‘They are a very physical people.’ English Bob steadied his gaze and locked her eyes to his. ‘You can’t apply the same rules as we do back home. You wouldn’t dream of having sex with a thirteen-year-old back home—here, it’s different.’

‘Really? You think they develop differently?’

‘Yes, that’s it. They are much more…sexualised.’

‘Is that due to the sex tourism?’

‘Oh no. It has been like that for ever. Most of it starts in their own home. People feel sorry for the bar girls. Let me tell you—it’s far preferable to cutting cane.’

‘Of course—now I get it!’ she said, trying to hide the sarcasm from her voice. She wondered whether he could be any more loathsome.

‘Yes! I used to feel sorry for them myself. But then I married one of them. Now I have half a dozen of the little smilers running around. So I’m never sure who took advantage of who.’

‘How lovely—a family man!’

‘Wouldn’t swap it for anything. It’s a great life, I’m sure. What about yourself? You been married long?’

‘We are on our honeymoon. So far, so good.’

‘Ha…’ He made ready to go. ‘The honeymoon period…Make the most of it, and when you discover he’s been cheating, come and see me. I have a very sympathetic side.’ He grinned at Becky. His eyes went liquid, his lips went wet. ‘And let me know if you need another foot massage. I’ll do it myself, happily.’ He backed away grinning, then his lecherous eyes turned hard and he glared at her. ‘And if you need to ask any more questions about local matters, things that only concern the people who live here, you come and see me. You can ask me as many questions as you want. You have to watch who you talk to round here…’ He stood up. ‘…loose tongues and all that.’ And, with that, English Bob disappeared up the lane.

59

Johnny Mann appeared from the other side of the bar. He leaned in and kissed Becky’s cheek.

‘Did you have a nice chat?’

‘Huh! He came

this

far…’ Becky pinched her forefinger and thumb together as if she were picking up salt ‘…to getting a punch in the mouth. If I hadn’t been afraid I’d need a tetanus jab afterwards, I would have…Sorry I took so long. I took a detour back to the room to see if our fish had taken the bait, and…’

‘Had it?’

‘Hook, line and whatever. Bags gone though. Well, your bag was gone. My stuff was obligingly set out in neat piles. They would have found everything they needed. Ng has created a great profile for us—you’re a beautician, by the way. On paper I come out as a dirty bastard and you come out as a trophy wife. By the time they finish checking us out tonight I will be just what they are looking for.’ Mann nodded in the direction that English Bob had just departed. ‘You think

he’s

bad—you should meet his best friend, Fat Harry. How did you get on?’

‘I’m afraid he knows I was asking questions.’

‘Can’t be helped. We don’t have time to pussy foot now I have an appointment with them both tomorrow. We will soon find out if they know who we are.’

‘I had disturbing news from home. Two of the women in the fire were traced here. And I talked to the women in the spa, down the beach. One of them has similar-aged girls gone missing. I got some details and faxed them over to Shrimp. He’s seeing if any of them match the burn victims. The women here are very scared. They told me that there have been a lot of girls going missing over the last year.’

‘How?’

‘Kidnapped on the walk to school. A windowless van turns up. Three men jump out, none of them local, apparently, at least one Chinese. They bundle the girls in the back. Onlookers have reported that when the doors are opened at the back, they see other girls sleeping, doped, in the van. And, surprise, surprise…who warned the girls off reporting their missing children?’

‘Our British pals?’

‘Precisely, and the women daren’t go to the police around here because the chief is part-owner of most of the bars along the beach.’

‘So I gathered from Fat Harry. Okay. We’d better make sure tomorrow is our last day here. We need to get up to Angeles. I meet them at eleven; we’ll be gone by twelve thirty. I’ll text Remy now and make sure he is ready. We might want to get out in a hurry. Another thing—I found a friend of yours…Reese the friendly pervert. He is sunbathing on the beach right now.’

‘Strange timing…does he know it’s night?’

‘It’s going to be permanently night for our friend Reese. We better get out as soon as we can tomorrow. They aren’t going to take long to find him, maybe longer to recognise him—the crabs were having a midnight feast when I left.’ Mann checked his watch—it was midnight. ‘We have twenty-four hours till the deadline is up.’

‘What if CK is setting us up to fail? What if he wants this war more than he wants his daughter’s life?’

‘CK will honour his pact. But others may not.’

‘Wait a minute…’ She stopped and turned to him. ‘You said we were going to Negros, didn’t you?’

‘Change of plan.’

She tilted her head to one side and scowled at him.

‘Don’t fucking bullshit me. You don’t trust me, why? Why did you lie?’

‘Okay—I have had emails from someone calling themselves Blanco.’

‘The name of the bogus company on the kidnap emails?’

‘Yes. He is playing a game with us. He knows where Amy Tang is being held and he knows where we are and what we are doing. He probably knows we are on this beach right now. I don’t know how he does that but I do know he holds Amy’s fate in his hands.’ Stevie Ho was watching them from the balcony of the hotel where Terry and Reese had sat having a drink. He finished dialling a number and pressed the phone to his ear.

‘Finish it. Kill her,’ he said, and closed the phone.

60

Amy watched the planes overhead. They were so near she could count the windows along the side. She waved to the pilot, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. She listened for the sounds outside. She had learned the routine of her captors very well. She knew exactly what time they relieved each other of their babysitting duties. She knew what time they would have lunch. She knew what television programs they listened to outside in the lounge. They chattered away on their mobiles, forgetting that Amy was able to understand them. Impossible for the Cantonese to talk quietly. Amy knew a lot more about them now.

Since Lenny had left, Suzanne had been in charge and the men didn’t like it. She talked to them like idiots, thought Amy. The one with the spotty face, Tony, had left, and now there was a new one. His name was Pat. He was nice to Amy. He let her come and watch telly on his shift and he bought her pizza. He played chess with her.

It was seven in the morning. Pat would be gone soon. The nasty, ugly one, Sunny, would take over. He spent the whole time talking on the phone and watching porn movies on the telly. Amy could hear it in the evenings, all the moaning and grunting.

Suzanne came and went less rigidly than the men. By now Amy understood that this was not the only place where Suzanne looked after people. There was another house that she and the two men took it in turns to go to. Amy wondered who was at that house and whether there was a girl like her. Sometimes Amy started crying. She was so bored and fed up, only Pat brought her books to read, and she couldn’t relax. She never knew what mood Suzanne was going to be in. Amy knew it was her by the way the front door closed. They all did it differently. Suzanne was precise—she clicked it shut, rather than slamming it the way Sunny did. In between was Pat. He closed it strongly but without banging. Suzanne seemed to creep in.