“Good. I knew I could count on you. Now I have to go back to the pool and work on my tan. See ya.”

“You jerk!”

On Sunday morning, Jack and Stew checked out the property on the other side of the island where a future resort was planned.

“This seems all to easy,” said Stew, as they walked through a grove of palm trees back to where their taxi was waiting for them. “Can’t believe Oskar would hire us for something so simple.”

Jack nodded in agreement and glanced at Ahmad and some of his men who were close by. Oskar didn’t hire us for this. He hired us to kill us …

“Hey,” said Stew, pointing to a food vendor on the sidewalk. “I wonder if they have any black-pepper chicken. That stuff is delicious. Want to pick up an order and bring it back to the hotel? Bet it’s really cheap here.”

“It’s only eleven o’clock in the morning,” said Jack.

“So?” smiled Stew, rubbing his pot belly. “Since when do you let time interfere with good food?”

“You go ahead, I’m not hungry,” said Jack. “I also want to make a call.”

As Stew went over to the vendor, Jack quickly called Jim.

“Anything?” asked Jack.

“No,” replied Jim. “Oskar stayed in his room until ten. Pike was up at seven and went straight to the gym. A couple of minutes ago they joined each other down at the pool, where Oskar is relaxing and sipping a coffee.”

“Any chance of bugging the sugar bowl?” joked Jack.

“There isn’t one, but I’m wondering about getting Tina to go down there and leave her beach bag near them. What do you think?”

“Good idea, but let’s save it for when someone else shows up,” replied Jack. “Oskar is sharp enough that we would only get away with it once.”

“Makes sense. There is also night lighting in a flower bed near where they are sitting. People generally tend to sit in the same spots all the time. Maybe tonight I should look at hooking into the power line and running a bug as close as I can get. Maybe disguise it as another night light. Just not sure if it would be enough, considering the distance.”

“If anyone could do it, you could. I’ll let you decide on that one.”

“I’ll do some checking tonight and get back to you on that.”

“I’ll be back with Stew within an hour. Time to bring him in and have a chat. We’ll use Willy’s room.”

Jack eyed Stew as he approached carrying a Styrofoam food container of chicken. He had a feeling that Stew was about to lose his appetite.

Chapter Thirty-Three

“Oh my God!” said Stew after a prolonged period of sitting in stunned silence on the edge of the bed in Willy’s room. He had been introduced to the team and after police identification had been shown, Jack had told him the real reason they had been hired.

“Sorry, we didn’t tell you earlier,” said Jack. “We were afraid it would rouse suspicion and ruin our chances of ever finding out who Oskar answers to.”

“Oh my God,” repeated Stew. “Oh my God!”

“I want you to meet Oskar in his room and tell him that you talked with your wife. Tell him she is having a nervous breakdown and that you need to go home immediately and look after your children. Say you’re sorry, but you need to quit and get a job without travel.”

“Oh my God,” Stew replied, shaking his head as his brain tried to comprehend what he had been told.

“I’ll go to the pool and tell Oskar and Pike that you are extremely upset by something going on at home. I’ll tell them that the maid is in your room and that you wish to meet Oskar in his room to talk to him. As soon as you tell Oskar what I told you to say, tell him you are expecting another call from your wife and want your privacy. Then go straight back to your room. After that, I want you to catch the next flight back to Canada.”

“We already checked the airport,” said Tina. “The next available flight leaves at 7:55 p.m. tomorrow night. There are a few connections, but you basically should land in Victoria about thirty-three hours later.”

Stew stared at Tina with his mouth gaping open, but didn’t answer.

“Stew, you are safe,” said Jack. “You will receive protection until such time as you are officially terminated —”

“Oh my God!”

“I meant from your employment. Until such time as the life-insurance policy on you is no longer in effect.”

Oskar listened to what Jack had to say and asked, “Any idea at all what it is about?”

Jack shrugged and said, “He was fine when we checked out the property this morning. It wasn’t until he got back to his room that something upset him. It has something to do with his wife. He’s almost in tears, which is why he didn’t want to come out here. I suspect he’s waiting outside your room right now.”

Oskar and Pike exchanged a puzzled look and Pike said, “Maybe I should go with you?”

Oskar looked at Jack. “Did you get the feeling it was something personal?”

“I don’t think it would hurt for both of you to go,” replied Jack. “For whatever is bothering him, maybe two heads will be better than one, but I don’t think he wants me there.”

Oskar, Pike, and Stew were just entering Oskar’s room when Jack entered Jim’s room to join the investigative team and listen.

Stew blurted out the story he had been given and said he was quitting. He stuttered as he spoke and recited his lines like a bad actor with stage fright.

“It’s only one or two more days,” pleaded Oskar. “If your flight doesn’t leave until tomorrow night, you could be finished by that time.”

“Finished!” stammered Stew. “I … I’m not working for you! Weren’t you listening? I’m out of here!”

“But just one more day,” said Pike. “If we leave first thing in the morning, I could get you to Hat Yai and back before your flight.”

“Maybe I can get out earlier on standby,” replied Stew, with genuine optimism. He looked at Oskar. “My wife is calling back. I have to go.”

“Stew, come on … Stew —”

Oskar quit talking when Stew hurried from the room and slammed the door behind him.

“That fucking little weasel,” said Pike. “Running home to mommy. She’s probably having her period or something.”

“I don’t like it,” said Oskar. “He was really scared about something.”

“Scared we were going to beat his ass for being such a chicken-shit,” growled Pike.

“Maybe,” replied Oskar.

“So now what?”

Oskar let out a deep breath. “We’ve still got Jack.”

“The big guy wanted two. Aren’t you meeting him on Tuesday?”

“Yes.”

Jack sighed. It was good news they knew when Oskar would be meeting his boss. It could be bad news if Virgil was arrested before then and clued Oskar in as to who Jack really was. He knew he would also have to figure out how to delay going to Hat Yai before then.

“First Rabbit and now this,” continued Pike. “He’ll be really pissed.”

“I know. I’ll make some calls and meet you back at the pool for lunch.”

Pike returned to the pool and the investigative team waited in anticipation of Oskar making some phone calls, which he didn’t end up doing. Instead, Oskar went to the lobby and used the Internet before joining Pike for lunch.

“On Tuesday, we’ll need to identify every guy Oskar meets,” said Jack. “If he even stops to give some tourist the time, I want to know who that tourist is.”

“It might be too late then, if you are suppose to be in Hat Yai on Monday,” said Tina.

“I’ll figure out a way to stall,” replied Jack. “Maybe arrange to have a small car accident on the way to the ferry. We could get the police to detain us for questioning.”