MERCENARY a gripping, action-packed thriller (Johnny Silver Thriller Book 1) by PAUL BENNETT

Author:PAUL BENNETT [BENNETT, PAUL]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books crime thriller and suspense
Published: 2020-09-14T22:00:00+00:00

18

I had a call from Gus, wanting a progress report. We agreed to meet at his hotel for dinner. That gave me some time to prepare – how to make little progress sound like a major achievement.

Gus was staying at the American Hotel and I knew why. It wasn’t that it was situated in the Leidesplein, among the hustle and bustle of the nightlife; it was because the place oozed style – apparently, so the hotel notice proudly proclaimed, it’s a monument protected by the city for its art nouveau architecture right down to the stained-glass windows. The dining-room was adorned with hand-made flowery wallpaper and chair covers and there were several pictures of naked girls with long flowing tresses à la Beardsley. Gus was admiring one as I was being shown to his table. He welcomed me warmly, throwing his big arms around me and raising a smile at my changed appearance – the short hair, the shave, the dark suit. He was wearing a beige suit with a black collarless shirt and black suede loafers. We ordered drinks – dry white wine for Gus and a cold beer in a frosted glass for me. He took a long sip of his wine and looked at me.

‘Well,’ Gus said, ‘how have you been getting on?’

‘It’s got a little complicated.’ I said. ‘It’s a long story.’

‘We’ll order first then.’

He summoned an attentive waiter with a slight flick of his hand and we negotiated the complex menu before settling on rack of lamb. Gus selected a red wine from the expensive list and then the waiter left us.

‘Let’s start with the detective that Roberto hired,’ I said. ‘We found him, but haven’t got anything out of him so far – he’s up to the eyeballs in drugs and luxuriating in a private hospital to the south-west of the city. What we do have is his daughter who is called Scout.’

‘Scout? What sort of name is that?’

‘Nickname. Supposed to be good at tracking people. Got some pretty good contacts too – cops, hire car companies, flight check-in people.’ I didn’t mention Arnie in case Gus let something slip – information was on a need-to-know basis. ‘What we do know is that a big company called Almas kidnapped him and tried to extract information about where Carlo was and the whereabouts of the ten million euros. Did I mention the ten million euros?’

Gus shook his head, drained his drink and gestured to the waiter to bring refills. He was preparing for the long story I had promised.

‘It seems that Carlo absconded with ten million euros in bearer bonds, two million of which have subsequently been cashed.’

Gus gave a soft whistle at the amount. ‘So what is he using this money for? Didn’t he have enough of his own?’

‘Carlo has been gambling at El Dorado – lost big – and he seems to be involved with one of the’ – I hesitated – ‘croupiers. Russian girl called Natasha. Apparently he’s head over heels in love.

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