by Terry Morgan
CHAPTER 61
Jan approached the shiny black door in the side street of Delft, pressed the buzzer, waited and looked around in case he was, as last time, prodded with the point of an umbrella.
He had no idea whether Tom Hanrahan was somewhere close-by, but the very thought that he might be somewhere near gave him a much more comfortable feeling than the last time he'd stood there. A street light cast shadows on the cobbled street and reflected off the door, but other than casual walkers, a few boys on bicycles and a tall woman in a dark coat standing at the railings overlooking the canal, he had seen no-one that resembled Guido.
Jan pressed the buzzer again, put his ear to the speaker. Nothing. Then he checked his watch. He was precisely on time and, by now, it was almost dark. He tried the buzzer again and, just as he did so, his mobile phone rang in his jacket pocket.
"Yes?" he said.
"Ah, Mr Kerkman." The voice was unmistakable. "I am not at home today. Instead, we will deal with matters by telephone. Please return to the canal, find a seat and make yourself comfortable. The seat will be wet after the rain so you may want to dry it first. I will call you in two minutes."
Jan did as he was told. He found an empty bench seat beneath a street light and next to the railings where he'd once stood to admire water lilies in the canal and the short skirts of summer. A bicycle was chained to the fence next to him, the tall woman he had seen was now gone, a couple, arm in arm strolled by laughing and two boys went noisily past on skateboards. On the other side of the canal it was busier and, at the Cafe de Oude Hans, people were checking menus at the window and a waiter was outside clearing wet tables beneath wet umbrellas. Then his phone rang again.
"Ah, Mr Kerkman. Are you sitting comfortably?"
"Yes, thank you," said Jan.
"That is good. Now listen to me. There is a small problem with Puff and Slush. It seems it is not quick enough and someone has become suspicious. It is not your problem, but we want to test our new, bigger, better, faster and more secure version of Puff and Slush. What is very clever is that it does not need the use of an internal computer, but can be done from a laptop. As you do not have one, someone will deliver one to you in approximately - ah - twenty seconds. Wait. Do not switch your mobile phone off. Do you understand?"
"Yes," said Jan.
With Guido, nothing surprised Jan any more. As if participating in some form of street magic he waited until someone tapped his shoulder. The tall, long coated woman he had seen earlier was now standing right behind him. A laptop computer was placed on the seat beside him as Jan caught a fleeting whiff of perfume. Then the tall woman in the knee length rain coat with a dark scarf covering her head, walked away towards the bridge. Jan was sure it was the same one who had given him the package in the car park in Brussels.
"Now, "said Guido's voice from the phone. "Open it and switch it on......There is an icon on the left that says Puff and Slush Version 2. Click it........What you now see is the start up screen........Yes?
"Yes."
"Enter the EAWA file and then the file covering the recent Tourism Project bid from Sierra Leone. This may take a few seconds. The speed is not Guido's fault but the equipment and server used by your employers. I will wait until you say yes."
Jan, sweating, did as he was told. Finally: "Yes," he said.
"Good. Now enter the file to show the details of the consultants who submitted the bid."
Fingers shaking because he knew this was Walton Associates, Jan clicked.."Yes."
Now, delete that file.
"Delete it?"
"Do not argue, Mr Kerkman. Delete it. It is easy. Just hit ctrl plus A as you normally would. Then hit delete."
Jonathan's covering letter for the Sierra Leone bid on behalf of Jacob Johnson disappeared.
"Now return to the main menu. Under documents you will find a file marked EAWA Consultant."
Jan quickly found the file - three pages with an introductory letter from a company called Freeways Consultants with an address in Luxemburg.
"Yes."
"Cut and paste it into the online EAWA file."
There was just time for Jan to read the introductory sentence of the document. "Freeways Consultants are the new agents appointed by the main contractors, Sulima Construction, for the 'Eco Tourism Project, Sulima, Sierra Leone'.
Jan, shocked, breathed out heavily. Guido clearly heard.
"You are surprised, Mr Kerkman? Thank you for remotely testing Puff and Slush Version 2 for us. Your bank balance has just been credited with five thousand Euros and a present of two thousand Euros sent to your father's bank account in Amsterdam with a note saying, 'Happy Birthday, Father.'
"But............"
"No buts, Mr Kerkman, Just say thank you very much Guido and then go very carefully. We keep digitalised records of all that you do for us in case of any repercussions. The system for recording such matters and member's bank credits is called Flush because we use it for all our members who are flush with money. Puff, Slush and Flush - you see? it is very easy to remember."
On Jan's mobile, there was a squeal of high pitched laughter. "Oh yes, Flush will show it was you who changed this bid from Sierra Leone. Why did you do it? I cannot imagine. Now shut down the computer in the proper way, close the lid and put it beside you on the seat. And, please Mr Kerkman, be polite and phone your father to check if he has received his present. Your father was a broker in Amsterdam, wasn't he? He will be so pleased that you are following in his footsteps by making money and not wasting your degree in Corporate and International Finance."
Sweating heavily, Jan did as he was told, looking straight ahead towards the Cafe de Oude Hans on the other side of the canal. He might have heard something, but when he looked the laptop was gone and the tall woman was walking away.
But Jan was now learning tricks of his own.
After Jonathan had phoned earlier to tell him about his meeting with Scott Evora and that he had been given a listening device, Jan had used his lunch break to buy himself a mini voice recorder that he taped just inside his shirt. It was a huge risk that had depended on Guido not turning up in person and not inviting him into the apartment. But having switched on the loudspeaker function on his mobile, Jan was now desperate to get back to Brussels to listen to whatever it had picked up. But where was Tom?
Tom Hanrahan was sitting with a Dutch beer at a wet table outside the Cafe de Oude Hans.
Wearing his driving glasses because, but for street lights, it was dark and too far for his fading eyesight, Tom had watched everything. As the tall woman left and walked towards the foot bridge carrying something, Tom quickly paid his bill and followed her to the nearest car park where he had parked his own small rental car. He watched her get into a big, black BMW with Belgian plates and within five minutes he was following it as it headed towards Rotterdam and then the E19 towards Antwerp in Belgium. It took the route around the city and then headed towards Brussels. Tom, checking his fuel gage, kept going, still following the red rear lights of the BMW in the distance.