Perfect Strangers

‘I did not get Nick killed!’ shouted Lana.

‘Well, who did?’ said Josh. ‘If you hadn’t roped him into your dirty little scheme, he’d still be alive!’

‘Why do you think his death was anything to do with this?’ said Lana defensively.

‘You want us to believe it was his little wine scam?’ sneered Josh. ‘Don’t make me bloody laugh! There are billions involved in this!’

‘STOP! Both of you!’ yelled Sophie, holding her hands over her ears. ‘Please, I can’t stand it!’

Silence descended on the room.

‘Whoever killed Nick is now after Sophie,’ said Josh, still glaring at Lana. ‘In London two Russians tried to shoot her. They turned up again in Nice. We don’t know who they are, but they are armed, connected and resourceful.’ He tapped a finger against the thick file. ‘So who are they?’

Lana bit her lip and looked thoughtful. ‘Russians?’

‘Eastern European of some description. Although I suppose they could just be guns for hire.’

‘If my team managed to trace Asner’s involvement with Peter Ellis, it’s possible other investors made the same connection,’ said Lana. ‘A lot of rich people gave a lot of money to Asner, and no doubt they want it back just as much as me. There’s a list of the probables in my file. Ukrainian oligarchs, Chinese business fronts, maybe even the Russian Mafia.’

‘Jesus,’ said Josh.

‘Could I have a drink?’ croaked Sophie.

Lana poured her a large brandy and Sophie put the cool glass to her cheek. Could it be true? It was insane, but in some funny way, it did provide an explanation for what had happened. Peter and Michael Asner were old friends, and her dad was also experienced in offshore financial planning, Sophie knew that from her work at his firm. Dad didn’t really have any close friends, only the old duffers at the sailing club, and if he’d had a secret to keep, he certainly wouldn’t have shared it with her mother. Julia Ellis was not the sort of woman you’d tell anything important, not unless you were happy for everyone in the butcher’s and the post office to know every detail by the end of the day. She knocked back the cognac, wincing as it burned her throat.

‘What do you know, Sophie?’ asked Josh.

‘I don’t know anything,’ she said, looking down at her empty glass. ‘Really, I don’t.’

Lana came across and sat down beside her.

‘Sophie, you must. Maybe Nick did get killed because of it.’

‘You think he found something?’ asked Josh.

Lana looked at him.

‘Perhaps. Nick’s brief was to talk to Sophie about her father, see if he had told you anything, maybe mentioned a bank account or some tax haven you used to go to on holiday. So yes, maybe he did discover something.’

‘And you think he tried to use that information to his own advantage?’

‘That might explain the Russians,’ said Lana sadly. ‘Nick was smart, he could have worked out that selling the information to the highest bidder was more lucrative than the money I was paying him. And perhaps they killed him when he was no longer useful.’

Josh shook his head.

‘That doesn’t add up. If Nick had given them the information, then why go after Sophie?’

Lana lit another cigarette and stood up.

‘Maybe he changed his mind, refused to tell them? I haven’t got all the answers,’ she said, taking a long drag. ‘That’s why I need you.’

‘Us?’ said Sophie warily. ‘What for?’

‘She wants us to find the money,’ said Josh. ‘Right?’

Lana nodded, blowing out smoke. ‘If we find it and return it to the proper authorities, then you’re free.’ She shrugged. ‘There is no point in

anybody chasing you.’