Free Big Mango (9786167611037) by Jake Needham Page B

maybe the bus another was catching would crash and
he would be dead before he could get home; maybe somebody was about
to walk up to a third and offer him a life-altering bag of money
for doing something that sounded simple but was actually
impossible; or maybe nothing at all was going to happen to any of
them.
    “There’s something you should know,” Eddie
said to the man as he eased himself back into the chair behind his
desk.
    “Yes?” Rupert’s voice was empty, waiting.
    “Austin’s dead.”
    The man didn’t really look all that
surprised, Eddie noticed. Not exactly the reaction he had been
expecting.
    “Well, that may make things more
difficult.”
    Suddenly Rupert stood up. He pulled an
oversized brown envelope out of the inside pocket of his jacket and
dropped it onto Eddie’s desk.
    “I am still prepared to retain you under the
same terms regardless of that. If you wish to accept my offer, you
must come to Bangkok immediately. In this envelope are an airline
ticket, a hotel confirmation, and funds for your expenses. The day
after you arrive in Bangkok, $100,000 will be wired to any bank you
chose anywhere in the world.”
    The stiff set of Rupert’s features suddenly
broke and a surprisingly soft smile spread across his face. “I do
hope you will accept my proposition, Eddie. Bangkok can be rather
fun, you know.”
    Then he winked, opened the door, and was
gone.
    Jesus H. Christ. What the fuck was that?
    First the guy wants to hire him to find
Austin and make a deal to launder ten tons of money Austin may
never have had. Then, when Eddie tells him that Austin’s dead, he
just nods and says that might make it more difficult, but he still
wants to hire Eddie anyway.
    Then there was Bangkok again. It was hanging
out there like a tenth planet generating a gravitational field all
its own. It seemed to Eddie like he was riding in a little space
capsule that was locked into an orbit whirring endlessly around the
place. No matter how many times he made the damned circle, no
matter how he tried to get away, eventually the pull would be too
strong and Bangkok was going to reel him right on in. It was
starting to seem utterly inescapable.
    On top of all that, there was the way the guy
had left his office. Eddie laughed right out loud. He couldn’t keep
the almost-forgotten lines from rolling through his head.
     
    And laying his finger
Aside of his nose,
And giving a nod,
Up the chimney he rose.
     
    Well, shit a goddamned brick , Eddie
thought to himself. Who was that masked man?

 
     
     
Eight
     
    EDDIE had his feet on the
desk and was poking idly with one chopstick at the remnants of the
moo shu pork he had brought up from the Chinese place downstairs.
Joshua had offered to get it for him, but Eddie had gone himself
because he thought it might loosen him up a little to get out of
the office, even just to walk down one floor.
    Ever since the man who called himself Marinus
Rupert left that morning, Eddie had been mostly just sitting around
trying to decide what to do. Almost the entire day had passed now
and other than choosing steamed rice over fried he hadn’t made any
particularly decisive moves. He had even gone Chinese in the first
place because he was hoping his fortune cookie might give him a
subtle nudge in the right direction, but Chung had forgotten to put
one in the bag this time, the bastard.
    Was there some kind of hint for him in that?
Eddie considered the possibility for a while. Perhaps he should see
himself as a man without a fortune. Eventually, however, he decided
that was stretching Chung’s pedestrian oversight a little too far
and he let it slide.
    Joshua pushed his head into Eddie’s office.
“It’s Jennifer on one.”
    Eddie shifted his eyes and glanced at the
white light blinking rhythmically on his telephone.
    “No calls means no calls, Joshua.”
    “She said it was urgent. Anyway, I told her
you were taking a deposition in the library.”
    “We don’t have a