Sapphire Pavilion by David E. Grogan

Author:David E. Grogan [Grogan, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / FIC022000 - General, FICTION / Thrillers / FIC031000 - General
ISBN: 9781603816045
Publisher: Camel Press
Published: 2017-02-27T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

Thursday, 1 June 2000, 12:42 a.m.

Saigon

Phan never consorted with criminals. Although poor and struggling to earn enough money to support his wife and baby girl, he always found a way to do it legitimately. His pay from working at a travel agency catering to Western tourists provided a steady though meager income. It did him no good to ask for more money. Too many people waited in the wings to take his job. So he invented ways to supplement his wages.

His goal was to work in a restaurant frequented by Westerners so he could earn the tip money his friends talked about, but those jobs were hard to get even though he spoke English well. He taught martial arts for a while, cashing in on a skill he’d learned during his mandatory stint in the Army, but his employer went out of business still owing him three months’ wages. This left him trolling the streets to give Westerners rides on his motorcycle, like he had Mr. Ric and Mr. Steve. Most Westerners didn’t trust him when he pulled up on his motorcycle and asked them if they wanted a ride, but sometimes he got lucky and it paid off handsomely.

The money Mr. Steve gave him was beyond his wildest dreams. He’d already gone back to his house and showed it to his wife, who just cried. They had never seen so much money and they reveled in their good fortune. But then Phan told her what Mr. Steve asked him to do, and she warned him against it. It was dangerous enough having helped Mr. Steve escape. But in her mind, his trying to find an unnamed prostitute who had witnessed a possible drug-related murder was ludicrous.

“Let’s keep what we’ve got already and be happy,” she told him. “We don’t need any trouble.”

Phan saw things differently. He saw the assignment as his family’s ticket to America. But what if Mr. Steve forgot his promise or never called again because Phan couldn’t find the prostitute? He didn’t want to take any chances. To him, going to America was like going to heaven. And maybe, just maybe, once they got there, Mr. Steve might help them stay forever. How wonderful it would be for his baby girl to grow up in America.

That hope was worth betting his life on, so he set out to find the prostitute. Before he did, though, he gave his wife one hundred dollars and Mr. Steve’s contact information. The rest of the money he split into separate pockets to avoid handling all of it in public view. He told his wife that if anything happened to him, she should call Mr. Steve and he would take care of her.

“I am not taking the money for me,” she said angrily. “Because if you do not come back, the money means nothing. I am taking the money for our daughter, because she will need it if she does not have a father.” Then she turned her back on him and let him go.

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