As if Clara Veldman hadn’t caused enough problems, he was now also stuck with a dimpled ex-cop with the saddest eyes he had ever seen. If he hadn’t been so mad, he might have laughed.
“Do you know anything about close personal protection?”
“I wouldn’t have accepted the work if I couldn’t do it.”
“Why did you leave the police?”
“Personal reasons.”
“If those reasons could influence your work, I want to know about them.”
“They had nothing to do with my work.”
“You understand that your client’s movements are private and that you can’t discuss them with anyone? That goes for my employer as well.”
“I’m aware of the rules.”
“Who was your commanding officer?”
“Brigadier Andile Zondi.”
“If I phone her, what will she tell me about you?”
“I can’t speak for her. I’ll send you her number, feel free to talk to her yourself.” Again the slight smile and the dimple.
Before he could reply, Allegretti and Ken Visser entered together. Nick watched her, but she didn’t bat an eyelid. Any cop in Cape Town who was worth her salt would know Enzio Allegretti and Ken Visser. She was either very well prepared for the meeting, or he was imagining a problem where there was none.
“Enzio, this is Miss McKenna. Clara’s uncle hired her to help with security.”
That’s what you call a loaded tone of voice, Ellie thought, faintly amused. She almost expected Allegretti to burst out laughing.
But Enzio put out his hand. “I could kiss you. You have just made my life so much easier. Did you take Clara’s luggage home?”
“No, she doesn’t have time to pack today. Apparently she’s having a party here tonight and she’s busy making arrangements.”
“Okay, I don’t have time to call her now, but tell her to pack enough for the weekend. We can fetch the rest of her stuff on Sunday or Monday.” He gestured towards a man just inside the doorway. “This is Fritz, my driver. Give him your address and arrange a time for him to fetch you.”
“Enzio, we can handle tonight,” said Nick. “I’d like to sit down with her next week to make sure she understands what’s expected of her. Talk to her employer as well.”
“You can do as you please next week, but she’s starting work tonight so I can get Williams off my back and stop having to take Clara home in the small hours. Did Clara tell you there’s a flat on the premises?”
“She did.”
“Good, we’re making progress. See that both you and Clara pack a weekend bag. See you later here at the club.” He looked at Nick. “Call Patrice, and tell him to see that the flat is ready.” He winked at Ellie. “Tell Mr Williams I appreciate his sending someone who’s easy on the eye.”
Ellie saw Nick Malherbe involuntarily clench his jaw, narrow his eyes and shift his feet a fraction. It was so fleeting that it was barely visible to the unpractised eye. He had learnt to control his emotions very well.
She nodded in Allegretti’s direction. “I’ll arrange it with the driver.” Then she gave a slight nod at the other two and walked towards the door. She introduced herself to the driver and arranged for him to collect her at Allegretti’s home so that she could go along when he fetched Clara.
On her way home, she felt a flutter as the adrenalin kicked in. She welcomed the feeling. It promised action, and meant she’d have less time to think.
At home, she showered, washed her hair and put on black jeans, a white shirt and her favourite black boots. The evenings were still cool, sometimes even cold, so she took her black leather jacket. Goodness knows where she was going to end up. She blow-dried her hair, still surprised at how quickly the short hair dried. She hadn’t worn her hair short since primary school. Mascara and a smear of lipstick finished off the picture. Hopefully she’d be visible and invisible at the same time. As the instructor had said, she had to be both the warning and the shadow.
She closed her bag and made sure all the windows were shut and the geyser was off. The garden was tiny and the few plants would survive. She was grateful she didn’t have a house full of pot plants, or a pet. She looked at the guitar in the corner and hesitated for a moment. Maybe later.
She found the house easily. When she told the guard her name, he opened the gate and showed her where to park so she wouldn’t obstruct the garage doors. A voice replied when she pressed the doorbell; when she walked into the entrance hall, the lift doors slid open. A moment later she stepped out into an enormous room. Where was Melissa now?
“I am Patrice, Ma’am,” a black man introduced himself, stepping up to greet her.
She put out her hand. “I’m Ellie.”
He took her overnight bag and her laptop. “If you would follow me, please …” He pointed at the staircase beside the lift, leading down. The stairs ended in a spacious sitting room, with a kitchenette against one wall. Patrice opened a door and she followed him into the bedroom. The curtains were open and she stood for a moment, looking at the view.
“The bathroom is through that door. You will find towels and everything you need in the cupboard.”
“Who else is staying here?”
“No one. The other bedroom is empty.”
“Where do you stay?”
“I have a flat at the back of the house, near the kitchen.”
“Any other staff?”
“Only me and a girl who comes to clean three times a week.”
“Is there any other way to reach this flat? From the outside?”
“No, Ma’am, only by the lift or the stairs. If you press the button in the lift that says M, it opens here.”
Ellie had a number of other questions to ask him but when she looked at her watch, she realised the driver would be arriving soon.
“I’m going to the club.”
He nodded and accompanied her down the stairs. Ellie wondered whether he’d been told not to leave her alone in the house.
The car stopped as they stepped out and she got into the passenger seat.
“She’s an ex-cop.” Nick paced the floor in Allegretti’s office.
“Good. Then she should be able to do the job.”
“Hell, Enzio, we don’t know anything about her. Give me a chance to see what I can find out about her next week, before we start trusting her. How do you know it’s not a trap? And you want her to sleep in as well!”
“If Williams wants to know anything about me, he can just ask Clara. She shares my fucking bed. And if the cops have planted McKenna, it means Williams and the cops are in cahoots, and I don’t believe that for a moment.” He threw his hands in the air. “I don’t care if she’s an ex-cop, an undercover cop, or a wannabe cop. As long as she keeps Williams happy. If you want to investigate her, be my guest. You’re being paid to do the job. If any skeletons jump out of the closet that could bite me in the arse, let me know. If you don’t find anything, leave her to do her job. I think Williams just wants to let me know he can fuck me around if he wants to. As soon as he sees Clara is happy and well taken care of, he’ll call his watchdogs off.”
Nick sat down on a chair. Allegretti was behind his desk and Ken Visser was on the other chair. He hadn’t said a word since the two of them had arrived at the club. Now he turned to Nick.
“Can you finish this conversation later? Why did you send for me?”
“If the shooting at Barkov’s was your doing, you’d better do something about it. Richard’s death was payback, and I suspect it was only the beginning. So sort your shit with Barkov out before it turns into a war.”
Visser looked briefly at Allegretti and then back at Nick. “Who says I had anything to do with it?”
“You’re stupid enough to do something like that.”
“I’d be careful if I were you. You’re not talking to one of your brainless thugs.”
“If you’re responsible for any of my staff members’ death, I’ll talk to you any way I like.”
“Barkov had it coming. If he can’t honour an agreement, he must bear the consequences,” Allegretti interrupted.
Visser looked at Allegretti. “Why the fuck don’t you just publish it in the papers?”
“What’s he going to do? Run to the cops?”
“What agreement?” Nick interrupted.
“You don’t have to know the details. We’ve been waiting for two consignments. One from across the border, the other from the game reserve. The one from the game reserve was intercepted. We had a buyer lined up who’s not very happy, to say the least.”
“Mang?”
“Does it matter?” Visser asked.
“Yes. If Mang is also involved, it complicates the matter even more.”
“We can handle Mang,” Allegretti said.
Nick struggled to control his temper. “So you’re saying you looked for shit with Barkov and Mang, and you think you’re dealing with it? There was a car in front of the club the other day. It sped off when I came out. And last night I had a tail. Does it sound like I should be calm?”
“I don’t like your tone,” said Visser and looked at Allegretti. “Why is he here?”
Allegretti held up his hands. “You two can deal with each other later. I have a hell of a party here tonight; I have to get ready and phone a few people.” He looked at Nick. “The long and the short of it is that Barkov owes us a consignment of horns. According to him, it got intercepted, but he doesn’t know by whom. I suspect he held on to it because he found a new buyer behind our backs. Now Mang is on the warpath. He thinks we screwed him on purpose. There’s a chance we’ll be able to keep Mang happy but there are complications and we have to buy a little time, make Mang understand that we’re innocent.”
Nick felt the corners of his mouth quiver. Innocent, indeed. Maybe he should explain the meaning of the word to them.
Visser looked at Allegretti. “Just remember what I told you – if your plans go wrong, I’m getting another partner.”
“Be my guest. Try to find the money. Everyone knows your old man is one of the most crooked bastards this side of the equator. But he can’t work with money. If it wasn’t for his connections, he wouldn’t even be a factor.”
“He may not know how to handle money, but at least he still has his balls. Your old man couldn’t find his, even if he used binoculars.”
Allegretti jumped up, nearly climbing over the desk to get at Visser, but Nick was quicker and stepped between them. The last thing he needed was for these two to go their separate ways. Without Visser, the puzzle was a few pieces short.
“For fuck’s sake, you sound like kids fighting about whose dad is the strongest.”
Allegretti and Visser stepped back. Visser pointed a finger at Allegretti. “Don’t think I won’t take our business elsewhere. Our family connections are irrelevant if you can’t deliver. I have no intention of dealing with amateurs. You’d better remember that. Sort your shit out, or get out.” He turned and left the room.
Allegretti sat down behind his desk. “What are you looking at?”
Nick stood in front of the desk. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“What do you mean?”
“What’s he talking about? What must you sort out?”
“I don’t know.”
“Enzio, I don’t like surprises. If you don’t already know it, I’m telling you again. If there’s something I need to know, now would be a good time to tell me. Next time I might not be so willing to listen.”
Allegretti started dialling a number on his cellphone. “I’m telling you I don’t know what he’s talking about.
“Okay. See you later.”
As he left the building, he was just in time to see Visser drive away in his brand-new Porsche Cayenne. During the past two years Nick had sometimes caught himself sharing a joke with one of the Allegrettis, for a moment almost forgetting how wide the chasm was between them. He had found himself looking at Enzio and Gabriella and pitying them. He wasn’t sure that Enzio could fill his father’s shoes. Enzio wanted the good life – but on a platter, without getting his hands dirty. That was why he found others to do his dirty work. People like Visser, a man with very few scruples. For Enzio, it was about the spoils, while Visser enjoyed the hunt and the kill. He had a hunger inside him that would never be satisfied. He reminded Nick of a hyena who would eat her own young to make sure only the fittest survived. Nick was honest enough to admit that he might be a touch jealous because Visser shared his bed with Gabriella, but it was something he admitted only occasionally, in the dead of night. He consoled himself with the thought that most men would feel the same way.
As he got into his car, he made a list in his head. Find out why Visser and Allegretti were at loggerheads. Scratch around about the load of horns that crossed the border. Who intercepted the other load? What were they using to placate Mang? Find out more about the McKenna girl. Could Williams be cooperating with the police? If not, what were the chances that Ellie McKenna was as innocent as she pretended to be?
He shook his head. At school he used to be a good athlete. He completed a marathon or two later in his life, once even allowing himself to be talked into doing the Comrades. He hadn’t trained very hard, and crossed the finish line just before the cut-off time. His athletics coach used to say he was a lazy athlete and that, if it hadn’t been for his natural fitness, he would never have done so well.
He remembered the feeling when he came around the last corner and saw the finish line in the distance. Many athletes found that the hardest part of the race. But the sight of the finish line always gave him extra energy. He felt there was no stopping him. No hurdle was too high once the finish line came into view. And now he was there again. Some days he could already feel the pats on his shoulder. That was why he didn’t want any surprises now. He wanted to know about every obstacle that could trip him up, so he could think of alternatives. Plan his route around them, or through them, if need be. If Miss McKenna was going to be a problem, he wanted to know it now.
It was strange but, as with a marathon, he didn’t ask himself what he was going to do afterwards. What did you do the morning after an ultramarathon? What did you do with a life whose fragments were packed in boxes?
CHAPTER 17
On her way to Rondebosch with Fritz to fetch Clara, Ellie thought of all the psychological theories that tried to explain the attraction between two people. Though they all sounded logical, she suspected that attraction wasn’t something that a theory could neatly define. If it was, she wouldn’t have been on her way now to bring Clara Veldman to Enzio Allegretti.
Williams’s wife opened the front door when she rang the bell. “Clara,” she called over her shoulder. “It’s Miss McKenna.”
“My name is Ellie, Ma’am.”
The woman smiled. “Please just call me Auntie Mavis.”
At that moment Clara entered and Ellie struggled to keep her mouth closed. She wore a very short white dress with a high neck. Though the dress wasn’t tight-fitting, it accentuated every curve. When she turned to say goodbye to her aunt, Ellie noticed that the back was cut very low. Clara draped a light shawl over her shoulders while Ellie picked up her small overnight bag.
“Enjoy yourself, child, but please take care. Your mother would never forgive us if anything happened to you.”
“He’s not the devil, Auntie. You’ll meet him soon enough and see for yourselves.”
“Just saying.” She looked at Ellie. “My husband wanted me to thank you.”
Fritz was beside the car when they went out. He opened the back door for Clara. For a moment Ellie saw a flicker in his eyes before he looked away. She got into the passenger seat beside him.
“Thanks for your trouble this afternoon,” Clara said when they pulled away. “Enzio texted me to say how happy he is, and that he really likes you. With the show next week, it’ll just be so much easier.”
“What show?” Ellie knew the rule was not to make small talk, but t
his was not a normal situation. She had to find out what lay in store for her.
“It’s a big lingerie show. It’s the first year I’ll be modelling. Enzio decided to have a pre-show party for all the models. It’s going to be such fun.”
“Where is the show being held?”
“The Bay Hotel in Camps Bay.”
“We must find time over the weekend to look at your schedule for the next week or so. There’s also a questionnaire you must help me fill in. I need to determine how to do the job to the best of my ability.”
“Okay. Just remind me; I’ll forget.”
At the club there was a queue of people waiting to go in. Everyone turned to look when the car drew up. Clara got out as if she had grown up with chauffeurs and doors being opened for her. The guard at the entrance made way for her, but she took her time, greeting people and waving at others at the back of the queue.
Ellie looked at the girls in the queue. Not all of them were pretty, but they all seemed to exude self-confidence – until you saw them scrutinise each new arrival from head to toe. Ellie felt like laughing. Even at this level, dressed in outfits that could sustain a poor family for months, they gave each other that sweeping look that girls seemed to learn when they’re young. Melissa called it “the scan”. She said all women made a judgement the moment they laid eyes on another woman. Most women’s self-esteem didn’t depend on how they felt about themselves, Melissa said, but on how they looked, compared to other women.
Allegretti was waiting inside and smiled broadly when he saw Clara. He put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. He nodded in Ellie’s direction. “Thanks. Please get something to eat and drink. Tell Nick I said he must take care of you.”
A few of the security guards she had spoken to had said that, despite being outsiders, they never tired of the glitz and glamour. Others thought watching people partying was the most boring part of their job. Ellie had a feeling she belonged to the latter group. She waited until Allegretti and Clara had left before she walked slowly through the club. She would study the layout in more detail later. For now, she just wanted to familiarise herself with the location of the exits, the kitchen, possible problem areas, and so on. When she was satisfied, she found a spot against the wall and made herself comfortable.
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