“Good morning, Abi,” said Jago brightly.
“Morning, Boss. I don’t have much more on Van Dooren yet apart from a photo of him and his personal protection, and vehicles. I’ll send them over to you now.”
“Why the plural of vehicles?”
“Video footage shows that there was a second car behind with two occupants. They never alighted, and I don’t have a quality image to give you, just the vehicle and its plates.”
“Okay, that makes sense. Anyway, a little bird tells me that Van Dooren’s staying at the Highland Palace and I’m going to pay a visit while I’m in the city.” Jago paused to view the message that Abi had sent.
“You don’t have a better image of his protection, do you? He looks familiar.”
“I’ll check now if you can wait?”
“Yes, I’m good to wait.”
Abi scanned the images on file and selected three.
“I’m sending you three more specifically of the protection.”
“Received.” He carefully scrutinised the images. “Oh yes, I thought so. It’s Tiny Lewis; he used to work closely with Hogg many moons ago. His real name is Claude Lewis; he’s an ex-paratrooper. He used to be handy to have around in a contact, although he’s aged a bit now. Abi, see what you find out about his recent life and any associates?”
“Will do, Boss. By the way, which little bird told you where Van Dooren would be?”
Jago smiled and replied, “Abi, you know that I can’t reveal my sources.”
“I know, I know, but a girl has got to ask. I’ll speak later.”
***
Jago entered the Highland Palace Hotel and headed for the concierge.
“Where would I find a nice Turkish bath close to here? I bumped into one of the guests last evening, and he was telling me how marvellous the one he goes to is; I can’t remember the name though. Can you help?”
“Yes, certainly, Sir. Do you know the name of the guest?”
“I’m afraid not, although I think that he was a Dutchman and had a tall guy with him.”
“Oh, that sounds like Mr Van Dooren. He uses the Turkish Delight Spa in Belgravia every day at 2 p.m. I’ll get you the number and address. Would you like me to book you a session, Sir?”
“No, thank you. I have some meetings to schedule first. I’ll have a better idea of when I’m free later today.”
***
It was 1.30 p.m. as Jago watched Van Dooren get into his limousine, closely followed by a high-powered executive car with two occupants. The setup was virtually the same as the pictures Abi had provided. The only thing missing was Claude Lewis — a younger, more alert protector had replaced him. Jago wondered, Where’s Lewis then?
Jago made his way to the side entrance of the hotel where the deliveries arrived and the staff took their smoke break. He entered into conversation, and ten minutes and one hundred pounds later Jago was in the hotel with a passkey for Van Dooren’s room. As Jago rode the lift to access the penthouse suites, of which there were four, Jago felt uneasy about the missing Lewis. He nevertheless proceeded with his plan to see inside Van Dooren’s suite. He’d noticed that Van Dooren didn’t have a briefcase with him when he left the building but had had a black leather one in the photos provided by Abi.
He reached the floor and exited the lift to an empty hallway which was small and contained five doors, one for each apartment and one for the emergency stairway. Jago disabled the camera that was trained on the corridor before it could get a full view of him. He arrived at the door of penthouse suite number one and listened for sounds of movement. There were none. He knocked on the door. “Hello, customer service, is anyone in?”
There was no reply.
He placed the key card against the door and it flashed green. He entered slowly and shut the door behind him. Before he entered the spacious lounge area, he took out his phone and switched it to video mode. He made a quick video of the room, sweeping from left to right. He stepped silently and purposefully, scanning for anything resembling documents or information. There were holiday brochures on the table, and Jago photographed them before touching them. He then opened each of the three, one at a time, to look for any notes or clues as to Van Dooren’s plans. He then placed the documents in their original position, carefully checking his photo for their exact location.
Jago moved onto the master bedroom where a circular, rather opulent bed occupied the centre of the room beneath a round of mirrors. He quickly took another photo before rummaging through the wardrobes with sliding doors. Jago had opened the second wardrobe when he came upon the briefcase. It was open, and he flicked through the files. A leaflet describing an investment meeting caught his eye, and Jago snapped a photo of it and sent it to Abi. He moved some high-quality suits to one side, revealing a wall safe. It was locked, and Jago captured it on camera. Time was passing and it was time to leave. Jago carefully positioned everything as he found it, married up the photos that he’d taken and set to leave. Then he noticed a discrepancy in the main lounge photo. A couple of cushions on the sofa had been depressed as if someone had sat against them. They weren’t like that when he entered, and he knew that he hadn’t sat there or been on the sofa. That could only mean one thing: he wasn’t alone. With only one exit, he assumed that someone would be waiting for him at the main entrance door and a quick look through the spyglass in the door confirmed his suspicion. He caught sight of two persons, one either side of the wall of the recessed doorway. And he didn’t know if anyone was in the suite or not. Before drawing his pistol, he secured the door from the inside, being as quiet as possible. He thought that, should the men outside have card access, they would be slowed down. He then moved through the suite, room by room. Everything seemed okay, but he couldn't be sure. He entered the master bedroom once again, thinking that its structure lent itself to having an emergency escape stairway to the floor below. He opened the doors towards the outer corner wall and pressed panels, and looked for switches, levers and buttons. And then he found one on the underside of a shelf. There was a round red button. He pressed it, and a panel to his left, behind some hanging clothing, slowly swung open revealing an exit. He passed through, taking care to reposition the clothing before closing the panel. He cautiously descended the staircase to the next floor which was clear. He heard the unmistakable sound of suppressed gunfire and assumed that the men above were trying to access the penthouse suite before their boss returned.
Jago then slipped out of the hotel unnoticed.
***
“Abi, does Dom possess a suit, I mean a good suit, and shoes to match?”
“How should I know, Boss? I mean, he scrubs up well at times, but I don’t know the quality of his gear. Why?”
“I need him to attend an investment meeting, and he’ll be there with some real heavyweights. Anything short of a Saville Row suit would stand out a mile.”
“I’ll check with him and get back to you. Oh, and if he hasn’t got one, what do you want to do?”
“We’ll have to get him one pronto.”
“Okay, Boss. Leave it with me. Is this to do with the leaflet you sent over to me?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
***
Jago was on his way back to the Ranch when Mark called.
“Jago, she’s gone. I got up this morning, and she’d left, no note or anything.”
“Did she mention anything to you over the last couple of days? Anything that would indicate where she might go?”
“No, nothing, nothing that stands out. We covered a lot of topics. I suppose the only thing was to try and find a relative. She didn’t say who or where.”
“That’s strange; she told me that she didn’t have any relatives.”
“I’ve done some digging since she left and it looks as though she changed her name by deed poll five years ago. Her name used to be Kimberly Greenslade. There is a rather rich shipping magnate named Henry L. Greenslade. Do you think that it’s a coincidence?”
“No, Mark, I don’t. I don’t believe in coincidences. Do you know where he’s based or what his current location is?”
“According to my sources, he lives in Bermuda. But travels extensively so could be anywhere. I’m sorry that I can’t give you any more help than that.”
“Don’t worry, Mark, what you gave is great. And don’t worry about Kim; she’s a big girl and knows how dangerous the situation is. I just hope that she doesn’t walk into the lion’s den before we catch up with her. I’ll call you later.”
Jago called Abi. “Abi, I want you to pin down all of the cameras for a five-mile radius of the coordinates that I’m going to send you. I want you to scan for Kim’s whereabouts. Let me know what you find. I’ll make my way to the port area. I have a feeling that she may have gone to see her friend. She hasn’t got her mobile back yet, has she?”
“No, I still have her mobile.”
“And Mark hasn’t got a landline, but he has got a computer and mobile. Call Mark and check the log for both devices. Maybe Kim logged into one of her social media accounts and contacted her friend or vice versa.”
“I’m on it now, Boss. Is there anything else?”
“Yes, Kim changed her name five years ago by deed poll. He previous name was Kimberly Greenslade. Find out what you can about her background, and there may or may not be a link with a shipping magnate called Henry L. Greenslade. I’d like to know where he is and I need visuals asap. And I need the address of her friend Katie. Can you send it over while I’m on route?”
“I’ll get Bernie on to this immediately.”