Lost Innocence: The Accused. Part One Read Online Free PDF

‘Nose-ring’ and ‘Shades’ sprang
up, stepped over and slipped off my shirt. I was standing in the
middle of the room topless, when ‘Scarface’ turned up with a razor
and started shaving my back. The bastard cut me and didn’t even
care. He laughed, dabbed up the blood with a tissue then carried
on.
    ‘ Nose-ring’ mixed
something in a bowl, which he plastered on my back. ‘Shades’
pressed the package onto my lower-back and ‘Scarface’ taped it on
tightly with thick, silver tape. My shirt was thrown back on and I
was pushed over to the door.
    ‘ Good luck. ‘If get
caught, not call us.’
    The others laughed. I
didn’t. I stepped over to the door and stepped out. Next stop - the
airport.
    Arriving, my nerves
were on edge. I had five kilos of heroin strapped tightly to my
back in a country where the death penalty still applied. I checked
in then stepped over to the security check where three staff
followed their routines of passing luggage through a conveyor,
X-raying it then checking passengers for any metals.
    I glanced over at a
guy with a spiked hair. He was facing me through a free-standing
metal-detector, tapping a portable device on his thigh – this was
the guy I had to get to past without sounding the alarm.
    I crept up to the
first check, emptied my pockets into a plastic container with my
shoes and belt then stumbled to the second detector. I stopped and
stared at ‘Spike.’ He waved me on. I walked through like a zombie
on crack - no alarm. I breathed a sigh of relief, picked up my
things, slipped on my shoes and belt then strolled away.
    ‘ Mr Lawrence?’ My
name rang loudly in my ear. I turned back to see a senior-looking
police officer standing before me with two policemen by his
side.
    ‘ Please come with
me,’ he barked.
    I was taken to a room
with a table and two chairs. It smelt of wet paint and dust. The
door was locked; I was alone and couldn’t get a signal on my phone.
I sat back gently on a chair and anxiously waited.
    A farang with dandruff on his
shoulders entered in a grey suit and
striped tie. He was carrying a brown folder under his arm. He
pulled up a chair, slipped some photos from the folder, spread them
across the table then picked one out. It showed me standing outside
a building with a Thai lady.
    ‘ What were you doing
at a drug dealer’s?’
    He pulled out some
papers and nudged them over to me. ‘I have these to sign. Take a
minute to read them by all means.’
    I didn’t look. He
waited, watched then laughed. ‘This loyalty always amazes me….We
know exactly who you are and who you work for. If you sign you get
full immunity. All you need to do is testify against
Briggs.’
    He glared into my
eyes. I held my poker face.
    ‘ I must warn you that
once I leave this building, the deal is off. I have the police
waiting outside. I wonder what they’d find if they searched
you.’
    He slipped out a pen
and placed it on the table. I glanced down at the papers - they
were in English. I tried to read the words but couldn’t take them
in.
    ‘ If you don’t sign,
then you’ll end up in a prison here, for life. That’s if you’re not
given the death penalty. You have a child on the way, don’t
you?’
    My stomach turned -
how could he know that?
    ‘ Are you still
waiting for Briggs to bail you out?’
    I held my breath then
eased it out slowly.
    ‘ It’s not gonna
happen. I promise you that. This is the only deal and time is running
out.’
    He rose then stepped
out of the room. I stared at the documents, but still didn’t
sign.
    Ten minutes later he
returned, glanced down at the un-signed papers and sighed. He
picked up the pen and pointed it towards me. ‘Last chance
John.’
    He waited then
withdrew the pen.
    ‘ Good luck inside,’
he said, then left.
    My heart was beating
off the chart as I sat there waiting for Briggs to save me. A few
minutes later, the two policemen from before rushed in with a
photographer. The camera flashed as I was pulled