Colin Cotterill - Grandad, Thereэ's head on the beach

"Well, they're right here," I said, pointing to Ning and Somjit, neither of whom seemed the least embarrassed to be standing there in their underwear.

"And the least you can do is allow them to protect their dignity," said Mair.

She pushed past one of the other gray safaris into the room and came out with sheets, which she draped around the grinning co-op ladies. Another safari came back from the carport and whispered into Meaty's ear.

"Enough of this," said the boss. He was obviously used to striking terror into the hearts of people. Arny was off lifting weights at the gym; otherwise I knew he'd be quivering now at all this aggression. The rest of us weren't particularly impressed, but we felt obliged to assume the submissive role of ignorant country folk.

"I want the owner of that Honda, and I want her now," yelled Meaty.

He kicked the fence post in front of the cabin for effect. It shattered into a hundred shards. It was riddled with termites, so that wasn't as impressive as it looked. But the sound woke the dogs, and seeing their pack leader in danger, they came chasing at Meaty from the rear. Theirs, too, was a silent attack. He knew nothing until they were on him. He looked down as these three little dogs ran circles around him barking laughably. They weren't a fearsome pack, and he quite rightly ignored them. Sensing their failure, they lay down on the sand and scratched.

"Well, if you know them, you stay right where you are, mister," said Grandad. "If you're a friend of theirs, you can just pay their bill for them."

"That's right," said Mair with an impressive southern lilt.

"What?" said Meaty.

"Those two stuck-up bitches drive in here with their posh accents and their snobbish airs, stay here for four nights, eat all our food and sleep in our luxury cabins, and the next thing you know, they've gone. Didn't pay a damned baht and wrecked the TV to boot."

Way to go, Grandad.

"When was this?" he asked.

"Sunday morning," I said. "We woke up and they'd gone."

"Why didn't they take the car?"

I hadn't thought that far.

"The heads had seized up in the cylinders," said Grandad. "Happens a lot down here from the salt water. Japanese. What can I say? No idea how to make a decent car."

"And you are?" asked Meaty.

"Retired mechanic," said Grandad. "Stockholder in this establishment."

"I bet they got a bus out to the airport in Surat," I said. "Probably long gone by now."

"Then explain to me why they were still in Pak Nam yesterday?" Meaty asked.

"Those bastards," said Mair. "I bet they're ripping off one of the other resorts now. If only I could get my hands on…

At that moment, one of the safari suits tapped his boss on the shoulder and pointed toward the road. My hero in brown turned into the car park on his police motorbike and headed in our direction. Chompu should have stopped in front of the shop because the sand was soft out by the cabins, so his arrival wasn't as impressive as it might have been. He got bogged down in the sand and fell over sideways. The safari suits exchanged glances while he got himself up.

"They're vandals, officer," said Mair. "Look what they've done with our doors. Arrest them."

"What's going on here?" asked Chompu in a particularly manly voice.

Meaty sized him up, probably deciding whether to shoot him.

"Come with me, Lieutenant," he said and started to walk toward the kitchen block. Chompu stood his ground.

"Tell me why I should be taking orders from you," said Chompu.

"Because you'd be very sorry if you didn't."

Wisely, I thought, Chompu walked a few meters away and stood beside Meaty, who seemed to be getting something out of his pocket. They faced away from us, heads bowed while Meaty spoke in hushed tones. Chompu nodded, then wai'd. When Meaty returned to us, Chompu stayed back as an observer.

"What cabin were the women in?" Meaty asked.

"Two," I said. And one of the safaris went immediately into that room without being told.

"Did they leave anything behind?" asked Meaty.

"A busted TV," said Mair.

The safari came out of the room shaking his head.

"We'll be back," said Meaty. "You're to do nothing. Tell no one about this visit. If the women come back for their car, you'll call this number immediately."

He handed me a card with nothing but a cell phone number on it.

"Mr….?" I said.

The unwanted visitors turned and hurried back toward the car.

"Who's going to pay for all this damage?" Mair shouted.

I squeezed her arm. The car doors slammed, the tires kicked up gravel, and they were gone. The engine sound soon blended into the growl of the surf. I smiled and walked around to each of the members of our cast and squeezed their hands. It had been a creditable ensemble performance. Chompu came over to join us.

"My knight," I said. "Thanks for coming, Chom."

"I'm not sure I helped at all."

"I don't know. They were a scary bunch. Who were they?"

"I've been ordered not to tell you that they were from Special Branch. But some elite faction that deals with- what he referred to as-higher matters."

"You'd better not tell us then."

"Sounds like the gray squad," said Grandad. "They only come out when there's something heavy-duty happening. And if they've been running checks on the banks and the post offices, that's a lot of manpower. Exactly what have your two ladies got themselves tied up in?"

"Exactly what two ladies are we talking about?" asked Chompu.

I'd had very little time to explain the details of our resort resident problem.

"I assume this has nothing to do with the Burmese?" he said.

I remembered Aung.

"The Burmese. Right," I said and I turned my phone back on. "I tell you what, Captain Waew, why don't you brief the lieutenant? We can't have any secrets here now. I reckon we'll have a couple of hours at the most before they've scoured all the resorts and come back here for a second round. We have to get the Noys to a safe house."

"We've got a little house out back," said Somjit of the co-op. "It used to be our grandmother's till the cow fell on her. It's comfortable though. Not much of a hike to the outside toilet."

"They can wear disguises," said Ning.

The girls had no idea what was going on, but they were quick to get into the spirit of things. Even when we'd first dragged them over from the shop and told them the Noys were in danger, they'd been quick to strip off.

"Call them up," said Grandad.

Waew let out an impressive whistle without the use of his fingers, and two of the cockle collectors looked up from beneath their broad cowboy hats. He gestured them over. The Noys walked up the sand wearing the sarongs and

T-shirts the co-op ladies had been wearing earlier. Their cockle dredgers were cardboard election placards. Their shell harvest was unimpressive, but they had survived. All that remained was for them to collect their things from cabin three and prepare their escape. Mair kept watch in case the safaris returned. I dialed Aung.

"Aung. What's up?"

"Where have you been?" he asked. "I've been-"

"You're not my only emergency. Is it Shwe?"

"He called. His battery's very low. They were being herded into a small boat," he said. "I'm not sure, but I think he said the name of the boat had the word AMOR written on one side. He couldn't read the Thai on the other."

"Did he say how many they were?"

"Seventeen. Four women. They'd brought over another bunch from a different holding center."

So, they'd got their new crew. I wondered what had happened to the previous one.

"Can you help?" he asked.

"I hope so," I said. "Keep your phone on."

And I clicked off.

I wasn't ready. I needed another day at least. I needed more people. I needed…I needed a miracle. I called Captain Kow.