Geneva Connection, The (39 page)
Read Geneva Connection, The Online
Authors: Martin Bodenham
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Thrillers & Suspense, #Financial, #Thrillers
“Just do as I say.” Tara had taken out a pistol from her handbag and had it pointed at him.
“What the hell are you doing? Are you mad?”
“Shut up and get out of the car.”
“What?”
She released the safety and moved her finger over the trigger. “Get out of the fucking car.”
Kent climbed out of the vehicle. Tara did the same, keeping the gun pointed at him.
“Throw me the keys,” she said, closing the gap between them.
“Have you lost your mind? What are you playing at?”
Tara shot at the ground close to Kent’s feet.
He jumped out of the way. “Okay, okay,” he said, holding up his hands.
“The next one won’t miss. Now throw me the keys.”
He threw them to her.
She pointed with the pistol to the gate leading to the wood. “Follow the footpath.”
Kent did what he was told while Tara followed him with the gun pointing at his back. After five hundred yards, they reached the Elizabethan ruin of Lyveden New Bield, a dilapidated aristocratic manor house. Tara ordered Kent into the building. It was getting dark, and no one was about.
“Get on your knees.”
Kent knelt on the ground. “Tara, please, what’s going on?”
She walked around to face him, holding the pistol two feet away from his head. “This is about the documents you provided to the DEA.”
“What documents? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play games with me, John. I know all about the files you gave to Mark Merriman.”
“I swear, Tara, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I had no contact with the DEA before they called me to say they’d seized Tritona’s assets. I haven’t given them any documents.”
“There’s no point denying it. The cartel has a mole inside the DEA.”
Kent flinched. “What do you know about the cartel?”
“Everything.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I work for the cartel. I always have.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Do you really think Tritona just stumbled across CBC?”
“What do you mean?”
“I knew how desperate you were to find another investor to replace Grampian Capital. That’s when I introduced Tritona.”
Kent lowered his head. “You’re making this up.”
“The cartel has a number of people, like me, who’ve been placed in key financial firms.”
“Why?”
“Our job is to introduce them when a firm like CBC is desperate for money and isn’t likely to ask too many questions.”
“I don’t believe you, Tara. What are you really up to?”
Somehow, she must have found out about HS1, Kent thought. She always had access to his private files. Now CBC was over, she was looking to be cut into the deal. That’s what this was all about—money.
Kent made eye contact with Tara. “You know about High Speed 1, don’t you?”
“This has nothing to do with HS1.”
“You want a slice of it. Am I right?”
“A slice of what?”
“Drop the pretense. You know I’ve stolen that investment and you want in on it. Don’t treat me like a fool.”
“You’re more stupid than I thought.”
“I know what you’re after. I get it; I’ll cut you in. It’s big enough for both of us.”
Tara shook her head. “I’ve just told you I work for the cartel, and now you tell me you’ve stolen one of our assets.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“How do you think Tritona knew to step in to CBC’s shoes on the Henderson Wright deal?”
“Coincidence.”
“Don’t be an idiot. Do you really think it was a coincidence the DVD of us in the hotel room in Geneva turned up just as you were planning to write to the NCA?”
“You knew about the DVD?”
Tara laughed. “We set you up. The whole time in Geneva was planned. We had the DVD ready in case we needed leverage over you, in case you failed to cooperate.”
“I thought it meant something to you.”
Tara raised an eyebrow and snorted. “You can’t really believe I found you attractive? You’re pathetic.”
The woman had played him from the start. “You bitch.”
“Finally, you’re getting it. Now you must realize Anton’s death was no cycling accident?”
“You didn’t kill him. Please, tell me that you had nothing to do with that.”
“He was in our way, asking too many questions, so I had to deal with him. Doug Wright was another one.”
“Oh, Jesus!”
Tara walked closer to Kent, holding the pistol only six inches from his head.
“Tara, please. I beg you. Your mother. What would she think if she saw you now?”
She smiled. “My mother’s been dead for years. You still don’t get it, do you?”
A chill coursed through Kent’s veins. “You evil—”
“You should’ve stuck to investing, John. If you’d played the game, you’d have been rich. The moment you agreed to help the DEA, your future was written.”
She moved her finger over the trigger.
Kent closed his eyes. He thought of his wife and of the life they would never live together. He thought how much he loved her.
I’m so sorry, Sarah. Forgive me, my darling.
He braced himself. “Tara, please.”
The sound of a single shot reverberated around the old ruin as Tara fell to the floor. She was dead before she hit the ground.
Slowly, Kent opened his eyes.
Am I still alive?
He jumped to his feet and looked around. Tara’s contorted body was facedown, blood spurting from the bullet wound in her head. “How did it all come to this?” he mumbled.
There was movement in the shadows some fifty feet away. The light was fading fast; it was difficult to see anything. Kent narrowed his eyes. “Who’s there?”
The red dot of a rifle’s laser sight appeared in the middle of Kent’s chest. The round ripped through his heart before the sound of the shot reached his ears.
Merriman was seated behind his desk when his cell phone rang.
“Merriman,” he said, answering the call.
“It’s done.”
END
Glossary of Terms
DEA
: Drug Enforcement Administration. This US government agency is responsible for investigating and assisting in the prosecution of criminals involved in the illegal narcotics trade.
FCA
: The Financial Conduct Authority. This is the government body responsible for the regulation of financial services firms in the UK.
Leveraged buyout
: The acquisition of a company assisted by debt finance. A leveraged buyout firm is a private equity company that specializes in undertaking leveraged buyouts.
SEC
: The Securities and Exchange Commission. Among other things, this is the body responsible for the regulation of public companies in the US.
NCA
: The National Crime Agency. This UK law enforcement body, known as the “British FBI,” is responsible for tackling serious organized crime, including class A drugs, people smuggling, fraud and major gun crime.
SPV
: Special purpose vehicle. These are corporate and other legal structures used to acquire investments and other assets.
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank the following for their patience and assistance in reviewing the various drafts of my novel and for their encouragement:
Coreen Montagna, Chris Gilliat, Ally Butler, Jon Glesinger, Michael and Victoria Klincke, and Rita Camplejohn.
Martin Bodenham
Vancouver, Canada
December 2014
About the Author
Martin Bodenham is a writer of international thriller novels based around crime and the financial markets. His debut novel,
The Geneva Connection
, has been at the top of Goodreads’ financial thriller list for a number of years.
Although he lives on Canada’s west coast, he was born in England to an American father, who was in the US Air Force, and a British mother. He was educated at the Duke of York’s Royal Military School in Kent and at the University of Leicester, where he read economics.
After university, he trained as a chartered accountant, working in the UK and USA. He spent the next thirty years in private equity, working either as an investor or advisor. Most recently, he was the CEO of Advantage Capital, a London-based private equity firm. Along the way, he was an investor at 3i and Close Brothers, and a corporate finance partner at both KPMG and Ernst & Young.
More details on his writing can be found at his website:
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