Jack smiled. ‘Svetlana’s been their nanny since the day they were born, babe. She’ll cope.’
‘Where are you, darling?’
‘Still in the Balkans. Moving on soon.’
‘To where?’
‘Not sure yet but I’ll stay in touch.’
‘Okay. Be careful, Zaikin. I love you.’
‘Love you too Nikki. Kiss the twins.’
‘Okay, bye.’
He tapped out a message and then made a second call. ‘Jack. Good morning.’
‘Morning Matt. How y’doin?’
‘Fine, but what about you? You okay?’
‘Yeah, okay. Few bruises, a sore head.’
‘What’s this you’ve just sent, Jack?’
‘That picture and message was sent to Dimitri.’
‘From whom?’
‘Dimitri’s working on that as we speak.’
‘Right.’ The line went quiet…
‘Matt?’
‘Yes, Jack. Okay, I think you should get back here for the moment. You’ve discovered where the funds went, so there’s a good chance the government can get them back. Or at least most of it.’
‘It’s your call, Mathew. You’re the boss. But let’s wait and see what Dimitri comes up with first, eh?’
‘Fair enough. You secure for the moment?’
‘Sure. We’re sitting in the sunshine having breakfast. Bogdan thinks he’s on holiday.’
Mathew laughed. ‘How’s he doing?’
‘He’s good. Saved my arse last night.’
‘Give him my regards.’
‘Talking about last night, we saw on the news that Silvio Schlovan and his wife were murdered.’
‘Jesus, Jack. That’s it, get back here.’
‘Calm down, bro.’
‘Don’t you see, Jack? To all intents and purposes, you were the last to see them alive. It could look like you killed them.’
‘Never thought of that. Thought they’d been killed because he gave us information. Was surprised how fast he was taken out though.’
The line was silent again…
‘Mathew?’
‘Yes, I’m here. The bank must have a ghost server somewhere.’
‘Ghost server? What the hell’s that?’
‘It’s a duplicate server that monitors every transaction, every log-in, anything that has gone through the bank’s server is mirrored on the ghost server.’
‘Right, like a Big-Brother overwatch.’
‘Yes. With operatives monitoring 24/7.’
‘Silvio must have known they would be able to see what he was doing.’
‘Yes. And they killed him for it, Jack.’
Chapter Twenty Nine
It was almost an hour and a half later when Dimitri called.
‘Jack, my boy. Sorry to be so long.’
Jack grinned. 90 minutes to come up with information, that would normally take a week to discover. ‘No problem, sir. What you got?’
‘I’m going to have Olga send you something. Should be helpful.’
‘Thank you, Mitri.’
‘No problem, Jack. But please, be very careful.’
‘Always, sir. Thank you.’
The line went silent.
A few minutes later his smartphone pinged an incoming message. Jack read through Dimitri’s information with surprise and disbelief.
Bogdan watched as his friend scrolled through the message. ‘Okay, boss?’
Jack nodded, and continued to read, then sat back and slid his chair further under the shade of the olive tree. He passed the phone to Bogdan.
‘Can this be true, boss?’
‘Seems farfetched, I agree. But Dimitri’s not one for passing on rubbish. His intelligence is usually correct.’
Bogdan slid the phone across the table. ‘So, what’s the plan now.’
‘I’m sending this to London. See what Mathew thinks.’
The waitress returned. ‘You want more tea?’
Jack looked at his Rolex, almost 10:30. They’d been there over two hours, and three pots of tea. The breakfast buffet had been cleared and they were the only ones in the garden.’
‘Can I have a Coke, please?’
She smiled. ‘Yes please.’
‘More tea,’ said Bogdan.
Jack had just finished the Coke when his phone beeped. He swiped the screen. ‘Mathew.’
‘Jack, hello.’
‘So, what d’you think?’
‘To be honest, Jack, nothing much surprises me anymore. And this could be what we need.’
‘Might also be a trap?’
‘If they wanted to kill you, they could have done that in Podgorica.’
‘Don’t forget the two muppets in the hotel, Matt. Did you get any ID on them?’
‘No. We have nothing yet, and Interpol hasn’t got back to us. But I think they’re more likely to be from the bank.
‘Why?’
‘You said they wanted to know who you worked for?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Based on the message to Dimitri, the people following you clearly knew that.’
‘Right. So, the jokers in the hotel were just part of the bank’s heavy-mob. Low down on the food-chain?’
‘I think so, Jack.’
‘Okay. I guess our next move is obvious.’
‘I’ll have Victoria arrange flights. Get to the airport and she’ll send you the details.’
‘Okay, bro. If nothing else, it’ll get us outta the Balkans.’
‘Right. Talk soon. Be safe, Jack.’
‘Cheers Matt.’
The line went silent.
Jack stood up and stretched the muscles in his back. ‘Get the bill, buddy, and don’t be mean with the tip.’
The big Russian smiled. ‘So, we go to Italy, boss?’
‘Da, Bogdan. We go to Italy.’
The original Sarajevo International was built in the 60’s with funding from the Former Soviet Union. Nowadays, with the volume of international flights, it is no longer fit-for-purpose, and a massive upgrade and expansion is currently underway.
The taxi from the hotel to the airport took less than ten minutes, but with all the construction traffic around the developing terminal, it took twice as long to get into Departures.
Jack and Bogdan made their way to the Austrian Airways ticket desk, as AA was the first flight Mathew’s PA, could arrange. The good news was, the flight departed at 2pm. with no delays expected. The not-so-good news was, it was via Vienna, where they had a four-hour layover, with an expected time of arrival into Peretola International at nine that evening. All that notwithstanding, Jack was not too unhappy about spending a night or two in Florence. He just wished Nicole was with him.
Chapter Thirty
The flight, as expected, did depart on time and the layover in the Business Lounge in Vienna was not unpleasant. Bogdan ate, and drank a few beers, then drifted off to sleep in the comfy armchair. Jack spent over half an hour chatting to Nicole and his daughters, who were delighted to hear daddy’s voice.
A short call to Mathew to ‘check-in’ and see if there were any up-dates, was followed by an unexpected call from Dimitri.
‘Hello, my boy.’
‘Hello, sir. Whatsup?’
‘I have a little more information for you. Might save you some time in Florence.
‘Okay, thanks, Mitri.’
‘Olga will send you a location shortly. I’ve spoken with them and they are expecting you tonight.’
‘Right… we don’t land until twenty-one-hundred hours. So, depending on where the place is, we could be late.’
‘It’s not an issue, Jack. They’ll be there waiting for you.’
‘Sounds good. Thank you, sir.’
‘And, Jack… please be careful. These are extremely powerful people you are dealing with.’