The Peninsula’s breakfast was a delightful buffet, up to Oroshi’s lofty standards. He sat at a table on the terrace overlooking the Chao Phraya river and relaxed in his chair, seemingly determined to enjoy every bite of the buffet’s offerings. The chair next to his was temporarily empty as his Bangkok contact was filling up his own plate.

  Finding Kaori in the police quarters at the Peninsula Hotel had been quite a surprise, but it had not been hard. Masamune’s Thai operations involved a lot of police contacts, many of whom were on his extensive bribing payroll. Bribes were an expected part of the police’s revenues at all levels—no one survived on a policeman’s salary.

  Knowing that Ma?l had gone into the airport’s police station made tracking him shockingly easy. Noi was a popular guy, and Masamune had several men working at the airport. Rumors of Noi’s fight with a farang and the gorgeous Japanese lady were going around on their own. And if that didn’t make things easy enough, his current assignment at the Peninsula was drawing a lot of envy. Who didn’t want to be assigned to a 5 stars hotel to oversee the Songkran festivities? That was better than most vacations!

  By the time Oroshi landed in Bangkok, Masamune’s agents had not only confirmed their presence at the Peninsula hotel, they even had the room number.

  Hunting stupid prey was barely a sport, but at least, they had managed to get him all the way to Bangkok, which was better than expected, Oroshi thought. Through sheer luck they had evaded him for a whole week, but this ended now.

  Masamune’s point man was an older Japanese gentleman, a former military officer who had his entries in Thai high society. He was slim, but sharply dressed and still energetic in spite of his age. He sat next to Oroshi carrying a plate of fresh fruits and another coffee.

  “How long now?” Oroshi asked.

  Haru smiled. Ah, the impatience of youth. He looked at his watch. Five minutes to subdue the victims, two minutes to inject a sleeping drug. Six minutes to wait for the drugs to be fully effective. Ten more minutes to stuff the man and the girl in oversized bags—Moving inert bodies was harder work than one would think. Add another ten minutes to come down the elevator and navigate to the truck waiting in the parking garage… Thirty three minutes total, twelve minutes to go.

  People think a kidnapping is near instant. That might be true in the street for a hit and grab job, but not in the middle of a fancy hotel in a floor full of police officers!

  “We should have a confirmation in about fifteen minutes, but with the mess going on in the streets, we’d be lucky if the truck arrives at the factory before the evening.” Haru said.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  People either loved Songkran, or they hated it. Haru was firmly in the latter category. That any random peon could spray him with water offended his dignity and he usually stayed well away from the capital during the festivities. Sadly, Masamune had demanded his presence, so there he was, but he wasn’t happy about it.

  He pulled up the Bangkok Post and scanned the financial section, apparently unconcerned by the operations in the upper floor.

  Oroshi observed the man. His competence was not in question—Masamune would never put someone incompetent in charge, but he couldn’t help the feeling something was wrong. He pulled his phone. Haru looked at him and the phone… and he sighed!

  Oroshi calmly pocketed the phone. The man was right. There was no point calling. Either the operation was going as planned or it wasn’t. What was he going to do anyway? Rush into a building full of police and try to extract a man and a woman on his own? No matter how badly things went, he couldn’t take action here personally.

  Besides, he had plenty of time. Now that he had caught their trail, he’d get to them eventually. He stood up and went to get himself another pastry and a bowl of cereals.

  Western breakfasts aren’t healthy, but they sure are tasty, he thought as he filled his bowl. Away from Haru’s gaze, he glanced at his watch again. Nine minutes to go. He walked back to the table as he noticed the sound of an helicopter overhead. It was taking off and leaving, heading South. His instincts were screaming failure.

  He sat down, looking at Haru.

  “The operation failed.” Oroshi said in a neutral tone of voice. He was raging inside but kept his poker face.

  Haru placed the paper down on the table, looked at his watch and back at Oroshi. He was about to lecture him on the virtues of patience, but something in his tone stopped him. Oroshi wasn’t nervous, worried or angry, he was simply stating a fact.

  “You might be right” Haru said, noncommittally. His watch said the operation was still in play, but he could feel Oroshi’s instinct was correct, somehow.

  “Can you find out who was flying the helicopter that just left and where it is going?”

  “Certainly, Oroshi-sama. But we need to wait a few hours to avoid arising suspicions.”

  Oroshi bowed in acknowledgment of the “Sama” title he’d been given. Haru had never addressed him with that much respect and it made the temporary failure almost worth it: it was Haru’s operation, after all, and being able to call it a failure gave him some measure of leverage.

  “Let me know as soon as you find their new hideout, I’ll be in my apartments.”

  Oroshi walked out, pastry in hand, and took a speedboat. In the middle of Songkran, cruising the river was by far the easiest way to get around, if you didn’t have an helicopter. He looked up and to the South. The helicopter was long gone. He had no evidence Kaori was on board, but he felt sure that was the case.

  Run, Kaori, run. he whispered to himself and allowed himself a smile.

  She made a great prey, after all.