第 32 页

watch. "It'll take half an hour," he said. "Let's have some coffee, Guido."

They quietly climbed out of the jeep and the Italian produced a Thermos flask and three plastic

mugs. He also produced a small medicine bottle and shook three pills out into his palm. Creasy

took one and gestured at the Cambodian to do the same.

"It's Dexedrine," he explained. "It keeps you awake and alert. It's banned by the Olympic

Athletics Committee, but I don't think anyone will turn up here to give us a test."

Nol Pol washed down the pill with his coffee and asked: "So now we just wait?"

"Yes, we wait for Maxie to call in. No one is going to surprise us." Creasy gestured off to his

left. "Rene is out there on the left flank and The Owl on the right flank." He took a sip of his

coffee and asked: "How long were you with the Khmer Rouge?"

For the next twenty minutes, prompted by the curious questions of Creasy and Guido, the

Cambodian talked about the insanity of the Pol Pot regime. He described how anyone with an

education was considered an enemy of the State, and the absurdity of the fact that Pol Pot and

all his cadres were educated men themselves. He talked of the collective madness where even

infants of educated people were considered tainted and to save wasting a bullet were clubbed to

death.

"It's always the kids," Creasy remarked.

The Cambodian nodded and said: "It was Day One. I'll never forget listening to the cadre on

that day when we took Phnom Penh. He addressed the soldiers in my unit and told us the

Khmer people had no history. Our culture, our temples and our monks were nothing and would

be destroyed. We were beginning the first day of the Khmer people. Everything that happened

before Day One had to be eliminated. We would be a clean and new people. We cheered and the

killing began. It was a mass blood lust. After a while, killing people became meaningless. It was

part of our new culture."

"It's not the first time it has happened," Guido said sombrely.

"And it won't be the last."

They were interrupted by Maxie's voice coming from the radio clipped to Creasy's webbing.

"Red One to Green One."

Creasy pulled up the radio. "Green One, go ahead."

"I'm in the village. It's just a cluster of houses and huts. No sign of Khmer Rouge activity. The

only lights are in the main house. I managed to get a look through a window. There's a Caucasian

guy in there, shackled to the wall, with two guards wearing Khmer Rouge uniforms. They're

sitting at a table drinking beer. I've done a complete perimeter check and there's no activity at

all. Over."

Creasy pushed the 'Send' button on the radio. "Green One to Red One. Good situation. We're

coming in. Meet us half way. Green One to Red Two and Three. Start moving in two minutes,

staying a hundred metres out on the flanks. After we take that house, close in, but stay outside

and cover. Green One to Base. Do you copy?"

The Dane's voice came in with a slight crackle. "We copy."

Creasy said: "We should acquire that house in the next fifteen minutes. Then I'll call you to have

that aircraft take off." He switched off the radio and clipped it back onto his webbing, picked up

his SMG and said: "Let's go!"

Chapter 72

The Dutchman had decided that he was going to die in spite of Connie Crum's consoling

words. He had been in danger many times in his life, but had never felt the premonition of

death. He felt it now. He looked at the two Khmer Rouge soldiers sitting at the wooden table

laughing and joking, and he felt the rage welling up inside him. He had been paid for the job, but

he had done the job well. He always did his work well. It was a matter of principle, regardless of

the paymaster. He looked at the shackle on his left wrist. It seemed to represent his entire life.

He had never been really free. There was always someone to tell him what to do and how to do

it. His one regret was Tan Sotho. He had become fond of her. It was not a word normally

associated with people like him.

The rusty hinges of the door squeaked as it opened. The Dutchman looked up. Creasy was

standing there. He had a revolver in his hand, unbalanced by a fat silencer.

The Khmer Rouge soldiers scrambled for their rifles. Creasy shot them both. As they fell to the

floor he stood aside and another man came through with a submachine-gun held ready.

De Witt recognized Guido Arrellio. He moved quickly to the two soldiers and checked that

they were dead. Then he nodded to Creasy, who walked over to de Witt and looked down at

him. He said: "I told you the last time I saw you that if I ever saw your face again, I'd kill you."

De Witt laughed harshly and said: "It makes no odds. If you don't, she will."

"She is Connie Crum? She's in the temple now?"

"Yes. She is waiting for you." He laughed again. "She expected you to come by parachute."

"How many men does she have?"

"I don't know. Nobody knows."

Guido had moved over to stand beside Creasy. He asked the Dutchman: "How long have you

been here?"

"Ten months."

"Have you seen any Americans?"

"No. But there were some here until about three years ago. They were prisoners of war and they

were used to clear mines. I was told that the last one got blown up three years ago."

"Who told you?" Creasy asked.

"A woman, she's Vietnamese. She was trapped here. They make her work as a prostitute. She

has a young son by one of the Americans."

He looked up into Creasy's eyes and said: "Whatever you do to me and anybody else, I ask a

last favour: that she is not hurt."

Creasy glanced down at him and replied: "I don't make war on women who don't make war on

me...You laid the minefield round that temple?"

"Yes...It was a work of art."

"How many accesses are there?"

"Just one, only a metre wide."

"You have a map?"

"No. No-one has a map. The men I trained here laid that field with me. After it was finished, she

had them all killed."

"So how did she get into the temple?"

The Dutchman shrugged. "I showed her the bearings. She took notes."

Creasy turned to look at the two dead soldiers and then gestured at the shackle on de Witt's

wrist. He asked: "Do they have the key?"

"No, she has the only key."

Creasy said to Guido: "Call The Owl. He'll open that thing up."

As Guido walked to the door, Creasy asked de Witt: "Where are that girl and her child now?"

"She lives in the house at the end of the track with her son. Her name is Tan Sotho."

Guido returned with The Owl. Creasy pointed at the shackle. "Can you open that?"

The Owl squatted down and looked at it, then pulled out his lock-pick. "No problem," he said.

"It'll take a couple of minutes."

Creasy said to Guido: "There's a woman called Tan Sotho who lives in the house at the end of

the track. She has a young child. Please bring them both here."

Guido went back to the door. Creasy asked de Witt: "What do you know about the Khmer

Rouge deployments in this area?"

The Dutchman looked up and said: "Before I tell you anything else, answer this question. Are

you going to kill me?"

Creasy shook his head. "As far as I'm concerned you're vermin and you always were, but I'm not

going to kill you. In about half an hour, you're going to lead me through that minefield. Then, if

we get out, I'll take you back to Thailand and you go free."

The Dutchman thought about that and then nodded. He said: "I hate your guts, but you're

known as a man who keeps his word. There were a lot of Khmer Rouge in this area until about

two weeks ago when Connie Crum moved them out to the southeast. As far as I know, there's

only one detachment remaining, which is in a village called Ak Lau about a mile due south from

here with about twenty men."

The Owl had done his work. He pulled open the shackle. De Witt stood up, stretched his frame

and rubbed his wrist.

"Don't try anything," Creasy said, "or you'll surely die. I have other men outside, men like Maxie

Macdonald and Rene Callard...Not exactly friends of yours."

"You brought the cream," de Witt said wryly.

The door opened and Guido ushered in the woman and the child. She looked at the two dead

bodies and then at de Witt. Her fear was evident in her eyes.

"Do you speak English?" Creasy asked.

She nodded.

"Then understand that you have nothing to fear from us. We will leave soon for Thailand. If you

wish, you can come with us, with your son."

The boy had a round face and button eyes. He was holding on to his mother's leg. Creasy asked

her: "Do you know a man called Jake Bentsen?"

"Yes."

"What happened to him?"

"He was killed clearing a minefield."

"When?"

"About three years ago."

Creasy was looking at the boy. "Is that his son?" he asked.

She hesitated, and then said: "I think so...I hope so. Jake was a good man, gentle and honest. He

never hurt me like some of the others do." She put her hand upon the boy's head. "Jake died

three months before Kori was born."

Guido had pulled the two dead bodies into a corner and covered them with the stained cloth

from the table. Creasy asked de Witt: "When Connie Crum was here, where did she stay?"

"In the house next door."

Creasy turned to The Owl and said: "Go and check that house. Look into every room, look for

documents and maps. If you locate a safe, try to open it. But you only have ten minutes." To

Guido he said: "Radio Jens. I want that plane to take off from Bangkok in five minutes." He

turned to Tan Sotho and gestured at the table and chairs. "Please sit down. I want you to stay in

this room with your son until we return."

As she sat down with her son on her lap, Creasy asked: "Do you know a man called Van Luk

Wan?"

Before she answered, he saw the look of distaste on her face. "Yes. He's a bastard and a sadist.

I'm ashamed that he's a Vietnamese."

De Witt said: "He was with Connie Crum yesterday, and I guess he's still with her now."

Creasy nodded in satisfaction. "Good. This time I won't miss."

Tan Sotho was watching his face. Abruptly, she said: "You're Creasy?"

He glanced at Guido and then asked her: "How would you know that?"

"Because Jake spoke about you. He was your friend."

Creasy sighed. "Yes, he was my friend. And I'm sorry I got here three years too late."

Chapter 73

The satellite phone buzzed and Connie Crum grabbed up the receiver. She put it to her ear and

listened, then gave Van Luk Wan a wicked grin. She said: "That chartered plane has just taken off

from Bangkok. It filed a flight plan for Phnom Penh, and of course it will make a slight diversion

over here."

She spoke a few words into the phone, then hung up and looked at her watch. "My people

confirmed that there were two passengers, both Caucasians and carrying big canvas bags. I

estimate that they'll be overhead in half an hour." She stood up and carried a can of petrol from

the table to the marble sarcophagus. She placed it reverently on a corner, saying: "In twenty

minutes we turn on the gas. And then I soak the wood and we burn Creasy black!"

Chapter 74

The Owl returned ten minutes later, accompanied by Rene.

Together they carried a large wooden box and in his left hand The Owl had a leather pouch.

They hefted the box onto the table and Rene went back out. The Owl tossed the leather pouch

to Creasy, saying: "There was an old French-made safe, a MITEL. I did my apprenticeship on

those things. That was inside."

Creasy untied the drawstring of the pouch. Inside were hundreds of sapphires. He passed the

pouch to Guido, saying: "We got lucky, at least on the financial side."

Guido held the pouch, but did not look inside. His eyes were focused on the wooden box and

the lettering on its side, which was in French.

"Where did you find that?" he asked The Owl.

"In a storeroom at the back of the house."

They all approached the table. The black lettering stated: 'Costumes et masques protecteurs

contenant calciumhypochloride contre gas neurotique de type V. 8 unites'.

Creasy, Guido and The Owl immediately understood the implication, but de Witt had no

French. Creasy translated for him. "Protective clothing and gas masks containing

calciumhypochloride against V-type nerve gas. Eight units. Where the hell would that bitch get

nerve gas?" he asked.

Guido hefted the leather pouch in his hand. He said: "This alone would buy half a chemical

factory."

The Owl had prised open the top of the wooden box. He said: "There are four suits and masks

here. It originally contained eight." He started to lift out the bright yellow overalls and the

masks.

De Witt said: "No wonder she was confident. She knows all about you and Arrellio. She knows

about your character and your history. I never met anyone in my life more cunning and more

frightening than that woman."

"If we had dropped into that compound, we would have been dead in seconds," Guido mused.

Creasy looked at his watch.

"She'll be sitting up there now, together with Van Luk Wan, dressed in this gear and waiting for

us to drop out of the sky. She's going to get a nasty surprise. We move in five minutes. De Witt

will take us through the minefield. We need something to lay a trail for when we get out."

Guido walked across the small room into the kitchen and came back holding up a large bag of