Chapters (58)
- Cover
- Also by Oliver Harris
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
‘If you want a bar with girls, you know, a nice place, I can recommend one.’ He lowered his voice. ‘In London it is like a party town. Yes?’
‘Non-stop.’
A suited man at the end of the bar got his attention. I watched out of the corner of my eye as the barman slipped him a small package in exchange for several notes. Then I saw who was buying.
Bryant was tall and too smartly dressed for The Rocks, but younger than he seemed in Joanna’s interviews. He could have walked straight out of Wall Street or Silicon Valley. Blue shirt, frameless glasses; bright smile with a touch of desperation. Deal done, he got a round in for a lot of the men at the bar, some of whom knew him.
I positioned myself beside him in the queue for the bar and let him hear me order.
‘Someone with the Queen’s English,’ he said. ‘That’s music to my ears.’ He shook my hand. ‘Craig.’
‘Toby.’
‘What brings you here?’
‘To The Rocks, or to Kazakhstan?’
‘Both.’
‘Kazakhstan for business. Got in yesterday. The Rocks for fun.’
‘One day in and you found The Rocks already!’ He clapped me on the back. ‘You chose a fine time of year to visit Kazakhstan. What’s the business?’
‘I’m looking around for some investors.’
‘Let me guess, hungry for untapped markets. Exploring this exciting new part of the world.’
‘Something like that.’
He grinned knowingly, drank deeply. His cufflinks were sand timers.
‘How’s it working out for you?’
‘Seems an interesting time to be here. What about you? What brings you to Astana?’
‘I do tech stuff. For the oil industry mostly.’
‘Good industry to do that for.’
‘It has its moments.’
I bought us more drinks. We grabbed a barrel with stools around it. I wanted to steer him towards revelations, the dark side of this place, his relationship with Vanessa McDonald.
‘The oil work ever bring you any issues?’ I said. ‘I mean, is it still the wild east – gangsters, oligarchs? You get exposed to that?’
‘The company I work for does. It’s just a question of—’ He rubbed his thumb and finger together. ‘Bakshish. Whatever.’
‘Pretty corrupt?’
He shrugged. ‘In the US they only call a place corrupt when the bribes stop working.’