Day Six

There was no pain. His body was way beyond that. It took almost four hours before Robbie Jackson took his final breath.

His body was carried away by Lev and Kirill, two of Demetri’s men. As they loaded the body into the boot of an old Mercedes, Lev noticed the Rolex.

“Do you think it is real?”

Kirill shook his head.

“No. Leave it. He was not a wealthy man. These watches sell for twenty euros on the Costa’s.”

Lev noticed another thing about Robbie.

“Look at him.He looks like he has a smile on his face.”

He closed the boot. The two of them got into the car. It would be a two hour drive to the “families” pig farm in Norfolk.

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John Morgan was bored. He’d been in the hospital for five hours. He was hooked up to two machines, wires were attached to his chest and the constant beep of the heart machine was driving him mad. He pressed a button. Twenty seconds later a nurse came in to his room.

“What’s the matter Mister Morgan?”

“When can I get out of here? I feel fine now. I had a bit of a wobble earlier, yes, I’ll admit that, but I’m fine now.”

“The Doctor will be here in a minute to talk to you, we need to keep you in for observation. We need to know what made you collapse.”

“Just too much work, that’s all.”

A young black Doctor in a white coat appeared at the doorway.

“John Morgan?”

The nurse turned and left the room.

“Yes, that’s me. Look, I need to get out of here. I have a lot of work to do.”

The Doctor walked over to the bed and pulled up the chair beside it.

“I’ve just had your blood test results back. Anything you want to tell me?”

“No, I don’t think so. One minute I was sitting at my desk, I had some chest pains and then you lot arrived and carted me off here.”

The Doctor took a deep breath.

“Want to tell me about the enormous amounts of cocaine in your bloodstream?”

John Morgan didn’t batter an eyelid. He was good at lying, he did it every day.

“Oh that. Doctor, I’m a policeman. A policeman of senior rank. Today I attended a drugs bust. It was a cocaine factory. They were producing tons of the finished product. The air was thick with white dust. I must have breathed in far too much than was good for me. I know I should have worn a mask like I was told to, but I thought I’d be okay. Obviously not.”

The Doctor was taken back.

“Oh, yes I see. Sorry, I thought…”

“Not to worry Doctor. My full title is Detective Inspector John Morgan, from the Special Investigations Unit. Now, when I can I go back to work?”

“Not yet, we need to keep you in for a while. It’s just for observation, we don’t want to take any chances, surely you can understand that?”

Morgan knew he’d be fine. It wasn’t the coke that made him fall over. It was bloody indigestion. He got it bad from time to time. Couple of Rennies and he was fine. But that stupid over eager young Detective came in and saw him holding his chest. Next thing he knew he was in an ambulance and on his way to hospital.

“Okay, Listen, if I’ve got to spend a few more hours in here can I call someone to keep me company?”

“Yes, that should be okay.”

John Morgan smiled. He knew exactly who to call.

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Demetri asked one of his closest men, Maxim, to pay John Morgan a visit at the hospital. He didn’t want any “loose ends.”

“Go see the Policeman. Do what you think is best.”

Both men had been together long enough to know exactly what that meant. Maxim knew Morgan well. He had helped him sort out various “commodities” over the past couple of years and liked him. But family came first and if he had become a liability then he would be dealt with swiftly.

Maxim asked at the main desk about Morgan and was told that he was on the third floor in Recovery. He didn’t use the lift. Maxim was a fitness fanatic and wanted as much physical exercise as he could get. The steroids needed it. He leapt the stairs three at a time, impressive for a man over six feet and eighteen stone.

He followed the signs for “Recovery”. He pushed his way through large double doors, there was no one at the reception desk. But there was a stethoscope on the desk by a computer. He picked it up and placed it around his neck. With his expensive tailored suit he looked every inch the consultant. There was a whiteboard on the wall. It had a list of patients and which rooms they were in. John Morgan was in room eleven. Maxim walked along the corridor to the room. He found it and slowly opened the door.

John Morgan was sitting up. He had wires attached to his chest and a needle in his arm that was hooked up to a drip. He had his eyes closed. Beside him was a young woman with blond hair. He couldn’t see much more of her as her head was bobbing up and down. John Morgan was whispering.

“That’s it babe, don’t stop. Don’t stop!”

Maxim closed the door and marvelled at this deviant of a man. Then started to clap.

The girl stopped, wiped her mouth and stood up. Morgan opened his eyes. Looked over at Maxim and grinned.

“Maxim, good to see you. Got anything for me?”

Maxim roared with laughter, put his hand inside his jacket and pulled out a small bag of white powder. He threw it at Morgan.

“I see you are in good spirits Mister John. Demetri will be very pleased.”

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In Marbella, Ivan was sitting next to Bepa at the hospital. She had regained her speech and was telling him the full story. He dismissed Robbie Jackson as an unfortunate misunderstanding, but there was something else in Bepa’s story that was making his blood boil.