Singapore Sling Shot - Andrew Grant [58]
One of the other victims was the driver who had attempted to run down Sami Somsak and kill him. The man had failed. The other body was that of the motorcyclist who had been assigned to pick up the attempted assassin at East Coast Parkway. The man on the motorcycle had panicked and ridden off, leaving the driver behind. Fleeing on foot, the truck driver had very nearly been captured by the police.
So now there would be three bodies at the warehouse, two of Lu’s trusted men and Raymond Mendez, all executed in cold blood seemingly by the Thai gangster. All three men had died from a single gunshot wound to the forehead. The pathologist would recover the remains of the bullets and forensics would confirm that the same weapon had killed all three. Thomas Lu would see that the gun in question, a Ruger .22 automatic with its serial number removed, would be found in Somsak’s possession when the appropriate time arrived.
The final touch was the witness. A watchman from a neighbouring warehouse would hear the sound of shouts and shots. He would see a covered truck driving away from the warehouse moments before the fire erupted. He would identify the man in the passenger seat of the vehicle as Sami Somsak. The vehicle would offload its cargo in another of Lu’s warehouses close by. The burned-out remains of the stolen truck would be found in Lim Chu Kang in time.
This was the perfect plan, until Lu’s secretary came into the spa. He came to the side of the pool and handed Lu a telephone handset. The secretary turned on his heel and, without a word, left the spa house.
The caller was Carlos Mendez. He had been attempting to raise his brother. Somewhere in a meat chiller in Jurong West, the sound of a chainsaw stirred the chilled air. The bizarre ringtone on Raymond Mendez’s cellphone was in keeping with the man’s mental state.
“He has found a woman who pleases him,” Thomas Lu lied yet again to the elder Mendez brother. “He said he was not to be disturbed.”
“My brother has a way with women,” Carlos responded without the slightest hint of irony in his voice. “When will he be finished?”
“We will be going to the warehouse to await the money at midnight,” Lu responded. “Shall I have him call you then?” He held his breath. He was in a most difficult situation and he had delivered yet another lie.
“Wait,” Carlos Mendez grunted. He was obviously calculating the time difference between Singapore and Bogota. “That will be eleven our time. We have a lunch meeting. Very important business. Tell Raymond I will call him when the meeting is done. Tell him not to go off whoring again until we have spoken.”
“I will, Carlos. Have a good meeting.” The relief in Thomas Lu’s voice was immense, but the elder Mendez did not seem to notice. The distance drag and faint delay on the line may have disguised it.
“Ciao, my friend.”
“Ciao, Carlos.” Lu pushed a button to end the call and dropped the phone onto the ledge on the side of the pool. “Yes,” he whispered. “Yes, yes, yes.” Soon he would have the Mendez brothers out of his hair and Sami Somsak besides, and he would have two billion dollars to do with as he wished. He would still get part of the Intella pie in time. He had another plan for that. Life, at this moment, was looking exceptionally good for Thomas Lu. He pressed the button on the intercom built into the side of the spa and called for his special friend to join him.
It was after midnight when Sami phoned back. They had mapped out much of Lu’s travel. The Bentley had been all around the place, but the trip to The Fullerton, and a day later the Shangri-La and a warehouse complex in Jurong, started filling in the gaps. Staff at The Fullerton told one of Sami’s people of the incident with the man they identified