: Carlos Usín
: Operation Samarium
: Tektime
: 9788835447443
: 1
: CHF 7.00
:
: Krimis, Thriller, Spionage
: English
: 351
: DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB

It seemed like just another burglary, a not unusual art theft from a villa in a luxury private estate in Marbella. It was a smoothly executed robbery by what appeared to be an international and highly professional gang. But what at first appeared to be a simple theft, by the next day was a robbery and two murders. The investigation begins in the prison of Alhaurín de la Torre and continues in Puerto Banús, where it follows the trail of a private yacht owned by a character who hides behind a diplomatic passport, although, in reality, he is an agent of his country's secret services, with dark and powerful connections in the highest echelons.
The resolution of this complex case involves the participation of the Spanish National Intelligence Services together with the crucial work of an agent infiltrated into the organisation responsible for investigating the criminal venture. If successful, the operation would have international, diplomatic and economic ramifications. The only solution i
It seemed like simply another burglary, a not unusual art theft from a villa in a luxury private estate in Marbella. It was a smoothly executed robbery by what appeared to be an international and highly professional gang. But what at first appeared to be a simple theft, by the next day was a robbery and two murders. The investigation begins in the prison of Alhaurín de la Torre and continues in Puerto Banús, where it follows the trail of a private yacht owned by a character who hides behind a diplomatic passport, although, in reality, he is an agent of his country's secret services, with dark and powerful connections in the highest echelons.
The resolution of this complex case involves the participation of the Spanish National Intelligence Services together with the crucial work of an agent infiltrated into the organisation responsible for investigating the criminal venture. If successful, the operation would have international, diplomatic and economic ramifications. The only solution is an extraordinary international collaboration to prevent the criminals achieving their objectives.
It is a story in which thieves, con men, spies, secret agents, bogus diplomats, corruption and treachery intermingle. A story in which the plot moves at a fast pace, with a totally unexpected ending.
  1. The theft

 

Under the cover of darkness, the two men had no trouble leaving the house, unobserved by anyone. It was early morning and the quiet calm of the neighbourhood was only disturbed by a few crickets. They walked slowly towards their security van, parked in front of the main entrance of the villa, one of the many in this luxury private estate designed exclusively for the rich and powerful of Marbella.

All the security cameras in the house had been disabled, just as they had been told they would be. The only evidence the police would later glean from them was two uniformed security guards carrying out a routine inspection of one of the properties.

No one would have suspected, even if there had been direct witnesses, that under his uniform one of them was hiding a work of art worth more than sixty million euros, owned by a wealthy businessman named Aaron Bukowski. They, of course, had been kept in the dark as to the identity of the owner and indeed the true value of what they had stolen.

As they drove back to the checkpoint to end their shift, they both agreed that they found it astonishing that so many security measures had achieved nothing. Nor did they understand why such a small drawing – a mere 40 x 30 centimetres – had been targeted, when they saw much larger pictures on the walls that were surely worth far more.

Up to that point, everything had gone smoothly and in exact accordance with the plan they had been instructed to follow. Thanks to the maps they had been given, they easily identified the private estate, its location and the villa to be burgled. They turned up dead on time. They presented their fake ID cards at the checkpoint, signed in and set out to do the job of patrolling, which would conceal their real intentions. At the appointed time, they went to the designated property. They entered with the key they had been given and found the picture in the place that had been indicated. They took it, wrapped it up as they had been told to do, left the house, got into the security van, finished their shift and signed out. They drove to the place they had been ordered to make the exchange in the same van they had used to get to the residential estate. This vehicle had been provided to them the day before with precise instructions to use it exclusively for this job.

As they drove to the site chosen for the handover, Vasili, who was driving, began to have second thoughts. He was growing nervous and all types of dreadful scenarios were passing through his mind. He should have thought about it before accepting the job, but the smell of the money they had been promised was too much of a temptation for any objective consideration.

The truth was, they knew damn all about this individual they were about to meet, and that was a risk. They were told that it was an insurance scam, that in exchange for the stolen picture they would be given two envelopes, each containing two thousand five hundred euros, the remaining half of the agreed money.

While he was brooding on this, he turned to his friend, sat in the passenger seat:

‘What if this guy puts a couple of bullets into us to take us out of the picture?’ he blurted out.

‘It’s a bit late to think about that now, isn’t it?’ Grigori replied, looking alarmed. ‘What can we do? We’ve got no weapons and neither of us has ever killed anyone.’

‘You’re right, there’s nothing we can do, except pray. Are you any good at praying, Grigori?’

Grigori stared at him, saying nothing, feeling a mixture of concern and sympathy. He never imagined that his companion would end up thinking about praying to save his own skin. Vasili was always the one who took the initiative, who invariably saw the bright side of things, who came up with the most ingenious solutions to problems. He was his friend, yes, but he was also his mentor. And now he was talking about praying. He must have been really scared and that just wasn't like him.

Vasili continued blathering on, which made it clear to Grigori that his pal was indeed genuinely afraid. He only did that when he was really worried and things were getting out of hand.

‘Well, at least we know that the guy who hired us is called Oleg.’

‘Take it eas