第 27 页

pushed the earphones down around his neck. "How did it go?" he asked.

"Very well. I dropped the wallet and got to play with his computer." He tapped his briefcase.

"I've got a hundred and twenty-two pages on disk which cover everything the Thai police knows

about Connie Crum...She is one very dangerous lady, and I have to get the information to

Creasy soonest."

The Owl had moved to the minibar and taken out two bottles of Tiger beer. "Sorry, no

Carlsberg," he said as he opened the bottles. "Creasy phoned. Maxie and Rene are arriving this

afternoon. I booked Maxie into the Erewan Hotel and Rene into the Sheraton. I think it's better

that we remain dispersed. I've also left messages accordingly for them at the airport. Creasy also

said that they had information on the target and it's very complicated. We are to stay in Bangkok

until contacted. He also asked how you were getting on, and I told him you'd be in touch as

soon as possible. He gave me the name and phone number of a man at the American embassy in

Phnom Penh who can relay messages securely."

"That's good," Jens answered. "Try to get the guy on the phone."

Half a beer and two minutes later Jens was talking to Mark Jennings. "Do you have a computer

in your office? Good...what is it? Good...do you have WordPerfect on it? Good...Give me the

number and an access code and I'll send you a file through my modem. Please call me back to

confirm safe receipt and then print two copies and deliver them personally to Creasy as soon as

possible." He gave Jennings the phone number and the room number, then hung up and went to

work.

The Owl looked on with admiration. He himself was useless with computers and their

paraphernalia. It took only a couple of minutes for the Dane to set up his Notebook, connect

the modem to the phone, insert the disk and tap in the number and access code.

"It's a crazy world," The Owl said. "I remember the days when it was almost impossible to get a

phone call through from one end of Marseille to another."

"I'm not surprised," the Dane answered with a grin. "The only things the French know are how

to make Bearnaise sauce and ride a bicycle."

"Mon cul!" The Owl answered fervently, and then raised his glass to take away any offence.

Chapter 58

Creasy and Guido read the two copies of the file that Mark Jennings had brought to the hotel.

After finishing each page, Creasy passed his on to Susanna and Guido passed his on to Jennings.

"I didn't even wait to read it," Jennings said. "I just printed it out and rushed over."

Creasy finished first. He stood up and walked out of the French windows into the garden.

Guido joined him ten minutes later.

"She's certainly her father's daughter," Creasy said grimly. "Evil through and through. The thing

is that she's also highly intelligent. You certainly don't get a first-class degree from the Sorbonne

University for being stupid."

Guido was nodding in agreement. He said: "Evil, clever and beautiful. It makes a formidable

combination...But I'm surprised that the Thai police have such a complete file on her."

"Don't be surprised. Ever since the Khmer Rouge first appeared on the scene, there's been

close co-operation between them and some sectors of Thai business. The Thai police certainly

have their informers among the Khmer Rouge. A lot of money has been made from timber and

gemstones in one direction and arms in the other direction. Some of that money will have gone

to Thai generals and politicians. That file shows that Connie Crum is in command of the Khmer

Rouge in the Cardamom mountains.

It's estimated that she's got at least two thousand troops

under her command. It also indicates that for the past two years she's been clearing mines from

that area and that most of her troops form a perimeter in the foothills leaving the mountains

themselves largely unoccupied, except for local peasants in isolated villages. I don't know why

she's done that."

Susanna and Jennings joined them. She asked: "Are you still going ahead after reading that?"

"Yes," Creasy answered. "The only question is how."

Jennings interjected, "In view of the contents of that file, I think the Cambodian government can

be persuaded to make an airborne attack into the mountains. They could land inside the

perimeter of her forces."

"They don't have the training for it," Creasy answered. "And they don't have the resources.

There isn't a single airborne battalion in the country. The most they could do would be to airlift

a few hundred troops by helicopter...and they wouldn't be enough."

The American shrugged and asked: "And you and your few friends would be enough?"

"We would do it differently," Creasy explained. "It would be an in-and-out operation

conducted at night. We all know each other very well and have fought together many times. The

Khmer Rouge are peasant soldiers without much sophistication or training."

He turned back to the bungalow and the others followed him. Inside, he opened a map on the

table and pointed to the area.

"It's only thirty miles from the Thai border south of Bangkok."

He turned to Jennings. "I've had a change of mind and a change of plan. Connie Crum has read

my mind and she assumes that I'll parachute onto that temple compound during the night some

time in the next few days. We know from that report that she has a strong presence in Bangkok

with her own companies and more than a hundred employees. I have to make her believe that

I'm going to do exactly what she thinks. And I need your help on that."

The American was eager. "What do you need?"

"First, information. There must be at least one or two private flying clubs in the Bangkok area. I

need to know what equipment they have and whether they charter out their aircraft. Second, I

want to know if there's a shop in Bangkok that sells parachutes of the sporting kind. You know,

they're like a wing and used by parachute clubs."

Jennings said: "Well, if there's no shop, I can certainly arrange to have some flown in."

Creasy shook his head. "It's better if there's a shop. Guido and I will be leaving for Bangkok

tomorrow. The rest of my team will be there. It's almost certain Connie Crum's organization will

have Guido and myself followed. They'll probably have our hotel phones bugged. We need to

be seen to charter an aircraft for a certain night and to buy parachutes. What they must not know

is that in the meantime, we acquire two Land Rovers or their Japanese equivalent and various

armaments. Connie Crum has to confirm we're coming in from the air." He pointed at the map.

"She and her people will be looking up into the dark sky while we cross the Thai border."

"What about Susanna's message?" asked Guido.

Creasy shrugged. "There'll be no message. That was just Connie Crum stalling."

Chapter 59

"We're going to make a deal," Connie said.

"What kind of deal?" de Witt answered.

He was sitting on the stone floor with his left wrist shackled to an iron ring set in the wall. She

was sitting at the table, dressed in jeans and a cream silk blouse and drinking a glass of chilled

white wine. Behind her, two sentinels cut from stone, were her black-clad, female guards with

their Tokarev pistols at their hips.

She took a delicate sip and said: "I'm going to give you your life and you're going to give me

some advice."

His laugh contained no humour. "That's some kind of a deal. I give you the advice and then you

kill me anyway."

She shook her head. "No. I'm even going to release you in a few minutes. You can take a shower

and go and see your girlfriend. And then, in a few days, I'll arrange to have you sent over to

Thailand together with your sapphires."

He thought about that for a few moments and then realized he had no choice anyway. He asked:

"What advice do you need?"

"I need advice about the man you hate. The man called Creasy."

His head jerked up. "Creasy?"

"Yes. He'll be visiting me here within the next two or three days."

She laughed at the sudden look of fear on his face and said: "Don't worry, Dutchman. He

doesn't know you're here. He'll arrive by air, probably with his friend, Guido Arrellio."

The Dutchman got control of his mind. "By air? But there's no airstrip here."

"He doesn't need one. He'll come at night by parachute and he'll drop right into the centre of

your minefield, right next to the temple. He'll never leave that place. I'll be waiting with my

men."

"Why would Creasy come here?" he asked.

"Because he's looking for an American called Jake Bentsen who was his friend many years ago.

But Bentsen died three years ago. Creasy doesn't know that. He thinks he might be in that

temple." She smiled as if at a private joke. "Creasy stands by his friends with the same fervour as

he kills his enemies...You are not his friend, are you, Piet?"

The Dutchman shook his head. "No; and if he finds me, he'll kill me."

She reached out and stroked an elegant hand down his arm.

"He will not kill you, Piet. He's my enemy and I'll kill him."

In a puzzled voice, the Dutchman asked: "Why is he your enemy?"

"Because he killed my father. I've waited seventeen years for this moment. I have planned for it

and spent a great deal of money. Every morning as soon as I wake up and every night before I

go to sleep, I've waited for the moment. I was seventeen years old when I saw him kill my father.

It's in my eyes now: the silenced bullet into his head; and then the flames. I watched it through

the window and then I ran away. Creasy walked away as though he had just destroyed a cat or a

dog. I made a promise to myself that night: one day, I would kill him like he killed my father.

That promise is about to be fulfilled. Everything is ready. He comes in confusion, not knowing

what to expect. But I know his mind exactly. He was a para and so was his friend Guido. They

like to use parachutes. It's his favourite way of getting into a difficult situation. And for sure he'll

get in, but he'll never get out!"

"So what advice do you want from me?" the Dutchman asked.

"You're a mercenary," she answered. "You've worked with him in the past. What weapons will

he bring?"

The Dutchman thought for only a moment, then answered:

"He'll come armed to the teeth. He'll have a Uzi machine-gun, it's his favourite. He'll have

grenades, plenty of them, certainly fragmentation and possibly phosphorous. He'll have a pistol

and a knife. But he'll have something else which is more dangerous."

"What is that?"

The Dutchman's eyes almost glazed in thought and memory.

"He'll have a ferocity like you've never seen. When he fights, he has no thoughts. Everything is

instinct. I've never seen anything like it. I once trapped a civet cat in South Africa when I was a

boy. It had been killing my father's chickens on the farm. I set what we call a VIP trap. It's where

you bend a branch of a tree down or a sapling, peg it to the ground with a length of wire and a

noose at the end. When the cat steps on a twig, which is like a trigger, the noose tightens around

its leg and the branch is released. I caught that civet cat and it was dancing around. I was

fourteen years old at the time and I had a shotgun. Pound for pound, the civet cat is the most

vicious animal in Africa. I tell you, I've never seen anything like it. It was tied by its leg, but it

took me six rounds before I could hit it. And then another four before I could finish it off. I

never forgot its eyes: bright yellow and so full of hate. And even though it was tied down, I felt

the fear to my balls.

I never saw anything like that hatred again or felt that fear until one night

many years later when I had a fight with Creasy. The problem was that I didn't have a shotgun

and his leg was not tied down. I don't care how many men you've got or how much firepower.

But Gott verdam, you'd better be careful!"

She was smiling. Her whole body was smiling. Her mind was far away, but her eyes were

looking at the Dutchman. He felt an involuntary shiver. He was looking at a civet cat. A cat that

did not release its prey.

Chapter 60

Mark Jennings was like a stray puppy who had found a home: all energy and smiles.

The extent of his devotion to Susanna was almost embarrassing. He hung on her every word

and jumped to her every suggestion. During one of the brief moments when he was absent

making a phone call, Creasy remarked to her: "It's like you have him on a mental lead."

"I'm not sure I like it," she answered ruefully.

"Don't let it bother you," Creasy answered. "It's not every woman who has a CIA agent in the

palm of her hand. With the resources at his disposal, he could probably arrange to rob the local

National Bank and shower you with riches."

"I don't need riches. At any moment soon he's going to make a physical pass at me."

Creasy shrugged. "It's no problem, Susanna. Just threaten him with sexual harassment. Every

full-blooded American male is terrified of those two words. They are the greatest invention that

the women's liberation movement ever came up with." His voice turned mockingly stern. "But

don't do that until this mission is over. Jennings is proving very useful and also inventive. His

idea of trying to recruit a turned Khmer Rouge soldier from that region as a guide is a very

good one. There have been quite a few hundred who have deserted in recent weeks to the