‘Hello, Donna. I didn’t expect to see you here today.’

Donna looked up into his face and he saw the worry in her eyes.

‘They busted me, Alan.’ Her voice was low. Taking the seat opposite, he signalled to the waiter.

‘I heard. But it’s all sorted now. According to a friend of mine, Lewis set it up for Georgio. He owes Lewis a large amount of money.’

Donna nodded.

A tall dark-haired girl came over to the table, dressed in the regulation black skirt and white blouse. Donna saw the smile for Alan and felt a moment’s jealousy at the girl’s easy way with men.

‘Bring us a bottle of red wine - a half decent one, Charlotte, if you don’t mind. And the menu, OK?’

The girl was exquisite. Her perfect skin glowed and Donna knew it was not thanks to foundation.

‘Certainly, Mr Cox.’

Donna closed her eyes. To add insult to injury the girl had a very attractive French accent.

‘Pretty girl.’

Alan nodded in agreement. ‘Very pretty. Only twenty, but she’s as clever as Einstein. Should do well.’

Donna sipped at her mineral water again. ‘Do you know why Georgio owes Lewis money?’

Alan shrugged, not committing himself. ‘I’ve heard a few rumours, of course. Nothing concrete.’

The girl came back with the wine and Donna caught a subtle hint of Coco perfume. Charlotte expertly opened the wine and poured it into the glasses. She placed a menu before each of them and, smiling once more, walked away.

Alan sipped the Mouton Cadet and licked his lips.

‘So what’s the score with Lewis and your old man?’ he asked.

‘Georgio went into business with him in Sri Lanka and Thailand. They were to build hotels and jump on the tourist bandwagon, Georgio after all was a builder, as you know. It was to be legal, all legal, he explained it to me.

‘Well, the rub is, Alan, the man out on site tucked him up. It turned out that he had no permission for the sites, no government agreement, nothing. Georgio lost a small fortune, and unfortunately so did Lewis. That’s why Georgio got involved with the robbery. He had been stripping the other businesses for capital and nearly ruined himself, Alan. Well, you know the rest.’

He didn’t speak for a while but allowed the information to sink in, wondering how much was true and how much was Georgio’s idea of a good story.

‘What do you know about Sri Lanka and Thailand? Have you any documentation, anything that can corroborate this story?’

Donna shook her head. ‘Nothing much, just a few letters and brochures. I received a fax the other day saying they were in trouble. Then last night after the police left, Stephen turned up and I find out that he is off to Sri Lanka. That seemed very suspicious to me. I don’t trust him.’