Sharp Turn - Marianne Delacourt [78]
I took the money. ‘I won’t say a word. Whether Riley looks into it further is out of my control though.’
He gave me a look that told me he knew what he’d do to take care of that.
Maybe I should warn Riley, but he was a tough man who knew how to take care of himself, and the truth was I didn’t really want to know.
Wal stepped reluctantly away from the car, and Bolo was gone before I could stuff the cash in my pocket.
Cass, Wal and I left the track soon after. On our way home, I drove through McDonald’s for soft-serve, much to Cass’s delight.
When we got back to the flat, I went to bed after telling Cass to lock the doors and draw the curtains. She did as I asked, taking the key with her to another ‘appointment’ with Joanna.
Persistent knocking woke me up five hours later.
I forced myself vertical and staggered over to the sliding door.
‘Sharp?’ It was Fiona Bligh.
I unlocked the door and stepped out. She was alone.
‘What in hell’s name happened to your face?’ she asked.
‘Brains got a fright and scratched me. Then I fell over and hit my chin. Where’s Bill?’
‘In the car,’ she explained. ‘And I hope you’re telling me the truth. About your face.’
‘This a social visit?’ I asked.
‘You don’t happen to know anything about a tip-off to the station to go to a townhouse in Scarborough?’
I did my best attempt at listen, stretch, yawn and react with surprise. ‘No. But it sounds interesting. Do tell.’
She gave me a sceptical stare. ‘Well, whoever it was did us a good turn. The guy we caught is wanted for aggravated robbery and rape. And without wanting to pre-empt anything, I think he may be able to help us in one or two murder investigations. Either way, he’ll be going down for a while.’
Thank God. ‘Glad to hear you’ve had a win,’ I said. ‘Anything else I can do for you, Fiona?’
She gave me another raking appraisal but didn’t pursue it. She’d delivered her message to me. They had Josh and he was going down.
When she left, such a huge shudder of my relief passed through my body that I had to sit down. It was just as well I did, because my phone rang and it was Nick Tozzi.
‘Can I come and see you?’ he asked.
‘Now?’
‘Are you alone?’
‘Yes.’
‘I’m outside. There’s a police car in your driveway.’
I sighed. ‘They’re just leaving. Wait a minute and then come in.’
I didn’t know that I was ready to talk to him, but putting it off wouldn’t make it any better.
When I opened the door, he looked so worn out that I slipped my hands around his waist and hugged him for a long time.
When I was able to let go, I asked him if he wanted tea.
He shook his head. ‘No. I just wanted to check that you’re alright. Do you want to talk about what happened?’
We sat on the couch and I recounted the kidnap, and how I’d knocked Josh out with the chair. ‘The police have him now,’ I said. ‘He’s wanted for robbery and rape as well.’
‘Are you sure you don’t want to tell the police the whole story?’
‘I’m sure.’
We sat in silence for a bit.
‘Thank you for having me watched. You saved my life,’ I said eventually.
‘I was worried. You took some serious risks to help me, Tara. I won’t forget that.’
‘To help both of us,’ I corrected.
‘When my investigator called and said you’d been taken, I . . .’
I waited. Would he be able to say it? Would I be able to hear it? Neither of us was very good with the deeper emotions.
Turned out he couldn’t. But he pulled me back into his arms and stroked my hair. ‘You’re giving me grey hairs, you know.’
‘Me too,’ I said in muffled tones.
I felt his chest move as he took a deep breath, then he kissed the top of my head. ‘I have to go and pick Antonia up from the airport.’
I froze. ‘Oh? Is she back from Brisbane?’
‘Yeah. She sounds great. Maybe this will be it. Lord knows, I could do with some good news.’
Couldn’t we all.
I sat on the couch for a very long while after he left, wondering why I hadn’t been able to tell him that I’d seen Antonia at the Gallery with Viaspa. Maybe for the same reason he hadn’t been able to tell me how much he