Chapter 2
John was at Donavici's at 1:15. He saw her before she saw him. It wasn't the way she was dressed - dark blue suit, long reddish-blonde hair pulled up in a bun. It wasn't that she was talking loudly or acting like she owned the place, as most American tourists do. She sat there, with a cup of tea, with milk, no sugar, reading the International Herald-Tribune. He observed what was to become his new partner for a minute. She seemed to exude confidence; a woman in a man's world, she makes her own rules.
'This should be fun', John thought to himself, sarcastically.
It was if she knew he was watching her, for, at that moment, she stood up and turned around, immediately spotting him standing at the bar. She walked over to him, with an outstretched hand.
"Detective Sergeant Boulton, I'm Special Agent June Gowan. It's good to finally meet you," she said.
She had a firm handshake, like he knew she would. John said, "Nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you."
June gave him the once over, and with an ironic smile, said, "I sincerely hope not. Please, sit down."
Sliding the manila folder across the table, John regarded the mug shot paper clipped to the top. The man in the photo was handsome, with chiselled Latin features, almost like a younger version of Julio Iglacias.
"John, this is Pedro Escoverda, a.k.a. Ajax Handen. He's the target. We believe he is the leader of a major drugs triangle - Bogotá, Columbia to Miami, Florida and from Miami to New York City, and then on to London. Where the drugs go from London, we're not sure yet. We believe he sells them to suppliers, who in turn sell them off to local dealers. Currently we are monitoring the situation in Miami and New York. With your co-operation we would like to start tracing the dealers to their suppliers and then onto Escoverda. Currently Escoverda is under surveillance. Once we have established a clear link between dealers, suppliers and Escoverda, we will infiltrate his gang and arrest him."
"Where do we begin, Special Agent Gowan," John asked, not sure who was the senior officer, using her title so not to offend.
"With a dealer that I believe you know quite well, John, a man by the name of Tony Rourke. We have reason to believe that his supplier is receiving drugs from Escoverda. I want to pull Rourke and get him to talk. Also, please call me June."
"I've got a couple of questions, June." John said, leaning forward in his seat, "Why was I chosen for this case?"
"DI Meadows chose you for your knowledge of the local drugs scene and personal knowledge of a lot of the dealers involved. Also your methods were an advantage. We needed a tough cop on the job and you've got quite a reputation of being a pit bull when it comes down to it. Mr. Meadows assures us that you can provide the skills we need," June smiled, looking at him directly in his eyes.
"Will you be doing the investigations with me?" John asked.
"I will work alongside you throughout the investigations. I take my orders directly from Scotland Yard and am accountable for all parts of the investigation."
"I see," John took a sip of coffee.
"So, do you know where we can find Rourke?" June asked.
"'Course I do, I've been trying to find solid evidence on him for months, but he's always managed to come off clean," John said.
John was beginning to feel a bit of enthusiasm for this case. It was going to be a lot of work, by the sound of things, but to be a part of an international operation certainly did appeal to him. June seemed to be nice as well. And beautiful. And smart. He was starting to believe he was going to enjoy working with her. There was something about her, the way she looked at him, the way she spoke, that seemed to cut through right down into him. She was unlike anyone he ever had met before.
"We'll organise surveillance on Rourke, catch him in the act, and that will be enough evidence to bring him in. I'll call my boss and have him start the obbo using people from area. In the meantime, we'll try to dredge up information on Rourke or any other potential targets from this list of possibilities," June said, pouring herself another cup of tea.
"Ok, sounds good to me." John usually hated getting stuck with this sort of grunt work; however, in this instance he didn't mind. June knew what she was talking about - he was sure of it. She looked at him intensely; her eyes were like two glittering emeralds.
"John you must give this your full attention. It is important you do not discuss this case with anyone other than Mr. Meadows, Mr. Brownlow, myself, or other officers from the Yard who are also working on it. If Escoverda discovers we're on to him, he'll disappear, it's happened before."
"Mr. Meadows has already been through this" - June interrupted John.
"But what you don't understand is that he'll attempt to kill anyone who was involved in the investigation. He killed two FBI agents when they were on to him the last time. He disappeared for three years - no leads, no sightings. It was only Scotland Yard's monitoring of the drug scene that detected there were shipments coming in from New York. We then had a fresh lead of Escoverda's whereabouts."
"I understand, June." John couldn't quite place her accent. It was almost English, but the sudden drawn out vowel, or phrasing, betrayed her parent country. He found himself listening closely when she spoke, to 'hunt out' the American in her otherwise public-school manner of speaking.
June ran a hand through her rusty hair, pausing at the site of her bun and then down the back of her neck. John's breath caught in his throat for a second, but he berated himself to stop mooning over her like a schoolboy, and forced himself to concentrate on the matter at hand. He sipped his coffee and smiled at her, a lovely sight for the privileged few.
"I'll get started on Rourke. What will you be doing in the meantime?" John asked.
"Helping you, what else?" June said, raising her eyebrows slightly. "We're on this case together. Meadows is arranging me a place to work at Sun Hill."
After arriving at Sun Hill, the proper introductions were made. A story about June being a representative of the Yard working on "inter-branch compliance" with John as the Sun Hill co-ordinator was firmly put in place to stop the questions. The only one who seemed interested in June was Reg Hollis, who volunteered to help in any way possible to bring Sun Hill up to scratch. June hoped that Reg would be pacified by her, "Maybe, we'll see" response but John assured her that Reg would be around every corner offering helpful advice, and generally being a pain in the arse. June smiled and made her way to her new desk.
John and June started the arduous task of running names of possible connections through the computer. Most of the names had priors for robbery, GBH or dealing. Most of them John knew, or knew about, however two names came up clean - Michael Blake and Tony Woods. John compiled an address list.
"When does the obbo start on Rourke?" John asked.
"It's going on as we speak. They will call us if anything goes down. In the meantime, go home and get some rest - don't switch off your mobile. As soon as Rourke makes a move, we need to pull him so we can have leverage to make him talk," June said.
* * *
John paced around the small kitchen at his flat, letting the scotch do its work. It was a lot to absorb in a day. In many ways he felt like this case was a bomb dropping on him. It had a lot to do with June. He didn't feel like he was completely focused on things when she was around.
This strange woman, he didn't know her less than 24 hours ago. John looked around, lost in thought. 'This small flat, dinners for one, late-night TV, single bed, order, everything where I like it to be, nothing as I want it to be. Is this how I want to live the rest of my life? I can focus all my time and energy into this career but do I do it because I like it, or is it because it's all I have? '
'Damn her, he thought. Damn her. Making me think of things like this. I don't have time to dwell on this sort of stuff, I need to be focused.' John felt himself growing angry by these thoughts, and needed to relax quickly.
John went into the bathroom and switched on the shower full blast. As the steam clouds formed, John undressed and stepped carefully under the hot jets, letting the water beat down on his back and shoulders, by now aching. He started to relax a bit, the hot water and alcohol doing much to relieve the stress, which inevitably takes its toll on his body.
The thoughts picked back up again: 'Maybe she has a husband or boyfriend. Maybe she doesn't fancy me. Maybe she does. Then a louder thought: Maybe you should get your mind off of June and on to the case. Rourke, his supplier, Escoverda. Pull Rourke, get him to grass on his supplier, and use the supplier to get to Escoverda. Easy. I hope. The only question is who is going to be the one to infiltrate Escoverda's gang.' John had a gut feeling that it was going to be him.
John was at Donavici's at 1:15. He saw her before she saw him. It wasn't the way she was dressed - dark blue suit, long reddish-blonde hair pulled up in a bun. It wasn't that she was talking loudly or acting like she owned the place, as most American tourists do. She sat there, with a cup of tea, with milk, no sugar, reading the International Herald-Tribune. He observed what was to become his new partner for a minute. She seemed to exude confidence; a woman in a man's world, she makes her own rules.
'This should be fun', John thought to himself, sarcastically.
It was if she knew he was watching her, for, at that moment, she stood up and turned around, immediately spotting him standing at the bar. She walked over to him, with an outstretched hand.
"Detective Sergeant Boulton, I'm Special Agent June Gowan. It's good to finally meet you," she said.
She had a firm handshake, like he knew she would. John said, "Nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you."
June gave him the once over, and with an ironic smile, said, "I sincerely hope not. Please, sit down."
Sliding the manila folder across the table, John regarded the mug shot paper clipped to the top. The man in the photo was handsome, with chiselled Latin features, almost like a younger version of Julio Iglacias.
"John, this is Pedro Escoverda, a.k.a. Ajax Handen. He's the target. We believe he is the leader of a major drugs triangle - Bogotá, Columbia to Miami, Florida and from Miami to New York City, and then on to London. Where the drugs go from London, we're not sure yet. We believe he sells them to suppliers, who in turn sell them off to local dealers. Currently we are monitoring the situation in Miami and New York. With your co-operation we would like to start tracing the dealers to their suppliers and then onto Escoverda. Currently Escoverda is under surveillance. Once we have established a clear link between dealers, suppliers and Escoverda, we will infiltrate his gang and arrest him."
"Where do we begin, Special Agent Gowan," John asked, not sure who was the senior officer, using her title so not to offend.
"With a dealer that I believe you know quite well, John, a man by the name of Tony Rourke. We have reason to believe that his supplier is receiving drugs from Escoverda. I want to pull Rourke and get him to talk. Also, please call me June."
"I've got a couple of questions, June." John said, leaning forward in his seat, "Why was I chosen for this case?"
"DI Meadows chose you for your knowledge of the local drugs scene and personal knowledge of a lot of the dealers involved. Also your methods were an advantage. We needed a tough cop on the job and you've got quite a reputation of being a pit bull when it comes down to it. Mr. Meadows assures us that you can provide the skills we need," June smiled, looking at him directly in his eyes.
"Will you be doing the investigations with me?" John asked.
"I will work alongside you throughout the investigations. I take my orders directly from Scotland Yard and am accountable for all parts of the investigation."
"I see," John took a sip of coffee.
"So, do you know where we can find Rourke?" June asked.
"'Course I do, I've been trying to find solid evidence on him for months, but he's always managed to come off clean," John said.
John was beginning to feel a bit of enthusiasm for this case. It was going to be a lot of work, by the sound of things, but to be a part of an international operation certainly did appeal to him. June seemed to be nice as well. And beautiful. And smart. He was starting to believe he was going to enjoy working with her. There was something about her, the way she looked at him, the way she spoke, that seemed to cut through right down into him. She was unlike anyone he ever had met before.
"We'll organise surveillance on Rourke, catch him in the act, and that will be enough evidence to bring him in. I'll call my boss and have him start the obbo using people from area. In the meantime, we'll try to dredge up information on Rourke or any other potential targets from this list of possibilities," June said, pouring herself another cup of tea.
"Ok, sounds good to me." John usually hated getting stuck with this sort of grunt work; however, in this instance he didn't mind. June knew what she was talking about - he was sure of it. She looked at him intensely; her eyes were like two glittering emeralds.
"John you must give this your full attention. It is important you do not discuss this case with anyone other than Mr. Meadows, Mr. Brownlow, myself, or other officers from the Yard who are also working on it. If Escoverda discovers we're on to him, he'll disappear, it's happened before."
"Mr. Meadows has already been through this" - June interrupted John.
"But what you don't understand is that he'll attempt to kill anyone who was involved in the investigation. He killed two FBI agents when they were on to him the last time. He disappeared for three years - no leads, no sightings. It was only Scotland Yard's monitoring of the drug scene that detected there were shipments coming in from New York. We then had a fresh lead of Escoverda's whereabouts."
"I understand, June." John couldn't quite place her accent. It was almost English, but the sudden drawn out vowel, or phrasing, betrayed her parent country. He found himself listening closely when she spoke, to 'hunt out' the American in her otherwise public-school manner of speaking.
June ran a hand through her rusty hair, pausing at the site of her bun and then down the back of her neck. John's breath caught in his throat for a second, but he berated himself to stop mooning over her like a schoolboy, and forced himself to concentrate on the matter at hand. He sipped his coffee and smiled at her, a lovely sight for the privileged few.
"I'll get started on Rourke. What will you be doing in the meantime?" John asked.
"Helping you, what else?" June said, raising her eyebrows slightly. "We're on this case together. Meadows is arranging me a place to work at Sun Hill."
After arriving at Sun Hill, the proper introductions were made. A story about June being a representative of the Yard working on "inter-branch compliance" with John as the Sun Hill co-ordinator was firmly put in place to stop the questions. The only one who seemed interested in June was Reg Hollis, who volunteered to help in any way possible to bring Sun Hill up to scratch. June hoped that Reg would be pacified by her, "Maybe, we'll see" response but John assured her that Reg would be around every corner offering helpful advice, and generally being a pain in the arse. June smiled and made her way to her new desk.
John and June started the arduous task of running names of possible connections through the computer. Most of the names had priors for robbery, GBH or dealing. Most of them John knew, or knew about, however two names came up clean - Michael Blake and Tony Woods. John compiled an address list.
"When does the obbo start on Rourke?" John asked.
"It's going on as we speak. They will call us if anything goes down. In the meantime, go home and get some rest - don't switch off your mobile. As soon as Rourke makes a move, we need to pull him so we can have leverage to make him talk," June said.
* * *
John paced around the small kitchen at his flat, letting the scotch do its work. It was a lot to absorb in a day. In many ways he felt like this case was a bomb dropping on him. It had a lot to do with June. He didn't feel like he was completely focused on things when she was around.
This strange woman, he didn't know her less than 24 hours ago. John looked around, lost in thought. 'This small flat, dinners for one, late-night TV, single bed, order, everything where I like it to be, nothing as I want it to be. Is this how I want to live the rest of my life? I can focus all my time and energy into this career but do I do it because I like it, or is it because it's all I have? '
'Damn her, he thought. Damn her. Making me think of things like this. I don't have time to dwell on this sort of stuff, I need to be focused.' John felt himself growing angry by these thoughts, and needed to relax quickly.
John went into the bathroom and switched on the shower full blast. As the steam clouds formed, John undressed and stepped carefully under the hot jets, letting the water beat down on his back and shoulders, by now aching. He started to relax a bit, the hot water and alcohol doing much to relieve the stress, which inevitably takes its toll on his body.
The thoughts picked back up again: 'Maybe she has a husband or boyfriend. Maybe she doesn't fancy me. Maybe she does. Then a louder thought: Maybe you should get your mind off of June and on to the case. Rourke, his supplier, Escoverda. Pull Rourke, get him to grass on his supplier, and use the supplier to get to Escoverda. Easy. I hope. The only question is who is going to be the one to infiltrate Escoverda's gang.' John had a gut feeling that it was going to be him.
