Read Online Danger Woman by Frederick Ramsay - Free Book Online

Somehow, someway, he wants this casino. It is the springboard into the rest.”
    â€œBut how can he do that?”
    â€œMuscle, strong arm, force me to sign over control to Yuri or to him and then I disappear, and it doesn’t end there. You will be next. Most Russian gangs work with corrupt police. They promise to reduce petty crime and in return only ask you turn a blind eye to what they are doing in the dark. See, if you buy that, you will be allowed to arrest the bit players, a drug dealer, a small smuggler, a prostitute. It will appear you are doing your job but, for some reason, you never get the big fish. They think this arrangement is a win-win. Are you prepared for that? If you aren’t, and they are established here as a base, you will join Yuri among the casualties.”
    Modise slumped down in his chair. “So you are suggesting the operation is finished before it starts?”
    â€œYour version of it, yes. Sorry, but I don’t think you’ve thought it through. Somewhere in one of those books you read you figured out a plan. What was it called, ‘How to infiltrate the mob?’ It’s not good enough. They read the same books, you could say. You need to try something off the books. What do the motivational speakers say? ‘You must think outside the box.’ Modise, think outside the box.”
    Modise rose to leave. Leo’s words must have had an effect. “This will not do.”
    â€œSit. I am not finished. First, how do you suppose Lenka will react when he discovers someone got to me first?”
    â€œSomeone beat him to taking over your casino?”
    â€œRight,”
    â€œBut who? How?”
    â€œOkay, you know I used to run a company called Earth Global. We specialized in energy resources, among other things. As you probably also know, things in the Ukraine are somewhat dicey at the moment and Gazprom is in hot water with the EU. No? Not a hot item on the evening news? Never mind. The point is, there are a half dozen Earth Global employees sitting at desks in Chicago with nothing to do at the moment. More importantly, they speak Russian with a Ukrainian accent. That’s what I have been told, anyway. Three of them are ex-Army Spec Forces.”
    Modise started to speak and then thought better of it. Greshenko frowned.
    Leo placed his cigar in an ashtray. “So here’s the deal. The six of them are, at this moment on a plane to Cape Town. They will arrive here sometime late tomorrow or the next day. They will be Yuri’s alternate to Lenka.”
    â€œWhat?” Greshenko and Modise said in unison.
    â€œYuri, when you ran an errand for Lenka last month, would you say you behaved in a manner consistent with someone as interested in gathering information as someone just caving in to threats?”
    Yuri thought a moment and shook his head and then his eyes flashed. “Ah! Okay, but what about the tattoos?”
    â€œTattoos?” Modise was clearly out of the loop. “What tattoos…why?”
    â€œThere are fakes we can use if we need them. They will last long enough to convince Lenka’s people our guys are the real thing.”
    For the first time in months Yuri’s eyes showed a hint of optimism. “It might work. It’s better than committing suicide. What do you think, Modise?”
    â€œAbout what? I am lost. Who has tattoos?”
    â€œ Bratva apparatchiks do. They mark their journey into the depths of crime. Where they’ve been in prison, things like that. I’ll explain later. We will need guns and fake IDs. Can you arrange that?
    â€œIDs and guns, and an alternate to…Sorry, I need this spelled out to me. I am a simple policeman, remember?”
    â€œYou are many things, I think, but simple isn’t one of them. Look, you are limited in what you can do, in resources you can call in. I, on the other hand, have access to all sorts of things not generally available to the average