Singapore Sling Shot - Andrew Grant [84]
“I was going to kill him myself,” Sami said. “I was going to cause him so much pain that he would beg me to end it.”
“Why did you not do so?”
“I decided that he would be a gift to you, along with one and a half billion dollars of the money you shipped to him. I keep the remaining half a billion for inconvenience and damages and, of course, as a delivery fee for Mr Lu into your hands.”
Carlos Mendez spluttered into his drink. The offer the Thai gangster was making was preposterous at first glance. Then the Colombian started to laugh. It was a deep, rumbling laugh that came from way down in his gut.
Outside the door, Jo and the thin-lipped Colombian looked at each other. This was not a sound that they expected to hear in this place at this time.
Sami smiled at Mendez’s mirth. The Colombian put down his glass and removed a handkerchief from his pocket. He dropped his glasses onto the table and wiped his eyes.
“Oh, Mr Somsak, I believe your account of events and I admire your business sense. You know, as I do, that in our industry, half a billion dollars is neither here nor there. It is the principle of the thing that matters. Yes, I agree to your terms.”
“There is more,” Sami said, watching the smile on the Colombian’s face freeze. “You do not get a share in Intella.”
“But why not?”
“Intella is mine, Singapore is mine and Thailand is mine,” Sami replied simply. Carlos Mendez scowled.
“We have difficulty investing in legitimate businesses in the Americas because of the cursed United States. I must invest here. There is nowhere else.”
“Yes there is, and I can help you do it.”
Mendez sat and stared at Sami Somsak. The man puzzled him terribly. He knew of Sami’s reputation; he had researched him well through his underground connections before boarding the flight and coming to confront him. Now Sami was offering to help him.
“Where and why will you help?”
“China,” Sami replied. “I will put you in touch with the people who can help you treble your investment in legitimate business in a matter of months. As to why? Maybe I’m growing sentimental in my old age,” Sami said in a voice that made a lie of the words. “You lost a brother and I lost a brother to Thomas Lu, and in a perverse way that puts us in the same camp. Also, if you refuse to stay away from Singapore and Thailand, I will have to kill you.”
Carlos Mendez blinked. In his world, he was used to making threats and indeed killing or having people killed. However, the Latin temperament often raised the blood level and words and threats were delivered with hot passion. Having this man sitting opposite him deliver an ultimatum and talk of death as if he were simply discussing food items on a menu was totally alien to the Colombian. He could, however, plainly see in the Thai’s eyes that his words were a truth and not an idle threat.
Mendez sat and considered the proposition. He knew that in this world, Sami Somsak’s world, that the man in front of him was king, very much as he himself was king in his own world. Mendez well knew the entire planet was divided into kingdoms. Each kingdom had its own monarch. Sometimes those kingdoms went to war against each other, but for the most part, they co-operated on business of mutual interest in the quest for greater profits. Unnecessary wars only served to weaken both sides, and often a third player would gain dominance over the distracted and weakened combatants and defeat both.
Carlos Mendez was a realist. He would never wage a war that he couldn’t be sure of winning. He made his decision.
“I agree.” He had accepted that he and Sami Somsak were both kings and now they were to become allies.
“Good,” Sami said simply. He picked up his glass of Evian. Carlos Mendez raised his brandy and the glasses touched.
31
It was the morning of the next day. With Sami and Carlos Mendez now suddenly good buddies,