Free THE FIX: SAS hero turns Manchester hitman (A Rick Fuller Thriller Book 1) by Robert White Page B

completed six days ago. This here,” he tapped, “is the previous owner’s details.”
    Joel scrolled through. “The cruiser was delivered from the south of France to Amsterdam under its own steam by a crew, provided by the previous owner. This part of the deal is straight up. The guy has been paid his money and neither he, nor his crew are aware of any other reasons for the purchase. You understand?”
    I nodded and tried not to hold my nose.
    Joel flicked ash into a large cut glass tray.
    “Once in Holland, the cruiser was loaded with one hundred kilograms of pure, uncut cocaine;” he pointed the horrible cigar in my direction and I resisted shoving it back into his mouth hot end first. He continued, not noticing my distaste. “The street value is ten million pounds, Colletti.” 
    Joel then scrolled through more pictures and biographies. 
    Three men and one woman, all Dutch, were shown. It could have been a police file. Maybe even MI5.
    I had to hand it to Joel, he was organised.
    Joel spoke in short clipped tones, interrupted by shorter pulls on the cigar. He was really pissed off.
    “Susan brokered the coke deal in Amsterdam six weeks ago. These four guys are the runners. We have no pictures of her main contact.”
    I nearly fell off my fucking chair.
    Joel noticed.
    “What, you thought she was just a pretty face?”
    Well, I knew she had been getting involved with Joel’s overseas dealings, but I presumed it was the antiques side.
    He blew smoke in my direction again.
    “I met Susan in Holland. She was living with some low life skunk grower. I first saw her at a party thrown by some of the country’s biggest dealers. She knew nearly everyone in the room, Stephen. You should have seen her work that room.
    “A real pro.
    “I stole her from the dumb dope smuggler. The rest, as they say, is history. She has worked on a new contact for the supply of cocaine for the last eighteen months. This is the third deal. The other two went like clockwork.”
    I tried not to gawp at the revelation. I knew there was something but this was a real shock.
    Joel went back to the story and the computer screen.
    “Now, the boat and cargo was to be taken from Amsterdam to Zebrugge by two of this Dutch crew you see here. The big guy and the woman. As I said, they are not my employees, they work for the supplier. Only Susan has seen the main man. He never meets me either. It was a perfect solution.”
    “Providing you trust your wife,” I muttered.
    Joel glared at me, his eyes and tone fierce.
    “As I said, she has done this for me before. The supplier has always been a hundred per cent. I have never had a problem. My guys should have collected the boat and cargo from the Dutch players at a pre-arranged point just north of Zebrugge and were to deliver it to me here in the UK.
    “My cutters would then work their magic on it and turn it into lots of money for me. Understand?”
    I certainly did.
    He tapped the screen again. “I always have a customer for the boat too.”
    The man knew how to make money, no question.
    “The boat never made Zebrugge. Susan has been in touch with the Dutch coke supplier. He’s telling her that they had delivered to Zebrugge as agreed and waved my boys off into the sunset as promised.”
    “So where is it?” I asked straight out.
    “They say the boat must have sunk en route and that my two boys must be at the bottom of the channel with it.”
    “Together with the coke of course,” I added.
    Joel stood and leaned closer to me, both hands on the desk, cigar in the corner of his mouth.
    “As I always pay up front for my cargo, I’m nearly two million quid out of pocket and I don’t believe a fuckin’ word the Dutch bastards are saying.”
    Joel inspected his cigar to allow the information to sink in and hit a button on the keyboard. The word ‘purging’ appeared on the screen and the information and pictures relating to the Dutch players disappeared. He let out a large plume of smoke.