Chi. If not for Denpo’s relentless distrust, they might’ve gone on without ever knowing.

Chi had always brushed off Denpo’s dislike for Ryan, chalking it up to jealousy. Denpo seemed to view Ryan as a rival for Chi’s attention, a competition Chi found amusing. Competition, after all, kept his men sharp. It kept them hungry.

Even though Chi kept his guard up around Ryan, he never suspected the man would go so far as to track his whereabouts. Chi realized they’d completely lost Ryan at that point.

Denpo, of course, wanted to kill Ryan right away, but Chi had put that thought to bed. It was more advantageous to play along and continue letting Ryan think he was tracking Chi’s movements. It was how he would end up capturing them both and torturing them to death.

“I bet that bitch was working with Abang the entire time,” Denpo ranted as he walked alongside Chi. “Abang had to have been feeding her information. That bastard was playing both sides.”

“That bastard is dead.”

“And soon Ryan and this FBI lady will join him. I still can’t believe it.”

“Look, Denpo, that’s how these things work. In the beginning, Abang helped us a lot, until it stopped. Same with Ryan: it was helpful until it wasn’t. When people no longer provide the service we need, we get rid of them, like we’re doing right now.”

Chi had ordered some of his men to head toward Ryan’s location while he and Denpo went their own way. Based on Agent Kane’s location and the direction she appeared to be traveling, Denpo suggested they drive to a location near the lowlands and then hike up to ambush her and, if they were lucky, Ryan.

Chi and Denpo sped down the hill in their SUV, the tires kicking up dirt and gravel as they navigated the winding road. They knew the route would allow them to hike up from the lowlands and, if their timing was right, intercept the two women. In the lowlands, they cut across a rice paddy, the narrow dikes slick with mud. The edges of the rainforest loomed in the distance.

“Turn up here,” Chi instructed, his eyes fixed on the map displaying the woman’s last known location. “Drive in; make sure the car is hidden.” He had a patrol positioned south of their targets, already instructed to stay put until further orders. He wanted them there to flank the two in case they detoured off their path.

Denpo glanced over as he exited the vehicle. “Just so I’m clear, we’re only keeping the FBI agent, right? The girl…” He trailed off, knowing Chi had a habit of changing his plans without sharing them.

“You can take her as a plaything,” Chi answered. “But the agent, I want her alive. I want her and that bastard, Ryan.”

47

Ryan rode the ATV right up to where he’d last seen Abby and the girl and walked over to where he’d found them crouching. He studied the area carefully, combing the ground, even the trunk of the tree, but nothing stood out as a sign or clue as to where they were heading. They certainly weren’t camping there. Most likely, they were hiding from a threat until the coast was clear. He crouched like they had and looked ahead, studying the terrain for a way forward, hoping something would jump out to him in an obvious direction. Which way did you go?

He assumed Abby and the girl were hiding from Chi’s men. They could still be in the area and have multiple patrols. Chi had the manpower to throw at this search, but Ryan wasn’t thrilled about getting into a gunfight with them. He’d be outnumbered and outgunned. Ditching the quad bike and moving quietly through the jungle was better.

Ryan shoved the gear and resources he needed into a backpack before slipping it over his shoulders. He grabbed his rifle and set out, keeping a quick pace.

As he walked, his mind raced for the right words to de-escalate what he thought would be a volatile situation. Walking up to her and saying, “Hey, Abby, funny thing…” That wouldn’t cut it, and it might even get him shot.

What could he possibly open with that would stop her from shooting him on sight?

He had to consider the worst: that she believed him to be a double agent working for Sam Gor. Were he in her shoes, he’d come to the same conclusion. Ideally, getting the jump on her and disarming her first would be the best case.

He hoped he wouldn’t find himself in a situation where he would have no choice but to shoot her.

I can’t shoot her. Impossible.

So, you’ll let her shoot you, then?

No, I’ll talk quickly and hope for the best.

Good luck.

Since we last encountered that patrol, we hadn’t had other run-ins with Chi’s men. We’d made sure that we continued past them and maintained that direction. Unless they looped back, there was a tiny chance they could bump into us, but it was highly unlikely. As for the drones, so far, we remained under the radar.

Sua told me we were near the lowlands. I didn’t doubt her; the steepness of the terrain had lessened, and the patchiness of the canopy overhead had increased. That worried me because the drones were still hunting us.

We stopped for a quick rest; Sua needed a few minutes to catch her breath. She plopped onto the ground and leaned back, supporting herself with her hands firmly planted on the ground.

I decided this was the perfect time to check for a signal, figuring if we were close to the lowlands, we were close to a cell tower. I pulled my phone out and powered it up. I expected to see no bars, so when a single bar appeared, it triggered a fist pump. “Yes!”

“What is it?” Sua said as she jerked away from me.

“I have one bar.”

A confused look appeared on her face.

“I have reception,” I clarified. “It’s weak, but I have it. Look.” I turned my phone around so she could see my screen.

She sucked in a quick breath. “Give me my phone. I want to check it.”

I handed her phone to her and waited patiently. A few moments later, she began celebrating. “One bar! One bar!”

Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be this thrilled about having a barely functional phone. The first thing I did was try and call Kang, but the call wouldn’t go through. The signal just wasn’t strong enough. I tried using Sua’s phone and got the same result. I also looked at Google Maps, but the signal wasn’t strong enough to power the map; it still showed us a large gray area.

That said, seeing that signal bar had given us both an injection of energy we needed to keep powering on and a bounty of hope that this nightmare would soon be over.

Sua had to use the bathroom and went behind a tree. I found a tiny spot where the warm sun from above shone through a hole in the canopy. I stepped into it, my eyes closed and head tilted slightly back as I allowed the sun to warm my skin. It felt wonderful, probably highlighted by the fact that we were practically steps away from the lowlands. I drew a deep breath filled with a mixture of earthiness and citrus, which was surprising. Maybe there were nearby fruit trees, which would be welcome. I heard Sua’s footsteps as she approached.

“Stand next to me. The sun feels wonderful,” I said.

Just then, my rifle was snatched out of my hand. I opened my eyes and spun around to find my son staring at me, his rifle pointed at my face. I should have known that the citrus smell was a Trojan horse.

“Abby, I know what you’re thinking. I promise I can explain everything, but you must trust me right now so we can get out of here safely. You’re in serious danger, more now than ever.”

I couldn’t believe he was talking to me like this, as if he hadn’t dragged me into this nightmare in the first place—and with an assault rifle aimed right at me. Anger bubbled up, my fists balling tight. My life had been in danger more times than I could count over the past few days, and it was all because of him. I hadn’t known how I’d react if I saw Ryan again. Would the mother in me crumble, break down, and throw myself into his arms? Or would FBI Abby take over and beat the living hell out of him? I might not have brought him into this world, but I’d have no problem taking him out of it.

“I can see the anger in your eyes, and I don’t blame you one bit. You can kill me later, Abby. But let me save you first. I’m going to lower my gun. Promise me you won’t attack.”

I said nothing, my eyes still drawn to him as I watched him slowly, cautiously lowering his rifle. He had laid my rifle on the ground near his feet, too far away for me to safely retrieve it.

A rustle grabbed his attention, prompting him to raise his rifle and turn in that direction, but he wasn’t fast enough. The bullet tore through Ryan’s left shoulder, causing him to drop his rifle. I shot forward, swinging and connecting with the side of his face. Ryan stumbled backward from the blow and fell to the ground. Sua came running up to him, gun aimed, ready to shoot him once more.

“No!” I said as I deflected the barrel up, causing her shot to miss.

“He’s a bad man. He’s one of them,” Sua said, confused as to why I’d stopped her.

She tried shooting him once more, and this time, I disarmed her. “We can’t kill him.”

“Why not?”

“He’s my son.”

“I don’t understand,” Sua said, searching my eyes for an answer. I turned my attention back to Ryan. He lay partially on his side, holding himself up with one arm. He was breathing quickly, his chest rising and falling rapidly. The gunshot wound didn’t look life threatening, not if the bleeding could be stopped.

“I can’t believe you shot me,” he said.

“I didn’t shoot you, she did. And you’re lucky she’s a bad shot.”

“Bad shot?” He glanced down at the bloody patch of shirt covering his shoulder. “Could have fooled me.”

“I was aiming for your head.” Sua spat the words out at him. “And I wouldn’t have missed the second time.”

Ryan’s gun was near his feet. “Move away from the rifle.”

“I can’t. My shoulder.”

I handed the rifle back to Sua. “You may not think I will shoot you, but believe me, she will.”

Sua grinned as she peered through the sights on the rifle. Ryan grunted as he moved back. When he was far enough away, I collected both rifles from the ground.

“What’s in the backpack?”

“Supplies.”

“Any weapons besides the knife on your hip?”

“There’s a handgun and ammo in the bag.”

“What else?”

“A sat phone, some food and water, first aid kit, handheld GPS…”

“The phone work?”

“Yes, and if you want to call Uncle Kyle, I suggest you do that right now. Abby, we are in deep shit—more me than you, considering I’m slowly bleeding out—but you will not escape these men without a plan out of here.”

“And you’re the one with this special plan?” I laughed mockingly at him. “Figures.”

“I know you’re pissed; I know you don’t trust me, but I had no choice. I had to buy time, or else you would have been executed that morning, along with me. I am one hundred percent sure of that. Chi Long had ordered a hit on you. I had minutes to save you before a hit squad gunned you down in your hotel room.”

“What’s he talking about?” Sua asked. “Is he lying? I’ll shoot you if you’re lying.”

“I’m not lying, Abby. I’m here, aren’t I? I came looking for you.”

“You came to kill us!” Sua said.

“I saw you up in the mountains with Chi when I was being held captive in a small hut. You two looked very friendly.”

“Abby, I need to look friendly to do my job. To Chi, I was a double agent, but to my superiors, I was a triple agent. I was never working for Chi.”

“Prove it.”

“I will, once we’re out of here. I’ll explain everything in a full debrief, but I’m still a field officer; there’s only so much I can tell you.”

“Convenient, isn’t it? And while you were palling around with a member of an international criminal organization, your mother was tied up wondering if the guard would rape her. Was that part of your plan?”

“I’m so sorry. I know nothing I can say now will minimize what you’ve gone through, and I hope I can make it up to you in more ways than one. I’m not sure if my explanation will be enough, but Abby, I only did what I did because I knew you were tough enough to handle this. You’re quick-thinking, resourceful, and have been to hell and back. If anyone could survive this situation, it’s you. A trained FBI agent, one of the best in the bureau.”

“Stop! Don’t you dare insult me by trying to handle me like I’m one of your assets. You can take your bullshit asset management training and shove it up your ass. My training or experience isn’t why I’m not dead right now. I’m not dead because I was lucky enough to run into Sua. This girl saved my ass out here.”

Ryan held a hand up. “Fair enough. I deserve every bit of hate you have right now. I’m sorry if it feels like I’m handling you. That’s not my intention. But time is not on our side, especially mine. Abby, Diego is also here. You remember him, right? The CIA officer who was with Archer the night of your operation. He’s here to help me extract you.”

I looked around. “Really? Seems like he’s a little shy.”

“He went after Chi while I went to find you. I found you with a drone. You and Sua were crouching near a tree. It looked like you were hiding. Do you remember that drone? You looked right at it. That’s how I knew your location. Look, I know that still doesn’t prove what I’m saying is true… Use the sat phone. Call Diego. Go on. Search for SAT 2 using the same numbers.”

Ryan winced as he slipped his backpack off and threw it over to me. I looked inside and took the sat phone out. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.” I also fished out a handheld GPS device as I waited for the call to connect.

“Ask Diego why he’s here. If I were a double agent, there’s no way I could have roped him in. Chi killed his partner. That guy wants revenge.”

“Kyle, it’s Abby… No, I’m not okay. I’m holding my son at gunpoint, and I need your help.”

48

Abby’s phone call had woken Kyle out of a deep sleep. He glanced over at the clock. It was a little after one in the morning, one of the few days he hit the sack early.

“Kyle, it’s Abby.”

“Abby… Is everything okay with you?”

“No, I’m not okay. I’m holding my son at gunpoint, and I need your help.”

“Whoa! Slow down, Abby. Did you just say you’re holding Ryan at gunpoint?”

“I did. Look, it’s a long story.”

“Bullet-point it for me.”

“Ryan abducted me and turned me over to Sam Gor. I escaped into the jungle, where I’ve been for the past three days. A young woman from one of the villages has been helping me navigate the jungle. She shot Ryan while he held me at gunpoint. There are members of Sam Gor who are still searching for me. Their intent is to kill me.”

Kyle switched on the lamp on his bedside table. “Abby, are you able to talk candidly?”

“I’d rather not.”

“Okay, are you injured?”

“No.”

“How bad is Ryan injured. Life threatening?”

“No.”

“Stupid question, but are you positive he’s been compromised?”

“Before, yes. Now, I’m not one hundred percent.”

“Is he working with others besides Sam Gor?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Are you able to get to the consulate in Chiang Rai?”

“No. But trust is an issue.”

“So you believe others working there could be compromised?”

“Yes.”

“What about the US embassy in Bangkok?”

“I think that’s a safer bet.”

“Can you keep yourself alive and safe?”

“I can, but I’m not sure how much longer it will last. Kyle, I need an extraction from a trusted source now!”

“Do you know your current location?”

“20°01′39.9″N and 99°07′23.2″E.”

“Got it. This is still in the jungle?”

“Yes, but I think we’re close to exiting.”

“And we’re looking at three individuals, you, the girl, and Ryan?”

“Um, just the first two.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll work with our attaché at the US embassy to organize an extraction ASAP. Are you in control of the phone you’re calling from?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, keep it near you and keep me updated on your location. In the meantime, stay out of sight and alive. Continue being the Abby Kane I know you to be.”

“I’ll do my best,” Abby said, her voice cracking.

“I promise I will get you out alive. Believe me when I say this. I will make sure the bureau moves mountains to rescue you.”

“I know you will.”

The line went dead, and Kang went to work.

49

As much as I wanted to tear his head off, I couldn’t let my son bleed out in front of me. Sua aimed the gun at Ryan’s head while I patched him up. Lucky for him, the bullet went in and out, just missing his shoulder joint by a few centimeters. His first aid kit was military grade. I grabbed clotting gauze and stuffed it into the wound to stop the bleeding. Then, I wrapped his shoulder tight with a pressure bandage before putting his arm in a sling to keep it from moving too much.

“Feel better?” I asked.

“Yes. Thank you, I—ARRGGHHH!” He screamed as I gave his bandaged wound a not-so-gentle slap.

“Great,” I said, giving him a stern look. Just because I’d patched him up didn’t mean I wasn’t still pissed.

I moved away from Ryan and retrieved my weapon. “Sua, you can stop pointing that rifle at his head.”

“Are you sure? I don’t like his eyes. He’s planning something.”

Ryan balked. “I’m not planning anything. I swear!”

Sua gave Ryan a halfhearted shrug, eyes rolling upward. “Are you sure you’re her son? You don’t look tough.”

“For someone who’s fresh out of the village, you sure act like a know-it-all.”

Sua growled at him.

“Ryan, I’d be careful about what you say to her. She’s very protective over me.”

Sua smirked at Ryan, like she had just won a major argument. I couldn’t help but giggle a little.

“You two are really enjoying this, aren’t you? I get it. And you know what, I’m fine. I deserve it. I won’t argue with that. Go ahead and use me as your punching bag. If that makes you feel better, punch away.”

While hiding from Chi’s men would be easier in the jungle, it would make an extraction harder. That was the other issue we faced. I knew Kang would do his best to cut through the red tape involved in getting authorization for a search and rescue team. As much as I wanted him to call back within the hour to let me know a team was two hours out, I wasn’t hopeful. The reality was that it might not happen until tomorrow or even the following day. Time might not be on our side, but I knew Kang was tenacious and would fight to expedite my rescue.

Since we didn’t need three rifles and Ryan’s was better, I took the one I had lifted off Chi’s man apart and scattered the pieces in the jungle.

“Sua, where the jungle meets the lowlands, what’s it like there? Is it farmland, towns… Are there many people or just sparse farmers?”

“It depends on where we are. It could be rice fields. It could be a small town filled with people. What’s better for us?”

“I’m not sure. It might be easier to hide in town, plus people will be around.” A busy coffee shop in Chiang Rai didn’t stop Sam Gor from abducting a person at gunpoint. “But farmland might be better.”

As I stood there contemplating our next move, Sua had moved closer to Ryan. She was saying something to him, but in her own language. “Sua, don’t get too close to him.”

In a blink of an eye, Ryan had grabbed hold of Sua, disarmed her, and put a knife to her throat. He positioned her in front of him—a body shield—as he backed away from me.

“Ryan, let her go. She did nothing to you.”

“I can’t do that.” He kept his head tucked behind hers as best he could, peeking out from either side to keep an eye on me. There was no guarantee I could fire without hitting her.

I took a step forward.

“Don’t move!” His voice was cold and clipped. “I will not hesitate to open her neck.”

“You think you have leverage? I just met her.”

“I know you, Abby. You already have feelings for her.”

I was about to say I knew him—that he wouldn’t hurt an innocent person—but then again, just look where I was. Could I really say I knew my son anymore?

Sua trembled in his grasp, her breaths rapid and shallow. Tears streamed from her wide brown eyes, her fear as clear as the panic on her face.

“Abby, I’m doing this for both of us. We need to establish some trust if we’re going to survive.”

“We?” I laughed. “You must have a fever, bitten by a mosquito, because you’re delusional.”

“Abby, my cover with Chi is blown. The jig is up. He’s hunting both of us. I have a contact in the lowlands where we can hide until help arrives.”

“Why should I believe you? You could be taking me straight to Chi.”

“Abby, you know what my job entails. You know exactly what I do and must do to achieve results. You would be dead if I hadn’t done what I did that morning. I promise you that.” Ryan’s voice was firm, steady. “We’re wasting time here. Chi has all his resources searching for you. There are patrols. The longer we stay, the easier it is for them to close in. Then all three of us will be dead. Is that what you want? Do you want Uncle Kyle to explain to Lucy why half her family is suddenly gone?”

That was a low blow—bringing Lucy into this. But it worked because the thought of her finding out we were dead made my stomach twist. Either Ryan was damn good at his job and I’d underestimated him, or he was telling the truth: he really was a triple agent, not a threat.

“Fine.” I threw my rifle to the ground, expecting Ryan to pull the knife away from Sua’s neck and release her. But he didn’t. There wasn’t the slightest change in his stance—he remained rigid, his dark eyes locked on me, face expressionless.

“I’m sorry, Abby.”

Behind me, I heard the distinct sound of a handgun being racked, followed by an ominous laugh.

50

“Get down on your knees,” the voice behind me ordered. The accent was familiar—like Thuta’s. One of Chi’s men, no doubt. I stared straight at Ryan. He hadn’t moved; the knife was still pressed against Sua’s neck like she posed some kind of threat to him.

I took a deep breath, struggling to rein in my anger. I couldn’t believe I’d fallen for his lies. Again.

“Down! Now!”

I raised my arms as I got down on one knee, then two. I started to look over my shoulder.

“Keep your head straight!”

“Your timing is perfect,” Ryan said. “I could use a little help. Do you know where Chi is?”

“He and Denpo are heading north from the lowlands. He ordered my patrol to spread out and search downhill.”

“Where are the other men?”

“Not far.”

“Do you have a sat phone? Give Chi our location. And keep your gun up. She’s dangerous.”

“She doesn’t look dangerous.”

“Hey, stop talking and make the call.”

There was rustling behind me—like someone rummaging through a backpack.

“Come here and watch her,” the man shouted to Ryan. “I need to find the phone.”

“Move!” Ryan growled, forcing Sua to stumble toward me. His eyes flicked to the man behind me, tracking his every movement. Without warning, Ryan shoved Sua forward. She hit the ground hard, tumbling to the side.

Before I could react, a flash of metal flew toward me. Instinct took over. I ducked, shielding my face with my arms.

Thunk!

A groan followed.

A heartbeat later, Ryan leaped over me, colliding with the man. They hit the ground with a heavy crash. I spun around just in time to see Ryan yank the knife from the man’s chest and drive it in again. Once. Twice. Then, with a savage pull, he dragged the blade across the man’s throat. He looked over his shoulder at me. “We good?”

“Yeah, we’re good.”

“Abby, get your gun. Sua, pick up a rifle too. We need to get out of here quickly.”

Sua sat on the ground, confused about what was happening. I would have been, too, if I were her. “Sua, it’s okay. He’s on our side.”

“Are you sure?”

I looked over at the dead guy. “Very sure.”

Ryan walked up to me, kissed my forehead, and hugged me briefly. “I’m so sorry.”

I backed away from him. “I’m still pissed at you. Allow me time to warm up to the idea that I can trust you again.”

“Fair enough,” Ryan said as he retrieved his backpack. When he turned back to me, I noticed the wound I had bandaged was starting to bleed again.

“Ryan, your shoulder.”

“We don’t have time. We need to go!”

I grabbed his arm, halting him. “Ryan, it’ll take a few minutes.”

I quickly changed the bandaging and stemmed the blood flow. “Try not to get into any more fights.”

Sua stayed by my side as we followed Ryan’s lead through the jungle.

“Do you know which way to go?” I asked him quietly.

“More or less,” he said without looking back at me. “I have a contact in one of the villages in the lowlands. If we can get there, we’ll be safe and have transport if needed. But if Uncle Kyle can send in an extraction team, that would be ideal.”

“Earlier, you said your cover was blown; how did you know that guy back there was out of the loop?”

“I didn’t. I took a chance. Luckily, he’s just a foot soldier. We might be able to pull that stunt again, but I’d rather not try.”

Suddenly, Ryan stopped and dropped to a crouch. Sua and I did the same. Up ahead was another one of Chi’s men. He was alone, walking at an angle away from us.

“Stay here while I deal with him,” Ryan whispered over his shoulder as he drew his knife out of the sheath. The blade was still smeared with the blood of the man he’d just killed.

I watched Ryan creep up behind the man and strike a swift, punishing blow just as he turned. It was over before the man could react. Ryan dragged the lifeless body into the nearby underbrush, his movements so fluid and practiced it seemed second nature. Sua and I caught up to him just as he wiped his blade clean on the man’s shirt and slid it back into its sheath without hesitation.

He looked and sounded like my son, but what I had just witnessed was unsettling. The cold precision with which he had executed those men—right before my eyes—was chilling. It was like watching a machine, not the boy I had raised. For a moment, I wondered if this was something the CIA had taught him or if he had learned it from another source. Perhaps Mui’s mother.

Ryan continued to lead the way, except this time, he took point, remaining thirty yards ahead of us. Even though I was still in shock at this new skill set he had acquired, for the first time since my abduction, I no longer felt the pressure to be on guard one hundred percent of the time if I wanted to live. In my eyes, Ryan had just been elevated to Kang’s level—someone who could watch my back. I appeared my son was fully capable of protecting me.

Ryan had moved ahead alone, to scout the area. He checked his handheld GPS device; they were close to the lowlands and not far from the rendezvous point. He had yet to check in with Diego since they separated, but he knew the man could handle himself.

His mission was Abby and only Abby.

He had acquired the asset. Step one.

He’d established he wasn’t the enemy. A crucial step two.

Abby might not have forgiven him entirely, but he could live with that for now. Baby steps were the way forward with her.

His focus shifted to reaching the safe house, hoping they could lie low there until an extraction team arrived. Staying anywhere near the Golden Triangle was dangerous—it was Sam Gor’s territory and rotten to the core. Too many people were on their payroll. But it was still safer than being on the road, heading south. With his cover blown, anyone would be eager to collect the bounty for turning Ryan in.

Ryan swept the jungle ahead with small binoculars, looking for threats. Seeing none, he tucked them back into his pack and signaled assemble with a quick wave overhead. He was confident Abby knew the standard hand signals and kept his eyes on the path ahead.

But after a few seconds, something felt off. There were no footsteps behind him. He hadn’t been watching them closely, trusting they’d follow, but his gut churned. He glanced over his shoulder.

Abby and Sua stood still, their hands raised above their heads. Behind them, Denpo held a gun, his eyes locked on Ryan.

Ryan whipped around, raising his rifle to aim at Denpo. But Denpo, using Abby and Sua as shields, left him no clear shot.

“Ryan,” Denpo called out. “Good to see you again.”

Where was Diego? He was supposed to intercept Chi. Had Chi and Denpo separated? Had Denpo managed to escape Diego?

“Denpo. I’m surprised you found us. I never saw you as someone capable of anything but standing in Chi’s shadow.”

Denpo laughed. “Such a funny man. I think the joke is on you. I know who this woman is.”

“You sound so sure of yourself.”

“Because we are,” said another voice Ryan recognized immediately. He looked over his shoulder, and there stood Chi armed with a rifle.

“Put that rifle down, or Denpo will put a bullet in your mother’s head.” Chi smirked, covering his mouth with mock surprise. “You didn’t think we would figure it out, did you? Your surnames are different, and I’m not even sure if Ryan is your real name, but that didn’t stop Denpo from finding out Agent Kane is your mother.”

Denpo forced Abby and Sua to walk toward Ryan so that all three could stand in a tight group. Chi and Denpo were all smiles and laughter.

“You know, I may not have had the best schooling growing up, but even I would have forbidden my mother from visiting while I was pretending to be a double agent for a large criminal organization,” Chi said. “I’ve done some dumb things in my life, but nothing as dumb as that.”

“And the funny part, he thought he had us fooled,” Denpo said. “I found that tracking device a few days after you gave Chi those shoes.”

Chi lifted his leg, wiggling his shoe. He wasn’t wearing the hiking boots Ryan had gifted him. “All this time, you thought you were tracking me.”

“If you knew so much, why didn’t you just kill me?” Ryan shot back. “If your bosses knew you had this intel and kept working with me, they’d have your head.”

“Without my ideas”—Chi beat his chest with a fist—“this organization wouldn’t be growing. They need me more than I need them. I’m the man who escaped a CIA black site. No one else can say that!”

“No one else can say a five-foot-nothing FBI agent escaped right under your nose—and kept dodging you while you had every man under your control searching for her.”

“Who’s got the guns, Ryan? I do. You both failed because I caught you. Your colleagues never caught me. I walked right out the fucking front door. Remember that when I put a bullet in your skull!”

Chi took a deep breath, his chest inflating before he released the air in a loud exhale. “The time has come. You and your mother will pay.”

“The girl,” Denpo interjected.

“I told you already. Do whatever you want with her.”

A grin suggesting evil thoughts spread across Denpo’s face, causing him to salivate, as he sucked in a bit of spittle.

“Hmm, should the mother watch the son die, or should the son watch the mother die. What’s more entertaining?” Chi asked out loud, his voice laced with cruelty.

Before he could decide, Abby suddenly placed a hand on her forehead, her body swaying before she collapsed to the ground, pulling Sua down with her.

“Abby! Are you okay?” Ryan dropped to a knee beside her with panic in his voice. “What’s wrong?” He leaned closer as if listening for a whisper. Ryan jerked back, eyes wide. “You can’t be serious…”

“What?” Chi demanded. “Tell us what she said.”

Ryan locked eyes with him, his voice cold. “She said…watching you die would be more entertaining.”

The crack of gunshots exploded through the air, and Ryan fell on top of Abby and Sua. Denpo jerked as a bullet tore through the back of his skull, his body collapsing with a heavy thud. Blood sprayed as more rounds pummeled Chi. He spun, trying to return fire, but each shot found him—torso, arms, legs. He dropped to his knees, struggling to draw breath.

Diego emerged from the shadows, his M4 assault rifle aimed steadily at Chi. He fired again, shattering Chi’s hand and sending the gun falling to the ground. Diego lunged forward, boot slamming into Chi’s chest, knocking him flat.

He tossed the rifle aside and drew a knife, eyes burning with rage. “Remember me?”

As Diego crouched over him, knife gleaming in the dim light, a flicker of realization crossed Chi’s mind. The very man he had spared—his trophy, left to spread tales of his greatness—was now here to deliver the final blow.

“You should have killed me when you had the chance,” Diego hissed, his voice dripping with vengeance.

Chi’s last moments were spent staring up at the man who would end him, his pride now the very thing that sealed his fate.

51

I pulled Sua off the ground, quickly moving her away from Diego. She didn’t need to see what was happening to Chi. The screams alone were chilling enough to paint a brutal picture.

“Who are you?” Sua asked, her brown eyes trembling with fear. “Who are these men?”

“It’s a long story, but none of us are here to hurt you. Remember our deal?”

She nodded her head. “Trust.”

“That’s right.”

A few moments later, Ryan and Diego caught up to us. Diego still seemed on edge, and I didn’t blame him. He’d just released months of pent-up vengeance in a matter of minutes.

“Of all the jungles in all the mountains in the world, you walk into mine,” I said, smiling at Diego.

“Someone had to save your asses.”

“Well, they’re not quite saved yet,” Ryan said. “We need to get to our rendezvous point. So, if you two are finished saying hello, we need to get going.”

Within forty minutes, the jungle began to thin, the ground leveled out, and I could breathe easier for the first time on this journey. Ryan led us east along the jungle’s edge, and I spotted signs of a small village in the distance. But I knew he was leading us to the safe house he’d prepared. Soon, we reached a large rice paddy, and Ryan came to a stop.

“There.” He pointed in the distance, and my eyes followed him until I saw a small structure. “That’s where we need to go.”

“Are you sure? It looks like a shack.”

“It is.” Ryan double-checked his GPS. “This is it.”

“Well, does it look familiar?”

“As familiar as it can from this distance.”

A bullet flew over our heads, followed by more gunshots. A patrol of Chi’s men had come upon us.

“Run!” Ryan shouted.

All four of us bolted from the jungle into the rice paddy, slogging through knee-deep water and over a muddy bottom. Running was nearly impossible without slipping or falling. Diego returned fire, shouting for the rest of us to keep moving.

“Get up, Sua!” I yanked her to her feet after she face-planted. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw ten men closing in, their guns spitting an endless supply of bullets. “Run and keep your head down!”

Bullets whizzed past, kicking up the water around us. We were exposed out in the open, and I kept bracing for one to hit me.

Ryan was on his phone. “Harrington, we’re coming in hot! North of your location. A little help here!”

A few moments later, return fire erupted from the shack. The difference was that these were sniper bullets, and they found their marks precisely. One by one, our pursuers dropped, the muzzle flashes lighting up the shack’s window. About three-quarters of the way across the field, the last man fell. By then, I was winded, struggling to stay on my feet. We all were. Who would’ve thought a dash through a rice field could be so torturous?

We slogged through the remaining stretch of water, and two men met us at the shack. Inside, I guided Sua to a sofa, where we collapsed, chests heaving, mouths wide open, desperate for air.

I had no idea who these men were, but thank God they were snipers. Without them, I doubted we’d have crossed the field in one piece. Diego sat on a chair, hunched over, resting his forearms on his thighs, still trying to catch his breath. Ryan seemed barely affected as he spoke with the men.

“Everybody, I’d like you to meet Harrington and Maz, our support until we get the hell out of here.”

As soon as I caught my breath, I called Kang to give him the heads-up. Our group had grown. Six people now needed extraction: four field officers, an FBI agent, and a civilian. He groaned, like getting even a couple of people out was hard enough.

“So, Ryan’s back in?”

“He is. It’s been worked out.”

“Glad to hear that.”

Even though I had just made Kang’s job that much harder, the alternative was even worse: our group contained four highly valued field agents. The chaos four American spies conducting an unauthorized military operation in Thailand could cause was motivation enough to make sure no one found out about it.

“So, the girl shot you?” Maz asked as he tended to Ryan’s wound.

“Yeah, I was lucky. I could have caught one in the head.”

“A little firecracker, that girl.”

Ryan looked back over his shoulder up at Maz. “I just want to say thanks for being here. You and Harrington saved my ass, all our asses, even though I know you were out here to make sure I wasn’t compromised.”

“We had a job. I hope you understand.”

“Totally.” Ryan winced as he jerked his shoulder away.

“Sorry,” Maz said. “But I need to make sure this wound doesn’t get infected. You got a couple of months of physical therapy coming, that’s for sure. My advice is to enjoy the time off before they send you back out.”

“Do you think they will?”

“No doubt.” Maz grinned. “Look, you did a hell of a job here. Fuck, man, infiltrating Sam Gor for as long as you did… They should promote your ass. You did the DEA’s job, and you got incredible intel that helps us.”

Before Ryan left the safe house across the river from the Le Méridien hotel, he’d left a detailed note with instructions explaining everything about his mission. He figured he and Diego were heading into the jungle, and he wasn’t so sure he’d be coming out this time. And if, by some miracle, he did, he assumed he would need help. Ryan had debated back and forth on whether to try to talk to Harrington and Maz or leave a note and a copy of the report he was getting ready to file to his direct report. If that wasn’t enough to convince them, then nothing would, and Ryan had bigger things to worry about.

“All right. You’re done,” Maz said, gently patting Ryan’s back. “Hey, I’m glad it all worked out…with your mother and all. That’s the most important thing.”

Kang called back three hours later with good news. I don’t know how he pulled it off, but he managed the impossible. A team of SEALs was en route from Bangkok, but they were still eight hours out. That meant we’d be spending the night at the shack, wondering if more attacks from Chi’s men were coming. A gunfight in the middle of the day, in a rice paddy, wasn’t something that went unnoticed. Even if the nearest neighbors were farmers, word of dead bodies and bullets flying would spread fast.

Ryan said the local police couldn’t be trusted—they were likely on Sam Gor’s payroll. Anyone could be a threat, and it was going to be a long night. We had enough ammunition between the six of us to fend off a small attack, but if an army came, especially with the local police involved, it wouldn’t end well. We took turns keeping watch, using the night vision goggles the snipers had brought with them. There wasn’t much talk—it was too early to let our guard down and chit-chat the night away. I told Sua to sleep, promising I’d wake her in the morning.

All night, I waited for the other shoe to drop for a second wave of attacks. But nothing. Surely word had gotten back to Chi’s superiors that men were missing—or worse, that their golden boy was dead. In the distance, where the snipers had dropped some of Chi’s men, we saw movement. Someone—it was uncertain who—appeared to be collecting the bodies. A cover-up, perhaps? Or maybe Sam Gor knew exactly what had happened and had decided to cut their losses rather than go to war with the United States. Surely, by now, the cat was out of the bag about who Chi had been working with.

To keep my mind occupied, I went through Sua’s phone looking for information on the previous owner. There were a bunch of contacts in the address book I thought were worth calling, and I made a mental note to do that once we got to Bangkok, when I could safely say this nightmare was over. I hoped there was something that could be worked out for her. I hated the idea of leaving her hanging with no options. She was homeless with no family… She was only a teenager. What a cruel introduction to the world we live in.

At three in the morning, two black SUVs appeared with four SEAL members, two in each vehicle.

“Someone call for an Uber?” the bearded driver asked as he exited the vehicle.

“Boy, are we glad to see you guys,” Ryan said.

The structure was secured within ten minutes, and any trace of us being there was destroyed. We piled into the vehicles and began the journey back to the US embassy in Bangkok.

Conveniently, the US Navy was conducting military drills with the Royal Thai Navy, but because CIA officers were involved in our extraction, alerting the Thai authorities was off the table. It was better to send in a small special ops team and hope for the best. If the Thai government found out about this unauthorized military action—as it could easily be argued it was—it would be seen as a violation of sovereignty and international law, and possibly as a war crime. It was better to keep our heads down and pray nothing went wrong.

52

I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. San Francisco was at its best—clear blue skies and crisp air. It felt good to be home. I was relaxing on the back porch, drinking a cup of tea. Lucy had flown up for the weekend and was helping Po Po cook a dish while creating content for her TikTok account. Outside, Kang manned the grill—we were having rib eye. Standing next to him, his arm still in a sling, was Ryan. I may not have liked the way it all came together, but I finally had my two kids under my roof again.

We’d only been back for three weeks, but what a whirlwind it had been. I’d been bogged down with interviews, reports, and countless video calls with the higher-ups at Quantico. What happened in Thailand was no small matter. They wanted every detail, combing what I said carefully and repeatedly to ensure my story remained consistent. Kang wasn’t spared, either, as he’d played a role. He had his fair share of questioning. Neither of us was worried about anything that happened or our involvement. We cooperated and gave them what they wanted. What did worry me, however, was Ryan. How would he come out of this?

As soon as we left Thailand, he was placed on administrative leave because of his injury, which would require a few months of physical therapy. More importantly, since his cover was blown back in Thailand, he’d need to be reassigned, but that was only if it was determined that he’d done nothing wrong. This would be a much longer process, so he moved back into his old room, and I told him he could stay as long as he wanted.

From what little he could say to me, I got the feeling his questioning was much more intense than what Kang and I were put through. Essentially, the CIA needed to ensure Ryan had never been compromised and was still a loyal American patriot serving his country. That was what I disliked about the whole spy thing. They were more worried that Ryan wasn’t the triple agent they had out in the field but a quadruple, if that was even a thing, than they were about what he had accomplished or that he was injured.

Despite blowing his cover, he’d essentially completed his mission in more ways than one. His detailed intel was enough to convince the Thai and Laos governments to create a joint military operation, which led to their shutting down Sam Gor’s operations in the mountains. The Golden Triangle’s comeback had been struck down hard. Sadly, they also uncovered three mass graves.

Rehab on Ryan’s shoulder would take six months, so he was in no hurry to go anywhere. I had my son for half a year. Maybe I could convince him to go back to school during that time.

Po Po was thrilled to have Ryan home, more so than anyone. She was back to cooking three square meals a day. Ryan and I ate like pigs, and Kang found himself making excuses to swing by. It was heaven.

As for Sua, she got lucky. I was able to contact the previous owner of her phone by calling the numbers in the contact list. One of the NGOs he had worked with happened to focus on helping displaced women. They were able to arrange for Sua to have shelter and an education, and more important, a sense of family with the other women at the organization. I wished her the very best and gave her a long, heartfelt hug before leaving Thailand. She was fierce for her age, and I had no doubt she’d thrive. She was like fine wine, only getting better with time.

Kang brought the rib eye pan onto the porch with Ryan behind him. “I hope you’re hungry, because we’ve got a lot of meat here.”

“I can’t wait to sink my teeth into a juicy steak,” I said, leading them to the dining room, which Lucy and I had already set. “The steaks are done!” I called out as we passed the kitchen.

With Lucy’s help, Po Po made French onion soup, complete with melted cheese over each bowl. We were all surprised by her willingness to try something new. We also had Caesar salad, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, and creamed spinach. Of course, the meal wouldn’t have been complete without a pan of shrimp chow mein noodles—Ryan had been craving them since his return.

We all took our seats, with me at the head of the table. For a moment, I was content just watching everyone eat. It felt like old times, except now we were all older—and injured. Ryan, Kang, and I kept what really happened in Thailand to ourselves. Lucy believed Ryan had taken a nasty fall during a hike and that was how he got his injury. When she asked why I’d stopped updating the group chat during the last half of my trip, I told her I’d been having so much fun that I forgot to take photos and then Ryan got injured and I was busy with him. She never questioned it. But Po Po…that woman gave me the side-eye. She always knew when I wasn’t telling the whole truth, but like always, she kept her thoughts to herself.

How did I feel about my son three weeks later? After a lot of talking, I liked to think we were okay. He was my son—nothing could make me stop loving him. Still, I knew part of what happened was my doing. My insistent nature, always needing to be involved, might’ve pushed things in the wrong direction. Had I backed off, maybe it would have played out differently. But it didn’t.

Did I learn my lesson about being nosy about Ryan’s job? You betcha. I learned enough to know I didn’t want a repeat, and I told him his job was much more dangerous than I could ever imagine. “I hope you get this stuff out of your system sooner rather than later. You’re not invincible,” I’d told him one evening while we drank tea on the back porch.

We’d gone through hell and back together. And in the process, I learned a lot—mostly about myself. Ryan wasn’t that six-year-old I still pictured in my head. He was a grown man now, highly trained in espionage and killing. Not exactly something I could brag about, though part of me couldn’t help but think he might’ve learned a few things from a certain known assassin who came in and out of our lives.

Both of my children were no longer dependent on me. I think that was the hardest thing for me to accept. I don’t think I’ll ever be completely okay with it. It left a tiny hole in my heart—one that can be bandaged during holidays or their visits but will never fully heal.

But what I’ve realized is that I’m not losing them. Our relationship is changing. It’s not disappearing. When I think about it that way, I can live with it.

Click to continue the series: When a woman, battered and near death, is found wandering outside a gated community, FBI Agent Abby Kane is called in to uncover the truth. The only clue? The woman can only repeat one word: “DarkBright.”

A Note From Ty Hutchinson

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author, Ty Hutchinson.

Published by Ty Hutchinson

Copyright © 2024 by Ty Hutchinson

Cover Art: Damonza