Read 1 The Assassins' Village for Free Online Page B

looked at each other. It was clear to the others that they wondered what to say. Jenny’s gaze lingered on Bernard, her earlier, carefree look now unsure.  They had promised Tilly not to say a word to anyone. On this occasion she waited for Bernard to make the decision.
    ‘Oh, she has some personal problems at the moment. It’s nothing that can’t be settled. Is that kebab going free Jenny?’ Bernard said changing the subject and pointing at her plate with his fork.
    Steve and Diana gave a quick glance to each other. If they wanted to tell them it was up to them. The conversation paused and everyone tucked into his or her food.
    Pushing his empty plate aside, Bernard gave a contented sigh, and picked up his third pint of Blackthorns. He took a large swig and smacked his lips together in appreciation. ‘Jen and I love eating out, but we do have to watch the pennies now.’
    Diana and Steve had always assumed that as Bernard and Jenny no longer worked they relied on pensions. Finite resources of course, often did not go as far as one would like.
    ‘It wasn’t always this bad. Just the last year or so,’ Bernard frowned as he studied the gold coloured cider in his glass for a moment. He traced a finger down the condensation on the outside. ‘Actually I got taken for a ride,’ he raised his head and looked first at Steve and then across to Diana. A look of anger darkened his face. ‘I was persuaded to cash in some P.E.Ps and reinvest it in a supposedly watertight, fail proof new investment. Unknown to me it was all a bloody scam.’
    Jenny touched Bernard’s hand. ‘You weren’t to know, darling,’ she said in a soft consoling voice.
    ‘How perfectly dreadful. Was this here in Cyprus?’ Di assumed he was talking about some Anglo-Cypriot venture.
    ‘Yes. I was guaranteed a high rate, a very high rate, of interest in return for lending them the money. Unfortunately, there was nothing legal backing them. Just a lot of quick mouthed, smooth talking bastards. I tell you his acting merited an Oscar! He’s wasting his time with all that modern art he’s so proud of,’ he paused and took another sip from his glass. Diana registered what he had said as her stomach did a quick flip. It felt as if it had suddenly fallen from a height. She instinctively knew what he would say when she asked, ‘ His acting? His modern art ?’
    Bernard looked at her and replied in a terse tone, ‘Yes. You know whom of course, Leslie. He was the one who approached me. He got me all interested and fired up in this Grand Scheme that was, oh so infallible! Huh! What he didn’t say was that the main players were Russian!’
    ‘Russian?’
    ‘Yes. Dodgy money and everything else that goes with it,’ he gave a huge sigh that sounded full of resentment. ‘To cut a long story short, I paid out in all good faith, expecting a full statement of accounts and presto, they disappeared. Probably Russian Mafioso connections for all I know. Cyprus has loads of Ruskies here now. Did you know that, Limassol as a town has the largest number of Russians in it outside Russia itself?’
    ‘Yes I did read that somewhere, but what about Leslie’s involvement? How was he implicated? Did he lose money too?’
    Jen snorted in unladylike disgust. ‘Oh no. He was too clever for that. His job – he was paid a commission to introduce naïve investors like ourselves, was simply to get them all signed up.’
    ‘Stitched up more like,’ stormed Bernard. ‘He never parted with a penny of his own money. We weren’t the first either. Oh no. He’d been doing it for some time,’ he stopped and thought for a moment before continuing. ‘So all in all, with his little shenanigans, he fair nigh ruined us. Thank God we own the little house we’re in and don’t need to pay rent. Apart from our small pensions and a couple of small investments of Jen’s we have nothing else left.’
    There was a small silence before Jenny sadly agreed. ‘No, there’s nothing else