Jack saw that Randy and Tina were already in the room with his Australian contacts.

After the introductions were made, Randy held up a transmitter for Jack to wear and said, “This is a present for you from Jim Purney.”

“Forget it,” replied Jack, brushing Randy’s arm aside. “I’m going to be in a restaurant all night. If you see someone trying to stab me with a desert fork, shoot ’em.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought you would say,” replied Randy, putting the transmitter down. “I didn’t think you would use it here, either, but wanted to give you the option. In the future, I’ll leave it up to your discretion. You’re best to know when you need it, or when you might be patted down.”

As it turned out, security was not needed. Jack’s dinner went as planned and he met his guests in a high-end restaurant in the hotel called The Emporia.

There were thirteen dinner guests. Six were couples and the one on her own was a beautiful young woman who was elegantly dressed. She introduced herself to Jack as Chit and sat beside him.

Everyone was friendly and most spoke a little English. Chit was too friendly, thought Jack, when she explained to him that in Myanmar her name meant love.

“Interesting,” said Jack.

“Yes,” said Chit, smiling, while reaching her hand under the table and patting his leg.

Jack realized she had been brought along for his pleasure and was glad he wasn’t wearing a wire. Chit used every opportunity she could think of to affectionately hug or pat him on his back or thigh during the course of the evening.

As the evening drew to a close, Jack received assurances from the exporters that they would welcome foreign capital in their company. Jack was assured that he would be the first to know once the opportunity presented itself.

The only look of disappointment was on Chit’s face when Jack turned down her suggestion that she should stay and have a drink with him after the rest had gone.

When he got back to his room he sent a text message to Oskar, saying all had gone well. He received a text back: Good. Meet you at the Imperial Golden Triangle around suppertime on the 20th.

The next day, Jack arrived back in Bangkok during the noon hour. Randy and Tina both scrambled to get their luggage and board a Thai Airways flight to Chiang Rai, departing at one-forty in the afternoon.

Randy and Tina would each rent cars in Chiang Rai to make the one-hour drive to the resort. They wanted it to appear like they were not together for surveillance duties later on.

Jack knew he was safe in the airport and was booked on a flight leaving Bangkok at suppertime. He had made arrangements with the hotel to pick him up at the airport in Chiang Rai.

Jack had previously been given the option by Oskar to stay in Bangkok overnight, as he was not required up at the Golden Triangle until the day after. Jack, however, wanted to get a layout of the hotel in the Golden Triangle, as well as whatever sites were around it. One such site, he figured, might be where someone planned to murder him.

All went as planned and Jack arrived in Chiang Rai on schedule. He was met in front of the airport by a man standing beside a silver van with IMPERIAL GOLDEN TRIANGLE RESORT emblazoned on the door.

The driver was friendly and was not the type to look around as he met Jack and loaded his luggage into the van.

This was something Jack was relieved about, because he noticed two men gesture to two other men parked on motor scooters, before getting into a nearby car. Jack periodically caught sight of the scooters and the car on their way to the resort.

The Thai police are on the job …

Jack checked into the hotel an hour later. It was located near the end of the main road which ran alongside a river in a small town called Chiang Saen. The hotel was beautiful with a huge lobby and was directly across the road from where the two rivers intersected to form the famed Golden Triangle.

An open walkway leading to the rooms ran along the back of the hotel. As Jack approached his room on the third level, a voice called out and said, “Excuse me, buddy, do you speak English?”

Jack looked past an open door to a room and saw Willy, with Jim in the background.

“I do speak English,” replied Jack. “What can I do for you?”

“Do you know where I could buy some olives?” Willy grinned as Jack approached.

“I’m not sure, I’ve just arrived,” said Jack. “But if you have the gin and vermouth, I’ll be sure to find some.”

“The hotel is practically deserted,” whispered Willy. “There is hardly anybody around except for hotel staff. The five of us and four Thai policemen make up most of guests.”

“So we stand out.” Jack frowned.

“I think it will be okay. It’s quiet at the moment, but it has been busy off and on.”

“Let me drop my bag off in my room and I’ll be right back.”

When Jack returned, Jim said, “Yesterday this place was packed with tourists, but they left on a couple of buses this morning.”

“Thai tourists?” asked Jack.

“No, mostly European and Chinese. Enough that we don’t stand out.”

“Good.”

“The Thai police followed you tonight from the airport,” said Willy.

“I know,” replied Jack. “They were a little obvious. Fortunately my driver wasn’t paying much attention.”

“I’ll speak to them,” said Willy. “They are eager and seem anxious to please. This is my room. Tina has the room next door. Randy and Jim are up on the fourth level and our four Thai friends are in two rooms on the fifth floor.”

“What’s the area like around the hotel?”

“Small town with lots of tourist shops,” said Willy. “Stretches down the road for about ten blocks. A bunch of massage parlours line one side of the street. You can walk across the road out front and get a boat across the river to Laos. There is a big casino there. You can see it easily from this side of the river.”

“Gambling isn’t my thing,” said Jack. “Anything else?”

“You can also go across the river to Myanmar. Other than that, there is not a lot to see. There is a big golden Buddha down the street that a few tourist buses pull up to once in a while. Most people stop for an hour or so and leave, except for the ones who decide to overnight.”

“Many other hotels around?”

“Not as nice as this,” said Willy. “The town itself is a little grungy farther on down. A guy might want to keep his wits together if he is out there drinking. Last night Jim and I went out and ate at a small place beside the river. I’m sure the owner was an ex-hooker. Friendly, but you could tell she had been around the block a few times.”

“I bet this was quite the place in its day, when boatloads of heroin were going through,” said Jim.

“That hasn’t entirely stopped, from what I know,” said Jack.

“The U.S. doesn’t think so, either,” said Jim. “There are benches all over town donated by the DEA, along with posters offering rewards for smugglers. It’s a bit like the Wild West out there.”

“Yeah, Asian-style,” said Jack. “So where’s the Sangsom?”

“Upstairs in Randy’s room,” Jim said, grinning, “if the rest of the team hasn’t finished it off. If you don’t feel like rum, I also have beer.”

“You guys go and I’ll sneak up in a few minutes. I received a text from Oskar confirming that he is arriving tomorrow, so everybody keep their distance then. If we need an emergency meeting, I’ll slip into Tina’s room.”

“At least you’re only on the third floor,” noted Willy. “Not high enough to get killed if you go over the balcony.”

“It’s being killed before I go over the balcony that concerns me,” replied Jack.

Later that night in Randy’s room, Jack was introduced to a Thai policeman by the name of Pom. Jack recognized him from being at the airport when he arrived. Pom looked to be about thirty years old and was physically fit. He was from Bangkok and was in charge of the team of Thai policemen that had accompanied him.