“Who’s this ‘we’ you’re talking about, and have you told me everything, or am I going to be the monkey again being fed just a few peanuts?”
“It’s the whole story and by ‘we’ I mean Nick Malherbe, Captain Clive Barnard and a few others.”
“Nick Malherbe? Why does the name sound familiar?”
“He’s Allegretti’s chief of security.” Ellie hesitated. “Actually, he’s undercover. He works for Interpol.”
“Did you know it before?”
She shook her head. “I found out after my accident.”
“Fuck it. You people like complicating things.”
“We operate in a complicated world.”
Ellie heard the front door open. Nick came in. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Brenda.
He shook her hand when Ellie introduced them. He didn’t let go of it at once.
“I know you.”
“I wouldn’t admit to that, if I were you.”
Nick gave Ellie a questioning look. She said: “She worked for us at the security company.”
“Ah, now I remember. The one who fed me the story that she’d ask her boss to contact me.”
“I’ve told her what we expect of her.”
“No one will come and kill me here?” Brenda asked.
“We definitely hope not. From our side, we’ll do our best to make sure it doesn’t happen,” Nick replied.
“I don’t trust people who say they’ll do their best. From experience I know it’s actually a cop-out. Why don’t you rather say there’s a chance it may happen, then I know what I’m letting myself in for.”
“If someone wants to come and kill you here, it means something major has gone wrong with our investigation, in which case we’ll probably all be fucked.”
Brenda nodded. “That’s a bit better.” She looked at Nick and Ellie in turn. “Is everyone who they say they are, or are we playing games?”
Ellie smiled. “Everybody’s using their real names. But Nick is still working for the Allegrettis, so his name mustn’t be mentioned at all. All enquiries and questions are to be directed at Clive Barnard.”
Brenda nodded. “Okay. When do I start?”
“Right now, if you don’t have any other urgent business.”
“No problem. I’m free at the moment.”
Ellie led the way to the lounge, where files were stacked on the desks. “These are files we already have on some of the suspects. Some of the information is old. We’ll have to sift through everything and decide what’s relevant to this case. Unfortunately we’re short-staffed, so I’d be glad if you could help.” She held on to the first files for a moment before handing them to Brenda. “Brenda …”
“If you’re going to tell me all this is confidential and I can never speak about it, I’m leaving right now.”
“I wanted to thank you.” Ellie smiled.
Brenda clicked her tongue. “Smooth, aren’t you?”
Ellie and Brenda were still going through the files when the others began to arrive. They had looked at quite a few and it had given Ellie the opportunity to give Brenda background information about some of the cases and suspects. As she had expected, Brenda knew more than she had let on. They had made photocopies of everything that could relate to their cases, so that the files could be returned to the respective units as soon as possible.
Ellie introduced Brenda to the others. She stifled a laugh when Jeremy Jansen nearly fell over the coffee-table leg at the sight of Brenda. Brenda said nothing, just raised her eyebrows. Ellie wondered if she had ever been in love. She doubted it. Falling in love was a luxury not meant for everyone.
Clive was the last one to arrive. He gave Ellie a questioning look when he saw Brenda and sat down with the others around the table. Ellie beckoned to Brenda to join them.
“I won’t have time to explain everything every time.”
Nick looked at the people gathered around the table. They seemed focused.
Jansen went first: “Allegretti had a call from an unlisted number on Sunday morning. During the day he called several people, including his sister, some or other Russian guy, Ken Visser and a Chinese person. There were a few other calls as well.” Jansen mentioned three names Nick recognised. They were Enzio’s friends.
“How do you know one was Russian and another Chinese?”
“I called all the numbers. I’ll lay my head on the block that one guy spoke with a heavy Russian accent and the other one’s accent was Chinese.”
“Do you know all those accents?” Hendriks asked. “You’d be surprised at the way some people in our neighbourhood speak.”
The others laughed.
“Okay, maybe it wasn’t a Russian and a Chinese, but they definitely sounded foreign. Oh, and there was another call to a guy with a foreign accent.” Jansen looked at the boards where Ellie had made notes the day before and pointed at a name. “That’s why it sounded familiar. The call was to Jonathan’s phone. The others wouldn’t give their names and the numbers are all unlisted, of course.”
“Did Clara call anyone before her phone was switched off?” Ellie asked.
“She made a few calls in the course of the evening, but none to Allegretti. Unless he has another number.”
Frans de Bruin took over when Jansen had finished. “The neighbours didn’t see anything. But we didn’t ask if they’d heard shots. One guy said he thought he’d seen a rental car stop in a side street sometime on Sunday night, but he didn’t see anyone get in or out.”
“Allegretti isn’t a man for taxis.” Nick stopped talking. He gazed at a fixed point for a moment. Then he picked up his phone and dialled a number. “Check if the BMW is in the parking garage and call me back,” he said when Paul answered.
Nick could kick himself. Since he’d been at the club on Monday something had been niggling at his mind. Something to do with the club.
Now he knew what it was. The BMW in which he, Clara and McKenna had been ambushed that night at Rietvlei was always in the garage. Everyone at the club used it if they needed a vehicle. It wasn’t there on Monday and he could swear he didn’t see it this morning either. One of the first things he had done on Sunday night was to make sure all Enzio’s vehicles were in his massive garage in the basement of his house. They had all been there.
He looked at the rest of the people around the table. Everyone shook their heads.
“I was at Forensics. We urgently need DNA samples from Allegretti and Veldman,” Clive said.
“That’s easy. I can give you Allegretti’s today,” Nick said and looked at Ellie.
“I’ll see if I can find anything today. If not, early tomorrow morning.”
Nick’s phone rang. It was Paul. “The BMW is missing.”
“Does anyone know who the last person was to use it and when it was last seen in the garage?”
“I asked around, but no one knows.”
“Can you look at the CCTV footage to see if Allegretti fetched the BMW on Sunday night?”
He put down the phone. “We’re looking for a white BMW 740i Sport. I think it’s a 2004 model.” He gave the registration number, then looked at Brenda. “Phone the taxi companies and ask if anyone was picked up at that address on Sunday night. Enzio wouldn’t have used the main entrance.” He looked at the others again. “Did you speak to the staff at Paranga again?”
“There’s only that one guy who says he saw a black panel van pick her up,” said Stacy Hendriks. “The rest were watching the crash scene. No one noticed any registration numbers, and no cameras picked up any of the vehicles.”
“I should be getting Clara’s laptop later today,” Ellie said and looked at Jansen. “I’ll bring it here as soon as I get it.”
“What about Allegretti’s computer?”
“It’s not at his house,” Nick said.
“Is there a chance we could look at the club’s computers?” Clive asked.
“It won’t be easy, but I’ll see what I can do.” Nick looked at the others
around the table again. “Ask Brenda for the files we’ve got and go through all the information for anything that may be relevant. I want a comprehensive report tomorrow morning on the past month’s incidents all over the country. Anything. Horns, ivory, cigarettes, abalone, big drug heists. Anything that came onto the radar. Give everything you find to Brenda so we can keep it together in one file. We can’t sift through everything every time.”
When he had finished, Ellie, Nick and Clive remained seated while the others went to the lounge with Brenda.
Ellie said: “I saw Greyling. He’ll speak to Williams. I’d like to take a look at Allegretti’s house and talk to Paul.”
“I’ll take you.” Nick motioned with his head towards the lounge. “Is she a cop?”
“Brenda? No, but she’s often worked for me.”
“You’re trusting her with very sensitive information.”
“She helped protect me against you.”
He said nothing, just got to his feet. “Give me a few minutes, then we can go. I’ll ask Paul if he can get away and meet us at Enzio’s house.”
“I’ll meet you there. I have to go somewhere afterwards.”
They agreed on a time.
Nick was just getting into his bakkie when Paul phoned to say Allegretti had fetched the BMW himself.
CHAPTER 16
Ellie was on her way to Allegretti’s house when Albert phoned.
“Williams wants to see you. Can you be at his house in half an hour?”
Ellie looked at her watch. “I’ll see what I can do. Is there something I should know?”
“He thinks the two of us are still together and, before you say anything, remember it’s also your cover story. I hinted that you’re back and working in security again. Not for a company. You take private jobs as they come along. We don’t have time to set up an office again. So be vague if he asks you; just remember he’s no fool.”
She phoned Nick. “Williams wants to see me. Can we meet at Enzio’s place later?”
“Call me when you leave there.”
There was no parking in the street in front of Williams’s house, so she parked a block away.
A strange young man opened the gate. After she had introduced herself, he waved her inside.
“He’s waiting in the living room.”
The first person she saw on entering was Reggie. He was sitting next to his uncle. The crown prince. She forced herself not to look at him. Her neck and arms were clammy with sweat.
She glanced at the other three men in the room. She guessed they were all more or less Williams’s age. The elders he had surrounded himself with over the years.
Williams got to his feet to greet her and introduced her to the others.
“Miss McKenna, I’m truly grateful that you’re willing to help. I’d hoped you would agree the other day, but I didn’t want to ask.”
“What’s it to you what happens to Clara?” Reggie demanded, his arms folded.
“Reggie … if you can’t be respectful, you may excuse yourself,” Williams snapped.
“No, it’s a good question. In the short time I looked after Clara we got to know each other well. I still feel responsible for her safety. I reckon a few unfortunate events caused her life to change drastically in the course of a day. She’s young. It can’t be easy for her.” Enough, Ellie warned herself. Don’t sound too keen. She looked at Williams. “I’m willing to help, but ultimately it’s your choice and your decision. I can’t say I did a good job last time.” Her eyes swept the room slowly, but she steadily avoided looking at Reggie. She knew he hated being ignored.
“You can say that again.”
“Reggie …”
Reggie got up and crossed over to the sliding door.
“We’ve looked everywhere,” one of the other men said. “We haven’t found any trace of her. We’ve been watching Allegretti’s house for days. Nothing. If she’s there, he’s hiding her well.”
“I can’t promise I’ll find her, but I won’t stop before we have an answer. I think Mr Williams may have told you I used to be in the police service. I still have contacts there. People won’t think it strange if I make enquiries. I’m also in contact with Mr Allegretti’s chief of security. He may not tell me if they have her there, but if they don’t, Mr Allegretti will be keen to prove his innocence. Enzio Allegretti is a businessman with many irons in the fire. It won’t be good for his reputation if he’s thought to be a kidnapper.”
The four older men seemed to agree. Reggie had his back to them.
“She’s taking you for a ride,” he said when no one responded. “How do we know she’s not working for Allegretti? This way, she’ll know exactly what we’re doing or not doing, and she’ll take it straight back to him.”
Ellie got up. “He has a point. You don’t know if you can trust me. We won’t achieve anything like this. I really hope you find her unharmed.”
“Miss, please sit down and pay no attention to Reggie. You know how hot-headed young people can be. It’s been a difficult few days for all of us and tempers are frayed.”
Ellie sank slowly back onto her chair.
Williams looked around him. “We did what we could without much success. It’s time to get some fresh eyes in, and I trust you. I know how fond Clara is of you and it gives me peace of mind to know you’ll be looking out for her.”
Everyone nodded, except Reggie, who had turned around. His eyes were drilling into Ellie’s. He didn’t have to say anything. She held his gaze for a moment before she looked away. She swallowed down a wave of nausea and wondered whether this was a good idea after all. Thinking of Reggie was one thing, but seeing him, experiencing that arrogance up close, was something else. They both knew what he had done to her and she knew he would try to use her fear to his advantage.
“I’d like to talk to everyone who had contact with her in the past few days, including family and friends.” Ellie forced herself to focus on her reason for being there. She couldn’t allow Reggie to invade her mind.
“You don’t think we’ve spoken to everyone already?”
“Reggie, since you have so much to say, Miss McKenna can start with you.”
Ellie saw Reggie nod and smile. If Williams noticed, he decided not to react. He had gone back to talking to the other men.
She and Reggie sat down at the dining-room table.
“You don’t fool me,” he said.
“Have you thought about the possibility that she might have wanted to get away from you?”
Ellie saw the words hit their mark. His eyes narrowed and his mouth became a thin, straight line. She kept her hands out of sight in her lap, feeling them tremble.
“An accident can happen in a flash, you know?”
Ellie ignored his words. “Did you have her kidnapped?”
He folded his arms, moved his chair back slightly and gave a harsh laugh. “Christ, you’re even more stupid than I thought. Why would I kidnap her?”
“Everyone knows you want her for yourself. This way you make sure she doesn’t go back to Allegretti.”
“I hope Uncle isn’t paying you to make this shit up.”
“So what you’re saying is that you didn’t do it, nor did you arrange it?”
“Correct.”
“Do you know who did it?”
“Are you deaf, or just very slow? If I knew, we wouldn’t be sitting here now.”
Ellie wrote something in her notebook. “Okay, that’s good to know. When last did you see her?”
“Friday afternoon.”
“Did you speak to her?”
“Yes, I said hello. Nothing serious.”
Ellie didn’t think Reggie could ever just say hello to Clara. There was too much he wanted to say. She didn’t know whether Reggie was capable of love, but he had grown up with the idea that Clara belonged to him and he found it hard to accept that she’d chosen someone else. He’d made it very clear that he wouldn’t give up without a fight.
“Did you noti
ce whether something was bothering her?”
“No.”
“Did you notice anything that may not have meant anything at the time but, with hindsight, could be important?”
“I’ve seen Allegretti drive past the house.”
Ellie almost reminded him that he had driven past the club and Allegretti’s home himself, but decided to let it go. There were limits to how far he could be pushed and she still needed him.
“Did he drive past on Friday?”
“No, but I saw him once or twice before.”
“Who was supposed to look after her that night?”
“Those two fucking idiots. They’re still in hospital. Whiplash, they claim. Pity their skulls weren’t cracked.”
“If they weren’t up to the job, why did your uncle use them?”
“Because she’s a little bitch who twists Uncle around her little finger. She tells him who she wants and who not.” When Ellie didn’t reply, he continued: “The Italian has had her kidnapped before. Have you forgotten? If it wasn’t for me, who knows what he would’ve done to her.”
“He didn’t kidnap her. I was there, remember? Allegretti was worried about her safety. And you forget she loves him.”
Reggie snorted. “That girl doesn’t know how to spell the word love. He was her way out, that’s all. And now she’s sulking because she had to move back over the mountain. But you know what, sweetheart, that’s life. She belongs here. The sooner she realises it, the better.”
“What has your relationship with her been like lately?”
“We’ve always been cool.”
Ellie looked up from her notes and waited for him to carry on.
“You think you know what’s going on in her mind, but you don’t know anything. So don’t look at me as if I’m lying.”
She closed her notebook. “Thanks, Reggie. I may speak to you again sometime.”
He got up, gave a slight bow. “At your service, ma’am.”
Next, Ellie spoke to Elroy and one of the other youngsters who occasionally looked after Clara. Williams had phoned and told them to come to his house without delay. No one had any real information. They simply repeated what Ellie already knew. There had been no warning signs. Clara had been difficult, but she’d been like that for the past five months. Elroy didn’t have much to say. He was unusually quiet and pale.
Endgame Page 15