typewriter.
His eyes had swollen shut so I could not tell if he was awake in the darkened room. His face was so misshapen with bruising that he was unrecognizable. I could hear him breathing from the other side of the room.
I sat down in the chair beside the bed. I put my hand on his arm. He stirred. “Connor.”
He tried to say something but his mouth was too swollen, and anyway, the drugs had done their work.
“It’s going to be all right,” I said.
In moments he was snoring.
I sat there for a long time in the darkness, listening to his breathing, feeling hollow inside. What had Reyes said to me once? He said that it was fate that had brought us together. I didn’t know what fate was, or if there was such a thing, but it seemed that no matter what I did the road always led me back here, to the two men who had changed my life.
I thought about finding Reyes and asking him what he thought I should do, but by then it was almost dawn. And as the sun came up over Saigon, I decided my place was with Connor, it was the right thing now, no matter what.
Chapter 15
It was days before he could tell me what happened.
He didn’t remember much; he had been talking to a contact he had made inside the Air Force base at Tan Son Nhut, they’d arranged to meet in a bar in Le Loi. As he was leaving two men approached him, dragged him off the street and then something hit him hard on the back of the head and he blacked out. The rest was a blur. He woke up later in an alley beside one of the clubs. He didn’t remember the beating, only the agony of waking to a smashed right hand.
“You didn’t see their faces?”
“I didn’t see anything,” he said, his voice still no more than a mumble. There was still a lot of swelling in his face and jaw and it was hard for him to talk. His face was a patchwork of black and yellow bruising and one eye was still shut. “It was dark and it all happened so fast.”
“How did you get home?” I asked him.
He didn’t know. He must have walked. He figured this was just a warning, if they had wanted to kill him they would have.
“I warned you, Connor, I told you they were serious about this.”
“Yeah, honey. You warned me.”
I stroked his hair. It was still crusty with old blood.
“I remember now, one of them said he’d make sure I couldn’t write any more books.”
“You’ll write again, it will just take time.”
“I was so close, honey.”
“I know, they could have killed you.”
“No, I mean the story.”
“ Dios mio, cariño . To hell with the story!”
“You don’t understand. You know what I found out? Colonel Ky - Vice President of fucking Vietnam and head of the Air Force - he’s flying in refined heroin from Laos. There’s Chinese chemists making China White right there in the jungle, and Ky uses Air Force planes to fly it to Saigon.”
“Shhh,” I murmured. I could barely make any sense of what he was saying and I could see how hard it was for him to talk.
But even with only one good eye open, I could make out the familiar gleam. “Salvatore has been financing it. After Ky and President Thieu get their cut he exports it into the States. He even uses the fucking Army postal service.”
He nudged me with his arm for my reaction, like I should think this was worth getting himself half killed for.
“Let it be now,” I said.
How could he even be thinking about this right now? Why wouldn’t he let it drop?
“Forget about it, okay? When you get out of hospital I’m taking you back to New York.”
“So I run away, is that it?”
“As fast as your feet can take you.”
“I’ve never run away from anything in my life.”
“Well now’s a good time to start.”
“But I’m so close!”
“And if you get any closer than you are, next time they’ll take the baseball bat to your head instead of your fingers.” I couldn’t believe he still cared about any of this after what they’d done to him. “As soon as we
His eyes had swollen shut so I could not tell if he was awake in the darkened room. His face was so misshapen with bruising that he was unrecognizable. I could hear him breathing from the other side of the room.
I sat down in the chair beside the bed. I put my hand on his arm. He stirred. “Connor.”
He tried to say something but his mouth was too swollen, and anyway, the drugs had done their work.
“It’s going to be all right,” I said.
In moments he was snoring.
I sat there for a long time in the darkness, listening to his breathing, feeling hollow inside. What had Reyes said to me once? He said that it was fate that had brought us together. I didn’t know what fate was, or if there was such a thing, but it seemed that no matter what I did the road always led me back here, to the two men who had changed my life.
I thought about finding Reyes and asking him what he thought I should do, but by then it was almost dawn. And as the sun came up over Saigon, I decided my place was with Connor, it was the right thing now, no matter what.
Chapter 15
It was days before he could tell me what happened.
He didn’t remember much; he had been talking to a contact he had made inside the Air Force base at Tan Son Nhut, they’d arranged to meet in a bar in Le Loi. As he was leaving two men approached him, dragged him off the street and then something hit him hard on the back of the head and he blacked out. The rest was a blur. He woke up later in an alley beside one of the clubs. He didn’t remember the beating, only the agony of waking to a smashed right hand.
“You didn’t see their faces?”
“I didn’t see anything,” he said, his voice still no more than a mumble. There was still a lot of swelling in his face and jaw and it was hard for him to talk. His face was a patchwork of black and yellow bruising and one eye was still shut. “It was dark and it all happened so fast.”
“How did you get home?” I asked him.
He didn’t know. He must have walked. He figured this was just a warning, if they had wanted to kill him they would have.
“I warned you, Connor, I told you they were serious about this.”
“Yeah, honey. You warned me.”
I stroked his hair. It was still crusty with old blood.
“I remember now, one of them said he’d make sure I couldn’t write any more books.”
“You’ll write again, it will just take time.”
“I was so close, honey.”
“I know, they could have killed you.”
“No, I mean the story.”
“ Dios mio, cariño . To hell with the story!”
“You don’t understand. You know what I found out? Colonel Ky - Vice President of fucking Vietnam and head of the Air Force - he’s flying in refined heroin from Laos. There’s Chinese chemists making China White right there in the jungle, and Ky uses Air Force planes to fly it to Saigon.”
“Shhh,” I murmured. I could barely make any sense of what he was saying and I could see how hard it was for him to talk.
But even with only one good eye open, I could make out the familiar gleam. “Salvatore has been financing it. After Ky and President Thieu get their cut he exports it into the States. He even uses the fucking Army postal service.”
He nudged me with his arm for my reaction, like I should think this was worth getting himself half killed for.
“Let it be now,” I said.
How could he even be thinking about this right now? Why wouldn’t he let it drop?
“Forget about it, okay? When you get out of hospital I’m taking you back to New York.”
“So I run away, is that it?”
“As fast as your feet can take you.”
“I’ve never run away from anything in my life.”
“Well now’s a good time to start.”
“But I’m so close!”
“And if you get any closer than you are, next time they’ll take the baseball bat to your head instead of your fingers.” I couldn’t believe he still cared about any of this after what they’d done to him. “As soon as we
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