Justification For Killing (40 page)

“
No!! No one... I wouldn’t
tell... oh, but wait!”

“
What? Who did you
tell?”

“
I talked to Malita last
night before I left to go to the airport.”

Placing his index finger
to his lips, he whispered to Kat, “Shhh, stay close, we don’t know
who might still be in here.” Motioning to Si Lei, “Let’s check the
rest of the condo.”

The apartment only had a
den, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms. The kitchen area was
separated from the living room by a bar and a couple of stools.
Their view into this space was unhampered. They could see the
cabinets had been searched, and the drawer content of spoons,
knives and forks were scattered across the floor. Coffee, sugar and
flour had been haphazardly dumped on top of this mess, but Malita
was nowhere to be seen.

The next room was the bath
- the door was slightly open. Cautiously peeking around the door
Sam Lin could see the small room was also empty; however, it had
been given the same rough treatment as the living room and kitchen.
Kat’s door to her bedroom was shut. Tiptoeing they approached the
tightly closed door. Sam Lin pressed his finger to his lips again,
softly counting, “One, two, three...,” he quickly swung open the
door - empty! The clothes and other items in the closet had been
tossed aimlessly onto the overturned bed. The room, like the rest
of the apartment, was a total mess.

Only one room remained -
Malita’s bedroom - its door was also shut. Quietly the three crept
closer... ever so closer. Sam Lin was at the door. Si Lei was
hugging so close to his back Sam Lin could feel the heat from Si
Lei’s breath; Kat, almost as close to Si Lei was bringing up the
rear; using his handkerchief from his pocket Sam Lin grasped the
cold handle. Even through the cloth his sweat from the palm of his
hand made the door handle feel as though the steel handle had been
retrieved from a refrigerator. He instinctively jerked his hand
away. He had a dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach. He did
not want to open this door, but he knew he must. Slowly he forced
his hand to turn the stainless steel handle.

As the door swung open a
couple of inches the smell he had first detected at the front entry
was now overpowering. Its nauseating scent overwhelmed his senses.
The smell was coming from this room! He could not see inside. It
was dark, the lights were out, and the curtains at the small window
were drawn tightly shut. He was glad the room was dark he could
feel a gnawing, sickening feeling in his gut. His gut was saying he
did not want to see what was waiting inside. Knowing the situation
was not going to improve he cautiously opened the door wider - the
bright light from the living room partially illuminated the dark
interior of the bedroom.

Sitting in a straight
chair, arms and legs bound with grey, duct tape was a limp body -
moving closer Kay screamed from the bedroom door, “ It’s Malita!!”
Blood from a hole in Malita’s right temple matted her blonde hair
together. It had slowly seeped down her shoulder, dripped across
her body and puddled into a sticky, red, gelatinous puddle on the
floor. Blowflies seeking the syrupy goo could be heard buzzing
within the room’s confines. Cuts and bruises were evident around
her face. A trickle of blood had dried at the edge of her mouth.
One eye had been totally swollen shut. It was quite apparent she
had been horrendously tortured and savagely, beaten
lifeless.

“
Is she... is she —
”

“
Dead? Yes, mercifully,
she is dead.”

At the word ‘dead’, a loud
gasp was heard from the bedroom door, and a harsh refrain of sobs
coming from Kat. “No... no... she cannot be dead!!”

Sam Lin hurried back to
Kat, clutched her by the shoulders and said as he tightly embraced
her, “I know, I know.” Giving her a comforting pat on the back he
continued, “I’m sorry... deeply sorry.”

In a few minutes, Kat had
regained her composure. Between sobs and sniffles she kept
repeating, “It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.”

Sam Lin and Si Lei had
been sitting with her until the shock of Malita’s death subsided,
Sam Lin finally asked, “Okay Kat, I hate to ask, but a couple of
questions - how did you know when we would arrive? And what did you
tell Malita? Did she know about your father’s papers?”

“
I don’t believe I
mentioned the two of you to her, but your Director gave me your
arrival information. It was on the note I left for my boss. As far
as I can recall I do not think I told Malita where I was going. She
and I talked about many private things; it’s possible I might have
explained whom you were, and you were coming to Bangkok to
investigate Ryan Rousseau. In fact, I believe I did mention your
arrival – and I know one thing that I will never forgive myself
for, she and I talked about my father’s papers and his satchel, but
I never told her it was hidden in the basement.”

“
Kat, why would you be so
trustful of your roommate? Had you two been friends for a long
time?”

Kat started by explaining
her arrival back in Bangkok. Over the years a friend of her
grandfather, who also worked for the Company, had keep in contact
with her, as she grew older. In a letter, he mentioned if she ever
returned to Bangkok she might want to seek out a CIA employee named
Malita Smith and he provided Malita’s address. He told Kat she
might want to find Malita since Malita’s mother had worked for the
CIA at the same time as her grandfather Dr. Rusnak. When she got to
Bangkok she sought out Malita. There was an immediate bond between
the two and eventually they leased this apartment together, but as
far as Kat could determine Malita’s mother had never disclosed
anything about Ryan Rousseau or MK-ULTRA. Even though Malita had
nothing to add which shed light on her grandfather’s murder the two
of them had become close friends. She was beginning to tell Sam Lin
and Si Lei more about her friendship with Malita when the
conversation was interrupted by a phone ringing somewhere in the
apartment.

“
Where’s that
phone...?

“
That is Malita’s cell
phone. It’s her ringtone. Sounds like it’s coming from over there
next to the wall - underneath that pile of books pulled from the
bookshelf.”

Sam Lin grabbed the books
and began tossing them aside frantically searching for the ringing
phone. “Hel... Hello,” he said placing it to his ear.

A disguised,
computer generated voice on the other end replied,
“Leave Bangkok, leave now! There is nothing for
you here... both of you go home... now!! If you do not, it could be
a deadly mistake… Your last... I repeat... deadly mistake!!”
Before Sam Lin could respond, the connection was
terminated.

“
Who was it Sam
Lin?”

“
It certainly wasn’t the
Bangkok welcoming committee. We need to contact the police, but
before we do I would like to see those papers in the basement. I’m
almost sure the people making the phone call were the same ones who
slipped in here and killed your friend and ransacked your
apartment. Kat, I believe they were trying to find your
grandfather’s papers. Once the police arrive they will confiscate
everything, and we will never get a look at Dr. Rusnak’s
work.”

“
Okay, I understand. All
of Grandfather’s papers are in a large, brown, leather satchel
stored in the basement. They are not in my 2B locker I put them in
locker 3B. Come I will show you.”

THE BASEMENT

Leaving the apartment they
bounded down the stairs toward the basement. Taking two steps at a
time, they hurried as fast as humanly possible. Fortunately they
did not encounter anyone on the way down. Opening the door to the
storage room they were greeted by a musty, odor suggestive of mold
and mildew. The room was cold, damp and un-inviting. Surveying the
room they could see one side was full of grey, steel lockers with
large three inch high apartment numbers on the doors – each
apartment was entitled to one locker and one caged storage area –
the lessee provided their own locks and keys.

Across from the row of
lockers was Kay’s small, chain link enclosed storage area. It was
large enough to hold her big, bulky items if need be, but at the
current time it only contained a small kitchen table and a couple
of chairs. They walked to the storage locker numbered 2B. The lock
had been cut, but the lock still held the hasp closed. Since the
contents of Kat’s locker were strewn about the floor, they did not
bother to look inside. They were interested in the leather
briefcase in 3B. To the left and a couple of lockers down was the
locker they were seeking – 3B. It seemed to be undisturbed. Kat
provided the key to the lock. Sam Lin un-locked the locker door and
removed a large, brown, leather satchel.

There was a light in Kat’s
wire cage across from the storage lockers on the right side of the
room. Sam Lin, Si Lei and Kat opened the chain-link gate, went
inside and sat the satchel on the table. The single overhead
seventy-five watt bulb provided ample illumination to see inside
and reveal the contents of Doctor Joseph Rusnak’s satchel. Freeing
the strap binding the bag, Sam Lin could see a number of manila
folders.

As he reached inside to
get the first folder, Kat mentioned she wanted to see what the
ransackers had done to her own 2B locker. Engrossed in the contents
of the leather bag Sam Lin casually motioned Kay toward the gate.
She swung the gate open, closed it, and walked back toward her own
apartment’s locker. They had passed her 2B locker on the way from
the door to 3B. Standing in front of 2B she fumbled to remove the
cut lock from the ring holding the latch. After one or two
attempts, the lock snapped out, she removed it from the hasp. The
screech of the metal hinges could be heard as she slowly began to
open the steel door... A metallic ‘click’ was heard...

“
What the...” she never
got to finish... the explosion which followed was the most
ear-splitting imaginable. The building shook. Debris, dust and
smoke instantly filled the room. The deafening blast hit Sam Lin
and Si Lei as they were bowed over examining the contents of the
satchel. Blown to the concrete floor they were immediately covered
with dust and other debris. Some of the matter defied description.
Many of the bits and pieces appeared to be flesh and bone, and most
were covered with blood. The only thing that saved them from the
horrific blast was the wire cage - it stopped the deadly pieces of
steel and metal from hitting them directly.

Getting up from the floor,
Sam Lin could faintly see through the haze of pink dust and smoke,
and what remained of the once beautiful Katrina Sokolov. It was an
understatement to say locker 2B had been booby-trapped by a
powerful bomb; there wasn’t much left to see of her or the locker.
By the sound of the explosion and the tell-tell faint scent of
almonds filling the air Sam Lin recognized the signature of the
explosive C-4. He also knew C-4 was a military explosive; it was
not available to the civilian market; however, something the CIA
would have ready access to.

“
Are you okay?” Sam Lin
asked, grabbing Si Lei by his arm and dragging him to his
feet.

“
Huh, huh, what did you
say?” said Si Lei, shaking his head as he jarred it with his hand
in a futile attempt to clear his hearing.

“
ARE...YOU...ALL...RIGHT...? He said again louder and slower.
His own ears were ringing so loudly he could not tell how loud he
was talking.

“
Kat?” Said Si Lei. “Did
you say Kat? Sam Lin I think what is left of her is over there,”
pointing toward the mangled human form lying where locker 2B
previously sat.

“
I said RIGHT! RIGHT!! Si
Lei, not Kat! Oh, forget it, come on Brother.”

Sam Lin grabbed the brown
satchel, crammed the folders back inside, pushed open what was left
of their protective chain link cage door, and staggered through the
dust and smoke towards Kat’s body where he fell on his knees beside
her twisted and mangled body. Looking at her, he could tell the
search for a pulse would be useless; however, a tiny breath of life
remained. She was trying to say something. Bending over, Sam Lin
gently wiped the blood from her lips and placed his ear close to
her mouth; he slowly nodded his head, “Yes... sure... you got it.”
There was nothing they could do, she breathed a couple more shallow
breaths and then went limp - she was dead.

“
What did she say Sam
Lin?”

“
She whispered,
‘Rousseau... get him...get him... for... me...”

Her purse had been blown
against the wire cage opposite her body - there wasn’t much left of
it, but he did manage to find her car keys, “Come on Si Lei we have
to get out of here. The Bangkok police will hold us for days, if
not weeks, for questioning.”

As they limped out the
front door, they mingled with the crowd of people trying to flee
the scene of the explosion along with the curious who had gathered
to see what the explosion was all about.

The time was 7:00 p.m.,
Saturday, December 1, 2012.

DEATH ON THE
HIGHWAY

Getting into Kat’s
Cadillac they sped away from the Tiboon Condo Town parking lot
without trying to attract any attention. They were successful; at
least for the moment they thought they were.