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  “My name is Nana. What’s your name?”

  “Sam,” he whispered. “I’m hungry Nana.”

  “I have food in my apartment. We’ll be home soon. Sam, have you got some more family in America or somewhere? Maybe a granddad or an auntie or something?”

  “No. Just me and mummy and daddy.”

  Nobody noticed Nana going into her apartment block and, even if they had done, nobody would have asked her who the little girl was. Nana hadn’t spoken to anybody in the apartment block since she moved in there.

  Nana searched the kitchen cupboards.

  “Do you eat Thai food or Farang food?”

  “I eat anything, but not very spicy.”

  “Do you want some noodles?”

  “I want egg in a cup with some soldiers please.”

  “I haven’t got an egg cup.”

  “Not an egg cup silly. Any cup and then you put the egg in it for me to eat with some soldiers.”

  “What are soldiers?”

  “Mummy makes them with toast.”

  “How does she make them?”

  “I don’t know. She just cuts them out of toast and I dip them into the egg and eat them.”

  Nana boiled two eggs and then spooned them out into a cup and cut up a piece of toast for Sam. He sat on the sofa waiting and she served the meal on the coffee table in front of him. He screwed his nose up and slowly picked up a piece of toast. He dipped it into the cup of boiled egg, but the egg was too hard to dip the toast.

  “I’ve never cooked egg in a cup with soldiers before!” offered Nana, as some sort of excuse.

  “That’s okay. It’s not very good, but you can try again tomorrow.”

  “How does your mummy do it?”

  “She does it better.”

  “Well, you eat your egg and I’ll go and shower.”

  After her shower Nana walked back into the lounge wrapped in a white towel. Sam was asleep on the sofa. He had taken just two bites from a piece of toast.

  “There ought to be a book or something about how to look after a kid,” she sighed.

  She undressed Sam and put a pillow under his head and covered him with a sheet. She went to bed. It had been a long day and she still hadn’t decided what she was going to do about Sam. Nana had just fallen into a sleep when the bedroom door creaked open. Nana rolled out of the other side of the bed, grabbing the gun that was under the pillow and she was up onto her knees and pointing the gun at the bedroom door, all in one smooth motion. Sam gasped with shock, but didn’t move.

  “Sam! You shouldn’t just walk in here like that. You scared me.”

  “You scared me too.”

  “Sorry Sam. What do you want?”

  “I have to sleep with you, because I haven’t got a Teddy.”

  Nana got back into bed and patted the mattress next to her. Sam ran up and jumped on the bed. Nana turned her back to him and felt his little body snuggle up to her. In minutes he was asleep. Soon after that so was Nana.

  Nana was up and showered by 7:00am, leaving Sam asleep in bed. She opened up her laptop and typed ’Egg in a cup with soldiers’ into Google. After looking at a few egg cups she found the recipe. It was easy. Soft boil an egg for 3 or 4 minutes and spoon it into a cup. Cut toast into 2cm strips and serve! She made the perfect egg in a cup with soldiers and called Sam. He walked out of the bedroom rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and sat at the coffee table.

  “You need to get dressed first.”

  Sam pulled on his shorts from out of the carrier bag and sat and ate his breakfast. He ate it all.

  “Are you going to be my mummy now?”

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen, yet.”

  “You can be if you want.”

  “I’ll let you know.”

  Sam just shrugged his shoulders.

  Nana’s mobile phone rang. She knew before she answered that it was going to be Uncle. He was the only person who had the number. She also knew it was going to be bad news, because he never rang her. He only ever sent text messages. Nana was certain that he couldn’t possibly know about Sam, but she had a strange sickly feeling in her stomach that told her he did. She picked the mobile up.

  “Hello!”

  “You have the boy.” It wasn’t a question. It was more of a statement. His tone was flat and angry.

  “What!”

  “You have the boy. He needs to be killed.”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “Don’t you dare lie to me Nana. You were in Udon Thani. The contract killer assigned to kill the American family had his neck broken. I know it was you and I know you have the boy. You have to kill him.”

  “What is the connection between the hit on Mr. Oiki and the American family?”

  “Don’t concern yourself Nana. Just kill the boy! I will expect a text in the next 30 minutes.”

  “I really don’t know what you are talking about. I haven’t got any boy.”

  “30 minutes.”

  The line went dead.

  Nana looked at Sam. He looked back at her and smiled. It was the first time he had smiled. He had a nice smile. It was a cute smile and Nana found herself smiling back at him.

  “Sam,” Nana was hesitant. “Do you really want me to be your mummy?”

  Sam just nodded, as if she had asked him if he wanted egg and chips for dinner.

  “I think you could be my redemption.”

  “What’s a redemption?”

  “It means that you could be good for me.”

  “Yes. I’ll be very good. Can I still have a teddy?”

  “Yes, of course you can, but we can’t stay here. It’s not safe. We have to go and hide somewhere else.”

  “Where can we hide?”

  “I have a house out in the countryside. Nobody knows about it. We will be safe there and it has a big garden to play in. We can get a dog. Do you like dogs?”

  Sam nodded. “Can we have a baby dog?”

  “Yes. We can get a puppy. I don’t know if I will be a good mummy, but I can try. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Suddenly, the decision had been made. The house in the country was safe, not even Uncle knew about it. It had a safe room and an escape tunnel under the house. Nana already had enough money to live very comfortably on. Sam had awoken some deep emotion in Nana. Some long forgotten feelings of love, compassion and caring.

  “Come on, we need to pack some things.”

  “I haven’t got anything to pack.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll buy you everything that you will need. You will have to put the dress on again today though. Sorry Sam. Have a shower while I pack.”

  Sam tugged off his shorts and ran into the shower. He stood on his tiptoes, but couldn’t reach the tap. Nana turned it on for him.

  “Can you wash yourself?”

  “Yes. But I don’t like shampoo in my eyes.”

  “Well, be careful. I’m going to pack some stuff in the bedroom.”

  Nana was still packing when Sam walked into the bedroom. He was still wet from the shower, but had pulled his shorts on and tugged the dress on over his head. It was sticking to his wet body and twisted round so that it was tight. Nana laughed. She suddenly remembered that she couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed. She pulled the dress off and dried him before dressing him again and combing his hair as she sat on the edge of the double bed. Sam stood patiently between her legs with his small hands holding onto her knees. The feelings that the small child was evoking in Nana were washing over her like waves and making her feel quite light headed. Her stomach felt as if there were a million butterflies fluttering around inside. She was excited and happy and a bit scared at the future that Sa
m had presented her with. The only danger to their future was Uncle, but Nana would think about that later. She threw a few more things into the case and closed it.

  “Okay, Sam. I want you to wait here. I’m going to pick up a few things from the Seven Eleven shop for the journey and I’ll bring my car to the front of the apartment. Can you be a good boy and wait here for me?”

  Sam nodded and smiled at Nana.

  “I’ll be very quiet and very good.”

  “Good boy. I won’t be long and then we can have a nice drive into the countryside to my other house.”

  “And we can get a puppy?” asked Sam.

  “Yes. We can get a puppy. Be good.”

  Nana left the apartment, locking the door behind her. Her own car was garaged behind the apartment block. She drove the short distance to the Seven Eleven and bought some supplies for the long journey before going back to the apartment block and parking the car as near to the front door as she could. She left the shopping on the back seat and ran up the stairs to her apartment. She unlocked the door and went inside. As soon as she went inside she knew that something was wrong. Nothing was out of place but she could just feel that something was wrong. And she couldn’t see Sam. She sneaked across the lounge into the kitchen and selected a carving knife from the wooden block on the marble surface. She silently moved through her apartment armed with the knife. There was no sign of struggle and no sign of a forced entry, but she just knew that someone had been inside. They may or may not still be inside the apartment and they may or may not be holding Sam, but Nana feared the worst! After she was satisfied that the rest of the apartment was clear, she moved quietly towards her bedroom door. It was closed to, but not shut. She gently pushed the door open. She could see Sam lying on the bed. She slid into the room and checked the built-in wardrobes and en-suite bathroom before she went to Sam. Nobody was in the apartment.

  “Sam” she whispered, as she rolled him over. His body rolled over and his head flopped behind it. He was dead. His neck had been broken. The tears welled up in Nana’s eyes, but she didn’t cry.

  She recovered her mobile from the back pocket of her jeans and rang Uncle. She was calm and emotionally detached. Uncle answered the phone on the third ring.

  “Why are you ringing me Nana?”

  “Why did you have the boy killed?”

  “There was a contract. There is no more to be said. I am still deciding whether I need to discipline you Nana. I don’t know what happened to you Nana, but you need to understand that this was your first and last mistake. I will not tolerate another one. Do we understand each other Nana?”

  Nana made no reply.

  “Do we understand each other?” Uncle hissed into the phone.

  “Yes. We understand each other.”

  “Do I need to have you disciplined?”

  “No Uncle, I will not be making any more mistakes.”

  “I am prepared to give you one more chance Nana, but there will be no more mistakes and no more chances. The only option that will be open to me from now on will be the termination of our relationship. Do you understand what that means?”

  “Yes. I understand.”

  “Nana, take a few weeks off. Have a holiday. I need you back at the top of your game. I will send a cleanup team to your apartment to take care of the item. As you now know, we already have a key.”

  “It’s okay. I will clean everything up myself and maybe I’ll just have a few days in Hong Kong - do some shopping.”

  “Good girl Nana and never ever ring me again. Text messages only. Just like before.”

  “Yes Uncle.”

  Nana closed the phone. She spent the rest of the day in her apartment with Sam’s body. She couldn’t risk moving it during the hours of daylight. She had to wait until the darkness of another humid Bangkok evening crept over the city. She carried his body out to the car, as if she was carrying a sleeping child. Still dressed in the little pink dress, he still passed for a little girl. Nana drove out of the apartment complex and into the busy traffic of a busy city.

  Uncle drove across the city to his club. He ate a club sandwich and had two glasses of brandy and dry ginger. He smoked a cigar and chatted about international politics with a group of associates. It was his normal routine for a weeknight. The automatic gates slid open as he returned to his house later in the evening. The house was illuminated by the outside security lights and the two lights inside the house that he always left on when he went out. He parked the car in the porch and went into the house. He tapped the security code into the alarm within the allotted ten seconds. He tossed the car keys into the heavy glass ashtray that sat on the dining table and poured himself a brandy. He sat in the black leather chair in the darkened room and drank it before going up the stairs to bed. He opened the bedroom door and flicked on the light. Sam’s body, still dressed in the little pink dress, lay on his bed. Uncle froze where he stood for a moment. Then he moved to stand with his back to the wall. His eyes flicked around the room. There was no sign of Nana, but he knew she would be there somewhere. He moved slowly to the bedside cabinet. He took out his gun and checked that it was still loaded. He flicked off the safety catch and cocked it. He checked the built-in wardrobes and then checked the en-suite. There was no sign of Nana. He walked back to the bedroom door. He felt light headed and dizzy. He thought that he had probably had one too many brandies.

  “Nana!” he shouted from the bedroom door. “Are you going to kill me? Come on, I’m waiting for you.”

  He heard Nana’s footsteps walking up the stairs.

  “I don’t need to kill you Uncle. You have already killed yourself.”

  He still couldn’t see her, but he knew that she was on the stairs.

  “Show yourself.”

  Nana stepped up onto the landing. Uncle’s sight was blurred and he was seeing double. He took aim as best he could and fired a shot. Nana didn’t move.

  “I took the bullets out of your gun and put in blanks Uncle.”

  Uncle dropped to his knees. His insides were burning and his body started convulsing.

  “You have poisoned me!”

  “Arsenic in your brandy Uncle. You have about two minutes before you drop into a coma and you will be dead in another ten.”

  “Why Nana?”

  “Because you had Sam killed. You didn’t need to have him killed. Did you know when you sent me up to Udon Thani that there were two contracts?”

  “There was only ever one contract. I just used two killers.”

  “Who took out the contract?”

  “The American’s brother. He needed his brother and all his family dead so that he would get the family fortune. The Japanese man had to die because he was the cover story. It would look like a business deal gone bad and the American and the Japanese man had each other killed. It’s just business Nana.”

  Uncle could feel his tongue swelling huge in his mouth. He started to foam at the mouth, a mixture of blood and spit. His vision faded to nothing. His heart went into arrest before he dropped into coma. He was dead. Nana stepped over his body and kissed Sam one last time. She went back downstairs and emptied the rest of the brandy bottle into the sink. She gathered up all of Uncle’s private documents and contact books and his laptop and mobile phones. She took the empty bottle with her and tossed it into a canal from the car window. Everything else she kept. It was going to make interesting reading!

  A Bonus Sample Of The Latest Novel

  Snatched by Guy Lilburne

  Chapter 1 - The Plan

  Nothing stays the same! People, places, governments, ideas and opportunities all change with the passing of time. In the short term or in a long time, it doesn’t really matter. Nothing stays the same.

  Syria was being torn apart by a brutal civil war. The dictatorial, self-appointed Presiden
t had no intention of standing down no matter what the cost in money or lives, but he was beleaguered and embedded in a war that he couldn’t win. Death or a war crimes trial in The Hague seemed to be his destiny, but he still had an army, he still had loyal supporters and, while no western powers would intervene, he still had hope - hope that was diminishing each day with the news of lost battles and lost ground. He was winning the battle in the skies above Aleppo, Qusayr, Hamah and Homs. Many lives were being lost, but he didn’t care. As far as he was concerned they were peasants and not even peasants who were loyal to his regime. He was also winning the propaganda battle and in the war of words he could blame the deaths of so many innocent people on the freedom fighters of the opposition. The ‘terrorists’ he called them. Al-Qaeda. He knew the world would believe him when he stated that they were responsible. Russia was providing him with arms. Lebanon had sent Hezbollah fighters and Iran had sent soldiers into Syria to fight alongside the Republican Guard and militia still loyal to the President. It wasn’t enough to swing the tide, it just prolonged the fighting and each day brought more bad news. The President had no idea that it was going to be the chain of events in the rapidly changing country of Myanmar (Burma) in south-east Asia that would change his destiny and the future of the country that he was born to believe belonged to him.

  The President had just had another daily meeting on the crisis. Being fed truths, half- truths and lies, he had a tainted grasp on the reality of his country’s situation and the world’s reaction to it. What the President just couldn’t understand was that the West didn’t seem to understand that Syria belonged to him. It was his by birth right. He had sat listening to the words being uttered by the men in white robes and army uniforms. The President himself stood out, being the only man wearing a suit. It was an Armani suit. It was two sizes too big on his skinny body to look either cool or smart. But who would dare say so! He had heard enough and his patience was running out. He stopped the meeting and ordered his generals to come up with a plan to end this war and warned them that they would all die if they didn’t. Whether they would die on the orders of the President or die at the hands of the freedom fighter mattered little, they would still be dead. They didn’t doubt the truth in what the President had said. Serious faces. Sad, scared, serious faces left the bomb-proof bunker. Generals and intelligence staff, advisors and government heads all filed out in silence. Only one intelligence officer stayed behind and his lack of movement caught the President’s eye.