"previously ON MATRlOSHKl" "Who's that?" "That's Dasha." "My little sister..." "She's ill." "Cancer." "Her sister's in hospital." " Does Bob know about this?" "She'll be back by Saturday." " l asked whether Bob knew about it." "Tony speaking." "Was that who I think it was?" " What do you mean?" "Go and get her and take her back to the Pussycat." "Now what?" "Fuckin' hell..." "Jesus..." "What do we do now?" "I'll take care of it." " What d'you mean?" "Alyona!" " Hi, little sis." "How are you?" " l'm OK." "Mum phoned me and I got on a plane straight away. I brought you a present." "From Belgium?" "What's in it?" " Open it." "Then you'll see, silly." "Wow..." "It's beautiful." "Do you like it?" " lt's brilliant." "Hello Mum." "Hello sweetie." " Look Mum." "Alyona gave it to me." "Wow!" "It's lovely." "She brought me a scarf from Belgium." "As soon as you're better, the two of us will go shopping together." "And you can choose whatever you like." "Didn't Mum tell you I'm probably going to die?" "That's not true." "You're not going to die." "The lady who was in that bed over there had cancer too." "She died yesterday." "Listen." "You're not going to die." "Everything's going to be fine." "I promise you." "Good morning." " Hello doctor." "Dr Petrov." " Alyona Reva." "How are you today, princess?" " Fine, doctor." "Can we have a chat outside?" " Yes, of course." "I'll be right back." "Yes." "That's Danny." "Thank you." "He was suffering from depression." "Had been for some time." " And Esther Vandewalle?" "When did you last see her?" "A week ago, I think." " You think?" "But she lived at that apartment too, didn't she?" "And then, one day, she never came home?" "Didn't you ask Danny where she was?" "It was none of my business." "I just slept there." "I thought you were good pals?" "We were." "But we never discussed things to do with women." "Oh, right." "So when Danny didn't come home last night, didn't you start to worry?" " Of course I did!" "Did you try phoning him on his mobile?" " No." "Did you go and look for him?" " No." "Did you call anyone else to find out where he was?" "We're not ones for making phone calls." "Bloody hell!" " Just drove into the water and drowned." "You didn't tell the cops anything, eh?" " No." "The two of 'em tried to catch me out." ""Did you phone him?" "Did you phone anyone to ask where he was?" "Did you go and look for him?"" "And then about Esther." "For a whole hour." "Did they ask you anything about me?" " No." "Phhh, man." "Now what?" "You should never have banged Esther." "How could I know he'd make such a mountain out of it?" "Huh!" "You knew damn well that he was a sensitive guy." "You'll be saying it's my fault in a minute!" "When's the funeral?" "They don't know." "They haven't released his body yet." "Why not?" " Call 'em and ask 'em!" "Finally!" "I'm so pleased to see you." " Me too." "He's OK, Sveta." "I'd never have got away without him." "It wasn't easy for him either." "Child!" "It's so good you're back." "Hello." " Tony is from Belgium." "He's a friend from work." "Doesn't he speak Russian?" "They don't speak Russian in Belgium." "He only speaks English and Flemish." "Flemish..." " Yes." "Come on." "Mummy!" " Sweetie!" "Hello, sweetheart." "Mummy's best boy!" "This is Tony." "Tony comes from Belgium." "They speak a very funny language there." "Wanna take a look in the safe yourself?" "Have you phoned him?" " Loads of times." "He's not answering." "He still lives with his mother." "Have you tried there?" "What do you think?" "His mother didn't know anything?" " She's not answering the phone either." "Something's up." " Of course something is up!" "I've fuckin' well lost 150,000 euro!" "150,000?" " lt's all gone!" "Can't you claim on your insurance?" "What do I say?" "My staff's run off with my ill-gotten gains?" "You call him." "What d'you want me to say?" "Want me to play the innocent?" "Tell him that Danny's dead." "And try to find out where he is." "The bastard!" "Cheers." "It's me, Tony." "Call me back." "Bye." "It rang normally first." "I reckon he saw it was me." "D'you really think Bob will let you go just like that?" "You're crazy!" " But I haven't done anything." "You haven't." "But Tony stole his money." " l can't do anything about that now." "How much money are we talking about?" " A lot." "I don't know exactly, but it's more than 50,000 euro." "Wow... 50,000?" "Are you two crazy?" " Honestly." "He also withdrew some money from the bank account." "What?" " ls Tony in love with you?" "is he or isn't he?" " l don't know... I think so." "A bit, anyway..." "How long did he work for those sleazebags?" "A few years." " Some of that money is ours." "You do realise that, don't you?" "We had to fuck stupid Belgians day in and day out for it!" "And you for even longer than me..." "You can't stay here." "They know where you live and that you've got a kid." "But I haven't done anything!" "Try telling 'em that when they come for you." "But they won't come all this way, will they?" "They don't know that Tony's here." "D'you want to take the risk?" "With Serioja?" "Bob's got contacts here." "You know he has." "You should've got rid of that loser on the way here." "Good evening, Mrs Grooven." "We're friends of Tony's." "No one upstairs." "We're only trying to help your Tony, missus." "Just tell us where he is." "OK?" "Tony's a pal of ours." "Has been for years." "We work with your son." " You're a couple of thugs!" "I don't like being called that, missus!" "Hello." " Well?" "Discovered anything yet?" "We're trying to talk to her, Bob, but she's not letting on." "Maybe you need to encourage her." "She's an old girl, Bob." "I can't just sock her one, can I?" "Drink a nice fuckin' cup of coffee with her instead, then!" "Hello?" "Bob?" "He can kiss my fuckin' arse!" "You're not really helping' your Tony, you know, missus." "A load of money has disappeared from the office." "And our boss thinks Tony has taken off with it." "It's probably just a misunderstanding, but the money's gone." "Tony's not a thief!" " No, but why did he suddenly disappear?" "You've gotta admit that's fishy." " l'm angry with him." "Are you?" "Why?" " He brought a girl home." "One that's no good." "A foreigner." "With a strange name." "She even spent the night here." " Oh!" "He's never had a girlfriend before, then one appears at the table who could've been on the front of magazines." "I wasn't born yesterday!" "I'll phone you if anything happens." "Be careful." " l'll text you when we arrive." "Go now." "Bye Mum." "Say hello to Aunt Yulia for me." "You've already said that four times!" " Then you certainly won't forget!" "Oh, I forgot her present." "You can't get that in Bulgaria." "Don't drink it yourselves!" "Have a good trip." "He doesn't pay the girls." "They all want to leave." "So what are we gonna do?" " Hold on!" "I know the night doormen of all the big hotels in the city." "I also know a lot of taxi drivers." "And I know a load of guys with a bulging wallet who like to have a good time." "And?" "There isn't a single decent escort service here in Antwerp." "They're all a shambles!" "Every single one." "Well?" "There's a gap in the market!" "I need twenty girls who can be trusted." "They need to be pretty and presentable." "No Belgians." "They're all social rejects." "They're nothing but trouble." "No, I just want birds from the EU." "Poles, Romanians, Bulgarians." "No more hassle with papers that aren't in order." "And they'll be paid properly." "So they're happy." "That's much better for the clients too." "Well?" "Your turn." "You've been abroad a lot, haven't you?" "So... what can you do for me?" "Well..." "That depends." "What's your budget?" "Five minutes." "Go on." "Nastya!" "I hardly recognised you!" "You don't look like yourself." "You've gone blonde!" "It's been a long time!" " Eight years. incredible." "Are you Serioja?" "I'm Aunt Yulia, your mummy's auntie." "Your granny's sister." "What a big boy you are!" "This is Tony." "He's from Belgium." "Nice to meet you." "I don't speak any English." "They're here, Nikola." " Yes, so I see..." "Hello Uncle Nikola." " Hello." "is your daughter home?" " No." "Are you sure?" "She's in Belgium." " l think you're lying." "She's not here." "No, but..." "Maybe she's been here!" " No." "Honestly, she hasn't." " So where is your grandson?" "He's with my sister." " What a coincidence..." "Have you been on a trip?" "Where's your daughter?" " l don't know." "D'you know, Grandad?" "I'll ask you one more time." "Where is she?" "Tell me where she is!" "I don't know!" " Tell me where she is!" "Hello?" " Alyona?" "Can you hear me?" "Nastya?" " Hi." "How's Dasha?" "Have you been to see her already?" "Yes, this morning." "I talked to the doctor." "She needs an urgent operation." "And then everything will be fine?" " They don't know." "They're only giving her a thirty percent chance of survival." "Maybe they're wrong, maybe it's not as bad as all that." "We haven't got enough money for the operation." "How much does it cost?" " 7,500 dollars." "She needs to see a specialist in Moscow." "Or Germany, but it costs even more there." "So what are you going to do?" "I don't know... I really don't know, Nastya." "I've lost 150,000 euro." "So I need money." "And I'm not your bank." "Tony is a loser." "But he's a dangerous loser." "Go and find him." "Get my money back." "And make sure the cunt never sets foot in Belgium again!" "Come on, Bob." " D'you mean you want us to... lt's not as if it'd be the first time, eh?" "What do you mean?" " What?" "D'you really want me to explain?" "D'you think I don't know what happened to Ray Van Mechelen in Thailand?" "You can't prove anything, Bob." "Right." "I'm not going back to Bulgaria." "Then you can pay me what you owe me!" "Today!" "Come on!" "You can't expect me to do that!" " Can't I?" "What about you?" "I'm still only out on parole." "The same old song!" "If I were to..." " Are you suddenly rolling in it then?" "No." " So why are you being so awkward?" "How much are you prepared to pay?" "Ten percent each of what that dog pinched." "That's 15,000 apiece." " ln his case, less what he owes me." "They've been to your house, Nastya." "They set about your mother." "What happened?" " l'm not sure exactly, but they beat her up." "She's in hospital." "What?" "Who did it?" " l only saw her for a few moments." "A man came round and asked where you were." "When she didn't answer, he punched her." "She was hard to understand." "She was confused." "I think it was that driver who works for Valhiev." "How is she?" " Not too good..." "She's got two broken ribs and is badly bruised." "He really went to town on her..." " Do they know where l am?" "I don't know, Nastya." "I'll call you if I hear anything else." "Take care." "Do you like it?" "Fuck it!" "Serioja, come here to Mummy!" "Hello." "Have you already chosen what you want to drink, gentlemen?" "Yulia." "Sorry, but I don't speak English." "They think we're stupid." "I'm sorry. I can't help you." "Tell 'em before they smash the place up." " No way." "Your family is nothing but trouble." " lf you say so..." "What have I done to deserve this?" "This should be interesting..." "Nice villa!" "You aren't bothered by your neighbours." "Very nice..." "Bloody hell!" "Now what do we do?" "Hello?" " Hello. lt's me." "Nastya." "Nastya?" "Where are you phoning from?" "That doesn't matter." "How's Dasha?" "Not so good." "She's still being very brave but she's much weaker now." "The doctor has only given her a couple of months." "They can't do any more in Kiev." " l've got the money for her operation." "What?" "The money for Dasha's operation." "7,500 dollars." "What do you mean, Nastya?" " What I say. I've got the money." "Go to Western Union in an hour." "Where did you get so much money?" " lt's money we worked hard for." "You, me, Yana and the other girls." "But how did you get it?" " That's not important." "D'you really mean it, Nastya?" " Yes, really." "I'll send you a text with the code." "Take care." "Hugs and kisses." "That was Nastya, my friend." "She says she's found the money..." "For Dasha." "I don't believe it!" "Look at us standing here." "Now there's only two of us left." "Yeah, man. lt can all change so fast." "There." "Paul." " Jan. Eddy." "Paul." "Sad, eh?" "A hulking great brute like that..." "Where's Bob Sels?" "He didn't come." "Well..." "He had just shown Danny the door." "So I heard." "Here. it's all in there." " Thanks." "Now what?" "I've had enough of all the grief." "I want to start up on my own again." "Abroad somewhere." "Somewhere where it's warm." "You can find whores anywhere." "What about you?" "I don't know." "Now that Danny's no longer around..." "But I haven't got a pot to piss in!" " Neither have I." "How can you go abroad without any money?" "Well, to start with, it's cheaper there than here." "There's so much money to be earned in so many different countries." "It's all become far too complicated here." "Just a minute." "I thought you didn't have any money either!" "So what's that?" " That's not mine." "It was in your jacket." " lt belongs to Paul." "He asked me to do a little job for him." "Oh, right..." "Put it back." "Bucharest." "What are you going to do there?" "You still owe me more than 20,000 euro." "You don't think I'm gonna wait forever?" "It's not my money, Eddy." " No, Jan. l've waited long enough." "Hey!" "Give here!" "Come on!" "Give it back!" "What's got into you all of a sudden?" "I don't fuckin' believe it!" "Just sit there quietly and have a whisky." "OK?" "Listen. I'll do that job for Paul and everything I earn is for you." "Alright?" "I don't believe you any more." " Then there's not much I can do, pal!" "Give that money here!" "You piece of shit!" "Bastard!" "Fuck!" "Jesus bloody fuckin' Christ!" "Jesus fuckin' Christ!" "You stupid wanker!" "Police" "Thanks." "Bob Sels went to prison for 10 years for manslaughter, human trafficking, aiding prostitution, firearms possession and formation of a criminal gang." "Tony Grooven received a fine and a 3-month suspended sentence for forgery." "His involvement in human trafficking couldn't be proved." "Jan Verplancke is now exporting second- hand cars to Poland and Lithuania." "Nastya and Sveta moved to Chisinau (Moldova), where they are now running a snack bar together." "Dasha Reva was operated on in Moscow but died two months later in Kiev as the result of a brain tumour." "Alyona Reva returned to Belgium."