Roskov book 6, p.9
Roskov, Book 6, page 9
‘Will you become a politician some day?’
‘No, I want to work behind the scenes, charity work. I’m not sure that I would make a good politician, and I most certainly would not be popular with the other politicians, those making money.’
‘You are socialist?’
‘That’s the wrong word, because no one is socialist apart from North Korea. Left wing, yes, that would be a better label, helping the poor people.’
‘Your lifestyle is not … left wing.’
‘No, it’s the lifestyle of the rich, which makes me money … money that I can spend on charities in my home town, to help me assist businesses in my home town, and to create jobs there.
‘I still live with parents and I drive an old car, and I fly economy class, although the nice people at Air France did bunk me up to Club Class without me asking them to.
‘I have no luxuries, just a few visits to nice hotels when we’re shooting there, and this suit cost less than forty Euro. So I’m a working class boy at heart, and I hope I don’t change, I hope that money and fame does not change me, and so far it hasn’t.’
‘Twins, do you want to buy him some nice clothes?’
‘He won’t wear them! He won’t spend money on himself, he will spend more on strangers we meet always, and on this investigation, and on children we find that need help.
‘But that’s what’s great about him, we know he has a good heart, and we don’t worry because he doesn’t care about being rich. He makes the money for us, and does not ask for it. He makes us rich when he could keep the money.’
‘Ricky, some day will you’ll stop and have kids?’
‘I hope so, yes, but the twins’ family line only produce more twins, so I would have my hands full I think, four kids in one go – and all girls.’
‘You could leave the glamour behind and raise kids?’
‘Yes, definitely, I have no love of the rich lifestyle, and I have no greed, I’m not a party animal, no desire for a nice car. I get my pleasure helping people and trying to fix the world around me.’
‘And where do you see yourself in ten years?’
‘I see myself … hiding away in a locked room from the noise of the kids as I try and get some work done.’
The audience laughed, the twins as well.
‘Ricky Roskov, we wish you that quiet locked room. Twins, thanks for coming on.’
The audience applauded as we stood and shook hands, and it had been a quick twenty thousand Euro.
Stockholm, the long way around
Back at the house, we packed quickly since my Roskov relative was sick in bed and unable to see us, and the twins would drive a hire car with Ingrid as Carter and I drove with Rolf in another hire car.
Setting off, we got to see more of the city, soon heading north for a ferry because the new bridge from Denmark to Sweden had not been finished yet, our passports shown before we boarded the ferry.
Safely across the narrow waterway to Sweden, the view from the ferry having been nice - a calm waterway laid on for us, we hit the main road northeast near Helsingborg and we were soon enveloped in trees. But since the land was mostly flat we had no view, just trees and more trees, broken by many waterways and lakes.
Halting at a café, we stretched our legs and used the toilets, the occupants of the diner all stopping when we walked in. A teenage girl asked for a photo, which led to a few others, but we managed to eat in peace.
Pressing on, we maintained a good speed on good main roads, stopping every hour to look at a few interesting features. And for the ladies to use the toilets if need be.
Finally hitting gentle hills and valleys, we stopped at a few viewpoints, and now the landscape was more interesting, and similar to Britain’s green valleys.
Seven hours after we had set off, and now getting dark, we reached Stockholm Airport, the Euro-Hire cars handed in, the Rasmussen’s cars found in the parking area, and we set off again. We found the house all secure and as it had been left, friends of the family having been around to check on it.
Carter reclaimed a familiar room, and I lay down with the twins after a shower; long car journeys were tiring. But we had a nightclub to promote, and today was a Saturday.
So after a rest, and some complaining from the twins, Rolf led us to a waiting minibus, and we headed to the club. Fortunately they had a spare table for us, a cancellation, which was good because we were starving hungry despite the late hour.
Sat, people walked by and glanced our way, and when Luc Haas appeared he joined us, Rolf having told him today that we would be here tonight.
‘You got your medal?’ I teased.
‘Yes, a simple ceremony, a staged photograph, and I was in a mask.’
‘A mask? Without the mask you might have attracted a nice young lady,’ I teased.
‘I have one, Spanish, thirty-six.’
‘Thirty-six? You old dog, you.’
He laughed loudly. ‘Yes, she is too young for me. And they pay me my expenses.’
‘I paid your expenses!’
‘Ah, so I get paid twice, no?’
I wagged a finger at him. ‘Good job they raised six million for me.’
‘Six million?’
‘A newspaper raised it for me, for fighting crime in England.’
‘My god, so now I will be well paid.’
‘If I find something you can investigate, yes, you will be fully funded.’
After eating, we stood and mingled, Carter close to me and eyeing-up the nice ladies, the nice ladies eyeing-up me and offering coy smiles.
To the background hum of music and talking, Rolf introduced a man, a business associate, and a man that wanted to invest a million Euro in our new project in Corsica. Rolf wanted the man as a partner, not as a customer.
I told the man, ‘The apartments will be cheap, unless we make them luxury, but behind the apartments we’ll make villas, some very nice villas for rent, for family holidays.’
‘A villa would suit me, yes.’
‘For a million Euro we could build you more than one for certain. The new rock pool will make money, but slowly, and I’ll build a public swimming pool behind the beach, a few Euro to get inside, a café inside. That will also make money, but slowly.
‘Then there will be a restaurant, good quality, and a large street café or two.’
‘And what do you see as a return on investment?’
‘The apartments and villas will double your money as soon as they are finished. Then it’s rental income for nine months a year. We’ll create a company that will rent out the apartments and the villas for you and collect the money.’
‘A well organised investment, yes, and I will holiday there with my family.’
Facing Rolf, I asked, ‘We got an agreement from the farmer?’
‘Eight hundred metre of land up from the beach, he will move his fence and the sheep. The road across his land is not his, it belongs to the government, but the road up does belong to him now, soon to us.
‘If we build the rock pool higher up we already have an agreement for that, a share of profit and some capital costs to the farmer. The land was valued low, just sheep shit and grass, but that would not take into account the potential.
‘It was just valued at two million given the potential, so we will pay him one million and he will have shares in the consortium, four apartments for him to own and rent out.’
I asked, ‘The local council will assist with sewage and electricity?’ I asked.
‘Yes, the dive leader, Pascal, knows them, and they are happy to grant permission and to assist. They wait plans from us.’
‘Tell them that the swimming pool near the beach will be open to the public.’
‘That they will like, yes. And they will collect land taxes from us, so they have no reason not to assist us. I have paid the same men - and the builders - some money and they clear the beach as before and will make a road down to the beach.’
‘Have you got someone here that I can sit down with and make drawings?’
‘Yes, my friend is an architect - he designed the original villa in Corsica and has a stake in the hotel.’
‘Soon, I want to meet him, provisional drawings for the consortium to discuss.’
Moving to a poker room that was available and offering two tables - Rolf had booked it many weeks ago, we all sat down to play, but I had to look at the diagram of which hand beat which.
At my table sat Rolf, Luc and the investor, the second table hosting Ingrid and twins plus two girls that the twins knew, famous hairdressers here in Stockholm and in their thirties.
Cards dealt, and I had an eight and a seven. I copied Rolf with small chips, just to be in the hand, the first card dealt by the nice lady dealer, chosen for her looks perhaps.
I now had a seven, an eight, and there was a ten on the table face up.
Lucas raised small, I copied, Rolf copying as we chatted.
Next card dealt, and I had seven and eight to match up to ten, jack, so that was potentially good, yet the odds were long of getting a nine. Fortunately, no one raised high, so I stayed in.
Final card dealt was another ten, so I folded. Rolf raised, Luc folded, Rolf’s friend matching the raise. Cards turned over, and Rolf had four tens.
But I was now in the swing of it, a potential future poker expert in the making. I had the poker bug.
Halting for a toilet break half an hour later, I took a walk, but I was soon grabbed by a real blonde stunner.
‘I am model, Latvia, but I look for better work,’ came in a sexy accent.
She was taller than the twins, had brilliant blue-grey eyes, and she definitely had the figure. I lead her in to the poker room, and to the twins.
‘This lady wants some modelling work.’
‘I have seen you in magazine,’ Rita told our new friend.
‘Yes, Cosmat Agency, Paris, but they are bastards – three months to wait to get money, then always wrong.’
Rita and Frieda adopted the newcomer straight away, Ingrid soon questioning the newcomer’s previous contract rules.
Rolf closed in on me. ‘My god, she is stunning.’
‘I think she was hoping to meet me here.’
‘She could just send us photos, we would look at them,’ he complained.
‘I say we pay her to attend, and just walk around here.’
‘Yes, if she is living here.’
Back outside, and I continued my wander, people shaking my hand and saying hello, snaps taken, Carter trailing behind.
‘That blonde,’ Carter asked. ‘Can I take her out?’
‘Try, see what she says, and if she hits you.’
‘I’d be polite.’
‘Always a good policy, these models like to punch.’
Olesya turned up with Kurt.
I gave her a big hug. ‘My god, been so long.’
‘Yes, you must visit more,’ she complained.
‘When will you do the next concert in London?’
‘Next week, Wednesday, then I do some stills in London.’
‘I’ll see you Wednesday then.’ I led her and Kurt to the poker room, Kurt to the poker table, Olesya to the girls – who started jabbering away in Russian with Olga. Seemed that the Latvian girl was ethnic Russian.
Back outside, and Carter quipped, ‘If you keep collecting pretty girls then that room will be full.’
‘There are many nice girls in here, all about thirty, all looking for a smart man with prospects.’
‘Well that rules me out.’
‘It does, I’m afraid.’
‘You’re not supposed to agree with me, you’re supposed to say something sympathetic.’
‘Yeah. Oh. Well … soon you’ll meet a common British slut and have kids, get divorced, and go work abroad to get away from them.’
He stared at me. ‘I need to avoid that, don’t I; that mistake.’
‘You do. And I think you’ve already given that some thought.’
‘I have, yeah.’
My phone vibrated, so I led Carter up to the roof. It was Michelle down in Corsica. ‘Hello?’
‘Am I disturbing you, boss?’
‘No, just in the nightclub.’
‘Russian just arrived, said he knows you from that club.’
‘He does, yes,’ I agreed.
‘He’s in the Gun Room, his goons in the next room. But he already tipped me a hundred Euro, so he’s not all bad.’
‘Keep an eye on him, but he fears what I might do to him. Tell him about the new investment opportunity next door. Claudia still there?’
‘She’s at some posh function with Dominique, her father and Dominique’s father.’
‘Why you working so late?’
‘I stay on if a guest is due to arrive late, especially if it’s the Gun Room.’
‘Well at least you got a hundred Euro for your troubles. Let me know if he’s a pain, but the threat of calling me should be enough. Quiet otherwise?’
‘Saturday is often change-over day, so guests are due tomorrow. This afternoon was quiet, but the dive school is busy using the rock pool, two groups a day, about eight or nine in each group.
‘And the lady biologist, she dives a few times a day now, studying the fish.’
‘Tell the builders, more rocks – keep them coming.’
‘They’re due tomorrow again, early, a truck or two of rocks.’
‘Will they use their brains to place the damn rocks?’ I complained. ‘We still see too much sand.’
‘I know the head man, he’s sensible, and he drills holes in them first as well. After you left we had a delivery of fish, but a few died and we took them out.
‘These are from the place that sells live fish to restaurants, so we have some larger fish in there now. Got some big flatfish, and some slim blue ones - no idea what they’re called, but we put in like eighty fish.’
‘See what the biologist says, it’s her call.’ Call ended, I updated Carter on our Russian friend as guests stood around drinking under the stars.
Back in the poker room, and the girls were now best friends. The new girl was Olga Jacova, her family had moved from Latvia to Germany, and Olga had come here to meet the twins, not me, since she figured I would be in Britain.
I told Rita, ‘Have Olga go with Olesya on Wednesday, we’ll get some publicity for her. But does she have a job, or some modelling work to do?’
‘She wants to quit there, so now she will, they’re arseholes; the boss wants to fuck her.’
I nodded. ‘We can advance her some money through the company, for the London trip, then see what she’s like. How old is she?’
‘Twenty one. She was in university in Germany, she just finished now, she studied history and languages. She was working part-time for Cosmat.’
‘Will she be able to break their contract?’
‘Father says that sexual harassment breaks the contact, and he will write to them and threaten to send the story to the newspapers. Cosmat already have many complaints.’
‘So she speaks German?’
‘Russian, German, French, English, some Latvian, but at home they always spoke Russian.’
‘Make sure that you can trust her, get to know her,’ I urged, and Rita nodded.
In the morning, I sat on the deck with Rolf and Ingrid, a slow breakfast before the girls got up, Carter out jogging.
‘Will Carter remain with you?’ Rolf asked.
‘I doubt it. I need him in the UK more than here, but they will recall him soon enough.’
‘And trouble in your home town?’ Rolf nudged.
‘There are many men that had dealings with the gang, and will be angry, afraid, and maybe wanting to get back at me at some point, money lost, wives and houses lost.’
‘Their own stupid fault,’ Rolf pointed out.
‘Yes, but a child-like mind will want to blame me. There’ll be some bad feeling for years to come, and in the local police – who seem to blame me for what went on.
‘I’ll fly back in the morning and sort a few things, I have six million pounds to spend.’
‘Eight million,’ Ingrid put in. ‘Trish said eight.’
‘My god,’ Rolf let out. ‘What will you do with it?’
‘Social programmes, which I hope will be copied around the UK.’
After breakfast, the girls up and just about with it, Olga came around to the house – and in daylight she looked even more stunning. She joined us in her hire car as we headed for a lake, the twins in with Olga after I warned her about driving carefully – or else.
Olga followed us, an hour to the lake and, since they had fishing tackle for hire here, myself and Carter hired kit and bait, soon casting out as the sun beat down.
Turning his head, Carter sighed, the twins and Olga in bikinis. ‘I need a life.’
‘Do you think they’ll keep you with me?’
‘It’s to be reviewed in a week.’
‘I’ll pay Bonza to bodyguard me,’ I quipped.
‘He’d be great to use as a bullet stop,’ Carter noted. ‘Not much use otherwise.’
With the girls sunbathing and chatting, Rolf and Ingrid sat in the shade, we concentrated on catching some large fish, but we were pestered with numerous keen small fish getting themselves caught – each barely a few inches long.
Two girls in canoes paddled past topless, then spotted me and so carefully stood up in their canoes and waved and screamed.
Rita appeared at my side, ready to punch someone. ‘Stupid girls.’
‘What girls? Me and Carter are fishing, and that needs concentration.’
Rita cursed at the girls in Swedish as the two girls paddled off.
I asked her, ‘Would the fish in this lake be OK to cook and eat?’
‘Some types, not many. You must throw them back or pay for them.’
‘Ah.’
With Rita gone, Carter noted, ‘I could have been in with them two girls.’
‘Only with me as your wing man. When we get back I’ll find you a girl in Leicester for a few days.’
‘Just a few days?’ he complained.
‘Up to you, but they might reassign you to something more important than little old me.’
