Hustle

by Claire Chilton

  Beads of sweat popped up on her skin from the humid air in the room. She missed her previous air-conditioned hotel as she glanced up at the ceiling fan in this one, which was spreading the hot air around, rather than cooling it. She looked back at her screen, hoping the internet would at least work. It must be working if the roach could get to Google. She checked the Wi-Fi connection, finding it was active. Then she opened Skype and waited for it to load up her friends list. There was only one person on her list: Jimmy.

  I hope he’s around this time. She clicked call and waited for him to answer.

  After several rings, the call connected. Her screen was black for a moment before an image of Jimmy appeared. He must have been lying on a sun lounger because she could only see his shoulder as he leaned sideways out of the camera’s view. Behind him was a five-star hotel with a designer swimming pool and large gardens.

  ‘No, you.’ His voice crackled over the speakers in her laptop, but she couldn’t see his face, just the top of his left shoulder moving.

  ‘No, you are,’ a female voice answered him.

  Ellie tilted her head to the side. Who’s he talking to?

  ‘When it comes to adorable cuteness, it’s so you!’ Jimmy said.

  Ellie felt a bit queasy for a moment. ‘Jimmy, what the fuck?’ she said to the laptop.

  ‘Huh?’ Jimmy rolled sideways towards the camera, his face finally coming into view. He was holding what looked like a frozen margarita in his hand, wearing a straw hat, and the skin on his face was bright red from too much sun. He smiled as he noticed her. ‘Ellie, hola from Florida! How goes it?’ He took a sip from his drink and waved his hat at her.

  ‘Are you drunk?’ She stared at the image of a happy Jimmy, and wondered what monster she had created by bringing him here.

  ‘On love,’ he cried. He reached for the person beside him and pulled them into view. ‘Meet Cheryl, my snookum kitten!’ Cheryl was a smiling blonde with bright blue eyes. She offered a sweet smile and waved excitedly.

  Snookum kitten? Did he have a lobotomy? Ellie waved limply back at the happy couple. ‘Hey.’

  ‘Hey, it’s so great to meet you. Jimmy’s told me so much about you.’ The snookum kitten gushed.

  Ellie widened her eyes. How much did he fucking tell her? ‘Oh, really. Like what?’

  ‘Only the good things,’ Jimmy said.

  ‘Not much at all then.’ Ellie smiled, but the smile was frozen on her face. She felt like the outsider in the conversation.

  Cheryl whispered something in Jimmy’s ear, and he laughed before hugging her. Then he whispered something into her ear, and she giggled in his arms.

  Oh, I’m gonna be sick. Is this going to last long?

  ‘So, there’s a problem.’ Ellie managed, staring in awe at the screen. Jimmy was in love. She hadn’t expected that. Jimmy was an idiot when he was in love. She really hadn’t expected that.

  Jimmy turned back to the screen with a dopey grin on his face. ‘How may I help you on this fine summer’s day?’ He turned away as a waiter came over to refill his drink.

  Ellie narrowed her eyes and glanced around her hotel room. I got the crappy end of this deal. She wanted to tell him about Jacob showing up and about her near death experience. She wanted to talk about her father and the things that Jacob had said. She wanted to ask him about the key. But with Cheryl there, Ellie clammed up instead.

  ‘I ran into an old friend,’ she said.

  ‘Oh?’ Jimmy sipped his drink.

  ‘Mr Hawk,’ Ellie evasively added.

  Jimmy choked on his drink. ‘What?’

  ‘Oh sweetie, they’re doing volleyball in the pool. Let’s go play!’ Cheryl’s voice filtered through the speakers.

  ‘I’ll be there in a minute, sugar plum,’ Jimmy said. ‘Save me a spot.’

  Ellie breathed a sigh when Cheryl got up. She watched her walk away towards the pool while plucking her pink bikini bottoms out of her backside. Ooh, classy.

  She knew it was an irrational dislike of Cheryl. She’s probably a lovely girl. She tried to be open-minded, but she needed Jimmy’s attention right now.

  Jimmy watched Cheryl leave with an audible sigh. ‘She’s something else, isn’t she?’ he said when he turned to face the screen.

  ‘Oh, yeah,’ Ellie muttered. ‘She’s definitely something else.’

  ‘So, what happened? I don’t have long.’ Jimmy put down his drink, looking concerned.

  ‘Not much. Jacob showed up and stole the map and I ran off.’ Ellie skipped many of the details. She just needed Jimmy to help. There was no reason to ruin his fun. He was happy. That was a good thing, right?

  ‘Did you find the trea—er, what you were looking for?’ Jimmy glanced around to check that no one heard him.

  ‘No, I found a clue. A key, kinda.’ She pulled the small metal disc out of her pocket and flashed it at the screen. ‘It looks like a compass, but it doesn’t work.’

  ‘How do you know it’s a clue?’ Jimmy frowned into the screen, squinting at the object. ‘It looks old.’

  ‘There was writing on the cave above it. It’s part of the, er, hunt.’ It was really hard to talk to him by a crowded poolside.

  ‘Put it near the camera.’ Jimmy frowned at the object.

  Ellie shrugged before holding the compass near the camera at the top of her laptop.

  ‘Turn it left a bit.’

  She turned it.

  ‘No, the other way.’

  She turned it the other way. ‘What do you see?’

  ‘There’s a switch on it. Look at the left side. There’s a tiny lever. I think it’s a mechanical switch.’

  Ellie lifted the compass closer to her and peered at the side of it. He was right. There was a tiny little lever on the left side of it. ‘What does it do?’

  ‘I dunno. Pull it. See what happens.’

  She wedged her fingernail over the lever and pressed it down while holding the compass in the palm of her other hand. The face spread out into separate lenses stacked on top of each other, opening up one at a time until the compass opened like a flower, each lens a glass petal and the compass itself the heart of the flower.

  ‘Wow. What is it?’ Jimmy asked, staring through the camera.

  ‘I don’t know. It looks like a flower. See.’ She held it up to the camera, seeing Jimmy’s face through the different petals. They were like lenses, but each one had a different view.

  Jimmy gasped. ‘Can you see that?’

  She nodded with wide eyes. She could see exactly what he was talking about. Each lens had lines and markings engraved onto the glass. When she looked at Jimmy through the compass, she saw a map reflected on his face.

  ‘There are no reference points.’ He frowned.

  ‘I bet there are on the leather map,’ she said. ‘If you look at it through this, I bet it’s a map straight to the Heart.’

  ‘Maybe.’ He didn’t look convinced.

  Ellie pressed the lever and the compass closed. She slipped it into her pocket. ‘Well, it’s something. That’s for sure.’

  He nodded. ‘So what do you need?’

  ‘I need the map to finish this, and Jacob has it. I need his location, a way in and a way out. I also need a boat.’

  ‘What’s the boat for?’

  ‘The next location.’

  ‘How do you know the next location?’ Jimmy frowned.

  It had taken Ellie a while to work it out, but it was kind of obvious in the end. The Jewelled Isle. Isla Precosia was an uninhabited island several miles down the coast. ‘It was written on the wall.’

  ‘Alright, gimme until tonight. I’ll have the boat and his location by then.’

  ‘Thanks, Jimmy.’ She smiled, but it slid off her face when a pink bikini appeared on screen.

  ‘Come on, sugar puff.’ A girly voice giggled. ‘Who’s the cutest one in all the land?’

  ‘You are!’ Jimmy turned away from the camera to face Cheryl with a grin on his face.

  ‘No, you
are!’ Cheryl giggled and jumped onto his lap.

  ‘No, you!’ Jimmy said.

  ‘No, you,’ Ellie interrupted.

  They both turned towards the screen, looking confused.

  ‘…need to go have some fun. I’ll call back later,’ she quickly added with a smile before hanging up.

  She rolled onto the bed and stared up at the cracked ceiling, putting her hands behind her head. She hated to admit it, but she was a bit jealous of Jimmy. He got a luxury hotel and to fall in love. She got a sweaty dumpsite of a room and to end up attracted to someone who wanted to throw her in jail and leave her there to rot. She felt as if she was alone in this.

  It was scary being alone. She’d always had her dad and Jimmy by her side. This time, she was venturing into the unknown without any backup. The world seemed harsher, less of a playground, more dangerous. She watched some kind of flying slug crawl across the ceiling. Maybe I should have stayed in England. Her heart felt heavy, and tears pricked her eyelids.

  She sat up and shook her head before melancholy set in. I’ll be fine once I get the Heart. This is just a minor setback. I’m better off on my own. She grabbed the shopping bags off the floor and began pulling out her new clothes. I just need to pay Jacob a visit in the morning.

  * * *

  Jacob rubbed his eyes, trying to force himself to stay awake. He’d been staring at the map for most of the night, trying to work out where it led to next. He frowned at it. It made no sense. There were markings on the map that he didn’t recognise. The cave he’d found Ellie in was clearly shown on the map, but the rest appeared to be random lines and symbols.

  He stood up and walked towards his balcony. It was all starting to feel like a wild goose chase. He’d been excited when he’d found the map in Ellie’s bag, convinced it would lead to information about his father’s disappearance.

  It had to be dad who put the map inside the tablet.

  He stared out across the dark beach at the moon resting on the horizon. Why had his father hidden the map in the first place?

  He narrowed his eyes. His father had never done anything frivolous his entire life. There had to be a reason his father had hidden the map. It has to lead somewhere.

  He turned on his heel and returned to the writing desk, taking a seat in the plush leather executive chair in front of it. He idly spun in the chair as he scanned the surface of the map again.

  As he turned, he frowned at the old leather. The lines curved into each other from a different perspective. His eyes widened as the lines joined over a bump in the leather. He lifted the map in his hands and curled a fist underneath it, causing the material to curve and the symbols to join up. They joined to create a symbol, an X.

  He laid the map on the desk again, this time creating folds and bumps in it, trying to connect the many lines in the cloth.

  The feeling of excitement faded when he realised that there were hundreds of different ways to bend the map and make it join up, but there was no way to tell which curve was correct.

  He slumped back in his chair and narrowed his eyes.

  There has to be a way. I bet she knows how to read this thing.

  He realised that there was only one person who could decode this map for him, Ellie goddamn Phillips.

  His plans to have her arrested would have to take a back seat. He needed to know where this map led. He needed her to show him how to read it.

  He scowled at the map. Crap!

  Chapter Ten

  Ellie took a seat at the table beside Jacob’s in the hotel restaurant. He offered her a polite smile. She nodded at him, being careful not to dislodge her blue-rinse wig. He was scanning the restaurant with narrowed eyes, probably looking for her.

  She wasn’t concerned that he’d recognise her. Her experience with disguise had proven that people saw what they expected to see. No man of Jacob’s age was going to study an old woman with much scrutiny. He’d see her shawl, the caked on make-up, and his imagination would age her sixty years all by itself.

  She dropped a lacy handkerchief onto the marble floor before sighing. ‘Could you help an old lady out?’ she croaked at him, offering him a wrinkled smile. The thick makeup felt as if it cracked on her face.

  He turned towards her with a sympathetic light in his eyes. ‘Of course.’ He got out of his chair and knelt before her, deftly swiping the cloth off the floor and offering her it.

  ‘It’s not often you see a gentleman around these days.’ She made her voice as gravelly as possible to conceal it. ‘You’re such a fine young man. Do you have a girl?’ She made her hand tremble as she reached for the handkerchief and gave his hand a pat in the process.

  He smiled. ‘I’m afraid not.’

  ‘Ah, playing the field are you?’ She nodded. ‘Just like my Gerald used to before he met me.’

  ‘Your Gerald?’ He seemed eager to leave, but Ellie was too busy enjoying messing with him to let him get away that easily.

  ‘Sit down, sit down.’ She waved him towards the seat opposite her. ‘Keep an old lady company for a while.’

  He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, clearly wanting to get away, but debating the matter of manners.

  ‘Unless you’re waiting for a hot date?’ she added.

  She noticed his eyes darken in anger for a moment before he flashed a polite smile and took a seat opposite her. That hit a nerve. She wondered for a moment if he was waiting for a hot date, and frowned when her chest ached at the thought of him with another woman. She ignored the feeling, dismissing it as indigestion.

  ‘So who was Gerald?’ he asked, interrupting her thoughts and reminding her to remain in character.

  ‘Ah, Gerald was the love of my life. We were so young and wild back then. We met here every year for a crazy adventure.’ She glanced out of the balcony, down to the white beach and azure waters below. ‘Back then, you could live a lifetime in one hot summer.’ She sighed wistfully, flashing him a glance to ensure she had his attention.

  She did. He was listening to every word. ‘Gerald and I lived many lifetime’s on this very beach until one year when he didn’t show up.’

  ‘What happened to him?’ Jacob asked. He sounded genuinely sad. She glanced at him. For a second, he didn’t look angry or menacing. He looked as lonely as she felt.

  Perhaps all great stories of love are just stories. None of it is ever real. We just want it to be, so we make it all up.

  ‘I never found out, but Gerald was gone. I never saw him again. He wouldn’t have just stopped coming, so I suspect he died. Still, I come back every year for the chance to have an adventure with him again. For love, we do the craziest things.’ She nodded, pulling her shawl around her shoulders. ‘Say, it’s getting a bit chilly. Would it be too much trouble if I asked you to help an old romantic up to her room?’

  Jacob nodded and helped her out of her seat. ‘It’d be a pleasure, ma’am.’ He guided her towards the elevator. ‘There’s something about old romantics that I quite like.’

  She offered him a crinkled smile. ‘You look a little like Gerald. He was tall and dark haired, like you.’ She stepped into the elevator with him. ‘And handsome, so handsome. Why, my heart would speed up just because he was near me. Did you ever feel like that?’

  Jacob’s eyes darkened again. ‘Just once.’

  ‘I hope you didn’t let her get away.’ Ellie turned to watch him.

  His hand hovered over the panel in the elevator wall. His muscles tensed in his shoulder for a moment.

  ‘Oh, silly me. It’s the second floor, dearie.’ She had the urge to make him talk about the girl. Is he talking about me? ‘It is a girl, right? You never can tell these days what a gentleman prefers.’

  He spluttered a cough as he pressed the button marked ‘2’. ‘It’s a girl, yes.’

  ‘Is she a pretty little thing? I used to be quite the catch in my day.’ She glanced up at him from beneath her false eyelashes.

  He closed his hands into fists. ‘She’s very pre
tty,’ he grounded out, staring ahead at the elevator doors. ‘It seems we’re staying on the same floor.’ He changed the subject.

  ‘Oh, that’s wonderful. It’ll be nice to know there’s a strapping lad around if I get in a fix.’ She hooked her arm through his as the doors opened, and they walked down the long corridor of rooms.

  ‘You know, all this walking isn’t good for an old lady. It’s a shame they don’t have chairs down here.’ She fanned her face with her hand, her large handbag swinging on her wrist. ‘Can we slow it down a little, let an old lady rest?’

  He slowed his pace and turned to face her, concern warming his eyes. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Oh, hot flashes. I’ll be fine. I just need to sit down for a moment.’ She looked around the corridor, feigning looking for a seat.

  ‘My room is just here.’ He pointed to the door nearest to them. ‘Would you like to rest there for a minute?’

  She giggled. ‘Why, if I was ten years younger, I’d think you were trying to seduce me.’

  He smiled, but it appeared frozen on his face in fear at the thought.

  ‘A rest would be good,’ she agreed as he swiped the card in his door and invited her inside.

  While he guided her to the armchair in the opulent room, she scanned it for places he would put the map.

  ‘Thank you.’ She sat in the chair, glancing up at him. ‘Could I trouble you for a glass of water?’

  He nodded before rushing into the bathroom to fetch her one. She waited a beat, then tugged open the drawers in his room, routing through his clothes to try and find the map, but it wasn’t there. When she heard the tap turn off, she returned to her seat and reclined back in an exhausted pose.

  ‘So, tell me about this girl,’ she said as he walked back into the room with a glass of water.

  ‘She’s a bad person,’ he said in a flat tone.

  ‘She can’t be all bad if you like her. You know, Gerald wasn’t a saint, but it’s the heart behind the actions that count.’ She accepted the glass of water, taking a small sip.