The Merger

Ten

Khaotung risked a quick glance in his rearview mirror as his car sped away from First's home. He was surprised to see First had followed him out of the house and was running after him. First's legs gave in faster than Khaotung's heart and courage. As fit as First was, no human could outrun a speeding vehicle and Khaotung felt his heart break just a little more as he drove away from his forever person.

Khaotung felt tears prickling his eyes and blinked rapidly to avoid what he knew would turn him into a blubbering mess. There was no time for tears now. He had to steel himself and gather his strength, his wits and his willpower. He had to find and save his mom.

It was still early and the office where his mom's passport was to be collected was probably still closed, still, he didn't want to waste any time. He drove straight to the government offices and parked in a spot where he could observe who and what going and coming from the building without being seen himself. He was too wired and stressed to feel hunger or thirst. He was jittery, he was exhausted, he wasn't making the best decisions and he was alone. Khaotung knew this wasn't a winning combination but he wasn't giving up and perseverance had to count for something. Khaotung thought he was well hidden, in fact, he may have been well hidden if he wasn't expected.

Khaotung never once considered the rumours he'd heard regarding his mom's missing passport was entirely fabricated, fabricated by the very people whom he thought was after his mom, but who was instead right on Khao's heels. Had in fact been following him since he'd raced to First's home to spend a few short but blissful hours with his partner. These bad guy types weren't as empty headed as the one's before, these ones knew how to follow orders, these ones were loyal to money and followed unquestioningly as long as the cash flowed freely. They didn't care who got hurt , the had no loyalty to each other and they entertained no conversation or pleas. They were the worst kind of enemy but the best kind of soldier.

They sat in their nondescript van a little distance from Khaotung's vehicle and had orders to grab him as soon as Khaotung tried to enter the building. It would be a problem if Khao enquired about missing passports who were not missing and people who were missing because they had managed to avoid even these military type bad guys.

Khaotung waited .... Squad one waited ... And the clock kept ticking, tick tick tick..... every second closer and closer .... Closer to what could be, Khaotung's last minutes on our dear earth ...

Eight o'clock. The offices were now officially open. For just a second Khaotung wondered why there were no people around. This should be a very busy time of the morning. People should be reporting for work and yet the parking area was really quiet. Khaotung, unfortunately, wasn't a professional detective, policeman or even an investigator. His sixth sense, although sharp in business decisions, wasn't detecting anything amiss and that's how he was completely caught off guard the minute he stepped out of his car. He never realised two men had stepped up behind him, at least not until they pulled the black hood over his head and tightened the cord around his neck.

Khaotung's fists came up in defence mode as soon as he felt the hood slipped over his head. Unfortunately the punch to his stomach doubled him over and had him nearly breathless on the ground. Panting for air and panicking as he felt the cord tightening around his neck, choking him ... cutting off desperately needed oxygen. Khaotung's world went dark and his last conscious thought was "First, I'm sorry. I might not be able to keep my promise to you."

The men carried the limp body between them. They rushed over to their van, rushing to avoid being seen, witnesses was an inconvenience they didn't have time for right now. They tossed Khaotung's body into the van, jumped in themselves and sped off to where they had been directed to go.

An hour later they reached their destination. Khaotung would have been surprised to learn that he was in fact now closer to home than he had been in the last two weeks. The men exited the vehicle in a hurry. They collected the duffle bag full of cash left in the hidden bin behind the shed where they now left the van with Khaotung inside. Their instructions were to leave the vehicle and it's contents, make like morning mist and disappear which they did as soon as they had their cash in hand.

As soon as the military type men left in another vehicle which had been left in the shed for them, another set of men collected the van and transported both it and it's occupant to the mastermind of this whole operation.

In his shiny black suit and snake skin black and grey shoes he paced the room he's been using as an office lately. His actual office of course was in a very posh ten story building in the middle of Bangkok, surrounded by million dollar businesses and richer men than kings and queens of countries with royalty and such. He yook pride in himself on being rich, resourceful and cunning. Most people of course would describe him as ruthless, heartless and equipped with the morals of slime. He paced, he couldn't contain his excitement. He was finally going to get his hands on Tungmeow. He considered this business his birthright. It had belonged to his father and should now belong to him. Who the hell did Khaotung Thanawat think he was to steal his birthright from him. "Well", he thought, " I'd rather see you dead Khaotung than in the chairman's seat of Tungmeow."
He smiled gleefully clapping his hands together in sheer delight as Khaotung's body was dumped at his feet and landed with a thud on the cold office floor. He placed his foot on Khao's chest and shoved the pointy toe of his shoe into Khaotung's nasal cavities. Fortunately Khaotung was unaware of the indignity done to him, unfortunately Khaotung wasn't conscious. The only thing that could be said after taking yet another bloody beating was that he wasn't dead. He was barely breathing and was holding on by sheer stubbornness and willpower.

"Lock him up" was all his captor screamed at him after trying repeatedly to wake Khaotung to question him and failing. "Let me know as soon as he is awake. He won't get away from me again. Today Khun Thanawat, today I will introduce you to your maker."

-/End of chapter/-

Dear Reader.
I sincerely hope you like what you've read so far. Please leave me comments. Let me know what you think will happen next, where you think our story is going and where you think we'll end up. Can't wait to hear your thoughts. Thank you for reading The Merger. Your input is valued. Regards....