I walked in under the red and yellow arch without so much as a thought. I had not showered or shaved. I stunk of the seaside and an hour-long bus ride.
Big Red Reg looked up from a burger. “Julian.”
“Yep.”
“How did you know I was here?”
“Well, I was up in a satellite, I found the Great Wall of China, then went left.”
“What happened to you?”
“All my wishes came true.”
“Did you go to the house?”
“Me and a friend paid a visit.”
“So the target’s here, then.”
“My Brisbane visit was worthwhile, yes, if that’s what you mean.”
“So what happened?”
“His brother tried to drown me.”
“Why aren’t you dead?”
“I’m not sure that I’m not.”
“So you tail the brother.”
“It’s not that easy. He might have taken someone.”
“Someone who?”
“A friend of mine.”
“From Brisbane?”
“A new friend.”
“Ah.”
Big Red Reg put down his burger. “I don’t want to say the word compromise.”
“So don’t then.”
“You’ve got to do the job and get out. That’s it. That’s all you’re being paid to do. You can’t worry about her.”
“How do you know it’s a woman?”
Big Red Reg chuckled. “Do you have to ask?”
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
NEVER A FRONTWARD STEP, PART SEVENTEEN
I put on the visor, welcoming the belated shade. “I was here last…” I started the sentence, but then a thought stitched itself to the side of my brain. “Yvette—the fisherwoman, she was with me. Have you seen her?”
“She the one who sits on the pier?”
“Yes, she wears the hat … sometimes, I think. I don’t really know that, but she was wearing a big hat when I first saw her. Do you know where she is?”
“Can’t say I do,” said the lady. “She’s usually on the pier at sunrise, but I didn’t see her this morning.”
I had to get back to Brisbane. I had to do some serious business. This was not the way things were done. If they had taken Yvette—if they had done anything to her…
“I’ve got to get back to the lifesaving club,” said the lady, pointing back over her shoulder. “You going to be okay to get home?”
“Yeah,” I said distractedly. “Thanks.”
This wasn’t right. The junkie was one of their foot soldiers, a particularly nasty worm with a penchant for schoolyard pushing. He knew the game he was in. Yvette was an innocent person. Anger grew in my chest in a spiky rising rhythm. I pulled down my sun visor and gingerly got to my feet. Shaking myself of accumulated sand, I began the trek to the spot where my hire car was very likely sitting with its wheels missing and its CD player on permanent loan.
“She the one who sits on the pier?”
“Yes, she wears the hat … sometimes, I think. I don’t really know that, but she was wearing a big hat when I first saw her. Do you know where she is?”
“Can’t say I do,” said the lady. “She’s usually on the pier at sunrise, but I didn’t see her this morning.”
I had to get back to Brisbane. I had to do some serious business. This was not the way things were done. If they had taken Yvette—if they had done anything to her…
“I’ve got to get back to the lifesaving club,” said the lady, pointing back over her shoulder. “You going to be okay to get home?”
“Yeah,” I said distractedly. “Thanks.”
This wasn’t right. The junkie was one of their foot soldiers, a particularly nasty worm with a penchant for schoolyard pushing. He knew the game he was in. Yvette was an innocent person. Anger grew in my chest in a spiky rising rhythm. I pulled down my sun visor and gingerly got to my feet. Shaking myself of accumulated sand, I began the trek to the spot where my hire car was very likely sitting with its wheels missing and its CD player on permanent loan.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
NEVER A FRONTWARD STEP, PART SIXTEEN
A bright light rolled uphill, painfully, into my head. My first thought was that I should be wet, but I felt bone dry. The sun roiled thin clouds above me, fracturing the sky into Byzantine blues and whites. I guessed at mid-morning, the morning after, or some time after that. Despite myself, I smiled. I was alive. My guesses had been correct. The junkie, now deceased, had gotten the message through.
I felt something hard poke me in the side. It was one of the religious ladies I had seen the night before, still dressed from head to toe in satin, prodding me with a sandaled foot. Her ankle was festooned with enough gold to make a pirate weep.
“You okay there?” she said, surprising me with mouthfuls of broad Australian vowels.
“I think so,” I answered, mentally checking my senses to make sure they were intact.
“You were here when I walked by this morning,” said the lady, “but I thought you might’ve been just asleep, but then I came back and you were still here.”
“Had a rough night,” I said, tasting sand and smelling blood. I sat up.
“You were here last night, too,” said the lady. She handed me a sun visor with Labrador Nippers emblazoned on the front. I took it from her with as wry a smile as I could manage.
I felt something hard poke me in the side. It was one of the religious ladies I had seen the night before, still dressed from head to toe in satin, prodding me with a sandaled foot. Her ankle was festooned with enough gold to make a pirate weep.
“You okay there?” she said, surprising me with mouthfuls of broad Australian vowels.
“I think so,” I answered, mentally checking my senses to make sure they were intact.
“You were here when I walked by this morning,” said the lady, “but I thought you might’ve been just asleep, but then I came back and you were still here.”
“Had a rough night,” I said, tasting sand and smelling blood. I sat up.
“You were here last night, too,” said the lady. She handed me a sun visor with Labrador Nippers emblazoned on the front. I took it from her with as wry a smile as I could manage.
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