Sideswiped: A Rex Dalton Thriller by JC Ryan

Author:JC Ryan [Ryan, JC]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-12-12T16:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

DESPITE THEIR AGREEMENT to just be friends, Rex missed Sunstra’s company during the following week. She’d gone to Phuket to visit her parents, and he’d spent the week doing day trips into the countryside around Bangkok, talking to old people he met about their memories of WWII. Those who remembered much were in their late eighties, and often they waved him away, saying they’d rather not talk about it.

Thailand’s position during the war had been that of a reluctant ally of Japan. They’d been invaded, and the prime minister had elected to cooperate rather than fight. Subsequent bombing raids by Allied forces on Bangkok had strengthened dissatisfaction with him, and his successor had continued a charade of collaboration while shielding the growing underground movement. The movement was preparing an assault on Japanese forces when Japan’s surrender occurred.

Everyone willing to talk to Rex claimed to be part of the underground, even those who would have been young teens at the time. He considered it a largely wasted week, and he was heartily looking forward to a pleasant weekend with Sunstra as he boarded a plane to Phuket on Thursday afternoon.

He’d considered driving. The journey would have taken him down the long peninsula on the west side of the Gulf of Thailand toward Malaysia, but there were few towns of interest to him along the five-hundred-mile journey. Almost eleven hours in the driver’s seat, and long stretches where there’d be nowhere to get something to eat or fill up the gas tank—not his favorite choice.

He apologized to Digger for his sojourn in the cargo hold of the plane, but it would be for only a little over an hour. Digger didn’t seem to mind, even when Rex ordered him into the wire cage he was required to travel in. Digger even looked a bit excited, as if he knew that some kind of new adventure awaited him.

The dog was more than glad to see him at the other end of the trip, though. He frolicked like a puppy when Rex let him out of the cage. Rex promised him a run in the first park they came to while he waited in line to get the keys to his rental car. They had the evening and night to kill before they picked up Sunstra at her parents’ house for breakfast the next morning. Rex kept his promise and let Digger play to his heart’s content in a park, then drove about twenty miles to Sunstra’s parent’s neighborhood on the west side of the island to be sure of his directions before checking into his hotel. He hoped she’d introduce him and maybe give him a tour of the grounds before they went out. The neighborhood was close to the beach, and he could catch tantalizing glimpses of the sea between the bungalows. Phuket was actually an island, with a narrow sound separating it from the mainland. Beyond the beaches, the Andaman Sea stretched toward the Indian Ocean.

Rex expected Sunstra to show him

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