Milkshake (4 page)

David pushed the card into the slot. Just as he was about to
enter the PIN he felt a sharp pain in both his ankles and fell
against the machine, dropping his wallet. “OW!” David’s heart
quickened and he turned to defend himself against …. an ancient
oriental lady peering over the top of several very large, shiny
leather suitcases perched on top of the trolley which she had just
rammed into his legs.

“So sorry, thought you had finished.” She smiled benignly,
gesturing to the small boy next to her to retrieve the wallet from
next to David’s foot. The child pounced and offered it to David,
smiling. “Sorry you carry on, no rush.” She said as he turned,
ankles still throbbing, and entered the PIN, standing close to the
machine, shielding his actions from anyone watching from
behind.

Sorry your transaction cannot be completed at this time.
Please try later.

David took the card and walked back to Katherine, intending to
hand her half the newly exchanged cash. Opening his wallet to pull
out the notes, he saw that they had gone. In the space usually
reserved for his credit cards, there was nothing but bare black
leather. The clever little bastard had managed to rob him in front
of his eyes. “Oh shit!”

“What’s happened?”

“I was just checking the balance on our
credit card and some kid managed to steal it.” He looked back
hoping to spot the old lady and her young accomplice. Now he could
not even see the machine through the crowd which had seemed to
close in behind him.

“That’s all we need. We’ll have to report it”

“NO!” David almost shouted. ‘We, er, can’t do that right now.
We need to get on the plane. The police won’t be interested and
they’ll be long gone already.”

“No, I meant the credit card company, otherwise by the time
we get to Auckland half our money could be gone.” Katherine was
right. “I’ve still got my card.” She felt in her handbag . The
contents were untouched but her credit card was also missing. She
still had the credit card holder. “There’s an international help
number on the back. You wait here David. I’ll find a phone, give
them a call and sort this out. Don’t move!”

David felt his face flush hot and his stomach tense. Something
weird was definitely going on and somehow he was being inexorably
drawn into it. Things beyond his control were happening around him
and to him. Too much out of the ordinary had happened in the last
thirty-six hours.

The flight was to depart in ninety minutes. As soon as
Katherine came back from using the phone, he would find a policeman
and ask to see someone in authority. He wanted no more sleepless
nights trying to ignore the wild scenarios in his head.

Katherine was walking back towards him, zigzagging through
islands of people and baggage. Her head was turned and, as she
rounded a trolley, a man in a suit met her in front of it. David
found himself sizing up the approaching stranger - tall,
close-cropped dark hair, European. Police? MI5? They were talking.
For a moment he considered walking away, disappearing into the
crowd. But then, they were both in front of him. “David, this man
is from British Customs. He wants to talk to us about credit card
fraud.”

Credit card fraud, not murder, David reassured himself.
Katherine’s face showed the concern of someone whose credit card
had been stolen, nothing more. Another man and a woman joined them.
“Mr Turner, my name is Tony Burton. I’m with British Customs. We
need to talk to you about your stolen card. There’s a bit of a
racket here at the airport, and we need to get a description from
you. It won’t take long. Please follow me. The other officers will
look after your wife.”

A fleeting image of a dank, dark cell, dripping water and
electric shocks flashed through David’s mind before reassuring
himself Burton was British. He had absolutely nothing to hide. In
fact there was plenty he was just dying to get off his chest. He
just expected Katherine would have been the first to hear
it.

They walked towards a door adjacent to the baggage security
desk. David went over his story, deciding whether he ought to
change anything or leave anything out. At least for now Katherine
was taken in the opposite direction. Burton calmly reassured him
“Don’t worry about your wife. You’ll be boarding the flight
together.” There was no reason to doubt him.

It was a small windowless room. Against the opposite wall
three men stood shoulder-to-shoulder, looking a little
uncomfortable to have found the size of the room offered them less
personal space than they would have liked. There was a table
between them and David. Burton clicked shut the door gently behind
them.

“Mr David Turner?”

David nodded, his vocal chords momentarily dry beyond
use.

“Mr Turner, I’ll be as brief as I can. We
don’t have much time. You have to be on that plane in just over an
hour. Firstly, this is about your credit card, or rather the card
you currently have. To get straight to the point, there’s a group
moving large amounts of money around the world at the moment.
They’re doing it using legitimate credit cards and travellers as
mules. They monitor the card and wait for a foreign travel booking
to occur.

Just before the unsuspecting cardholder travels to the holiday
or business destination, a large sum of money is placed on the card
account. Local operatives then steal the card and remove the money.
As far as the cardholder is concerned, he has just had his card
stolen and is totally unaware of the free courier service he has
provided. Are you with me so far?”

“But that doesn’t explain … ” David stopped before
implicating himself in something they may not even be interested in
talking to him about.

“This is where it gets interesting. We’ve
been trying to second guess these people for a number of months
now. A pattern has been emerging of the kind of people they are
targeting, people like yourself and your wife, planning to live
permanently overseas, for example. We’ve been liaising with a
number of overseas agencies, including the New Zealand High
Commission in London, and you were, or rather are, a likely
profile. We were able to track your internet usage and made other,
er, enquiries.” Burton hesitated looking at the three others
standing opposite.

The middle one continued. “Unfortunately they suspected we
were onto them, so they began trying to conceal their targets,
intercepting them at the last minute, right at the point of
departure in your case. They then plant the card personally on the
unsuspecting subject in a kind of reverse pickpocket. The courier’s
details are pre-printed onto the card. That way, if they find it,
and decide to buy themselves a decent camera or watch at the
duty-free, they would be less inclined to discard it or report it.
For the criminals, it’s a small price to pay to ensure the card
reaches its final destination where they can retrieve
it.”

David was trying work out how all this fitted in with his own
recent experiences. But it just raised more questions.

“We found out who their contact at Heathrow was, and we also
found out when you and Mrs Turner would be leaving the
UK.”

David had come to the conclusion the four men in the room with
him were not British Customs. This was not a simple case of
smuggling or duty evasion. It was criminal activity and someone had
died. So far that fact had not even been mentioned. So he said it.
“What about the dead bloke?”

Burton folded his arms, self-consciously attempting to present
a casual persona before talking about the murder only one person in
the room did not know the truth about. “David, their man had a card
with your name on it. We know the card carries a considerable
amount of money, possibly the largest amount they have yet tried to
move. We need to stop this now. We need to find out who is
responsible. Like I said, we don’t have much time. This has all
happened very fast. As far as they are concerned, their man tried
to place the card on you as you were locking your car. You noticed,
thought you were being mugged, and there was a struggle. He
unfortunately fell and you walked away from what you thought was an
attempted mugging, but with the card successfully placed in your
wallet. Sadly life is cheap to them. Losing their Heathrow
operative is a small price to pay for successfully getting the
money on that card you are now carrying into New Zealand. They seem
to have temporarily lost track of you in the confusion and, because
you haven’t yet made a purchase on the card, they can’t pinpoint
your current location but, when you do, which you will because we
arranged to take your other one, they will be back on your trail,
and we will be on theirs.”

David leaned against the table, next to Burton. “So just so I
know where I stand, just to confirm, you fellas aren’t exactly
Customs, then?”

“Not exactly no, but you don’t need to know any more at this
stage, other than that our knowledge of what really happened to you
in London, coupled with the fact that we have watched and protected
you all the way to that door over there, confirms our
credentials.”

“So you killed that guy on the roof?”

“Unfortunately he struggled and fell.”

David had a very clear recollection of what he had seen two
nights ago. He had forced himself to remember it. There was no
struggle. An unconscious man was deliberately tipped over the edge
of the car park wall to his death. “And you just had that kid steal
my only credit card?”

“Yes, we arranged that little scene. The only way to get them
back on your trail is to ensure you use the card they planted on
you. Once the card was safely inside the ATM machine, the means of
accessing your own personal funds was denied to you.”

“You mean you stole my credit card?”

“Let’s just say we’re protecting the assets of an innocent
party at this stage. Your own card was cancelled as soon as you
left the hotel. You would’ve found out soon enough anyway. They’re
watching the cash machines here in the airport, so we just assisted
in your identification. They’ll simply believe you were accosted by
one of the many gangs that operate in this terminal, and the
incident was picked up on the airport security CCTV. We, as
Customs, have intercepted your wife making her call back to the UK
to report the card stolen and invited you to make a statement to
us. In fact, as far as your wife is concerned, she is doing just
that right now.”

“So she knows nothing about all this?”

“For both your sakes, no, not unless you decide to tell her
when you leave here.”

David had already spent enough time wrestling with whether or
not to tell Katherine. This latest incident had left him even more
confused and undecided, but he would have to give her some kind of
explanation as to why he was not particularly worried about losing
his credit card since he happened to have a spare she knew nothing
about. “So what happens now? You guys have basically robbed me so
you can set me up as bait for God knows what.”

“Do what everyone else does, Mr Turner. Walk out of here with
a clear conscience and get on your plane to Auckland. As far as
your wife is concerned, the British Consulate has furnished you
with a temporary emergency card. When you get to New Zealand, we
will contact you at your hotel - the Cedar Stars, isn’t it? We will
arrange replacement cards and you can tell her you’ll reimburse the
Consulate for any money you spend in the meantime.”

“That all sounds very simple and convenient but you won’t
actually be giving me another card here will you?”

“No, use the one planted on you at Heathrow. Spend little and
often in the next three or four days. Maybe withdraw small amounts
of cash as well. They will soon pick up your trail again. You may
find the card disappears quickly. They have an excellent
pick-pocketing team in Auckland. Don’t worry if they break into
your room or hire car. They only want the card, so don’t try to
protect it. If it appears that you are in any kind of physical
danger, my team will be watching.”

This didn’t sound reassuring. Burton was clearly saying David
was being deliberately set up as a target. “So, they’ll be watching
as I get mugged or will they jump in and help?”

“As I have made clear, you are an unwitting and innocent
party in all this and you have my assurance that we’ll do
everything we can to ensure no harm comes to either of
you.”

There was a knock at the door. Burton spoke as he leant
forward to open it. “As soon as you clear security, I suggest you
head straight to duty-free and buy yourself a bloody good camera
and some expensive perfume for your wife.”

Katherine stood framed by the doorway, flanked by two airport
staff carrying their hand luggage. “These people,” she indicated
the two on either side, “have been so helpful. They’ve explained
about the gang operating in the airport and how the police are onto
them. Detective Chow said that Mr Burton has given us an emergency
card to use until we can get replacements in Auckland, then we can
arrange to pay them back. They seem to have everything well
organised.”

If only you knew
, David thought.
Katherine was satisfied by the lies she had been led to believe in
the short period of their enforced separation. The lightness of her
mood was now in direct contrast to the wave of anger that was
suddenly washing over David as he realised the ease with which she
had just been totally deceived.