Welcome to Hell by Colin Martin Read Free Book Online Page A

role of Bill Turner.
    Chuck telephoned O’Connor and told him that he was interested in some of his machinery, and arranged to meet at our offices to discuss prices and payment.
    I told Chuck to offer O’Connor an incentive to arrive on time. He told O’Connor that if they could reach an agreement at the meeting, then he would place a cash deposit on the machinery. Chuck offered him $300,000 up front.
    O’Connor said he’d be there.
    I knew we had him. The cash deposit would bring him for sure. He wouldn’t trust anybody else with that amount of cash and would come himself. But I still had a hell of a lot to do before the meeting.
    A friend of mine had a brother in the police. I asked him and another officer to attend the meeting and arrest O’Connor when he arrived.
    I explained everything to them in detail, and why I couldn’t trust the tourist police in Bangkok. They both agreed to help.
    Now I only needed somewhere to hold the meeting.
    The solution turned out to be easy. The company I was working for was in the middle of building a new construction yard and offices. Most of the buildings were half finished, but there was a small office block that had just been completed. It would be perfect.
    I faxed O’Connor a map giving directions to the office and set the date of the meeting for 21 July 1997, at 1 p.m.
    Everything went according to plan. But I was still worried that O’Connor might not come alone. If he brought a lot of men with him, I would be in trouble. So I asked my secretary to ask for the names of those who would be attending the meeting, and some form of photo ID so that our security people could issue them with passes.
    O’Connor didn’t suspect a thing, and faxed a copy of his passport immediately. He also sent one belonging to a man named Brett Holdsworth.
    He was O’Connor’s bodyguard. Would you believe that O’Connor actually said that Holdsworth was coming in case we gave him a large amount of cash? He really thought that we’d fallen for his con and he was coming to pick up an easy $300,000.
    On the morning of 21 July, everything was going according to plan. I had set up the office with a clear view of the main gate to see O’Connor when he arrived.
    We waited for little under 30 minutes before O’Connor arrived. Chuck greeted him, then escorted him to the office.
    I can vividly recall Chuck approaching O’Connor with his hand outstretched. After they shook hands, Chuck pointed O’Connor and Holdsworth in our direction and asked O’Connor to wait inside, before making an excuse and disappearing.
    Next, one of my Thai friends went to the door and ushered O’Connor and Holdsworth in. I was sitting behind a desk in the office, with two armed police positioned just behind the door.
    O’Connor came in first, followed by his bodyguard. When he saw me, he stopped dead. All he could say was, ‘It’s you!’
    O’Connor next looked at the police, then back at me. He was trapped and he knew it.
    Then he rushed at me.
    All hell broke lose. He threw a few punches at me, then I managed to grab his arm and he wrestled me to the floor. Holdsworth stepped in, but one of the policemen immediately put a hand on his shoulder. He backed off, noticing that the policeman’s other hand was on his holster.
    I belted O’Connor in the face. I wanted to kill him there and then. The bastard had destroyed my life.
    The police had to pry us apart. O’Connor was built like a prop forward and far too strong for me, but I didn’t care. I locked on to him and continued to punch him in the face.
    When I finally stopped hitting him, I noticed that I’d left a slight mark under his left eye, but apart from that he wasn’t hurt.
    He was bloody angry though. I don’t know if it was because he’d been caught by one of his own scams, or if it was simply because he’d been caught, but he was not a happy man. His eyes kept darting around the room and his face was purple with rage.
    The police now spoke and told