Noble Lies Read Online Free Page B

“Okay. But I wouldn’t let the owner hear you say that.”
    The man laughed as he reached his arm across the counter and held it there till Mark shook his hand. “John DiMarco. Or Jason DiMarco. Whatever. Just call me JJ. And I’m not about to fire my best employee.”
    â€œAnd you’re telling us that your hotel is a dump?”
    â€œIt’s true,” JJ said. “I’m not going to lie to you. Half the plumbing don’t work, when it rains the stairs are like little waterfalls, the mattresses are paper thin, and the rats, well they’re not as bad as they used to be before we got the dogs but now you got to put up with the howling.”
    â€œYou’re a hell of salesman, JJ.”
    JJ waved off the compliment then pushed the rolled-up sleeves of his white cotton shirt higher on his arms. “You’re not stupid. You can see what kind of place this is. We don’t ask many questions and whatever you do up in your room is cool as long as nobody gets hurt and you don’t get the police at my door. It’s live free or die, am I right? Now I suppose you want a room…”
    â€œTwo rooms,” Robin said, pulling a pen from her backpack to fill out the form JJ slid across the counter.
    JJ raised his eyebrows but didn’t comment. “You want them adjoining, you know, with a door?”
    Robin shook her head. “No thank you.”
    â€œRight,” he said, turning to scan the row of keys that hung on nails on the back wall, a long, thin finger flicking each key in the line. “Third floor rooms are two-thousand bhat a night—fifty US—ground floor rooms are four hundred bhat. About ten bucks.”
    â€œIs there a better view from the third floor?”

    â€œNope,” JJ said, still flicking the keys. “All the rooms look out to the side of the Patong Princess Resortel.”
    â€œWhy so much more for the third floor?”
    â€œBecause when the tsunami hit they were the only rooms above the water.”
    Robin looked up. “Were you here that day?”
    JJ laughed as he turned around to rest his bony elbows on the counter, his thin leather necklace dangling an Italian horn amulet like a tiny golden pepper. “I had a girl that worked here, Noi, older bar-beer girl looking to settle down a bit. She had hooked up with some Brit just before Christmas, wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, maybe get him to fall in love or something, I don’t know. Anyway, it was the day after Christmas, what the Brits call Boxing Day, and Noi wants the day off in case this guy’s feeling generous. Fine. So it’s like the first thing in the morning, I haven’t even had coffee yet.” He stood up and pulled his dreads behind his head, holding them in place a moment before letting them drop; Mark watching his eyes as memory came into focus.
    â€œI’m just hanging out, you know? And I hear this boom, Boom, BOOM.” JJ’s eyes widened, his shoulders jerking with the sound, each one louder than the last. “I’m thinking, ah shit, terrorists. I mean it’s Christmas and this place is packed. Well not this place but the real resorts, you know? We had a lot of guests, maybe half full, Noi had a room on the first floor, some Aussie tour group took most of the top floor…”
    â€œThe boom,” Robin said, leaning forward. “What was it?”
    â€œIt was the wave, man,” JJ said, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Smacking into the beachfront hotels. You could feel the walls shake. Then the screaming starts. The only thing I could make out is run, so like an idiot I run out into the street, I gotta see, right? Well I saw, all right.”
    Mark rocked back on his heels and looked out the picture window. “Ocean that way?” he said, pointing down the side street, past the row of dumpsters behind the Patong Princess.

    JJ nodded. “That’s Sawatdirak Road