The Troika Dolls - Miranda Darling [91]
Stevie sipped her coffee; she was feeling a lot better—the effect David Rice always seemed to have on her. ‘Is there anything you didn’t find out? What did you do, take his best friend for tea?’
Rice sent an eyebrow skyward and almost smiled. ‘Something like that. You know what London’s like—you can’t throw a teaspoon without hitting a disgruntled Russian exile.’ Then he grew serious again. ‘Dragoman’s mother developed tumours and died ten years later. Dragoman was left with a large bald patch on the side of his head in the shape of a perfect crescent moon. Apparently the hair has never grown back.’
‘That should make him quite easy to spot in a crowd.’
‘From the pictures I’ve seen, it wouldn’t take a bald crescent.’
‘The Man from Chernobyl.’ Stevie frowned. ‘Do you think he calls himself that?’
‘From what I hear, he’s quite proud of the moniker. His operations grew from smuggling radioactive salvage from Chernobyl, to selling rocket-propelled grenade launchers to the Afghans during the war, then, when the Soviet Union collapsed, he moved on to stripping reactors and old army bases of weaponry and materials he could sell around the world.’
‘So, how does he do it?’
‘Dragoman began by buying up small transport companies and now has the largest fleet of Soviet-era planes in the world. They operate pretty much with impunity in developing-world airspace because it is so poorly monitored. Ownership and operations are obscured by complex corporate structures. Dragoman promises the reliability that you would expect from a multinational company, in a black economy: he delivers the right goods, on time, at the agreed price, to absolutely anywhere in the world. This makes him invaluable to interests more powerful than Afghan warlords or gem smugglers.’
‘Kozkov’s son Vadim knew about Dragoman from his military service,’ Stevie broke in. ‘He says Dragoman does a roaring trade in pharmaceuticals.’
‘Wouldn’t surprise me. Pharma—especially fake pharma—is huge right now, especially given the emergence of Chinese markets, both as end users and as manufacturers. It’s easy money—sell cement dust as expensive, life-saving medication—you can’t lose, economically. And if you’re clever enough to do it indirectly, it’s very hard to get caught.’
Stevie was silent. Her mind was whirling with thoughts. When she finally looked up, Rice was staring at her. He looked away. ‘I relayed all that because I promised you I would ask around. Now that Dragoman and the Kozkovs can no longer be of interest to you, I hope you can keep your mind on the job at hand.’
‘Of course, David.’ She forced her mind back to the present. ‘What do the Hammer-Belles need?’
‘They want you with them in St Moritz. Yudorov has discouraged his guests from bringing more than one bodyguard per person but he has promised the couple top-notch security and his best men during their stay. They have one of their own men and I suggested Owen Dovetail as well. They agreed, provided you went along too—just to make sure things were taken care of properly.’ He cast an amused glance at her.
‘You made quite an impression on them, it seems.’
‘I can’t think why!’
‘It’ll keep you out of mischief. And I need you to go. The Hammer-Belles are turning out to be very good clients and I’d like to keep them safe and happy.’
‘Has anything come up with the Romanians?’
Rice shook his handsome, grizzled head. ‘So far we’ve found little evidence of anything. We’ve tracked a few