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2 Copyright Revenge Season ebook, 1st edition 2014 Text by Mark Jones eisbn Published by booksmango.com Text & cover page Copyright Mark Jones No part of this book may be reproduced, copied, stored or transmitted in any form without prior written permission from the publisher. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. *** 2

3 Revenge SeaSon revenge SEASoN Mike Johnson s adventures continue in Thailand. In Mark Jones, Mike tried to help his close friend Chris to realise he was being manipulated by a nefarious sociopath Ning, one of Mike s unfortunate former bargirl liaisons. Sadly Chris became the victim and Mike, with his new found friend Baey, only just turn the tables against Ning and her lover s sordid plans by setting a trap which could have left Mike in a Thai jail for the rest of his life. Revenge Season once again calls upon Mike s generosity from another friend in trouble, who sadly thought he also could make a life with a scheming gold-digger. Where money and face is involved, there are no limits to the ends people will go to retain both. Mike has to step in and become heavily involved once again, to protect his investment in trying to save a friend. Will Nat be able to stand by his roller-coaster life style and Revenge Season takes the reader on a journey across Thailand from Bangkok to the North East in an intriguing web of deceit with a fatal ending. 3

4 ChAptEr one: SAmui sleep reaching for a hand towel to wipe off the moisture. It was the same dream again. Those empty detached eyes looking it anymore, as he dropped into the black void of a Bangkok night. I stood up and walked across to the shuttered window, inhaling deeply to bring the heart rate back to normal. Light monsoonal rain was still falling steadily as I peered out, deep in thought, into the pre-dawn stillness. It was just on eighteen months since Chris died. It had taken me a while to get over it. Losing a good friend, in those circumstances was never going to be an easy hurdle but time and regular work commitments overseas had gone some way to putting it behind me. In the aftermath, of those turbulent few days in Pattaya I d also been able to patch things up with Nat. It had been a stressful time for both of us but the emotional strain of those last hours being held hostage at gunpoint by a psychopath, had taken its toll on her. She d been withdrawn and moody, in the months following. We d eventually started seeing each other again and things were going well until that fateful night, a month ago, at the Long Table. We d gone there to celebrate her birthday. In the ensuing ambience of the champagne and spectacular distraught farang decided to end it all by throwing himself off the ledge. Why he chose that moment I ll never know but fate often, unwelcomingly, intervenes into our otherwise settled lives. With drinks in hand, we had wandered out onto the open balcony for a bit of quiet romance. A few meters beyond us the distraught farang had been in an animated discussion on his mobile phone. Who he was talking to I had no idea but the level of his distress, combined with parts of his conversation I had overheard, made it abundantly clear what was going on. 4

5 Revenge SeaSon a heated exchange, he put his phone down on the low wall that skirts the fountain. He looked agitated but with no indication of what was to come. All seemed normal as Nat and I had continued to cuddle and look over the sparkling city lights beyond us. The champagne had had the desired effect on me and I d become oblivious to everything except her sensual body held tightly against me, and the magic of the view below, when the farang. I d turned to see the farang in a state of even greater distress, standing on the ledge, outside the safety rail. After putting down my drink I d moved slowly towards him as Nat s pleading words echoed behind me. I then had leaned out over the handrail but he withdrew from my reach and he had lowered himself further over the side of the building. handrail and we ll talk about it. Whatever it is, it s not worth it, I d said, reaching down towards him. He said nothing, just looked at me with big vacant eyes He d had tears running down his cheeks as he continued dropped away towards the hard impact of the ground below. I d stood there stunned as Nat let out a high pitched scream, attracting others from inside the bar. I d tried to comfort her as she broke down offering a protective arm but she was in hysterics telling me she wanted to just get out of there. When I the bar manager had held us back and said, a witness statement. from the fridge. After such an event it would ve been easy to sink into depression and go on a binge. Hard won experience 5

6 had taught me alcohol was never the answer to an emotionally troubled state of mind. Numbing the mind with booze, to the effects of depression, only served to prolong that depression. In the immediate weeks following Chris demise I d dealt with the unsettled thought processes by doing yoga. So much so I d become a devotee of that most ancient Indian exercise system, as I began to understand the mind controls all we are and all we do. Our emotions are purely a by-product of thought processes and what we feel is simply an extension of what we think. Put I d come down to Koh Samui Island a few days after the tragedy at Long table and was now in my third week of chilling out on Chaweng beach, spending a couple of hours a day doing Yoga at a local studio not far from the hotel. I hadn t called Nat since that night and realised, in an odd Thai way, it would be better just to leave her to her own devices. I d sent her a short SMS telling her I was waiting for her and contact me when she felt ready. Her reply was a simple acknowledgement and The light rain eased up as the suns early, bright rays welcomed the new day. I made coffee and moved onto the bungalows veranda. The simple things in life are often the best. Early morning rain and lingering cloud cover were helping create a cooler start to the day and, as I sat there enjoying my Java, I stretched in an effort to shake off the lingering sleep deprivation. I hadn t slept well, and it wasn t singly due to the recurring dream of the Long Table events. Late the previous afternoon I d received a phone call from another buddy who, from the small amount of information he d given me, had gotten himself into a bad situation with his Thai wife and was in need of a million Baht in bail money. I d tossed and turned all night trying to think of valid reasons why I shouldn t help him out but in the end realised, given the reverse situation, he d probably be the only one to come to my aid. Pete was now locked up in the Central Police Station in Nakhom Ratchasima and was expecting me to front bail tomorrow. Still, I couldn t help feel 6

7 Revenge SeaSon slightly annoyed due to the fact I was starting to settle into a nice daily routine I d created for myself in this little corner of paradise by the sea. The air was clear, the ocean clean, the seafood great and I was feeling really invigorated from all the exercise I was doing. That was all going to come to an abrupt To make matters worse I was going to have to go into hustle mode, back in the rat race, organizing the four hour drive to Korat the following morning. Just as I was about to make another coffee, my cell phone started buzzing. I checked the screen and saw a number I didn t recognize. would be calling me at seven in the morning. for your friend Khun Peter, said the voice a little hesitantly. Police Station, and he informs me you would be paying his bail money for him. I let the question hang there for a few seconds. some more information about what s going on. Why has Pete hearing. caught him with drugs in his car yesterday afternoon. drugs. This doesn t make any sense. When I spoke with him 7

8 problem with his wife. All I know is he s been arrested for drug possession. Could you please tell me what time you ll be Peters bail money tomorrow. than a tinge of sarcasm. There was a suppressed laugh at the other end of the line. as it does in Australia. There is no presumption of innocence until proven otherwise. If your friend Khun Peter can t, or won t, pay the bail money then there is already a presumption of guilt, regardless of whether he is innocent or not. this afternoon, when I m back in Bangkok, and give you an approximate time I ll be in Nakhom Ratchasima tomorrow. amount of money with you. My internal alarm bells started ringing a little louder. afternoon. I don t mean to be rude but I ve got other things I need to get on with. I ll call you later today, I said in a polite you, said Det seeming to understand my growing impatience with him. I put down the phone, made another coffee and sat down to 8