The Cover of War by Travis Stone Read Free Book Online Page A

rear-vision-mirror
to the road and back.
    Danny looked
back. A tan colored sedan turned the corner behind them. The Citron turned
sharp left; the tan car followed.
    'Fuck,' the
blunt-faced man said.

7
    T riet glared at her.
    'You were
followed, Amai,' he said.
    'I got away.'
    Triet's eyes stayed
on hers. 'Why do you want to see me?  . . . What has happened?'
    With a sick
feeling, she held up Danny's secret letter.  
    Triet read it,
nodded, said: 'Well done,' and then put it in his pocket.
    'I hate this
place,' she said. 'I'm going.'
    Triet put a hand
on her shoulder. 'No. You're coming with me.'
    She felt
trapped. 'Where?'
    'We need each
others' help. Let's go.'
    She had no
intention of having Triet help her; but Amai did fear being caught by the
Americans. If she were, Tet would be finished - but so would she.  
    'I'm glad you
came . ' He smiled. 'Your task is not yet finished.'
    Amai couldn't
believe what she was hearing.Was he really foolish enough to send her
back out? Amai had other plans. She would find another way to report Tet, and
then she would hide. There were places in Saigon where she could disappear - until Danny returned.   
    Triet took her
by the shoulders. 'Something important has come up.' The intensity in his eyes
was disturbing.
    'What?'
    Triet put his
arm around her and steered her out of the club and into the street. He took her
through Cholon to a rundown building, squashed into a narrow lane near the Phu
Tho racetrack.
    Amai felt
emotionally drained. Her escape from the canal had been luck. She knew that she
could be dead - or worse - suffering torture at the hands a grinning General
Loan.
    'This is my
Headquarters,' Triet said.
    His building was
a dirty yellow color with a terracotta roof. Outside, hard-faced men milled
about smoking tobacco. Inside, several played a dice game on the concrete
floor. In turn, the men nodded to Triet as he led her past. A thin man holding
a thin cigarette between his lips stared at her breasts, before looking her up
and down. Amai would never have come here without Triet. Triet gave a hand
signal and the skinny man and one other fell in behind them.
    He led her
through several passageways and doors before exiting the building into a closed
courtyard. The two men went to a dry concrete fountain and dragged it back
several feet. The fountain had concealed an opening. The smell of opium drifted
up from the concrete basement, and Amai felt the sudden urge to smoke. She had
never smoked the drug, and hadn't wanted to, but Saigon was getting on top of her. She needed an escape.
    She climbed down
the narrow ladder behind Triet. Two ugly men and a beautiful girl sat on the
floor. The men stood, greeted Triet, and then the three of them became
engrossed in conversation, referring periodically to a large wall map. Amai
recognized one of the men as Pham Xuan An, the blunt-nosed spy from Time
Magazine. She had worked with An before.
    Amai listened to
the men talk.
    An said: 'We'll
bring in AK-47s by the thousands. And grenades.'
    'How?'
    An's blunt nose
flared. 'The Tet celebrations. We'll bring in truck loads of flowers and hide
the weapons underneath.
    Amai looked at
the girl. Shrouded in velvety smoke, the girl drew back on a long bamboo pipe.
She smiled at Amai and then put the pipe on the worn rug on which she sat. Amai
recognized her.
    Thi Ling Nang , Amai thought.
    They had walked
part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail together; from the Pan Handle to Cu Chi. Thi was
a spy.  
    Thi waved in
lethargic recognition, but did not get up. Amai figured that she had smoked
several pipes; her glazed eyes suggesting that nothing would bother her.
    That's how Amai
wanted to feel.
    Amai realized
Triet was looking at her. 'Pipe?' He said.
    Amai nodded. He
looked surprised.
    Amai sat beside
Thi and smelled the subtle scent of her hair through the opium.
    She could never
return to her flat on Thong Nhut Boulevard . She would have to abandon her beautiful dresses and shoes - she
could never