‘Looks expensive, boss.’
Jack nodded. ‘Yeah, kind of.’
A gaudily illuminated pedal-taxi swerved in front of them, the Russian hit the horn hard. ‘Stukah,’ he shouted out the window. ‘What the fuck is that?’
‘They’re just modern-day rickshaws, big man.’
‘Rickshaw belongs in fuckin China, boss, not here.
Jack laughed.
‘What is plan when we get there?’
‘We’ll play it by ear.’
‘Play it with ear? What is this?’
Jack laughed. ‘We’ll decide once we see the situation.’
‘Okay, da. But we have no weapons. This guy will be armed for sure.’
Jack put his hand on his friend’s shoulder and smiled. ‘Yes. But I have you, big man.’
Bogdan turned to Jack. ‘You are real bullshitter, boss.’
They both laughed.
It was almost eight o’clock when the Sat-Nav declared, ‘You have arrived at your destination.’
They parked the Range Rover a good hundred yards from the gates of the villa and got out. It was quiet, with only the odd vehicle passing, the moon offered some light to the dark roadway. They walked in silence.
Twenty yards from the gates they stopped, and Jack said quietly, ‘I’ll go over the wall. You go down the hill here, see if you can see anything from the back.’
‘Da, okay, boss.’
‘We just check it out first. Don’t go in. Not until we see what we’re dealing with.’
‘Niet problem.’
Jack waited a few moments as his friend crept down the hill. The lights from the sparkling marina, three miles below, did nothing to illuminate the hillside, and within seconds the big Russian disappeared into the darkness.
Jack made his way to the wall and pulled himself up. The short driveway and gardens were all lit up but, from his viewpoint, the villa looked to be in darkness. He waited a few more seconds then heaved himself over the wall, dropping down behind a large bougainvillea. Again, he waited and listened. Nothing. There was no vehicle in the drive but that didn’t mean anything. Moving slowly and keeping to what shadow there was in the illuminated garden, he approached the building. He looked through the windows. The villa was in darkness.
He could see right the way through to the rear of the property and out to the pool area, then he heard the sound. He quickly bent down and picked up a large ornamental owl. He felt the weight of it in his hand, then raised it high, ready for anything.
‘You there, boss?’ said the big man, as he came around the corner of the house.
‘Here, buddy.’
‘Place is deserted, boss.’
‘Yeah.’
Bogdan pointed to the owl. ‘What’s that?’
Jack grinned. ‘Oh, just doing a bit of bird-watchin,’ then put the ornament back in place.
‘Front or back?’ said Bogdan.
‘In the back, buddy.’
They moved to the rear of the property and found one of the smaller windows unlocked. Jack struggled in, and a few moments later appeared at the big patio doors. He slid them open and said, ‘Check the place over. There’s bound to be weapons here.’
Chapter Thirty Five
Washington got back to the edge of the woods, about fifty yards away from his car. He stood in the shadows and waited a few minutes to be sure there was nothing on the road. Happy he was alone, he came out and jogged quickly to the lay-by. He looked up and down the road again, and was about to climb in, when he saw the parked VW.
‘Fuck,’ he said out loud.
He ran to the car and smiled when he saw the keys in the ignition. Quickly he drove up over the grassy verge and through the trees, bumping into several as he found a way in. By weaving in and out he managed to get the vehicle well away from the road.
It’d be impossible to see at night, but even in daylight it would not be found unless someone stumbled across it. He switched off the engine, wiped his prints from the door handles and steering wheel, then threw the keys away into the darkness. A few minutes later he was back in the Audi and heading to the villa. He was at the crest of the hill when his smartphone pinged several times. He looked at the screen… INTRUDER.
He stopped the car, swiped the screen and tapped the security application. It showed the patio doors had been opened. ‘What the fuck,’ he said out loud.
He thought for several seconds, his mind racing. It can’t be the Templari already. Burglars maybe. Yeah, it had to be. There were always thefts from the villas. He grinned and set off down the hill.
A few minutes later he pulled to the side of the road and parked. He waited and watched as the odd car came and went, each time illuminating the gates of his villa. There was a big 4x4 parked on the other side of the road. That meant two to five men. He took out a small pair of binoculars. No one in the truck. That’s an expensive vehicle for burglars, he thought.
He was about to drive away, then remembered the four hundred thousand dollars in the concealed floor-safe. Is it worth the risk? he thought.
He checked the Glock, a full magazine less four rounds. Is it worth it. Do I really need four hundred K?
He looked at the 4x4 again, smiled, then started the engine. ‘Au revoir, Monaco,’ he said out loud.
Chapter Thirty Six
The sun was coming up over the bay. Bogdan had fallen asleep, but Jack had spent the night concealed and awake. He looked at his watch, almost 4am.
‘Bogdan.’
The big Russian jumped. ‘Yeah, boss?’
‘I think we’ve lost him.’
‘What is time?’
‘Four o’clock. Sun’s coming up.’
‘What now?’
‘Let’s get back to the car.’
‘Okay, da. We take the guns, boss?
Jack grinned. ‘We take the guns, buddy.’
In the garden, Jack helped the big man over the wall and they trotted back to the Range Rover.
‘Now what?’ said Bogdan.
‘We’ll wait a couple more hours, see if he shows.’
Bogdan reclined the big comfy seat and smiled. ‘Okay.’
It was five-thirty when Jack decided to call the Castelo San Lorenzo.
A sleepy voice answered. ‘Si, prego?’
‘Giovanni. Hi, it’s Jack. Sorry to call so early.’
‘Jack. Buongiorno. What can I do for you?’
‘I know you’ve helped us a great deal. But could I ask if you’ve heard from your guys here in Monaco? We’ve been at Washington’s villa all night and there’s no sign.’
‘Hmm… Hold on a moment. I’ll need to speak to security.’
Several minutes past, and then. ‘Jack?’
‘Yes, I’m here.’
‘There seems to be an issue. Our men have not checked-in as usual.’
‘When did you hear from them last?’
‘We have a strict protocol. All our field operatives must send a pre-formatted message every eight hours.’
‘And you’ve not heard from your men since?’
‘Midday yesterday.’
‘Seventeen hours!’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you have a redundancy protocol? If they fail to check-in, is there a fall-back position?’
‘No, Jack. They must make contact every eight hours. No redundancy.’
Jack paused a few moments… ‘So, your understanding would be they’re dead?’
‘I’m afraid so.’
‘I’m sorry, Giovanni. So, what’s your next move?’
‘Security tells me we have the location of their vehicle.’