Cold Killers (22 page)

‘Yes, thought I’d buy whatever else I need when we get there.’

‘This isn’t a shopping trip, you know,’ he teased.

‘I was just meaning shampoo, that kind of thing.’

‘I know. I’m only messing.’

Willis had packed almost her entire work wardrobe, which consisted of two pairs of black trousers and three blue shirts. She had her black, plain, leather work shoes on her feet and she was
wearing her usual black puffa jacket. She had packed the hat she’d worn on surveillance at the funeral. To travel she had on jeans and a T-shirt.

They checked in and went through to the departure lounge. Ross walked around the duty free and tried out the gadgets. Willis got out her iPad and began checking the itinerary. They were due to
arrive at eleven twenty that morning; it was just short of a three-hour flight from Stansted. Then it was straight to the hire car and head for Marbella and the men they wanted to talk to.

The plane took off on time and Willis got the window seat. She went very quiet as she stared at the dawn, just beginning to lighten the sky. It was only the second time Willis had been
abroad.

‘You okay?’ Ross asked. She nodded and fiddled with her seat belt.

Ross smiled to himself. It had been many years since getting on an early flight excited him. It was the last time he and his wife and kids had gone skiing. They were always very early flights.
They were lovely holidays. At least, he consoled himself, the holidays were good, even if the rest of the marriage wasn’t the best. Even if the day-to-day was a struggle, the holidays were
full of laughter. That was one thing he missed: the sound of his wife being happy. He had a lot to regret. Now, all he could do was try to be the best dad and wish his ex-wife well in her new life.
That thought still carved a chunk out of his heart. The way Lisa had played him also made him wince. She’d never meant to have more than a fling with him. He’d thrown his marriage away
for a fling.

‘What is it?’ asked Willis, watching Ross shake his head.

‘Nothing.’

At ten that morning, Carter was looking at CCTV footage with Robbo. Manson’s white van was difficult to find. He’d driven down lanes. He’d avoided getting
back on the M25.

‘We dropped in some samples late last night. Have they gone off?’ asked Carter.

‘Yes, they’ll get the results back to us asap,’ answered Robbo. ‘What were they from?’

‘Willis took them from the floor of the warehouse at Paradise Villas.’

‘She’ll be on the plane with Ross now,’ Robbo said, pausing the screen as he looked for a reaction from Carter.

‘She’ll be loving it.’ Carter smiled.

‘What, she doesn’t get away much?’

‘Yeah, only time was with Tina from the canteen. Doubt she’ll remember anything about that.’

‘Was Ross the right man to go with her, do you think?’

‘I don’t think we had a choice. We were almost invited because we had Ross. He has such tight links with the national police out there. He probably knows them better than he knows
us. You know he offered Harold a deal?’

‘Yes, Willis told me. What was interesting was that, the way she explained it, it might still be on the cards. He didn’t say no.’

‘Harold’s tired. He’s scared, maybe for the first time in his life. And he’s not comfortable with what’s being asked of him. At heart he’s an old-style
robber, not a drug baron.’

‘But Harold will never set anyone up. He’ll never be a snitch, not in a million years,’ said Robbo.

‘No, but he may just step out of the way at a strategic time. He may not quite follow Tony’s orders to the letter, who knows? I think we should approach him again.’

‘Who’s keeping in touch with him? How was it left?’

‘He has Ross’s number. I kept my face out of view.’

‘Just in case? I thought you told Willis they’d never remember you.’

‘Yeah. But then I thought about it. I used to serve Harold his morning coffee most days. I think if he’s good with faces, he might just remember.’

On his way back to his office, Carter got a call.

‘It’s me. Can we meet?’

‘Della? Sorry I didn’t get back to you last night. It’s a busy time for me.’

‘I understand, Dan. I’ve just arrived in London. I have some information for you. I have something I think you should hear. What do you think? Can you meet me?’

‘Where?’

‘London Bridge? The pub we used to go to? What was it called, the one on the river?’

‘Old Thames Inn?’

‘That’s it.’

‘When?’

‘Can you meet me in an hour?’

‘No problem.’

Carter didn’t wait around. He picked up his coat from his office and left Fletcher House before he had to answer anyone’s questions. A taxi was waiting for him at the end of the
road, at the back of Archway Police Station.

Della was waiting for him at a table just inside the door.

The wind and rain were gusting around the tables and chairs outside. The Thames was a washout in grey. Carter was blown inside.

She was drinking coffee. He took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack just inside the door.

‘You could have brought a bit of that Marbella sunshine with you,’ he joked. She smiled but looked anxious. She fiddled with her cup. ‘Can I get you another?’

‘Please.’

‘Coffee? Latte?’ She nodded.

When he got back he sat down beside her.

‘How are you bearing up?’

She took a few seconds to begin speaking.

‘I’m doing my best.’

‘Of course you are. It can’t be easy. Must be like being inside a nightmare.’ He wanted to hug her but he wasn’t going to.

‘It’s too hard out there. Tony is completely off his rocker. He’s had Eddie’s will altered. I think Tony has murdered Eddie’s lawyer, who drew up the will with him.
I think he got him to alter the will before he killed him.’

‘Have you evidence?’

‘I’m pretty sure I know where he buried the body. I’m also sure that there was a child involved. Francisco’s daughter went missing at the same time.’

‘Can you steer the police towards the burial site? They already suspect that Tony abducted him. No one mentioned the daughter to me.’

‘They need to look at the wasteland behind my villa. There’s an almond grove there and a small stone hut, it’s near there. But I can’t be sure it’s still there, or
even what it was I saw. I had one hell of a night, that night. When your mother-in-law drugs you and your brother-in-law tries to rape you before your husband’s been in the ground a week.
This has brought out a side of Eddie’s family that not even I could have imagined.’

‘Tony?’

‘Yeah, Harold I can handle, he’s straightforward. Laurence has always stayed away from the madness. He’s weak and he’s a spoiled brat, but he’s harmless. Tony is
out of control with his best friend Marco the maniac.’

‘I’m sorry, Della.’ Carter reached out to cover her hand with his. ‘It’s so tough on you, I know.’

‘Yeah.’ She bit back the tears. ‘I loved him, Dan. I know that’s hard for you to believe. Everyone saw me as a gold digger. Even Eddie did, for a while. It wasn’t
till the last time I saw him when I dropped him off at the airport that I really believed he did love me, trust me and he really did want to break away from the rest of the Butchers.’

‘What happened to stop it? If that was his plan, why didn’t he go ahead with it? Could he have been up to something you didn’t know about?’

‘I’d love to say no, but I can’t be sure. I’ve been through his private papers. There’s stuff in there I wasn’t expecting, but I can’t see any massive
drug deals on the horizon.’

‘Manson has companies that supplied goods to Paradise Villas. Did you know that?’

‘Eddie never mentioned it, but is there a problem with that?’

‘Manson wasn’t owning up to offshore bank accounts as quickly as I’d have liked.’

‘Can you blame him?’

‘Maybe not, but this is a murder investigation of his friend and boss. Eddie had downscaled his work while Manson had turned his up. Money is his driving force.’

‘Everyone wants to make it big at some time in their life. Eddie had done that. We had all we needed. Now he wanted to stay alive to enjoy it.’

‘Not everyone.’

She looked at him in amusement and then shook her head. ‘Most people want to make it big just to see what it feels like. I can see you still like your designer clothes, Dan. You’re
still wearing the gold bracelet I bought you on our first anniversary.’

Carter shook his head. He didn’t want to get drawn into a slanging match about integrity and what was truly important to him. ‘Do you know Manson well?’ he asked instead.

‘Of course. I’ve met him many times. He and Eddie were close. He’s even been out to stay at the villa a few times. Eddie trusted him implicitly. There’s no way Manson
could have anything to do with Eddie’s death.’

‘Maybe not directly, but he’s scared. He’s trying to run.’

‘I don’t blame him. We’re all scared.’

‘Did Eddie ever discuss problems with clients?’

‘Eddie didn’t really discuss work with me. It just ticked along. He and Manson got on with it. The only time I ever saw any of the villas he built was when they were finished and
he’d show me some photos. If it was someone we knew, then I might be invited to the house-warming, some big bash there, but that’s it really. Dan, don’t waste your time chasing
leads like that. Believe me, Tony had my husband killed. Tony set him up. They ripped off the cartels. Harold was told to tell me some lies. Between the both of them I think I know a few things for
certain. It was Tony who tried to rip off the cartels by claiming that a shipment had gone missing. He sent Eddie into a situation that he was never going to come out of. Why Eddie went, I
don’t know. I’m seriously beginning to wonder if I knew my husband. But then I come back to the same thought: Eddie, a drug baron? No way. I know that Tony set Eddie up. Whether he
expected him to get killed I don’t know, but, whatever plan he had, it hasn’t worked. He’s still looking for a lot of money. Tony told me so much, the rest I got from Marco, who
seems to see me as a better bet than Tony at the moment.’ Carter looked at her curiously. ‘It’s not like that. Marco is worried: his neck’s on the line, too. He told me that
there’s a massive shipment of cocaine on a container ship on its way over here right now from Mexico. It has to be paid for when it arrives. The Zapata want payment on arrival because they
don’t trust Tony, and Marco has a lot to prove to them. Tony already has the money from ripping off the Mendez cartel on the last shipment to go towards it, but now he has to come up with a
huge hundred million pounds. Even for Tony, that’s a lot. Now, Dan . . .’ Della took a breath. She had a worried smile on her face. ‘I have an idea. Please hear me out. I know
this is going to sound mad. I want to get Tony, Dan, like we always planned in Operation Argos. I can help you. We can help each other.’ Carter nodded. Della continued, ‘I’ve told
Tony I know where the biggest stash of diamonds from the Great Diamond Heist is.’

‘What? Why? What were you thinking? Did he believe it?’

She nodded. ‘Tony’s always believed there’s a big stash of jewels somewhere. Eddie and I used to laugh about it. But Tony seriously suspected that, when Eddie got out from
their stint in prison, he moved the diamonds. Tony believes that, if Eddie had wanted to, he could have put his hand on them and Eddie always led him on.’

‘Della, I’m going to have to ask: is there any truth in it?’

‘None. Of course not. Eddie’s task was to launder the diamonds he was given and to keep quiet about the role of the others. He did time so others didn’t have to. They all knew
their part. No one had the complete knowledge or trust; otherwise the others would have got to it by now. They were all a bunch of thieves, after all. I told him I’d found papers, codes,
safety-deposit boxes, information that only I could access, all that bullshit, and he believes it. He’s sent me over here with Marco to find it. He thinks the diamonds will buy him the new
cocaine deal with a new cartel. In theory, he’s right. Diamonds would do nicely for the cartel.’ Carter was nodding his head, staring out into the grey on the Thames. ‘I want you
to put this proposal forward, Dan. I want you to propose that I work with you undercover and we draw Tony out of Spain and we set him up.’

Carter looked at her incredulously. His mind was working through the negatives. He shook his head, but he was still working through the list.

‘The Spanish police would have to be part of the operation. They would have to back off in order for him to leave the villa. There’s a million things that can go wrong with this. If
we had a year to plan it, it would be different.’

‘Yeah, I know. All that will have to be done. But there will already be undercover operatives working in Spain. There’ll be a structure in place that we can build on.’

Carter smiled. ‘Still the police officer at heart.’

‘Heart? Not so much. Mind? Definitely.’

‘You’re right. There may be people ready to go into action. There are a few police officers in his pay.’

‘I can probably get names for you. They’re the same ones who always turn up and pretend to question him. I know they’re on his payroll. What I would do is lead him right to the
diamonds and make sure it hits a snag at the last minute. He’ll think I’m double-crossing him and he’ll have to come over here. If he thinks the deal rests on him coming,
he’ll come. Whatever he’s involved himself in, it’s bigger than anything before and he knows he has to get it right.’

‘It’s too risky for you to be involved in any scheme to catch Tony, Della, you must know that.’

‘I don’t have many choices left to me, Dan. I get Tony or Tony gets me. He will kill me, I’m certain of it. But I’m still in the heart of the Butcher clan. I can bring
Tony down, Dan.’

Dan searched her face and saw sincerity and the negatives in his mind began to flip to positives. Could he believe her this time? A part of him wanted to and another part told him he
shouldn’t really care what happened to the woman who broke his heart and possibly screwed up years of work on Operation Argos. A woman who chose cash over love. If she betrayed him once,
could she do it again? Easily. But something else told him this was an ideal way to get Tony and to finally put things in his past to bed. Why was it when he ended that thought he ended it in
bed?