The Mallorcan Bookseller (The 3R International Series Book 1)

by PETE DAVIES

  Lori brought back Sam’s phone and gave them a quick round up on what was rolling out from her preliminary plan. She wasn’t hopeful in stumbling across the hideout and was more intent in getting everything lined up ready for when the call came in to Sam. They assumed it would now be in the morning, so Lori suggested Greg and Sam get some sleep. As Greg was leaving to go back to Terri’s, he paused and looked at Sam and Lori.

  “You know something? It occurs to me that Sonny and his friends may not know about my part in this and that might be a good thing and something we can keep under wraps. It’ll mean me staying away for a bit and we’ll have to do things by phone. What do you think?”

  “Presumably the same goes for Terri and your boys?” said Sam.

  He was about to answer when Lori interjected.

  “Boys? Who are these boys Greg? Is this a little surprise for me? When were you going to tell me?”

  “Just some help for me and Terri that’s all. There’s just the two of them,” said Greg.

  She glared at him whilst Sam looked apologetically at him too, realising he had let the cat out of the bag about Tommy and Simon. Terri had mentioned them in passing when they had been at Contrabando and he hadn’t thought about how it might look to Lori.

  “Please Greg, no more surprises. I’d rather know, good or bad, than find out later,” said Lori.

  Just at that moment he got the text from Terri that the tracker was fitted. He decided it was best to tell her now.

  “Would it help if we could get a tracker on Sonny’s Porsche?”

  She was about to say ‘Yes’, but stopped herself.

  “Greg Chambers, you are impossible!”

  “Yes, but am I forgiven?” said Greg.

  “Not really, but yes it might help, but make damn sure you share the Tracker data.”

  “Si, Inspectora, of course,” said Greg. “Now Terri’s on her way to pick me up, so goodnight to you both.” He shook Sam’s hand. “I just know Anna will be handling this okay Sam and we will get her back, I promise you.” He then gave a quick look to the door to check it was closed and then gave Lori a hug and a gentle kiss on the lips.

  Sam looked at them both, “Have I missed something?”

  *****

  Greg left the villa and hadn’t been walking long when he saw the white Merc approaching. Terri stopped alongside him and he got in.

  Some hundred metres above them, one of Alex Krikorian’s men was hidden away in some bushes looking down on the villa and the approach road. He dialled a number.

  “Yes?”

  “Alex, I’ve got a white guy, fair hair, age maybe fifty or sixty, who has just left the villa and is getting into a white open top Merc coupe, looks like an SLK.”

  “Driver?” said Alex.

  “Female, long blonde hair, about thirty, looks like a model.”

  “Can you get the number?” said Alex.

  “No, sorry, but the tops down if that helps?”

  “Yes, okay, now probably best you get out of there Garik and well done.”

  Alex immediately made a call to one of his team.

  *****

  “Any problems with the tracker?” said Greg.

  “No,” said Terri as she accelerated away. “The boys said it went really well. Tommy said the driver was too busy looking at the talent walking by to notice anything. Then they got a real break with a bunch of locals walking by, on their way up to Sant Miquel and they gave Tommy some really good cover. It was then easy for Simon to distract the doorman, giving Tommy enough time to drop down at the back of the Cayenne and get the tracker on a good bit of solid metal.”

  “Good. Any movement so far?”

  “No, we’ve got it running on a web-based platform, so we can share it live with Lori, so that should keep her happy,” said Terri.

  He looked at her.

  “Web-based platform?”

  “Dad, you really need to get more into this stuff. Okay, we can all see it on our phones and we’ll get a signal when the car moves off.”

  “Good and why do I need to know how this all works when I’ve got you to figure this stuff out?”

  “Ha! Anyway, how do you think Anna will hold up? I know what she used to be, but she’s a fair bit older and been out of the game for quite a while,” said Terri.

  “I’ve told Sam that she’ll be fine, but I just don’t know. She was a really good field officer when I knew her, but that was a long time ago. I reckon she’ll know what to do, but it’s whether or not she can physically and mentally hold up that worries me most.”

  “How long do you think we have Dad?”

  “Two, three days. He’s using her as a pawn. He’s got to know the police won’t negotiate, but maybe he thinks Sam is on some sort of Met investigation? We could buy some time if he thinks Sam will back down.”

  “The tracker is a long shot as he doesn’t need to go anywhere near her does he?”

  “No, he doesn’t,” said Greg. “But, and I appreciate that it’s a big but, the Porsche could still go there for some reason.”

  “Yes, you’re right, I’d missed that point. Tommy is leading on following any signals that come in, but one thing we need to sort out for the morning is this call coming in from Rob the Tech guy. He’s expecting to speak to Anna and he certainly wasn’t going to speak to anyone else,” said Terri.

  “Okay, let’s think about this. So we’ve got Anna’s phone at her house and that should have Sir John’s number on there. I’ll ring him tomorrow, using her phone and explain and get the message through Carruthers to Rob. That should reassure him and get us the information as I think it’s going to be important.”

  They were approaching the apartment and Greg was expecting her to turn down into the underground carpark, when she carried on past the entrance and then turned left into the first side street and immediately accelerated.

  “What’s up?”

  “There’s an SUV that picked us up as we came into the city. It might have been a coincidence as we went along the Passeig Marítim, but they followed us down into Portixol. Two guys and they’re keeping just far enough back,” said Terri.

  “Good spot. Let’s see what they want. Now you’ve got a little bit of space, see if you can find somewhere to park along here where they can also park and let’s get them out on foot.”

  Moments later, she had pulled across the road and into a space and left enough gap behind that the SUV could park if they wanted to. They got out of the car and started walking forwards. Greg could see there was a junction at the end of the street that offered possibilities to get themselves in the shadows. He listened for the SUV’s engine. He couldn’t hear anything, but then again with these damn hybrids that switched to electric at low speeds, they may still be behind them. He chanced a glance behind and just caught the SUV pulling into the gap. He motioned to Terri to quicken the pace just a little. If he got these two having to rush to catch them up, then they might just be off their guard enough to help with the element of surprise. Terri spotted a small service bay on their right and they tucked themselves into the shadows and waited. Greg counted silently. He guessed they would be with them in twenty seconds and he hit nineteen as they came around the corner and Greg stepped out behind them.

  “Guys, what can we do for you?”

  The two who had been following them had been given the brief by Alex Krikorian. They were to look out for the open top Mercedes coming into the city from Illetas and see where it went. Being caught by the couple in the car wasn't in their plan and neither seemed sure where to go with this.

  They were both dressed in dark trousers and dark shirts that were hanging outside the trousers and looked like they had just come from security duties at one of the clubs. Greg couldn’t see if they were armed with anything. If they had a firearm then it would have to be in the back of their waistband or possibly, but less likely by their ankles, and he hadn’t seen anything in their waistbands as he had stepped out behind them.

  “Loo
k, you seem unsure what to do. I’m assuming you were following us to see where we’re staying. That doesn’t look like something you’re going to find out anytime soon. Now as I see it, you’ve got two options. One, you turn around and head out of here and report back that you lost us in the traffic with no harm done or, you don’t turn around and that way you will end up on the floor and probably be hurting quite a bit,” said Greg as Terri stepped out of the shadows and joined him.

  The two men looked at each other and smiled. They thought they stood a good chance against the man in front of them. Admittedly he still looked in pretty good shape, but he was getting on for twice their age. Then the woman appeared. She was tall and blonde and looked more like a model than a fighter.

  “Mister, now how about if you want to walk away unharmed, then you just tell us where you are staying?” the slightly taller one said as he pushed his shoulders back and chest out.

  Greg didn’t give him time to settle before he slowly moved forward, as though in an act of compliance before he launched an arcing right hook and hit the smaller man on the temple causing him to lurch sideways into the taller man who had been trying to react. Terri stepped forward and looking almost balletic, she kicked the taller one hard between his legs. He fell to the floor even quicker than the shorter man, who was at least trying to get back up. Greg grabbed the smaller man’s arm and viciously turned it behind and up his back as he pushed him face first against the wall.

  “Now, it’s my turn to ask some questions. What’s your name amigo?” said Greg.

  There was a slight resistance, but this soon ended with a gentle application of pressure to the man’s arm. Greg could feel the bone and tendons straining, but he was a little way away from breaking it just at the moment.

  “Mister, mister, I’m just a door guy. My name’s Vardan and he’s Davit. We just got told to follow you, that’s all.”

  "Who told you to follow us Vardan and why?" said Greg.

  "It was Alex. I don't know why. He just told us to look out for you coming in from Illetas and see where you went?"

  “Ah, yes, but that wasn’t all was it Vardan? You then thought you could take an old man and a young woman didn’t you?” said Terri.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It was his idea.”

  Davit was still groaning on the floor, so wasn’t really in any position to say anything.

  “Now listen Vardan, your friend is still hurting, so why don’t you answer the next question. Where has Sonny had Anna Martínez taken?” said Greg.

  “I don’t know,” said Vardan before he screamed as Greg exerted more pressure to his arm, “I swear on my mother’s life mister, I really don’t know. I think Alex took her.”

  “Who is Alex?” said Greg.

  Vardan felt just a bit safer in answering this question.

  “He’s the boss’s number two.”

  “Where did this Alex take her?” said Greg.

  “I swear I don’t know,” said Vardan.

  “Will your friend know?” said Terri.

  His friend Davit was trying to prop himself up against the wall and he looked at Vardan. His eyes were telling him not to say anything.

  “I can’t say anything, he’ll kill me,” said Vardan.

  “Don’t worry mate, you just told me all I needed to know,” said Terri.

  Greg twisted again and heard the bone crack before he let Vardan slide to the floor whimpering. Terri was standing over Davit.

  “So your friend thinks you may know more than him Davit? So do you? Now before you answer, this isn’t one of those ‘I’ll give you a second chance’ things. You two are already making too much noise and so we can’t stay here too much longer. So one chance, got it?” said Terri.

  “I can’t tell you, he’ll kill me,” said Davit.

  “And what, you think I won’t!” said Terri quietly and with a flick of her body, she spun quickly on her left foot and caught Davit’s head with her flying right foot leaving him unconscious.

  “Those ballet lessons came in handy then my girl.”

  Terri smiled at him. “Yep, that and the Thai boxing I did in the Army.”

  She searched the two men. No guns, but two flick knives and both had a phone which she turned off and pocketed. She found a drain nearby, snapped the blades against the iron grate and dropped the knives through the drain cover.

  Greg found their SUV keys and ran down and brought the car back and they loaded them into the boot. Davit was out like a light and Vardan was still moaning about his arm. Terri then ran back to her car and came back with a bunch of plastic ties.

  “Best they don’t get a chance to move around much in the back,” said Terri. “I’ll go and collect some extra kit and meet you at the finca. These guys might not know exactly where Anna is, but they can probably give up some possible sites we can get checked out.”

  “Yes, I’ll get Tommy to meet me at the finca and we’ll then have a little chat with our new friends here,” said Greg looking down at the two bodies in the hatchback boot.

  EIGHTEEN

  Terri went back to her apartment and collected two boxes and loaded them into the Mercedes and set off to the finca.

  At the same time Tommy and Simon were heading back to the finca where they met Greg and saw he was in a different vehicle.

  “New car then?” said Tommy.

  “They let me borrow it,” said Greg, walking around and opening up the hatchback. “They wanted to know where we were staying, but now it’s their turn to answer some questions.”

  The two men were stirring and found they couldn’t move their hands. The one with the broken arm, Vardan, was flinching as he moved. Tommy wasn’t too sympathetic but gave him an option.

  “You can get out on your own or I can help you. What’s it to be?”

  Vardan started shuffling and got his legs over the end of the boot and his feet on the floor. Tommy stepped forward and took his broken arm and eased him up.

  “See, if you co-operate, you won’t get hurt, okay?”

  Vardan nodded cautiously, unsure as to whether to believe the man in front of him. Davit was getting over the two kicks he had taken from Terri. He was angry and wanted to fight. He wasn’t going to just give in like a coward, like Vardan. Tommy had been watching him and was waiting for what was likely to be a bit of a show of defiance. As Davit kicked his legs forward out the back of the hatchback, so the rest of his body came up and forwards, bringing his head up to. Too late he realised Tommy was waiting for this move and the resulting blow to his head smashed his nose and left him reeling back on the floor of the hatchback.

  “Did I not warn you my friend? We don’t give chances here. Comply and I won’t hurt you. Mess with me in any way and it will hurt a lot. Comprendes?”

  Davit could barely speak as he tried to clear the blood from his nose and mouth, but he nodded vigorously to Tommy in case it looked like he wasn’t agreeing. Tommy then reached in and eased him out of the car and walked them both towards the finca.

  They had planned for this situation and had identified one of the rooms as a suitable temporary containment area. They had fitted covert cameras and taken all of the non-essential furniture out, just leaving two single beds and Tommy led the way to the room with the two men, followed in by Simon and Greg. The men sat down on the beds and Simon gave them two small bottles of water. The both eyed the bottles suspiciously.

  “Guys, just drink. Do we look like we need to drug you? We just need some questions answered. We will know if you are telling the truth and you know what will happen if you don’t just give us what we want to know. Okay?”

  “Yes, yes, but we don’t know anything,” said Davit.

  “Sometimes you don’t know what you do know amigo, so here’s a starter question. Where are your accommodation houses where you guys all stay?” said Greg.

  The two men looked at each other. Vardan was nursing his broken arm and wanted Davit, who was his supervisor, to answer the questions. Vardan was looking a
t Davit trying to tell him with his eyes to answer the questions. Davit thought that it seemed okay to tell them where they stayed as they could probably find this out anyway, just by following one of the doormen back home.

  Davit said, “There’s three apartments in the city mister and Sonny has his villa.”

  “Good and thank you. How many sleep in the apartments?”

  Davit thought again. This didn’t seem to be anything he would get into trouble about. Vardan was still looking at him. He could see the fear in his eyes. If they ever got out of this, he would make sure Vardan felt fear when he told Sonny what a coward he had been, but that didn’t help now. He honestly didn’t know where the woman was being held. He had heard there had been a kidnap, but he was too low down the command chain to know any more details. So he felt safe that he couldn’t give away any information that might be a problem and get him in trouble with Sonny. He looked at the men in front of him. They weren’t police. So he wasn’t sure how far they might go. Would they kill him or Vardan or both of them? They had shown they wouldn’t hesitate to hurt them, but he didn’t want to answer any questions that might mean that, if they were released, he would have to answer to Sonny. He was brought back to reality when he heard Greg speak again.