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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
www.kaydanes.com
PO Box 391, Capalaba QLD 4157
Kay Danes
Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders of
material reproduced in this text. In cases where these efforts have been
unsuccessful, the copyright holders are asked to contact the publishers
directly.
info@maverickhouse.com
http://www.maverickhouse.com
ISBN: 978-1-905379-08-8
ISBN 13: 1-905379-08-0
54321
The paper used in this book comes from wood pulp of managed forests.
For every tree felled, at least one tree is planted, thereby renewing
natural resources.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
D edication
I dedicate this book to all who have survived life’s challenges and
hope that this story will give courage to those who are continuing
to endure their own personal struggles. This particular journey
has shown me that the human spirit is capable of enduring the
seemingly impossible and that we should never give up our hope!
Acknowledgements
11
Nightmare in Laos
12
C h ap t er One
The Abduction
13
Nightmare in Laos
SAS and the contacts that gave him, we had established ourselves as
the reputable security company, and we had heard many rumours
about Bounmaly muscling in on foreign investors. He had left us
more or less alone up until now, but on that day he was insistent
that he talk to Kerry about one of our 75 clients, a company called
Gem Mining Laos. Neither of us realised that Bounmaly was
deadly serious when he said he wanted to talk. Our minds were on
other things. We were looking forward to Bangkok.
Kerry assured him that he’d meet him the following week after
our holiday. Bounmaly agreed and we thought nothing more of
it.
Two hours later, Bounmaly returned. This time he was
accompanied by several police who arrived in six black cars, which
pulled up one after another outside our security headquarters.
I was the first one to sense that something was wrong. I’d seen
them coming from my office window. When I told Kerry what I
saw, he told me to leave immediately. Obviously he agreed that
trouble was on the way.
‘Take the kids and go. I’ll catch up with you later,’ Kerry said.
Within minutes, Bounmaly had forced his way past our staff
to storm into our office just as Kerry picked up the telephone to
alert his superiors.
‘I think we can talk now!’ he said as he signalled Kerry to put
the phone down.
Neither Bounmaly nor his police team seemed to have any
interest in me. Kerry just looked me in the eye, urging me to go.
I made for the door at my husband’s instructions and ignored the
apprehension that swelled inside me. I would collect my children
and make our way to Bangkok.
Our driver was waiting downstairs. When I stepped into the
car, I instructed him to get me home fast. I prayed that whatever
was going on with Bounmaly would not delay Kerry too long.
As our car headed home, I stared at the phone and waited for
Kerry to call. I tried to remain calm but inside I began to fall apart.
14
The Abduction
15
Nightmare in Laos
convinced myself that once free, Kerry would make his way to
Thailand and we’d be well beyond the reaches of Bounmaly. I
convinced myself to stay strong.
I bundled the children into the car and ordered the driver to
head for the Friendship Bridge on the Laos-Thai border—just as
Kerry had told me to. As we sped off, Louise called again and
promised to meet me at the border crossing. The drive took less
than an hour and we got there before she arrived. By this time
I’d become frantic. No matter what I did, I couldn’t stop thinking
about Kerry. I stared into oblivion thinking only that I had to get
my children to safety. That’s why I didn’t notice the policeman
approach our car and take our passports from our driver.
Before Kerry was taken, we’d often crossed the bridge but we
had never been stopped or questioned. Moments later the police
surrounded the car. It was Bounmaly and his men.
‘Hello Madam,’ he said, as I spun around to see him standing
just behind me.
He blew smoke into my face as he spoke. The next few
minutes passed in a blur. My mind went completely blank as he
started ranting about missing sapphires and Gem Mining Laos, a
company we had provided security for in the past. I insisted he
search my bags. I had nothing to hide. Seconds later, he ordered his
men to take our bags from the car. They scattered their contents
all over the side of the road.
I couldn’t believe what was happening. I controlled my
emotions for the sake of my children but Bounmaly sensed my
fear and took advantage of the situation. He stared at me, never
once breaking eye contact. He then mouthed a few orders to his
police and one by one, they produced knives and began to cut open
Nathan’s soft toys. This was sick; he was only seven years old, and
they were slicing open his favourite toys, traumatising him with
their unnecessary cruelty. When they’d finished, they threw the
toys away and I grabbed at them to stuff them back into a suitcase.
Bounmaly never said a word. He just looked in my direction.
16
The Abduction
17
Nightmare in Laos
for Thailand. But I was wrong. Hours had passed and it was
now dark outside. The border crossing was completely deserted.
Eventually they agreed to allow me to check on my children, who
were still waiting downstairs by the car.
I reassured them that things would be okay. Suddenly, I
remembered Kerry’s cell phone tucked under my shirt. I told
the policeman escorting me that I needed to use the toilet. Once
inside, I switched on the phone and scrolled through its electronic
phonebook, looking for Kerry’s Special Forces contacts, but I
stopped when I heard someone approach.
‘Mum?’ Sahra spoke through the doorway. ‘Where’s Dad?
When can we go?’
I put the phone back under my shirt and left the confines of the
toilet to hug my daughter. ‘I don’t know.’
‘I’m scared,’ she whispered.
‘It’s gonna be alright. Don’t worry, okay?’ my voice broke and
I held back my own fears. ‘I have to go back upstairs; take care of
your brother.’
‘I will.’
I hoped and prayed that this would all be over soon. I couldn’t
leave my children standing around the car much longer. They
were hungry, tired, and confused, not to mention scared. I wanted
to get them out of this situation as fast as I could. I only hoped that
I was able, and soon.
I didn’t need anyone to tell me I was in serious trouble though.
In my heart I knew I wasn’t going to be freed. This suspicion was
confirmed when I was taken back into the building’s custody suite.
One of the officers produced some paperwork, which looked like
a statement. I was told to sign it. I refused, arguing that it was
improper for me, as a foreigner, to sign something I couldn’t read.
I pointed out that I didn’t have a lawyer present but this meant
nothing to my interrogators. They seemed content to let the hours
pass by. As time went on, I couldn’t help but fear for my children.
I needed to see them. Eventually I agreed to sign my name at
18
The Abduction
the bottom, with the words that my money had been unlawfully
detained pending investigation.
The police couldn’t read what I’d written but took it as a
confession and marched me out the door. They escorted me
downstairs and tried to force me into their car. I resisted. I
demanded to be transported by the Australian Embassy. I wanted
Louise to know where they were taking me. We spent the next
hour arguing until finally they agreed to allow my driver to take
me in our car on the strict condition that I was accompanied by a
police officer.
Once we’d sat into the car, the policeman said we were going
to the Immigration Centre at Hatsady. I prayed it was true as I sat
in the back seat with my two frightened children.
We arrived at the centre, with Louise in tow. She arranged for
Sahra and Nathan to be taken to my sister-in-law’s house. I kept
calm as I didn’t want to frighten them. Although I was terrified, I
felt slightly better once I knew they were going to be safe.
The officer who travelled with me in the car then ordered me
inside. I told my driver to stay with our children and reassured
them everything would be okay.
Louise attempted to follow me inside the building but they
wouldn’t allow her entry. Instead she handed me her phone and
I vaguely recall talking to an Australian government official who
was reassuring me that everything would be fine.
When the police took me inside the building, they marched
me up a dark stairwell to a small room on the third floor. The
door slammed shut moments later. When my eyes adjusted to my
surroundings I saw two women asleep in the corner on a bunch of
wooden school desks. They were Thai.
The police had allowed me to take a bag with me into the
holding cell. This contained Nathan’s army sleeping bag and a
jacket. I wrapped myself up in the sleeping bag and used the jacket
as a pillow. With my back to the Thai girls, I curled into the foetal
position and stared blankly towards the dirty windows a few feet
19
Nightmare in Laos
away. I kept wishing that Kerry was somewhere in the building but
eventually gave up trying to figure out where he was as exhaustion
set in. I tried to will my mind into blankness but it didn’t work, and
with frightened thoughts swirling around my head, eventually, I
cried myself to sleep. I was frightened, worried, and had no idea
of what lay ahead.
***
Over the next two days, our lawyer and the Embassy tried to
make sense of what was going on. But it was increasingly clear
to them, if not to me, that our lives were in grave danger. I just
didn’t understand the gravity of the situation. We had dealt with
difficult situations before, but this was something that could really
put my life at risk. I still didn’t know where Kerry was and just
assumed there had been some terrible mistake that prevented us
from leaving Laos. I’d been looking forward to a new stage in my
family’s life, but this was far from what I had expected. I’d signed a
lease on a new four bedroom penthouse apartment in the heart of
Sukhumvit, Bangkok, where I planned to expand my bodyguard
business. My two youngest children, Sahra and Nathan, had no
idea that I’d enrolled them in an international school that boasted
the latest computer technology, air-conditioned classrooms and
playing fields that stretched for miles like oceans of green. It was a
huge contrast to Laos where facilities were not always very good,
if they were to be found at all.
It was to be a great surprise but instead, I found myself pacing
the floor inside a room at the Lao Immigration building. After
some frantic planning and upon my agreement, the Australian
Embassy staff managed to evacuate our children from the country.
It was a hell of a thing to expect from an eleven-year-old girl—
to take her seven-year-old brother across two countries. But the
Embassy had insisted that it was for the best. I hugged my children
goodbye, kissed them gently on each cheek and prayed they would
20
The Abduction
remain safe under the watchful eye of Embassy staff, until they
arrived back in Australia.
They hadn’t taken Kerry’s phone from me so I rang his military
commander in Australia and told him what had happened. I then
rang my father and he promised me that he would find a way to
bring me home. That same afternoon, the police came and took
me from the Immigration holding cell. I had seen my husband
taken from me, seen my children forced to flee the country, and
had been taken into custody for some unknown reason. It had
been a traumatic couple of days, but things were only going to get
worse. My nightmare was only just beginning.
21