No Good Reason

by Marg McAlister

  Harrison leaned forward and twisted the key, let the engine kick over, and took off up the street. He drove along the road and through Booderee National Park, heading back to Sussex Inlet. All the time he watched his rear vision mirror. There was a car visible briefly, but then it turned off along the Huskisson Road. There was nobody else behind him that he could see.

  Satisfied, he speeded up, heading for Sussex Inlet.

  When he got there, on impulse, he pulled up in front of the pub. Not the fancy one where the tourists liked to hang out, but the one where Jason worked. He wandered in, caught his eye straight away, and sat down at the bar.

  Jason messed about for a bit with wiping glasses, and then served someone else, and then finally came up to him, his brows drawn together. He didn’t look pleased to see Harrison.

  “What can I get you, mate?” he said, wiping a cloth over the bar in front of Harrison.

  Harrison took a sneaky look around, but nobody was watching them. “Just water,” he said. “Unless you want to shout me a drink.”

  Jason’s face closed up. “You telling me you’ve got no money?”

  “Not right this minute,” Harrison said, smiling as though we didn’t have a care in the world. “Just paid a debt or two, you know? Now I’m good. In the clear.” Another quick look around showed that the only people in the pub were watching a horse race on TV, so he leaned forward a little. “You couldn’t stake me something until tomorrow, could you? I’m good for it.”

  Jason heaved an impatient sigh, and then went to the taps to pull him a beer. He set it down in front of Harrison, and said a low voice, “Here. I’ll pay for it out of my pocket, and that’s the only credit you’re getting here today. Okay?”

  Harrison quelled the urge to jump across the counter and grab Jason by his grimy collar. “Come on man. Just until tomorrow.”

  Jason shook his head, and then turn to fiddle with a couple of bottles on the shelf – bottles that didn’t need rearranging, as far as Harrison could tell. Finally he glanced around to make sure that nobody was in hearing range, and then turned back to Harrison. He was close enough so that he couldn’t be overheard, but not so close that it looked as though he was telling secrets. Or selling drugs.

  “No more credit for you, sorry. And if I were you I’d watch out: the word is out that the heavies are down from Sydney, asking questions. When you finish that beer, nick off.” He tossed a packet of chips from under the counter in front of Harrison, and then disappeared through a doorway to a back room.

  Glaring after him, Jason drank half the beer in three large swallows, and then set the glass down. He waited until Jason emerged again, and then said casually, “Chad gave me a printout, this stuff about how I can start training. He wouldn’t be home now, would he?”

  Jason looked alarmed. “I wouldn’t go near him if I were you, mate.” Again, he wiped the counter, an excuse to stay near Harrison. “I told you what he said about coppers from Sydney. Stay away.”

  Harrison grinned triumphantly. “Why? He told me he didn’t do any of that stuff now. Changed his mind, has he?”

  “He’s not there. Gone over to Husky to do a private training session. You’re wasting your time.” He hesitated. “I hear there’s a new bloke dealing up Culburra way. You might want to go there, try asking around.”

  Harrison drank the rest of his beer, and set the glass down with a thump. He had no intention of going anywhere near Culburra, but it was okay with him if that’s where Jason thought he was going. “You reckon I got a chance there?”

  “I reckon. I hear he’s trying to break in. Name’s Snake.”

  Harrison laughed out loud. “Snake? Really?”

  Jason shrugged, picked up Harrison’s empty glass, and walked off down the other end of the counter. Clearly, he’d finished talking.

  Well, that suited Harrison. If Chad was over in Husky, that meant there was nobody home.

  He’d see what he could find.

  Half an hour later, Jesse Burns was buzzed by his secretary. He had a perfectly good home office, but he liked to maintain a presence in the town — and there were certain people he didn’t want anywhere near his home.

  Besides, it was surprising how much you heard when you are actually in the town.

  He was in the middle of a Skype session with a friend in Sydney, sharing screens and looking at data, and wasn’t in the mood to be interrupted.

  “Just a minute,” he said to his business acquaintance. Depressing the button on his phone, he said testily: “Dee, I can’t take any calls right now. I told you that.”

  “I’m sorry, Mr Burns. They said it was important, and to tell you it was Hector calling. That you would take his call.” Her voice was nervous, which meant that he probably been snapping at a bit too much lately. Jesse sighed. “Just a minute.”

  He returned to his Skype session.

  “Sorry, Stephen. Sounds like it’s something urgent. Wait five minutes, and if I can’t keep going with this, can we reschedule for tonight?”

  “No problem.” The man on his screen smiled at him politely. No, of course he wouldn’t object, he was going to get too much out of this sweet deal.

  Jesse ended the session, and push the button on his phone again “Hector?”

  “You’ve got a problem. Our subject has been…”

  “Okay, hold it there.” Jesse preferred not to have anything over the phone that he might not want made public. “I’ll call you back.”

  He pulled out a different phone, and press speed dial on the screen. A moment later, Hector answered. “Okay.”

  “What seems to be the problem?”

  “Your boy’s going nuts. We followed him to a pub at Sussex, watched him talk to Jason Hoy and have a drink, and then he came out. He wasn’t looking happy – took off up the road to the place he went to yesterday. Chad Royston. Know him?”

  “I know of him.” Jesse knew was that it was more than likely that the drugs that Harrison had obtained from Jason Hoy had come from Chad Royston, but nobody was talking. To all intents and purposes, Chad Royston was just running a personal training program out of his garage. “You put him in the report before. Harrison went to see him the other day.”

  “That’s right. Nobody was home this time, but Harrison went around the back. I parked just down the road, while Brian went in to take a look. He wrecked the joint.”

  A swirl of pure fury erupted in Jesse’s chest. “Where is he headed now?”

  “Brian is following him. He headed out along the the road that follows the water. Now Brian says he’s just sitting there by the side of the road. I don’t know what he’s up to, but it’s not far from the Moore place.”

  Jesse closed his eyes as his fingers clenched on his pen. “Tell Brian to watch him like a hawk. And if he looks like he’s going to go and start trashing the place, or threaten the Moores, or do anything like that, then grab him.” He thought about it for a moment, massaging his forehead. Could this get any worse? Why couldn’t he have a son like most of the others in the old boy network; kids who were happy to go into the family business, go to uni, get a degree?

  “Ignore what he’s done at Royston’s place,” he went on. “If he’s into what we think he is, he’s not going to be calling the cops. But the Moores’ kayaking business – that’s different. That’ll bring trouble down on us for sure. Just watch him.”

  “And if he starts something, what do you want us to do with him? Bring him to your house?”

  Jesse’s mind was in such a turmoil he couldn’t think of what to do. “Yes. No. Just grab him, sit on him, and then call me. I’ll meet you somewhere and take him with me. Alright?”

  “Done.”

  He rang off, and Jesse slumped for a moment at his desk, almost feeling defeated. Just when he had the deal of a lifetime coming through, Harrison was threatening to ruin everything.

  Unable to sit still, he stood up and plucked his car keys from the hook on the wall. He’d go down to Sussex himself, ready to inte
rvene.

  If this kid ruined everything for him now…

  21

  A Flash of Silver

  Late in the afternoon, Georgie was sitting and staring into her crystal ball, thinking about how she was going to tackle the fortune-telling tent at the markets, when she felt it.

  That niggle of unease, that feeling of sudden and deep urgency: I need to act now. Automatically, she reached over to run her fingers across the surface of the smooth globe, her mind questing.

  Scott, sitting across from her and skimming through a travel magazine, pushed his foot against hers under the table. “What’s up?”

  George’s gaze flew up to meet his. “It’s that obvious, is it?”

  “It is to me.” He regarded her curiously, and closed the magazine. His eyes moved from hers to the crystal ball, watching her fingers trace a pattern on the surface. “You getting something?”

  “There’s something…” Georgie shook her head. “I wasn’t even thinking about anything. I mean, I was, but it was only about the markets on Saturday, and what I might do. Whether to limit the sessions to 15 minutes, or let them take as long as they take, within reason. I haven’t done public readings for so long.”

  “It’ll probably be a bit of fun for you.” Scott studied her for a moment, and then reached across and put his hand over hers, on the crystal ball. “There’s more. What do you want to do?”

  She knew he wasn’t talking about the markets on Saturday. “Just let me think for a moment.” She closed her eyes, and just let her mind drift. Then, as clear as day, she saw an image of Allie and Chris in her mind.

  She opened her eyes again. “We need to go to the Moores.”

  Scott looked at her, then slowly nodded. “You’re worried about them… about Chris, what he might do?”

  “I don’t think it’s that.” Suddenly deciding, she stood up, draped Great-Grandma Rosa’s velvet cloth over the crystal ball, and nodded at him. “I just feel as though I need to be there. Want to come?”

  “Where you go, I go.” Scott stood up to and gestured to the door. “It’s something to fill in the afternoon.”

  Allie was surprised to see them. She looked from Georgie to Scott, the expression on her face ranging from curious to fearful, followed by a thread of hope. “What is it? Have you found out something?”

  Georgie gave her a quick hug. “There’s nothing wrong, Allie. I just felt as though I needed to come here. Does that sound crazy?”

  Ali gave a wry smile. “No crazier than some of the other stuff you’ve told me about what you do. But it’s lovely to see you, anyway. Come on in.” She led the way to the kitchen, throwing over her shoulder as she went, “Emma is so excited about the baby. She did the test today, and it’s confirmed!” Reaching the kitchen, she waved at the little table in the sunroom area. “Sit down, I’ll get you something to drink. Tea? Coffee?”

  “Coffee for me,” said Georgie, “but I think Scott will have –?”

  Scott nodded. “Tea for me, thanks.”

  “I’ll make a cuppa for Chris, too,” Allie said. Her eyes met Georgie’s, and she grinned with delight. “I just can’t stop thinking about what you said. A lively little girl. With red hair! I can’t wait.”

  Chris came into the kitchen in time to hear her last words. He nodded at Georgie and Scott. “She hasn’t stopped talking about anything else since you were here the other night. She and Emma are all about shopping for baby clothes, deciding on names, un-deciding on names…”

  “Oh, you!” Allie grinned at him. “You’re just as excited as I am.”

  “I guess I am, at that.” Chris looked at Georgie. “Are you here for a reason?”

  “You’re hoping I might have some news for you.” Georgie smiled at him sympathetically. “Sorry, Chris, I don’t have anything yet.” Despite herself, she couldn’t help emphasizing the word “yet”, and Chris’s eyes narrowed a little.

  “Yet?” he asked.

  “Oh well, you know,” Georgie said lightly, grinning at him. “With my direct line to the universe and the knowledge of all that is, something is bound to come to me sooner or later.”

  “Spoken like a true detective,” Scott said lightly. “So, it’s ‘Grandpa’, hey?”

  “Grandpa.” Chris nodded, with a small smile. “Guess he’ll be kayaking before he can walk.”

  “Before she can walk,” Georgie and Allie said at the same time, which made them both laugh.

  “The committee is so excited about your fortune-telling tent, Georgie,” Allie said. “The ad ran on local TV last night for the first time — did you see it? That stuff about Jesse Burns wife’s pendant –” she shook her head. “Fascinating! Do you really think she lost it in a friend’s garage?”

  “Not quite. I have a germ of idea about where it might have ended up,” Georgie said. “But I decided not to say anything to Jesse yet. I, um, want to do a bit more investigating first.”

  “See?” Scott said, shrugging as he reached for a biscuit. “Psychic detective at work. She follows up her crystal ball hunches with a bit of solid investigation. They’ll be making a TV show about her next.”

  Just as Georgie was about to say something else, they heard the sound of voices somewhere outside, and an abrupt cut-off cry. They all looked at each other, and Allie quickly got up and moved to the window, closely followed by Chris. Outside, the shadows were beginning to lengthen, but looking past her, Georgie could see movement at the edge of the property, near where Chris kept their boat on its trailer.

  Chris let out curse. “Now what?” he said, his voice rising at the end of the sentence. “Haven’t we had enough?” He hurried to the front door, with the others going after him.

  Just past the bushes at the edge of the property, which shielded it from the road, they heard the slam of car doors and then the sound of first one car, and then another, speeding away.

  “What the hell?” Chris said. He broke into a run, going down to where his boat rested on the gentle grass slope.

  “Please, don’t let them have done anything to the boat,” Allie gasped as she and Georgie followed. Scott had already caught up to Chris and they both stopped in front of the boat at the same time.

  Scott immediately reached out to clasp the other man’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Chris,” Scott said, his voice level and reassuring. “It didn’t have time to take.”

  Ali and Georgie reached them, and stared at the evidence of flames, hastily put out, with a partly burned cover and some bubbling paint on the coping.

  “They tried to set fire to the boat,” Chris said, his voice so tired and hopeless that Georgie’s heart ached for him.

  “Oh, Chris.” Allie moved up beside him, and put both arms around him. He turned to her and hung onto her, as though a drowning man might hold onto a life preserver.

  “It’s just too much, Allie,” he said, his voice low and hopeless. “It’s too much. I can’t keep fighting this anymore.”

  “We’ll have to call the police. This vandalism — it has to stop.”

  Georgie walked over and touched the boat cover, black on the edges. “Chris, I —” She swallowed hard and said, “You’ve had kayaks vandalized, and other stuff disappearing? Right?”

  “Yes.” He gave one listless inclination of his head.

  “And do you think it’s just local kids, being vicious and nasty, or you think it’s more?”

  “I don’t know. I just don’t know any more.”

  Allie tugged him away from the boat. “Come on, Chris. Back to the house. We’ll ring the cops, and you can have a drink. I’m going to call Drew and Emma. We all need to have a council of war about this.”

  “Not tonight,” he said dully. “Leave them alone. Maybe tomorrow.”

  He let her lead him away, while Georgie and Scott looked at each other.

  “Two cars?” Scott said. His brow creased. “Unusual.”

  “And there was that yelling, as though —” Georgie’s brow creased in frown, as she tried to puzzle i
t out. “As though there was a disagreement, maybe?” She thought about it for another minute or so. “When we get back, I’ll do a reading. I feel this is all coming together, Scott. And the police – they might be able to find something.” She looked around. “Maybe footprints, tyre tracks — something.”

  As she spoke, the rays of the dying sun slanted down and something glinted in the grass in front of the boat. A coin. Georgie bent down and looked at it.

  No, not a coin. It was a flat metal disc, about the size of five cent coin. She picked it up, and held it out on her palm, showing it to Scott. “What do you suppose this—”

  Then, with a rush of recognition, she was thrown back to the first reading with Allie and Chris. The image of Harrison in the crystal ball – and the glint at his ear. The stretched ear lobes, the metal discs…

  She knew with complete certainty that what she was holding was the disc that Harrison habitually wore in his ear.

  In her hand, it grew warm, as though confirming her suspicions, and she closed her fingers over it.

  Harrison Burns had been here not five minutes before — and he was the one responsible for the damage.

  Georgie looked at Scott. “Harrison.” She opened her palm again and showed him. “This disc, it’s out of Harrison’s ear — you know how he stretches the lobes? What do they call it?”

  Scott nodded. “I don’t know what they call it, but I’ve seen it.” His eyes met hers. “What are you going to do? Are you going to give this to the police? Tell Allie and Chris?”

  Georgie’s mind move swiftly. She thought about what Bluey had shared with her about Jesse Burns, and she thought about the upcoming fortune-telling stall on Saturday.

  Slowly, her lips curved in a smile. For her, it was a very grim smile.

  “No,” she said. “They don’t need it for an insurance claim, and I have a better idea.”

  22

  Unexpected Visitors