Lone Wolf - Robert Muchamore Page 0,55
metal stick started off twenty centimetres long, but when Clark twisted the base a prong shot out, tripling its length. Ryan swooshed it through the air a couple of times before whacking a camouflage cushion.
‘You’re my eyes and ears,’ Clark said. ‘I’ll handle the clients. You keep lookout.’
They travelled in a Prius minicab, presumably another of Hagar’s money-laundering companies. After weeks of stress, Ryan was pleased that he was finally getting closer to Hagar and might soon have something useful to report back to his mission controller.
Clark and the driver bantered in a way that made Ryan sure they worked together often. A twenty-minute drive took them north to a private dental practice in Edgware.
The waiting area was smart. Clinical white walls, a big screen showing daytime TV and a busy waiting room lined with smart leather armchairs and posters offering to Whiten your smile from as little as £149.
Clark leaned on the reception desk and turned on what little charm he had. ‘My son has an eleven-thirty appointment to see Mr Lladro.’
‘Take a seat, we’ll call you through.’
Clark sat in the armchair furthest from the reception desk and spoke to Ryan, barely above a whisper.
‘Mr Lladro set this place up about four years back. His credit score was dog shite, so no bank would touch him. One of Hagar’s companies put up most of the money, but now the little runt’s behind with his payments.’
Ryan looked around at three receptionists, a dental nurse and another coming through the door.
‘It looks like they’re coining it to me,’ Ryan said.
Clark nodded. ‘A dentist is gonna make money for as long as people have teeth. But Lladro’s wife died eighteen months back and he’s been on a bender ever since. Cards, cocaine, call girls. He owes half the loan sharks in London and he’s become a very tricky man to pin down.’
Ryan nodded. ‘So you made an appointment.’
The nurse came through on the dot of half eleven. Her white Crocs squeaked on polished tiles as she led them to a frosted glass cubicle filled with a big skylight and all the latest dental hardware. Clark’s expression turned sour as soon as he came through the door.
‘Where’s Lladro?’ he asked grimly.
The slender young dentist spoke politely, as he pulled on a blue nitrile glove. ‘I’m Mr Greenwin. Mr Lladro is indisposed, so I’ll be taking care of his patients today.’
‘Indisposed where?’ Clark asked.
‘I believe it’s a personal matter.’
Clark smiled. ‘So you know where he is?’
‘I can’t divulge personal information about practice staff. I’ll be taking care of Mr Lladro’s patients today and I can assure you—’
Before Greenwin finished, Clark turned to Ryan and spoke hurriedly. ‘Block the door.’
Clark snatched a sharp-ended dental probe from a cabinet beside the dental chair. With a single deft movement, he shoved Greenwin against the frosted glass with the point held at his throat. The nurse gasped and made a dash for the door, but Ryan blocked her as Clark made a threat.
‘One more step, missy, and this goes straight through his face.’
While the nurse stood rigid, half a step from Ryan and the door, Clark began grilling Greenwin.
‘How well do you know Lladro?’
‘Not particularly well,’ Greenwin said. ‘He’s been my boss here for four years, but we don’t socialise.’
‘Where is he?’
‘I honestly don’t know.’
‘You didn’t say you didn’t know before. You said he was indisposed.’
Greenwin made a nervous squint and shook his head. ‘I don’t know his movements when he’s away from the practice.’
‘When’s he back here?’
‘He hasn’t seen a patient in over two weeks.’
‘If you had to guess where he was?’
‘He plays a lot of golf.’
As the nervous exchange went on between Greenwin and Clark, Ryan warily eyeballed the nurse. He was certain he could handle her if she tried to get out, but there was only a glass screen separating them from other cubicles so people would hear if hostilities broke out.
‘Which golf club?’
‘Highgate, I think.’
‘He doesn’t answer his mobile any more,’ Clark said. ‘Has he got a new number?’
Greenwin shrugged. ‘Probably, I don’t know.’
‘But you’re covering all his patients. You must have to speak to him from time to time.’
‘Mr Lladro’s behaviour has been very erratic since his wife died early last year.’
Clark snorted. ‘Your boss owes money to my boss, and to some other serious villains. My job is to make sure we get paid before the money runs out. One of the girls on reception must know his new mobile number. Shall I go and smack it out of one of them?’
Ryan