Майкл Ридпат - The Predator

‘Seeing each other? What, sleeping together?’

‘Call it what you like. We were doing it.’

‘I can’t believe it,’ said Chris.

Ian shrugged.

‘But why would Lenka...?’

Ian frowned. ‘Come on Chris. There are a lot of women who don’t find me that unattractive.’

‘Yes, but Lenka?’

‘You know I always liked her. Turns out she liked me too.’

‘No.’

‘Stop saying that!’ snapped Ian. ‘She and I were seeing each other, OK? Now we’re not, because she’s dead. Do you understand that?’

‘Sorry,’ said Chris. ‘How long had this been going on for?’

‘Not long. Remember we had that European High Yield Conference in Barcelona last month? We both got a bit drunk. That’s when it started.’

‘Was it serious?’

‘Not really. But it wasn’t totally meaningless either. It was just fun. I knew there was no point in getting serious with Lenka.’

‘No,’ said Chris. Lenka never got serious with anyone. He tried to remember any clue that Lenka had given that she and Ian had had a relationship. Nothing. Ian had been phoning her more frequently over recent weeks, but Chris had always assumed that was the flow of business. It had obviously been something more.

‘And this comes out on the tape?’

‘Probably. I haven’t listened to that particular conversation, but there’s probably something there that would suggest we had more than a business relationship.’

‘OK. Let’s listen to it then,’ said Chris. ‘Just you and me.’

‘We can’t do that,’ said Ian. ‘An IT geek needs to be there as well. To make sure no one messes with the recording.’

‘All right. We’ll have the IT geek as well.’

‘Please, Chris.’

‘I understand why you wanted to warn me. And I certainly understand why you don’t want anyone else to hear. But I want to listen to the tapes. Now more than ever. I want to know why Lenka bought those bonds, and the fact that you and she had something going just makes me more suspicious.’

Ian sighed. ‘I guessed you say that. Just stay here for twenty minutes, while I dig them out.’

‘No,’ said Chris. ‘Call whoever you need to call on your mobile. We’ll go and listen together.’

‘Don’t you trust me?’ asked Ian.

‘No,’ said Chris. ‘I don’t.’

Chris followed Ian through Broadgate Circle to the entrance of Bloomfield Weiss. They passed the twenty-foot iron phallus standing at an angle outside, rusting. It seemed exactly right for the firm. Chris felt a shiver as he entered the squat, marble-clad building; he hadn’t set foot in there since that awful day three years before.

They took the lift to the third floor, passed quickly through the deceptively sedate reception area, and entered one of the largest trading rooms in Europe. Chris tried to look straight ahead as he followed Ian weaving his way through the desks, but he couldn’t help noticing the activity around him. The familiar cries, the bustle, the oaths, the screens, and the paper. Paper everywhere. There were some faces he recognized, but most he didn’t. Turnover at investment banks is high; traders come and traders go. He spotted his own desk, occupied now by a youth who didn’t look a day over twenty, lolling back in his chair, cradling the phone. Near the far wall of the room, he spied Herbie Exler. Their eyes met. A rush of pure disgust coursed through Chris’s veins, taking him by surprise, and he was gripped by an urge to vault the desks, grab the little American’s head, and ram it into a screen.

‘Come on,’ said Ian. ‘Don’t make a spectacle of yourself. Let’s get this over with.’ He steered him towards a conference room in the far corner.

‘This is Barry,’ said Ian, introducing Chris to a skinny man with a shaved head who was facing a computer screen. ‘Things have changed since your day. All the tapes are voice activated now, and they’re not actually tapes. We record to disk. Barry will have to listen to everything that’s said, but don’t worry, he’ll keep it all confidential, won’t you, Barry?’

Ian managed to lace these last words with a heavy dose of threat.

Barry seemed unconcerned. ‘That’s right, Ian,’ he said.

Barry handed Ian a log to sign, and then tapped commands into the computer. Barry and Ian put on headphones and listened, searching backwards and forwards until they found the conversation. Chris couldn’t complain about this. It would be unthinkable that Ian could let him listen to a conversation with another client.

After about five minutes, in which Chris fidgeted uncomfortably, Ian held up his hand. ‘I think I’ve got it.’

‘OK,’ said Chris. ‘Let’s hear it. But I want the whole conversation, mind.’

‘All right, all right,’ said Ian. He took off his headphones and flicked a switch. The conference room was filled with the sound of Lenka’s voice. Ian hurriedly turned the volume down, and checked that the door was closed.

‘Hi, babe, how are you?’

Babe! She called him ‘babe’. For the first time, Chris realized how difficult this was going to be. Lenka had been able to say what she liked to Ian without fear of being overheard. Chris had been away on holiday, and Ollie and Tina would have been too far away and too busy to hear.

‘I’m OK,’ drawled Ian. ‘I’m really feeling pretty good.’

‘After last night I’m surprised you made it into work,’ said Lenka, with the wicked laugh that Chris knew so well. He flashed a glance at Ian.

Ian shrugged. Barry stared fixedly at the computer screen. Although he was trying not to look it, Ian was clearly embarrassed. ‘You asked for it,’ he said.

Chris had. He took a deep breath and listened.

‘I’ve got more stamina than you think,’ Ian said from the speaker.

‘Oh, please!’ said Chris, rolling his eyes in a mixture of embarrassment and fury.

Ian ignored him. But on the tape he said: ‘Have you thought any more about the Eureka Telecom?’

Yeah. I think I’ll go for twenty-five. Will I have any problem getting them?’

For you, anything,’ said Ian.

‘Seriously. Is there a chance that I’ll be cut back?’

‘No. This deal isn’t going terribly well.’

‘What about the takeover play?’ Chris’s ears perked up. Ian saw his reaction.

‘No one else knows anything about it.’

‘But it’s an obvious fit, isn’t it?’

‘I think so,’ said Ian. ‘Radaphone needs to fill in its Central European network. Eureka has all the agreements in place. All Radaphone has to do is buy them.’

‘And then I’ll own Radaphone credit risk at a yield of twelve per cent.’

‘Precisely.’

‘And you’re sure this takeover is going to happen?’

‘I spent a week with these guys doing the road shows. You get to know people. They think it’s going to happen, and soon. Don’t you trust me?’

‘Of course I trust you,’ said Lenka. ‘Do you want to know why?’ The wicked tinge had crept back into her voice.

‘Why?’

‘Because if you lie to me I will personally see to it that your Little Jan will never be any use for anything again.’

Although this was meant to be a threat, the way Lenka said it, it sounded more like an invitation. And Chris could guess what Ian’s ‘Little Jan’ was.

‘Well, that’s something I would hate to happen,’ said Ian. ‘So I think you’re safe.’

‘All right,’ said Lenka, suddenly businesslike. ‘Put me down for twenty-five.’

‘OK. We’re pricing tomorrow afternoon. I’ll confirm you’ve got the full twenty-five then. Any chance of seeing you tonight?’

‘Greedy,’ said Lenka. ‘I’m busy.’

‘Busy? What are you doing?’ asked Ian, a tinge of something that sounded like jealousy creeping into his voice.