August (10 page)

Sharkey stopped at a weight bench and picked up a drink bottle. ‘I’m just about finished here,’ he said. ‘Be done in a minute, then we can talk in the sauna. No-one will hear us there.’

He swung a leg over the bench, laid back and grabbed onto the weight bar.

I climbed onto the rowing machine next to the shelf of weights. I rocked back and forth, starting to work up a sweat.

Sharkey stopped and wiped his glistening face with a towel, then threw it around his neck and gestured to me to follow him.

The door to the sauna was near the lap pool, in the enclosed glass area. We both changed and grabbed fresh towels from a pile near the door to wrap around our waists.

The heat hit me like a wall. The sauna was
empty, but in one corner, coals gleamed under their dusting of ash. Nelson scooped a small bucketful of water out of a deep sink and
emptied
it on the coals. A white whoosh of steam exploded up into clouds.

‘I used to spend hours here in the early days after I got sacked,’ he said, flopping down onto one of the wooden benches that ran around the walls.

I sat opposite him. Already the sweat was pouring off me. ‘You were sacked?’

He nodded. ‘My boss was corrupt. I blew the whistle. Guess what? She got promoted and I got sacked.’

‘How could that happen?’

‘Very easily. Look at your own situation, Cal. The boss was on the take, accepting bribes from a big criminal gang, and overlooking their crimes. But worse than that, she was tipping them off whenever there was going to be a police raid. I found out and reported it. But then when the hearing was on, these witnesses came forward to say that
I
was the one on the take and that I was the one who had made the warning phone calls. They reckoned it was my voice in the taped conversations. A specialist even testified that he was convinced it was me, when the whole thing must have been a complete fabrication. Or he was
being paid for his “opinion”. It cost me my job, my reputation, my marriage. My kids won’t even talk to me. It was a complete set-up.’ He paused, dabbing his face and neck with the corner of his towel.

‘I hear you,’ I said. ‘I had
nothing
to do with Gab’s kidnapping. I have no idea how my DNA came to be left at the crime scene. Except that I was in my uncle’s house earlier in the year and maybe I left something then. I visited Gabbi when she was in the hospital, and gave her a Celtic ring–maybe that’s where my DNA came from. It doesn’t matter; everyone’s convinced I’m the bad guy. Even my mum and uncle think I’m homicidally insane.’

‘That’s why I contacted you, Cal. I saw myself in you. I’ve realised now that it’s too late to do anything about my situation, but I figured maybe I could help someone else. Someone like you.’

‘You’ve already helped me once, but I could always do with more,’ I said, ‘so I’ll take it. I have to find my little sister.’

‘I’ll help in any way I can, Cal. I have many old connections that may be able to supply information, give us some direction. But it may take time and I know that’s not what you want to hear. I think your sister’s kidnappers will contact you–’

‘When? And how?’ I cut him short. ‘It’s not like I can sit at home, waiting by the phone, or waiting for the doorbell to ring–I’m pretty much unreachable.’

‘They’ll find a way. They always do.’

‘And how do you know that’s what they’ll do anyway?’

‘You must have something they want, even if you don’t realise what it is yet. I don’t believe they’ll harm your sister. She’s more valuable to them alive.’

‘Man, I hope that’s true.’

‘But first, I need to know what’s going on, and the reasons why you’re being chased. I
understand
why the cops are after you, but I’ve heard on the street that a very big crim is on your tail, too. I have to wonder why that is.’

‘Mr Sharkey–Nelson–it’s a very long story.’

Sharkey stood up and threw another ladle full of water onto the hot coals. More steam spread into the sticky air. ‘Well, Cal, you’d best get started on it then.’

My story had become such a long saga. Telling the condensed version took me long enough.

I skimmed over most of the details–
intentionally
omitting Boges and Winter, for starters–and
told him how Dad died before he could explain his life-changing discovery to me, that our house was broken into, how I was mistakenly blamed for the attacks on Rafe and Gabbi. And then how everything spiralled out of control, forcing me to dodge at least two big crims and their crews who’ve been hunting me down like savage, relentless dogs in an effort to solve the Ormond Singularity and take me out of the picture.

‘Without my help though,’ I explained, ‘the things they’ve stolen from me are almost
useless
,’ I said, hoping I was right. ‘You need to know how to interpret them. I’m sure I know more than they do. I’ve decoded clues in Dad’s drawings, found links between the Riddle and the Jewel … Maybe I can use that as bargaining power when it comes to getting Gabbi back–I’ll offer myself and the information I have as a swap. I’m the person they’re really after.’

Sharkey shook his head. ‘I’m afraid you’re getting ahead of yourself, Cal. We don’t even know who has your sister. Yet,’ he added. He must have seen the pained look on my face–it wasn’t from the intense heat of the sauna. ‘They haven’t made contact. Yet,’ he added again. ‘But when they do, how do you know they’ll honour their end of the bargain? They could end up
with the two of you, instead of just one. You need an exit strategy. Set it up to make it
look
like you’re offering yourself in exchange, but know that it will end with both of you free and unharmed.’

I nodded my head, hoping I’d have the chance to use a strategy.

‘What’s your theory?’ asked Sharkey. ‘Who do you think is holding your sister?’

‘At first I thought Oriana had kidnapped Gabbi, but I’m not so sure now. She was behind that meeting with Rathbone that cost me the Jewel and the Riddle, and almost my life. As far as she knows she has everything from me, so what would she need Gabbi for? There’s
nothing
she needs to trade for. And one of the guys who works for her, Kelvin, came after me at the Armitage District hospital, and by “came after me”, I mean he was there to finish off the job. He wasn’t there to negotiate a deal with me.’

‘So you’re thinking Sligo now? It could be someone completely from left field,’ suggested Sharkey. ‘You need to allow all possibilities.’

I shrugged. I needed somewhere to begin. ‘Sligo probably doesn’t know that the Jewel and the Riddle are in Oriana’s clutches. He probably thinks he can bribe them out of me in exchange for Gab.’

‘Vulkan Sligo is one of the most powerful criminals in the city. He’s been a thorn in the side of the system for a very long time. Are you sure you know what you’re up against?’

‘You don’t have to tell me. But whether it’s Sligo or de la Force, I have to find a way to
contact
them. I need a contact in the underworld. Someone who knows what’s going on, someone to act as a go-between.’

Nelson Sharkey nodded. ‘You sure do need to know what you’re doing when you’re arranging contact with Sligo. You can get yourself tortured and killed by asking questions about someone like him. The underworld is a dangerous place. You need someone who knows how to navigate those waters. How to avoid the sharks and the hidden reefs.’

I knew all about sharks.

‘Right,’ I said.

‘The problem with using a go-between is that because you’re dealing with criminals, you’re never quite sure whether you can trust them or not.’

‘I don’t think I have much choice.’ The reality of Gabbi’s kidnapping was a crushing weight in my mind, never absent.

The ex-detective looked past me as if he was thinking hard, and his shrewd eyes narrowed. ‘I
guess you don’t. This is a nasty situation. Kidnap is a particularly ugly crime. I’ll do what I can. You’ll need an alias. How about
Mouse
? Mouse, from Armitage. You’re sort of small, preyed on by many, and always running about in the dark. Give me your phone number and leave it with me.’

I’m not that small, I thought to myself.

‘Mouse will be fine,’ I said. ‘I don’t have a phone right now, but I’ll be getting one soon. I’ll call you with the details when I can. Thanks,’ I said, holding out my hand.

The ex-detective shook it, and smiled, although I wasn’t sure if the smile reached his eyes. His weather-beaten face didn’t give much away, but I could tell he was intensely committed to my case.

He stood up and stretched. ‘OK, let’s get out of here before we’re cooked.’

I hurried along the street, still sweaty and hot from the sauna, deep in thought about Gabbi. As I took a hard left-hand turn, I looked up then stopped dead in my tracks.

I’d sprung a guy spray-painting a tag on the run-down wall of a corner shop. He sensed me there, and then tossed the can and vanished around the corner.

It was the ‘No Psycho’ tagger!

I ran after him, but he disappeared in the maze of alleys.

The paint glistened, still wet. I wanted to know what it meant. It had followed me around the city ever since I first saw it in the
stormwater
drains.