Sky Dog by Mark Rogers

Author:Mark Rogers [Rogers, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Media
Published: 2018-02-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

A rickety gangplank led to Totsaken’s one-room river shack on stilts, constructed of mismatched lumber most likely gleaned from whatever washed ashore. Instead of a window, there was a crude wooden shutter. I had a feeling the toilet was going to be a hole in the floor looking down on the flowing river.

Over my shoulder I saw the sun coming up over the treeline on the east bank of the Chao Phyra. People were moving about at similar shacks on the river, and small boats pushed off, their outboards chugging with blue smoke rising in the air.

A black and white spotted hound watched us from the wharf, wagging its tail. Totsaken tied up the boat and I followed him inside, the dog nuzzling my hand. Totsaken lit an oil lamp and I saw the shack was furnished with an army cot and a wooden table with two chairs. A shelf across one wall held a plastic jug of water, a few glasses, and a quart of Mekong whiskey.

I nodded. “Very minimal. Spartan.”

“It’s a good place to think,” said Totsaken, taking down two glasses and the bottle of whiskey.

“How long would it take you to pack?”

I’d seen Totsaken smile but this was the first time I heard his short, bark of a laugh. He pointed to a gym bag in the corner. “Already packed.”

The kidnappers had taken my cell phone but for one reason or another had let me keep my wallet. I took it out and checked my cash on hand: a couple thousand baht and three twenties.

I asked Totsaken, “You have a phone, right?”

Totsaken nodded.

“We’ll call a cab and go straight to the hotel. Then I’ll begin sorting this out.”

The dog came over and rubbed his muzzle against the calf of my leg.

Totsaken took a sip of the harsh whiskey. “She likes you.”

“Nice dog.”

“I found her on the Skyway when she was a puppy. Someone had put her in a plastic bag and left her to die in the trash.”

“Let me guess. Her name is Lucky.”

“No. Her name is Heaven.”

Totsaken reached and scratched the dog behind the ears.

“I figure she was almost there when I found her.”

*

Heaven padded down the corridors of the Orchid Garden Inn as to the manor born. No leash. She walked by Totsaken’s side, secure in his pack leader’s orbit. The hotel had a strict no pets policy and Heaven had raised a few eyebrows when she followed Totsaken and me into the lobby. A generous under the table payment and my status as a Hollywood director had Heaven—after a few taps on a computer keyboard—characterized as a service dog prescribed to allay my chronic anxiety. The way things were going, the anxiety diagnosis wasn’t far from the truth.

If I knew Peck’s number by heart I would have called her on Totsaken’s phone, telling her I was safe and on my way to the hotel. Unfortunately, like most people, I didn’t bother to learn numbers anymore, I just added them to my contacts. I was hoping I wouldn’t give her too much of a shock when I opened the door.

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