Page 12 of Goodnight
Natasha’s head was cocked to the side in a way that stirred something familiar in his mind, and she was listening intently. ‘And underprivileged areas in other countries?’
‘It is my hope, Miss Alkaev, as was my father’s before me, that we can solve the energy crisis in all areas of need and do it in an environmentally sound way.’
‘You talk a good game, Mr Chambers, and please call me Tasha.’
‘I’m a determined man, Tasha.’
‘He bally well is you know. Never known a chap work so hard,’ Bertie boomed. In Nick’s experience Bertie really only spoke in various different volumes of BOOM, whatever the company or situation. ‘Fantastic at everything even at our old prep school, weren’t you, Flopsy? Should have seen him on the rugby pitch; best damn winger Westminster ever saw.’
Nick sighed and looked down at his shoes for a moment. What possible bearing could his performance on the rugby field have to this discussion? And was it really necessary to let everyone know his prep-school nickname?
‘Flopsy?’ Irene Blake muttered, one eyebrow raised and a smile on her lips.
‘It was because of my hair,’ Nick said through a fixed smile, aiming a kick at Bertie’s shin, which provoked another small squeak. ‘Bert, mate, I’m not sure anyone’s interested in … ’ Nick trailed off as he noticed he had lost Tasha’s attention. Her gaze was fixed over Nick’s shoulder, her eyes were wide and he could have sworn they were slightly glazed.
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Ian Mowat said from Nick’s other side. ‘Never does any harm to know a bloke’s background.’ Nick barely registered the words. He was watching as Natasha reached up with her right hand and laid it flat over the centre of her chest. Nick turned to see what she was focused on and saw Goodie standing a few feet behind him, her hand also flat over her chest and her eyes fixed on Natasha. Before he could comment, they both looked away as if they had never seen each other before, each focusing on their targets: Goodie on Nick, and Natasha on the circle of people around him.
* myshka–little mouse
Chapter6
Impossible to leave unsolved
Nick gritted his teeth.‘You told me “no problem”. You said it would beeasy. Where then is the goddamn report?’ He was gripping the phone so hard his knuckles had turned white and he had the curious urge to throw it across the room.
‘Well, itwaseasy – to get her cover story, that is, or should I saystories; because I’ve found no less than ten utterly convincing, completely credible backgrounds for the woman. All with the correct documentation, all with legit paper trails a mile long, all of which are complete bloody bullshit. Your girl is a ghost, mate: vapour.’
Nick rubbed his forehead. Harry Walker’s firm was by far the best investigative agency in the country; they had never let him down before. Normally the backgrounds they provided for him were freakily thorough, listing friends from as far back as primary school, identifying their favourite foods, likes, dislikes, the cake their favourite Auntie makes them on Sundays:everything. For them to have come up with exactlynothingon Goodie was unbelievable. She was a human being, for Christ’s sake, and they couldn’t even confirm or deny that she actually purchased food on which to subsist. ‘If she buys anything of importance, mate, it must be on “the dark web” or with cash,’ Nick had been told. Nick did however have significant doubts that she would bother buying her biscuits on ‘the dark web’; that is if she even ate biscuits. His fist thumped down on the table. Of course, she must eat biscuits; everyone eats biscuits.
‘Got some info on that other bloke though; Sam Clifton, was it?’ Nick’s head shot up and his grip on the phone relaxed.
‘Go on.’
‘Ex-Special Forces: real Andy McNab type stuff. He left after being a hero in some sort of clusterfuck in Colombia. Partner in a security firm with his best mate now. Lives in south Wales, married, one kid, one on the way. Wife’s a GP; and she – she can talk, believe you me.’
‘Interesting,’ Nick muttered.
‘Oh, and your girl. She knows this couple well. Wife’s face lit up when I mentioned her, described her as a “close family friend”.’ Nick frowned; he couldn’t imagine that surly bastard with a family, and he definitely couldn’t picture Goodie as a ‘family friend’.
‘That’s great but I need more info on the girl. Keep digging.’
Walker sighed down the phone. ‘Listen, Nick, you know how I love to take your money, but this is pointless; I’m getting nowhere. I’d have to actually go to Russia to even start to –’
‘Go.’ Nick cut him off.
‘What?’
‘Go to Russia.’
‘I can’t just swan off to Russia; I’ve got other cases here, I –’
‘I’ll double every fee in your caseload and pay it tomorrow if you concentrate on this one. I know you’ve got other guys who are capable of taking over whilst you go away.’
‘You’re a lunatic, you know that, right?’ Walker chuckled.
‘It’s called eccentric, Walker. When you’ve got money it’s called being eccentric.’ With that, Nick ended the call. At least if Walker was going to Russia it would feel like Nick was actually doing something to solve the mystery that was eating away at him. He’d told Walker that it was simply because she would have to be around his family that he wanted to know her history, but he knew that was just an excuse.
After the charity ball, he’d asked Goodie if she knew Natasha Alkaev. She’d showed absolutely no reaction to the question, merely staring at him as if weighing something up, after which she told him, ‘I worked with her for a while a long time ago.’ That was all she would say. And Nick noticed the significance of the word ‘with’. In referring to her job as his security, she would always say she was workingforhim, notwithhim. It was a subtle difference but there was very little that got past Nick when he was paying attention, and when it came to Goodie he was definitely paying attention.
