Breathing Water: A Bangkok Thriller полностью

“Of course. I started out with him. Dozens of people could tell you that. I would have told you, if you’d asked. It’s no secret. I was a crook. There weren’t a lot of other employment opportunities for someone like me. And if you wanted to be a crook in those days, at least in the part of Bangkok I was being a crook in, you did business with Wichat. Actually, with Wichat’s boss, Chai. Is this going to be in the book?”

“Unless you can come up with something better.”

Pan seems suddenly to remember that Boo and Da are in the room. The smile returns, and he looks down at Da, who is holding Peep. The baby’s cries have faded to a damp snuffle. “Girls always look most beautiful holding babies,” he says.

Rafferty says, “Not a really contemporary point of view.”

Pan lets his gaze linger on Da for a moment, and then he says, “I’d rather it weren’t in the book, but if it is, you should be very clear on the point that I’ve had nothing to do with Wichat, or anyone like Wichat, for twenty years. I have no idea whether Wichat is-what?-giving out babies? Why would anyone give out babies?” He tugs at the crease in his sky-blue slacks. “And why tell me about it now?”

“I’m sorry,” Rafferty says. “I haven’t done this right. We’re actually here to ask for your help.”

Pan’s eyebrows climb half an inch. “Help.”

“See, this is what I think is happening. Wichat is buying babies from poor families, some of them probably Cambodian, and selling them to rich people, to farang. And he stashes the kids in the interim with female beggars. He hides them in plain sight and even makes a little extra money. Da says people give more to-”

“A woman with a baby,” Pan says with badly masked impatience. “Obviously. But how in the world do you think I can help?”

“I’m not completely sure,” Rafferty says. He leans against the wall beside the door. “Da and Peep ran away from Wichat’s guys because she was going to get raped. Boo helped them escape. And of course they have something that belongs to Wichat, which is to say Peep. So they’re on the run now, and I’m hiding them.”

Pan lets his eyes drift back down to Da and Peep. Behind him, Boo looks past him at Rafferty, his eyebrows elevated in a question. Pan says, “Why? Why are you hiding them?”

“I owe Boo a favor. So I guess the question is whether you can do anything, considering that you used to be buddies with Wichat, to get him to let go of Da and Peep, just stop searching for them.”

Pan surveys the room, not really looking at anything. “I suppose what he really wants is the baby. Why not return it to him?”

Da says immediately, “No.”

“Right,” Pan says. “Of course not. Well, you say he’s for sale, right? If it’s just about money, if Wichat just doesn’t want to lose his profit, then I can probably do something, maybe compensate him. How much is he getting?”

“Thirty to fifty thousand U.S.”

“You’re joking.”

“That’s my best guess,” Rafferty says.

“Still,” Pan says, “even if I bought Peep for Miss…Miss Da here, Wichat might be more worried about what she could tell people. Especially if he’s making that much money.”

“I think he is,” Boo says. “Both making that much money and worried about Da talking to people.”

Pan’s eyes flick to Boo as though he’s surprised at the certainty in the boy’s voice. “So, you see, it’s a little awkward. If I talk to Wichat, let’s say to offer to buy Peep, then he knows that I’m in touch with these kids. It opens up a raft of questions. That’s awkward. He and I aren’t friends anymore.”

“If you say so,” Rafferty says.

“Let me think about it,” Pan says. “They’re safe for the moment, I suppose?”

“I think so.”

“Would they be safer here?”

“I don’t know,” Rafferty says, watching Pan’s eyes. “Maybe.”

“Well, where are they staying now?”

“In my apartment house. An empty unit, down on the fourth floor.”

“Do you have security? Is there a doorman or anything?”

“It’s not that kind of apartment house,” Rafferty says.

“Maybe here, then,” Pan says. “If there’s one thing I have a lot of, it’s guards.”

Rafferty says, “What do you guys think?”

“I like it at your place,” Boo says. It’s what Rafferty told him to say if the question came up. “We don’t get in anybody’s way.” He looks at Da, who nods.

“Fine,” Pan says. “I’ll think about Wichat. I’m sure something will come to me.”

“That’s all we can ask,” Rafferty says. He pushes himself away from the wall. “You kids mind waiting for me outside? You can walk down to the village. I’ll be out in a minute.” He turns to Pan. “That okay with you?”

“Sure. Just don’t get too close to the pigs. Shinawatra can be aggressive.”

Da says, “I know all about pigs.” Then she says, “Shinawatra? Like the prime minister?”