Billy Gets It

His journey to Bangkok started back when he met the woman of his dreams in a small town he was traveling through in Kansas on business. He stayed there a week, and on his first night he met her in the restaurant. She was eating alone. He caught her eye and she smiled. He asked if he could sit with her. She agreed. They talked. She had her own beauty salon. She was smart, successful, and very, very beautiful. At the end of the week, he couldn’t believe his good luck when she agreed to go with him to live in his apartment in Chicago.

Davina, for that was her name, took to his dog immediately. They would take him out for walks in the evening through the nearby park and throw balls for the dog to retrieve.

A year after they moved in together Billy proposed to Davina. She accepted. He wanted to get married at City Hall. She demurred and asked him for the full works; not for her, but for his mother. He agreed.

They started making plans and Billy began working longer hours so that he could give them both a good start to their married life.

One night, while Billy was working late, Davina took the dog out for his usual nightly walk. She felt safe with the dog. It was fiercely attached to Billy and her. No one was going to come after her while he was with her.

She sat down on the grass at the top of a small hill and threw the ball for the dog. He bounded off after it and brought it back to drop at her feet. She threw it again. And again.

The last time she threw it, the ball sailed up high and hit the grass down near the bottom of the hill. It bounced onto the footpath and into a pedestrian tunnel. It ended up at the far end of the tunnel.

She sat for a while waiting for the dog to bring the ball back. But he didn’t reappear. She wasn’t unduly worried. He was probably just playing down there. She stood up and walked down the hill. When she got to the footpath she looked for the dog, but it wasn’t there.

She called out but got no response. She walked into the tunnel, still calling. Just as she reached the other end of the tunnel a man jumped out of the bushes. She jumped.

“Hey! Are you looking for your dog?”

“Yes, have you seen it?”

“Sure. He’s just over there.” He said pointing towards a clump of bushes.

As she started to walk to where he pointed she called out to the dog but there was still no reply. She was puzzled. He usually always came when she called. She turned around, only to be confronted by the man’s fist bearing down on her face. It connected, dropping her to the ground. The man followed up with a series of kicks and then fell on top of her.

After he had finished raping her, he beat her some more and then ran off into the darkness leaving Davina lying there grotesquely dead. So was the dog, killed with a single blow to the head.

When Billy got home that night two policemen were standing at the front door of his apartment.

”Are you Billy Samson?”

“Yes, why? What’s happened?”

“Does Davina Devlin live here?”

“Yes, why?”

“I’m sorry sir, but she was killed in the park tonight.”

A cold, hard lump of iron lodged in Billy’s chest. His life from that moment on was a nightmare. After he buried Davina he haunted the police station for weeks trying to find out who had killed Davina. But the police could not find the murderer.

Billy didn’t feel safe in the city any more. He went to a gun shop to buy a gun. The gun shop owner wouldn’t sell him a gun without a license. Dejected Billy walked out of the shop. Walking aimlessly, he found himself in Chinatown where Lee, an old friend he hadn’t seen since college days now lived. Billy went to see him to ask if he knew where he could buy a gun. He knew that Lee was tied up with a Chinese Tong gang. Maybe he could help.

Lee asked him why he needed a gun. When he heard the reason he took Billy to a small shop at the end of an alleyway where he spoke to someone quietly. The man handed Lee a package. Billy handed over the thousand dollars it cost. Lee showed him how to lock and unlock the gun, and how to slide the clip in and out. Then they went a bar for a drink together.

Billy went to a firing range the next weekend and started to learn how to shoot. Within a few weeks he was hitting the bulls eye every time. Next, his teacher hung some human silhouette targets and showed Billy how to aim for various parts of the body. Billy learned fast and soon became a crack shot.

Billy’s teacher suggested that Billy learn to use a rifle too. Within thirty days, Billy learned how to strip down and reassemble a rifle, clean it, and adjust the sights for different distances. He was soon shooting bulls eyes cleanly.

He never forgot about Davina. He just wished he could find the animal who had used and killed Davina so cruelly. He was ready now to take the bastard out. But the police still had no suspect.

Time went by. Billy continued to practice at the gun range. Word must have spread about his prowess because one day a swarthy man in an ill fitting suit approached him. Would Billy consider using his gun skills to earn some serious money?

Billy shrugged. Why not? He had nothing left to live for, and the money was good.

After that first hit, Billy found he was in demand. He started traveling all over the world eliminating people he didn’t know. He felt no remorse. The people he killed were just targets to him.

One time, his job took him to Bangkok to assassinate a local politician. Billy was told the target was very corrupt. But Billy didn’t care. He was just another target to Billy.

The job was easy. Billy followed the politician for a few days, and then chose his spot. He used a rifle and shot the man from a short distance. That night he was on a plane, long before the headlines hit the newspapers.

A few hours after he landed in Hong Kong the mobile phone he’d bought in Bangkok rang. He’d forgotten to turn it off. It was Malee, the girl he’d met at the bar in his hotel the second night after he arrived in Bangkok. She asked him where he was. When he told her Hong Kong she asked if he was coming back.

Once again he was reminded of Davina. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was, but he smiled to himself when he heard her voice. He hadn’t felt like that since before Davina died. He told her he would be back in a week.

It was funny how she had appeared in his life like that, he mused. He had been having a quiet drink, listening to the Philippino band playing old standards, when she slid onto the bar stool beside him. Her beauty attracted him at first, but as they started talking he realized how much he had been missing comfortable conversation with a woman. A woman like Davina. It was uncanny. Malee liked the same music as Davina. As the night progressed, he noticed other things she liked that Davina had too. This drew him closer to her, and by the end of the evening he invited her up to his room. 

But now it was time to get on with the job. He would explore their relationship further when he returned to Bangkok.

He met his contact in Hong Kong, collected his fee for the Bangkok hit, and then traveled to China where he shot a gangster and collected his fee for that job too. Then he jumped on a plane back to Bangkok.

Arriving at the airport, he called Malee and asked her to meet him at his hotel on Sukhumvit Road. Then he hailed a cab and traveled to the city.

When Malee arrived at his door that evening she looked even more stunning than he remembered. Her long black hair hung down her back. She was dressed in a red dress that clung to her body, outlining every shape and curve. He was hard within seconds.

The next morning Malee singing in the shower waked him. He grinned to himself. He hadn’t felt this good for too long. He slipped into the shower with her. She threw her arms around his neck and they made love under the water. They couldn’t get enough of each other.

Later, just as they were about to go down for breakfast his international roaming phone rang. He answered. The voice at the other end told him about a new job. Billy said he would think about it. He was too busy to make a decision now. He turned the phone off and went downstairs with Malee.

The next few weeks were unlike any Billy had ever experienced before. Malee took him around her country, showing him exotic sights, eating strange new foods, and relaxing on idyllic beaches or up in jungle retreats.

Then one day Malee got serious. She told Billy she loved him. By now, Billy was feeling the same. Malee was ecstatic. She told Billy it was time to meet her parents. This was the first time she had mentioned them. He asked her what they did.

Malee went quiet and very mysterious. She wouldn’t say much, except to say her father was a businessman. Billy didn’t press it. He figured he would find out when they got there.

They flew to Chiang Rai first. The city was up at the northern end of Thailand, close to Laos and Burma. Billy asked Malee if her family lived there. No, she said, they had to journey a bit further first. But before they went on Malee wanted to stay a few days in Chiang Rai. She had sent a message to her father to let him know they were on the way. He would need time to prepare for their visit. Meanwhile, she said, let’s explore Chiang Rai. It’s a beautiful town.

Set up in the mountainous north, Chiang Rai was a charming small city. It was much cooler than the rest of Thailand, and Billy was enjoying the pleasant change. They toured the local temples, and then took a trip on the Kok River that runs just north of the city.

Finally, on the third day a luxurious Mercedes Benz collected them from their hotel and started the long drive northeast to where Malee’s parents were waiting. They passed through several small villages and towns, including Ban Naung Pla Kao, Mae Chan, and on until they reached Mae Sai on the Burmese border.

They crossed over into Burma without any trouble, and drove into Tachilek where they stopped for lunch. From there, they drove up a narrow country road for the next five hours until they stopped at a small village called Pang Hsi-Li-Hkam. Nestled on the side of a hill, the view down the valley as the sun set was spectacular. The driver took them to their hotel, a small but clean place that appeared to have no other guests.

“Does your family live here?”

“Oh no, we have to travel much further tomorrow. We will go to the end of the road and then travel by mule train.”

This sounded so exotic and exciting that Billy didn’t question her any more. He had decided to enjoy the trip and let her take him wherever it would lead.

The next morning, after a delicious breakfast of tropical fruit and thick Thai coffee, they drove another two hours before the road ended in a small village. The main building had a blue roof, but all the other buildings were thatched with palm fronds. The driver took their bags out of the trunk and left them standing in the middle of the village.

A minute later, a large lumbering Chinese man dressed in a colorful sarong and sandals cam up and introduced himself.

“I, me am Too Mo Kong. Welcome home missy Tsu. Father you he waiting you arrive. He send mules take you.”

With that, six mules marched out from between the huts and lined up with their guides. Their bags were loaded on the mules. Then they mounted a mule each and started the long journey up into the mountains.

Billy had never done anything like this before so he was taking everything in. They passed small slash and burn cultivations of opium poppies. The people living in the small villages nearby were poor but seemed happy. They all smoked the opium, so perhaps that was why they were happy.

That evening, the mule train arrived at a large compound surrounded by a wooden palisade. They went in through the large double gates and alighted outside a huge house that overlooked what seemed like the top of the world.

A large man with a ferocious drooping moustache stood with a small woman at his side. Billy looked closely at the woman. He could see Malee’s beauty mirrored in the woman’s looks.

Malee gave her parents a deep Wai, and Billy followed suit. Then they were welcomed inside the house where the servants served them drinks.

Over the next few days, Billy talked often with Malee’s father. As Billy had suspected, Po Om, as her father was called, ran a huge opium operation, exporting the product to buyers from the US and Europe each year. The profits were enormous, Po Om said, and that was why he was happy that Malee had managed to bring Billy to meet him.

“So this was not a chance meeting with Malee then, I take it?”

“Of course not! But her falling in love with you was a big surprise. I am very happy for her. As long as you treat her well I will ensure you are both taken care of. And of course, you will repay me by helping me with my business problems.”

Billy nodded. It all made sense now. He had been the target all along. But their plans had changed now that Malee and he were in love. He decided to go along with her father and see where it led.

The couple enjoyed the next few weeks at the mountain retreat. There wasn’t a lot to do but Malee took him to a nearby waterfall where they spent days lazing in the water and making love under the trees.

Then one day, Po Om asked Billy to visit him in his office. It was luxuriously furnished and fully airconditioned. Billy sat down when Po Om gestured to a chair in front of his large antique Chinese desk carved with dragons and Chinese lions.

“I have asked you to see me today to discuss a job I would like you to do for me Billy. Are you ready to help me?”

Billy nodded.

Po Om sat back in his executive chair with a large Buddha smile. “I have a problem in Hong Kong. One of my business partners has been cheating me. I don’t mind a little skimmed off the top. That is to be expected. But this man,” here he handed Billy a picture, “ has been keeping too much for himself. When I confronted him about it he denied it, of course. But I am not stupid. I know exactly what is going on in my business. He must be eliminated. Then I want you to run the business for me until I appoint a new man. Can you do that for me?”

Billy thought about it for a moment, and then nodded.

The arrangements were made quickly. The next day, a private helicopter landed outside the compound and Billy was escorted aboard. He took with him a bag containing his clothes and a different identity. They flew for about five hours with two mountain top refueling stops along the way. Finally, they landed in Kunming, China. From there, Billy boarded a plane to Hong Kong, arriving three hours later. He checked into the Peninsula Hotel with a suite overlooking Hong Kong harbor.

One hour later there was a knock at the door. Billy let in a thin Chinese with a wispy beard, carrying a sports bag. He opened the bag and Billy selected one of the guns inside. It was a Walther P22. He loved this gun because it took a silencer without any need for threading or gunsmithing. It fired easily, and rarely jammed. In a side pocket he found the silencer and a box of bullets.

He thanked the Chinese, who handed Billy a manila envelope, nodded and left as quietly as he had come.

Billy walked to the large window and opened the envelope. Inside he found three 8x10 photos, an address, and a report on the subject’s movements for the last seven days. He noted the annotations that indicated places visited regularly and decided to check out each location before choosing the one he would use.

Three days later he was ready. The subject always dined at The Phoenix restaurant near the mid-levels escalator. The area was ideal with its steep streets and easy access to the escalator.

That night he waited near the entrance to the restaurant concealed in a shop doorway. The area was crowded, but he wasn’t worried about that. It would be easy to make the shot and disappear into the crowd.

He spotted the target’s car coming slowly up the street. He checked the gun, making sure it was loaded and that the silencer was on properly. Then he concealed it in the folds of his long coat and walked casually towards the restaurant entrance. Just as the car pulled up to the kerb, he was approaching the car. The back door opened and a body guard got out first, followed by his quarry. He walked towards the man. Just as he was about to raise his gun to shoot, the bodyguard saw him and fired from the hip. The bullet hit Billy between the eyes and he slumped to the pavement dead. Billy had gone to meet his beloved Davina, and Malee would never know why he didn’t come back.

© Marc Holt. All rights reserved by the author.