Smith

  SIXTY THREE

  THE GENTLE WOLF

  They drove in Alec’s car to the Gentle Wolf Bar. Smith was grateful, it must have been minus ten outside and the wind had started to blow from the North. The car was a Mercedes, a very expensive one from what Smith could gather. It had leather seats and the dashboard was full of buttons and gadgets. Smith did not want to know how Alec managed to afford such a luxury car. They drove past Tatari through Sibulakula and headed for the old town square again. Alec parked the car and they walked through the square. There were a surprising amount of people around considering the temperature outside. They must be used to the cold, Smith thought. They walked through a dimly lit tunnel to the other side of the square. Estonian flags that hung from many of the shop fronts, blew in the wind. They reached the entrance to the Hell Hunt Bar. The building was painted green and huge wooden doors welcomed the people in. Smith followed Alec to the huge bar inside. The place was almost deserted. An old man sat alone at the bar reading a newspaper.

  “It will be full later,” Alec said, “Estonians drink at night. We’ll sit at one of the larger tables in the corner there.”

  He pointed to a very impressive wooden table with eight wooden chairs around it.

  Lucas put a tray of extremely large beers on the table.

  “Proper beer glasses,” he said, “Drink up.”

  Smith looked around the room. He was agitated. Would he meet his sister in here later? He thought. What would he say to her if he did?

  “I happen to know that some of them will be here tonight,” Alex said.

  “Some of them?” Smith was confused.

  “The Wolfie people,” Alec replied, “I have it on good authority that they are busy finalising a very lucrative property deal in Tallinn and this is where they like to take their clients. How’s the beer?”

  “Very good,” Smith replied, “much better than English beer.”

  The bar was slowly filling up. Every time someone new entered the bar, Smith jumped. A blonde woman around twenty walked through the door. She was with a much older man. Smith looked at her suspiciously. The man she was with approached their table and said something in Estonian. Alex said something back to him and the man walked away.

  “Relax,” he said to Smith, “you’re not going to get anywhere if you’re on edge. That man wanted to know why you were staring at his girlfriend.”

  “What did you say to him?”

  “I told him he was stupid; that you are obviously gay and have no interest in his girlfriend.”

  Smith laughed.

  “Thanks a lot,” he said, “how will we know who we are looking for?”

  “You’ll know when they come,” Alec said, “You’re a Policeman aren’t you?”

  Smith took a long sip of beer. He was feeling more relaxed now. A group of around ten people walked through the door. They were obviously very drunk already and were making a lot of noise. People moved out of their way as they approached the bar. They were of all different ages but they were all dressed very smartly. Alec whispered something to Lucas. He turned round and nodded.

  “Wait here,” Lucas said to Smith.

  Alec followed Lucas to the bar. Smith watched as Lucas spoke to a bald man in his forties. They looked like they knew each other quite well. He saw Lucas point in his direction. Alec came back to the table with a fresh tray of beers.

  “Listen carefully,” he said to Smith, “you are an Australian business man in Estonia looking for land to purchase for development. Be very careful with these people; they have very powerful connections in this country. Do you understand?”

  “What do I say to them?” Smith said, “I know nothing about developing land.”

  “You tell them you’re just an agent. We will help you. Get ready, he’s coming over.”

  The bald man had his arm round Lucas as they walked to the table. He had a very red face and his eyes were bloodshot. Smith stood up and thought carefully about what he was going to say.

  “Gregor Sertov,” Lucas said, “meet a very good friend of mine Jason Smith. He’s from Australia and he is looking for land.”

  Sertov looked Smith directly in the eye.

  “Australian,” he mumbled, “I like Australians.”

  He shook Smith by the hand; he had a very firm handshake.

  “I was in Australia once,” Sertov said, “where are you from?”

  “Perth,” Smith lied. He exaggerated his accent slightly.

  “Perth is very beautiful,” Sertov said, “I believe you are in the market for land?”

  “I might be,” Smith said, “if the price is right.”

  “I like you Jason Smith. You don’t fuck around. We are all going to the Angel in a while. Why don’t you join us; there are some people who will be very interested in meeting you.”

  Smith looked across at Lucas and Stepan.

  “You’re all welcome,” Sertov assured them, “we leave in half an hour.”

  “That wasn’t too bad,” Smith said when Sertov was gone, “I thought he’d want to know a bit more about me.”

  “That was the easy part,” Lucas warned him, “Sertov claims to be a good judge of character but he is, in fact quite stupid. You may not be so lucky with the other people.”

  “What’s this Angel place?” Smith asked.

  “It’s a gay club,” Stepan laughed, “They have nice private sections of the bar. I think these people like it because it’s exclusive.”

  “Two gay clubs in one night,” Smith said, “people are going to talk.”

  Smith looked over at the crowd by the bar. One woman caught his attention more than the others. She was sitting at the bar and Smith could only see her profile. Even so, there was something very familiar about her.

  “Where are the toilets?” he asked.

  “To the left of the bar,” Lucas said, “don’t do anything stupid; I saw you looking at that woman.”

  “I need a piss,” Smith said, “this beer goes right through you.”

  Smith had the feeling he was being watched as he made his way to the toilets. The bathroom was empty. Smith chose the cubicle closest to the door. When he was finished, the door opened and a man walked in. He was one of the crowd that had come in with Sertov.

  “Jason Smith,” the man said, “I’ll let you wash before I shake your hand.”

  His accent was difficult to place. It was a mixture of accents.

  Smith washed his hands, dried them and looked the man up and down. He was very short but he had broad shoulders. He would be difficult to knock over, Smith thought. He offered his hand to the man and braced himself for a bone crusher of a handshake. Thankfully the man’s handshake was neither firm nor limp.

  “How do you know my name?” Smith said.

  “Sertov,” the man said, “I believe you are here to acquire land?”

  “That’s right. I think Estonia has potential.”

  “Forget about it,” the man said, “Estonia is backward thinking. They live in the past. But I do have something you might be interested in.”

  “What’s that?” Smith asked, “And I didn’t catch your name.”

  “I didn’t offer it, “the man said, “I believe you will be joining us at the Angel. I will explain to you there.”

  As Smith made his way back to the table he glanced quickly at the woman he had noticed earlier. She looked straight at him. Their eyes met and they stared at each other. The woman frowned, shook her head and turned her back to him. Smith knew there was something familiar about her. Laura would be nineteen now, he thought. This woman had the same blue eyes but her hair was darker and her nose slightly longer than Laura’s had been. His phone started to ring in his pocket. He took it out, it was Thompson. He pressed the reject call button and put the phone back in his pocket. It rang again. Smith switched the phone off. Thompson was staying at Smith’s house while he was away; he had been kick
ed out of his house and Smith was more than happy to have someone to look after Theakston while he was away. He was not sure whether Theakston and Thompson would get on though.

  “Are you ready to go?” Lucas asked. He finished the rest of his beer.

  “Do you know that woman over there?” Smith pointed her out.

  “Never seen her before,” Lucas replied, “she’s one of Wolfie’s people.”

  “Have you ever met this Wolfie?” Smith asked.

  “Of course,” Lucas said, “so have you. You two just took a piss together.”