Amaz began to splutter a protest but Hollos stopped her and added, ‘That’s only if you are alone. There must be no witnesses. Use your silencer. Drag his body well into a cave. There are small wells or holes in them. Leni will follow and help you.’

A shuffling movement could be heard on the tape.

‘What’s wrong with you?’ Hollos asked. ‘Come back here!’

‘Fuck you!’ Amaz hissed as she moved away.

Cavalier switched off the tape and settled down in a cubicle in an attempt to sleep. He awoke at dawn, walked to the village and sat down at an outside table where breakfasts of fried egg and bread were provided. The tourists straggled out and joined him. Cavalier found time to use a bathroom and wash. He was just leaving it when he bumped into Amaz.

‘Good morning,’ he said.

Amaz did not respond as she slammed the bathroom door shut.

‘Yes and good morning to you,’ Cavalier said in a mocking voice, loud enough for her to hear. He moved outside and accepted a coffee from one of the smiling villagers. Hollos and Leni were slumped on chairs, beers in hand and looking the worse for wear. Again mystery-man Dubois was not around.

Cavalier sat on the other side of the table from them and next to an Englishman with a Thai wife. Cavalier had avoided them until now, fearing they would ask too many questions. He feigned a hangover and sipped his coffee in silence. Amaz joined the table and sat at the other end from her gang and Cavalier.

‘Where to next?’ someone asked Geoffreys.

‘The Pacou Caves,’ he replied, loud enough for the benefit of everyone at the table. ‘They’re about twenty-five kilometres out from our final destination, Luang Prabang.’

Cavalier glanced along the table and caught Amaz’s eye. She looked away too quickly, he thought.

16 NOWHERE TO HIDE

16

NOWHERE TO HIDE

The Pacou Caves, on the west of the Mekong, offered a useful place for a kill where the victim would never be found. There were caves near the top, which the faint-hearted should not attempt to climb to, and the lower caves, which had more crevasses, nooks and crannies. Knowing there could be an attempt to kill him, Cavalier had the choice to stay on the boat and avoid any confrontation. Yet if the plans he’d heard had been changed and the men had decided to take part in his demise, he would be just as vulnerable onboard. Most of the tourists stepped off the boat to wander around the lower cave area. He decided to call Amaz’s bluff and take the walk up the stone steps. He went to the toilet, checked his handgun and began the ascent.