Enemy Within (8 page)

Lying sprawled and dazed in the midst of the hedge I slowly realised that the two cars had gone. My leg was screaming at me as I tried to get out of the hedge and crawl up the slope to the grass verge; my leg would not take any weight. 

I heard a car pull up and a voice shouted, “Are you alright?” The voice turned out to belong to Jerry, the proprietor of the delicatessen in the village.

“Give me a hand please, it is difficult to walk.”

“Shall I call the police, or an ambulance,” said Jerry.

I looked in both directions along the road and thought, no point. “No, don't let's bother them
Jerry
, if you can help me clear the glass off the drivers seat I will move the car out of the way so you can get through, I only live just up the road.”  

“Well if you are sure,” he said somewhat doubtfully, as I stood there on one leg gingerly feeling my right calf. Nothing felt broken I thought but I wondered if I could drive.

Jerry got some gloves and a heavy rag out of his car and brushed the glass off the driver seat on to the road. I then sat down on the seat and carefully, using both hands, lifted my damaged leg in to the car. The car engine was still running and I gently tried to see if I could control the throttle with the foot of my injured leg. The car revved a bit jerkily but good enough to get me home.

“Thanks Jerry, you've been very helpful. I will move on and get out of your way.”

Jerry was still looking doubtful, “Are you sure you are OK?”

“Yes, I will be fine, thanks Jerry, see you later,” I said with a confidence that I did not feel, “I will get on home now.” With that I pressed the clutch, put the car in gear, and jerked off up the road.

Luckily, I met no more traffic and found myself entering the drive to my house. The drive is on a downward slope, my right leg simply refused to cope with the foot break, so using a combination of left foot and handbrake I came to a stalled halt before I reached the Rhododendrons! 

Getting slowly out of the car, I limped to the door. Feeling was definitely coming back in to my leg but with it came the pain. Inside I dragged myself t
o the bathroom, swallowed some P
aracetamol, and then limped in to the bedroom where I fell on to the bed. This was getting to be a habit!

As his cell
phone
rang, he closed the door and answered it. A voice said, “
We
found him and the next round of warnings administered,” and hung up. Dawson smiled to himself, perhaps that would get the result they were looking for.

CHAPTER 15

Next morning my leg felt a bit better, less painful, but was almost totally black with the bruising, right down to the ankle and instep. Today was a day to stay at home.

First I rang Inspector Lloyd and told him what had happened the night before. He listened, asked a few questions and then said that he would like to come out and see me to bring me up to date on his enquiries so far. I said OK and he said he would be out about eleven.

Next I rang Alec, thanked him for the dinner, and then told him what had happened. When I told him about the threat against him and his family I could sense his anxiety on the
phone
. He then said he would also come out and join the meeting with Inspector Lloyd, although he had some stuff to do before he left the office so he might be a little late. “By the way have a look at the business section of the Times when you get a minute.”

I rang the hire company and told them there had been an accident with the car; vandals had smashed the windows, I lied. They took some details and promised to deliver a replacement by early afternoon.

I limped through to the kitchen and thought, time for some breakfast. A glass of fresh orange juice and the works, a full English Breakfast. Bacon, eggs, black pudding, tomatoes and fried bread! I staggered around the kitchen cooking this lot for myself and then sat down at the table. Newspaper! I got to my feet, limped to the front door, and retrieved the paper. The breakfast was good, but frankly not as good as when someone else prepares it for you. The process of doing the cooking takes the edge off the taste buds, I suppose.

The news section of the paper had little that was new. The scandal over FIFA rumbled on and the Middle East demonstrations and associated atrocities continued. Jasmine had told him that where she was in Egypt
,
was nowhere near where the disturbances were taking place.

I turned to the business section and there was little new there either. I was just about to put it to one side and get myself another cup of coffee, wondering what Alec was talking about, when I spotted a small article with the heading:

Will They, Won't They

Control Networks has doubts

The article went on to say that there were rumours that Control Networks, a company who it said had been planning to go to market with an IPO in the near future were having second thoughts, and that a mystery buyer was thought to be on the prowl with an outright cash offer. The article then went on to give background information on the Company but had nothing more that was new.

Interesting, I thought, where did that leak come from? Alec would probably have some more information when he arrived.

Inspector Lloyd arrived promptly at eleven. I brought him through to the kitchen and offered him a coffee.

“Nice house you have here”, he said.

“Yes, I like it. Far enough away from the city to give me some peace and quiet, yet close enough not to make travelling to work a chore.”

“Can you tell me again what happened last night?”

I went through the details of the night before. When I mentioned Jerry, he asked who he was and said he might check him out.

“He is not part of this,” I said. “He just happened to come along after it was all over and helped me out. He has the deli/coffee shop in the village that I use occasionally and we have got to know each other a little. Sometimes I see him in the pub and we have the occasional game of darts.”

“I would like you to come in to the station and go through some of our identification photos to see if you can identify either of the people from last night. Also the guy who broke in to your house.”

“As I told you I didn't really see the second guy last night but I certainly think I would recognise the gorilla who pulled me out of the car if I saw him again. I could come in on the way in to the office tomorrow, would that be OK?”

The sooner the better,” said Lloyd. “ We have been checking out your
Mr
Plavsic. Quite an interesting character.” At that the doorbell rang.

“Probably Alec, he said he would come over and join us
,
” I said as I got to my feet and went to the door. It wasn't him but a DHL courier with an envelope. I wasn't expecting anything so I opened it as I walked back in to the kitchen.

“My god!” I exclaimed, “Have a look at this”

“What is it?” said Lloyd. I handed him the photograph that was the only item in the envelope. It was a photograph of Lisa, apparently out shopping, with a large cross scored across the image with a red marker pen. On the reverse, again in red marker it said, “Give this to
Bell
.”

“Who is this,” asked Lloyd.

“It's Alec
Bell
’s wife,” I replied.

“Give me the bag,” he said, and dropped it and the photograph in to a plastic evidence bag that he pulled out of his pocket. “I will get this checked by forensics to see if we can get fingerprints etc.”

“Well whe
re do we go from here? I forgot
you were about to tell me what you had found out about Plavsic.”

At that the doorbell went again. This time it was Alec, I let him in and he joined us round the kitchen table drinking coffee. I told him about the courier delivery and asked Lloyd to show it to him.

“ Don't take it out of the bag,” said Lloyd reaching in to his pocket and retrieving the bag.

Alec stared at the photo and then turned it over, he blanched. “Who the hell is doing this? This looks very scary, what do we do now?” he said turning to Lloyd. “Can the police organise some protection for my wife?”

“I think that is justified but I will need to get authority, is there somewhere I can make a private
‘phone
call?” he said looking at me.

“There is a
phone
in the lounge through there,” I said pointing. “We are in a bit of a hollow here so mobile reception can be bad so feel free to use the land line in there if you wish.”

He went off through to the lounge closing the door behind him.

“Martin, what have we got in to,” said Alec? “ It feels like we are in the middle of some crime thriller script, unreal, yet really scary. Are you OK after last night?”

“I'll live, although I don't think I have felt so many pains and aches in my body since I stopped playing Rugby. This is getting serious and these guys, whoever they are, obviously mean business.”

Lloyd returned to the room and said, “I have spoken to Chief Superintendent Fleet, and she has approved a round the clock guard on your wife
Mr
Bell
, is she at home?”

“Yes, she is at home today, but I need to explain to her what is happening.”

“I think you had better go home and do that but first perhaps you might like to hear what I have to report on Plavsic etc. A woman police constable will arrive at your house by 2pm this afternoon.”

He then went on to give us an update on his enquiries. “Plavsic is Serbian and a director of Mendip Finance. However he is not the direct owner. The shares in Mendip Finance are held by a series of shell companies, which so far we have traced to the Caymans without producing any names of interest. We met with Plavsic and asked him about his interest in Control Networks. He refused to discuss it on the grounds of confidentiality and vigorously protested his innocence when questioned on the strong-arm tactics. A blank end with him so far, but we have asked the Economic Crime Squad in the Met to take a look for us. They don't have anything on Plavsic or Mendip, and as with everyone else their time and resources are stretched but they have promised to make a few enquiries.”

“I also tal
ked to a few of my contacts in Special B
ranch and similarly came up with a blank. Plavsic doesn't seem to be known at all.”

“You don't seem to be getting anywhere,” I said somewhat scathingly.

“Well there is one thing. Do you know anything about Allied Grampian?”

“Not much,” said Alec, “apart from the fact that they are an investment bank with a respectable reputation.”

“Well, they
do look legit. But in the past five
years they have made a lot of money in dealings with one client and his interests. A Russian called Peter Asimov, he is what is commonly called a Russian Oligarch. Super rich, with vast interests in Russian Oil and extremely close links to the Russian Government. My contacts tell us that they believe, although they have no direct evidence that he is behind some really shady operations in the UK. His links to the Russian government are strong enough for him to have a diplomatic consular appointment in London which of course carries with it diplomatic immunity.”

He carried on, “I had Plavsic
tailed. He seems to live at
the Grosvenor Hotel in Park Lane, London, and last night he attended a formal dinner at the Savoy. It was a dinner hosted by the Board of Trade for what they call business leaders and innovators. The minister was there and so was Asimov, but as far as we could tell Plavsic and Asimov did not meet.

“So what does all this mean, apart from the fact that the Grosvenor Hotel seems an odd and expensive place for a legitimate business man to reside
long term
?” I said.

“Not a huge amount at the moment, but there
are also indications that Mendip Finance may not be
not all it seems. London is really outside of our jurisdiction so I need to discuss all of this with Chief Superintendent Fleet. When you come in to the station in the morning
Mr
Lever, perhaps I will ha
ve some more questions for you.
“
I need to get back,” he said finishing his coffee.”

“What about the Volvo?”

“Dead end there I am afraid, it was stolen in London four days ago and the wreck was totally burnt out so there was no evidence left. We have a DNA check to see if we have a match for the driver, but no results yet. The other occupant of the car seems to have disappeared. We have checked out with hospitals and there have been no reports of suspicious injuries, perhaps he was just thrown clear and with little or no injury.”

“I had forgotten about the second car occupant,” I mused.

“
Mr
Bell
if you have any thoughts please feel free to call me or discuss them with the WPC with your wife. I will let myself out, thanks for the coffee.” With that Lloyd got up and le
ft
.