Dead Girl Beach Read Online Free PDF Page B

like having to—”
    â€œHustle drinks and sell their bodies.”
    She’d looked away embarrassed and didn’t respond.
    â€œThey’re not all what you think they are,” Seabury had said. “You might be surprised to know that a lot of the girls just sell drinks and don’t go to bed with every guy who walks into the place. A lot of them do, you’re right about that, but a surprising number of them don’t.”
    He’d switched the topic quickly, because her interest in him and the tepid cup of coffee that sat in front of her were diminishing. So, he started talking about her. Her job. Her degree from Bangkok University, her family, her company, and during the conversation, he’d found out she also liked outdoorsy things like scuba diving and fishing. The times he returned from the sea, they went scuba diving and fished for squid up on the northern part of the island near Chaloklum.
    Gradually, she’d felt herself drawn to him, loving everything about his quiet, gentle nature. The unhurried way he went about doing things appealed to her laid-back, free-spirited nature. Then, one night, she’d surprised him.
    â€œI want to go there. Everyone in my office talks about the place, but no one has the courage to go there, with the signs posted all around.”
    â€œWhy would you want to go there? The locals say the place is haunted, and you know the story.”
    â€œAbout all the dead girls?”
    He’d nodded.
    â€œCurious and adventurous, that’s me. So, when are you going to take me?”
    They went up the next day in a rented outboard, hooked around the cliff at the top of the peninsula, and powered into Kontee Beach. He’d asked her a final time, “You sure you want to do this?”
    â€œSure, I’m sure,” she’d told him. So, he pointed the rudder of the two-horsepower outboard in the direction of Dead Girl Beach and swung inside the lagoon fifteen minutes later.
    Tall, dark trees on each side of the lagoon bowed low, casting dark and ominous shadows over the water. A foreboding mist hung inside the branches. The light from a crescent moon cut through a cloak of darkness, stark and ghostly. The air thickened suddenly and carried the odor of a dying man’s breathless whisper.
    At the end of the lagoon were signs posted on the beach and warning visitors to keep away. Further inland, black volcanic rocks piled high on the dirty, rock-infested sand. Headstones littered with shoots of withered flowers marked the places where young girls had lost their lives. The lagoon had gone quiet as the wind rose over the water with the spine-chilling sound of a distant roar. Further out, a fierce undertow boiled beneath the surface.
    â€œOkay. I’ve seen enough,” she told Seabury. “The place gives me the creeps. I’m glad I’m not here alone.” She looked up at him. “You’re a big, brawny man. I’m lucky you’re here to protect me.”
    Seabury powered out of the lagoon as fast as the outboard could carry them and remembered what Dao had said as they left the lagoon.
    â€œOnce is enough. I wouldn’t be caught dead up here ever again.”
    Her words were the last ones Seabury would ever hear her mention about the place.
    * * * *
    The sharp clang of the cell door opening jarred him back from the past. Someone ushered inside two Thais in saffron prison garb and pulled another man back out into the hall. Then, the cell door clanged shut, and it got as quiet as a cemetery inside.
    Seabury sat down near the cell door. With his back resting against the bars, he looked around. Men sat in small, isolated groups on the floor. Some sat up with their backs to the inner wall. Others curled up into cramped spaces in the middle of the floor. After a while, Seabury heard some of them snoring.
    He stared straight ahead as the agitation about where he was and how he got there ate at him. There was a