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

Sonny was momentarily taken aback. Sergei never questioned him and what the hell did he want to know about this woman for, the MacDonald woman?

  “Regrettable Sergei. She was old and she held out a little more than expected on giving up the key code for the safe, but it’s okay, we’ve had no backlash from the local police,” he started to laugh as he said, “they’re still running around like headless chickens.”

  “That’s good then,” said Sergei, “let’s wrap this up for today. Sonny, call me after we come off Zoom.”

  The other In-Country Heads had never heard Sergei question anything Sonny had done and they sensed that this was clearly a message to Sonny that even he was subject to Sergei’s will. Whilst it made them smile, they also recognised that it also demonstrated Sergei was absolutely ruthless when it came to running his OCG and no-one, not even his Golden Boy, was exempt from his attention.

  Sergei waited for the call. He knew he had dented Sonny’s pride by calling him out in front of everyone, but he was annoyed. He had been told of the woman’s death in Mallorca, or to be more precise, the nature of the woman’s death. He knew Sonny’s penchant for violence and for much of the time this was a very useful asset when he needed certain things re-enforced with his team. However, that was something that remained all within house. He had been happy for Sonny to pilot this idea of follow up attention for some targeted high value victims from the IT scams. He’d let Sonny negotiate the deal with the Kaur woman in India and it had been seeing some useful returns in terms of cash and some of the fine art was a useful bargaining chip with the Italian Mafia, especially the Camorra in Naples. His mobile rang, it was Sonny.

  “Sonny, thank you for calling. How are you?”

  ‘Pleasantries,’ thought Sonny, ‘but what’s coming?’

  “I am fine my friend. What did you want to talk about? I gather there’s something troubling you for you to call me out in front of everyone.”

  “Call you out? Not at all. I was just asking a question,” said Sergei.

  Sonny knew better than to push Sergei too far. He didn’t want to antagonise him and felt he made his point by saying he felt he had been called out.

  “Okay, good. It’s not a problem though Sergei. There have been no issues,” said Sonny.

  “The point I’m making Sonny, is that it seemed to be an unnecessary death that had and still may have the potential to arouse unwanted attention from the police, something that as you know I ask you to ensure we keep to an absolute minimum.”

  “It was regrettable Sergei and I have dealt with the person responsible.”

  Sergei knew Sonny was throwing him a line here. Arman, his inside man within Sonny’s team, who had told him what had happened, had been most specific about the nature of the killing because he knew it raised the likelihood of the police digging deeper into the incident. However, to challenge Sonny further risked revealing Arman’s identity.

  “That’s good to hear Sonny as I wouldn’t like a repeat of this. I don’t think I need to remind you that I have a clear policy of keeping under the police radar in the countries where we operate,” said Sergei.

  “Yes, absolutely Sergei, it’s an appropriate tactic and you can trust me when I say I make sure we comply with that strategy over here in the Balearics. I’m sorry, but if it’s okay, I need to go now as I have to get to an appointment,” said Sonny.

  “Thank you for your reassurance Sonny and yes, I won’t keep you any longer.”

  As Sergei came off the phone, he shook his head. He had known Sonny for many years and looked upon him almost like a younger brother. But it mattered not. Sergei could feel that Sonny was testing him. Testing his authority. If he sensed any sign of weakness he knew that Sonny would not hesitate to make his bid to depose him and take over the OCG. Sergei smiled. Brother or not, he would not allow Sonny to get too big for his boots, so he was glad that he had Arman keeping a watchful eye on what was going on in the Balearics.

  Sonny on the other hand, came off the phone with the thought that Sergei must be really annoyed with him. But with an unsettled feeling that Sergei knew more than he was letting on. Sergei hadn’t challenged him about the woman’s death, when he had said he had dealt with the person responsible, when in fact he had killed the woman and not one of his men. He sat down and thought through the conversation again. Sergei wasn’t showing signs of weakness in running the OCG, at least not yet. Sonny was ready to make his move when he saw any chink in Sergei’s armour, but that wasn’t going to be soon. He knew Sergei retained a very strong grip on his organisation and was not one to be crossed. He knew what was going on across all of the regions they operated in. Sonny knew that Sergei had his own spies out there, but he hadn’t thought he had anyone in the Balearics. He paused. That was careless, of course he would have someone. He should have thought about that before. Something to think about and he needed to find out who this was and re-align their loyalties.

  *****

  Greg got the MacDonalds’ driver to take him into the city to meet DI Garcia. It was an easy drive in from Cap Rocat and at this time of the morning most of the commuters had already got to work and not many tourists were on the road yet. Last night, the police officer at the villa entrance had told him to go to the Policia Nacional HQ in Palma where DI Garcia was working from. He always liked to know who he was meeting, but the officer couldn’t tell him much more than she was an experienced detective who worked on organised crime. That was reassuring, to hear that she was a specialist, and he hoped she’d have some positive news for him. The driver dropped him at the police headquarters on Carrer de Simo Ballester, just off the Passeig de Mallorca. It was a 24 hour police station and it was busy, so he waited patiently in reception till 10.00 when a smartly dressed woman came out of a side door and looked at him enquiringly.

  “Señor Chambers?”

  “Si,” said Greg, “Inspectora Garcia?”

  “Si Señor,” said Garcia, smiling as he had called her ‘Inspectora’ using the correct feminine form. “Do you speak Spanish, or I can talk in English if that helps?”

  “My Spanish is a little rusty to go into the detail of what happened, so I would appreciate English if that’s okay and thank you for your courtesy Inspectora,” said Greg.

  She nodded and then motioned for him to follow her as she walked through the building to an interview room on the same floor. The tables and chairs were screwed down to the floor. This was a room that, whilst also used for talking to victims and witnesses, was primarily used for interviewing offenders and as such was well away from public view.

  “First of all, may I say thank you for seeing me Inspectora. I appreciate that you will have a thousand and one things to be doing and seeing a family representative would not have been high on your priority list,” said Greg.

  Lori Garcia smiled. ‘He’s quite charming,’ she thought and no doubt he was used to using his charm to open doors to information he might not otherwise be privy to.

  Greg saw her smile and understood she would be no easy push over for information. ‘She looks a smart cookie this one,’ he thought. ‘Indeed, a very smart cookie.’

  “I have provided specialist services to John MacDonald for over 20 years through my company, 3R,” handing over his business card before going on, “and he has asked me to be your family liaison contact for him if that’s acceptable to you?” said Greg.

  “Yes, of course Señor Chambers. I have no problem with that. I looked you up with the details you gave the local officer at the villa. There isn’t much about you on your website except that you provide, as you say, specialist services. So what exactly are these specialist services?” she asked.

  “Well as my card says, we help clients with risk reduction and resolution. This might be in relation to stock loss, corruption and site and team security, right up to kidnap situations.”

  Lori Garcia looked firmly at Greg.

  “Señor Chambers, if I read between the lines I assume that you have the capacity to engage in a num
ber of different interactions with the people your clients are dealing with.”

  Greg nodded and started to say something, when Garcia interjected.

  “What I do not want Señor Chambers is any sort of renegade activity going on as I continue my investigation. Do I make myself clear?”

  Greg had pretty much expected her to make this sort of statement and he could understand why, so he just nodded.

  “Yes, of course Inspectora, I’m here purely for information gathering and to make your job easier.”

  “Information gathering is good. Making my job easier? Now that worries me, but let’s see if we can’t get along. Okay with you?”

  Yes, a tough cookie. Better to work with her if he could, than against her.

  “Absolutely.”

  His estimation of her went up further when she told him she was seconded to the Grupo Especial de Operaciones. The GEO were a crack unit and he had worked with them during his time with the Service. She briefed him on what they knew so far, which wasn’t much but it seemed that he had sufficiently gained her trust for her to tell him about some of the details that hadn’t yet hit the ears of the press.

  He tried a few ‘yes’ questions. A technique to get people used to answering questions.

  “So the van was stolen? Do you have anything more on that? Location? Any CCTV?”

  “Yes, stolen the same day as the burglary. It’s an electrician’s vehicle and they were working in a shop doing a refit and it was parked outside, keys in the cab. It was opposite El Corte Inglés on Avinguda d'Alexandre Rosselló, you know? On the ring road, so we’re checking the street CCTV.”

  He asked a few more easy ‘yes’ questions which she was happy to answer.

  He then asked, “Any other similar crime types over the past few months?”

  She gave him a half smile.

  “Good technique Señor Chambers. Something from the security services I imagine? Please don’t abuse the courtesy I have afforded you. It was bad enough having a London police officer trying to get information from me, without you doing the same.”

  She stood up. The meeting was clearly over, but she seemed more amused than annoyed at him, so he took one more chance.

  “Thank you Inspectora, I really do appreciate your help. Two final things if I may? When do you think you will be able to release the crime scene and where might I find a London police officer in this beautiful city?” said Greg.

  She smiled again. 'Yes, charm personified.'

  “Maybe late tomorrow, but work on the following day and Sa Petita Llibreria, The Little Bookshop, it’s down near the theatre.”

  *****

  Sam looked up at his mother, Anna, who was sorting through some books at the front of the shop. He had been curious about how much money the bookshop took in takings, as since he had been there he hadn’t seen too many people come in to actually buy a book.

  “Do you actually make any money from Sa Petita Llibreria Mum?” he asked.

  “Oh no dear, we haven’t made a profit since the internet took off,” she smiled, “but it never mattered to your father. We had enough coming in from the other side of the business to keep food on the table and so this really became a hobby for us,” said Anna.

  “Quite an expensive hobby isn’t it? What with the rent and taxes?”

  “Oh we don’t pay rent Sam. We own the building, in fact we own this block.”

  She turned away and carried on with what she was doing. Sam had always thought that his parents never seemed to worry about money. He didn’t think they were wealthy, but probably comfortable, but hearing his mother tell him they owned not just Sa Petita Llibreria, but the whole block took him by surprise.

  “So Mum, exactly how much property do you own?” said Sam.

  “We dear, we. It’s family owned and so it belongs to you just as much as me.”

  “Okay, but what do we own?”

  “Well Alfonso has got all the details, but there’s this block, then there’s another one across the other side of the city, up near El Corte Inglés and then there are some villas, some apartments and a few retail units here and there.”

  “Mum! That’s an enormous amount of property,” said Sam.

  “Well yes, that’s why your father was keen that you take it over when it became too much for us, but if you remember, you’ve never been all that interested when we mentioned it before and your father wanted you to have your time doing what you wanted to do, just as he did, before you took over the business.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” said Sam. “Are you worried at all about the business? I mean is it doing okay? Do you have any money issues? I have some savings and can help.”

  “Sam, that’s really nice and kind of you, but I’m fine. Your father and I have had Alfonso and before that his father, to help us manage the business and it provides very well for us and it can do so for you as well. Speak to Alfonso and he can give you any information you want.”

  Sam sat back in his chair. So this wasn’t just a bookshop business. He had known his parents had some other property, but nothing like what his mother had just outlined. If anything this troubled him more than before, because as much as he didn’t want to think about it, his mum was almost seventy now and might be wanting to take a step back from managing what he now realised was a significant business portfolio.

  *****

  John MacDonald couldn’t settle. He hadn’t slept very well until he had finally fallen asleep late into the night, so he hadn’t seen Greg leave the hotel. He had taken a late breakfast down on the lower terrace with Jack and he was now pacing up and down waiting for news from Greg. He felt the anger arising inside him again. Whoever did this would not get away with it. He would make damn sure of that. He heard and then saw one of the hotel buggies coming down the slope to the lower terrace. Greg and Chris got out of the buggy and they all sat down at a table overlooking the sea, with Jack ordering more coffee.

  On another day thought Greg, this would be a spectacular place to sit and take in the views and enjoy the company of a man he had much to thank for, but sadly that wouldn’t be today.

  “We’ve got a good person working on the case John. She’s a Detective Inspector called Lori Garcia, an Organised Crime specialist and currently attached to the Grupo Especial de Operaciones, the GEO. I know those guys, worked with them. They’re not quite Special Forces but they are a really good police version, so they can definitely handle themselves.”

  “Okay, but what about leads? You say she’s Organised Crime? Why is she dealing with it?” said John.

  “Good question. They’ve just started looking at the CCTV for where the vehicle was stolen from, up near El Corte Inglés. The fact there were four of them on the job suggests this wasn’t a local outfit stepping up their game, especially going for a villa of this size. It looks much more likely that an OCG would have the channels to offload what they might find. I need to give her a bit of time to get into the investigation John, so I’ll go and meet Terri. She’s due to land around midday and then we’ll start doing our own digging. Apparently there’s a London cop who is also looking at something Garcia is dealing with, so I want to find him as well and see what his interest is in all of this.”

  “A London cop?” said Jack. “That might be Sam Martínez. You know Dad, Luis and Anna’s son.”

  “Yes, good shout Jack. Nice people Greg. The boy would come and play here when we were over for the summer. Sheila always liked Anna and her husband was a good guy too. Died recently. Cancer, poor bugger.”

  “Maybe one and the same. She told me to go to Sa Petita Llibreria?” said Greg.

  “Yes, that’s their bookshop, down by the theatre,” said John.

  “Okay that’s helpful. Now look, I appreciate you sorting me a room last night, but I think you guys need some space from me, so I’ll be staying down at Terri’s place.”

  He could see that John had probably had enough for now so it was probably a good time to go.

&n
bsp; “I could do with a lift to the airport if that’s okay, but I’ll be back in touch later today guys.”

  Chris spoke first, “No problem, I’ll sort the car for you and say ‘Hi’ to Terri from all of us.”

  SIX

  Greg got dropped off just short of the airport, at the off-site car hire unit.

  He wanted a small van, something relatively inconspicuous and they had a white Peugeot Partner van, perfect for what he wanted. He was finishing off the documentation when Terri called him.

  “Dad, I’ve only got a carry bag, so I’m through security and will be out in just a few minutes.”

  He saw her as she came through the Arrival doors. He hadn’t seen her for a month as she had been in Egypt and he had been meeting clients in the Far East, so it was good to catch up. He smiled as he noticed heads turning as this beautiful woman, his daughter, strolled through the Arrival doors, sunglasses on the top of her head, carrying a smart holdall and looking a million dollars whilst just dressed in jeans and a smart top. She knew of course, the impact she had on some people and whilst she was happy to use what she called her ‘strewth’ look in her work if she needed to, he knew that Terri was much more than, as the saying went, ‘just a pretty face'.