Page 24 of Leo
“We don’t think she knew about Fred. No, little Echo fucked around with the wrong person and ran a con that she shouldn’t have. She screwed with Han Ho Nahm.”
“The Thai businessman?” asked Cam.
“One and the same. She was in Thailand and thought she could scam him for more than twelve million U.S. dollars. He was more than happy to pay our little Jewel, or Echo, for sex butnot twelve million. She took photos of them together, obviously attempting to blackmail him. When he caught her, he asked for the photos, or she’d die. Pretty simple.”
“Except she wanted more, didn’t she?” asked Hex.
“Yep. They always want more. She decided to get his goons on camera, threatening her and all the e-mails and text messages into one file. She went back and asked for twenty-five million, or everything was going to his wife and the Thai media. Stupid woman didn’t realize he owns all of the Thai media outlets.
“Then she got really stupid and sends everything to the wife, who happily informed her that she wasn’t the first mistress and wouldn’t be the last, but that she should, in no uncertain terms, take her trashy ass and get out of the country. Echo found out about the agency asking for people to help with a new cause, and she forged her papers, becoming Jewel, and signed up. That woman is on the run.”
“Is Nahm the one behind all of this?” asked Luke.
“No. We reached out to his people, and they denied it all. They said they’d like to get to her and get the videos and messages back, but they have no desire to hunt one stupid woman. If she comes out with it on the internet or any other media, they’ll deny and discredit her. If she goes back to Thailand, she’s dead.”
“Okay. So we know what Jewel, or Echo, is doing in this scenario. Why can’t we figure out who Gemma is in all of this? She’s early to mid-forties, physically seems to be in good shape, no one experienced any issues with her while in the field, but something is definitely wrong.”
“We need to know her true identity, and we have to figure out a way to draw her out,” said Luke. “I still think she sawsomething in Laos, or she knows that Fred saw something in Laos.”
“Maybe we pull her in with a bribe,” said Hiro. “We try to contact her or wait until she contacts us, then offer her money to come in so that she’s not injured. You know, play the big concern card. The only thing that might stop that is if she somehow speaks to Jewel first.”
There was a soft knock at the door, and May and Thomas poked their heads inside.
“Hey, what’s up?” asked Luke.
“Sorry to interrupt, but we think we found something that’s relative to what you’re doing. We spoke with Mav and the others,” said Thomas. “The new guy, the Earl from Germany.”
“What about him?” frowned Cam.
“We heard him talking about being at a dig in Laos. A very important cultural and historical dig to the country. May and I started to do a little digging of our own, no pun intended. We were both curious about the site, and May has worked with some of the principal archaeologists that are there.”
“What did you find?” asked Eric.
“Vat Phou is everything that Fred told you it is. It’s an ancient, prehistoric sanctuary site. For generations, people have used the site for different things, and over the centuries, it’s, of course, changed. During the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge, the site changed hands multiple times. Much like other sites in that region, invaluable artifacts were destroyed, stolen, or moved.”
“I’m still not following,” said Hex. “Was something of value stolen from the site while he was there?”
“Yes. And no,” said May.
“May, honey, we love you, but which is it? Yes or no?” asked Luke.
“Both. While he was there, an item was stolen from the site, but it wasn’t original to the site. In fact, it had nothing to do with Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, absolutely nothing in the region. It was Imperial Russian.”
“What the fuck?” muttered Hex. May smiled and nodded at them.
“Let’s do this over dinner.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“How in the hell does someone take something from Imperial Russia and leave it at a site in Laos, only for it to be stolen from that site?” asked Leo.
“How about a bit of a history lesson first,” smiled May. “Imperial Russia, or theRussian Empire,also known asTsarist Russia,existed from 1721 to 1917 and spanned a vast area in Northern Europe and parts of what is now Asia. The area of land that they ruled was at one time the third-largest empire in history. One of the many aspects that make it absolutely fascinating is not just the territory expanse but the diverse population.
“It was formally established in 1721 whenPeter the Greatwas declared Emperor of all the Russias. Through military conquests, he expanded the land significantly by taking over Siberia, Central Asia, and East Asia. By the late 19th century, it encompassed diverse territories, including parts of Europe,Asia,andAlaska.”
“May, I always love your history lessons, but, honey, can we get to the point of this,” said Luke. Thomas chuckled, shaking his head.
“You either want to know the whole story, or you want to know nothing,” she frowned. Luke blushed.
