Dead Centre (20 page)

‘You here for the birthday party, Frank? Or is it yours?’

He rested £475,000 worth of watch on my shoulder.

‘If so, they say it’s costing you five million euros. They also say Cirque de Soleil are being flown all the way from Canada to spin about on a couple of ropes.’

He nodded slowly. I still couldn’t work out what was going on in that head of his.

‘I’m just a guest. I’m part of the ten per cent of the population who own eighty per cent of the planet. You’d think we’d operate as individuals, but sadly we’re just a herd.’

His hand left my shoulder and pointed at nothing in par ticular in the cavernous room. ‘This? I eventually had to get one. We all do.’

He got big smiles from the two as they held squares of wallpaper against the wall to ooh and aah at. They must have been interior designers.

This was getting us nowhere. I couldn’t tell if Frank was putting on a brave face or was simply in denial. Either way, I had to shake him out of it. I needed answers.

I pointed to a door.

3

I LED HIM out into a wide corridor with yet more marble beneath our feet.

‘Where’s the other Brit from Moscow?’

Frank looked around. He wasn’t happy to talk here. To our right were ceiling-high doors that would open into rooms with views of the mountains, trees and snow. He hesitated.

‘Does this place have a pool?’

He nodded and started to walk along the corridor. As I followed, my iPhone vibrated in my jeans, but the squeak of my Timberlands on the marble was louder.

At the far end of it we got into a glass and steel lift. He finally spoke. ‘The other Brit has gone.’ He pressed a button. ‘I did not need him any more. He should not have got himself into such a position. Both of them were no good.’

We moved smoothly downwards.

‘Why? You sent them to test me. They did.’

Frank stared at the glass wall as we passed the ground floor. ‘But not well enough. If they’d been any good, you would have been picked up more easily.’

‘But that would have meant I wasn’t the man for the job.’

‘Correct. But they should have killed you as soon as you put them in danger. Somebody has to lose. Somebody always has to lose.’

The lift stopped. Frank gestured for me to leave first. ‘Just be happy it wasn’t you.’

The door closed automatically behind him.

‘Italian design, German hydraulics. Precision-built houses and Swiss watches, they are very nice things to have, Nick. But there are always better examples. There is always someone in more control than you are. Everyone has a superior.’

His jaw tightened, like he couldn’t stomach the thought. Apart from that, his face was impossible to read. Talking about watches, lifts, even his HR concerns – it was like he knew what I’d come to confront him with and was doing everything he could to avoid it.

We walked along a short corridor. Our footsteps began to echo.

‘So who’s your superior?’

‘Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, prime minister of the Russian Federation, chairman of both United Russia and the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. A truly powerful man.’

‘And who’s his?’

‘People like me who buy chalets in this village. If he wants to be elected president again.’

As if on cue, Frank threw open another set of doors to reveal a wall-to-wall swimming-pool. It filled the entire footprint of the house. It had been carved out of the mountainside and finished to look like a South Pacific rock-pool. The water was crystal clear. The only evidence of humans ever being near it was a small table. On it lay a colouring book and a set of pencils, and a half-filled-in picture of a pink and yellow fairy.

Frank looked at it and then at me. ‘For all that, I’m still being held to ransom by African fishermen. You have news for me, something you want to say.’

It wasn’t a question.

‘They could still be alive. I heard a recording of Tracy. It wasn’t made for me. It was a generic message. “Help us, we’re in trouble.” This is good news. I could hear vehicles. It means they made it to land safely. But things have gone wrong.’

‘How so?’

‘The two guys who’ve been following me since Moscow. The two I thought were yours.’

I told him.

4

HIS FACE WAS stone as he took the information on board. Not even a flicker as I told him Tracy’s sister was dead.

‘What are you going to do about them, Nick? They are your problem. Mine is Stefan.’

‘They Georgians?’

‘Possibly. You have been working very hard to find that out about me. Enemies, they breed like rats.’

‘So it’s also your problem. They must know Tracy and Stefan have been lifted. They must be wondering if they can get to them before you do. Then they become their captives, to be used as leverage against you. No more supporting the south?’

Frank the machine stood still and listened, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the granite wall.

‘They must be following me because they don’t know which clan have them. They must be hoping I’ll lead them to Tracy and Stefan – then they can jump in and grab them from me. That’s what I’d do.’

He nodded very slowly.

‘But that’s not the important thing, Frank.’

He turned his head. His eyes narrowed.

‘The important thing is,
how
do they know? Like I said, that’s your problem. Was it the crew? The two lads you got rid of?’

He shook his head. ‘The crew have been with me for years. They know their lives depend on their loyalty. The other two knew nothing.’

‘What about the lads upstairs?’

‘They are the only people I trust. They are also godfathers to Stefan. No, that knowledge has come from elsewhere.’ He jabbed a finger at me. ‘But that can wait. How much do they want?’

‘Three million US.’

He jabbed his finger again. His voice boomed around the granite walls. ‘Give them what they want. I want Stefan back here, and safe. I want this ended before anyone else gets to them.’

‘No, Frank. That’s not how it works.’

His eyes burnt into mine. I wondered when he’d last heard the words ‘No, Frank.’ I had to get past this alpha-male shit.

He jabbed a third time, his face taut, a natural reaction when people are preparing to fight or just plain scared.

‘Do what I say!’

He shouted again, this time so angrily he almost lost it. The sound reverberated like thunder round the pool-room. ‘
Do what I say! You will pay what they
—’

Mr Lover Man and Genghis pushed their way in, pistols drawn. Frank obviously never raised his voice unless there was a problem.

I stood stock still, arms out, presenting no threat. Frank waved his hands at them. Everything was OK.

They gently closed the doors behind them.

‘Frank, I want them back too. Tracy was my best mate’s wife. Her sister was my friend. I told you she’s dead, but I didn’t tell you how she died.’

I reached down and grabbed two of the colouring pencils off the table. I held them either side of his head. ‘She had been tortured, Frank. Fuck knows why, because she didn’t know anything. Maybe they did it for fun. But they took a pencil just like this and they rammed it into her ear. Right through her fucking eardrum. Can you imagine the pain? Can you imagine how loud she must have screamed? And then they did the same the other side. And when she didn’t talk, because she had nothing to tell them, or maybe because they’d had enough fun for one morning, they hammered both pencils right into her brain. She must have died in agony, Frank. You wouldn’t wish that on your worst enemy – let alone your son. But fuck this up, and that’s what could happen.’

I didn’t need to say more. All of a sudden, his imagination had joined the dots. His eye twitched. Well, it was something, I supposed.

He fought to find the words. ‘Tell them … if they hurt my son, I will declare war on them. Tell them that.’

It was messages like that that would get his son killed.

‘No, Frank. This ain’t no Swiss watch. All the pieces aren’t going to work perfectly. It’s not just another deal. And, Frank …’

I let it hang as he fixed his eyes on his own reflection in the water.

‘I need to know everything. I need to know if there is anything that might affect the negotiation, and so affect Stefan and Tracy. I need to know everything you know, Frank.’

He looked up slowly. Our eyes locked.

‘The crew have told you about the two of them together?’

‘No. Are they?’

‘In all the houses. Even the boat. My shadows, they plant the cameras and collect the recordings for me. No doubt there will still be one on the boat. Knowledge, Nick, is power. Like you, I need to know everything that affects me.’

The chink in his armour was widening, and it wasn’t Tracy.

‘I want my son back. You do it your way. If it goes wrong, I will do it my way. I will have my son back. I will have my son … here … with me.’

‘And Tracy? Where will she be, when Stefan’s here? Does she still have a life if she comes back?’

He pursed his lips. ‘I am not an animal, Nick. If I was … well, I wouldn’t have a problem. Of course she will have a life. She is my son’s mother. He has been her saviour.’

His hand came up, pointing back the way Mr Lover Man and Genghis had gone. ‘Those two I trust with my life. Others, I pay for their time, nothing else. And you – I believe I can trust you with what you now know. Am I right to trust you, Nick?’

That didn’t deserve an answer. ‘We start with a decent sum. Then we move at a slower rate, reducing the amount each time, until we get to around ten per cent of their demand. Say three hundred thousand dollars. No more than four hundred. Less than you paid for that watch. But it’s not about the money. It’s what they’ll expect. If we go big-timing, the three of them are dead.’

I gave him another second. ‘Do you have that property for me?’

His eyes were distant again. The machine in his head was telling him what I was saying was right. It just didn’t feel right. He turned back to me. ‘Yes. Today. You will have the details later.’

‘I also need some money. USD.’

He nodded.

‘I don’t want it in my hand, I just want it available.’

‘Whatever you need. When will you inform me what’s happening?’

‘When I’ve got something to inform you about.’

I was silent for a moment. ‘Where does that leave Justin?’

Frank rubbed the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb. ‘I don’t even think about him. He’s no good, just like the other two Brits that have worked for me.’

‘No – this one’s good at his job. He’s doing the right thing. He’s keeping you out of it and so keeping those two alive. If the Somalis knew who Tracy and Stefan were, it would be a whole different ball game. And if they do find out, they’re going to be in even more danger than they are now – because if the Georgians get to hear, we’re all in the shit. For now, Justin is keeping them as just another three quick paydays. So he should be paid up and fucked off when he gets back, yeah?’

The machine was a long time processing. I waited till his hand came down.

‘Yes, of course. Now, you and I, we both have business to do. Different business.’

The £475K wrist rested on my shoulder again as we made our way to the lift. German hydraulics and Italian design carried us smoothly to the ground floor. His two shadows were waiting. He started leading me to the front door.

‘The number you have for me – it will be exclusively for your use. I will always answer.’

We got to the threshold and shook. He turned away. I was to let myself out. He headed for the stairs with Mr Lover Man and Genghis.

I pulled out the mobile. The missed call was from the estate agent I’d bought my Docklands flat from a couple of years ago.

I opened voicemail. ‘Mr Stone, it’s Henry. Got the message you left mega early about us selling a small apartment of yours. That would be a pleasure. Could you please call me back to discuss?’

By the time I’d finished listening, I’d opened the door. I stepped outside. It was colder. And Jacques was waiting.

5

I JUMPED INTO the warmth of the Merc. Jacques was facing the front, being very professional. Mouth shut, both hands on the wheel.

‘Tell you what, mate. Drive me down the hill to the town and I’ll tell you if the place has got a pool or not. Might as well have a quick look round before I leave – might see something I fancy.’

He nodded. We headed down towards the centre. There was high ground around us; nothing but snow-capped Alps as far as the eye could see. No fast-food joints. No hire shops offering gloves included. The retail names were all the same as in GUM: Prada, Gucci, Versace.

We passed parking areas with coin-operated telescopes on steel stands. In days gone by, the tourists would have looked at the distant peaks or skiers on the pistes. These days they probably gawped at the multi-million-dollar houses and the Russians who stayed in them. That was what I was going to do, anyway.

‘Park up here a minute, Jacques. I’ll get one last look at the place.’

He pulled into one of the lay-bys and I spilt out. I checked the coin slot. It was two euros for two minutes.

‘You got any cash, mate? I’ll pay you back when I’ve been to a bank.’

He pulled out a large plastic bag from a side compartment. ‘The parking’s very expensive here.’

He passed me the whole thing. Now I knew what the Royal Family felt like when they went walkabout. I threw in ten minutes’ worth.

That pink and yellow fairy picture couldn’t have belonged to a boy. And if it did, Stefan needed to start playing with Action Man or some shit like that. So there was probably a little girl. And if there was a little girl, there was a mother.

I cast about in the general direction of the chalet. He’d looked bored with the designers. He’d be on the move before long. I moved up the road to the high ground. Chances were, he wasn’t down here in the village. This area was for the rich. The super-rich, like everywhere else on the planet, took the high ground – and on the side of the valley where the sun liked to come and stay.