El Pantera: No-one said it would be easy. Read online

  “When was that?”

  “I don’t know the day, it was the day I was taken from the jungle, I was drugged again, I thought it was the toxin. I woke up on a small plane and it landed in Haiti, I didn’t know where I was. I was told to get out of the plane then they threw a small case to me and took off, there was a lot of money, dollars in the case.”

  Steve could hear talking outside the door, “There are people coming I have to go, please ring me back in a few days, Saturday or Sunday is better. I believe you.”

  Steve closed the call.

  Wednesday 26th April

  The train to Madrid had departed from Sants station in Barcelona on time, Steve had a seat in the first-class coach. He made a call from his personal mobile.

  “Good morning Steve, this is a pleasant surprise, how are you?” It was Maddison Roberts, who was now running the business and was a partner with Steve and Josh of ‘JOB Security’ in Alderley Edge. Steve was a sleeping partner and didn’t interfere, it was doing well.

  “Good morning to you Maddison, sorry I haven’t been in touch lately, I can hear you’ve not lost your accent yet, are you and Josh both okay?”

  “Yes, we are fine, both very busy you will be pleased to hear. Josh is doing very well on the security side of things and I’m about ready to launch the new investigative mobile technology. The NCA and most of the British police are interested, and I’ve got a stall at the Interpol meeting and a few security events in Europe, so I’m hopeful.”

  “Sounds very promising, I’m sure it will be a success. Just thinking, are you still doing trials or is it working?”

  “It’s working, but not in an official capacity, sort of, so I suppose you could say it’s being trialled, do you have something in mind?”

  “Would it work on a call that was being used without a number?”

  “I have been trialling that recently, obviously the recent problems with the new criminal encrypted phones, they are causing major problems but also VPN on messaging. It’s difficult, but I’m sure you will remember the set-up Walter had in Panama when you were identifying numbers, well it can be used the other way to identify locations.”

  “Go on, it sounds complicated.”

  “Walter used the call from one phone to identify other active mobiles in the area, a series of calls eliminated numbers until it was down to one number as the mobile moved around. In reverse, if the nearby calls are coming from numbers that are not using hidden numbers, you would identify a location where the nearby calls are being made from.”

  “Does it work Maddison? Do you want to run a trial this weekend?”

  “It would probably take a few minutes to run, depending on the distance involved.” A thought came into the head of Maddison, putting two and two together, “Would this be a long-distance call possibly, any paperwork involved?”

  “I don’t know really,” he lied “it could be I suppose. There would be no need for paperwork, let’s just say I’ve got an interest in someone’s location.”

  Maddison without hesitation, “Yes, no problems, I will do it myself. Do you have a time period?”

  “Yes, Saturday or Sunday afternoon. If it is on Saturday, I can ask for another call on Sunday if that would be helpful.”

  “I can fit that in, is it your phone, the phone you are using now?”

  “Yes, it will be.”

  “Yes, okay, I will come in at 11 on Saturday and Sunday for a trial run. That’s correct, isn’t it Steve?”

  “Thanks Maddison, I will be in touch.”

  chapter 2

  Saturday 29th April.

  It was a warm, sunny day in Madrid, it was already 24 degrees as Steve was running through Parque de la Ventilla. Quite a few locals were out running, walking, and enjoying the sun and the shade of the trees. He had run to the farthest point of the park and was now returning in the direction of his apartment; his dark blue running vest was sticking to his back. Checking his watch, he saw he was doing a good personal time this morning, then checking the time, it was 09: 38. He pushed hard to finish towards the end of the park, he was building his fitness.

  Steve had showered and made his breakfast of black coffee, tostada with tomatoes and olive oil. His personal tablet was switched on, it was to the side of his plate; he was researching the Golden Frog and the Emberá people. He ignored the villages that were used by the tribe to attract tourists with their dollars which would be spent on the dancing displays, photographs, and woven multi coloured items made by the women of the tribe. He explored inland, further upstream of the large Chagres River into the forests, the Chepo and Rio Maje had small tribal camps, these were all in Panama. The Rio Atrata ran across the North Colombian mountains. It was close to the Panama border and emptied into the Atlantic Ocean. Thousands of square miles, it would be impossible to pinpoint. Steve was favouring the Rio Atrata, it was in the natural habitat of the Golden Frog. “Why would the Cartel be collecting so much toxin, they have easy access to firearms, explosives, why this primitive lethal method?” he asked himself. He thought then answered himself, “Silent, easy to conceal, easy to use but you would have to be close to the intended victim.” He made notes in his handbook and underlined Atrata. He cleared the table, picking up his mobile he made a call.

  “Good morning Maddison.”

  “Hi Steve, good morning, I’ve been in a little while and I have your phone linked to the system, just in case you have any private calls to make you don’t want me to know about.”

  “Oh yes, that’s highly likely, not. However, hopefully there should be one call incoming I want you to know about. Do I have to do anything?”

  “No, just keep the other person on the line, keep her chatting, I mean, keep the other person talking on the line.”

  “Maddison, you do not know who is calling me, is that clear.”

  “Very clear, I meant to say person.” As she pulled an awkward look on her face, “Sorry about that Steve.”

  “No problem Maddison, I’m just trying something that might work, possibly for all of our benefit.”

  “I’m fine, I’m fine with whatever it is, I’m definitely on your side. I don’t want to know and don’t need to know, but if I can help I will.”

  “I know you are Maddison; I trust you. I will not get you involved in anything you shouldn’t be, I promise. What do I have to do now?”

  “Nothing really, just keep your phone charged and in a good reception area and wait for the person to phone. It will automatically activate the search system, hopefully hitting some nearby calls which the system will close in on. I don’t know if I should ask this, but it could help if you had a number of a mobile in the same area, it would make it quicker”

  “I might be able to get one but not today, it’s a better test of the system anyway.”

  Maddison raised her eyebrows but didn’t ask the question, “Yes okay Steve, we just have to wait. I’ll call you after the call is finished to let you know the result.”

  “Thanks, I’ll just watch a bit of tv and wait.”

  The call was ended, it was time to wait again, it felt as if Steve spent most of his time waiting.

  It was 3pm on the hour in Madrid, 2pm in Alderley Edge when the mobile started ringing. There was no number displayed, Steve answered the call, Maddison activated the search system.

  “Hola” Steve responded.

  “Hola Steve, I told you I would call.”

  “Thank you Gabi for calling back, I’ve been waiting and I have been thinking since your last call.”

  “I thought you would, are you attempting to trace this call?”

  “No, why would I do that, I want to talk to you.”

  “Possibly because I’m an escaped murderer and you want to put me back into prison.”

  Steve answered honestly, with wishful thinking, “Gabi, you are more important and valuable to me when you are a free woman. Panama police will not think that way, so I will not let them know.”

  “So, we have to trust each
other. Me, I have nothing to lose apart from my freedom, which will not last long, I am sure of that. Prison, or preferably a quick death waits for me, how long, who knows.”

  “I am alone in my apartment, please believe me, that is why I asked you to ring. I have told no-one. This is just us two, unless Gloria is involved.” Steve asked.

  “Gloria knows some of what I know, and she can be involved if needed, she knows us both but I prefer just you and I.”

  “Can I ask questions? It might make it easier for me.”

  “Yes, I have time on my side. You ask questions?”

  “What you told me about the frog toxin, do you know why they are collecting the large amounts from the natives?”

  Gabi shook her head, “Steve, I have told you what I have seen. They did not tell me, there were two guards in the village watching me, where was I supposed to run or swim? They didn’t have conversation with me, like in the movies. What do you think? They must be planning on a killing spree, I proved to them that the poison worked.”

  “Okay, I understand.”

  Gabi spoke first, “Before you ask, I have no idea where, I have also been thinking. Yes, it was in the jungle, I think it was high, the camp was on the west side of the river, the sun was first seen through the trees across the river then moved right, south. The river was moving quite fast, in the time I was there no one, no other natives passed the village. One more thing, there were no women in the village, just the men collecting the toxin, the two guards and me.”

  “How did you get the call off Carmen?”

  “It was amazing, I was sitting in the shade of the hut, one of the guards walked to me and handed me the phone. I put it to my ear, and I knew it was Carmen’s voice, she said, ‘Hola my beautiful sister, I hope you are being looked after.’ She then told me that she was with Manolo in the hacienda, and she had asked him to release me from prison.”

  “How long was the call?”

  “Not long, Manolo was listening, she could not say much, but I knew she did not want to be there. She wanted me to be happy, I was supposed to go somewhere, with the money I was going to get and start again. I did not know I would get so much.”

  “Why did they inject you before they took you out of the camp?”

  Gabi answered surprised, “Why do you think? They did not want me to know where the camp was.”

  “When did they inject you, not the day but how?”

  “We would go with one of the natives to get the fish nets on the evening, I was sat in the canoe, the guard behind me pushed it into my neck, I told you, I thought I was going to die again.”

  “Then you woke up on the plane?”

  “Just about half an hour before we landed in Haiti, it was dark. I got out of the plane walked to a road nearby and into the nearest town.”

  “Okay, Gabi, you say you can trust me.”

  “No, I said I wanted to trust you. You could be telling me lies, and there are other police where you are, listening to this call.”

  “Yes, you can trust me. I can assure you; no one is in my apartment listening to this call.”

  “Okay, I want to believe you, I think I can.”

  “You told me you knew the name of the man who killed Jessica.”

  “Yes, I do, he also killed the American policeman who was looking after Josh.”

  Maddison had eventually traced the country where the call had originated and was closing on the signal. “Keep it going Steve” she was saying repeatedly to herself.

  There was a knock on the door, “You have people in your apartment, I have heard them.”

  Steve immediately looked at the door, “No Gabi, believe me, I haven’t, it will be one of my mates from one of the other apartments, just asking about going for a drink.”

  The line went dead, Steve threw his mobile down onto the sofa in anger and frustration, he calmed himself and walked to the door. On opening the door, he was face to face with Gabi. He could only see her face; she could have been naked he would not have known. His mouth dropped open as they both looked at each other. Steve had a sudden urge to grab her and hold her tight in a hug, not a restraining hold. He had a quick look both ways down the corridor, then indicated for Gabi to enter his apartment, she slowly walked in looking around the door into the space she could see.

  Maddison pinged the unknown phone in the immediate vicinity of Steve’s mobile, she didn’t swear, “Oh my God, oh my God. What the fuck.” The accent hadn’t changed but the language had. Picking up her own mobile she went to call Steve and then stopped herself, she sat down looking at the screen, the other mobile was not moving.

  Steve felt awkward in more ways than he could tell, he was wearing a tee shirt and shorts, his leg scars were visible. He was harbouring an escaped prisoner, who was responsible for murdering Felipe, the Pig, Martin Chapman, and Borja Sanchez. International drug dealing on a massive scale, her father had tried to kill him and Jessica, they had killed her father and the actions of her prison escape resulted with Jessica being killed. “Please, sit down, anywhere you want.” He now noticed that Gabi was wearing a brightly coloured flower-patterned blouse, tight blue denim jeans and blue converse shoes with a white sole. She was carrying a black leather bag over her left shoulder. Her hair was the same style as the last time he had seen her, dark and wavy below her shoulders, a small amount of makeup on her face, a very close resemblance of Sarah.

  Gabi had a look in the rooms of the apartment. Steve had been telling the truth, she looked out of the window down onto the street below, there was no urgent rush of police cars or sirens sounding. She took a seat facing the television and the photograph of Sarah, she asked Steve, “Is this your new friend, she reminds me of someone.” She gave Steve a smile, “No photograph of Jessica?” she asked.

  Ignoring the question, “How did you know where I was living?”

  Gabi shook her head, “Where do you work from, The Embassy? Where do you go with your friends, The Covent Garden? It was so easy to find you, you do not think people are looking for you, so you don’t look for them.”

  Steve picked up his mobile, Gabi looked at him as he switched it off. “I don’t want any more interruptions and I certainly don’t want anyone knocking on my door.” Steve took a seat opposite Gabi. “You know when I said it was difficult for me, that was an understatement, if you know what I mean.”

  Gabi smiled and nodded.

  Steve had a sudden frightening thought, “Have you come here to kill me?”

  Gabi had heard similar words before from a British policeman, “No, I have not. I don’t blame you for asking,” she passed her handbag to Steve for examination, he didn’t bother and placed it on the coffee table which made him think.

  “I’m sorry, do you want a coffee or a cold drink, a little shocked I have forgot my manners.”

  Gabi was relaxing and sat back into the chair, “Do you have a diet Cola?”

  Steve was out of his chair, he took two glasses from the cupboard, two ice cubes in each glass and filled them both with diet Cola. Gabi was scanning the room as he was pouring the drinks.

  They sat facing each other in silence, the beautiful young woman sat opposite Steve was a killer, he found it hard to believe but he knew she was a killer. He was thinking. “Did you have a plan when you came to my door?” he asked.

  Gabi replied, “I haven’t seen your friend, is she working away?”

  Steve immediately pointed his index finger into the face of Gabi, “You leave her out of this, she has nothing to do with this, or whatever we have is over.”

  She smiled back at him, “What exactly do we have, we are not lovers, not in a relationship? We want the same thing I believe, justice for Jessica, that’s if you still remember Jessica?”

  Steve was losing his calm, “Of course I remember Jessica, but I’m trying to move on. I still want justice.” He continued after a brief silence, “Why did you come to Madrid, you could have gone anywhere, called me from anywhere?”

  “I wanted to kn
ow that I could trust you.”

  “Well, that’s a really big risk, walking into the lion’s den, an apartment block full of police officers, to see me? The guy who flattened you and stopped you escaping, who loved Jessica, who was killed in your escape.”

  “Well, it has worked so far,” she cupped her hand around her left ear. “I do trust you and we can go on together from here”

  Steve was confused, “What do you mean, go on from here?”

  “I have plans, some involve you, and some involve your policia colleagues and some on my own. I am currently safe in this country, I have legal documents, I cause no problems, so, I plan to stay here for a while, no more killing.”