by Don Easton
“Let me give you a hug before you go,” said Laura. “I think you could use one.”
“No way.” Jack glanced at her over his shoulder.
“How come?”
“Because you look too sexy with those little bunnies all over your pajamas. They put horny thoughts into my brain.”
Jack ignored the pillow that bounced off the back of his head as he left.
Chapter Forty-Seven
The following morning Jack entered the hotel restaurant and joined Carina at her table for breakfast. When he sat down, she said, “I received a call from Roche an hour ago, asking how everything was going.”
“And how is it going?” Jack gave her a friendly smile.
“I told him that I don’t think you’re a phony. He seemed happy to hear that.”
“That’s nice. Glad you feel that way about me. Did you talk about anything else?”
Carina nodded reluctantly. “He asked me if I had brought up the subject of your Pierrot. When I said we’d talked about it, he wanted to know if I had offered to authenticate it for you. I told him that you weren’t concerned with having that done and explained to him why the painting means so much to you.”
“That’s fine,” said Jack. “You seem concerned. Is there something else?”
“I hope that you are not angry with me for telling him what happened to your wife.”
“I told you I wanted him to know.”
“You said you did, but at the same time … well, it seems so personal. I don’t want you to think that you can’t trust me.”
“I have to admit, I’m not trusting by nature, but I sense I can trust you.”
Carina smiled. “Thank you.”
* * *
The real estate agent arrived at nine o’clock and by mid-afternoon Jack had seen all the properties that were available. He and Carina were dropped back off at their hotel.
“Still early,” said Carina when they entered the lobby. “Anything you would like to do? There are a few good museums in the area.”
Jack grimaced. “I’m sorry, but I found last night’s conversation regarding my wife and the Pierrot stressful. I would prefer we skip any museums for the time being.”
Carina nodded sympathetically. “I understand.”
“Instead, let’s go for a walk so I can get a feeling for what the place is like.”
“It’s only ten degrees,” said Carina. “Not too cold for you?”
“The weather here in February is about what it’s like in Vancouver in February,” replied Jack. “I’m used to it, but if you think it’s too cold, I could go on my own.”
“No, I’d like to go for a walk with you.”
“Good. When we come back, after we clean up, we could go for a drink. Then I would like to see if the two of us can actually have dinner together without any heavy conversation.”
Carina nodded. “Sounds like a good idea to me. Any thoughts for tomorrow?”
“I’ve seen enough here. Let’s head for Spain. Maybe catch a late-morning flight to Malaga, and from there, it’s only an hour’s drive to Costa del Sol. Before our walk, how about you book us on a flight, and I’ll go to my room and find us a decent hotel?”
“Great. I’ve already contacted a real estate agent there. I’ll call him, too.”
Jack returned to his room and called Laura, but kept his voice to a whisper.
“First things first,” said Laura. “I heard back from the Spanish police. They recommend you book the Hotel Claude Marbella and will supply a four-man team if we request it.”
“Won’t know until we get there and see if any bad guys show up,” said Jack. “What else do you have?”
“You were right about the phone number Roche gave you to contact him. It hasn’t been used once.”
“No surprise. I’m not trusted.”
“I did hear back from Interpol. The police in Zurich have done some background on Carina. She’s highly respected in her field. Also does volunteer work with a children’s charity for abused or impoverished children. She helps them through art therapy.”
“Anything on her husband?”
“His name’s Denzler Bussmann.”
“Carina goes by Safstrom.”
“They were married, but she kept her maiden name — probably for professional reasons. As far as her husband goes, there’s no criminal history. He died in a car accident in Mullheim, Germany, which is about an hour and a half from Zurich. The police in Zurich will check to get the details.”
“Good. Text me the name of that hotel in Spain.”
* * *
Late that afternoon, Jack and Carina went for a walk. When they came upon an elementary school, Jack reached into his pocket and removed a handful of coins.
“What are you doing?” Carina asked.
“Making some kids happy,” he replied before throwing the coins into the schoolyard. “It’s a nuisance taking change on the plane, and think how excited some little tykes will be when they find money in the schoolyard tomorrow.”
Carina smiled as she imagined a bunch of excited children running around looking for the coins. She looked at Jack. “You’re a nice guy, do you know that?”
“Not really. The teachers will probably find it first.”
“Now you sound cynical,” she teased.
“Cynical?” Jack paused, as if thinking about it. “Maybe. When I smell flowers I do look around to see where the coffin is.”
“That’s terrible!” Carina gave him a playful push on his chest.
* * *
That night they had dinner in a restaurant called Chez Michel, within walking distance of their hotel.
When they returned to their rooms, Carina kissed Jack on the cheek and told him she had really enjoyed herself that day, then said good night and entered her room.
* * *
The next two days spent at the Hotel Claude Marbella in Malaga, Spain, went as planned. The cover team did not spot anyone suspicious, and Jack and Carina went with an agent to look at more properties, but finished by four o’clock each afternoon.
Jack knew there were several museums in the area, but Carina never mentioned it, suggesting instead that they go for a walk and repeat the ritual they’d started in Marseille: a walk, then cocktails, then dinner.
On the second day in Malaga, the weather was again about ten degrees Celsius, but a breeze made it feel colder, especially near the ocean. As they walked, Jack was conscious that Carina had wrapped an arm around him. When she bade him good night, she pressed her hand to his back, urging him closer, then kissed him on his lips.
The third day it was Sunday, and they took the flight to Malta. Laura, Otto, Yves, and Maurice were on a later flight that would arrived a couple of hours later.
Halfway into their trip, Carina turned to Jack and said, “So far you don’t seem overly excited about any of the properties we’ve viewed.”
“I’m still taking it all in.”
“I’ve got an real estate agent lined up to meet us at ten o’clock tomorrow morning at the hotel,” she said.
“Good. I’m interested to see what Malta has to offer.”
“You also mentioned Tuscany or Umbria as possibilities.”
“Yes, I believe the Italians have a real zest for life. I also love my wine,” he added with a wink.
“Both those regions appeal to me, also,” Carina said. “In the last couple of years I have been checking those areas out.”
“You have?”
“Yes, and I would really like to show you around there.”
“I would like that, too, but I don’t think think Roche plans on letting us extend our time together past Malta. Then you have to do the ‘report,’” he said, making quotation marks with his fingers.
“That’s easy,” Carina said. “I’m going to tell them that you’re a hard guy to get to know and that I need at least another month to check you out.”
“Don’t do —”
“Or maybe a year would be bett
er,” she said, smiling and giving Jack’s hand a squeeze. He squeezed back and she remained holding his hand. “I’m only joking,” she said. “Well … sort of.” With that, she snuggled closer to Jack and went to sleep.
They arrived in Malta at ten o’clock at night and it was midnight when they checked into the Hilton Malta. Jack’s room was two rooms down the hall from Carina, and they agreed to meet for breakfast at ten in the morning, when the real estate agent was to arrive.
The following morning, an hour before breakfast, there was a knock on his door. He put on his hotel bathrobe, and when he opened the door, there was Carina, also wearing a hotel bathrobe. She was grinning.
“You look happy,” he said, gesturing her inside. “What’s up?”
Carina looked as if she was holding a secret. “Roche called me a few minutes ago. He wanted to know where we were and how things were going.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Well, first of all, I told him things were going pretty well and suggested that because there’s still at least three thousand Euros left on the card, we go to Tuscany for a couple of days before I ‘report’ in.” As Jack had done earlier, she drew quotation marks in the air with her fingers.
“And?”
“He said no.”
Jack’s face sagged as he pretended disappointment. “So then what? Did you give him your impression of me over the phone?”
“A little, but wait until you hear the good news. First he wants to meet us both in person. On Wednesday we are to fly to Reggio Calabria, to meet him.”
“Reggio Calabria?”
“Yes, it’s opposite Sicily on the mainland. The bottom of the boot, as they say.”
“Ah, yes,” Jack said, “but why there? I want to look at places in northern Italy. Wouldn’t it be —”
“There are people you are to see in Reggio, but wait. The good news is that I’m to stay there, too, for a couple of days while they meet with you!”
Jack nodded.
“And then they’ll hire you and —”
“Roche said that?” Jack interjected.
“He didn’t say that. I have to meet with him first, along with some others … but then I know you’ll be hired.”
“That would be nice.”
“They will. All that’s left is my recommendation. And that’s a given.”
“Thank you,” Jack murmured.
“So that gives us today and tomorrow here,” continued Carina, “but the really good news is that after a couple of days in Reggio, you and I will be free to continue on our way to Tuscany!”
“Really?” Jack feigned enthusiasm.
“Yes! My contract will have ended, but we can use the rest of the money on the card. I won’t be getting any more calls from Roche, because you’ll already have been hired. We’ll be able to relax and have fun without your feeling as if you’re under a microscope.”
“Wow … I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, you’d better make sure you don’t make me angry in the next two days,” Carina said jokingly as she headed for the door. Then she stopped and turned to face him. “I’ll book the tickets to Italy and meet you downstairs for breakfast. Maybe we can finish early today?”
“Maybe.”
Jack was sipping coffee when Carina joined him. “All arranged,” she said. “We fly out at one-forty Wednesday afternoon and arrive in Reggio at five-fifty. I called Roche back to let him know.” Carina then gestured to a man in a suit who entered the restaurant. “Bet he’s our real estate agent.”
Carina was right in her assumption, and the man joined them for coffee while Carina and Jack ate their breakfast. Before they were finished, Jack received a call from Roche. He was pleased to see that the call display was a different number than the one Roche had given him in Paris.
After exchanging niceties, Roche said, “I was speaking with Carina earlier this morning.”
“So she told me.” Jack caught Carina’s eye from across the table. “We are to meet you in Reggio in two days.”
“Yes, I have made reservations at a hotel for you. I will pick you up at the airport myself.”
“Thank you.”
“You have made quite an impression on Carina,” said Roche. Jack sensed the curiosity behind the statement.
“That’s nice to hear,” Jack replied evenly, smiling at Carina.
“In a surprisingly short time,” added Roche.
“Perhaps, but listen, I’m talking with a real estate agent at the moment, so …” Jack did not want to delve into his relationship with Carina.
“Fine, I’ll see you soon.” They disconnected.
After breakfast, Jack returned to his room and sent Laura a text with Roche’s new number, along with their itinerary, before joining Carina and the agent in the lobby.
They spent the day looking at different properties. At five o’clock they were looking at the last villa of the day when Jack received a text, asking him to call Laura. She’s contacting me while I’m on a UC? What the hell is going on?
Chapter Forty-Eight
“Excuse me, I have to make a call.” Jack left the agent and Carina in one room in the villa while he went to another room to call Laura.
“I’m clear to talk,” he said when Laura answered. “What’s up?”
“Nothing life-threatening, but I thought you should hear. The number you gave us for Roche is good. He’s using it.”
“What did you get?”
“When they hooked up, there was a call in progress. Roche was talking to a Russian. We caught the tail end of it. Right after that, Roche made three more calls. All short. Ones to Anton and Wolfgang telling them to go to Reggio tomorrow and call him when they arrived. The third call was to someone named Giuseppe, saying it was a go and to make hotel arrangements.”
“That’s all he said?” asked Jack. “Make hotel arrangements? Not for how many people or which hotel?”
“No, it’s obvious he had spoken to all of them in earlier calls that we missed. We’ve got a copy of the recording. Thought you might want to hear the one involving the Russian.”
Jack glanced in the other room at the agent, who was directing Carina’s attention to the ocean view. “Go ahead, let me hear it.” Seconds later Jack heard the conversation.
“… is business. I won’t arrive until ten-thirty the next night,” said a man in English with a heavy Russian accent.
“Too bad,” replied Roche.
“It is what it is. You and the rest can have fun while you wait. Kill a pig for me.”
Jack felt himself tense. Are they talking about me?
“We will eat it Friday when I get there,” the Russian went on.
“I’ve never gone boar-hunting before,” said Roche, “but Wolfgang says he has been to Giuseppe’s before. He said it is easy.”
Jack grinned when he realized what they were talking about and continued to listen.
“It is. They don’t shoot back. Not like the pigs in Chechnya.”
A chuckle from Roche.
“So this Mister Jack Smith … you think she is in love with him?” the Russian asked. “What did she say?”
“You should have heard her,” replied Roche. “She sounded like a schoolgirl in love for the first time.” He then changed his voice to mimic a girl. “He is so wonderful. He is so smart. He is so nice. He is so sophisticated.”
“They have only been together one week,” the Russian said.
“I know. I wonder if he feels the same about her,” Roche said musingly.
“She’s beautiful. How could he not?” the Russian growled.
“You sound angry,” Roche noted.
The Russian was silent for a moment, then said, “Who is this man that she would fall in love with him so fast? What do we know about him, other than he makes things disappear. Everyone else has family — good collateral should something go wrong. Jack Smith appears to be a lone wolf. I don’t like it.” His tone was harsh. “Has he clouded her judgment?�
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“I don’t know.”
“She said he was sophisticated. Is that in regard to art?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t know, I don’t know,” the Russian mocked.
“But I don’t.”
“I will speak to her when I arrive.” The Russian sounded matter-of-fact.
“The question will be, do we trust him or not?” stated Roche. “If we are to open up to him and tell him things …”
“I will talk to her and see what she says.”
Jack heard a click and then Laura came back on the line. “When I first heard about the pig bit, I —”
“Me, too, but I think it’s legit,” Jack said. “I don’t like what they said about Carina.”
“No, but still, it sounds like everything is coming together.”
“Connect with our liaison officer in Rome,” Jack said, “and tomorrow you and the rest of the team fly to Reggio to be there in advance. Sounds like lots of bad guys will be there, so make sure things are prepared. I don’t mind if surveillance is done at the airport to confirm that Roche shows up, but after that, leave it to me. I’ll contact you after I check in at the hotel. If they spot surveillance following us to the hotel, the gig will be up. In the meantime, I’ll be safe enough with Carina on my own.”
“I agree with you there,” replied Laura. “I knew you could charm the pants off her. Figuratively speaking, of course.”
“Don’t even go there,” Jack muttered. “Her trusting me is no longer a problem. The problem will be whether the Russian trusts her. You heard what he said … and how he said it.”
“I can’t see how you could have played it any differently.”
“Yeah, well, anyway, I did my research before coming to Malta. There’s a museum of fine arts here. I think I better go there with her tomorrow. At least it will give her something to tell the Russian.”
“You’re taking a chance.”
“Once in the museum, I’ll sidetrack her if she starts to get technical.”
“How will you …? Never mind. I think I know.”
“Yeah, as if I wasn’t a big enough jerk already.” With that, Jack hung up.