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Back The Counterfeit Candidate Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. Prologue
  2. Chapter One
  3. Chapter Two
  4. Chapter Three
  5. Chapter Four
  6. Chapter Five
  7. Chapter Six
  8. Chapter Seven
  9. Chapter Eight
  10. Chapter Nine
  11. Chapter Ten
  12. Chapter Eleven
  13. Chapter Twelve
  14. Chapter Thirteen
  15. Chapter Fourteen
  16. Chapter Fifteen
  17. Chapter Sixteen
  18. Chapter Seventeen
  19. Chapter Eighteen
  20. Chapter Nineteen
  21. Chapter Twenty
  22. Chapter Twenty-One
  23. Chapter Twenty-Two
  24. Chapter Twenty-Three
  25. Chapter Twenty-Four
  26. Chapter Twenty-Five
  27. Chapter Twenty-Six
  28. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  29. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  30. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  31. Chapter Thirty
  32. Chapter Thirty-One
  33. Chapter Thirty-Two
  34. Chapter Thirty-Three
  35. Chapter Thirty-Four
  36. Chapter Thirty-Five
  37. Chapter Thirty-Six
  38. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  39. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  40. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  41. Chapter Forty
  42. Chapter Forty-One
  43. Chapter Forty-Two
  44. Chapter Forty-Three
  45. Chapter Forty-Four
  46. Chapter Forty-Five
  47. Chapter Forty-Six
  48. Chapter Forty-Seven
  49. Chapter Forty-Eight
  50. Chapter Forty-Nine
  51. Chapter Fifty
  52. Chapter Fifty-One
  53. Chapter Fifty-Two
  54. Chapter Fifty-Three
  55. Chapter Fifty-Four
  56. Chapter Fifty-Five
  57. Chapter Fifty-Six
  58. Epilogue
  59. Author’s Note
  60. Acknowledgements
  61. About the Author

By the time Vargas and Torres arrived back at base, the department was absolutely buzzing with a party-like atmosphere. The main detective team were ebullient and in full celebration mode. A junior detective brought two bags, containing the random items, into Vargas’s office and carefully laid out the contents on the floor. Behind him, two fellow officers struggled to carry a small cast-iron safe, which Vargas had requested be brought up to his office from the basement storeroom. At that exact moment, a phone call was placed from inside the police department to Theodor Consultants.

* * *

Alonso Núñez wasted no time in briefing Paz on the news he’d just received from his informant.

“Turns out the bastard hid his share in a lock-up garage in Villa Lugano. Vargas has sealed off the entire street and there’s a small army of cops on-site. Our contact understands that certain items have already been brought back to Vargas’s office for examination.”

Paz had been sitting on a bar stool by an island in his kitchen, enjoying a beer and a cheese and salami sandwich, when Núñez gave him the update. His trademark temper kicked in and he flung a half-full Peroni bottle onto the tiled floor. The green glass shattered into hundreds of tiny fragments and cold beer splattered onto the white lacquered cupboard units.

He didn’t call Franklin immediately, but, an hour later, after hearing the breaking news of the police discovery on his local radio, he knew he had no choice. Paz reached for his mobile, dreading the verbal assault that was coming his way. He wasn’t wrong. Franklin was incandescent with rage and Paz had no option but to suck it up.

“Paz, you are a fucking imbecile. I’ve paid your useless company literally millions of dollars and every time you’ve let me down. All the way through this fiasco you’ve constantly failed to deliver. This latest development is potentially catastrophic for all of us, especially my son. You need to come back to me with a plan that will actually work. Vargas needs to be blown away and the contents of our box need to be destroyed before anyone discovers what they represent.”

* * *