by Clare Kauter
I shook my head quickly. “No, no. It’s fine. It’s great, actually. Thank you.”
He nodded. “So what’s up?”
“Um… just working on this case. You know.”
“What are you looking into?” he asked.
Oh great. Now he was questioning me. Was he going to be watching over my shoulder for the rest of the investigation? Why did he have to be here? Were he and Nat even trying to keep their relationship a secret? Why didn’t they have the decency to meet up away from the office, or at least after I’d gone home like a normal couple having an illicit affair? Then I wouldn’t be forced to interact with him.
“Nat hasn’t told you?” I said, my voice coming out a little snarkier than I’d intended. Calm down, Billy. He’s still your boss, and you know for a fact that he’s a vindictive arsehole. Don’t give him any reason to demote you. Again.
He shook his head, his brow furrowing ever so slightly. “She’s told me a bit, but I’d like to know more,” he said, still frowning a little. He’d noticed the attitude. I needed to tread carefully.
“Well, we’re looking for a ghost.”
He raised his eyebrows, looking amused. “What?”
I shrugged. “An old lady reckons she saw the ghost of the guy who got stabbed to death at Bondi Beach. She says the ghost told her to hire a PI.”
“Wow,” he said. “That’s… interesting.” He frowned. “I would have thought one of the managers would veto a case like that, where the person hiring us is clearly insane.”
“She’s not insane,” I snapped.
Adam raised his eyebrows at me and I shrank back, scrambling to cover up my mistake.
“I mean, I know it sounds crazy, and ordinarily we don’t take on cases like this because they seem exploitative –”
“Exactly.”
“But it turns out that there really might be something to this,” I said. “I – well, I saw someone down near the beach who looked a lot like the murder victim. I thought maybe someone had pranked the woman, in which case we’d be doing her a service by catching the person responsible.”
Adam nodded thoughtfully. “I’m still surprised the managers assigned both you and Nat to this case. It seems like a strange allocation of resources.”
I didn’t really know how to respond. What did he mean by that? It sounded like he was saying that he didn’t think Nat and I both needed to be on the one case. Like maybe he didn’t think I needed a babysitter. But… that didn’t make any sense. He was the reason I had Nat watching me.
“I agree,” I said finally. “But I’ve been away from cases for a while, so I guess Bruno just wanted to make sure I hadn’t lost my touch.”
Adam shook his head. “Still strange.”
“The case has turned out to be a lot more complicated than we originally thought,” I said. “It’s probably good to have two of us working on it after all.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, we’re looking into the potential prank angle, but we’re still investigating the murder. After all, that’s what she hired us to do. If we can’t find the person we think approached her on the beach, she’s still going to want us to attempt to find the killer.”
He nodded. “Of course.”
“And this case is weird,” I said. “He’s a lawyer, and he was stabbed to death in the same manner one of his clients used to kill another man. I think that’s what Nat’s talking on the phone about now. The initial murder.”
“But you don’t think the person who killed the first man is the same person who killed your lawyer?”
“How did you guess?”
“You said it was complicated.”
I nodded. “Unfortunately. The murderer is in jail. We thought maybe his crew killed the lawyer as retribution for not managing to free their friend, but we spoke to them earlier and they said they didn’t do it.”
“You believe them?” he said, raising his eyebrows.
I shrugged. “I know it sounds dumb, but –”
He shook his head. “I trust your judgment.”
I stared at him for a moment, just blinking. There were a million things I wanted to say to that. No, not say – shout. What the fuck was that supposed to mean? After you sent me to another state for a disaster that was no fault of my own, now you’re saying you trust my judgment? What the hell?
Instead I said nothing.
“Is there more?” he asked, apparently unaware of the shouting going on inside my head.
I swallowed. “Yeah,” I said, managing to regain my composure. “He worked for Parker & Yates, and we found a safe deposit box key at his house. When we spoke to the law firm, they weren’t helpful. It seems pretty likely they know what’s in the box, but they didn’t appear to be in a sharing mood.”
Adam frowned. “Didn’t you date a guy who worked there?”
I nodded. “When I was young and stupid. Never trust a lawyer.”
Adam smirked. Fuck. I’d forgotten who I was speaking to.
“I didn’t mean –” I said quickly, but he cut me off.
“I don’t disagree. Have you tried speaking to your ex about the case? Seeing if he’ll maybe help?”
I snorted. “My ex tried to trick me into handing him the key by saying he’d missed me and inviting me on a date.”
“What a dick.”
“Understatement of the century.”
Adam smiled and I found myself smiling back, the first real smile I’d given him since he walked in. Then I remembered who I was speaking to and faltered. This guy was just as slimy as every other lawyer I knew, I reminded myself. He was pleasant enough to my face, sure. Maybe he felt bad about what he’d done to me – if he was capable of feeling anything. Why was he being so friendly? Did he think I didn’t know what had happened? That I wouldn’t hold it against him? Because I did. I fucking hated him.
That was just kind of hard to remember when we fell back into the rhythm of working together like old times.
There was a knock at the door and Bruno stuck his head in.
“Oh, hi Adam,” he said awkwardly.
“Hi,” Adam replied. He looked at him expectantly, waiting for Bruno to say something. I noticed Adam changed a little when he saw Bruno. He looked slightly more tense, less relaxed than he had a moment before. I got the distinct impression he was not a fan of Bruno.
That struck me as a little odd. Not odd that he disliked Bruno. It would have been weird if he did like him. With whatever was going on between Nat and Adam, I figured he probably knew that Bruno was kind of a dick, and it was pretty clear that Bruno had a thing for Nat, however fucked up his mode of expressing it was.
No, what I found odd was that Adam seemed to change noticeably when Bruno walked in, whereas he’d seemed relaxed when talking to me. But surely he hated me just as much as he did Bruno. More, even. I mean, he hadn’t demoted Bruno, had he? Hadn’t sent him interstate and ruined his life. No, Bruno had been promoted. Not by Adam directly, but it wasn’t like Adam had stepped in and stopped it. And yet he seemed more friendly towards me than Bruno. It didn’t make any sense.
“Um, I was coming to see Billy, actually,” said Bruno.
I raised my eyebrows. What? Me? Why?
He looked to me. “I was just seeing if you wanted to come out with us again tonight. We’re going to a new place Ella wants to try. She sent me down here to see if you were ready to leave.”
I glanced at the clock on my computer and saw it was after five. I was done for the day.
“Oh, uh… Sure,” I said. Anything to get me out of hanging out with Adam Baxter. “I’ll be done in a second.”
“I’ll meet you out the front, then.”
I nodded and he left.
Adam didn’t pass any comment as I tidied my desk and logged out of my computer, but Nat had finished her phone call by now. “You’re going out with them again?”
I shrugged, not looking at her. “Why not?”
“Fine. Just try to take
it a little easier tonight.”
My face burned with embarrassment at her words. Did she really need to say that? And in front of Adam fucking Baxter? He didn’t need any extra reasons to get rid of me. Again.
“I’ll be fine,” I said, still not looking at her as I gathered up my stuff.
“You OK?” she asked.
I nodded. “Good as ever.”
“That’s a worry.”
I stood from my chair and stepped around Adam towards the door. As my hand touched the door handle, Nat spoke again.
“Don’t stress,” she said. “Maybe Ella really does like you and she isn’t just trying to find material on you so Bruno can fire you.”
I gritted my teeth. Thanks, Nat. Right now it didn’t feel like Ella or Bruno were the ones I needed to worry about getting me fired.
The drinking hole we visited that night was called Pirate Kev’s. I didn’t really know why, since there didn’t seem to be any pirates or Kevins around the place. It was done up in purple velvet with leopard print walls, giant plants everywhere and a huge talking parrot, flying around and insulting patrons. He decided to set up shop next to me for the night and sling insults at me the entire time. The others found it hilarious. Ordinarily I might have too, but after the week I was having I was feeling a little fragile. Good grief, was it really only Tuesday?
“You’ll never amount to anything,” the parrot squawked at me.
“You’ll never have any friends,” I shot back.
“Neither will you.”
I frowned at the parrot, wondering how the hell it had learned to make comebacks. I mean, not good comebacks. Obviously I had friends. Like, uh…
“So, how are you settling in, Billy?” Drew asked me, snapping me out of my thoughts. Probably for the best. “It’s good to have you back.”
“Thanks, Drew,” I said, giving him my most convincing fake smile. He seemed to buy it. “It’s been pretty hectic, but I’m enjoying it.”
One truth, one lie.
“So, you were shut in that office with Baxter and Ortiz,” said Bruno, taking a huge gulp of whatever disgusting green drink he’d ordered. It had an umbrella in the top and looked gelatinous. The consistency reminded me of the coffee I’d tried to drink yesterday morning.
“That must have been fun,” one of the security guys commented. I’d forgotten his name already.
“It, uh…” It had been weird. Uncomfortable. They clearly wanted to hear the details. Part of me wanted to tell them all about it, but my conscience wouldn’t let me. I couldn’t just start slagging off my partner, even if she was sleeping with the guy who’d tried his best to ruin my life. “It was fine.”
Bruno raised his eyebrows, clearly not buying it.
“Oh Billy,” said Bruno. “This is a safe space. You can tell us. We’re not going to dob you in.”
Yeah right. No matter what he said, I’d never trust Bruno.
“Really,” I insisted. “It was fine. We just talked through the case. He brought us coffee.”
Drew raised his eyebrows. “Really?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
Drew shook his head. “I don’t know what goes on in that man’s head,” he said finally. “Maybe he feels bad for transferring you. Or maybe he thinks you don’t know that he was responsible for it.”
“Surely he’d know,” I said. “I mean, who else could have done it?”
“You’ve got a point there.” Drew took a big mouthful of his beer, which looked slightly pink in the strange lighting of the club.
“You’re a moron,” screeched the parrot from beside me.
“So are you,” I snapped.
Ella patted my arm. “I don’t think he understands you, Billy.”
I studied the parrot’s beady little eyes. “No, he definitely understands,” I said, turning back to Ella. “You can see the malice in his eyes. He likes causing people pain.”
She laughed. She thought I was joking. “Well, you and I both know he’s wrong, so there’s no need to let him see his words hurt you.”
I nodded. “Our little secret.”
She winked. “Exactly.”
The conversation moved on around us, and Ella and I ended up talking just to each other. Not that I minded.
“So,” she said. “You believe us about Nat now?”
I raised my eyebrows. “I don’t know what you –”
“I know you thought we were lying last night,” said Ella.
“I didn’t –”
“It’s OK, Billy. I didn’t believe it at first either,” she said. “When Bruno first told me I thought he was just bitter because she turned him down.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s kind of what I thought too,” I admitted.
She sighed. “She and I were never close, but we used to get along OK. Ever since she found out that Bruno and I were related, though, she’s stopped even talking to me in passing.”
“Man, and she’s usually so polite to everyone.”
Ella laughed. “I know, but she definitely changed a little,” she said. “You can tell when you see her and Adam together, right? They just…”
I nodded reluctantly. “Yep.”
She sighed. “I don’t know if Bruno is right that that’s how she got her job –”
“He’s not,” I said with such confidence I surprised even myself. Ella raised her eyebrows. “She’s good at her job. I know I’ve only worked with her for a couple of days, but I’m sure about that.”
Ella nodded slowly. “Well, you’d know better than me.”
“She doesn’t really deserve to get stuck with the shit cases, babysitting all the wannabe PIs.”
I couldn’t believe this was coming out of my mouth. I was talking to Bruno’s cousin, and here I was criticising his management style. What the hell was I thinking? What if she was just hanging out with me to try and find reasons to fire me? But for whatever reason, despite knowing who she was to Bruno, I trusted her.
“I think you’re probably right,” she said with a sigh. “I know what Bruno’s like. He lets his feelings get in the way of doing his job.” She shook her head. “I keep hoping he’ll grow out of it, but he still just gives the good cases to his friends instead of the people who’d actually be best suited to them.” She shrugged. “Nat might be a good PI, but the dating-the-boss thing doesn’t look great.”
I grimaced. “No, it doesn’t,” I agreed. “And it’s tricky to trust her when she clearly has terrible taste in men.”
Ella nodded. “Although she didn’t date my cousin, so that’s one mark in her favour.”
I snorted with laughter. “Very true.”
She sighed dramatically. “I guess not everyone can have as impeccable taste as me.”
I smirked. “And who have you got your eye on?”
“No one,” she replied. “Men are terrible.”
I laughed. “Can’t disagree with you there.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Natalia
When I’d first started at Baxter & Co., I’d loved my job. Yes. Six short months ago, I’d still been capable of happiness. You’d never pick it now. The managers gave me normal cases and I was good at closing them. I was the only female PI, but I got along OK with the men. No close friends, exactly, but no problems with anyone. I pretty quickly became known as one of the better investigators in the office. Everyone seemed cool with it. Even Bruno.
Then Drew promoted Bruno and so began the series of events that ruined everything.
I’m not exaggerating at all when I say that for the past three months, I’d only been happy – properly, truly content – a handful of times. Like, for example, when Bruno asked to spar with me at the gym and I ‘accidentally’ broke his nose.
That evening while I was out running Theodore, I picked up another happy memory to add to the collection.
At Baxter & Co., everyone’s required to do a certain amount of exercise to keep up a base level of fitness. When you start out, they give you a trainer. On m
y first day, I outran my trainer. Pretty soon after that I was told that I could exercise on my own time as long as I could still pass a quarterly fitness exam.
That Tuesday evening, while Adam was out collecting the food we’d be eating for dinner, I took Theodore for a run. He lolloped along beside me with a dopey grin on his face, tongue flapping in the breeze and doggy spit flying out in all directions as we neared the ten kilometre mark. Running like this was about the only thing that made me forget how terrible life at the office was. When jogging was kicking my arse, there was no room in my head to think about anything much beyond burning lungs and aching muscles. Occasionally I’d think about something to do with a case, but there was no time to feel sorry for myself over the work situation. I was too busy feeling sorry for myself over the exercise thing.
And that was when it happened. I don’t know how to describe it to you, except to say that what ensued was like a scene out of a film. We rounded a corner and saw a woman jogging towards us with her dog bouncing along beside her, a tiny little corgi on a pink leash. Everything seemed to click into slow motion as we approached each other. Swelling strings in the background providing the soundtrack. Extreme close-ups of my face looking shocked. She was backlit by the rapidly setting afternoon sun and looked like she was glowing with angelic light as her black ponytail swished from side to side as she ran.
I wasn’t the only one whose attention was captured immediately. Theodore locked eyes with the corgi and immediately began to drool. I locked eyes with the owner and did pretty much the same. Luckily I didn’t continue to mirror my dog’s actions, because when we grew closer he and the corgi began to studiously sniff each other’s arses. Somehow that seemed a little forward, so I just smiled at the woman.
She smiled back at me, her cute round cheeks flushed red from running. I was tempted to make some joke about her looking hot, but apparently not everyone loves puns (or terrible pick up lines) so I held it in. Instead I took in the sight of her face, unable to think of anything else to say. Her eyes were green and her skin looked especially pale next to her dark hair. Her fringe was cut short and blunt, perfectly straight across her forehead despite the fact that she was in the middle of a workout. She had to have some sort of a superpower, because there was no other way she could look so good midway through a jog. I was pretty sure I looked like a serial killer. Although that might have been independent from the exercise I was doing.
