Stan

The city was hot as hell and as soon as I touched down, everything that I was wearing proceeded to stick to me like it’s very life depended on it. I pulled my shirt away from my chest and took my jacket off. I certainly wasn’t going to be needing this for a while.

I did as much as I could from the states. Now I was here to see what I could do on location. Cambodia was a beautiful place, a place that one had to stop and just stare off into the scenery for a while, but it was hot as hell and I had a meeting with the police officers that arrested Eve, as well as a couple of international lawyers that I knew from the embassy. I was glad for all my college contacts now. It was hopefully going to speed up this process.

Getting in a cab, I gave him the first address that I had and reread the file that I had on Eve. It wasn’t that big of one. She’d never been in trouble before and the paperwork was rather lax in this country. It was not near like America and half of the incident report was either redacted or not even filled in. I was left in the dark about many things, but I was doing my best to make sure that I was as prepared as I could be, no matter how bad the circumstances were that I was going into.

When the cab stopped, the police station was rather small. I didn’t intend to stay long and had several other stops to make, so I gave the cabbie enough money for some of his time and he waited outside while I went in. I knew very little of the language and I’d arranged to have an interpreter meet me here. He was going to continue with me, but I had to get to the meeting on time and didn’t have enough of it to go get him earlier.

Clem was a little late, but he knew enough English to get it through to them that I was here for the Americans. As soon as I started to ask questions though, they got defensive and I could tell that they weren’t the ones that I was going to have to go to fix this all. It was clear that it was going to go to court. The two police officers were proud of the arrest and were not going to let me, or anyone else steal their thunder.

I left the police station a little deflated, but I did get some more information and an unredacted account of what happened. I was there for Eve, but she was entangled with her friend that she’d traveled here with. I would try to get them both out, but I was mainly here for Eve. She was the one that had the brother I owed. The other girl, I felt sorry for her of course, but I may very well have to leave her here. As much as I hated to think of it, I knew that it was a possibility.

The cab driver asked where I was going next and I told him the address of a lawyer friend of mine that had moved here years ago. Roseanne was the best at helping those in need and she felt like she could do the better here than in the states. Need was greater here. I wouldn’t argue that, but it didn’t seem to be as bad as I thought. My preconceived notions were blown out of the water and Roseanne was going to help me see things as they really are.

“I know you want to help Stan, but I really don’t know what there is that can be done. This isn’t like America where people get a chance to defend themselves. She’s lucky that she isn’t already convicted. You must have already helped slow down the process by inquiring about her.”

I had sent Roseanne what I had and since I didn’t have anything else new to add, I was a little worried now. I was sure that this was going to be an easy case, I’d made promises, but now I could see that it was going to be harder than I would have imagined.

“What about money? Can I pay off the right people?”

She nodded her head, “Most of the time and most people. That isn’t any different than the states, but there’s an election going on this month and that might change things. No one wants to look corrupt and I’ve read about those women in the paper. They are taking it as a big win. I don’t know what is going to happen to her, but they are going to make an example of them to other tourists that come here. That’s not going to be good for those two girls. You’re here for the other one too, right?”

“If I can bundle them together. It’s my friend’s sister that I’m really here for.”

Roseanne didn’t like that answer. She thought I needed to spend more time helping and less time making money. Maybe she was right. I’m not sure. What I did know was I didn’t have that long to spend here. I needed this to go a little smoother than it was sounding. I needed to get back to work and back to billing more hours a week than I slept. It was the nature of the game for a while. I just made partner. I couldn’t be galivanting around the jungle fighting a justice system that was corrupt.

I didn’t heed much of her advice. While I’m sure it was good, I was also sure that there was a darker side that she quite possibly didn’t really see. It was the side that I needed now. I had to find the right person that could be bought off to make this all go away. The girls being in the paper was news to me and I decided to pick one up on my way to the jail.

Picking up a paper, sure enough the two Americans were on the front. I tried to recognize which one was Eve and the only reason I could was because I knew she wasn’t blonde. Eve had certainly changed and even in her current state of sad, brown eyes and limp brunette hair, I could see that she was beautiful. She had grown up and now she’d gotten herself into a bit of trouble.

I read the news story as I made my way to the jail and I could see what Roseanne was saying. They were making the two young women out to be the same ilk of jewel thief’s, stealing all the country’s valuable culture. It would have been ridiculous if it wasn’t so scary. They really were trying to pin this all on the two of them and they were going to make an example of them.

Sighing, I set the paper down and watched the jail loom ahead in the distance. It was dirty, and it was gross. I’d been in places like this before and it wasn’t going to be pleasant. I would have hated to stay here.

Straightening up my shirt and putting my jacket back on, I went to the entrance after telling the cabbie I would be a few minutes. I could only see her for an hour or so. I was going to have to talk fast and get as much information as I could out of her. I was meeting with the authorities in Cambodia tomorrow to try and resolve this. I still thought that I could fix this quickly.