Sharp Turn - Marianne Delacourt [42]
As far as I could tell, the motorsport of drifting was like skydiving without a parachute.
‘Thanks, Crack,’ I said. Pretty much everything he’d said confirmed what I’d learnt so far, and I had a lead on the fight between the mechanics. I drained my soda.
‘You want a real drink, T?’ he asked.
It was tempting. For once I had some money in my pocket and I could taxi home. Then I thought of Lena Vine. I still had to check through her files on Louise.
‘Nah, got some work to do.’
He looked a bit disappointed.
‘Let’s have a night out soon,’ I added. ‘Bok too.’
He grinned at that idea.
The three of us could take the town apart together – just so long as we kept away from flyover bridges.
On the way home, I stopped in Bayview for a consolation chocolate caramel cone at the ice-creamery opposite Latte Ole. Patrons were bursting out of the café doors onto the sidewalk as the place did its evening transformation into a bar. I wondered how many people I’d know in there, and for a second considered going in.
Go home, Tara, I told myself sternly. Do your work.
Then I saw Ed stumbling out.
I opened my mouth to call to him, but shut it when a slim girl in an LBD detached from a group near the door and snuggled in under his arm. They kissed briefly on the lips and walked off together, heads bent in deep conversation. My heart contracted into a hard, unhappy lump. Was that Vonny, the girl he’d mentioned?
I wanted to follow them but gave myself a lecture about having some pride. Instead I drove home licking my ice-cream and feeling miserable.
Chapter 13
CASS WAS ALREADY ASLEEP, so I tiptoed around for a bit then climbed into bed with my laptop. First I checked the Aprilia site. There were a couple of dealers listed, of which the closest was in Fremantle. I’d swing by there tomorrow and see what I could find out about Clem and Riley’s wrench.
Next, I dug around for anything on Bennett’s Hardware being in financial trouble. Sure enough, there were rumours about it on some of the financial forums. They’d also dropped off the latest Australia’s Top Companies list. (I noticed that Riley’s Tyres had snuck in at ninety-nine.) If the rumours were true, Team Bennett might be riding in their last race.
I opened my email and clicked on the attachment Lena Vine had sent me. It contained her files on both Louise and Kate. I only gave Kate’s a cursory glance; I hadn’t asked for it, and wasn’t really interested in junkies. According to the file, Kate was a home-grown girl from Bunbury who’d worked in various cafés, restaurants and clubs around Perth. The reason she’d given Madame Vine for wishing to become a ‘team member’ was her desire to save money to go on an overseas holiday. Where to? Amsterdam?
I closed her file and opened Louise’s. Her real name was Lexi Clarke. She’d transferred her university course from Ballarat to Western Australia and was living in a share house near Broadway Fair. I scanned her list of clients. No one jumped out at me, so I started the arduous job of Googling each one. A few turned out to be lawyers or doctors or mining execs, but I couldn’t see any obvious connections with anyone unsavoury – not that bad guys tended to advertise on the internet. I wasn’t sure who I’d been hoping to see on the list. Johnny Viaspa, perhaps?
I cut and pasted both girls’ client lists into another email and sent it to Mr Hara. He might notice something I hadn’t. PS, I added, I’ll be around for my first self-defence lesson tomorrow night.
Shutting down my computer, I leaned over and put it on the floor beside me.
I was asleep before it switched off.
My phone rang at five the next morning. ‘Yes?’ I yawned into the mouthpiece.
‘Tara? It’s Bolo Ignatius. Sorry for the early call. I wanted to catch you before you head up to the raceway this morning. Something’s happened.’ He sounded upset.
I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes. ‘What?’
‘I’ve had a . . . errr . . . death threat.’
‘Wha-a-t?’ I stiffened. ‘How?’
‘A text message telling me to pull my team out of the last round or else.’
‘Or else what?’
‘The message had