Stephen Leather - True Colours

‘But I don’t see how they could have given asylum to Khan. He shot an SAS captain. Hell, Razor, he shot me.’

‘Yeah, well, presumably he didn’t tell the immigration tribunal that. It’s much more likely that he told them he was a poor farmer who was threatened with beheading because he didn’t give all his money to the Taliban.’

‘Can you find out, Razor? Run his name and date of birth through the PNC but also see if you can find out anything about his immigration status?’

‘You’re not asking much, are you?’

‘Pretty please.’

Sharpe laughed. ‘Yeah, don’t worry, I’m on it. Now what about that drink? You around tonight?’

‘I’m in Cyprus. Taking care of a Russian guy who as we speak is being taken care of by some of the fittest hookers I’ve seen in a long time.’

‘You get all the best jobs,’ said Sharpe. ‘I’ll call you if I get anything.’ Shepherd cut the connection. As he turned around he was startled to see Podolski walking towards him, holding a pack of cigarettes in one hand and a lighter in the other.

‘Sorry, didn’t mean to alarm you,’ she said, taking out a cigarette and slipping it between her lips. She offered him the pack but he shook his head.

‘I didn’t realise you were a smoker,’ he said.

She lit her cigarette and blew smoke before shrugging. ‘I don’t get the chance, much,’ she said. ‘Can’t smoke in buildings or cars or planes. And when I’m outside I’m usually working.’ She looked at the burning cigarette in her hand. ‘This is my first since last night.’

‘So you’re not addicted?’

She laughed and tossed her hair. ‘I just like smoking. Same as I enjoy a glass of wine or a joint.’ She saw the look of surprise on his face and smiled slyly. ‘I forgot you were a policeman. You won’t arrest me, will you?’

‘We’re in Cyprus,’ said Shepherd. ‘I can’t arrest you here.’

‘But you can carry your gun.’

‘Ah, because Cyprus is in the EU so Europol can arrange it. What about you, Alina? Were you a cop?’ Having seen her file he knew her work history by heart. She had graduated from the Petro Sahaidachny Ground Forces Academy before spending six years with the Ukrainian armed forces. She’d seen action too, with two tours in Iraq, and in 2004 she’d been wounded when Ukraine’s peacekeeping contingent was almost overwhelmed by Mahdi militants.

‘I was a soldier,’ she said. ‘Ukrainian army. But this pays better.’

‘How did you get the job?’

She shrugged. ‘Friend of a friend. I heard they were looking for Russian speakers at short notice and I was between jobs.’ She took a long drag on her cigarette and then carefully blew the smoke away from him. ‘To be honest, I normally get to work with the wives.’

‘Because the wives prefer female bodyguards?’

She flicked the hair away from her eyes. ‘Because the wives don’t want me working with their husbands,’ she said.

‘I can see why you’d be a worry,’ said Shepherd.

‘How sexist is that?’ she said, her eyes flashing. ‘Would anyone assume that you were going to screw Mrs Grechko’s wife just because you’ve got a dick? You’re either professional or you’re not, it’s got nothing to do with what sex you are.’

Shepherd raised his hands. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I was clumsily trying to pay you a compliment.’

She tilted her head on one side, then slowly smiled. ‘OK, I suppose that was a compliment, in a way.’

‘What’s it like, taking care of the wives?’ he asked.

‘There’s a lot of shopping involved,’ she said. ‘And they always insist that I help carry the bags, even when I explain that bodyguards have to keep their hands free.’

‘At least you don’t get the sort of nonsense we’ve got here tonight,’ said Shepherd.

‘Don’t you believe it,’ said Podolski. ‘The wives aren’t stupid. They know what their husbands get up to and what’s sauce for the goose …’ She shrugged. ‘They deserve each other.’

‘You’ve got a pretty low opinion of our principals?’

She looked up at the bedroom windows and scowled. ‘He’s on his second wife and yet he’s up there rutting like a pig,’ she said. ‘And the wives? Have you seen the way they spend? The last woman I was with, when she went to the Louis Vuitton store in Bond Street they would close it for her so she could walk around. If she saw a bag she liked, she’d buy fifty and have them sent to her friends. Never to the staff, of course. We were invisible unless she needed us to fetch and carry. She would buy dresses by the dozen and wear them once.’ She turned back to Shepherd. ‘You’ve seen Mrs Grechko’s dressing rooms? Do you think she’ll ever wear half the shoes that she owns?’ She took a final drag on her cigarette and flicked it away. ‘More money than sense,’ she said. ‘My father would have to work for a year to afford a single pair of her shoes.’

‘Life’s not fair, that’s for sure,’ said Shepherd.

‘You think that woman has worked a day in her life?’ she continued. ‘She opens her legs, that’s all the work she has ever done. And she lives like a princess.’

‘Yeah, but is she happy?’ asked Shepherd.

Podolski opened her mouth to reply and then realised he was joking. She laughed and tossed her head, flicking her hair to the side. ‘I moan too much,’ she said.

Shepherd shrugged. ‘No, I take your point,’ he said. ‘There is something very wrong with a world that allows one man to have so much, when children are dying because they don’t have enough to eat. His house, it’s just …’

‘So big?’

‘So big. And tacky. And unnecessary. Rooms that no one ever uses.’

‘It’s for show,’ said Podolski. ‘All of this is. The houses, the clothes, the yachts, the planes. None of it is really necessary.’ She laughed again. ‘We’re starting to sound like couple of communists, aren’t we?’

‘God forbid,’ said Shepherd.

She looked at her watch. ‘I’m going to get a bite to eat. There’s a chef in the kitchen who’ll cook anything we want, pretty much, Dmitry says. Do you want anything?’

‘I’m good,’ said Shepherd. The stewardesses on the private jet had kept everyone supplied with smoked salmon, caviar and little sandwiches with the crusts cut off throughout the flight, along with endless cups of coffee.

Podolski winked and walked back to the villa. Shepherd was fairly sure that she was swinging her hips for his benefit, and when she looked over her shoulder as she stepped on to the terrace his suspicions were confirmed.

The hookers left at six o’clock in the morning. One of them must have called the driver because he was in front of the villa in his minibus when the front door opened and they tottered out into the early morning light. They all looked the worse for wear with smudged make-up, their clothes in disarray and messy hair. The redhead looked as if she had been crying and they were all suffering from too much drugs or alcohol or both. One of the blondes grinned lopsidedly at Shepherd, waggled her fingers at him then stumbled and fell to her knees. Two of the girls helped her up and on to the minibus.

Shepherd and Popov watched as the girls piled on to the vehicle. ‘Does this happen a lot?’ Shepherd asked.

Popov shrugged. ‘Rich men have appetites,’ he said.

The driver slammed the door shut and climbed back into the driver’s seat.

Shepherd shrugged. ‘Yeah, but this is …’

‘Not how we’d spend our evenings if we were billionaires?’ Popov finished for him. The two men laughed and Popov slapped him on the back. ‘Seriously, Tony, this is nothing compared to what some of them get up to.’

‘I bet,’ said Shepherd.