Allie immediately understood what she meant. “Oh, Georgie. Don’t worry, I’m not thinking of blackmail or anything like that. Bring myself down to his level? Never. But I thought maybe… I don’t know what I thought, really. That there might be something we could investigate further. Something that we can use for leverage.” Then she shook her head and sighed. “I guess it is sounding a bit like blackmail, isn’t it? I just want something I can use to show him that he can’t ride roughshod over everyone all the time. That some of us will fight back.”
“I understand.” There was another silence, and then Georgie said, “Allie, even if it is possible to meet with Jesse Burns, I’d have to have the option of keeping anything I find out to myself. It’s…an ethical thing.”
Much as she liked Georgie, Allie had to bite back an impulse to tell her what she thought about Jesse Burns and his ethics. “Of course,” she made herself say.
“It might not be easy to set up, either. A lot of people won’t give someone like me the time of day. Do you have any suggestions of how I might approach him?”
“Well, yes, I do actually.” Excited, Allie explained about the markets, and Jesse Burns’ involvement. “I know that he’s going to make an ad for the local TV station. I’ve already talked to the cameraman and reporter who are going to organize it, because we had to decide on the things most likely to draw people to the markets. And I was thinking, Georgie – if it’s okay with you, we could maybe set up a fortune teller’s tent? Then I could suggest to the reporter that that would be something really different, and a bit of fun to film Jesse having a session with you? I mean, it would all come across as a bit of fun, but then who knows what you might find out…?” Her voice trailed off. “Does that all sound too iffy?”
“No, no.” Georgie’s voice was suddenly alive, interested. “I’ve done this sort of thing before. I’ve made TV ads to promote my father’s RV business back home, and I’ve done ads to bring people to little retro trailer gatherings as well. It’s a long story: I’ll tell you all about it one day — but I think it’s a brilliant idea, Allie. Do you think you can organize it?”
Ali felt as though a weight was lifting off her shoulders. She had so needed to take action, to do something to help, rather than just spinning her wheels and helplessly watch Chris go further downhill.
“Let me make a few phone calls and get back to you,” she said, barely able to sit still with excitement. “I believe they were planning to film the ad the day after tomorrow. And I can take care of organizing the necessary permissions for you to set up a tent at the markets – well, I’ll find a tent, of course. All you need to do is show up with the crystal ball.”
“Do it.” Georgie’s voice was warm, exultant. “Call me back as soon as you know.”
15
Crisis Point
“You can put that down right now.”
The voice behind him stopped Harrison in his tracks. He gritted his teeth, hissed out a curse, and slowly turned to face his father, dropping the ring in his right hand into his pocket first. He stared at his father challengingly, holding up the necklace in his left hand. “So.” He treated his father to an unpleasant grin. “Busted.”
His father looked at him as though he was lower than a cockroach. “Busted, indeed. And you can take that grin off your face. There’s nothing amusing about this situation.”
Harrison threw the necklace to his father, who made no move to catch it, letting it bounce off his chest and fall to the ground. “Here. Have it. It’s all you think about anyway, isn’t it? Money, possessions, your precious family name.”
“A name that I see you have no respect for whatsoever, Harrison.” His father stared at him unblinkingly for a few seconds, and then sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “This has to stop. I can’t have you living in this house and stealing from your mother and your sister.” He let his hand drop and his lip curled in a sneer. “Much less letting your sister take the blame for what you’ve taken.”
Harrison stared at him, and felt the usual revulsion curl in his gut. Always on about getting an education, getting a good job, investments and influence…
He didn’t want to turn into his father. There was no way he was going to turn into his father. There were faster and easier ways to make money, to have power. “I thought you were going to Sydney today,” he said sulkily. “What are you doing back here?”
“No, I let you think I was going to Sydney. I’ve suspected for a while that you were behind the things going missing.” His father’s lip curled. “Who else could it be, but the family junkie?”
“So you set me up.” Harrison jigged from one foot to another. His skin felt itchy, his blood was zinging through his veins. If he didn’t take something soon, he didn’t know what he do. “Now what? Going to drag me off to the police station again?”
“I didn’t drag you off there before,” his father said grimly. “That was entirely your doing, being stupid enough to take drugs on a school program and causing an accident. An almost fatal accident. I was the one who had to go in to bail you out, remember?”
Harrison shook his head in disgust. He couldn’t be bothered talking to his father any more. “I’m going.”
His father took a step to the side, blocking the door as Harrison came towards him. “Not yet.”
“Old man, don’t think you can stop me.” Harrison itched to shove his father to the ground, but a degree of sanity prevailed. Or more likely rat cunning. He needed money, and if the well of stolen goods in his father’s house was drying up, then his father himself as the only way he had of getting it. Short of holding up a convenience store or something like that.
He injected menace into his voice. “Get out of my way, dad.”
“Harrison.” His father’s voice was tense. He was trying to sound reasonable, but the dislike came through anyway. “I want you to agree to go to rehab. We can send you away somewhere quiet, give you a chance to get past this.”
“Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you? Get me out of the way. No more embarrassment. Well, I’m not going.” He put his hand on his father’s arm and pushed.
His father rocked on his feet, but stayed in place. “Harrison, you’re not welcome here as things are. If you don’t agree to going into rehab, I don’t know what’s going to become of you — but I’m not going to support you in this habit anymore.”
“Support me in my habit,” Harrison mimicked, throwing all the sarcasm he could muster into the words. “It’s not as though you can’t afford it. And you will support me. Don’t forget, daddy dear, I know a lot about your wheeling and dealing over the last few years. I kept my eyes and ears open.” He rocked back on his heels and laughed at his father. “What’s the saying? I know where the bodies are buried.”
“So now you’re blackmailing me?” Jesse snapped. “A new low, even for you.”
Harrison made some quick calculations. He’d seen the flash of anger and apprehension in his father’s eyes. Yeah, he did know too much. “If you’re going to toss me out, I have to find somewhere to live. Unless you want it known that your son Harrison is living on the streets? The big man of St Georges basin?” He put out a hand and wriggled his fingers. “Give me five grand, and I’ll disappear.”
“Give you money.” His father heaved a sigh. “And what do you plan to do with it, Harrison? Buy more drugs. You’ll wind up dead of an overdose. Giving you money is not the answer. Give rehab a try. What have you got to lose?
“What have I got to lose? My freedom. And that’s just for starters. I don’t want any part of you, or your solutions.” He let his eyes bore into his father’s. “Five grand. And I’m out of here.”
His father stared at him, and Harrison could see the calculation going on behind his eyes. Finally, he spoke.
“I’m not giving you five grand, but I will give you two. It’s not going to last – you haven’t got the patience or the intelligence to do anything with it. But it’ll give you breathing space for a week, to th
ink over my suggestion.”
Harrison didn’t even try to hide the triumph in his eyes. He knew which buttons to press. And a couple of grand would see him right for a few days – a few days where he could plan what else he could use against his father.
Oh yes, he knew his target. “Go and get it then, daddy. I know you keep cash in your safe. Pity I haven’t worked out the combination yet.”
His father held out a hand. “I’ll get the money. But first give me whatever it was you just put in your pocket. You’re not stealing any more things from this house.”
For a moment, Harrison debated whether to protest, pretend his father was imagining things. But no, if he could get two grand, he could get more. His father would pay anything to protect his reputation.
He slid his hand into his pocket, got the ring and dropped it into his father’s hand. The black opal that his mother treasured so much flashed fire up at him.
“Thank you. Now come with me. I’m not letting you out of my sight until you are out of this house.”
His father turned on his heel and stalked out, and Harrison followed him, grinning.
Jesse stood at the expansive wall of glass in his office overlooking the beach, and fought down the fury that he’d managed to control the whole time he’d been talking to his son.
Harrison was the biggest problem that he’d experienced in his life so far – and that was saying something, because he’d escaped the consequences of some bad decisions by the skin of his teeth. The boy had always been self-entitled, arrogant and ignorant of what he owed his family.
There was no way he was going to let a boy that he didn’t even like ruin his life.
He could pay him off, yes – and he would have done it, too, if he thought Harrison would stay away. But he’d be back with his hand out, looking for more money to top up the well, every time he ran out. And he’d have something to hold over his father’s head every time.
The thought of all what lay ahead made his blood run cold.
First things first. To be able to fight your enemy, you had to know exactly where they were and what they were doing.
He picked up the phone to arrange 24/7 surveillance of his son for the next week. It came at a price that made his eyes water, because it included electronic surveillance and tapping phones, and there was no way that was legal.
Luckily, Jesse had people like that on his payroll. It had paid off in the past.
Now it had come to this. His biggest threat was someone in his own family.
16
Calling in the Team
A full day and a night had passed without incident, and Georgie and Scott were able to spend a few hours in their kayaks around the beautiful waterways of St Georges Basin, without having to follow suspects or track down miscreants. This was what it was supposed to be like, Georgie thought, when they were back at the park listening to music, sitting in camp chairs outside their RV. They should be enjoying a trip around Australia, exploring the continent and making wonderful memories.
Unfortunately, that sort of thing had been all too thin on the ground since she had arrived. So, after they had done what they could to help the Moore family, she decided, they were going to just travel for a while. Just mindless enjoyment, watching the miles unroll under the wheels, seeing the sights.
She said as much to Scott.
Scott raised his eyebrows at her; a small smile tugging at his mouth. “I’ve heard that one before.”
She smiled back at him. “Well, we did manage it for a few weeks. In between helping out your sisters, and coming here.” She considered it for a moment. “There are always going to be more people that need help. Always someone in a crisis. We can’t help everybody. So let’s take some time for ourselves.”
“True.” Scott stared at the sky, propping his feet up on a footstool, basking in the sun like a lazy lion. “But when you think about it: emergency services, therapists, priests, counsellors… people like that see people in crisis all the time, and they know they can’t help everybody, but they do what they can.” He turned his warm gaze on Georgie. “And you, my Georgie, are the same. If someone needs your help, and you know they need your help, you’re not going to turn them away.”
She ran her fingers down his arm, and then linked her fingers with his. “You’re right, of course. But a girl can hope, can’t she?”
“Indeed she can.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “But when you look at people like Chris and Allie Moore, you’ve got to admit that it’s worth taking a week or so out of seeing the sights around the country to help them get their lives back on track.”
“Yes,” said Georgie, “it is.”
“When are you scheduled to do the TV slot with Jesse Burns?”
“About eleven tomorrow morning, at Hyams Beach. His own backyard, so to speak.” Georgie drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair, thinking about it. “The film crew are catching up with some of the local farmers about their produce, and they’re also planning to film an interview with a craft store owner from Huskisson. Showing different parts of the region, I think that’s the idea. Bringing people to St Georges Basin. The camera crew suggested we meet up on the beach.” She turned amused eyes on Scott. “They want me in a long flowing skirt, walking barefoot along the beach, Gypsy bangles jangling.” She laughed. “Looks like a tank top and shorts are not going to cut it.”
“Of course not,” said Scott. “Eighth generation gypsy and all. You should be wearing one of Rosa’s embroidered shawls.”
At his words, a pang of homesickness went through Georgie, shocking her with its sharpness. She missed Great-Grandma Rosa, and her father, and her brother Jerry and his fiancee Tammy. She was loving seeing Australia with Scott, but it had been a while since she’d seen anyone from home.
Able to read her well as always, Scott leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Missing them all, are you?”
“Of course.” She waved his concern away. “But you were in the US for over a year. I’ve only been here a few months. You must have missed your family too.”
“I did.”He squeezed her hand. “But then I met this mysterious American gypsy, and suddenly I had a very good reason to stay in the US of A.”
“Anyway.” Georgie’s thoughts returned to her meeting with Jesse. “Back to the TV segment: they want to film Jesse walking along the beach and then meeting me, and something about seeing his future… I think the idea is to segue from Jesse’s future to the future of the area. Load of rubbish really, but I can see how it might appeal to the viewers. And then we apparently go and find a rock to sit on and they’re going to stage it so that you can see the blue sky and the waves through the crystal ball, some arty shot, and then they’re going to get close-ups of me telling Jesse what I can see in the crystal ball. And then they’re going to suggest people come and see me at the inaugural seasonal markets.”
“And you’re doing this tomorrow.”
“Yes, tomorrow.” Thinking about it, Georgie felt a strange shift in her her body, a sort of knowing. Past and future future were strange things, when it came to telling fortunes. She was certain in her own mind that everything was all laid out, somewhere – some huge tapestry, with the threads weaving in and out of the past and future.
This meeting with Jesse Burns was going to be significant. She knew it.
If there was one thing that Georgie had learned while using the crystal ball to help solve other people’s problems, it was that things tended to work out better if you didn’t leave it all up to the crystal ball.
That being so, before the scheduled meeting with Jesse Burns, it would make sense to find out as much about him as possible.
And who else to do that, but Bluey?
She knew Scott’s brother well enough now not to have to go through Scott first. She brought up his number on her phone and called.
Bluey’s voice, so much like Scott’s but with a slightly harsher undertone, answered her right away. “Well if it isn’t my favorite gypsy fortune tell
er. Hey there, Georgie. What can I do for you?” There was a slightly wry tone to his last five words.
“What can you do for me?” Georgie laughed. “Couldn’t I be ringing up just for a chat? Shoot the breeze?”
“You could,” Bluey admitted, “but it’s not likely, in the middle of a working day. I’ve been expecting a call from you, anyway.”
Momentarily diverted, Georgie felt her eyebrows fly up. “You have? Why?”
“Oh, just because it’s been a while. I figured you couldn’t roam around the countryside for too much longer without finding some trouble to get into. Am I right or am I right?”
Georgie grinned at the phone. “Yeah, you’re right. But we will eventually make our way across the country to see you, Bluey. And then it really will be social.”
Blue snorted. “I guess we’ll see about that, given the way trouble follows you around. Anyway, I’ll be happy to see you, whatever the reason. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve caught up with my brother?”
“Yes,” Georgie said. “He was talking about you just the other night; he figures it’s something like a month shy of two years. That sound about right?”
“Pretty much. Well, well. Don’t tell me little bro is missing me?”
“Something like that,” Georgie said with another laugh. “And I’m dying to meet you too, of course. I’ve met everyone else in the family. Just not our friendly neighborhood –”
Bluey’s voice broke in before she could finish the sentence and say “hacker.” Smoothly, he interjected, “…friendly neighborhood computer expert. What would you guys do without someone who knew his way around a computer?” His voice faded as he something to someone in the room with him, and then she heard the buzz of more voices in the background.
No Good Reason Page 9
