Alex Palmer - The Labyrinth of Drowning

‘I’m still glad your hair is longer now. Eat something.’

‘After you.’

With his eyes still on her, he took a piece of bread and dipped it. She did likewise. He smiled.

‘Breaking bread,’ he said, still looking at her. ‘I wanted us to do that together.’

She ate. Under his gaze, she barely tasted the food. She was trying to pin down the way he was looking at her. His cold blue eyes were staring and intense, they never seemed to leave her face. They frightened her, badly. She might be a professional, an agent who was working, but there was no way around that feeling. You , that expression said. An intent aimed very specifically at her.

‘We were going to talk business,’ she said.

He looked at her with a friendly expression. ‘Let’s say you’ve accurately described what this business is. What do you think you can do for us?’

‘Don’t you think someone in my position could help you out quite a bit?’

‘An accountant would be more useful. Law enforcement agencies aren’t that hard to avoid if you’re careful.’

‘You’re one step ahead of them, are you?’

‘Yes, always. Now if what you’re trying is blackmail, that could be very dangerous for you.’

‘We’re partners already, aren’t we?’ she said. ‘I’m putting my safety on the line for you.’

‘And you’re being paid for it. I can’t use you in the money side of things, you don’t have the skills. But I can use you for what you’re doing now.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘Will you trust me?’ he asked.

‘Why?’

‘I will pay you double what you’ve asked me for, which is a lot of money, if after you pick up Marie tomorrow, you do what I ask you to.’

‘Which is?’

‘You have to wait until tomorrow to find out. But it’ll tell me whether you’re genuine or not.’

‘I thought you were going to give me more information about the business. That’s why I came.’

‘And I’ve asked you to trust me. That’s what you have to do first. Now let’s talk about something else. I want to know about you. Tell me about your daughter. She’s in childcare, isn’t she?’

Slowly Grace shook her head.

‘No, tell me.’

‘Off limits.’

He stopped eating to look at her. ‘I want to know.’

‘Off limits,’ she repeated.

He went back to eating. He was angry by the look of it, although the anger was contained. Grace watched him in silence for some moments.

‘What is this meeting really about? Because you keep changing the rules on me.’

‘No, Grace. You’re the one who keeps changing on me. You’re going to become a part of my work. If I can rely on you, you’re going to help me fulfil obligations. I wanted to spend a little time with you to work out what sort of person you are.’

‘What have you decided?’

‘You’re very hard to reach. Most people I can persuade to talk about themselves. But not you. That makes you a challenge and I like that, I suppose.’ With this, he managed to look up and smile. ‘Let’s try again. Your daughter. Did you really want to have her or did your partner make you?’

‘Why do you want to know?’

‘I just want to know if she’s important to you.’

Grace decided this question was beyond what could be expected of her. She stopped eating. ‘I can’t stay. I have to be back at work. People will notice if I’m not on duty.’

She moved away from the table; he followed her and took her arm.

‘Why does that offend you so much? Because you don’t care about her?’

She pulled away from him. He tightened his grip.

‘Let me go,’ she said.

He was holding her arm, staring at her. Then, very reluctantly, he loosened his grip.

‘Let me kiss you,’ he said.

‘No.’

‘Why not?’

‘It’s what I told you yesterday. You’ve already got a girlfriend and I don’t share.’

‘You will one day. And you’ll talk about yourself as well. One day you’ll tell me everything I want to know about you.’

‘Not today.’

‘No, not today. But you will. Maybe tomorrow. You’ll see.’

She went to her car without looking back.

Once again she went to the motel at Chatswood. Expecting to find both Clive and Borghini waiting for her, she was surprised to see only Clive.

‘He’ll be here soon,’ he said. ‘You handled that well but there are a few things I think you should have done differently. That’s why I wanted a word with you in private. Sit down.’

Grace was still feeling the impact of the meeting with Griffin. What she needed was strong coffee and some encouragement, the kind Borghini usually gave her. All at once the room seemed small, even claustrophobic. She took a chair at the table. Clive sat opposite. She felt a creepiness up her backbone.

‘There are one or two things.’ He was looking at her with an odd expression in those usually expressionless eyes. ‘You should have kept Griffin talking for longer than you did and gone a little further. You should have talked about your daughter when he asked you to.’

‘I couldn’t. Least of all about her.’

‘The job requires you to get over that. And if he wanted you to kiss him, I think you should have done that.’

Grace looked him in the eyes. ‘I’m not doing this job at the expense of myself,’ she said. ‘When I’m at work, I’m at work. And when I’m home, that’s somewhere else altogether. To me, that’s how we handle this. I can’t mix the two like that.’

‘You need to be able to put your home into a compartment and leave it there. I’ve decided you have a future with this organisation but that’s still something you’re going to have to work at.’

Before she could answer, Borghini walked in, slamming the door behind him. He had been part of the backup. He was clearly very angry.

‘I’m going to get straight to the point,’ he said, sitting down and speaking directly to Clive. ‘You’re putting too much pressure on Grace. It’s all her. You shouldn’t be running the operation that way. You should be sharing the load.’

‘There are other people involved,’ Clive replied angrily. ‘There’s surveillance, there’s finance, there’s IT. The police. And there’s you.’

‘But not on the front line. I don’t say Grace doesn’t handle it well. She does. But why go to that meeting in the first place?’ He turned to Grace. ‘I thought that yesterday. It’s exposing you too much. You met him on his turf. You shouldn’t have done that. You’re the one with the perfect bargaining chip. He wants Narelle. Get him to meet you on your turf. Demand more of him than he’s giving you. Let’s get back to basics. What’s his motive? What is this thing he wants you to do? Shoot Narelle Wong dead for him? We’re letting him manipulate us, not the other way around.’

‘I haven’t asked for your opinion. But now that you’ve given it, this is a good time to make an announcement,’ Clive said to Borghini. ‘There’s been a change of arrangements. I’ve asked for you to be replaced as the police liaison officer. You won’t be required for this meeting.’

Borghini looked poleaxed. ‘Why?’

‘I’m finding you obstructive and difficult to deal with. It’s my decision who works on this investigation. You can leave. Now.’

Borghini threw up his hands, acknowledging there was no point in arguing, and stood up.

‘No.’ Grace spoke sharply. ‘We need a liaison officer. There’s no one here to replace Mark. He can stay until his replacement takes over.’

‘I have the authority here,’ Clive said.

‘Our agreement says it’s ultimately my call how I handle the undercover operation within the broad ambit of your directions. He stays until his replacement turns up or I execute my rights under the opt-out clause as of now.’