Sharp Turn - Marianne Delacourt [75]
Bok and Wal ate together on the couch as I filled them all in on what had happened from the moment I was pushed into the boot of the car. I didn’t try to hide anything.
Bok looked a bit sick, and Cass turned pale.
‘Get some sleep now,’ said Bok, kissing me on the head. ‘We should all get some sleep. I’ll come back this afternoon and we’ll talk more.’
Wal lay down on the couch once he’d locked the sliding door, and Cass got up to wash the plates.
I climbed into my own bed and hugged my pillow. I didn’t dare look in the mirror. My skin was still shredded from the cactus garden and the hedge, and now my lip was fat and my chin bruised.
I wanted to cry again.
Tozzi hadn’t stopped as Wal and I pulled up outside Lilac Street; he just gave me a wave and kept on going. I badly wanted to thank him but it would have to wait. There was something I had to do that was much more urgent.
I got my phone and sat on my bed.
‘Madame Vine . . . Lena?’
‘Yes, Tara.’ She sounded remarkably awake for 6 am. ‘Have you made some progress?’
‘Yes, progress has been . . . made.’ I told her about Roc’s connection with Kate and Viaspa. ‘Call the police. Get Roc out of your place. He’s dangerous. I’ll be in touch again soon.’
‘What about Louise?’ asked Lena.
‘I think she knew about Kate ringing the doorbell and didn’t want to say anything. What I sensed in her was . . . guilt.’
Lena was quiet for a moment. ‘And you think they meant to kill me, not Audrey?’
‘Yes. Your lobbying against drugs in prostitution is a threat to Viaspa.’
‘I knew I would tread on toes but this . . . Oh, Audy,’ her voice trembled. ‘I owe you a great deal, Tara. I’ll call Detective Whitehead immediately about Leonard.’
‘Don’t be surprised if they can’t make anything stick to Viaspa. He’s slippery. I know from experience.’
‘The worst ones always are.’
‘Be careful, Lena.’
‘You too, Tara.’
I hung up and shivered myself to a kind of sleep.
Only a few hours had passed when I woke up gasping for breath as someone tried to choke me in my dreams. I sat upright and waited for my brain to orient itself.
Home. In my bed. Safe. Daytime.
Cass was asleep on her fold-out bed and Wal was out cold on the couch.
I massaged some blood into my facial muscles and blinked a few times. Then I picked up my laptop from my bedside table and booted it up. Maybe a bit of Facebooking might help my fear hangover.
Instead I found myself looking over the list of Bolo’s and Robert Riley’s companies again. Tex-E. I remembered Riley had mentioned them. I quickly Googled it and found out it was a small company supplying motorbike chains and electrical parts such as speedometers, switches and headlights. The thing I hadn’t expected to see was that Bolo was a part owner.
A lightning bolt of suspicion struck me. I got up and shook Cass awake.
‘What?’ She sprang out of bed and almost knocked me over.
‘Cass, it’s me. Shhh. Listen. What time does the race start today?’
She crinkled her forehead. ‘Umm . . . 10 am, I think. Why? You’re not –’
‘What about the superbikes?’
‘Around one. That’s what T-Dog said.’
I checked the clock on my computer. It was 11.15 am. An hour’s drive should get me there before the main race.
I raised my voice. ‘Wal, wake up! Wal!’
He opened his eyes without moving a muscle. ‘What?’
‘I know why Bolo wouldn’t go to the police about his death threats. We’ve got to get out to Wanneroo. Now!’
‘You’re the boss. Let’s go.’
I was beginning to think maybe, instead of a bunch of craziness, I’d stumbled on a pot of gold when I met Wal.
He never quibbled over important things.
Chapter 26
WAL DROVE ME DOWN to the gym in the Calais, where I picked up Mona and followed him back to Lilac Street. Then he and Cass joined me in my car.
‘How did Bolo act when you were watching him?’ I asked Wal as we hit the highway north.
He shrugged. ‘Nervy.’
‘Did you check his computer?’
‘Yeah. Just a lot of porn. Some of it pretty hardcore, though.’
I nodded. Even if my hunch was right, there was still a missing piece of the jigsaw to put in place. A name was bugging