Chapter 47
Were you two ever going to tell me about the Chinese safe house?” Davi asked, her glossy black bob swinging as angrily as she was walking.
They had all exited Morrell’s ritzy condo building on Lang Suan Road and were headed down the sidewalk south, toward Lumphini Park.
While everyone in Bangkok was talking about the RBSC bombing, no one around them would have guessed that they were also discussing Cambodia, a covert Chinese team, and a geopolitical situation that was growing more combustible by the hour.
“You assholes,” Davi continued. “The Chinese safe house. The blister packs. The shootout at the periodontist’s building.
The dead embassy security agents. The missing corpse I stupidly lent you.
Were any of those details ever going to make their way to me, or was I supposed to keep finding them out one surprise at a time? ”
Morrell, who was well acquainted with Davi’s salty language when angry, looked over at Harvath, who took his time responding.
“Yes,” he finally said, “we were going to tell you.”
Davi stopped so abruptly that both men had to check themselves. “You were going to tell me,” she repeated. “After what? After Thailand blamed Cambodia and full-scale war broke out? After Koebler disappeared? After this entire thing slipped even further out of our hands?”
“We didn’t want to give you fragments,” said Morrell.
Davi cut him a look. “You were sitting on evidence tied to a string of mass-casualty bombings. I don’t care if they were subatomic particles. Any and all evidence should have come to me.”
“We were wrong,” Harvath said. “We should have brought it to you sooner. That’s on me.”
They crossed the street in silence. When they reached the other side, Davi said, “Start with the safe house.”
“We got the address from the surviving embassy security agent,” he said. “He told us he’d driven the embassy physician there to treat a Chinese businessman with a gunshot wound. By the time we got there, the place had been abandoned—in a hurry.”
Davi kept her eyes on him. “What did you find?”
“Signs of recent medical treatment,” he replied. “Burned papers in one of the sinks. A bloodied jacket in the bedroom with what looked like a bullet hole. And in the kitchen trash, Rick found the two empty blister packs for Cambodian SIM cards.”
Her expression hardened. “And the shootout at the periodontist’s building?”
“We triggered the beacon on the watch we told you about,” said Morrell, picking it up.
“First a woman posing as a cleaning lady came, took a quick look around, and then bugged out. Then came the embassy security agents. When they started shooting, a Chinese tactical team showed up and also started shooting. During the firefight, we lost the corpse you loaned us.”
It was obvious by her glare that she knew he wasn’t being completely forthright. Nevertheless, they were getting close to their rendezvous in the park. “The embassy security agent,” she asked. “The one you took captive. Where is he now?”
“He’s being looked after.”
“That’s not what I asked, Richard.”
“My guys have him in a safe house. He’s fine.”
Davi’s eyes widened. “Fine? Nothing about this is fine. I’ve got dead Chinese and dead Cambodians all over the fucking place, not to mention dead and injured Thai citizens, Americans, Brits, Aussies, Japanese, Kiwis, and scores more. So stop telling me things are fine.”
Even though Morrell hadn’t technically told her “things” were fine, he knew better than to argue and, instead, kept his mouth shut. Better to let Harvath walk face-first into that buzz saw, which was exactly what he did.
“For what it’s worth,” said Harvath, “we honestly weren’t trying to cut you out. We were trying to understand what we had before dumping it in your lap.”
Davi stared at him for several steps. “You don’t get to decide that for me.”
They walked on without talking as the edge of Lumphini Park came into view. Parents with strollers, picture-taking tourists, and joggers moved along the paths ahead, none of them paying the trio any attention.
Finally, Davi spoke again. “If you’re still leaving anything out, now’s the time to tell me.”
“You’re fully up to speed now,” said Harvath, as he noticed Ashby and Palmer at the rendezvous point.
She looked at him as if deciding whether or not to call bullshit. “Let’s hope you’re right.”
Harvath’s two teammates were approaching from the opposite direction. Palmer was carrying a plain canvas tote.
When he went to hand the bag to Morrell, Davi extended her hand. “Right here. Thank you.”
Palmer looked to Morrell, who gave a small nod.
Davi took the tote and opened it. Inside were two clear plastic bags. Each contained an empty blister pack with Khmer script. She studied them for a moment and then looked up at Harvath.
“Who else knows about these?” she asked.
“Just us.”
“Not the embassy? Not Langley?”
“Not yet,” said Morrell. “Why?”
“Because whoever is behind these bombings,” Davi replied, “they want Thailand focused squarely on Cambodia.”
“When maybe they should be focused on China.”
Davi nodded. “If Beijing is responsible, Thailand should be the one who learns it first. And Thailand should decide what action to take. All I want is a fair crack at this before your CIA and State Department get involved.”
“I think we owe you that much,” said Morrell. “In the meantime, we need to find Koebler before he leaves the country. The minute he crosses the border, we may never see him again.”
“And what he’s done in Bangkok,” Harvath added, “he may do on an even greater and more horrific scale somewhere else.”
She didn’t disagree. Closing the tote, she said, “If Koebler’s trying to get out, he’ll need help. Find him, and we may find the people behind him.”