“I knew it wouldn’t go according to plan,” said Rose, dryly. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you weren’t hurt, but I thought the idea was to take him alive and get him to co-operate.”

“I tried,” said Jack. “He wasn’t about to listen. It was either him or me. His real name was Ronald Dixen and this afternoon he had booked into the same hotel as me. I think he was going to break my neck and make it look like I slipped and fell on the rocks, or maybe fell off the balcony from above.”

“What about the Hoodie character? Was he the lookout?”

“No. Turns out he was a local tough guy who has a history of mugging tourists. The Thai police are confident he had nothing to do with Dixen trying to kill me.”

“How do you stand with the Thai police?” asked Rose.

“I don’t expect any problems at all. I just got to the police station, but my liaison person, a fellow by the name of Pom, has already cleared the way. I think he has some clout. The local police are being really nice. Pom said that they will say it was an accident.”

“Doesn’t sound like an accident to me.”

“Well … it was, sort of.”

“You were trying to knock him out?”

Jack paused. “To be honest, at the time I was so scared, I just lashed out in a desperate attempt to live. It was only after his body collapsed, that I hoped I hadn’t killed him.”

“So now what?”

“I’ll call Connie and fill her in so she can apply for the wiretap. I’m hoping to have it in place when Oskar and Pike return from China. Might make for some interesting conversation when they hear that Dixen is dead.”

“And Stew?” questioned Rose. “You better hope he returns from China.”

“He is well protected there. Even Oskar mentioned that their rooms could be bugged, so I am positive that nothing will happen. My guess is they planned to murder me here and perhaps do Stew in either southern Thailand or Malaysia.”

“We can’t put him at risk. It’s bad enough hanging you out as bait.”

“Once he returns from China, I’ll figure out a way to extract him. He’s a good guy, I think we can count on him to keep his mouth shut, but I’m afraid he will get so nervous that Oskar might clue in.”

“When Oskar finds out that Dixen is dead, you would think he would be in contact with his boss,” said Rose.

“Exactly. I’m hoping that if the wiretap is in place, we will hear them talking, identify who that is, and wrap things up quickly. Maybe they’ll even plan another attack. Perhaps we’ll get Pike, as well.”

“I would prefer you getting him with a wiretap, rather than a piece of concrete.”

“Given the option, so would I.”

“You’re also hoping the two hitmen are Pike and Dixen. Did it occur to you there could be others?”

“Trying to make me more paranoid?” asked Jack.

“No. Trying to keep you alive.”

It was two o’clock on Saturday morning when Jack finished giving a statement to the Thai police and was allowed to return to the hotel. During the next few hours, he received numerous phone calls from Connie Crane as she prepared the wiretap application.

A further delay resulted when Connie brought her application to the Crown prosecutor, who spotted a missing period.

“You may not think this is important,” said the prosecutor, who first majored in English at university, “but let me tell you —”

Connie put her hand up for the prosecutor to stop. “No need to go there. I know all about that. I missed a period a couple of months ago and it scared the hell out of me.”

It was late Friday night in Vancouver when the Crown prosecutor agreed that all was in order, but a judge was no longer available. Eventually an appointment was made for Connie to take the order to a judge at his residence on Saturday.

On Saturday evening in Thailand, Jack received a text from Oskar, asking for an update on the jade factory. Jack had already given him an update, but smiled to himself, knowing that Oskar was really wanting to know if he was still alive.

Jack re-sent the report, but commented that the previous report must have been lost in cyberspace.

At five o’clock Sunday morning in Thailand, Jack met with Jim in his room and waited for Connie to call. An hour later she did and said the order had been approved, naming both Oskar and Pike.

“You’re on, big guy,” said Jack, handing his phone to Jim, who made notes of conversation he had with Connie.

Four hours later, Jim finished his work in two rooms at the Imperial Golden Triangle Hotel. Both rooms had been reserved for Oskar and Pike and were side by side on the fifth floor.

The actual monitoring and recording of conversation would take place in Jim’s room on the fourth level. Jack listened to the receiver as Jim finished what he was doing and came back to his own room.

“So?” asked Jim. “You hear me okay up there?”

“You’re the best,” said Jack. “I don’t think a mouse could sneak across the carpet up there without us hearing it.”

Stew’s room was on the third floor, because Jack did not want him to accidentally interfere with any conversation that Oskar and Pike might wish to have. He also did not want Stew in a room that was high off the ground.

Pom told Jack that several calls had come in on Dixen’s cellphone, but on Jack’s advice, they had gone unanswered.

“I want it to be a surprise for them when they return,” said Jack. We need the two of them to be in their rooms when they find out.”

Jack also received another text from Oskar on Sunday morning asking him to confirm their reservations and to let him know that everything was in order. That’s right, asshole, I’m still alive …

That evening, Jack watched as Oskar, Pike, and Stew arrived at the hotel and went to their rooms to drop off their luggage. Jack waited until Oskar and Pike were unlocking the doors to their rooms when he approached them.

“Hi, guys, I saw you arrive from my balcony,” said Jack. “Did it all go well?”

“Yes.” Oskar frowned as he looked at Jack. “And you? Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” said Jack, “although I witnessed a tragic incident on Friday night.”

“Oh?” asked Pike.

“It was awful, really,” said Jack. “I’m still shaking. I’ve never seen a dead guy before.”

“A dead guy?” asked Oskar, looking at Pike who shrugged in response.

“Right across from our hotel,” said Jack. “This poor guy asked me to take a picture of him overlooking the river. When I did, he dropped his glasses and we climbed down to look for them. My God … I still can’t believe I was there,” stuttered Jack.

“What happened?” asked Pike.

“The guy was kind of agile. He happened to be coming toward me, jumping from one rock to another, but one rock was muddy or something and he fell. He was barely an arm’s reach away, but it all happened so fast that I couldn’t save him. His feet went out from under him and he hit his head on a piece of concrete or something.”

“And he died?” asked Pike, looking surprised.

“Yes. I called for help and tried to do CPR, but it wasn’t any good. His eyes were all glazed over and blood was coming out of his ear.” Jack covered his eyes with one hand to show his grief and mumbled, “It was awful. I was actually sick to my stomach after.”

“Do you ever find out what his name was?” demanded Pike, grabbing Jack by the arm.

“Yes, the police told me he was an American. His name was Ronald Dixen. I can’t believe I saw it. What a terrible thing to happen on a holiday.”

“Oh, Christ,” muttered Pike as he looked at Oskar. “It was Rabbit.”

“You know him?” asked Jack, feigning surprise.

“Dixen works for our company in corporate security,” replied Oskar.

“Him and I are friends,” said Pike. “We’ve been together for years.”

“I didn’t know,” stammered Jack. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know our company had someone else here.”