Singapore Sling Shot - Andrew Grant [5]
Loh was almost at the steps leading to the patio when he heard a noise. It was not something he could identify. There were four distinct sounds, spaced a fraction of a second apart. They were loud but at the same time they were muffled and indistinct. Loh shook his head in denial. No matter what caused the unfamiliar noise, he knew he must see to his family.
Stanley Loh crossed the patio and pressed his face against the glass of the French doors. He shaded the window with his hand so he could see into the room beyond. Helen, his wife, was sitting on one of the couches. Beside her was Arthur, their son, and next to Arthur sat Amy, their daughter. All three of them had their mouths covered by shiny silver tape. Their hands and feet were also taped.
There was a noise to Loh’s left. A man was coming onto the terrace walking from the direction of the staff bungalow. This was one of the pair from the surrender room. This was the man who had searched him. The man with the cold eyes!
The gunman was carrying an automatic pistol and attached to the barrel was a long fat tube. Stanley Loh had seen similar guns in dozens of movies. Drugged state or not, he knew its purpose and he knew now what had caused the muffled sounds he had just heard. Along with Cheah, the gardener, there were four other staff living on the estate. They were, in all probability, dead, Loh knew this without a doubt. To kill one or five, it made no difference to men like this.
The gunman saw Loh standing at the French doors. He smiled and raised his gun as the door opened. Stanley Loh had been expected.
The man in the doorway was Thomas Lu.
Tall for a Singaporean, Lu was also skeletally thin. As always, including when he and Loh had met just hours before, he was dressed in his uniform, comprising a sober black suit with a crisp white shirt and a dark tie. With his artificially darkened hair worn overlong at the back, and with his high cheekbones, Lu, who at all times kept his eyes hidden behind dark-tinted glasses, was known in Singapore business circles as The Undertaker. He had a reputation for sheer ruthlessness, but until today that ruthlessness had been more by reputation than reality to Stanley Loh. Now he was about to live or die by that reality.
“So pleased you could drop in, Stanley,” Lu said as he stepped aside to allow his gunman to usher Loh into his own home. The eyes of the three people most dear to Stanley Loh were wide and totally terrified. The eyes silently implored him to save them. But Loh knew he would die here with them. He had no doubt that would be the way it was going to happen.
“Now, Stanley, you know what I need. Tell me where to find it and you and your family can live happily ever after.” Lu smiled as he spoke. However, the smile carried no warmth whatsoever. Loh knew that the eyes behind the dark glasses were as cold as the ice that was sliding down his spine.
What Thomas Lu didn’t know was that Loh, having discovered the corpse of his gardener and heard the sounds of the other members of his staff being killed, knew that no matter what, he and his family would be killed. There was simply no way that Lu could let them live. Not now. The stakes were simply too big and blood had already been spilt.
Loh knew he had one chance and one chance only to save his family. The gunman who had escorted him into the room was standing to his right, his weapon pointed at his captive’s belly. Lu was also holding an automatic loosely in his right hand. Its muzzle was directed at the richly polished parquet floor. There was a second gunman standing at the far end of the couch on which the Loh family were sitting. This man’s automatic was pointed at Helen.
“I …” Loh stuttered. He swayed unsteadily on his feet, acting now. “I’ll tell you, please, just don’t hurt them.” Lu smiled in response as he watched the seemingly dazed and stricken man cave in. The Undertaker knew he had won and began to gloat.
The gunman nearest Loh relaxed slightly; the old man swaying in front of him was finished. The muzzle of