Gina Takes Bangkok (The Femme Vendettas) (11 page)

Obey me
. He’d sucked it back when they’d been on the yacht. A good lesson there about how to kill a man without a bullet. “You want to know the reason? I’ll tell you. I’m not interested in being used. You want to get it on with me because you think you can. You think that whatever belongs to Daddy Zaffini belongs to you. Except he doesn’t own me, and I’m not your toy to play with.”

Her honey eyes widened on him, her lips with the mismatched lipstick parted and she lifted her hand to his face—.

Ryota came into view, and Kannon had never been so relieved to see his junior. He broke away from her and stepped to the stair’s edge. “Come on. It can’t be much farther.”

Ryota’s hands were on his knees and Gina made a sympathetic mew, her attention diverted to her other lackey. Ryota looked up at him, practically begging for mercy. Kannon cut away to lead the ascent. With Gina’s backside to follow, the boy would catch his second wind soon enough.

Five more floors brought them to a heavy steel door, the UV light revealing ‘B²’ written on its surface, and before they could knock, a heavy bolt was pulled back and the door swung open.

Beyond was a large air-conditioned room lit by dozens of computer monitors. The place looked like a low-rent version of a NASA control center, a bunch of youths of every ethnicity manning terminals, surrounded by masses of cables, takeout cartons and spent soda cans.

The man who’d opened the door didn’t look the part of the hip urban hacker. He was in the full bristly blossom of middle-age, and was dressed in jeans and a white polo shirt. He and Gina exchanged bows. It was amazing how quickly she’d fallen into this traditional greeting. If Kannon and she had done that back at Cause & FX three years ago, they’d be in a completely different relationship. One where nobody felt owned or owed.

“Hello, Gina. It’s been a long time.”

Gina followed him in. “It sure has, Dr. Chai. How’s life at the top of the world treating you?”

“My enemies haven’t found me yet,” he replied. “And I’d like to keep it that way. Who are your friends?”

That was classic Dr. Chaiboonma. Always cautious and conservative. Always direct. He and Kannon would get along great, once they got beyond the nasty looks they were exchanging. “Couple of Alak’s men,” said Gina. “I’m guessing you know the situation.”

“Yes. And I see your father has decided do something about it.” He practically curled his lip at Kannon and Ryota.

Gina put her hands on her hips. “Wouldn’t you if your best friend was kidnapped?”

“Sure. Then again, I wouldn’t have Alak as a friend in the first place. To be blunt, Gina, I’m not happy that you’ve brought the likes of these men to my doorstep.”

Kannon’s hands flexed, and Gina inserted herself between him and Dr. Chaiboonma. This was not at all like the natural diplomat she’d known as a teen. Apparently there were some things she hadn’t been told during her time away. Or some things neither Darae nor her father knew about.

“Have you heard of the temple at 70 Rai?”

The old hacker’s expression grew hard and sad. “I’ve heard rumors.”

“The rumors are officially false. It doesn’t exist. Not since these two finished with it last night.”

“Your point?”

“Last night they made thirteen children very happy. When’s the last time you’ve done that?”

Dr. Chaiboonma met Kannon’s gaze, then finally bowed. Kannon and Ryota immediately responded in kind. Gina proceeded with introductions, at the conclusion of which Dr. Chai said, “Let me clear off the boardroom table and we’ll have a talk about it, okay?”

The hacker excused himself, and Kannon came alongside her, a full arm’s length away and still the space between them was so charged she could almost hear the snap, crackle, pop. “Who are these people?”

He was apparently deaf to the sound of sexual frustration. Gina focused on playing tour guide. “The Bangkok Blondes. Mercenaries to some, terrorists to others. After this building project failed, Dad agreed to help convert it into a hideout for them. Ran power, water and cable up here, and installed a bunch of satellite relays on the roof. He also spread all those spooky rumors and ghost stories I told you about to keep the locals from snooping around.”

“They aren’t true, then?” Ryota said it as if she’d burst his bubble about Santa. Kannon sliced him a look, and Ryota mumbled, “The tree of rumor grows from the seed of truth.”

Gina had never heard that proverb before and was ready to compliment Ryota when Kannon responded, “Just watch what tree you pluck your fruit from.”

Ryota blushed and stared straight ahead. “Yes, sir.”

What was that all about? Gina tried to sort through that metaphorical exchange when Kannon carried on as if there’d been no interruption. “They work for your father?”

“What? Uh…no. They’re independent, but like all the Bangkok gangs, your boss takes a cut.”

“Then why have I never heard of them?”

“The Blondes keep a very low profile. They tap phones, hack police servers and launder money through online businesses for my father, and in exchange he provides them with untraceable headquarters. Pretty good arrangement, seeing as half these people have bounties on their heads.”

“From who?”

“Jihadist groups, mainly,” Dr. Chai said, returning. “Follow me, while I explain. Back in ‘08 when India contracted me to help fight their cyber-war with Pakistan, I had no trouble enlisting the best cyber-criminals out there to help me. Only about half the people here are Thai. The rest are Chinese, Russians, Indians, Romanians—even a couple of Canadians. Kind of the U.N. of cyber-crime in the ghost tower.”

Dr. Chaiboonma had arrived at a small room where the boardroom table was covered with World of Warcraft figurines.

“Whoa,” Gina said. “Now I know you guys are for real.”

Dr. Chai gestured to the empty seats. “Part of my recruitment policy. Ensures a common corporate culture. Please sit.”

Gina and Dr. Chaiboonma sat, while Ryota stood off to one side and Kannon parked himself behind her, though not so close as he had at 70 Rai. “I apologize if I was less then welcoming, Gina. I really am happy to see you again,” Dr. Chaiboonma began. “I’m guessing your father called you back to Bangkok because of his health problems?”

Someone else who knew about her father’s condition before she did. Understandable, but—Gina shook it off. “And because Wakai wants my god-sister. It’s a family matter now.”

“In more ways than one, I assume,” Dr. Chaiboonma replied. He looked over Gina’s head at Kannon. “Darae always intended for Gina to take over the family business when Vincenzo retired. Groomed her to be a criminal mastermind since she was twelve years old, which is how she wound up meeting people like me at a young age.”

She wished Dr. Chai would get to the point and not drag up her old history. Kannon already figured her for a Daddy’s girl. Her as mafia princess was icing on his cupcake. “Yeah, well, we all know that’s not how things turned out.”

Dr. Chaiboonma brought his gaze back to her. “Until now.”

Kannon’s voice came sailing over her head. “Do you have a problem with her helping my boss?”

Dr. Chai picked up a figurine of a green-skinned brute wielding an enlarged spear. “I consider the effort futile.”

“And why’s that? You don’t think he can be rescued?” There was something in Kannon’s tone that put Gina on full alert. The big bad wolf sounded hostile—and curious.

“Alak’s just another mob boss,” Dr. Chaiboonma said, setting down the figurine. “Only difference between him and his rivals are their nationalities. They all use the same methods. Commit the same crimes. Spill the same blood. And they all end up the same way.”

Gina gripped the armrest, making sure she was in Kannon’s way should he take exception. Instead, his reply was mild. “Sounds like your sympathies lie with Wakai.”

“Not at all,” Dr. Chaiboonma said, randomly picking up another figurine. This one was of a blue vixen in a barely-there purple bodysuit with a set of boobies straight from a pubescent fantasy. “He’s cut from the same cloth as well. The only criminals in this city that are any different are Vincenzo and myself.”

“And how do you figure that?” asked Kannon.

“Ninety-five percent of what Vincenzo does is legal,” Dr. Chaiboonma explained. He set the vixen down in front of him. Despite the totally unrealistic rack, Gina liked the way she was depicted, all bold and in mid-stride as if ready to do battle with whatever monster dared get in her way. “Really, he’s a businessman who uses criminal contacts to defend himself against gangs wanting to take over his brothels and massage parlors.”

“Nicely put,” Gina said, and he acknowledged her compliment with a little bow.

Kannon, as usual, was not impressed. “How about you?”

“Half my money comes from governments,” Dr. Chaiboonma said. “National intelligence services employ my team to harass and spy on one another. Admittedly, we’re involved in criminal activities, all non-violent. Tax evasion. Money laundering. Digital counterfeiting.”

Gina leaned over and picked up the vixen while Kannon continued his interrogation. “You consider yourself morally superior?”

“It’s not an issue of morality. It’s an issue of sustainability.”

Ah, yes, this argument. She spun in her chair to look at Kannon. “What Dr. Chaiboonma means is that most criminal organizations are unstable. Sooner or later they all wind up failing because they rely on fear and violence rather than cooperation and finesse. That’s why Dr. Chaiboonma encouraged me not to take the path Darae wanted me to.”

“If you had, you’d probably have wound up as one of Alak’s lieutenants,” added Dr. Chaiboonma. “Which is to say you’d likely be dead by now.”

“And none of us want that,” Kannon said. He said it so quietly, so damn neutrally Gina was half out of her chair, ready to—what? Kiss him or kick him?

She forced herself to relax and in a quiet, neutral voice, replied, “It’s all history or speculation. Right now, I’m trying to help my family, and that’s the only reason I’m back in Bangkok.”

Dr. Chaiboonma sighed. “And that is why I’ll help you, Gina. What would you like?”

Okay, good, they were finally able to get to business. “We’re looking for Wakai and we’ve got a lead, and I—we—were hoping to borrow your expertise.” With her phone, she brought up the website address the scumbucket had given her at 70 Rai and showed it to Dr. Chai. “This site is run by his sister, Victoria. Very private and very sick. Death and torture I’m guessing. Find the site, find the sister, find Wakai.”

Dr. Chaiboonma squinted at the screen.”Darknet, hmm? Sounds a bit like ‘Three Guys, One Hammer.’”

Gina winced. “I don’t think I want to know what you’re talking about.”

“An old Ukrainian snuff site. Have you visited this one?”

“Didn’t think I’d have the stomach for it.”

“Good. They probably monitor traffic pretty closely. Shouldn’t be too hard to trace.”

Leading them back into the maze of workstations, he brought them to a thin young woman with bleach blonde hair, her skintight black t-shirt depicting an upward arrow with the caption ‘I’m with Genius’. She looked up at them through cosmetic lenses that gave her slitted cat’s eyes.

“This is Kittyjack,” Dr. Chaiboonma said. “Recruited her out of Vancouver a few years back. She’ll help you get what you need.” He jotted notes on a pad, then slid it over to the hacker. “In the meantime, please excuse me. We’re about to release a DDoS attack on the National Command Authority and I really should oversee that.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what that means,” Gina smiled, more than a little relieved to see him go. He was a double-shot of caffeine in that he energized her but also made her edgy. “Good luck, anyway. And thanks again for your help.”

“Be careful, Gina,” he replied, shooting Kannon a grim look. “Very careful.”

“Soyou’retryingtotrackdownsomesnuffsite,eh?” asked Kittyjack, firing out the words as Dr. Chaiboonma walked away.

Gina blinked. Okay, Dr. Chai had that double-shot effect on his employees as well. “Yeah. The website she runs is—”

“GotitfromChaiboonmahangonasec,” the blonde replied even as her fingers flew over her keyboard, strings of incomprehensible numbers flashing across the screen as windows snapped open and shut so fast Gina was worried the girl was going to give herself a seizure. “Gotit’sIPsorunningareverseDNS. Gotit’sDNSsowegotaBangkoksiteonideanet. Confirmingwithtracerouteandwhois. Gotideanetthathackedsolet’sbackdoorandwehaveamatch. Runningitonterraserverand three, two, one....”

Was she even speaking a language? Gina stole a look at Kannon, whose eyebrows were raised halfway up his forehead.

A satellite map of Bangkok opened up, a thin red crosshairs identifying a location. “That’swhereit’srunningfrom.” Kittyjack scribbled down an address on the notepad, tore the top sheet off and handed it to Gina. “Notawebsitebutaserver. Samedifftoyouthough.”

Kannon was still looking at the map on the screen. “What is that place? And speak so I can understand you.”

“It’s Talad. Rot. Fai,” replied the hacker with exaggerated slowness. “The train market.”

“What?” Kannon said.

Kittyjack and Gina stared at him. “Seriously?” Gina said. “You live here and you’ve never heard of Talad Rot Fai? A few years back some antique dealers set up shop in an old railway yard. Word spread, and now the area’s the best place in Bangkok to buy anything retro. Clothes, shoes, toys, furniture—even cars.”