Perfect Strangers

He turned and offered a hand.

‘Then I am pleased to meet you, Sophie Ellis.’

Sophie was stunned. On the drive from the Steppes, she had imagined what Uri the Bear’s son would be like and had pictured a crop-haired thug with a scarred face. The real Sergei Kaskov looked like a model in a Ralph Lauren advert and sounded like the product of an English prep school. He motioned to a security guard to take the horse away.

‘Let’s sit by the water,’ he said, walking down the lawn. ‘It’s a much more pleasant place to talk.’

The grass ended in a tiled area surrounding a beautiful infinity pool which seemed to flow straight into the ocean beyond the compound. Sergei gestured towards a pair of white sofas separated by a low table. ‘Please, make yourselves comfortable,’ he said. ‘Can I get you anything to drink? Some food perhaps?’

‘Thank you, no,’ said Sophie as they sat across from him. Despite the Russian’s smooth manner, she was on edge and her appetite had completely deserted her. It didn’t help that the squat man and two others were standing at a discreet distance watching their every move. She didn’t want to turn, but she suspected there were others behind them too.

‘Well now,’ said Sergei. ‘It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m sure you’re aware we’ve been looking for you for quite some time.’

‘Looking for her? That’s one way of putting it,’ said Josh.

Sophie willed him to be quiet. Sergei might look like a gentleman, but they had both heard about his father’s impatience with Michael Asner; she sensed confrontation was not the best approach.

‘I have not been seeking Miss Ellis personally, Mr McCormack,’ said Sergei calmly. ‘Although having now met her, perhaps I should have done. Sadly, these days it is often necessary to outsource certain tasks. I apologise if one of my contractors has been a little heavy-handed.’

‘We’ve been shot at, chased, run off the road,’ said Josh. ‘You could have killed her.’

‘I don’t want to kill you, Miss Ellis,’ said Sergei, leaving a slight emphasis on the word ‘want’. Sophie looked into those glacial blue eyes and got the message loud and clear. He didn’t want to, but he would if he had to.

‘Whatever you may have heard about me, I am simply a businessman. My father conducted a transaction with Michael Asner and we expect that contract to be honoured. It’s quite simple.’

A maid came and placed a tray on the table, and handed them all a cold glass of pale liquid.

‘This is kvass, a traditional Russian drink. Try it,’ said Sergei. It wasn’t a request. Sophie sipped it and suppressed a cough as it burned down her throat.

‘It’s good, isn’t it?’ smiled Sergei.

> ‘What do you want from us, Mr Kaskov?’

He wiped a small fingerprint smear from the top of his glass.

‘I rather thought that was obvious,’ he said. ‘My father protected Michael Asner in prison. In return, Michael offered him a large amount of money. My father called in his investment, but Asner began to drag his feet. Understandably my father was angry.’

‘And he killed him,’ said Josh.

‘That was unfortunate,’ said Sergei, as if it was of no consequence. ‘Personally I would have waited until Mr Asner had told us how to locate the money. As it was, we only had the first name of the man who was the guardian of the funds. It was weeks before we discovered that “Peter” was your father, Miss Ellis. And then we discovered that he too had passed on.’

‘Did you kill him as well?’

It wasn’t until Josh had asked the question that Sophie realised she desperately wanted to hear the answer. She felt sure you could make a murder look like a heart attack. But Sergei was shaking his head.

‘We are not barbaric, Mr McCormack. And we are not stupid; we don’t make the same mistake twice.’

He looked at them as he sipped his drink slowly.

‘So,’ he said finally. ‘I simply wish to know where the money is. Give it to us and I promise you will never see or hear from us again.’

Sophie suddenly pictured Uri’s men – or had they been Sergei’s? – in her apartment, tearing it apart to find what they wanted; then she saw them in Wade House, beside the river in Chelsea, at the station in Nice, and she knew Josh had been right. These men were ruthless. They would never rest until they had what they wanted.

‘She doesn’t know where the money is,’ said Josh.

‘You’ll excuse me,’ said Sergei, ‘but I don’t believe that.’

‘Well why do you think we’re here?’ said Josh.