Poseidon's Ransom

Chapter Twenty Nine

It was almost an hour and a half later when Dimitri called.

‘Jack, my boy. Sorry to be so long.’

Jack grinned. 90 minutes to come up with information, that would normally take a week to discover. ‘No problem, sir. What you got?’

‘I’m going to have Olga send you something. Should be helpful.’

‘Thank you, Mitri.’

‘No problem, Jack. But please, be very careful.’

‘Always, sir. Thank you.’

The line went silent.

A few minutes later his smartphone pinged an incoming message. Jack read through Dimitri’s information with surprise and disbelief.

Bogdan watched as his friend scrolled through the message. ‘Okay, boss?’

Jack nodded, and continued to read, then sat back and slid his chair further under the shade of the olive tree. He passed the phone to Bogdan.

‘Can this be true, boss?’

‘Seems farfetched, I agree. But Dimitri’s not one for passing on rubbish. His intelligence is usually correct.’

Bogdan slid the phone across the table. ‘So, what’s the plan now.’

‘I’m sending this to London. See what Mathew thinks.’

The waitress returned. ‘You want more tea?’

Jack looked at his Rolex, almost 10:30. They’d been there over two hours, and three pots of tea. The breakfast buffet had been cleared and they were the only ones in the garden.’

‘Can I have a Coke, please?’

She smiled. ‘Yes please.’

‘More tea,’ said Bogdan.

Jack had just finished the Coke when his phone beeped. He swiped the screen. ‘Mathew.’

‘Jack, hello.’

‘So, what d’you think?’

‘To be honest, Jack, nothing much surprises me anymore. And this could be what we need.’

‘Might also be a trap?’

‘If they wanted to kill you, they could have done that in Podgorica.’

‘Don’t forget the two muppets in the hotel, Matt. Did you get any ID on them?’

‘No. We have nothing yet, and Interpol hasn’t got back to us. But I think they’re more likely to be from the bank.

‘Why?’

‘You said they wanted to know who you worked for?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Based on the message to Dimitri, the people following you clearly knew that.’

‘Right. So, the jokers in the hotel were just part of the bank’s heavy-mob. Low down on the food-chain?’

‘I think so, Jack.’

‘Okay. I guess our next move is obvious.’

‘I’ll have Victoria arrange flights. Get to the airport and she’ll send you the details.’

‘Okay, bro. If nothing else, it’ll get us outta the Balkans.’

‘Right. Talk soon. Be safe, Jack.’

‘Cheers Matt.’

The line went silent.

Jack stood up and stretched the muscles in his back. ‘Get the bill, buddy, and don’t be mean with the tip.’

The big Russian smiled. ‘So, we go to Italy, boss?’

‘Da, Bogdan. We go to Italy.’

The original Sarajevo International was built in the 60’s with funding from the Former Soviet Union. Nowadays, with the volume of international flights, it is no longer fit-for-purpose, and a massive upgrade and expansion is currently underway.

The taxi from the hotel to the airport took less than ten minutes, but with all the construction traffic around the developing terminal, it took twice as long to get into Departures.

Jack and Bogdan made their way to the Austrian Airways ticket desk, as AA was the first flight Mathew’s PA, could arrange. The good news was, the flight departed at 2pm. with no delays expected. The not-so-good news was, it was via Vienna, where they had a four-hour layover, with an expected time of arrival into Peretola International at nine that evening. All that notwithstanding, Jack was not too unhappy about spending a night or two in Florence. He just wished Nicole was with him.