Crash Course by Derek Fee (pdf to ebook reader .txt) 📕

“Let me introduce you to one of my biggest English customers.” Safardi pulled back a chair for Morweena. “This is Veeral Hackett. He and you have an acquaintance in common. Veeral has been searching for Mr Kane for some time. He only recently learned his real name and it is a great coincidence that he was in Spain. He is overjoyed at the prospect of meeting Mr Kane again.”

Morweena stared into Hackett’s face. She recognised a level of cruelty. The only way they could escape was if Mark killed these men and their accomplices. She looked at the two guards at either end of the room. There was a general sense of alertness about them that she hadn’t noticed before. They were prepared for something to happen. Safardi and Pedro had put the villa on a war footing. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the telephone’s bell resounding in the marble hallway. The diners sat looking at each other while Hasan went to pick up the handset.

The servant entered the dining room and shot out a stream of rapid Arabic at his master. Morweena thought she heard the word Kane in the middle of the stream.

“There now,” Safardi said, rising from the table and tossing his napkin onto his plate. “It’s as I told you, Veeral. You can always depend on the English to be true to form. Kane is on the telephone.” Safardi pulled back Morweena’s chair. “Please come with me.”

Hackett’s eyes followed Safardi and Morweena as they left the room.

They went into the hall and Safardi picked up the telephone receiver.

“Mr Kane, how nice of you to call. I’ve been expecting to hear from you.”

“I’ll bet you have.” Kane had waited until his arrival in Badajoz before contacting Safardi.

“First things first,” Safardi kept his voice calm. “You still have my merchandise.”

“It’s still where it was. I start giving out free samples only if we can’t come to an agreement. Please put Morweena on the line.”

“He wishes to speak to you,” Safardi passed over the handset reluctantly. “Please be careful what you say.”

“Mark, thank God you’re all right,” Morweena gushed as soon as she put the phone to her mouth. “I know everything.”

“Are you okay?” There was a catch in his voice. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m fine, especially now that I know that you’re safe. Someone that knows you is here: Veeral Hackett.”

“Enough.” Safardi pulled the handset from Morweena’s fingers. “As you see, Mr Kane, your friend has not been harmed. Neither was it my intention to harm either of you.”

“Perhaps you should have made your intentions plainer to your employees. I got the impression that Jaime had something else in mind for me.”

“When can I expect delivery?”

“Later this evening.”

“Where?”

“I’ll let you know closer to the time.”

“Please don’t think of double-crossing me. It could be bad for Miss Penhalion.”

“That advice cuts both ways. Let me speak to Morweena again.”

“No.”

“Bastard,” Kane said through clenched teeth.

Safardi smiled and put down the phone. He turned to Morweena. “That was excellent.”

“Good news I hope,” Hackett said from the doorway of the dining room.

“The best. Our merchandise is perfectly safe and he wants to exchange it for his lady friend tonight.”

“Perfect, mon.” Hackett raised his glass in a toast. “We goin’ to have some fun.”

“Hasan.” The servant materialised instantly at the sound of his master’s voice. “Find Pedro and send him to my private quarters. Then escort Miss Penhalion back to her room.” He stalked off towards his rooms. “Veeral, please come with me. There are preparations to be made.”

Chapter Fifty-Two

As soon as Safardi cut the call, Kane called Davenport’s number in London.

“Don’t talk just listen,” Kane said as soon as the phone was answered. “Barrett and Safardi are the drug runners. Safardi hired me to do the last run off the west coast of Spain. I’ve got rid of the men who were guarding me and I have more than a hundred kilos in the boot of the car I’m travelling in. Safardi has Morweena Penhalion and Doc has disappeared. They must have stashed him somewhere but he’s not with Safardi. I’ve set up a meeting with Safardi for tonight to exchange the drugs for Morweena. I still haven’t made up my mind where but there’s a place in the Coto Doñana. I want you there as soon as you can.”

“You have to delay. We need time to plan a proper operation. I’m not going off half-cocked into an area we haven’t reconnoitred. You’re putting other lives at risk I know you don’t value your own life but think of my team? How many men does Safardi have? How are they armed? Even if we scramble now, we’ll never make the south of Spain by tonight.”

“Too late. It’s set for nine. Count on ten men, small arms only. Safardi is only expecting me. And to add some spice to the encounter, Veeral Hackett is at Safardi’s villa.”

“He skipped bail and has been looking for you since. Where are you now?”

“On the road between Badajoz and Seville.

“Where the hell is this Coto Doñana?”

“Get yourself a detailed map of the area to the west of Marbella. South of Seville there’s a sort of national park called the Doñana. It straddles the delta of the Guadalquivir River.” He tried to play back the journey they had taken three days previously. “About twenty kilometres south of Seville you come to a sign for a village called Los Palacios y Villafranca. The road is narrow and bumpy. Two kilometres further along you’ll see a track heading into flat swampland. After that you pass a sign for Las Marismas, three kilometres further on, look out on your right side for a copse of pine trees overhanging a swampy pool.”

“This is crazy. You’ll get yourself and Miss Penhalion killed.”

“No foolishness. Only calculated risks.” Kane closed the call. The phone rang immediately but he ignored it.

Outside Seville, Kane called Safardi. “I’ve made up my mind as to the place for the exchange.”

“Excellent,” Safardi said. Where