*****
It took me a good hour to finish the file. There were parts I didn’t fully understand and some dead ends that had no evidence they were linked to Ems at all. My head was spinning with facts and I still wasn’t clear on what it all meant.
I don’t know whether Jack had been popping his head out of the door and checking on me or whether he was just good with timings but no sooner had I finished, he reappeared.
He didn’t say anything at first and just approached the table slowly. He knew how much my world was shaking right now and no amount of training could help him help me. He opened his mouth, thought twice about what he was going to say, then closed it again. I smiled over at him, desperate somehow to convince him I was OK.
‘Coffee?’ he muttered at last.
‘Yeah, but let me make it. Yours taste like piss,’ I smiled and we exchanged smirks.
Presently we were both sat with decent cups of coffee, ready to try and make sense of it all.
‘You alright?’
‘Not really, but surviving,’ I said, keen to press on.
‘I guess the truth often hurts more than lies.’
There was a short silence.
‘So you understand the file?’ asked Jack.
‘I think so. She’s a thief and a con artist right?’
‘Yes and a very good one. Tom, listen. I’ve been around for a little while now and seen loads of files but this is big. Many of the greatest grifters would be proud of the things she’s done.’
‘So how come she’s never been caught?’
‘Because she is just that good. It’s all circumstantial evidence on these cases. Most people that get robbed don’t realise for ages and by then she’s long gone. Her record is perfect. Even when the job goes wrong, she somehow walks free. I’ve never seen anything like it.’
There it was again. Against all my better judgement, I felt an inconvenient burning of pride for my ‘wife’. I was so impressed that anyone could do what she had; to know her made me excited.
‘OK, so she’s a con-artist. She conned me into living with her, getting married and all that. Why? She didn’t take anything and she put years of effort into it. Why?’
‘I don’t know,’ Jack whispered, perplexed.
‘And I know she is good, but I would have bet everything that we were in love. I know we were. Was it all lies?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said again. He wasn’t looking at me now. Did he know something?
‘And even if her being a thief explains why she left, what about the bullet, the note...’
‘OK. I have a theory.’ Jack spoke slowly and with great authority.
‘Good, what is it?’ I was desperate to hear any ideas.
‘It’s not good. It may well be wrong, but what happened tonight backs up my idea.’
His eyes met mine for the first time in ages and I braced myself, knowing my world was about to be rocked again.
Chapter Ten
‘The kind of men that make Satan look well-meaning.’
‘You have to understand, this is just guess work. OK?’ Jack had his concerned face back on.
‘I understand mate but please, none of this makes sense to me. What do you think?’
He sipped his coffee, cleared his throat and began.
‘Open the file again, to the list of all her jobs,’ he said. I did as I was told.
‘Got it,’ I replied, flipping the pages as I spoke. My eyes fell on the now familiar sheet, listing her previous achievements.
‘What you have to know is, grifting is hard work. The planning, the details, the execution. It takes some real skill.’
‘I know, I can imagine.’
‘Right. But that’s only part of it. It’s one thing trying to sell the Eiffel Tower but it’s a whole different ball game trying to find someone to sell it to. Think about it. Who do you know has a hundred million pounds to spend?’
‘Millionaires?’ I said helpfully.
‘Specifically?’
‘OK, um I don’t know. Wealthy investor or business men?’
‘Sometimes. Or...’
I thought for a second.
‘Criminals,’ I said at last. ‘Mob bosses and gangsters and whatever.’
I wondered to myself momentarily whether gangsters still existed. Sure, there were still thieves and gangs of criminals but did anyone actually call themselves gangsters anymore? Whatever happened to the trilby? I flicked this useless trivia question out of my head and starred at Jack.
‘Exactly.’ I was hoping he wouldn’t say that.
‘Go on.’
‘OK, so making a criminal a target is dangerous. They won’t go to the police if they find out. If you are going to do it you better disappear, right?’
His question seemed rhetorical yet he paused and showed no signs of moving on so I added another of my pointless contributions to the conversation.
‘Yeah,’ I breathed.
‘Looking at these early jobs it looks like the only people who got ripped off were the usual; the businessmen, the spoilt. No big deal. But as time goes on it looks like she got restless. Started going after small time crooks, doing small jobs and short cons. She always got away with it by the looks of things. Until...’
The hairs on my neck were standing up and the ones on my arms weren’t far behind. I didn't like what I was hearing but any interruptions would just slow Jack down.
‘You see she did a job in Marrakesh?’ He ran his finger down the page and highlighted the one he wanted me to see. I nodded.
‘We are just guessing here, but it looks like the items she stole were not to small time crooks but to these guys.’ As he spoke he slid a black and white of two men. It was difficult to make them out perfectly but they had full beards, hats on and scared me beyond belief. Just looking at them was enough to need a change of underwear.
‘What kind of criminals?’
‘The Russian kind.’
‘And what kind is that?’
‘The kind of men that make Satan look well-meaning.’
I looked at the photo and agreed. I wouldn’t mess with them. Why the hell would Emma?
‘These are the Kozlov brothers. Russian Mafia. You should see their file. You think Emma’s is full...’
‘I don’t suppose their file is full of driving offenses and traffic violations?’ I asked hopefully.
‘Yes but among other things...like murder and racketeering. I don’t think there is a crime they haven’t tried at some point. Real bad asses.’
‘So what makes you believe she got involved with guys like the Kozlovs? I thought she was meant to be good.’
‘She is. But the Kozlovs are good too. They disguise themselves so well she would never have known who they were until it was too late.’
‘But Marrakesh was like seven years ago, surely she did get away with it?’
‘We don’t know if they ever found her; remember this is all guesswork and theories. But days after the Marrakesh job, the Kozlovs were down several millions. To top it off two of their men got sent down at the same time. No idea if she was involved in that but one thing is for certain: the Kozlov brothers were angry and wanted blood. It wouldn’t surprise me if they spent years tracking her down.’
I recognised the familiar feeling of sickness in my stomach. It was like an old friend at this point. I was so scared for Emma. What had happened to her?
‘So you could be wrong, right? This could be wrong?’
‘Yeah, of course, but it makes sense Tom. I know it’s not easy to hear but all the facts point to this.’
‘What other facts? You said tonight pointed to it?’
‘Two other things. I made a call when I was in there with Rach. The Kozlov brothers are some of the most infamous in the world. Everywhere they go the countries always know. Interpol follow them. M15 follow them. The FBI follow them. You get the idea.’
‘Yep they're real bad guys. I get it. What has
this got to do with tonight?’
‘I’m getting there. So I call the office, got them to run a check and they are here. Spotted in London two days ago.’
I thought hard for a second.
‘OK. So we know Emma ripped off the worst people possible. And we know they are now here in London. But, that could all be circumstantial right?’
‘Definitely. But there’s a little more. While I was on the phone I got them to check something else. The bullet. It’s rare. It’s not an everyday bullet.’ He got it out and allowed me to examine it.
I know nothing about guns or bullets but it certainly didn’t look like one I'd seen before. It was about an inch long and a shining silver. The very tip was a different colour, perhaps made of gold. Do gunsmiths make bullets out of precious materials? Are people that make guns still called gunsmiths or did I make that up?
‘See the inscription on the side.’
I had to squint to read it and, even after my efforts, it was still in a foreign language.
‘Yeah just about. What does it say?’
‘No idea,’ Jack replied, ‘But I can tell you what language it is, although you’ve probably already guessed.’
‘Russian.’
‘You got it.’
There was silence once more. I think Jack was letting all the information sink in.
‘It’s not looking good, is it mate?’ I said at last.
‘Depends how you look at it.’
‘I can’t really see a way where this isn’t terrible news,’ I whinged bitterly.
‘Think about it. You must see it. If what we are saying is true, Emma didn’t leave you because she wanted to. Take all your questions about the marriage and the lies and put them to one side. Whether you can ever trust her again is another thing, but she might have been forced to leave you.’
Holy shit. How hadn’t I seen this? All this time I hated her for leaving and never loving me but what if she did? I could try and answer everything else later but what if she did love me? I loved her. I shook with the very thought of it and smiled.
‘As a detective you have to trust your gut and the reason I started digging in to all of this was because of mine. I have seen you two together hundreds of times and what I do know is that girl loves you. I would bet my house on it. The way she looks at you. Nobody is that good an actor. And what would be the point of it? No, if you want my opinion she is a girl with a troubled past who fell in love and wanted to get out of it. Sadly her old life just caught up with her.’
I smiled again. Could all this be true?
‘Jack, what if they have hurt her? Or killed her? I can’t lose her again!’ I was panicking. For the first time I had allowed myself to love her again; I had replaced my hate with worry.
‘I don’t think she is dead. Why would they leave the note? If she was out of the picture they wouldn’t bother, would they? No, they need her for something. I just don’t know what yet.’
I agreed with that. I wasn’t sure what was going on but it made sense. She had to be alive, she just had to be. If she was in trouble I could find her and help her.
‘So what now?’ I asked.
‘We have to call it in. We can file a missing persons report, I’ll fast track it and we might be able to bring her back.’
‘No way,’ I shouted. ‘I love you mate and I can never pay you back for putting yourself in this for me but you can’t. People are after her blood. She’s forged so many documents; the police will put her away for a long time. You know they’ll never let her walk.’
There was silence and we both knew this was true. He was torn and I knew it must be hard for him. On the one side was everything he believed in and on the other was me.
‘I’m sorry Tom, I know it’s hard but you don’t know that she isn't bad. Maybe she’s involved in this. You just got threatened by some of the most terrifying men in the world and I can’t protect you if you don’t call it in. How are you going to find her if you don’t use the police?’
I didn’t know. There were lots of things I didn’t know so it wasn’t a rare feeling. But there was one thing I was sure of.
‘I’m not going to the police, end of.’ I exclaimed, trying to show assertiveness.
Jack wanted to argue but he knew me well enough.
‘Fuck, Tom.’ He said slowly. ‘OK, I was hoping it would never come to this. I have to protect Rachel, you know that right?’
‘Of course mate, do what you have to do.’
‘Tomorrow I’ll take her home and I’ll do as much digging about as possible but there are limits mate. Every search I’ll make will be watched. ‘
‘Don’t worry Jack, I’ll work something out. Get her home safe and make sure she's fine. If you hear anything, let me know and if not... I’ll find her somehow!’
‘Don’t worry about the two of us, I can look after us. But I am worried about you. They'll be watching you.’
I nodded quietly. I was deep in thought, doing my best to come up with a plan. Any plan.
‘I’ll think of something.’
Jack looked concerned but he smiled bravely. Pausing momentarily he reached into his bag. He pulled out a couple of items.
‘Use this to reach me. They can’t have traced it. You'll be safe.’ He handed me a small mobile phone. The charging chord was wrapped tightly around it.
‘Thanks Jack, that makes me feel safer.’
‘And this...is a preventative measure okay? This takes things to a whole new level. You never use it unless you absolutely have to.’
He brought up his other hand and let me see what he was holding. A gun. I had never seen one before in real life. It was larger than I had thought. He pressed a button and let the magazine fall into his hand for a second, showing me it was full of bullets.
‘Safety is on. You see here,’ he muttered whilst showing me the side of a gun.
‘Jack I don’t know if I should...’
‘Neither do I mate, but I'd rather you used it than died.’
‘I guess so would I.’ I conceded. ‘So what now?’
‘Now...we sleep.’ As he said that I looked up and could see the morning beginning to rise.
‘Get what sleep you can,’ he said. ‘We can talk more tomorrow.’
*****
I didn’t sleep that night. I lay awake for what seemed like hours but turned out to only be minutes at a time whenever I checked. Jack and I had spent most of the night talking and I knew it wouldn’t be long until I'd hear the world awaken outside. By seven o’clock, I had given up trying and got myself dressed. Despite my best efforts, I caught a glance at myself in the mirror. I looked about as bad as I had a few days previously. I wasn’t as grey as I had once been but I was now sporting a greenish tinge to my skin. Not a good look. I felt surprisingly good, considering the night we had just had. No sleep and copious amounts of alcohol had not affected me the way it used to. I smiled slowly to myself. I was sure I would feel hung-over later and the tiredness would take over, but right now I felt fine. I was surviving. I just prayed the same could be said about Emma.
I could hear the shower running as I left my bedroom, walking a little gingerly as I did so. OK, I wasn’t feeling perfect. As I reached the lounge (or area where the sofa sits) I saw Rach, a little worse for wear but busying herself happily with some of Emma’s old magazines.
‘How are you feeling this morning?’ I asked.
She looked up and smiled but decided against speaking. Still not ready to talk. She grunted back at me and indicated with her facial expression that she was feeling every one of her many drinks she had last night. I nodded back as if to say, ‘I know how you feel, me too.’
‘Coffee?’ I asked, trying to perk her up.
Her eyes lit up and she nodded her head enthusiastically. I put the kettle on and settled down next to her. I wasn’t sure how much Jack had said and really didn’t want to get her involved more than she needed to be. I looked her up and down subtly, trying to read her b
ody language. Was she scared or concerned for me perhaps? All I was getting was: HUNGOVER when I looked at her. I gave up.
Soon after the coffees were made, Jack appeared looking much fresher than either one of us.
‘Morning,’ he said cheerfully. I took the tone to mean ‘act normal and don’t stress Rach out’ so I tried to match him.
‘Morning Jack. Coffee for you here mate.’ I replied.
‘Beautiful,’ he said, tapping Rach’s legs gently to get her to move out of the way so he could join us. She grunted again, but did what was asked of her.
‘So what happened last night?’ she croaked, speaking at last. Jack and I both looked at each other quickly before responding.
‘Oh nothing,’ we both said in unison.
‘Just usual night out, you know too much drinking and all that...’ I added, trying to sound convincing.
She glared at both of us suspiciously.
‘Right... well something’s going on... but you know me... I’ll find out... I always do, so I’m going to have a shower while you discuss your secrets.’
‘What secrets? Nothing happened!’ Jack said trying to look confused. Acting was never his strong point and he pitched his confused look a little too close to his ‘I need the toilet’ look. He has so many looks.
Rach smiled in a knowing way and slinked off slowly towards the bathroom. The second the door shut, Jack turned to me.
‘Right listen, we don’t have much time, ‘ he whispered. ‘I haven’t told Rach anything yet. I imagine I’ll have to but right now, it is important she doesn’t know. She will want the force involved more than me and I will find it much easier to protect her if she goes about her life as normal. So the phone, the note, the... gun stays between the two of us, OK?’
‘Got it.’
The pair of them stayed for lunch (which we ordered in) and hit the road around three. I thanked them both for coming down to see me. I meant it.