The Dark Web: The stunning new thriller from the author of The Angolan Clan (African Diamonds Book 3)

by Christopher Lowery

  A conflicting expression flickered across Angela’s face. ‘Maybe this whole idea was a mistake. If I go to the police and say I was wrong, it was all a misunderstanding, Leo could be out of prison tomorrow. I could explain to him and everything would be all right between us.’

  Shen replied with a malign smile, ‘You’re right, Angela. Leo could be out of prison, and you’d take his place for making a false accusation and lying to the police doctor. It’s your choice.’

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  ‘She’s leaving now. There’s a taxi pulling up.’ Ed had called Coetzee just after eight, when he saw Angela going into Shen’s apartment building. He’d been instructed to stay where he was until she left, then follow her again and report as soon as he knew where she was going. It was now ten-thirty, and he was beginning to understand the ‘wait and observe’ doctrine. He’d asked the South African where he was and received another monosyllabic answer, ‘In the right place.’ Since then he’d chewed a half a pack of spearmint gum and struggled to stay awake. Now he was happy to be following her again.

  When he was certain of her destination, he called Coetzee. ‘She’s coming back to her apartment.’

  ‘Wait in the car park for me. I won’t be too long. Oh, and could you book me a room somewhere, I forgot to do anything about it.’

  ‘It’s a bit late to be looking for a room. I suppose you could sleep on the couch in my flat. Will that do?’

  ‘Sounds perfect. See you in an hour or so.’

  THIRTY-THREE

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  Saturday, 10 July 2017

  Angela let herself into her apartment. It was almost eleven and she was exhausted, disappointed and frightened. Shen’s last remark had stunned her. She vaguely suspected she had been simply a tool in some kind of a plot to trap Leo, but her head was hurting and she couldn’t think straight. She went to switch on the table lamp.

  ‘Hello, Angela.’

  She screamed at the sound of the voice and spun around to see a man sitting on her couch. He was solid and square and had a suntanned, pockmarked, expressionless face. ‘Who are you? What do you want?’ She backed away from him to the other side of the room.

  ‘I’m Marius Coetzee. I’m a good friend of Leo’s, and I want to ask you a question.’

  ‘How did you get in here? You’ve got no right. I’ll call the police if you don’t leave now.’

  ‘It was easy, and I wouldn’t if I was you.’

  She took her mobile. ‘I’m phoning them now unless you go.’

  He stood up. ‘Fine, go ahead and call. I’ll leave as soon as you talk to them. But then they’ll come and find all the stuff I’ve planted around the flat. You know what they’re like about abusive substances. I think you’ll end up in more trouble than you already are.’

  She looked around her in confusion. ‘What stuff, what did you hide? Why did you come here to threaten me?’

  ‘OK. Let’s start again. I didn’t come here to threaten you or hurt you, that’s not what I do. I’d like to ask you one question and if I’m wrong, I’ll leave. And if I’m right, we can have a talk. Sound reasonable?’

  ‘What do you want to know?’

  ‘How much did they pay you?’

  ‘O que? What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who do you mean, paid me? Paid me for what? Nobody paid me anything. Nada. That’s your answer and you’re wrong. Now get out of my flat and leave me alone, you’ve got no right to be here. I’m tired and I need to sleep, I’ve got a busy day tomorrow.’

  ‘I suppose you’ll be travelling, going back to Brazil, to Sao Paulo?’

  At this, she broke into tears and sat on a chair by the door, her head in her hands.

  ‘You’re not leaving?’

  ‘That’s what I thought. But I can’t go, not yet.’

  ‘So they haven’t paid you yet. Not even an instalment?’

  She stared at him across the room and shouted, ‘Nada. Aqueles porcos mentirosos. Nothing, those lying pigs. They promised me $20,000 and they cheated me. Now I’ll be in trouble with the police and with this flat and I can’t get back to Brazil. And you’re going to hurt me because of Leo. Mio Dios, why did I do it?’ She burst into tears again.

  ‘I told you, I don’t hurt people. I help them, and now I’m helping Leo and it’ll probably help you too. Calm down and we can have our talk. Then we’ll decide what can be done. OK?’

  She looked around the room again. ‘Did you really plant drugs in the flat?’

  ‘What do you think?’

  ‘All right, what do you want to know?’

  ‘What did they tell you about Leo?’

  ‘You mean Shen and Elodie? He said Leo was sabotaging a big project at their company and he would cause them a lot of trouble if they tried to fire him. They had to get him out of the way for a few days until they could finish the project.’

  Coetzee smiled inwardly at the girl’s naivety. ‘And who suggested the rape charge?’

  She shifted uneasily on the chair. ‘It was Elodie. She knew I was mad to sleep with Leo, but I didn’t dare. I can’t afford to get involved with someone here. My dad’s sick in Brazil and I have to get home to look after him and I don’t have the money. I’ve got no job and I’m completely broke.’

  ‘How can you pay for taxi rides if you’re broke?’

  ‘Elodie likes spending time with me. At the club, or when Shen’s away on business. She gives me some cash sometimes, not a lot, just enough to keep me out of trouble.’

  ‘So, this time she offered you a chunk of money to sleep with Leo, then cry rape and get him out of the way.’

  ‘Sim. It was all the money I needed. Enough to pay my ticket and for my dad’s hospital treatment. I was stupid and I believed her, and now they keep delaying it and I’m sure they won’t pay me and I’ll be worse off than before.’ She broke down again and Coetzee brought her a glass of water from the kitchen.

  ‘Obrigada.’ She drank a little and wiped her eyes.

  He sat down again. ‘They didn’t just lie to you about the payment. The whole story about Leo sabotaging the project was a fabrication. I know Leo, he’s clever and he’s honest, a builder, not a destroyer. The truth is probably the other way round, it looks like it’s Shen who’s the saboteur and Leo found out too much.’

  ‘What? I don’t believe it.’ Coetzee just sat looking at her, and she saw the truth in his eyes. ‘And they used me to get him out of the way. Mio Deos, how could I be so stupid? Now Leo’s in that horrible prison and it’s all my fault. And there’s nothing I can do. Eu sinto muito, I’m sorry, Senhor, I was desperate and I just believed what they said.’

  ‘Why did you say there’s nothing you can do?’

  ‘Tonight, they said if I tell the police what really happened I’ll go to prison, and I’ll never be able to get back to Brazil.’

  ‘They lied to you again. That won’t happen if you do it the right way.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You do it on this.’ Coetzee held up his mobile. ‘I video you telling me what happened, and you sign a statement withdrawing your accusation. I show them to the police after you’ve left for Sao Paulo.’

  ‘I just told you I can’t leave. I’m broke.’

  ‘How about we book a flight for you right this minute and I pay you the $20,000 in the morning, and you go home to see your dad tomorrow night?’

  ‘You wouldn’t do that after what I did to Leo.’

  ‘If it gets him out of prison, I’ll forgive you for what you did. You were stupid and naïve, but you were desperate. Desperate people can do terrible things, I know, been there, done that. So, is it a deal?’

  Angela looked at him cautiously. ‘I don’t believe you, you’re trying to trap me into something.’

  ‘That’s better, Angela, you’re learning. After what happened with those other guys, you need to be sure I keep my word. Call the airline and we’ll book that flight right away.’

  It
was eleven-thirty when Coetzee left her, video and statement accomplished and a flight booked at six-fifteen the next evening with Qatar Airways. Angela was weeping again, but this time tears of joy. She didn’t have the courage to kiss him at the door, but took both his hands in hers. ‘I didn’t know there were people like you in the world any more. Thank you for everything, Sr Coetzee, obrigada.’

  ‘I’ll pick you up as soon as I know which bank we’re going to. It’ll probably be late morning or afternoon because of the time difference. Have your bags packed and ready, and don’t go out until I come. Don’t go anywhere near those people and if they call, tell them you’re sick and you’ll see them tomorrow. They’ll probably be happy to hear it.’

  She nodded gratefully, and he carried his holdall out and went to the elevator. ‘Goodnight, Angela. Sleep well.’

  Ed was dozing in the car park and they drove to his apartment. He waited as long as he could before asking, ‘How did it go?’

  ‘I’ll show you when we get to your place. Do you have any whisky?’

  ‘A half bottle of Johnnie Walker.’

  ‘That should get us through.’

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  ‘That stupid bitch. She’s likely to screw up everything if we’re not careful.’ Shen Fu Liáng poured himself another whisky, his third since Angela had left.

  ‘I think we can keep her under control for a while, but not too long. Certainly not until the end of the month.’ Elodie was sipping champagne. She knew she drank too much these days, but it helped her cope with Shen’s limitations.

  ‘So what do we do now? We can’t remove her, she’s too visible, and the body count’s getting too high for comfort. You’re the brains of the outfit. What do we do?’

  She took away his glass. ‘That’s enough drinking. You’ll need your wits about you in the morning. We’re going to have to change the game plan.’

  ‘What do you mean? You can’t change the plan overnight, it’s taken five years to get here, we’ve got to be patient.’

  ‘We don’t have the time to be patient. You told me Leo’s programmes are working perfectly, and Sharif is confident he can finish without his or Ed’s help.’

  ‘That’s what he told me, but I still don’t see—’

  ‘Realistically, how long does he need to get the final package ready for Shanghai?’

  ‘He said he could finish well before the deadline, so I’m guessing a week at most.’

  ‘OK, so it’s actually a simple situation, and we can manage it if you keep your head and do what I say.’ He remained silent and she continued. ‘Tomorrow’s Sunday. I’ll call Angela and arrange to take her to see Louis at the bank the following day. I’ll get him to say he can get the funds ready for Wednesday and I’ll buy her ticket for Friday. She’ll be fine with that, it’s what she wants, to get home by the weekend. We keep her busy all week and then she goes.’

  ‘So, it means after Friday we’ve got a clear run until we finish.’

  ‘No, it doesn’t. Just wait. I’ll help her to write a letter to the prosecutor, withdrawing her accusation against Leo. That’s what she wants to do, and she’ll expect it. After getting the ticket and promise of the cash she’ll trust me to hold the letter until she’s gone. No one will know for a few days that she’s gone, let’s say until Monday or Tuesday. That means we have about ten days from now to get things finished.’

  ‘How come? Once she’s in Sao Paulo she’s out of our hair, and we can take all the time we need.’

  ‘Shen, I’ve been with you for five years and I still fail to understand your total lack of human emotions. Angela likes Leo, a lot. Don’t you get it? She wanted him before their night together, and after it she likes him even more. The first thing she’s going to do when she gets home is to make sure he’s OK. Is he out of prison, how is he, does he still like her? She won’t stop until she knows he’s out of prison and she can try to forget about what she did.’

  ‘I see what you mean. She’ll cause a stink when she finds out he’s still locked away.’

  ‘Of course she will. She’ll spend the weekend with her family and take her father to the hospital, and on Monday or Tuesday she’ll call Leo or me to find out where he is. If she can’t speak to him, she’ll phone Tom Connor or that lawyer, Ackerman, and the cat will be quickly out of the bag. That means we have ten days maximum.’

  He said nothing, and she continued, ‘There’s another reason we have to move everything forward. This business with Chillicott, the American general, I don’t like it. My contacts didn’t find any connection between him and Tom Connor or Ed, but there’s no smoke without fire, so keep your eye on them and make sure there’s nothing there to worry about. But whatever might or might not be going on, it’s perfectly clear, we have no choice. We’ve got to deliver the final package to Shanghai by Tuesday 19th. That’s our new drop-dead date. You’ll have to speak to Ed and Sharif tomorrow and get their heads straight. Convince them they’re ready, and get them to persuade Tom to move the schedule up.’

  ‘What can I tell them that won’t sound suspicious?’

  She sighed and looked despairingly at him. ‘I’ll sleep on it and tell you in the morning.’

  THIRTY-FOUR

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  Sunday, 11 July 2017

  BIP Bank Middle East Ltd. Ask for Manager, Indranil Kapoor. Up to 50k available. The text from Jenny was on Coetzee’s phone when he awoke on Ed’s couch that morning. She had received the details from Bill Redman in the train taking her home from London, and sent them on to Marius immediately. He texted back, Only 20k needed. Everything arranged for today. Call you later. It was still only three a.m. in the UK, but he wanted Jenny to be able to tell her sister as soon as she woke up.

  Ed called Hatim Ackerman, the lawyer, to tell him he had important news about Leo. He asked him to come round to his apartment and to contact no one on the way. When Hatim arrived, he introduced him to Coetzee then went off to XPC as normal, with an admonishment from Marius to say nothing to anyone about anything at all. ‘Just get on with your testing and keep your mouth shut.’

  Hatim watched the video in a daze, then read Angela’s letter. ‘That’s astonishing, Mr Coetzee. I don’t know how you did it, but congratulations, this is guaranteed to get Leo released right away, probably today.’

  ‘Thanks, Hatim. First off, call me Marius; second, we don’t want Leo released today. Now, please listen carefully.’

  The South African gave him detailed instructions of how he wanted events to play out. He didn’t mention their suspicions about Shen and Elodie, nor the possible sabotage going on at XPC, but stressed that Hatim should do nothing to compromise Leo or Angela. The lawyer agreed not to inform anyone at the company about the new situation until they were both safely away from danger. Then Coetzee sent him off to the police station to see Leo, Hatim driving off almost in a daze, wondering how anyone could have achieved so much between arriving last night and meeting him this morning.

  Bur Dubai Police Station

  ‘I understand Marius Coetzee is a friend of yours?’

  ‘Marius? I haven’t seen him for five years or so, but he’s a very good friend. How do you know him, what’s he done?’

  It was ten o’clock on Sunday morning, and Leo was sitting in the prison meeting room with Hatim Ackerman. He’d been brought along by the guard, who for once didn’t hit him. He wondered if it might be due to his demonstration of self-defence with Razza in the shower room.

  ‘He’s here in Dubai.’

  ‘What? He’s here, how come?’ Before Hatim could answer, he said, ‘I know. Jenny Bishop sent him, right?’

  ‘Your aunt, that’s correct. She arranged for him to come last night and he’s already performed a miracle.’

  ‘I’m not surprised, they’re both miracle-workers. What exactly is it?’

  ‘We have a signed letter and videoed confession from Angela da Sousa that she made a false accusation and she’s withdrawing i
t unconditionally.’

  ‘What? That makes no sense. Why the hell would she do that and then withdraw it?’

  ‘I don’t know. She doesn’t say why, just withdraws it, but that should be enough to get you released.’

  ‘So you’ve come to get me out? That’s fantastic news. Shit, I wasn’t expecting that kind of turn around.’

  ‘Not exactly. For the moment, only you and I and Ed Muire know about this. Angela should be leaving the country tonight and we can’t go public with it until she’s gone, or she’ll be in serious trouble for making a false accusation. We want you to stay in here until tomorrow, then I can present the evidence to the prosecutor and you’ll be out within a few hours. I know what she did was wrong and caused you a lot of trouble and pain, but Mr Coetzee said he’ll explain it all to you himself tomorrow. Apparently she was desperate and naïve and now she’s broken-hearted, but her father’s sick and she has to get back to Brazil immediately. Will you do it?’

  Leo pondered for a while. Every day he spent in prison was dangerous and reduced the time he had to find out what was going on at XPC and try to prevent it, but he knew he had no choice. It can only have been about money, he said to himself. Then to Hatim, ‘Can I see the video?’

  ‘Marius has it and won’t let anyone have a copy for the time being. He’ll give it to me on a flash drive tomorrow morning, to show to the prosecutor. But he showed it to me. It’s extremely emotional, very genuine. I think she really likes you. You’re lucky, she’s a beautiful woman.’

  Once again, Leo wondered at the lawyer’s lack of understanding. What’s so lucky about this situation? Aloud, he said, ‘What about the letter?’

  ‘I’ve got a photocopy here.’ He took an envelope from his inside pocket. ‘Don’t let the guards see it.’

  A copy of Angela’s passport was in the envelope with a single sheet of paper dated the previous day, written in a schoolgirl scrawl with a couple of corrected errors. It was addressed to The Public Prosecutor, Ryhad Street, Dubai, and read: