Page 27 of The Big Fix

“I’m terrified.”

He nodded. “I know.”

We were quiet after that.

After showering, Chris, Jing, Arden, and I headed out to get some food. Chris liked small places, so we found one that fit the bill and had some amazing food. Halfway through dinner, I realized I’d gone silent when Jing took hold of my hand.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” I told her, trying to smile.

Arden patted my knee. “It’s okay.” She continued eating her Thai-hot pad thai. Just the fumes that came off it when they delivered it to the table… That was too much for me. “What?” she asked, purposely slurping her noodles noisily to try and make me smile.

“Your mouth will explode,” I warned her.

“I’m Chinese,” Arden reminded me. “I’m made for spice.”

“No, the Korean over here is made for spice,” Jing corrected, pointing at herself. “But yeah, boss, come on. This ain’t spicy.”

I wasn’t touching it.

Once we were back at the hotel, the four of us sat together in the living room, having drinks and looking out at the skyline.

“So…” Jing said into the silence, “what do you think we’re up against here?”

“Well,” Chris said with a yawn, “whatever it is, now that we’re on Thai soil, we’re on our own. The hardliner running the Thai political police here has an extensive track record of human-rights violations for torturing so-called enemies of the state.”

“So if it gets noisy, we’ll have half the Royal Thai Amy on our backs is what you’re saying,” Jing clarified, meeting Chris’s gaze.

“Yep. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“I didn’t even think to check, but do we have a cover here?” Arden asked me.

“Aaron Sutter has graciously made Chris an investor in his real-estate project, and he’s come to oversee his investment here.”

“That’s really nice of him,” Arden said, giving me a smile.

“It is, yes.”

“We’ll need documents, though,” she reminded me.

“Already taken care of,” Jing announced. “Hasana has created all the necessary paperwork and accreditation. You and me have been added to Chris’s fake company payroll.” She handed out plastic folders to everyone but me. “Inside you’ll find clean passports, plus work visas and corporate ID, proof that we are contracted employees of Grant Technologies, headquartered out of Los Angeles.”

Arden opened hers. “Ooooh, this is impressive. Hasana’s getting really good at forgeries.” She turned to me. “That’s maybe not a great thing.”

“It is today.”

Jing passed us all new iPhones. “End-to-end encryption for voice and text, GPS tracking, and an emergency locator beacon in the event you’re compromised. The only number in the contacts list is Hasana’s. Call her only if it’s a real emergency. Remember, she’s pregnant, so don’t get her all upset for nothing.”

I squinted at her.

“What?”

“I just… Here we are on this life-and-death op, and you’re worried about Hasana.”

Brows lifted as she stared at me.

“I’m not arguing,” I said quickly, smiling at her. “It’s just not how we did it when I worked with Army Intelligence.”

“I think that’s sad,” she told me.