Seventh (The Seventh Wave Trilogy Book 1)

by Lewis Hastings

The police and Immigration have been working very closely with a number of international and domestic partners and other international policing agencies such as Europol and Interpol.

  It would appear that a group of Eastern European criminals formed a syndicate in the early 2000s and then became fractured due to different goals and leadership ideology.

  This is when the group we now know to be The Seventh Wave (hereafter referred to as TSW) first started.

  TSW headed down the ‘more is more’ path very quickly, targeting high-value commodities such as vehicles, jewellery and watches but soon found that their biggest hurdle was groups that were very similar to their own – there was no appetite at the time for a shared economy.

  As a result, TSW headed along a new avenue – financial crime. This developed during the mid-2000s and in turn gave birth to Boiler Room operations, ATM attacks and point of sale offending.

  The latter areas were insidious. They were seen by many as ‘victimless crimes’ and yet, according to our senior analyst, they were responsible for millions of pounds of international fraud, most of which was occurring under the very nose of the Met Police. A direct consequence of this was the establishment of the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit.

  The DCPCU consists of officers from the Met and City of London Police and for the first time they are receiving backing from the banking industry and have begun to work in conjunction with the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Unit. This team was again industry-funded; they had realised that their losses were not centred on general claims but fraudulent claims. This is an interesting development – given the historical lack of cooperation by law enforcement and bank officials.

  Secondly (and this will interest you when you consider what Miss Dimitrova left you) the Metropolitan Police Project known as Amberhill was set up to collate and analyse data specifically connected to forged, counterfeit and fraudulently obtained genuine identity documents that were recovered during police operations.

  Since it was implemented MetPol have built a database of some 80,000 false identities and documents.

  Where MetPol have been successful is in sharing. As opposed to ‘Need To Know’ – they have adopted a ‘Need To Share’ policy and this is becoming widespread throughout British forces. Again, according to my analytical team, this has helped your old colleagues detect and stop crime. One estimate refers to a saving of three million pounds in only one year.

  Now, where things have really changed is how the government spends that money – they no longer lock it away in an account to gather dust. Afraid of the public’s perception, they utilise the proceeds to go on the offensive. HKP are doing this too, in fact you will find this method of counter-attack occurring throughout the world of law enforcement.

  Taking your collection of passports into consideration, you will be interested to note that the Serious Organised Crime Agency has begun to issue a series of alerts to government organisations – these relate to travel documents. Only recently they issued alerts pertaining to nearly five hundred fraudulently obtained genuine passports and some of these relate to diplomats and consuls.

  Note the importance of ‘fraudulently obtained’ documents, Jack. We both know from our past that passports were often altered – the fewer alterations the better – but they were altered nonetheless. Complete false documents were rare but photo-substituted items were turning up at ports around the world on a daily basis.

  In Europe these were often seen in the form of Scandinavian passports, assisting former refugees from the Middle East – the holders had entered countries such as Norway, Sweden and Denmark, attracted by their positive welfare schemes, but they then learned of new opportunities in lowland Europe and the United Kingdom.

  Italian and Greek passports on the other hand helped Romanian, Bulgarian and Albanian nationals to enter the European Union.

  In the USA they were obviously facilitating the migration of Mexican and South American nationals across the southern border and in the Far East/Pacific Region we were seeing Chinese passports in the hands of North Koreans and a swathe of Malaysian, Thai and occasionally Singaporean documents. In addition to this, Indian passports were heavily abused; however, these started to die away as the newer chipped documents began to circulate.

  The biggest remaining risk was the use of fraudulently issued South African documents – corrupt officials issuing genuine documents – so completely genuine that no document examiner would ever detect anything wrong – because of course they were genuine. This facilitated widespread fraudulent travel by members of other African nations.

  Cade knew a lot of this already but it helped to provide a broader picture of global events. The report continued.

  So what? These passports were being used by criminals and illegal migrants to secure employment and gain access to financial products and services. But where they also targeted their host nations was in the area of benefit fraud, and this has unravelled into an almost ‘viral’ state.

  Offenders used the documents to travel within Europe and commit a variety of criminal offences. The aim of the British initiative was to offer prevention rather than a cure – as a result, many businesses were able to use the information to protect themselves from online and direct financial attack.

  What really changed the entire picture was the entry of former Eastern European states into the European Union. This allowed nationals previously locked down by their country’s historical status to travel freely, not just within Europe but also across the world, right into the heart of vulnerable countries that allowed visa-free access to the EU.

  As a direct consequence places such as Australia and New Zealand – previously immune, started to note low-level but growing cyber and financial crime risks. This is of course where Dimitrova joins the equation.

  My analyst suspects that TSW were heading to New Zealand with the intention of opening accounts, accounts that would on the face of it be legitimate but with a sinister background and intention. It is entirely possible that smaller nations in the Pacific were being considered as target destinations for money laundering – away from the prying eyes and grabbing hands of the larger Western government law groups.

  Furthermore, whilst in New Zealand it is suspected that a small number of Seventh Wave agents or associates of the group were instructed to hunt down and kill Dimitrova.

  Whilst uncorroborated it is likely that this is linked to her being in possession of valuable documents and data incriminating the group.

  Either that or she had knowledge of something far more damaging.

  Cade sat up and read the last paragraph again before continuing.

  Therefore, in summary, Elena Dimitrova is known to be connected to the Seventh Wave via a ‘liaison’ with one of its key players. It is the assumption of the analyst that she was in possession of harmful evidence that would close down the TSW’s operations globally, impact upon the operational practices of her home nation – and – this is purely supposition – undermine governments.

  Further, Dimitrova is loosely linked to a number of higher-level diplomatic entities from both Europe and Africa.

  In summary, it is the belief of my staff that her international movements, financial transactions and associations indicate that she was either a part of the group or a member of a law enforcement/government organisation.

  At the foot of the report, Cade read what would become the most haunting aspect of the entire briefing.

  **Footnote: Of note a wider search on Europol’s system and the archived files of the Bulgarian Committee for State Security have produced a new area of potential investigation.

  In the late nineties it was popularly thought that much of the post-Soviet era organised crime was instigated and carried out by members of the organisation.

  In 2002, Bulgaria’s former Interior Minister General Atanas Semerdzhiev was found guilty of destroying 144,235 files from the Durzhavna Sigurnost archives. A number of criminals were investigated at the same time; however, non
e were prosecuted (or at best their cases never progressed beyond an early aborted trial).

  A wildcard search of a number of ‘accessible databases’ has found the following matches to the current investigation:

  Alexandru/Stefanescu/m/Romania – 13/10/1969 – Stefanescu has countless associates, but only two recorded links to females.

  He has a number of nicknames. The Crow, the Raven, the Magpie, the Jackdaw.

  The link terminates with this nominal:

  Nikolina/Elena/Petrov/f/Bulgaria – 06/07/1970 – alias Nikolina Elena Stefanescu.

  An uncorroborated hit has identified a link to both Petrov and Stefanescu.

  Elena/Simona/Petrova – approximately 1988 – it is possible that this information has been extracted from health records.

  Both Stefanescu and Petrov are shown in a number of Intelligence Reports held by various European police forces and thought to have been actively involved in the wholesale theft of luxury European motor vehicles.

  Lower-tier intelligence indicates a period of sustained domestic-related violence at the property of one Alexandru Stefanescu, with the repeat victim being Nikolina Petrov.

  Source documents suggested at the time that she was trying to remove herself from the relationship as a result of the persistent violence and repeated affairs conducted by Stefanescu. She had provided the local police with evidence to implicate him in a widespread operation targeting Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes vehicles in Spain.

  The Madrid Police commenced an investigation which indicated that a fleet worth 10 million Euros had been stolen, re-birthed and shipped out of the country into Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania.

  They initially located Stefanescu but his case did not proceed. The files do not offer an explanation. It is possible that some level of corruption was involved.

  A source document suggested that Stefanescu may have been the subject of an assassination attempt. Given his status, wealth and social standing, this is plausible.

  The fact that the source suggests he was poisoned is not in keeping with conventional European offending.

  It is suggested that Petrov may have been involved.

  Petrov was never found.

  In the margin Tsang had written in pencil: ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned…’

  The report concluded:

  It is the recommendation of the Analytical Group that any investigation into TSW commences in 2002 and examines the link between the latter two names. Key risks are luxury items, documents, and financial crime.

  A strong possibility exists that government officials are either complicit in this offending or have been blackmailed.

  He sipped on a cup of Earl Grey tea, trying to allow the information to process, and then slowly placed his cup onto its matching saucer. What was he missing?

  He closed the file, sank back into his seat and turned the reading light off. Around him, every other passenger was either asleep or watching the latest thriller through bloodshot eyes.

  The twin engines of the Boeing continued to carry the aircraft across southern Russia, their constant hum acting as an inescapable narcotic. His head began to nod.

  Sleep encompassed him quickly, and he soon found himself drifting on the sparkling waters of the Pacific Ocean. The powerful outboard of the Marlin had stopped and the effervescent actions of the propellers had ceased, the remaining white gaseous bubbles hissing to the surface of the azure ocean. Cade drifted the boat towards the shore, dropped the anchor and dived into the cool water.

  He surfaced seconds later, wiped the saline from his eyes and looked up at the stern. This time, however, his newfound soul mate had gone. He could no longer hear or see her and began to panic in the water, fighting against a new and stronger tide that enabled the Marlin to slowly but inexorably drift away.

  He fought the waves, battling each one until the boat and the island had vanished. He was alone in the greatest ocean on the planet.

  He awoke with a start, as if his heart had stopped. However, he could hear its beat above the constant roar of the jet engines and feel it deep within his chest.

  Without hesitation, he opened the folder once more and read the report from start to finish. As he reached the end of the document, the missing piece of the story dropped into place like an errant and elusive part of a childhood jigsaw, one previously lost in the dark and slightly sticky recesses of an old, much-loved sofa.

  An uncorroborated hit has identified a link to both Petrov and Stefanescu.

  Elena/Simona/Petrova – Birth: approximately 1988 – it is possible that this information has been extracted from health records.

  Unexpectedly his mind returned to Spindrift and that almost inconceivable morning when he first met her, after making love for God knows how many times, she had laid her head on his chest and in a barely audible whisper she had murmured, “Hello Mr Jack Cade. We meet at last.”

  He played and re-played the sentence, dwelling on the last part. His head was nodding now, four or five times before he conceded and fell into a light sleep.

  “We meet at last…Jesus Christ, of course, she knew who I was. How naïve am I?”

  He was awake now. He clapped his hands together.

  “Nikolina Petrov, East Midlands Airport! I knew I recognised those bloody eyes. It wasn’t Elena that was linked to Stefanescu, it was you, you’re her mother! You naïve bastard. You clever girl.”

  He felt foolish, isolated, angry but euphoric. As stunning as she was, his exquisite redhead had played him like the Black Marlin Big Stan’s boat was named after.

  Was she using him or running to him for help? He explored his mind, eventually recalling his words of support so many years prior.

  The passenger in seat 10A rubbed her eyes and glared at Cade through the half-light. He had woken her up.

  Frankly, he didn’t care.

  He didn’t care at all.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Cade had re-entered the much-needed world of deep, uninterrupted sleep and had spent so long in it he had missed another meal and the chance to fleece the aircraft of a few more of its luxuries. Despite this he felt good, refreshed and as if he had been given a new lease of life.

  He walked the short distance to the bathroom, locked the door and splashed some cool water onto his face. He looked in the mirror; looking back, he saw that his face was drawn, lifeless and grey. This was the result of international aviation, time zones, and the impact of the last week. It was more than most men could or should ever have to contend with.

  He dried his face slowly and pumped moisturiser onto his palms before rubbing it slowly into his skin. He could hear his old Metropolitan Police colleague Jason Roberts’ voice.

  “Moisturiser? You poofter, moisturiser is for girls, my son, girls.”

  He smiled, added some more and rubbed it deep into his skin. It was a trick taught to him by an all-too attractive Australian cabin crew member many years before.

  He took his shaver from his travel bag and slowly, deliberately removed the overnight growth from his face before adding a final amount of the luxuriant fluid onto his skin. The last drop was applied just to piss off Roberts. He slapped his face in a vain attempt to apply life to his wilting body.

  The intercom hissed slightly before coming to life and waking those that were still asleep.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, we are heading into an area of clear air turbulence, as such I would like you to return to your seats and fasten your seat belts. Thank you.”

  Cade knew better than to argue. He recalled seeing an American woman collide with the roof lining of a 737 once as it travelled over northern Scotland. The first collision took the wind out of her, but the second, as she clattered onto a seat and smashed her head against an unwitting passenger’s knee made sure that Cade always followed the captain’s orders.

  As he strapped himself back in, he looked at the GPS map on his TV screen – below him, many miles below him, the settlement of
Bila Tserkva passed by.

  He’d never been to the Ukrainian town and most likely never would either, but whenever he flew he often wondered what was happening far below him.

  Who lived there? What were the houses like? Who was guarding that disused Soviet Air Force base just to the north west of the map? Was the parkland as pretty as it looked from that glistening metallic speck in the sky?

  Before he had had time to digest these thoughts, the Boeing had travelled another hundred miles, ever closing in on its destination; on board a familiar aroma drifted through the cabin indicating that it wouldn’t be long before breakfast was served and for once he was hungry.

  Two hours later they were over Rostock in northern Germany and heading on a course between Hamburg and Heligoland. The remnants of breakfast were being cleared away as the sun began to climb slowly above the horizon, announcing its presence on board, teasingly distributing shafts of light through even the smallest gaps in the visors.

  Cade could feel the airliner starting to descend gently, to their left the Dutch coast with its endless dunes and to the right the North Sea with its battalions of wind turbines harnessing the air currents that flowed through the natural throttle point that separated Britain from mainland Europe.

  The enormous white blades rotated and churned, stereotypically not unlike Cade’s mind. He, too, found that his thoughts were whirring, spinning and diverging from one notion to another.

  What would greet him when he returned to his homeland? In fact, who would greet him and importantly how? Would his old friends and colleagues come to his aid and make good on their long-forgotten promises? Would he ever see his adopted home again?

  These thoughts allowed him to drop back into a half-sleep once more as the white, green and red Triple Seven cruised into the Thames estuary heading straight for London and one of the busiest airports in the world.