by C B Wilson
“We’re the management company for Plutus,” he said. “And I’m here to see if there’s anything I can do to help.”
His handshake was damp and flabby, like pulling naan bread out of a takeaway packet. Holmes wiped the palm of his hand on his trousers and didn’t try to disguise what he was doing. He said, “A little late to be offering to help.”
Jerry said, “Excuse me? We have been looking for Mr Henin and Ms Mills-Walker since Saturday.”
“Oh really?” said Oliver. “Didn’t sound like that when your colleagues threw me off the yacht a couple of hours ago.”
Jerry said, “I heard about that. The problem is, we train our guys to defend and protect and they have a hard time realising that not everyone who approaches the yacht is a threat. So I guess they weren’t very welcoming and I’m sorry for that. Lucky they didn’t shoot you.” Northey chuckled at his own joke.
Holmes took an instant dislike to most people and then, occasionally, revised his decision, but he had never disliked someone so intensely, so quickly, as he did Northey. There was something about his deep-set eyes and his lumpy, misshapen fleshiness that made him repellent. Holmes backed away from the man.
Northey offered his condolences to Nikki and Charlotte and Ellie. He told them that they were conducting search operations for Nadia’s body and if there was anything else they could think of, he would be delighted to help.
Nikki took a deep breath and lifted her tear-stained face to Northey.
“Why do you keep saying she’s dead?”
Northey said he was sorry to be so blunt but it seemed like the chances of Nadia being found alive were slim.
Nikki said, “We don’t know she’s dead. And until we find anything different, we’re going to keep looking until we find her.”
Northey seemed surprised at the passion in Nikki’s voice. He said, “I know how important it is for friends and family to find a body, so I can assure you that we will do everything we can—”
“Stop saying she’s dead.”
“Of course,” said Northey. “I understand how upset you must be.”
Nikki said, “Maybe she stumbled ashore. Maybe she’s hurt. Maybe someone picked her up.”
“It’s possible. But you mustn’t let your emotions get the better of you.”
Nikki snapped, “Don’t patronise me.”
Northey risked a sideways glance at Holmes as if to see if anyone else thought Nikki had gone too far, but Holmes stared straight back at him.
Nikki said, “I heard you offer to help.”
“That’s right. If there’s anything we can do.”
Nikki said, “Yes there is.” The firmness in her tone made Jerry take notice.
Nikki took control. She got Jerry to commit every resource that he had. Within half an hour a helicopter was flying search patterns along the coast and out to sea. Teams of the security detail worked along the coast doing a fingertip search of the shore. Other units did the same from the sea, up and down the coast in boats.
Jerry was never more than a few feet from her side the whole afternoon and evening.
A few hours after dark, even Nikki agreed it was pointless to continue the search. Jerry tried to stick around. He offered to wine and dine them on board Plutus but Nikki wanted to get away from the guy, and they all said they were too tired.
Before Jerry left them at the hotel, Nikki said, “We need the helicopter tomorrow.”
“I’m not sure how much use that will be. They’ve basically covered every bit of the coastline.”
“I need it to take me to Kingston. Oliver has a contact at the TV station. I want to broadcast an appeal. If we go tomorrow morning, we can make their evening news.”
Oliver was as surprised as Jerry at the change of direction. “I’d need to call them.”
“Do it.”
Jerry said, “I don’t know if we can get the helicopter for tomorrow.”
“Sure you can. You said you’d do anything.”
Jerry spluttered. Nikki said, “There’s a helipad at the back of the hotel. Be there at 8 a.m.”
She held out her hand. He shook it. Nikki couldn’t have been cooler or less interested in him. “Thanks for your help. See you tomorrow.”
Jerry looked at her retreating figure as though she’d just given him the biggest come-on. He tried to be matey with Holmes and said with a leer, “She’s an amazing woman.”
Holmes was not a man of violence but he considered kicking Jerry in the balls. He thought better of it and walked away without saying anything.
Dinner that night was subdued. Everyone was exhausted after the day spent searching. None of the women wanted anything solid to eat and they were in bed early.
Holmes spent another night waiting for Nikki to knock on his door so he could turn her down. Once again, she didn’t test his self-control.
26
Malkin wouldn’t authorise the use of the helicopter without seeing Jerry first. There was a dinner with some of Volkov’s associates on the yacht and Malkin was at the head of the table. Even though the dinner was supposed to be one of the more sophisticated events on the Russians’ Caribbean tour, the vodka still flowed and there were hookers doing lap dances all around the table before the first course was even served.
Jerry guessed that the one with the bandages was Lobachev. He was surprised that Malkin attended this kind of lunch but then he figured that you can take the guy out of Russia but you can’t stop him getting pissed and behaving badly. It was early in the proceedings, and Malkin’s eyes were already beginning to glaze over but that didn’t mean he was any less sharp.
“So they have the body now.”
Jerry said, “Like I said, they don’t have a morgue in Jamaica, so the body is being stored in a funeral home before the post-mortem. Five hundred US dollars gets me a power cut there tonight. By the time she gets to it, the pathologist won’t be able to tell if it’s a man or a whale on the slab.”
“You seem to be enjoying yourself.”
Jerry admitted he was. “Bribing cops and judges in the Caribbean is not the hardest thing I’ve ever done. This is a challenge. I like that.”
Malkin said, “So Mr Holmes is proving a worthy opponent.”
Jerry said, “Actually it’s the hooker. She’s the one who’s driving this,” and immediately wished he’d kept his mouth shut.
His eyes fixed on Jerry’s, Malkin said, “The redhead. You want her.”
“Of course not.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a toast. The Russians roared and drank and then Malkin turned back to Jerry. “You know what I say, the three things that get us into trouble are…”
“…sex, greed and stupidity.”
Malkin said, “If you’re so smart, don’t fall into the trap.”
Jerry said, “I’m happy with them going to Kingston.”
“You really want this broadcast on TV?”
Jerry said, “Don’t worry about them, they’ve got nothing. They’ll run out of steam in a day or two. They’re finished.”
Malkin said, “Or, she’s taking the initiative, she’s running you all over the island.”
“You wanted me to get close. Helping them was your idea.”
Malkin said, “I didn’t say to screw the woman.”
“Are we done?”
Malkin said, “When and if it becomes necessary to deal with the redhead, you will do exactly what I tell you.”
The two men locked eyes. Sometimes Jerry forgot what it meant to have been Volkov’s right-hand man for twenty-five years, through some of the most bitter and ruthless gang warfare in history. Then, Malkin would give him that look and Jerry would remember who he was dealing with.
“You’re the boss.”
Jerry tipped Malkin a salute, downed a shot of vodka from the table and left. Malkin watched him all the way.
27
At reception in the morning, it was just Nikki and Oliver. “I told Charlotte and Ellie to find the fishe
rman who said he saw Nadia.”
Holmes handed over his credit card to pay his bill, wincing at the size of it. He said, “Why do you want to talk to him?”
“He was the last person to see her.”
The receptionist was more embarrassed than Holmes when she told him that his card had been declined. He gave her another one. Then when that one didn’t work, he gave her his only other card.
Nikki said, “Don’t worry about money. I’ll pay this,” when the third card was refused.
Holmes said, “No, this is a problem. I’m going to have to call my bank.”
Nikki took him by the arm. “Do it in Kingston. The helicopter’s here.”
28
Nikki was quiet during the helicopter ride to Kingston. The scenery was stunning as they flew across the centre of the island but she wasn’t paying attention. She was clearly thinking something through.
Oliver didn’t talk much either. He was wondering why his credit cards had been refused. He wanted to get that sorted as soon as they landed.
Jerry had decided to accompany them to Kingston and it wasn’t an offer they could refuse. Nikki waited until Jerry was involved in a conversation with the pilot and she nudged Oliver with her phone and showed him a photograph.
It was of the jet-ski that crashed. Oliver hadn’t noticed her taking any pictures. Nikki zoomed in on the handlebars of the jet-ski.
The interior of the helicopter was quiet enough for them to talk. “Why was the padding not on the handlebars?” she asked.
Oliver said, “It must have come off in the collision.”
“It came off and then he hit his head? Seems unlikely.”
Oliver said, “Strange thing happen in accidents.”
Nikki said, “Also, everything on that yacht was the best, the most luxurious. No expense spared kind of thing. So why did the jet-ski have a kill cord that didn’t stop the engine? Why was it so long that it could keep him attached to the jet-ski? And why did nobody see it for twenty-four hours? I mean, it wasn’t that hidden.”
Oliver held up his hands. “I don’t know.”
Nikki flicked through her phone to another picture. It was a night view of Ellie and Charlotte on the yacht at the party.
“What am I looking at?”
“Moonlight. It was bright moonlight.”
“And?”
“How could someone not have seen the shore on a night that bright? How could you drive a jet-ski into a rock?”
Oliver had no answer.
“And who was the girl they drugged on the boat?”
“I know you’re upset…”
Nikki said, “Don’t give me that over-emotional grieving woman crap,” and she turned away.
“We have to wait for the post-mortem.”
Nikki ignored him and didn’t speak to him again until they got to the television station.
Oliver looked round to see Jerry watching them. Jerry gave him an ironic thumbs-up. Oliver ignored him.
29
The offices of Voice of Jamaica Television were done out in an international corporate bland style. Oliver had sat in the same meeting rooms in a hundred different cities. Even the pictures on the walls looked the same.
At least they had got rid of Jerry. He offered to wait for them in the car park but Oliver said he’d call when they were ready.
Holmes was distracted. His bank wouldn’t speak to him over the phone because he couldn’t get through their security checks. He needed to speak to a senior person who wasn’t immediately available. Nikki was keen to get the appeal underway and she wanted to meet the journalist. She said Oliver could sort out his financial problems after they had met the journalist.
Oliver knew the journalist on Voice of Jamaica from his background research into police shootings. He’d promised her an exclusive on his report. Verity was pleased to see him and eager to help with their appeal. Oliver could tell that, professionally, she particularly liked how attractive Nikki was, although she had the sense not to mention that.
They ran through the story of Nadia’s disappearance. Nikki was particularly bothered about the problems with the way the accident seemed to have occurred and Verity agreed with her that something wasn’t right with the way that Superintendent Roberts had described the accident. Nikki didn’t mention the stewardess’s story about the drugged woman at the private party.
Verity was a slender woman who’d have been good on either side of the camera, but she’d left Jamaica to work in TV in the US, and over there, her face and her accent didn’t quite fit as onscreen talent. She’d trained as a journalist and been successful until she’d returned to the island for love and ended up staying. With her experience, she was a big fish in a small pond, but she seemed happy enough.
She said she had to take the story to her producer to see if they could run with it. Verity left Nikki and Oliver with some bad coffee and tap water.
Oliver fretted about the money. He needed to get on top of the situation. Nikki told him again that she had money, that she would cover it. She was still frosty. Oliver couldn’t figure out what he had done that called for this length of punishment. Then Floyd rang and Oliver took the call in the corridor.
When he came back, Nikki was still waiting for the journalist.
Oliver said, “Floyd wants me to meet someone.”
“Has he found your witness?”
“Not yet. I told him about Nadia going missing and he remembered a similar case a few years ago. He’s going to take me to meet the detective who worked on it.”
“When?”
“As soon as we’ve finished here.”
“What about your bank?”
Holmes said it was too late to do anything. He would call tomorrow.
When Verity came back into the meeting room, her face was tight with unhappiness. She didn’t waste any time. “We’re not going to run with your story.”
Nikki and Oliver were more than surprised. “Why not?”, “What’s changed?”
“My producer got a call from the police. They said this was definitely just a drowning, no big deal, and we shouldn’t run anything so as not to rock the boat, so to speak. Tourism is a big industry here. We don’t want to frighten people off.”
“But that’s the point,” said Nikki. “It might not be a drowning. We think she might be hurt somewhere. You said yourself the story seems funny.”
Verity didn’t look at Nikki when she said, “And then there’s the fact that she was a prostitute. The story plays a little differently with that angle.”
Nikki said, “The police told you she was a prostitute?”
Oliver said, “That has nothing to do with anything.”
“Not if you’re my producer.”
Nikki said, “Is your boss a man?”
Verity nodded.
“Well you can tell him we’re taking this to your competition.”
“Good luck with that. It’s a small island. If the police don’t want something to run, it doesn’t run. For what it’s worth, my boss came under some heavy pressure to drop it.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. But my boss doesn’t see any benefit to us in crossing the police. Especially over a missing prostitute.”
Nikki said, “She wasn’t a prostitute.”
Verity said, “Sorry. But that’s the way my producer sees it.” To Holmes she said, “Can I have a word with you in private?”
Holmes said, “Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of Nikki.”
Nikki said, “Don’t bother. I’ll wait for you outside.” She stormed out.
Verity said, “I’m hearing bad things about you.”
“From the police?”
Verity nodded.
“That’s good,” Holmes said. “I’m not doing my job if I’m not annoying the cops.”
“They’re saying I shouldn’t trust you because you’re taking bribes.”
“And you believed them?”
Verity said, “The m
ore intelligent you are, the less you believe. I only deal in facts.”
Oliver said, “Who called you?”
Verity said, “Senior Superintendent Roberts.”
“He ever call you before about anything?”
Verity shook her head. “He’s too senior to bother with us normally.”
“Does that not strike you as strange?”
“If you want this story to run, you need to give me some facts. Some verifiable, honest-to-God facts, because right now, you’ve got nothing.”
As she was showing Oliver out of the building, Verity said, “Is our deal still good on your report? Do I still get the exclusive?”
Oliver was fuming at the way the journalist had treated them. It burst out into open hostility. “You can stick our deal where it hurts!” he said, and he followed Nikki out of the building.
30
The detective who had handled the missing girl case back in 2010 lived in the mountains. It was only a couple of miles out of Kingston, but the roads started crumbling as soon as they started to climb through the hairpins.
Holmes spent the first part of the drive complaining that Floyd hadn’t found Omar. Then when Floyd had reassured him that he would pick up the gunman very soon, they talked about the missing girl.
“She was called Kimberly, just Kimberly. She was a contestant in Miss Jamaica. Had her pictures in all the papers. Beautiful girl she was. Told her friends she was going to a party on a yacht. Never seen again.”
Oliver said, “Didn’t that make it a big case?” Then he twigged the date. “2010, that was the war.”
“Not a war exactly, but a lot of trouble trying to extradite Mr Coke. Maybe some stuff got lost in there.”
That made sense to Holmes. The Jamaican police and army killed seventy-six people in street battles in West Kingston trying to get hold of Christopher Coke to extradite him to the US to face drug charges. Any other cases, even a missing beauty queen, would not have not been a top priority at that time.