The Dark Web_The stunning new thriller from the author of The Angolan Clan

by Christopher Lowery

  O. R. Tambo International Airport,

  Johannesburg, South Africa

  ‘Listen Marius. If you’re right about the reason for this accusation against Leo, it means there are some big interests involved, and that means a lot of money. We both know that lots of money equals lots of danger, right?’ Coetzee nodded. ‘So, could you just try not to get shot this time? Please come back in one piece, because as unlikely as it might seem, I love you very much and so does Abby.’

  Coetzee kissed her fondly. ‘Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten how to take care of myself, despite you trying to fatten me up and swapping my knife and pistol for a wireless computer mouse.’

  Karen watched him carry his overnight bag into the airport, a tear running down her cheek. She still remembered what it felt like to know he was going into a danger zone, but he was a lot older now and she was worried.

  Bur Dubai Police Station

  ‘You’re not in here for fighting, are you?’ Oskar was sitting on one of the bunks with Leo. The other three occupants had been taken away by the guards for some reason.

  ‘What makes you think that?’

  ‘You fight too good, too accurate. You hit that maniac exactly where and how you wanted, a professional job. So, I don’t think you got involved in a street fight and hurt somebody by accident.’

  ‘You’re right, it wasn’t that. But I don’t want to talk about it, it’s like, a kind of personal thing.’

  ‘No problem, you’ll tell me eventually. We all have to get it off our chest in the end.’ He lapsed into silence and left Leo to his thoughts.

  Hatim had been that morning for a few minutes, but he’d been unable to sneak a phone into the prison. He’d confirmed that Tom had spoken to his mother and assured her that everything possible was being done. He lied and said she’d taken it ‘as well as could be expected’.

  ‘Is she coming down? I don’t want her to come down and see me here. They probably wouldn’t let her in if she did come, so there’s no point.’ He thought for a moment. ‘I want you to ask Ed Muire, he works with me, to call my aunt Jenny, and make sure my mother’s OK. Jenny’s her sister, so I’m sure she’ll know what’s happening. She’s the most resourceful person I know, and she’ll work out something, I’m sure she will. I don’t remember her number, but her company’s called Bishop Private Equity, it’s in London. Will you do that for me?’

  ‘I’ve met Ed. I’ll find Jenny’s number and call him as soon as I get my phone back.’

  ‘Oh, and another thing. Tell him to watch out for Shen.’

  The lawyer looked startled. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘Never mind, please just tell him what I said.’

  ‘Alright, I don’t understand, but I’ll pass on the messages. Meanwhile, remember to stay out of trouble. You’re doing fine for the moment.’

  ‘Thanks, Hatim. I’ll try.’ Leo said nothing about his new ‘boyfriend’, Razza. It might make the lawyer worry unnecessarily. He’d worry for both of them.

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  ‘Hi Angela, chérie. How are you?’ Elodie Delacroix was calling from the apartment she and Shen shared in Jumeirah Beach. It was midday on Saturday, 10 July, two days after the evening of the ‘rape’. He was eavesdropping on an extension in the bedroom.

  She listened for a moment. ‘I can imagine. Especially the medical examination, it must have been awful. But it’s over now and everything’s going fine, so don’t worry. He’s in prison and they’ve refused bail, so there’s no way you can get into trouble. You should just relax and take it easy.’

  Angela spoke again.

  ‘You poor girl, I didn’t know you’d done that. It was a clever idea but it must have hurt like hell. I promise to take the pain away when I see you.’

  This time she listened for longer, ‘I know, you’re quite right. We have to arrange that straight away, so you can see we stick to our promises. Listen darling, the CEO, Tom Connor, has asked Shen to talk to you, so we should do that to keep up appearances and we can make the arrangements at the same time. Why don’t you come over this evening, and I’ll make us some martinis. We can have a drink, chill out and get things settled, it’ll make you feel a lot better. Great, come at eight.’

  Shen came back into the living room as she put down the phone. ‘She sounds nervous.’

  ‘Don’t worry, she’ll be fine. $20,000 cures a lot of nerves. As long as she keeps it up until you get the package to Shanghai, we’re OK. Afterwards it doesn’t matter what happens.’ She kissed him. ‘Five years’ work about to pay off, we should be celebrating, not worrying.’

  THIRTY

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  Saturday, 10 July 2017

  ‘Jenny Bishop, I know, that’s Leo’s aunt Jenny. OK, I’ve got it.’ Ed Muire looked at his watch. It was four in the afternoon Dubai time, midday in London. Hatim Ackerman had just related Leo’s request and given him Jenny’s number. He listened again. ‘Don’t worry, I don’t need any warnings, I’ve been keeping my eye on Shen for some time. I’ll watch out alright, and so should he.’

  He rang off then called Jenny’s number, and was immediately put through to her office. A pleasant English voice said, ‘Jenny here, how are you Ed?’

  He managed to supress his astonishment that she knew his name, and answered, ‘Not too bad, Jenny, but we’re all really shook up about Leo. I’m so sorry for his mother and you, and the rest of his family.’

  ‘Actually, we’re the only family he’s got, so it’s up to us to get him out of that Dubai prison. I’m assuming that’s why you’re calling?’

  ‘Absolutely. Our lawyer gave me the number with instructions to call right away. Are you up-to-date on Leo’s situation?’

  ‘Unless something has changed since yesterday. Has it?’

  Ed liked her direct style. ‘I wish, but the answer’s no. He’s remanded in Bur Dubai awaiting trial, and we don’t know when that will be.’

  ‘Right, Ed. I was hoping you’d call me and I’m pleased you did, because I’ve got a job for you. Are you willing to help me?’

  ‘Ask away. I’m itching to do something useful.’

  ‘This evening, at twenty past six, a man called Marius Coetzee will arrive in Dubai on an Emirates flight from Johannesburg. He’s a very trustworthy friend of ours and if anyone can get Leo freed, he can. Please pick him up at the airport and take him wherever he wants to go, and give him any help he needs. At the moment, that’s the best possible action you can take to help Leo. Will you do it?’

  Ed was noting down the details. ‘What’s the flight number, and how will I recognise Mr Coetzee?’

  Jenny gave him the number, and added, ‘Look for a man with a slight limp and built like a brick chimney. That’ll be him. Thank you, Ed. It’s very reassuring to know Leo has a friend like you down there. Between us and Marius, I’m sure we can get my nephew out of trouble. I’m sorry, but I have to go into a meeting now, so good luck.’ She rang off.

  Ed looked at his mobile in amazement. ‘Bloody hell, what a breath of fresh air!’ he said out loud.

  London, England

  ‘We’ll get the documentation prepared on Monday and courier it over to you for signature. Thank you, Ms Bishop, it’s going to be a pleasure to do business with you.’ The young couple shook hands with Jenny and Bill Redman, and went to the door. ‘And we really appreciate you meeting us on a Saturday, it’s most unusual, but very efficient.’

  Bill closed the door and turned to her. ‘Well done, Jenny. Another feather in your cap. Weekend shopping, you could call it.’

  She laughed. ‘Any day is a good day to buy into a business like that. With some ruthless cost-cutting and our financial expertise, we should turn it around within six months.’

  With Bill’s help, Jenny had just agreed to acquire a thirty per cent holding in her seventh business venture, an independent book publisher, based in Cambridge, not far from where she lived. The firm had a solid list of successful
authors, but too much money was being spent on promoting lost causes, authors who hadn’t and most likely wouldn’t make it. Although she’d never said anything to Emma, she’d always been envious of her sister’s involvement in the book-writing and publishing world, and now she would have a chance to show what she could do.

  Jenny should have been a happy woman, but her mood was overshadowed by worry over the plight of her nephew. ‘Can I ask you something, Bill? I need your help,’ she said.

  ‘Ask away. As long as it’s nothing illegal, I’ll do my best.’

  ‘Does BIP have a subsidiary in Dubai?’

  ‘Not a direct Dubai subsidiary, but effectively the same thing, BIP Bank Middle East Ltd. It’s a Jersey, Channel Islands subsidiary that was set up years ago, long before my time, and it has offices all over the Middle East. You can’t actually own a bank over there, but everybody does the same thing and it works fine. Why do you need one?’

  ‘It’s just for a one-off transaction. I need to be able to give someone cash or a negotiable instrument.’

  ‘Sounds mysterious. Do you want to tell me about it?’

  ‘Maybe later. It’s a family matter, and the fewer people who know about it the better.’ She saw his slightly peeved expression, but didn’t expand on her explanation. Some secrets are better left untold, she reminded herself, momentarily thinking about the multimillion-dollar cache of diamonds under her control in the vault at Ramseyer, Haldemann’s security building in Geneva. If he knew about that, he’d certainly question the Bishop family’s honesty.

  She took his hand. ‘Don’t worry darling. It’s nothing crooked, just a bit sensitive.’

  ‘When do you need this to be done?’

  ‘It came out of the blue, but it could be as early as tomorrow, that’s why I’m asking you now.’

  ‘That’s a bit short notice. Sunday’s a working day there, but they’re four hours ahead of us, so I’d have to find a contact today to set it up. We don’t need an account or anything like that, just a guarantee of some kind. I’ll have to work out a way to authorise the payment from London and take it from your accounts here. Is it a large amount?’

  ‘I doubt it would exceed 50,000. Dollars, that is.’

  ‘I suppose you know the name of the person who’ll be collecting the money. Can you tell me that at least?’

  ‘His name is Marius Coetzee, and he’s a close friend from Joburg. He’ll have his ID credentials with him. He just needs to know where to go and who to ask for.’

  Bill noted the details. ‘Let me get on the phone and see what I can do. Am I still picking you up for dinner at eight?’

  ‘Of course. Do you think I came to London just to invest in a business? But it’ll only be dinner I’m afraid, I’ve got a few other things on my mind at the minute.’

  ‘I understand. Don’t worry, Jenny, I’ll try to sort something out before that, and give you a call if I can fix it or if I need any more details. See you later, darling.’ He kissed her and left the office.

  Bankers have all kinds of uses that I hadn’t appreciated, Jenny thought. I just hope Coetzee needs that money tomorrow and that we can get it there for him.

  She called Emma at home, and gave her an update on Coetzee’s trip and her plan to get Leo freed. ‘I’m sure we’ll have him out of there in a couple of days. You know how efficient Marius is, and how much he loves Leo. Just put your trust in him and it’ll all come right.’

  In Durham, Emma put the phone down. Oh God, please let him come to no harm in the meantime. She steeled herself and finished applying her make-up, taking extra care to try to hide the strained, worried lines that had appeared around her eyes. Waterstones customers expected a bright and witty author at book signings, and she needed to sell books.

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  ‘I’m seeing Angela with Elodie tonight. We’ll try to get to the truth and persuade her to back off from her accusation.’ Shen Fu Liáng was in Tom Connor’s office, trying to show his concern for Leo’s predicament.

  The CEO hardly reacted. He looked tired, his face grey and worry lines creasing his forehead. ‘That’s good, Shen. Do your best, but I don’t expect any miracles. We’ve taken the only decision available, and now we just have to get on with it and finish the job.’

  ‘You look beat, Tom, you’ve had a lot to deal with. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off and go home to your family? There’s nothing more you can do today, and I can look after the shop while you have a break.’

  Connor demurred for a while, then finally agreed to go home to relax and rest up until the next day. ‘Call me if there’s any news, or at least any that I might like to hear.’

  Fifteen minutes after Tom’s departure, Shen was still in his office. He had rifled through the files and papers on the desk, looking for anything of interest. The only item that caught his attention was a Post-it note with the scribbled name, General William Chillicott, and a US telephone number. Underneath was written, Call Ed.

  Shen went down to his own office, unlocked his desk drawer and took out a mobile phone. He called a number and had a fifteen-minute conversation in Russian, then rang Elodie Delacroix. ‘Connor’s been talking to a US general called Chillicott. I just checked with our people and he’s a big wheel in Homeland Security. Seems like he’s connected somehow with Ed. Can you ask your contacts to find out what the connection is?’

  He listened for a moment. ‘I’m not being paranoid, I just want to be on top of the situation, not on the receiving end. I don’t think Ed’s a problem, but we can’t take any chances. Just do as I ask and check him out. I’ll see you at home later, before Angela gets there.’

  Shen looked at the calendar on his desk. It was Saturday, July 10th, three weeks until they were safe. Twenty-two days to hold things together and get the design and firmware to Shanghai.

  Zurich, Switzerland

  ‘I hope you’re not calling with more bad news?’ Max Oberhart, Daniel’s father, said.

  He summarised the conversations he’d had over the last couple of days. ‘Ed and Sharif are convinced we can make it by the end of the month.’

  ‘That’s in three weeks. What’s your opinion?’

  ‘The latest tests have been perfect. Leo’s last patches fixed everything and Ed is a very competent man. All he has to do is write the the clean code and Sharif can get the design finalised. I think they’ll make it.’

  ‘Unless something else goes wrong. That place is like a hospital, casualties all over.’

  ‘Shen’s trying to get Leo out of prison, so that would definitely guarantee the job, but we’ll see what happens.’

  ‘Keep me informed, Daniel. Especially on any further bad news, we’ve got a lot riding on this.’

  ‘Including over two years of my life. You don’t have to remind me. Bye, Dad.’

  THIRTY-ONE

  Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates

  Saturday, 10 July 2017

  ‘Mr Coetzee?’ Despite Jenny’s description, Ed Muire had taken the precaution of scrawling the South African’s name on a piece of cardboard and holding it up at the arrivals gate. He needn’t have bothered, the man who came over to him fitted the bill perfectly. In Liverpool, he’d have been called a ‘hard man’.

  ‘Who organised the reception?’ he asked, looking around as if expecting trouble.

  ‘Jenny Bishop. I spoke to her a couple of hours ago. I’m Ed Muire, a friend of Leo’s at XPC.’

  ‘I’m surprised she didn’t text me?’

  He’s a suspicious guy, thought Ed. ‘She was in a meeting. Probably didn’t have the chance.’

  ‘Hmm. So what are you supposed to do?’

  ‘Whatever you tell me to. Jenny said you’ll get Leo out, and that’s good enough for me.’

  ‘You got a car?’

  ‘A rented Beamer. It’s in the parking, five minutes away.’

  ‘OK, let’s go.’ He pulled the overnight bag behind him and refused Ed’s offer to carry his b
rown leather holdall.

  Coetzee said nothing until they got into the car, then, ‘Do you know where Angela lives?’

  ‘I know the urbanisation, but not the exact address.’

  ‘Here it is.’ He showed him Jenny’s text on his phone. ‘How far is it?’

  ‘About thirty minutes’ drive.’

  Coetzee looked at the time on the phone. ‘It’s just after seven. OK, we’ll go there now and take a look.’

  At the apartment building, Coetzee said, ‘Park over at the side there, away from the entrance but where we can still see it. Stay in the car, she knows you.’ He went to check the postbox names and came back. ‘It’s on the third floor. No problem.’

  Ed was beginning to think he was in a TV cop series. The South African had obviously done this before. Probably many times, he thought. ‘What happens now?’ he asked as Coetzee got back in the car.

  ‘We wait and we observe. Talents that are less and less common in today’s fast-track world, but still essential for survival.’ For the first time, he smiled, and Ed caught a glimpse of the soft side of this hard man.

  They sat in the car for a while, watching the building as one or two people came and went, both observing a civilised silence, until Ed finally cracked. ‘How do you know Leo and Jenny Bishop?’ he asked, not expecting much of an answer.

  ‘He was kidnapped in SA six years ago, and I was lucky enough to help him get home safe. We’ve kept in touch. He’s a great kid, my wife and daughter know him and they swear on the Bible he would never have done this. It’s some kind of blackmail or extortion, and this woman, Angela da Sousa, is probably just a cog in the mechanism. We have to find out why she did it and convince her to undo it. If we succeed, we’ll right some wrongs, maybe more than we expect.’