The Pursuit of Perfection

By

Chris Doherty

Copyright 2014 Chris Doherty

Smashwords Edition

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Dear Reader,

So…how have you been? You still look great; have you been working out? Whether you have read the first book in this series, ‘The Pursuit of Emma’ or are coming to this fresh, you are very welcome here. I have been so overwhelmed by the wonderful response to the first book and wanted to use this as a chance to say ‘Thank You!’

As with the first one, all I want is for you to enjoy the book. I am really proud of how it turned out and I’m sure you are going to love it. Whatever your opinion, please, please, please get in touch and let me know! Contact me on www.facebook.com/chrisdohertywriter or follow me on twitter: @cdohertywriter.

Also, I have decided to include the first taste of a brand new project ‘Marlowe & Stone’. Attached in this book is a short story I would love you all to read. I love writing them so let me know what you think!

OK that’s enough from me…for now! Hopefully we’ll speak soon.

Enjoy.

Chris

For all of those who supported me from the beginning, and believed in this project.

This is for you. With love.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Marlowe & Stone

Chapter One

Do you know the punishment for disappointment?

It is a well-known fact that attractive people surround themselves with other equally handsome or beautiful people. This is true all over the world but nowhere is it more prevalent than in Las Vegas. It certainly seemed that way to Johnny, anyway.

He had never visited America, let alone Vegas, and barely being over twenty, he wasn’t, by law supposed to have much fun there. Not that it was going to stop him. Rules were malleable guidelines to be bent or broken at will.

Johnny prided himself on looking the part and wore the most expensive, hand-cut suits money could buy. They hung nicely off his well-built body and complimented his slick, golden hair. When he walked into a room he was definitely noticed. He wanted people to think Leonardo DiCaprio or Bradley Cooper had just walked in, and in the kind of parties he was now circling in, that wasn’t impossible.

Two weeks ago this foreign country had seemed like a maze, as confusing and impossible to navigate as any he had encountered. But he had adapted. He had surpassed survival and was now thriving. That’s what Johnny did.

He had moved his way up in the world by asking. He had the gift of the gab and the confidence of fifty men. Maybe that was why most women loved him. Not bad for a small time thief from England.

The party he was currently enjoyed, was hosted by one of the most influential men in Las Vegas, and due to his large investments all over the world, most of Europe stood up to attention when he spoke. If he ever did. Nobody got close to him. His fortune provided parties and charity events for the rich and beautiful, but he was rarely seen at these occasions. If he was, he would be quiet and reproachful, and it was soon understood that he didn’t want to be disturbed. Johnny had never met a man who had spoken to him but tonight that was going to change.

At quarter past eleven a broad security guard sort him out and gave him a tap on the shoulder. ‘He will see you now,’ he muttered and used two fingers to indicated he should be followed.

‘Lead the way,’ replied Johnny and followed on casually. The enormity of the situation was not getting to him, or if it was he wasn’t showing it. That was how Johnny played things. Walking the thin line between cocky and arrogant gingerly and not caring who he offended. Why should he respect a man he had never met before?

Neither person spoke as he was led through a set of double doors and down a long corridor. They reached an elevator and the guard pressed a button. Recognising his finger prints, it jumped into life and began whirring towards them.

‘Put your arms to the side and stand still,’ he ordered quietly. Johnny did what he was told and allowed the security guard to search him for weapons.

‘What? You’re not going to buy me dinner first? How cheap a date do you think I am?’ quipped Johnny, ignoring the fact that the security guard didn’t laugh. He chuckled softly to himself. He didn’t say it to make the security guard laugh; he did it because it amused him. Simple.

Presently the doors opened and he stepped inside.

‘Press 4. That will take you to his office. He is expecting to you,’ muttered the guard, who stood back and waited for the lift to move.

‘I will miss these chats we have, I feel like we have really connected. You will stay in touch?’ said Johnny, sarcastically. Again nothing. The doors closed and he began moving up.

Johnny wasn’t sure what to expect but when the doors opened, he was not disappointed. The office was beautiful. No expense had been spared to cover the expansive, open-plan room and everything seemed to be either silver or marble. Some distance from him a desk was evident and behind it was a man. The man he had come to see.

Johnny swaggered towards the desk and was unperturbed by being completely ignored. The man had not looked up for a second. Johnny’s expensive leather shoes made enough noise on the polished marble floor to let people downstairs know he had arrived, let alone someone sharing an office with him. When he reached the desk he had nothing to do except sit down, so he did, coughing rudely.

‘You are Jonathan Ray?’ the man said. He didn’t whisper it but there was very little volume to how he spoke. Johnny could detect a German accent but wouldn’t be able to tell how strong it was until he spoke louder.

‘That’s me, but call me Johnny. Only my mum calls me Jonathan when I’m in trouble.’

The man in front of him looked up and surveyed his counterpart slowly. His expression was lifeless and cold and it didn’t change throughout the thorough visual examination.

‘Tell me how it is, that you are able to afford such expensive clothes when you owe me THREE MILLION DOLLARS!’ He had shouted the last three words and suddenly there was fire in his eyes. He was definitely alive now.

Johnny was taken aback but his arrogance prevailed and he settled back in his chair.

‘What these old things? I’ve had them for years. They were presents from an aunt or maybe...’

‘ENOUGH!’ bellowed the German. He was now beginning to get angry. Johnny was not going to like him when he was angry.

‘They say I am getting soft in my old ages, but whatever the reason I haven’t shot you yet. Please do not think I will extend this courtesy more than the next five minutes. You build up a debt of three million dollars in my casinos, I have the generosity to give you a full week to get the money together and you pay me...nothing. It has taken extreme bravery or stupidity for you to come here and I respect that but you will be leaving here in a body-bag unless you have my money!’

Johnny looked up at him, smiling. ‘Not a cent,’ he replied casually. The German almost exploded with disbelief.

‘Well I have a man before me who is at peace with the world. Clearly you are ready to die. I shall not delay you any longer.’ He opened a desk drawer and pulled a gun, with a silencer already attached. In one swift move it was aimed at Johnny, ready to fire.

‘If you shoot me, you will never get your money,’ claimed Johnny, as relaxed as ever.

‘I have plenty of money. I can live without a few million.’

‘True, but if I die, you will never get what you really want.’

‘And what is that?’

‘The Pursuit of Perfection. I can win it. You need me.’

Johnny could see him thinking for a minute. The gun did not lower but he could see the German’s resolve weakening.

‘Only the best criminal could do that. You are not in the same league,’ joked the older man, still holding firm to his gun. Johnny laughed for a second, jovially.

‘I think you misunderstand who I am. I am the kind of guy that blows three million dollars just to get a private meeting with you. I am better than you ever thought possible and I can do it. With your help.’

‘Why would I want you to do it?’

‘The honour. The prestige. Think about it. Your team winning the ‘Pursuit of Perfection’ and all the glory and money that goes with it.’

‘And what’s in it for you?’ queried the German.

‘I want forty percent of the winnings. Deduct your costs as you will be funding me, and the three million I owe you, then we split the rest sixty/forty.’

The German laughed a cold, dark laugh. ‘I think I would rather just kill you now!’

‘OK thirty percent. Think about it! It’s win-win. Either I am in jail or killed trying, or I succeed and make your name go down in history. You cannot lose.’

He did think about it for a moment. It was something he had dreamed of for years. Why not do it? There was little to lose and at least it may be...interesting. Life for someone like himself was boring and he needed some interest to keep him sharp.

‘Twenty percent or I shoot you on the spot?’ demanded the German. Johnny smiled. He had just walked into one of the most dangerous situations in the world, and he was going to walk out of it.

‘Deal. You do the paperwork and get us entered and I’ll report back to you soon.’ Johnny was back to his cockiest best. He stood up, ready to leave.

‘Do you know the punishment for disappointment?’ asked the German slowly.

‘I imagine it involves some very painful death on my side of things?’

‘It does. Don’t even think about running. I own the world. You should know that by now.’

‘That’s why I came straight to you.’

‘You better be as good as you think you are.’

‘I’m the best. Who do you think stole those five Yuan Dynasty vases last year? It was impossible. For everyone, but me.’ With that, he turned and walked out of the office, leaving by the elevator he had arrived in. He slipped through the crowd of people, decided not to stay and celebrate, and disappeared into a cab.

‘That kid was too cocky,’ the German muttered to himself. He was impressed by him, although nothing would please him more than to stab him through the heart. He hated arrogance. It was to be earned and developed over several years. Nobody that fresh out of school should be that self-assured.

‘I look forward to killing him myself,’ he breathed once more.

His mind wondered to the Yuan Dynasty Job. That was impressive enough. It had been well over a year ago now but he had followed it with great interest. If the boy had pulled off that job maybe he could win the Pursuit. He wasn’t to know that the boy had never pulled off ‘that’ job. He had been nowhere near it. In fact, the only two people capable of pulling off a job of that magnitude were over five thousand miles away, in London, England.

Chapter Two

I want to start a family.

I always knew that children were on the cards. I wanted them and hundreds of conversations with Emma seemed to clarify that she definitely wanted them too. Eventually. So it surprised me to hear her say it so decidedly to me, one Sunday morning.

‘I want to start a family.’

It was so simple and so matter-of-fact that I didn’t understand what she was saying at first. I was reading a magazine at the time and had only given her half my attention (if that). Somewhere deep in my subconscious the words began to penetrate my brain and it slowly dawned on me that she might have said something important. I lowered the magazine, focused my hearing on her and asked her to repeat it.

‘I want to start a family. Now. I’m ready...I think we are ready.’

I smiled at her and considered her proposition for a second. Why not? There wasn’t a question of whether we loved each other and money had ceased to become an issue for some time now. I couldn’t think of any reasons not to. I was ready too.

‘OK, let’s do it,’ I smiled up at her.

She took a deep breath and smiled back at me, laughing almost nervously.

‘So are we going to start...trying?’

‘Can I just finish this article...it’s a fascinating piece on the implications of the new financial rules on the Scottish Premier League. I just can’t tear myself away,’ I teased her.

‘Well you can, but I am going to start without you,’ she purred and began slinking off to the bedroom.

‘Emma,’ I called out after her and waited for her to turn. ‘Sit down a sec.’ I patted the space next to me on the sofa and pulled her into it. ‘You remember what we discussed? If we are having children we give up...’

‘...Everything, I know! The stealing, conning...everything. From this day forth we are honest law abiding citizens.’

‘And you’re OK with that?’ I asked tentatively.

She beamed at me.

‘I am ready. I have stolen almost everything there is to steal. It has been part of my life without you and then very much a part of my last year with you, but it is time. I don’t want to look over my shoulder or go on the run with a child. I can’t. I won’t do it to them.’

‘I agree. One hundred percent. It stops today. I mean, what else could we steal!’

We hugged, knowing it was an end of an era for both of us and she led me to our bedroom, for the first of (hopefully) many attempts to conceive.

*****

The last year had been a wild ride. It had taken a while to truly accept that I wanted to be part of the criminal world. My only previous experience of it had been when I was forced into it to save Emma’s life and I had always been able to justify it in my head. If I entered into it again, I would have no excuses. I had to admit that I liked the feeling I got and I missed it when I tried to quit.

The decision had been easy enough. Emma was doing her best to resist the allure, but it wasn’t long until she wanted to be out there. She didn’t mention it at first, but I would catch her daydreaming, and I knew in my heart that she was planning a con or imagining a blueprint for a big-time bank. Eventually she could never switch it off.

Our first stop had been Mexico. Everything was so new and exciting for me. I had never been to Mexico, let alone completed serious felonies there and I savoured every moment of the experience. Emma, by this stage was a hardened criminal and recounted me with the three previous jobs she had done in Mexico City alone. She really had been everywhere and stolen just about everything.

Our first target: Incan Gold. We had read a newspaper report about a large display being found in Mexico City and decided to fly out to check out the...scenery. We arrived two days before the display was going to be unveiled and set about putting a plan together. I had never had more than a few minutes to cobble a scheme together and it was such a turn on to watch Emma work, without the pressure of a gun to the head. We were stealing because we wanted to, not because we had to.

We ‘cased the joint’ and Emma was good enough to give me jobs to do, to make me feel like an integral part of the team. I was used to having to call the shots and being relegated to the bench would have hurt my pride.

Everything was set and we were in position where I learnt the biggest rule about stealing: always be ready to cut and run. I was so focused on the job and so determined to prove myself as a thief, I ignored Emma’s concerns on the day of the job.

We knew the eyes of the world would be on the gold once it was displayed, so we had to move before it was officially opened. Five minutes before we were set to move, the gold was surrounded by officials and agents from Interpol, the FBI and what looked like some British involvement as well. Foolhardy and arrogant, I wanted to push on anyway and only a desperate final plea from Emma made me stop. If I hadn’t listened, I would be serving time right now. A lot of time.

I never knew what tipped Emma off and perhaps it was just instinct that you developed from years on the job, but I decided then and there to always follow her advice at all times. She was the expert, not me.

It took a little while for Emma to trust me on jobs after that. She decided some training was in order. The next two months were based back in London where she taught me the basic version of everything she knew. I could pick most locks, given time, pick some pockets if they had loose coats on and con with the best of them. I was become a criminal in double-time, but it does help to have the best teaching you. I was ever-willing and she had the patience of a saint.

Eventually, she decided it was time to take the training wheels off and try again. We caught a plane to Istanbul and proceeded to sell a wealthy businessman some property. It wasn’t much and it didn’t yield millions but it was a good start and a great platform to build on.

I want to stop here for a second to explain ourselves. I realise now, just like I did back then, that stealing is wrong. I have no defence for my actions and I hate giving excuses. What I will say is this:

We never took money from individuals that didn’t deserve it (for example: the man in Istanbul was a real piece of work. Everything from child-labour to domestic abuse)

The big companies we hit had insurance and were reimbursed

We didn’t steal because we had too. Half the time, the money was irrelevant. It was a challenge. The ultimate challenge and it became an intellectual pursuit – nothing more.

Those first few cons must have been incredibly boring for Emma. Here was this beautiful genius conning fat, wealthy businessmen for a few thousand here and there. It wasn’t her idea of fun but she knew it would help me, so she did it.

The reasons we never got caught were simple enough. Firstly, we were careful. Emma had done more cons than anyone in the game and not one piece of evidence was left for the police to catch her. She continued to work with the same level of precision and it protected us. Secondly, we would leave it weeks, maybe months before we struck again. We used fake passports sometimes, changed identities often and hit all four corners of the globe, to resist us getting too hot in one city. Most thieves need to keep stealing and this makes them sloppy. We could stop whenever we wanted, we just didn’t want to.

In the year between now and the Yuan Dynasty Ewers jobs, we completed eleven more. That may seem quite a lot but some were very small affairs and over three hundred and sixty-five days, that isn’t a high job rate for most crooks. We netted over three million pounds and spent almost half, living the highlife.

It may sound like a dream and to some extent it was great but there were problems too. For one thing, it was difficult to explain our constant absence to friends and family. I told my mum that we were taking a year out and had some reward money from the Kozlov case, which was going to help us reconnect and travel the world. She didn’t argue.

Jack, my best friend, was more suspicious. He was high up in the police force and although he helped with the Kozlovs, he did it to save mine and Emma’s lives. I knew he would be firmly against any more crimes and if he ever found out, it would put him in an uncomfortable position. When we were home and met up with them, conversations would be strained and difficult and I knew we could never be as close