Skating on Thin Ice

Chapter 12: Sleight of Hand

"Jaime Molina is our best lead," Neal told Sara. "Crowley earned his consultant fee. He told us Hagen's familiar with Molina. He'd forged a work by Raphael—Portrait of a Cardinal for him. The painting in the Prado may be Hagen's forgery."

He'd come to her office with details of another possible undercover mission. Molina lived in Marbella on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain. Sara was familiar with the city. Its miles of beaches and historic old town were a prime destination both for tourists and mobsters. Mafiosi owned many of the expensive villas that dotted the rocky coastline. They co-existed with the rich and famous, keeping a low profile.

"The switch occurred in 1998, shortly after Leonardo's death," Neal said. "I'll notify the museum to inspect the painting. It wasn't marked with pinpricks. Authenticators may have been so focused on searching for pinpricks that they missed other signs."

"I wish I'd been free to attend the meeting."

"I do too, but you'll have other opportunities. If this pans out, I'll be consulting with Crowley more frequently in the future. Molina's a member of the Moroccan mafia, the leader of an Iberian clan called the Brokers. Like the other mafias, they specialize in drugs. The Costa del Sol is the arrival point for illegal drugs from Latin America. That's why the Russian, Serbian, and Italian mafias also maintain a presence. From here, the drugs are dispersed throughout the continent."

"So you're going treasure hunting on the Costa del Sol," Sara said, resolutely shoving to the background her concerns about Neal having anything to do with the mafia. "How do you think you'll approach it?"

"A con of some sort. I've already put in the request with Anna's team for background information. Peter wants to look into his finances. The case presents several interesting features."

"If you could uncover evidence of illegal drug transactions, any recovered art could be considered an unexpected bonus," she suggested.

Neal smiled at her. "We're thinking alike. That means I could keep my involvement under the mob's— and Phoenix's—radar, preserving my usefulness as Francesco."

"Who'll be on your crew?"

He leaned forward and clasped her hand. "You, I hope. I doubt I could keep Mozzie away no matter how hard I tried, and why would I want to? Haven't you always wanted to ransack the Mediterranean villa of a mafioso?"

"And search for buried treasure? You know I do. It's on the coast. We may even find a smugglers' cave." She spoke lightly, but her mind spun through the current investigations on the docket. Diana had just started, and she'd planned to go with her on a joint investigation, but she could delegate one of the team members to handle it.

His eyes lit up. "I like your attitude. When I mentioned it to Henry, he said I'd probably need to pull you off a case. Will this cause any problems for your team?"

"It shouldn't if we're not gone for very long."

"I don't plan to be or Columbia will squawk at me. Enticing as the thought of searching for smugglers' caves is, we won't be able to indulge our inner pirates for very long."

"Who's our client?"

Neal smiled. "John has shown a flair for negotiations almost equal to Henry's magic touch. He has succeeded in signing up virtually all the major museums in an agreement with Interpol. In exchange for a fee, they can come to Interpol with suspicions of forgeries or upcoming heists. Our team then coordinates the response. The advantage to the museums is that by nipping crimes in the bud, they avoid increases to their insurance rates and bad publicity. The fees aren't onerous so museums don't find it difficult to secure approval. Interpol gets a bonus for a successful outcome such as the recovery of an artwork. For our task force, this means we have a war chest to fund investigations. It's also given a boost to the art crime units in countries who are notoriously underfunded."