Terror Royal -- Part 3

Ali jumped on a motorcycle taxi and told the driver to take him to Suthisarn Road. He’d heard the name a few days ago while having dinner at the apartment restaurant. Two Thai men had been drinking and discussing their plans to visit the bars there. Listening to them, Ali had been fascinated to hear that there were girls for sale, and lots of bars to visit.

Now that he was away from the apartment and the others, he thought he should take advantage of this free time to have some fun. He knew that when he returned Ahmed would give him a lot of trouble.

With the sun just setting surely the bars would be opening. By the time he got there the action should be starting. They sped through the traffic, up Phaholyothin Road, and turned right into Suthisarn Road, finally arriving at the bar area.

Ali paid the driver and stared across the road at the row of bars. Some of the bars were already open. Others still had an old woman sweeping the footpath outside.

Ali crossed the road, a Tuk-Tuk just narrowly missing him he was so focused on his objective. Marching into the first bar he sat down. An old lady came and Wai’d him, asking what he wanted to drink.

Whisky, he whispered, feeling very adventurous. He’d seen people order like that in the few American movies he’d seen. He’d been impressed with their confidence. He wanted to be the same.

A younger woman came out of the darkness at the back of the bar and sat down beside him. Hiding her distaste at his smell, she smiled and cuddled up close to him. He recoiled. He’d never had a woman do that to him before.

*******************

Nick sat in the hotel coffee shop across the road from the bar where Ali was. He sipped at a latte while he watched and waited. He had two men stationed either side of the bar, out of sight but ready to move as soon as he gave the word.

He’d watched Ali get off the motorbike and head for the bar. Rather than snatch him immediately he had decided to wait to see what Ali was up to. He didn’t have long. Ali came out of the bar, his face looking stricken. Nick could see him take a deep breath and then look up and down the street. He turned and started walking. He looked into another bar, hesitated, then walked inside.

*******************

Rashid turned up at the apartment and knocked on Ahmed’s door. Cracking it slightly, Ahmed peered out, then opened it wide and beckoned Rashid inside.

After the traditional greetings were over Rashid sat on the only chair in the room and asked Ahmed if Ali had returned.

“No brother. He has not. But when he returns I will make sure he suffers for his foolishness.”

“Never mind him my brother. We have a bigger problem. The guns coming up from the South have been intercepted by the police. They don’t know where the guns were destined for. But it means we will have to delay our plans.”

Ahmed looked glum. “What are you doing about it, Rashid?”

“Don’t worry, I have another consignment on the way up here by courier. He is coming by train. The guns are hidden well in baskets of produce. He will be here tomorrow night. Then we can move. We cannot afford any more delays.”

Ahmed nodded. But inside he was worried. This mission was not going as smoothly as planned. If the Thai authorities found out what they planned all hell would break loose.


*******************

Nick checked his watch. It was after ten. The bars were in full swing across the road. He had asked one of the freelancers hanging around the coffee shop to join him to avoid suspicion. She sat next to him now, doing her best to get him interested in going out with her for a short time.

She saw him looking at his watch.

“You hab wife?”

“No, no wife. I am just a little tired. Maybe I will come back soon to see you again.”

She understood the classic bargirl rejection speech. “You gib me tip for food?”

He pulled out a purple note and handed it to her. She palmed it so fast he almost didn’t see it disappear into her bra. Then she got up, smiled, and walked back to where she had been sitting with some friends. He heard them laugh, but he wasn’t interested any more. He’d just spotted Ali coming out of yet another bar. He was staggering.

It was time to move.

He put some money under the coffee cup, got up, and walked outside. Speaking into his hidden microphone he said, “Eagle One, Eagle Two, move in and snatch.”

Both of his agents materialized near Ali and intercepted him, bundling him into a nondescript car they had parked nearby. Nick crossed the road and jumped into the front seat as the car pulled away. He turned around. Ali sat there hemmed in like a ragged book between two huge bookends. He tried to focus on the face staring at him from the front seat.

“What you want wit me?” he slurred.

*******************

Somphob’s mobile rang. “Krup?”

He listened for a minute, then snapped the phone shut. He paced his office thinking before picking up the phone.

“Mister Roger, why your men pick up Ali? Where they take he?”

“I decided it would be best to take Ali right out of the picture Somphob. He is very drunk and he could blab to someone. My men are taking him to our embassy compound to hold him out of harm’s way. Don’t worry. We will not do anything to him. But he is a danger to the operation, ours and Ahmed’s.”

Somphob thought for a moment, grunted, and hung up. He wasn’t happy. But what could he do?

*******************

Ahmed paced his room anxiously awaiting any news of Ali. Had he defected? Was he out there spilling his guts to interrogators right now? Would he betray the cause and have the authorities down on their necks this morning?

His mobile rang. It was Rashid.

“We move tonight. I will be with you in one hour.”

The phone clicked shut. Ahmed looked at it stupidly for a moment.

He screamed silently, “What if there is no tonight for us? What if Ali has betrayed us?”

There was no answer.

*******************

Roger looked at Ali through the one-way glass. Ali was sitting slumped in a chair, a steaming hot coffee in front of him. His clothes hung off him. His eyes were red and wild.

Nick looked at Roger. “What do we do now Roger?”

Nick was pleased when Roger told him to go back into the interrogation room and keep pumping Ali. They needed to know what arrangements had been made, but most importantly they needed the name of the man supplying the weapons. Ali had resisted well, but it was obvious he was tiring. He hadn’t slept all night. Time for Nick and his team to exert the final pressure.

“Do whatever you have to Nick. We need that information.”

“What if he really doesn’t have it, Roger?”

“He knows. But he’s tough. Get in there and get it out of him.”

Nick nodded and motioned to the two interrogation experts standing near the door. They went into the other room. Roger watched Ali look up. He showed no emotion this time. Roger felt a twinge of distaste. He didn’t like what was coming next, but they were running out of time. They had to find out what was going down.

The men pulled Ali up from his chair and dragged him to an uneven table at the back of the room. Placing a hood over his head, they strapped him onto the table, with his head lower than his feet. He felt the blood rushing to his head.

One interrogator leaned down to Ali and asked him, “One last chance Ali or you will die. Who are you going to assassinate? When?”

Ali shook his head. He could withstand anything these infidels could do to him. He had the power of Allah on his side. Let them do to him what they would. He would die a martyr and go straight to paradise.

Nick nodded to the two men. One held Ali’s head while the other placed a strap over his forehead and cinched it tight. Then he poured a bucked of water slowly over Ali’s hooded head.

At first, Ali felt the water and rejoiced. The fools were cooling him off! But the water kept pouring in through the hood, flooding his nostrils, into his mouth. He couldn’t breathe. He was drowning. He started to struggle against the restraints, but they held him tight.

The men took it in turns to pour four buckets of water over Ali’s head before they stopped. They could hear Ali coughing and gagging under the hood. One man took the hood off and asked him again for details of the assassination. Ali spat at him.

The man shrugged, and stuffed a rag into Ali’s mouth. Then he replaced the hood and the men started pouring water over Ali’s head again.

This time, Ali struggled even more, almost breaking the leather straps holding him down. His chest heaved. His neck muscles bulged. The pain was awful. He couldn’t breathe. He was dieing.

The hood came off and they took the soaked cloth from his mouth. He gagged, gulping in huge breaths, coughing, gagging and breathing while he sobbed in pain.

This time, he didn’t wait to be asked. He told them all the details of the plot; the target they were going to assassinate, when it was scheduled, who was supplying the explosives and weapons, and where they would be delivered.

Satisfied, Nick nodded to the two men. They unstrapped Ali and dragged him off to a detention cell.

*******************

Wednesday: 4 pm

Roger called Somphob. “We need to meet. We know all about the plot now.”

“I’ll meet you at your office.”

*******************

Wednesday: 4:30 pm

Somphob was distressed. Rivulets of sweat ran down his face, even in the air-conditioned room. The news was not good. If it ever got out that he had let terrorists come this close to blowing up a member of the beloved Royal Family, his career would be destroyed. They had to keep it completely quiet.

So far, the press had not got even a whiff of the plot. He was determined to keep it that way. There was only one way to ensure the news never got out. He had to put his trust in these CIA people, as much as it galled him.

“Khun Roger, I will do whatever it takes to stop this plot quickly and quietly. It must never get out to the public.”

“Don’t worry Somphob. Our men have the terrorists bottled up. We are waiting for Rashid and his men to arrive and we will swoop on the lot.”

“Khun Roger, you don’t understand. These terrorists must, how you say, ‘disappear’? They must never be brought into a court of law. You understand?”

Roger nodded. He had what he wanted. Somphob would cooperate to the fullest extent.

“Choose ten reliable men…men you can trust never to open their mouths. They must be prepared to shoot to kill.”

Somphob nodded eagerly. He had such a team. He had used them during the crackdown on drugs a few years ago. They were highly efficient killers. No one knew who they were, except him.

*******************

Wednesday: 7 pm

The CIA team were deployed in a rough ring around the apartment. Lookouts posted at each end of the soi watched traffic entering and exiting. Two sniper teams were posted at the front and back of the apartments. The rest of his men were concealed in shops and apartments overlooking the street. Everyone was in place. They could converge on the terrorist’s apartment within sixty seconds.

Roger sat in the communications van monitoring the various video and sound feeds. He was in touch with each team member, ready to direct the action when it came.

Somphob’s team were posted on foot in and outside the apartment. They looked like ordinary Thais. Two were in the small convenience shop directly opposite the entry to the apartment. Four were out the back in the small lane running behind the apartment, playing Takraw. Two up on the roof, and the other two were deployed in the coffee shop. As soon as Ahmed and his men tried to leave the apartment they would be picked up. All the men wore concealed weapons, ready for instant access.

Rashid was due to arrive within thirty minutes. Ali had said the explosives and weapons would be concealed in Rashid’s van. With luck, they would get everything in one swoop.

Wednesday: 8:02 pm

Rashid drove up Rachadapisek Road. His bomb expert and bodyguard sat behind him in the nondescript van. It looked like any other workman’s van; old, a bit rusted, but serviceable enough to carry tools and equipment. But concealed in two 44-gallon drums were enough explosives to destroy any building within a 100 meter radius.

As he approached the soi where Ahmed and his team was staying he surveyed the street carefully. The usual gaggle of motorcycle taxi riders lounged around the entry to the soi. Everything looked normal. He didn’t relax. This was the most dangerous part of the mission. If Ali had talked the police would be here. He told the two passengers to keep their heads down.

Rashid moved down the soi slowly, dodging motorbikes and pedestrians. He had plenty of time to see if there was any unusual activity. As he reached the hotel everything seemed normal. There didn’t appear to be any surveillance.

Wednesday: 8:02 pm

One of the motorcycle taxi riders spoke into the microphone on his shoulder. “Check the old Mitsubishi van, license plate ending in 4256. It looks like the pigeon is coming home to roost.”

Roger watched the van moving down the soi on his monitors. He ordered the sniper team to keep their sights firmly on the driver and the sliding door. They were ready to shoot on his order.

Wednesday: 8:04 pm

Rashid drove past the apartment building, his eyes sweeping left and right. He saw three Thai men sitting in the coffee shop window talking and laughing over a cup of coffee. Were they a threat? He would keep an eye on them when he returned.

Wednesday: 8:05 pm

Roger watched the van exit the short soi and continue into the warren of sois in the Huay Kwang area.

“Keep an eye out. If that was Rashid he will be back. Any other suspicious traffic out there?”

Each outpost reported negative.

Wednesday: 8:20 pm

The sound of the lookout’s excited voice burst into Roger’s eardrums. “Eagle One! That delivery van, number 4256 just entered the soi again. Heading your way!”

Roger alerted everyone to be on their toes. “This could be it. Code yellow, repeat, Code yellow. Van number 4256 approaching the apartment now.”

The teams reported in. They were all standing by and ready.

Wednesday: 8:21 pm

Rashid parked the van in the apartment car park near the entrance and told the others to wait while he collected the team.

He walked into the apartment lobby to a bank of phones near the side of the reception desk. Picking one up he dialed Ahmed’s room number.

“Ready now.” He said curtly and hung up. He walked back out to the truck.

Wednesday: 8:25 pm

The group were all assembled in Ahmed's room. He told them to go down in pairs, Mousuf, and Malik first. He and Rouf would follow. Ahmed had already checked everyone out, so all they had to do was walk out with their bags.

Mousuf and Malik went down in the lift. As they got out Malik spotted one of the men in the coffee shop talking into a microphone.

“It’s a trap!” he yelled.

Both men ran out the front door before the agents could react. Rashid saw them coming. Without waiting he jammed the van into gear and drove around the car park to the exit. Mousuf and Malik chased the van cursing as it pulled away from them. They headed to the back of the building and leaped up onto the wall dividing the apartment from the lane behind it.

Mousuf and Malik jumped to the ground and looked around for the best direction to run. Too late. They were surrounded by the agents stationed there who quickly took them into custody.

Wednesday: 8:29 pm

The agents ran out of the coffee shop just as the lift doors opened. Ahmed and Rouf were about to step out when Ahmed spotted the agents. They saw him and ran towards the lift, guns pointing. He threw himself into the corner, punching the lift door close button. Just as the agents reached the doors they slammed shut. Ahmed hit the button for the top floor.

When they reached the top floor he hit every floor button so that the lift would stop all the way down. Then he and Rouf ran up the stairs to the roof. They had checked this escape route before, so they both knew where to run.

But they hadn’t counted on the ISOC agents stationed there. As they exited the roof door, they ran straight into the arms of the waiting agents.

Wednesday: 8:32 pm

Rashid careered out of the apartment building car park, turned right, and disappeared back into the warren of back sois before the watchers could stop him. Too late, they started chasing him, but the van was out of sight by the time their cars reached the first junction.

Wednesday: 8:35 pm

Rashid eased out of the small alley where he’d stopped the car almost immediately after turning out of sight of the cordon of watchers. He’d watched the agents drive past so fast they missed him concealed in the shadows.

Smiling, he drove down some more back sois until he gained Rama 9 Road. From there, he headed for Vibhavadirangsit highway. He still had an appointment with destiny.

© Marc Holt. All rights reserved by the author.