Peter Corris: Taking Care of Business

She was perspiring and breathing hard. ‘To do what?’

‘To get away as far as you can. You’ve both been very stupid and you’re lucky Bobby’s dad is a friend of mine. You call him, pack your bags and get together all the money you can and tell him to do the same. Then you take off. Overseas would be best or as far north or west as you can go.’

‘What’re you going to do?’

I eased the tension out of my shoulders. ‘Got anything to drink here, Carly?’

‘White wine.’

I nodded and she brought a bottle with the cork sitting in it and a glass. I ignored the glass and took a swig. ‘I don’t give a shit about people flogging illegal tobacco, but guns and little weasels like Roger are a different thing. I’m going to drop him and everybody at Hillcrest and the other places right in it. This is what you do. You pack up and put your stuff out the back door.’

‘Why?’

‘I’m trying to fix it so Roger doesn’t get the idea that you and Bobby are in with me.’

‘But I called him.’

‘This’ll make it clearer. We go back in. I take a look at Roger and you bolt for the door. I trip over Roger and you get away.’

She took the bottle and had a drink. ‘Thank you.’

‘Call it an early Christmas present-for Bobby’s father.’

I gave them most of the rest of the day before I made a series of phone calls to the right people. No names, no pack drill. I also got the computer up and sent the pictures of the tobacco plantation using an anonymous Hotmail address. I let Roger listen and watch it all so he was in no doubt about what was going to happen. Then I took his pistol apart and told him I’d be scattering the pieces between Goulburn and Sydney. Then I kicked him out. He swore a bit. He was better at that than anything else.

The next day I called in on Spiro, who’d left messages on my answering machine. He was in a state. ‘Bobby’s gone. He’s disappeared.’

‘I know,’ I said, ‘but it’s all right.’ I explained things to him and he calmed down.

‘Where do you think he went, Cliff?’

‘I don’t know and if he’s smart he won’t have told anybody.’

‘This girl. What is she like?’

‘I wouldn’t hold my breath until the wedding,’ I said.