Brett Battles - Little Girl Gone

“Now,” Logan said.

The headman waved at the two parked cars. Instantly, they pulled into the street. Only instead of merging with traffic, they drove across the lanes, and halted, creating a roadblock. The lead car was all the way on the road, while the second car hung partially over the shoulder.

Immediately cars slowed to a stop and began honking, but the Burmese drivers didn’t move.

The van appeared around the curve only a few seconds later than Logan thought it would. A quick calculation told him that it was going to be about six cars back in the jam up. Other cars were still coming around the bend after it, so it would immediately be hemmed in.

“Stay in the outside lane,” Logan whispered to himself, as he backed into the cover of the bushes. “Stay in the outside lane.”

It did.

Then, as it came down the final part of the hill, it slowed to a crawl, and finally to a stop at the back of the traffic jam.

“Okay,” he said to the headman, then pointed at the line of traffic. “Start them moving around.”

The man nodded, then he and several of his men ran over to the car that was sitting halfway in the wide area. Together they pushed it all the way onto the road, as if it were stalled. Then the headman got the attention of the driver of the first car the outside lane, he moved his hand in an arc, directing the guy into the wide area so he could drive around the blockage.

Soon the next car in line was following suit.

Then the third. And the fourth. And the fifth.

Finally it was the van’s turn.

Logan gave the blockade driver a wave, and the guy acknowledged with a quick nod.

The van turned cautiously off the road, rocking a little on the uneven shoulder, but not stopping. Then, just as it pulled abreast of the roadblock, the blockade car shot backwards, slamming into the van’s front wheel well.

There was a crunch and a rip and an expulsion of air as the van’s tire went flat. It was better than Logan could have hoped.

Quickly, he stepped out from the bushes and over to the back of the van.

As he was sure would happen, someone on the inside turned the handle and pushed one of the back doors open. Logan slipped around the side, out of view, not worried about being seen in the side mirror. He could hear one of the Burmese men arguing with the van’s driver up front on the other side, keeping him busy.

The van rocked, and three people step out. Whoever they were, they headed around to see the damage, and deal with the problem.

If Logan hadn’t miscounted, the only ones left inside would be Bell, his Myanmar client, Elyse and Sein. There was also the driver, of course, if he had access to the back area. But he was currently preoccupied.

On hands and knees Logan crawled past the open back door so as not to be seen. Once he was clear, he got up, and peeked around the other side. There were five of the refugees there now, one talking to the driver, while the other four talked with three men who’d gotten out to see what was going on.

When Logan was sure the only people who were able to see him were the refugees, he took a step out, and gave them a quick wave. The one who saw him first said something to his friends.

Suddenly there were guns in their hands pointed at Bell’s men. Logan held a finger to his mouth, reminding them they all had to stay quiet, then turned toward the back doors.

Before he entered, he pulled out the small, palm-sized digital video camera. This would be the cherry on top of the other footage Daeng’s friends had taken. He turned the camera on, and stuck it in the front pocket of his pants so that only the portion with the lens and the microphone were exposed.

He then took two deep breaths, gripped his gun, and jumped into the back of the van.

43

“Everyone stay where you are,” Logan said, sweeping the interior with the barrel of his gun.

Immediately, he saw he’d made a miscalculation. Instead of the four people he expected to find, there were five.

Sitting on the bench that ran along right were Bell, Elyse and the guy from Myanmar. On the bench to the left were Sein, and the man who’d been sent to kill Tooney.

Tooney’s attacker stared at Logan, shocked.

“Nice to know you remember me,” Logan said.

“Remember you?” Bell asked. He looked at his man. “Who the hell is he?”

But the guy seemed too stunned to speak, so Logan explained for him. “We met last week in a refrigerator in Cambria.”

“Cambria? Wait. You’ve got to be kidding me, right?” He looked at his man sitting next to Sein. “This is the guy who screwed you up? What the hell’s he doing here?” He turned back to Logan. “Hey, what the hell are you doing here?”

“All of you. Toss your weapons over here,” Logan told them.

“I asked you a question,” Bell said.

“And I gave you an order,” Logan told him.”

Bell smiled and shook his head. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with, do you? If I were you, I’d back right out that door, and get the hell out of here.”

“Is that right? Well, I’ve recently been told I’m stubborn, so that’s probably not going to happen.”

“If you’re still here when my men come back, I’m not going to be able to let you go. But I’ll tell you what. If you leave now, I’m willing to forget about it.”

“You’d do that? You’re a real generous man, Mr. Andrews.” Logan paused, then said, “Oh, sorry. I should probably call you by your real name. Mr. Bell.”

Bell’s smile faltered.

“Yeah, I do know who I’m dealing with,” Logan told him. “I also know your friend here is with the Myanmar secret police. And, if I’m not mistaken, that you were planning on transferring these two ladies to him. Now, I’m not a lawyer, nor do I work for one like you do…what’s that firm’s name? Bracher Schwartz?…Anyway, this looks a lot like human trafficking to me.”

“What’s your name?”

“Logan Harper.”

“You are so out of your depth, Mr. Harper. This is not going to end well for you.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Absolutely.”

“How, exactly, do you think you’re going to pull that off?”

“My reach is a hell of a lot longer than yours.”

“Oh, that’s right. You’re the guy who makes things happen, aren’t you? Like this business deal? Sein, here, for Burmese offshore oil rights? I’m pretty sure LRB Oil’s shareholders aren’t going to be too happy when news of this transaction comes out.” That had been the connection Logan had found during his web search on Daeng’s Phone, a direct link between LRB Oil and Lyon Exploratory Research.

Bell glanced at his man. “Perry, shoot him. Now.”

Perry fumbled with his coat, then started pulling a gun out from under it.

“Don’t do it, Perry,” Logan told him.

But he didn’t listen. As soon as Logan saw the handle of the man’s pistol, he pulled his own trigger.

Logan had killed two men before that moment, including the man who shot Carl. Perry was his third.

In the distance, he could hear sirens. They weren’t the same rhythms and tones he was used to from the States, but there was no mistaking the police were on the way.

“Either of you two armed?” he asked Bell and his client.

Bell shook his head, while the Myanmar man reluctantly pulled a gun out of his pocket, and tossed it on the floor.

“Good. So, shall we just sit and wait?” Logan asked.

“Do something,” the man from the secret police said to Bell.

“You can have the women,” Bell told Logan. “Just let us go.”

“No!” the other man blurted out. “That woman is traitor to her country.” He shot up from the bench, and stepped towards Sein. “She commit crime against my government. She tell lies everywhere she go. She come with me.”