Chapter 23 - Doing the Business

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A gentle nudge from Hazel woke me. She rolled against me and kissed me warmly on the lips. Before I had a chance to follow up, she'd hopped out of bed and was heading for the bathroom.

"Get up lazy bones. Let's make our last day here a great one," she said over her shoulder.

"What time is it?"

"It's after nine o'clock. I want us to have a full day today, after all we got to bed reasonably early last night."

I couldn't argue with that, at least I wasn't going to. I tried to sit up.

Aaagh, aaagh.

I hurt like buggery all over, you'd think I'd been hit by a tuk-tuk. I eased myself into a sitting position and examined the sore bits with my hands. The black eye throbbed like a bastard but the bump on my head pipped it to the post and took first place in the pain stakes. I hoped a bump was all it was.

"Your eye looks even worse than it did last night," said Hazel as she emerged from the bathroom. She looked fresh and refreshed, a big change from last night.

"Yeah, it does seem to have matured overnight."

I dragged myself into the shower and spent half the time just enjoying the warmth of the water as it sprayed over me. My body tingled as the overly hot water soothed my aches and pains, and bumps and bruises. I completed the three esses routine and felt almost human again. Before I went out to face Hazel, I sat on the toilet for a few minutes to try and get my head together. I reflected on all that had happened the day before. The bottom line was, not only had I survived, I'd deposited nearly a hundred and twenty thousand Great British Pounds in my bank account. I grabbed my mobile from beside the basin and called up my banking app, again. Check balance. Nothing. Had I been scammed? Had that sleazy banker trousered all my money? I wished I hadn't left him the briefcase.

"Are you ever coming out of there? You're worse than a woman."

"I'll be right with you," I said, taking a deep breath and banging my chest with my fist, like soldiers do when preparing for battle. I wished I hadn't done it, my chest was ever so tender after the stiletto kicking in the Pattaya go-go bar.

Against all the odds, Hazel and I had a wonderful day doing normal touristy things around Bangkok. We saw temples, palaces, floating markets and wonderful gardens. We ate street food, posh nosh and had a few drinks; emphasis on a few.

My only worry was about the money. I'd checked my banking app throughout the day, pretty much every time I had the opportunity, and still there was no sign of the hundred and thirteen thousand. Once, while Hazel was dress shopping, I'd even phoned the Thai bank and spoken to Paul Hudson, the guy who'd done my transaction. I'd forgotten his name but it was on the receipt I had.

"I wouldn't be concerned, Mr Murray," he said. "Sometimes it does take more than twenty-four hours. Your bank is on the other side of the world after all."

I could picture the smug smile on his face as he reminded me about the geography of the planet.

"So the electronic transfer takes longer because of the distance?" I said. "The electronic pulses need a wee rest on the way round?"

"No, sir," he said, even though I'm sure he knew fine well I wasn't being serious. "It's to do with International transaction clearance between the EU and the Far East. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about, there's no need for you to worry."

I hung up when I saw Hazel emerging from the shop, a carrier bag swung in her hand and a big smile played on her face.

"Success?" I asked.

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