Singapore Sling Shot - Andrew Grant [90]
“Yes! Of course I’m coming back!”
“I’m sorry, Daniel. I know you two were close.”
“Yes we were,” I replied, almost absently. I was still trying to fully absorb the fact that Simone was gone from my life. In a flash I was suddenly alone again. Emotionally, I think what had been happening between us was a catharsis for my jaded emotions. I had been changing, no doubt about that. Now she was gone.
I felt a surge of something approaching anger, irrational anger, and it was anger at Simone for leaving my life. Of course it was childish. Of course it was unfair. Of course I was being selfish. From now on, I wasn’t going to get close to anyone, I silently promised myself.
I sat there, phone in hand, emotions out of control. Part of me knew I had reverted to being the lost, scared kid. The other part of me simply didn’t care that I was, internally at least, acting like a spiteful, snotty-nosed little toe rag.
Whenever I got close, people got hurt. People died. For a moment Simone’s face was gone from behind my eyes and in her place was the face of Babs, the beautiful redhead from another time and another place. She and I had gotten close and she’d ended up with her head propped up on my coffee table while her body lay metres away in a pool of blood.
“Sorry, Daniel. I have to go.” Sami was dragging me back to the present.
“I’ll fly back in the morning.”
“I’ll see you then. Take care, my friend.”
“You too.” I hung up and lay there in the dark, staring at the invisible ceiling, wondering how a stupid fucking accident had changed everything. I still don’t know if Simone and I would have got together as a normal couple, but things had been heading in that direction. I hadn’t strayed once since meeting her, and that was some sort of record. Now it didn’t matter. None of it mattered anymore.
“Ain’t nuthin’!” I snarled. “Ain’t nuthin’ at all!” That damn catch phrase from an old war said it all.
I closed my eyes but she was there, and so were Babs and Geezer and a whole bunch of others. People who had been in my life but were there no more, except in my mind. I got up and left the bedroom, flicking on lights as I went. I didn’t want the darkness anymore.
There was an almost untouched bottle of Jack Daniels on the shelf behind the bar. I sat on a stool and looked across at the bottle for a long time before I stood and retraced my steps. That was too easy! I pulled on a tracksuit and runners and went out into the night to punish my demons.
Michael Sun, Thomas Lu’s lover, retrieved his cellphone from the pocket of a jacket he had hanging in his closet. This phone wasn’t his usual one. This was one supplied by Sami Somsak. Sun had overheard Lu using his own phone. They were about to return to Singapore, quietly. Lu’s driver was coming to collect them. Instead of the distinctive Bentley, he would be driving a relatively inconspicuous Volvo.
Sami’s phone was switched off, so the young man decided to leave a message. It was often this way. He called Sami when he had news. Sami never called him.
“Mr Somsak, it’s Michael. We are returning to Singapore in the morning in another car. He is very pleased with himself, but I have no idea why. He’s planning something. When I find out, I will call again.”
Michael flipped the phone shut and slipped it back into its hiding place. He didn’t notice the figure on the patio outside of his room. Lu was standing beside the open sliding door. He had been about to enter the room. He had an expensive gift for Michael and had been wanting to surprise him. Now the realisation that he had been betrayed seared its way into his brain. Lu’s breath hissed between his clenched teeth as the red mist of his rage swirled around him.
“Betrayed!” he whispered. Michael had left the room; undoubtedly he would come looking for him. Lu weighed the small package in his hand. The beautiful, gunmetal grey Breightling had cost several thousand