 |
 |
Lisa MacMahon had been grief-stricken the day Tony died, but time had made the pain less keen, especially after she discovered he’d been having an affair with Monique Masterson, not to mention the others.
She’d always liked Rupert Sackville, he could be amusing and his counselling as the ‘family’ solicitor had been unfailingly sound. Rupert, for his part, was particularly fond of her kids, they were the grandchildren he’d never have.
When their school’s headmaster had enthused about their intelligence and aptitude, it was Rupert who had suggested an investment in their future by sending them to one of the country’s finest boarding schools. Entry hadn’t been a problem; their academic performance met the requirements and any reticence over their parents’ origins had been overcome by a very large donation.
The fact that Rupert had assisted the Police following Tony’s demise hadn’t overly concerned Lisa once she discovered the true extent of their wealth. She knew he’d done it out of fear of Tommy Cole, onetime ‘partner in crime’ in the MacMahon empire.
Tommy was now doing a life sentence with a minimum tariff of twenty years for murdering a rival and Rupert felt he could raise his head above the parapet again. Cole was a spent force. The gangsters’ most unpopular gangster; his ‘friends’ had been swift to desert him.
Rupert had made sure the legitimate parts of Tony’s operations were safe. The others, the ones the Police would target as criminal enterprises, were difficult to trace but the links were there if you looked hard enough. The Police and NCA did.
In a savvy move, Lisa co-operated. They were taking civil proceedings for asset recovery so she voluntarily relinquished the dodgy stuff they’d found and eventually they left her alone. Everyone was happy, except Tommy Cole who hadn’t been as clever as he thought he was. He lost everything.
As part of the precautions against reprisal, Rupert and his mother had been in police protection but since her death, and Tommy’s conviction, he’d decided to come out of hiding and followed his money to the Alps and Switzerland, where one day he met some new friends. Actually, they met him.
They’d been interested in acquiring various useful companies in the UK. Haulage, transport, that type of thing but they were willing to consider anything that could turn a profit and launder their money. He’d put them in touch with Lisa and vouched for them. It was all they needed.
For her part, she made a tidy profit, some new friends and even found herself a part-time lover.