Landon stared down at the bustling city below him. He was in a high rise hotel tower with stunning views. He kept his arms folded across his chest and his glare fixed on the ground far below him.

He'd called the corporate offices to either arrange a meeting or get some information on how best to go about soliciting investors. What he'd gotten instead, though, was a shit ton of bad news. They wouldn't be pouring any more effort into the Thai village. In fact, they were going to downscale. They were going to pull out half the doctors and a third of the nurses, relocate them to Syria and Nigeria, where they were “truly needed”, apparently.

It made him so angry. People were dying from a very preventable disease. Just because it wasn't a headline news-worthy disease didn't mean those people didn't deserve to live. The field hospital was barely keeping up with demand as it was – if they took away any doctors or nurses, it would implode.

And all we need is a fucking well. How hard can it be to dig a hole in the goddamn ground!?

Not hard. It couldn't possibly be that hard. This was Bangkok. Surely if there was ever a city where you could find any and everything you could possibly need, Bangkok was it.

So all I need is some money and some people willing to dig.

The second part wouldn't be too hard, he was sure, but the first part ... that was a little trickier. He had a lot of money, he could possibly fund it himself, but it was Friday. He had no clue how long it took to do a wire transfer, and he'd probably be assigned to some hell hole in Nigeria before he could get the cash. Tori would be winging her way back to the United States. And then that little Thai village wouldn't get anymore help, and more people would die, and it would be his fault, again.

I just started sleeping again. Please don't take that away from me.

His cell phone rang. The sound was loud in the empty hotel room, startling him at first. He thought it would be Tori, but was surprised to see Velez's name scrolling across the screen. He sighed and answered.

“Dr. Edenhoff,” the cheery Puerto Rican was laughing down the line. “How're things in Thailand-ia?”

“Peachy keen,” Landon snorted.

“Miss Hotty McTotty still hanging around?”

“Yup.”

“It's a miracle. Are you actually nice to her?”

“Not usually, no.”

“She's an angel. So what's new?”

“Just having a bitch of a time with this fucking location,” Landon groaned. “It's the easiest solution, they just need a new well! That's it! But no one wants to give up a dime for it. I think they're gonna transfer me somewhere else.”

“Shit, that sucks. Should've taken Niran up on his offer.”

“Niran?”

“You know, the dude there I got you a hook up with?”

“Oh, yeah, the tiny drug dealer from the club, the first night?” Landon scratched his head as he remembered.

“Yeah. He said he offered you a job running for him, but you weren't into it.”

A freight train of thought went screaming through Landon's brain.

The problem with being a very smart person was that sometimes it meant they were also very stupid, which meant their stupidity was in equal measure to their intelligence. His mind moved too quickly for his conscience to keep up with. Very handy for math tests. Not so good for potentially life altering decisions.

“No,” Landon breathed, then he cleared his throat. “No, I wasn't. But I haven't bought anything since we got here, and now my stash is low. Can I hit him up again, just for a bump or two?”

“Sure, I'll let him know you're in town. When are you gonna go down there?”

“Tonight. I'll be there tonight.”

*

ONCE AGAIN, LANDON found himself pushing his way through a crowded dance floor. The first time he'd been there, he'd been in a bad mood. Hadn't cared about where he was or what he was doing.

Now, he couldn't stop thinking about it. He licked his lips and glanced around, eyeing the ridiculous amount of bouncers loitering about the place.

This is a bad fucking idea, but not doing anything is worse. Just get this over with, then you can go home.

He walked to the same dimly lit room and it was like nothing had changed since he'd been there last. The same tiny man sat behind the desk, the same woman was counting U.S. dollars, and the same mountain of cocaine was being guarded by dudes with huge guns.

Landon had to force himself not to stare at the drugs.

“The doctor is back!” the drug-dealer proclaimed, holding up his hands. “Very happy to see you. You thought about my offer, good. We can send you back right away with -”

“No,” Landon interrupted. “I told you, I'm not doing that. I just want a couple grams, that's it.”

“You're no fun, doctor. Maybe we should -”

A shrill alarm cut through the room, surprising everyone but Landon. He closed his eyes for just a second, then he looked around the room, trying to look startled.

“What is that!?” he yelled over the clanging.

“Everyone out!” one of the burly bouncers shouted.

Niran the drug king pin went first, followed closely by the scantily clad women. His private guards followed them out, then Landon. He glanced back to see the two largest body guards were still standing in front of the kilos of cocaine.

Everyone crowded into the short hallway and stared out over the dance floor. Everyone looked confused. A few were hurrying towards the door, while some just kept dancing. When the sprinklers finally kicked on, they cheered.

“What the fuck is going on?” Landon demanded.

“Who knows? This is Thailand,” the drug dealer replied.

A few yards in front of them, a fight broke out. It seemed like divine providence and Landon sent up a silent “thank you” in prayer.

Two girls screamed and yanked at each others' hair, swinging their bodies in a wide circle. One of them bumped into Niran, which caused his personal body guard to jump into the fray.  Realizing he was suddenly without protection, Niran began screaming for the coke guards, who naturally came running. One of them hustled Niran further out of the hallway while the second one went in to defend the other guard.

Now. Go NOW.

Landon slipped back into the drug dealer's office, moving like a ghost. He didn't look around, he didn't even look behind him. Just kept his feet moving and immediately grabbed two kilos of cocaine from off the mountain. He shoved them both into the waist band of his pants as he moved back across the room.

He took a left out the door, away from the dance floor. An emergency exit was clearly marked and he pushed through it, not caring that another alarm was set off. It was lost in the rest of the noise. He just kept going, slipping into a rowdy crowd leaving another bar, blending in as much as he could.

This is going to work. Holy shit, this is going to work.

He walked for several blocks with the group of Thai college students, then he finally broke free of them before running down an alley. He didn't stop running until he was positive at least a mile was between him and the night club.

“Taxi!”

It wasn't until he was seated in the back of the car and they were rolling their way through the night that he realized he was shaking. All over. And not just because he was soaking wet.

Landon had done a lot of fucked up things in his life. Some truly questionable bullshit. But he'd never stolen anything, and certainly not ever drugs. Jesus, if he got caught by the police, he would go to jail for life. If the gang caught up to him, they'd kill him.

He took a couple deep breaths. They wouldn't find him. They couldn't. All they knew was he was working somewhere in the south. Bangkok was pretty much at the center of Thailand – everything was south of it. His little spot in the jungle would be impossible to find.

And he wouldn't get arrested because money always talked the loudest.

“Where to, mister?” his driver asked in English with a heavy accent.

“I need to go somewhere bad,” Landon replied slowly. “Somewhere I can sell some things that need to be handled delicately, if you know what I mean.”

There was a long pause, but the car didn't slow down and he wasn't asked to leave, so Landon figured he was pretty safe. He fished a couple U.S. hundred dollar bills out of his wallet and held them over the front seat. There were a few more seconds of tense silence, then the cab driver took the money.

“I know exactly what you mean, sir. I take you to the perfect place.”

Landon leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

Perfect. Everything is going perfectly.