Free Shroud of Concealment (Jake Dillon Adventure Thriller Series) by Andrew Towning Page A

Cardini, I haven’t really bought in anyone of any calibre since I joined just over a year ago.”
    Dillon was irritated. “I thought the firm had people who looked after that side of things?”
    “Oh, they do. But when someone approaches a partner directly, there’s an obligation to assess what is best for the client and the firm. Hart has been recommended by an existing client, which puts a slightly different perspective on things. He’s also willing to pay twice our usual fee if we take him on.”
    “And by the sound of it he’s as good as taken on. But you’re wrong to have anything to do with him.”
    “It all seems to be straightforward and legitimate, Jake. After all, he’s got to use someone, so why not me?”
    “But why has he approached your firm and, in particular, you? He doesn’t even know you and yet he’s asking for you personally. Don’t you find that just a little bit odd? The way I see it, Issy, you’re not thinking this thing through.”
    Issy leant back into the luxuriously soft leather of the sofa and spread her arms along the back of it provocatively.
    “I think it’s you, Jake, who’s not thinking it through. There’s no valid reason why I should turn Charlie Hart away. It’s work. I’m told that I’ve been recommended by one of the firm’s best clients and to be perfectly honest with you, it would look very odd if I didn’t accept.”
    “But Hart without a doubt knows that you’re close to me. He’s simply having a go at me from every possible angle simultaneously. I have to admit, it’s the vehemence with which Hart has reacted that astounds me more than anything. And all over a painting that could have been stolen from a Boston museum more than ten years ago. But when you talk to Hart you realise that this isn’t the type of man that would normally do that sort of thing. He’s trying to stop me looking closer and is setting out to show me just how swiftly he can organise and implement things. As we’ve already seen, he can. For what it’s worth, my advice is for you to keep well away from this thing, or you may find yourself in over your head.”
    “And if I say no he’ll know that you’ve warned me off. And who knows how a man like that will react? I know you’re only looking after me, but I’m going to use my professional instinct and say that I would guess I’m much safer accepting his offer than by refusing and insulting him.”
    “Bloody hell, Issy. You can be stubborn when you’ve a mind to be. But if that’s your final decision, I’ll have to deal with it.”
    Dillon felt he was losing control of the situation.
    “I suppose we’ll have to wait and see what else he comes up with.”
    However, he was talking to himself, and gazing across the city through the wall of glass.
    “Did you get the chance to take a look at his business holdings?”
    “I’m sorry, Jake. I had to pass it to one of my clerks, but he’s a real gem when it comes to digging around in the dirt. It shouldn’t take him too long in running Hart down. And if there is anything to find, rest assured he’ll find it.”
    Dillon was in no doubt what he’d find and so it came as no surprise a couple of days later when he was told that Hart was not listed anywhere. The man was truly an enigma, with not so much as a parking ticket offence found. And yet Dillon couldn’t help thinking why someone would go to such extreme lengths in order to keep their affairs completely private. Or perhaps it was simply that he liked to keep his money under the mattress, and every now and then invest it in priceless paintings.
    The following day Issy discovered, through one of her contacts at Revenue and Customs, that Hart had been in the past associated with a large company under investigation for alleged illegal importing and money laundering. But that was where the trail ran cold. Hart had withdrawn the investment capital that he’d put in almost six months prior to the investigation getting under