by Lee Weeks
‘I’m pretty sure I know where he buried the body. I’m also sure that there was a child involved. Francisco’s daughter went missing at the same time.’
‘Can you steer the police towards the burial site? They already suspect that Tony abducted him. No one mentioned the daughter to me.’
‘They need to look at the wasteland behind my villa. There’s an almond grove there and a small stone hut, it’s near there. But I can’t be sure it’s still there, or even what it was I saw. I had one hell of a night, that night. When your mother-in-law drugs you and your brother-in-law tries to rape you before your husband’s been in the ground a week. This has brought out a side of Eddie’s family that not even I could have imagined.’
‘Tony?’
‘Yeah, Harold I can handle, he’s straightforward. Laurence has always stayed away from the madness. He’s weak and he’s a spoiled brat, but he’s harmless. Tony is out of control with his best friend Marco the maniac.’
‘I’m sorry, Della.’ Carter reached out to cover her hand with his. ‘It’s so tough on you, I know.’
‘Yeah.’ She bit back the tears. ‘I loved him, Dan. I know that’s hard for you to believe. Everyone saw me as a gold digger. Even Eddie did, for a while. It wasn’t till the last time I saw him when I dropped him off at the airport that I really believed he did love me, trust me and he really did want to break away from the rest of the Butchers.’
‘What happened to stop it? If that was his plan, why didn’t he go ahead with it? Could he have been up to something you didn’t know about?’
‘I’d love to say no, but I can’t be sure. I’ve been through his private papers. There’s stuff in there I wasn’t expecting, but I can’t see any massive drug deals on the horizon.’
‘Manson has companies that supplied goods to Paradise Villas. Did you know that?’
‘Eddie never mentioned it, but is there a problem with that?’
‘Manson wasn’t owning up to offshore bank accounts as quickly as I’d have liked.’
‘Can you blame him?’
‘Maybe not, but this is a murder investigation of his friend and boss. Eddie had downscaled his work while Manson had turned his up. Money is his driving force.’
‘Everyone wants to make it big at some time in their life. Eddie had done that. We had all we needed. Now he wanted to stay alive to enjoy it.’
‘Not everyone.’
She looked at him in amusement and then shook her head. ‘Most people want to make it big just to see what it feels like. I can see you still like your designer clothes, Dan. You’re still wearing the gold bracelet I bought you on our first anniversary.’
Carter shook his head. He didn’t want to get drawn into a slanging match about integrity and what was truly important to him. ‘Do you know Manson well?’ he asked instead.
‘Of course. I’ve met him many times. He and Eddie were close. He’s even been out to stay at the villa a few times. Eddie trusted him implicitly. There’s no way Manson could have anything to do with Eddie’s death.’
‘Maybe not directly, but he’s scared. He’s trying to run.’
‘I don’t blame him. We’re all scared.’
‘Did Eddie ever discuss problems with clients?’
‘Eddie didn’t really discuss work with me. It just ticked along. He and Manson got on with it. The only time I ever saw any of the villas he built was when they were finished and he’d show me some photos. If it was someone we knew, then I might be invited to the house-warming, some big bash there, but that’s it really. Dan, don’t waste your time chasing leads like that. Believe me, Tony had my husband killed. Tony set him up. They ripped off the cartels. Harold was told to tell me some lies. Between the both of them I think I know a few things for certain. It was Tony who tried to rip off the cartels by claiming that a shipment had gone missing. He sent Eddie into a situation that he was never going to come out of. Why Eddie went, I don’t know. I’m seriously beginning to wonder if I knew my husband. But then I come back to the same thought: Eddie, a drug baron? No way. I know that Tony set Eddie up. Whether he expected him to get killed I don’t know, but, whatever plan he had, it hasn’t worked. He’s still looking for a lot of money. Tony told me so much, the rest I got from Marco, who seems to see me as a better bet than Tony at the moment.’ Carter looked at her curiously. ‘It’s not like that. Marco is worried: his neck’s on the line, too. He told me that there’s a massive shipment of cocaine on a container ship on its way over here right now from Mexico. It has to be paid for when it arrives. The Zapata want payment on arrival because they don’t trust Tony, and Marco has a lot to prove to them. Tony already has the money from ripping off the Mendez cartel on the last shipment to go towards it, but now he has to come up with a huge hundred million pounds. Even for Tony, that’s a lot. Now, Dan . . .’ Della took a breath. She had a worried smile on her face. ‘I have an idea. Please hear me out. I know this is going to sound mad. I want to get Tony, Dan, like we always planned in Operation Argos. I can help you. We can help each other.’ Carter nodded. Della continued, ‘I’ve told Tony I know where the biggest stash of diamonds from the Great Diamond Heist is.’
‘What? Why? What were you thinking? Did he believe it?’
She nodded. ‘Tony’s always believed there’s a big stash of jewels somewhere. Eddie and I used to laugh about it. But Tony seriously suspected that, when Eddie got out from their stint in prison, he moved the diamonds. Tony believes that, if Eddie had wanted to, he could have put his hand on them and Eddie always led him on.’
‘Della, I’m going to have to ask: is there any truth in it?’
‘None. Of course not. Eddie’s task was to launder the diamonds he was given and to keep quiet about the role of the others. He did time so others didn’t have to. They all knew their part. No one had the complete knowledge or trust; otherwise the others would have got to it by now. They were all a bunch of thieves, after all. I told him I’d found papers, codes, safety-deposit boxes, information that only I could access, all that bullshit, and he believes it. He’s sent me over here with Marco to find it. He thinks the diamonds will buy him the new cocaine deal with a new cartel. In theory, he’s right. Diamonds would do nicely for the cartel.’ Carter was nodding his head, staring out into the grey on the Thames. ‘I want you to put this proposal forward, Dan. I want you to propose that I work with you undercover and we draw Tony out of Spain and we set him up.’
Carter looked at her incredulously. His mind was working through the negatives. He shook his head, but he was still working through the list.
‘The Spanish police would have to be part of the operation. They would have to back off in order for him to leave the villa. There’s a million things that can go wrong with this. If we had a year to plan it, it would be different.’
‘Yeah, I know. All that will have to be done. But there will already be undercover operatives working in Spain. There’ll be a structure in place that we can build on.’
Carter smiled. ‘Still the police officer at heart.’
‘Heart? Not so much. Mind? Definitely.’
‘You’re right. There may be people ready to go into action. There are a few police officers in his pay.’
‘I can probably get names for you. They’re the same ones who always turn up and pretend to question him. I know they’re on his payroll. What I would do is lead him right to the diamonds and make sure it hits a snag at the last minute. He’ll think I’m double-crossing him and he’ll have to come over here. If he thinks the deal rests on him coming, he’ll come. Whatever he’s involved himself in, it’s bigger than anything before and he knows he has to get it right.’
‘It’s too risky for you to be involved in any scheme to catch Tony, Della, you must know that.’
‘I don’t have many choices left to me, Dan. I get Tony or Tony gets me. He will kill me, I’m certain of it. But I’m still in the heart of the Butcher clan. I can bring Tony down, Dan.’
Dan searched her face and
saw sincerity and the negatives in his mind began to flip to positives. Could he believe her this time? A part of him wanted to and another part told him he shouldn’t really care what happened to the woman who broke his heart and possibly screwed up years of work on Operation Argos. A woman who chose cash over love. If she betrayed him once, could she do it again? Easily. But something else told him this was an ideal way to get Tony and to finally put things in his past to bed. Why was it when he ended that thought he ended it in bed?
Carter stared into his coffee cup. ‘It can’t be entrapment,’ he said.
‘Then we’ll need to make sure it all goes smoothly. But, the idea obviously interests you?’
Carter tapped his fingers on the desk as his brain ran through the things they would need to achieve to get Tony. ‘What’s in it for you, Della? Is it just to avenge Eddie? It’s a hell of a risk.’
‘Tony will have me killed anyway. Maybe Harold or Marco will do it or maybe they’ll hire a mercenary; but he will do it. He’s taken everything from me, Dan. I have to get it back. I can’t bring Eddie back, but I can bring him his own style of justice. Tony will tolerate me while he thinks I can find the diamonds. The minute he thinks I’ve found them, he’ll have me killed. But there’ll have to be some face-to-face deal that only he can do. He’ll come if he has to. What are you thinking, Dan?’
‘I’m thinking that this is more for the National Crime Agency teams than us. They will have all the contacts.’
‘My plan won’t work if I get handed over to an NCA team. I work with you or I don’t go ahead with it. You’re the only one I trust, Dan. I can’t afford for anyone else to be involved and it get back to Tony. I don’t want to end up like Eddie. There are people in Tony’s pay in the Met, we know that for certain.’
‘Give me a minute.’ Carter put on his coat and stepped outside and made a quick call to Bowie. He kept his coat on when he came back in.
He nodded. ‘Let’s go.’
Chapter 35
After waiting to pick up Ross’s bag from the luggage carousel Willis and Ross went to the car-hire desk and filled out the forms for their hire car. An hour of hanging around in the underground car park, and they were on their way in a black Audi convertible, which filled Ross with glee, as he couldn’t wait to get the top down as soon as they were leaving the airport.
They drove along the coastal road to Marbella. Willis got a text from an unknown number: ‘This is Detective Garcia from the Spanish police. We are starting our meeting in the Marbella police headquarters at one. Please attend.’
‘We’re supposed to be at a meeting at the police station in Marbella in forty minutes,’ said Willis. She was already looking up the map reference on her phone. She leaned over and put the instructions into the satnav.
‘They could have given us a bit more notice,’ complained Ross.
‘I suppose they know we came on the morning flight.’
‘The hotel we’re staying at has a pool. We should try and wrap this up in the next couple of hours and then we can book in and have a dip. Did you bring a cozzie?’
‘No. I didn’t think about it.’
‘You’re kidding! Jesus, Willis. So, when you knew we were coming to Spain for work, did you think that meant constant work?’
‘Yes, I suppose I did.’
‘This is Spain. They work differently here. I’ve been here many times. There’s more socialising and working, more sunbathing and swimming and working, more eating, drinking . . .’
‘Any actual working?’
‘Not if I can help it. The hotel will sell swimming costumes. You can buy one there.’
Willis realised she probably should have brought more than fifty euros spending money with her. She didn’t own a credit card. She had a mortal fear of getting into debt. She saved her money: she was hoping to buy a flat for her and Tina to share but, every time she thought she might be getting near to it, the prices went up again. She never seemed to have enough.
‘Any news about tomorrow, or an update from the Spanish detectives we’re meeting? Do we know their names?’
Willis read the email. ‘Garcia just sent the text; Ramirez is the more senior.’
‘Great names. You know they call them the Marbella Vice? Their life is spent searching luxury yachts and on speedboat chases.’
She looked at him with a roll of the eyes.
‘You wait, you’ll see. You’ll never see more money than in Marbella. It’s the playground of the rich and more rich.’
They arrived and parked on the street nearby, then they walked up the steps into the police station and were met by a good-looking policeman who introduced himself as Detective Garcia. He had on a blue-striped shirt, dark blue trousers. He had a gold strap to his Rolex. He smiled with perfect white teeth and a hint of George Clooney in the brown eyes. His accent was thick Spanish but his choice of vocabulary was more American than UK English.
‘Do you speak Spanish?’ He looked at both of them. They shook their heads.
‘No problem. I hope my English is good enough. Welcome. Good you made it,’ he said. ‘Let me take you to meet my colleague and we’ll run through what’s going down tomorrow,’ Garcia said as he escorted them through a door and past security. They stopped briefly at an office along the way and were joined by Ramirez. He was a less smooth-looking detective with a moody look about him and a hint of stubble. He had thick eyebrows and dark green eyes. He had the look of a man who had been stunning in his youth but had got old too quickly and now didn’t care what he looked like.
Ramirez spoke to Garcia, and then they picked up their laptops and file boxes and led the way further into the building.
‘Come with us, please. We’re going somewhere private.’
‘Is it just going to be us?’ asked Ross as they walked along the stifling hot corridor. The sun was blazing in. Ross kept his aviator sunglasses on. Willis had lost her sunglasses on a day out with Tina in Hyde Park, and she hadn’t replaced them.
‘Just us, yes. We try and keep knowledge about raids on suspected high-profile criminals to a need-to-know basis,’ said Ramirez, who spoke near-perfect English. ‘We have a problem here in Marbella, with corruption, with bribery.’
‘Unfortunately, it’s the same the world over,’ answered Ross.
‘Is this your first time in Marbella?’
Ross shook his head. ‘It’s an interesting place – a bit like the Essex dream.’ Neither policeman understood Ross but they nodded and grinned. He qualified: ‘I mean, it’s full of people showing how much money they have. Super cars, Saudi princes, billion-pound yachts. Marbella is famous for the Saudi royals, the wealthiest people in the world, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, and the wealth keeps growing. The recession hits the medium wealthy and the poor but it doesn’t hit the super-rich.’
‘Many people live here in Marbella but have Gibraltar citizenship for tax reasons, don’t they?’ Willis said.
‘Yes, definitely,’ Garcia answered. ‘ “Showing off” is a national pastime here, making sure everyone sees that you are somebody.’ He smiled at Willis as he led them through two more security doors and into an air-conditioned meeting room.
‘Is it your first time in Spain?’ he asked her.
‘Yes,’ said Willis. ‘It’s very dramatic scenery. The coast looked beautiful, all the white buildings with terracotta roofs. The sea was so blue. It’s idyllic.’
‘Yes, lots of Brits agree. We have over three hundred thousand in Marbella alone. They love it.’
‘Oh dear, sounds like a huge amount. Is it a problem for you?’
‘Sometimes. But it isn’t only the Brits who have brought problems with them: all over Europe people come to Marbella because it is full of the super-rich who like to party. With money comes criminals: drugs, guns, feuds.’
‘It’s got quite a reputation,’ said Willis. ‘Must be quite a challenge to be a police officer here.’
‘Yes, the streets hide so many warring drugs gangs
now. We are not sure where it will all end. It’s got so bad. We get murders all the time, shoot-outs.’
Willis sat down at one of the desks and took out her laptop and notepad. Ross was hovering. He went to perch on a desk a few feet away from her. He had his arms crossed. He still hadn’t taken off his sunglasses. He was checking out the Spanish detectives as they talked in Spanish and prepared a laptop. Willis raised an eyebrow. He smiled, took off his glasses, folded them neatly and put them back into their case in his bag.
Ramirez opened the files he’d brought with him and handed them out a section each.
‘We’re going to run a few photos on the laptop for you to show you what the operation will involve tomorrow and what we’re looking for. We have a plan here of Tony Butcher’s property. There are four buildings in all. We will concentrate on the main house.’ He brought up a blueprint of the estate.
‘We know that at present there are three family members,’ said Garcia. ‘Tony, his wife Debbie and Tony’s mother Sandra. Besides them are six servants. They have their own house on the grounds. We will come in via the gate here; there is a twenty-four-hour guard on duty. As soon as this happens we will move quickly to stop any evidence being destroyed.’
‘What about Della Butcher?’
‘Her villa is here on the plan. The two villas share adjoining almond groves at the back. Della and Marco Zapata left for the UK this morning.’
‘Can you tell us about the missing man, Francisco?’ asked Willis.
‘He owns one of Marbella’s leading legal and accountancy firms. He’s responsible for moving billions of dollars of virtual money around the world for the super-rich here in Marbella. He is a shy man, quite unassuming. He doesn’t enjoy the same lifestyle as his clients. He is a family man with one daughter. What he does is mostly legal. His offices handle most kinds of financial work. But, naturally, because he deals with the super-rich, he also looks after the cartel’s money. He will pretend he doesn’t know it, but he must have an idea,’ said Garcia.
Ramirez agreed: ‘Francisco is a genius in his field of hiding his clients’ assets. But, because of the type of people who live here, he has also taken on some clients that have direct links to organised crime. These are mainly the British and the South American connections. The Russian mafia look after their own finances.’