An African Adventure (Vince Hamilton Private Investigator Book 4)

by Patrick Slaney

  'When did this happen?'

  'He walked to the shops this morning at around 11.30am, and he hasn't returned.'

  'Was he on his own when he went missing?' The Inspector asked.

  'Yes, there was no adult with him. I gather that the shop he was going to is quite close to his home.'

  'Where are you now Vince and where are the other two boys?'

  'I am in Tonbridge. Brian and Alex are both with me. We have just been to their school to sort out their education.'

  'Ok, I will send some of my officers around to the house immediately. Are you going straight back to the house where they live?'

  'Yes, I will leave immediately and contact you once I get there,' I said. 'Let's hope that he has simply got lost.'

  'I have a horrible feeling about this one,' the Inspector said. 'Clive Newsome still owes the Mafia a hell of a lot of money, and they will do anything to try and get it back.'

  'They must know that Clive is locked up in Australia and can't raise any ransom money. What is the point of kidnapping Nick?' I was genuinely puzzled.

  'We'll have to wait and see what develops,’ the Inspector continued. ‘You had better stay at the Newsome's house in case he has been kidnapped, and they want to do a deal.'

  'OK. I am leaving now. Talk to you soon.'

  A few minutes later we were heading out of Tonbridge and joining the A21, which would bring us to the M25.

  The boys hadn't asked any more questions while we were finding our way out of Tonbridge, but once on the road to London, Brian asked; 'Did the Inspector have any bright ideas as to what might have happened to him.'

  'I am afraid he feels that Nick might have been kidnapped. Your Father still owes a lot of money to some seedy individuals and they will stop at nothing to get their money back.'

  Alex started to cry. 'They can't do anything to harm Nick; he had nothing to do with it. Dad is a bloody idiot.'

  'The police are involved now,' I added. 'We won't panic until they have found out exactly what has happened. Perhaps Nick is merely visiting one of his school pals. Let's hope for the best.'

  I went as fast as I dared on the return journey. Silence reigned in the car, each one of us lost in our own thoughts. As soon as I pulled up outside the house in St John’s Wood, the two boys shot out of the car and ran to the front door. After finding a parking place, I joined them.

  Both the grandparents were standing in the hallway.

  'Any news?' I asked.

  'No, we have heard nothing, although the police were here for about an hour,' the boys' grandad said. 'They have now gone to continue their inquiries at the shop that Nick went to get his sweets at.'

  'I will telephone the Inspector and see if he has any news,' I explained.

  I got through to him, and he said that he would drive straight over and join us at the house.

  I informed the rest of the family that Inspector Baird would be arriving in around half-an-hour, all depending on traffic.

  I heard the flap of the letterbox go bang; I rushed to the front door and found a letter addressed to Clive Newsome sitting on the mat. I went out onto the street but couldn't spot the person who had just delivered the letter. All I heard was a motorbike speeding away.

  I decided to leave the envelope where it rested on the door mat. Touching it might destroy evidence as my fingerprints might mask others. The Inspector could sort out the document when he got here.

  'I telephoned my wife at her work to explain that I wouldn't be home until Nick was found. She fully appreciated my position and agreed that I should remain at Carol's house until the situation had stabilised.

  My next concern was what to do about Reggie. He should now be in Pernik, the town close to Sofia in Bulgaria where the motorbike had been located. I needed to find out how he was progressing in his search for the white van and the bike. His main problem would occur when they separated the motorbike from the white van; there would then be no way of tracking the van as the device was only on the motorbike.

  I tried to phone him on his mobile, but I couldn't get through. As I had suspected, mobiles didn't work too well in Bulgaria. I would have to wait for him to phone me.

  We hadn't long to wait for the Inspector. He parked his car outside the house on a double yellow line and came in.

  He didn't bother with shaking hands and the social niceties; he got straight down to business.

  I pointed out the envelope sitting on the door mat and explained that it had just been delivered. He took out a pair of latex gloves and picked it up.

  'Can we go into the kitchen and open this,' he held up the letter.

  'Brian and Alex you two come with me,' their Gran said. We will leave them in peace to get on with the investigation.'

  The family went off towards the living room. The grandfather and I went with the Inspector.

  'Can I borrow a knife to open this?' the Inspector asked.

  The grandad rummaged in the cutlery draw and produced a thin sharp knife.

  The inspector cut the envelope and pulled out the sheet of paper that was inside. He put it face up on the table. We all read the stark message.

  TO GET YOUR SON BACK PAY US THE £4 MILLION

  'Well, at least, we know that he has been kidnapped, and the motive is to try and get Clive to pay back the money,' the Inspector said.

  'I am a bit puzzled Inspector,' I interjected. 'Luigi Bandarella, who initially lent Clive the money, was killed in Australia. Anybody associated with the Mafia and the original loan would know that Clive had been arrested in Melbourne. They would also know he couldn’t possibly come up with four million. Something isn’t right.'

  'I am getting your line of thinking, Vince,' the Inspector added. 'Why would they address a ransom note to Clive when they would know he wasn't in the UK?'

  'It doesn't make sense and makes me feel that we are dealing with somebody else,' I added.

  The telephone on the hall table rang. We all froze.

  'Go ahead and answer it, Vince. Keep them talking as we are monitoring this line and we hopefully can get a trace.'

  I paused beside the phone for a few seconds and then picked it up.

  'Hello, this is the Newsome residence,' I said.

  'Are you Mr. Newsome?'

  'No, I am afraid that Mr. Newsome is out of the country on business at the moment.'

  'I don't believe you. You are Mr. Newsome. I know your voice.'

  'Who is speaking?'

  'It doesn't matter Mr. Newsome. I want the money that you owe us.'

  'What money is that?'

  'The four million that you borrowed from Luigi Bandarella.'

  'I don't know what you are talking about, and I am not Mr Newsome.'

  'I couldn't care less whether you are Mr Newsome or not, I want the money, and I will phone you later on this number to give you the details as to where you can deliver the cash.'

  'I don't have that sort of money available at short notice.' I reckoned I might as well let him think that he was dealing with Clive.

  'If you value your son's life then you will get me the money.'

  The phone went dead.

  'I'll leave it for a little while and then get onto the tracking centre,' the Inspector said.

  'I can't believe that whoever it was on the phone thinks that I am Clive Newsome.'

  'Did you recognize his voice, Vince?'

  'No, but he was a bit rough around the edges, and he was very nervous. He didn't sound like a professional gangster.'

  'Who else would know that Clive borrowed a massive amount of money from the Mafia?' the Inspector inquired.

  'I wonder could somebody who works with him or for him have picked up the information.'

  'But anybody who works with him would have known he was away. He hasn't been in the UK for at least five weeks.'

  The Inspector's mobile rang.

  'Ah, this is the tracking centre,' he commented before answering.

  I couldn't hear what was being said, b
ut the Inspector was nodding his head from time to time and muttering 'I see.'

  He terminated the call and turned to me.

  'We're in luck Vince. They managed to trace the call and pinpointed it to a building not too far away from here. They think that the call came from a gym in Lodge Road, which happens to be quite close to Clive Newsome's car dealership.'

  'So what is the next step Inspector?'

  'I'll organize a raid, and we'll go and have a look and try and find out who phoned from that location.'

  The Inspector went to his car to use his police radio. In five minutes, he was back.

  'Right, that was easier than I thought it would be. Some of my officers were already in the area conducting a house to house search. You had better come with me Vince as you know the young lad and he will be terrified when we raid the place.'

  I went into the lounge to tell the grandparents and the two boys that we were leaving them for a short while.

  'Do you know where he is?' Brian asked.

  'We have a lead, but don't raise your hopes as it may be a false alarm,’ I explained. ‘I won't be long and will come back and tell you what we find.'

  'Let's hope that you locate Nick. I miss him,' Alex said.

  The Inspector jumped into his car, and I joined him. We only went about half-a-mile before he pulled up at the side of the road where there were already some police dressed in flak jackets.

  An officer opened the door and stuck his head into the car.

  'We're all set to go Sir. I have sent four men round to the back of the building to cover any exits from there. I have another eight men here.'

  'So you are sure that all the exits are covered?'

  'Yes, Sir.'

  'OK let's go. Is the Gym still open for business?'

  'Yes, Sir.'

  'You take your men in by the front door. Go as quickly as you can to the top of the building doing a full search of all the rooms as you go. I will stop in the reception area and let the receptionist know what is going on and make sure that no telephone calls are made.'

  'What do we do if we find a locked door?'

  'Break it down of course. Make sure that you tell anybody in the room to stand well away from the door. The boy, if he is being held here, is likely to be in that room.'

  The group of police collected outside the front door of the gym and then at a signal from the senior officer they rushed inside making a hell of a noise.

  The Inspector went in at a slightly less frantic pace.

  There was a young man on the reception desk. He looked terrified and hadn't any idea why his evening had been disturbed.

  'Stay seated,' the Inspector directed. 'Don't make any telephone calls or try to run away. This is a police raid.'

  The receptionist nodded his head, looking very sheepish.

  There was an enormous crash from upstairs. It sounded as if they had broken down a door.

  'Up here inspector,'

  'You go up there Vince; I will stay here in case the culprit appears.''

  Just as I started to go upstairs, a man appeared out of the gym area asking what all the noise was and what the crash was all about. The Inspector grabbed him.

  On the second floor, I came to a room where the door was hanging off in an exceedingly damaged state.

  Nick was standing there looking terrified. One of the older police officers had put a comforting arm around him.

  'Nick, how are you?' I rushed over to him.

  He left the officer and came over to me. I gave him a hug, and he started to sob in my arms. I knelt down beside him and held him tight for a while until he calmed down.

  'Don't worry Nick, it's all over now. I'll take you home.'

  I kept my arm around him as we walked down the stairs.

  'Is Nick unharmed Vince?' The Inspector asked me.

  'Other than being traumatised by the experience, he seems fine.' Nick actually smiled in a tired sort of way.

  'I have had my men take away the culprit and I will interview him tomorrow. It appears that he is the man who owns this gym. Clive Newsome came here regularly to work out. He must have inadvertently given away the information about the loan and the owner of the gym decided to blackmail him.'

  'So it has nothing to do with Luigi Bandarella and is a one off incident,' I said.

  'It appears to be. I'm just thankful that we managed to find the boy so quickly, and we were also dealing with an amateur.'

  'Can I get a lift to Nick's home please?'

  'I have to stay here and tie up the loose ends, but I will get one of my officers to take you home.'

  Ten minutes later Nick and I were delivered by a police car back to the house.

  'Let's give them a surprise Nick. You stand on your own and ring the doorbell; I'll stay out of sight.' He smiled at my plan.

  I stayed about ten meters away where I could see him. He rang the doorbell. Brian opened the front door and gave a shout.

  'Guys it's Nick; he's back.'

  They all came rushing out and hugged him.

  I moved towards the happy group.

  The grandfather saw me and shook my hand with a beaming smile on his face.

  'Thank you, Vince, for what you have done. It is a miracle. I have no idea how you got him back so quickly.'

  The grandmother came over and gave me a hug.

  'Thank you, Vince.'

  'Let's all go inside and celebrate,' I said as I herded them into the house.

  'Will you tell us what happened?' Alex asked his brother.

  'No, I want to forget about it. It was horrible,' Nick replied.

  'I know that we all want to know what happened to Nick,' I explained. 'But, it was a terrifying experience for him, and we should leave him in peace. He'll tell us when he is ready.'

  'You must be starving Nick,' his grandmother said. 'In all the chaos I haven't cooked anything.'

  'I'll tell you what I will do,' I suggested.' I will take Nick in the car, and we will go and get takeaway for everybody.'

  'Will you get Chinese,' Alex asked.

  'I can't stand Chinese,' Nick replied. 'Can we have burgers?'

  'Of course, we can. It's your treat anyway.'

  'There is a Drive-Through McDonalds just up the road,' Brian suggested. 'Nick knows where it is.'

  'I know roughly where it is, but I have no idea how to get there,' Nick whined. 'Will you come with us Brian to show Uncle Vince the way?'

  'OK let's go, and Brian you can come with us to show me where it is.' I decided to take command as we needed to get going.

  While we were in the Drive-Thru queue, waiting to place our order, my mobile rang.

  'Hello, Vince Hamilton…'

  'Hi Vince, it's me, Reggie.'

  'I am in the car at the moment stuck in a queue at McDonalds; can you phone me in about fifteen minutes. I should be home by then.'

  'I'll phone you back.' He ended the call.

  Luckily Brian knew what everybody liked, and he placed the order. I selected a Big-Mac plus chips for myself.

  We had just got in the door at Carol's house when my mobile went again. I shut myself away in the dining room, which had nobody in it.

  'Hi Reggie, how are things going?'

  'Not well Vince. I can't find anything at the co-ordinates that you gave me.'

  'Did you get to Pernik OK?'

  'Yes, I arrived at Sofia airport and got a taxi to Pernik. I then got the GPS device working and found the location using the information that the tracking station had supplied me with. I still can't find anything.'

  'So what are you doing now?'

  'I booked into a hotel for tonight, which is where I am phoning you from.'

  'So you definitely can't find a white van or an expensive looking motorbike.'

  'That's what I am telling you. I think that you are going to have come here and look for it yourself. I feel a complete idiot.'

  'OK, I will get the first flight out from London to Sofia in the morning. With a bit of l
uck, that should be the same EasyJet flight that you took which leaves at 06.25am. What time did you arrive when you went on that early morning flight?'

  'I arrived in Sofia at eleven-thirty, local time,' Reggie replied.

  'What is the name of the hotel you are staying at?'

  'It is the Hotel Struma and is in the centre of Pernik.'

  'OK, I will meet you there as soon as I can get to you from the airport. I suggest that you have another look at the location in the morning. To just confirm the arrangements, telephone me in about two hours' time.'

  'Thanks, Vince. I will do that, and, hopefully, I will see you tomorrow.'

  The phone went dead.

  Bloody Reggie. What was the point of having him doing the leg work if he failed in his first mission? It was another 'I told you so' moment for my wife. She wouldn't be too pleased when I told her that I was heading off to Sofia at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

  I joined the others in the kitchen where they were all silently munching burgers.

  'I am going to have to leave you as it looks as if I have to fly out to Sofia at 6,25am tomorrow morning.'

  'Where is Sofia?' Alex asked.

  'It's the capital of Bulgaria,' Brian chipped in. I had a mouthful of burger at the time and couldn’t talk.

  'Where is Bulgaria?' Alex asked again.

  'It's just above Greece, so it is quite far across Europe,' Brian added to his previous reply.

  'Will you be able to pick up Carol from Heathrow if I leave you the car?' I asked the grandfather.

  'Yes, I should be able to do that,' he replied. 'It will be a Saturday so the roads won't be too busy. I'll look after her, and I am sure that the boys will come with me to help keep me right.'

  'Thanks, that is a weight off my mind.' I was genuinely relieved. It would also save me from another emotional experience with Carol, although, after a twenty-three-hour flight, she wouldn't be very chirpy.

  'I had better get going now. I have left the keys to the car on the hall table.' I told the grandfather.

  'Thanks, Vince and thank you for helping to get Nick back.'

  'Boys, you'll probably be back at school by the time I return from Bulgaria, so enjoy your last term as boarders. You can tell your Mum that I will come and see her when I get back.'

  I felt sad leaving them. It had been quite an emotional day and I was suddenly feeling shattered.