Deep Water

by Whitcroft, Isla;

  Cate sat back on her heels panting both from relief and from the sheer effort. Now she needed water to really finish the job off. There had to be a kitchen around somewhere.

  She stood up slowly, wearily, and turned to look back down along the corridor. As she did her heart gave a massive jump, and she let out a yelp of fear and surprise. There, just a few metres away from her, at the end of a corridor, was a young man, tied to a wooden chair. His head lolled from one side to the other and tears streamed from his half closed eyes. His nose was bloodied and bruised, a rag was stuffed into his mouth and on his face was a look of sheer terror.

  CHAPTER 4

  Cate moved slowly towards him, almost smelling the fear coming from his tensed-up body and, as she reached out to touch him, his bright blue eyes opened wide and stared into hers with a mixture of relief and pain.

  ‘Matthias?’ she whispered.

  He nodded.

  Cate pulled sharply at the thick black tape that was holding the gag in place. Matthias breathed in deeply then spat and coughed, a wracking cough that shook his whole body. Cate reached into her rucksack and pulled out a bottle of water, which she held to this mouth. He tipped his head back greedily, the water dribbling down his chin and into his long hair as he drank.

  ‘Am I pleased to see you!’ His accent was Scandinavian – Danish, maybe Swedish. ‘Whoever you are.’

  ‘I’m Cate,’ said Cate warily. ‘Cate Carlisle, Noah’s friend.’ She reached into her pocket. ‘And I’m calling the police.’

  ‘No!’ he shouted, vehemently between gasps and coughs. ‘No police. No! Wait!’

  Cate looked at him in astonishment.

  ‘Please, just get me out of this chair. In my pocket, there’s a penknife. You can use it to cut me free.’

  Reluctantly Cate put down her phone and slid her hand around the back of Matthias’s broad torso and into his pocket. The penknife was tiny but sharp and made quick work of the nylon rope.

  ‘Right,’ she said, as she finished her work, ‘take it easy, and don’t get up straight away. I’ve got to get some water on that fire just to be sure it’s out for good. Where’s the kitchen?’

  ‘Behind us, at the end of the corridor,’ said Matthias, rubbing hard on his wrists and ankles. He stood up gingerly, and almost immediately fell against the wall. Cate rushed to his side and he slipped one arm around her shoulders, leaning his weight onto her. He was well over six feet to Cate’s five foot five, and Cate winced and staggered slightly under his weight as he grinned down at her ruefully.

  ‘Sorry, Cate,’ he said gently. ‘That’s a fine way to treat the girl who saved my life. Go on, I’m fine now. Get that water.’

  Cate hesitated and then nodded, sliding away from under him and heading down the corridor to find the kitchen. Like the hallway, the room was in semi-darkness and Cate had to feel along the wall by the door for the light switch.

  Light from a single bulb revealed a large but makeshift affair, an old-fashioned cooker set into a tiled recess, some plastic pine cupboards on the wall and, in place of work surfaces, a thin pine table that by the look of the cutlery upon it evidently doubled as an eating as well as cooking surface. Noah had been right: creature comforts obviously didn’t mean much to these people.

  Cate dashed over to a large metal sink which stood under the boarded-up window and ran the taps, filling a bucket which appeared to be there to catch drips from a leak. She ran back down the corridor and poured it carefully over the embers, taking grim pleasure from the resulting hiss.

  Suddenly she heard the sound of a heavy door slamming somewhere in the house behind her, then footsteps running towards her, a deep Australian voice exclaiming in surprise. ‘My God! What the hell happened here?’

  The man had thick, curly ginger hair, and a look of horror on his pale face. He surveyed the scene in silence – what was left of the curtain, the smoke-blackened paintwork and the water which was now running down the hallway.

  He turned to Cate. She noticed his hands were shaking. ‘Who are you? And where is Matthias?’

  As if on cue, the blond man appeared. He had cleaned himself up, changed his shirt and washed the blood from his face. Only a slight limp gave away the ordeal he had just gone through.

  The ginger-headed man rushed towards him. ‘Matthias, buddy, thank God. What happened?’

  Matthias gestured towards Cate. ‘She saved my life,’ he said simply. ‘This girl saved my life.’

  Two sets of eyes turned towards Cate.

  ‘I’m a friend of Noah’s,’ she said. ‘I thought you were expecting me. I was looking for a way in when I heard strange sounds from inside. Then those two burly guys came out. I was worried about Matthias so I broke in.’

  Matthias’s face relaxed into a smile. ‘I’m glad you did, Cate. And I’m sorry. I forgot I was expecting visitors. But under the circumstances I hope you can forgive my rudeness.’

  He gazed at the remnants of the fire. ‘They burst in and took me by surprise,’ he said quietly. ‘They tied me to that chair. For hours.’ He rubbed his face carefully. ‘I wouldn’t have had a chance if that fire had got going.’

  ‘I got a warning.’ The ginger man was almost talking to himself. ‘An anonymous phone call. It said I had to get back to HQ within ten minutes.’ He swallowed hard. ‘I must have broken every speed restriction in Sydney. I just didn’t know what I was going to find.’

  There was silence, then Matthias spoke again. ‘Cate, this is Miles Finlay.’ He made a mock bow towards him. ‘Long-time eco-warrior and the esteemed leader of the Australasian Eco Trust. Miles Finlay meet Cate Carlisle, the girl who rescued me and who is now, not surprisingly, very keen to call the police.’

  There was a sharp intake of breath from Miles. ‘Listen, Cate,’ he said urgently. ‘You can’t. I mean, if I was in your place I would think the same. But please, please listen to me first. The eco network, well, we often do things that aren’t quite within the law, bend the rules a bit – always to do good, you understand, but sometimes the police don’t quite see it like that. If you report this . . . event, it will be a great opportunity for them to find out more about us. They will come to the house like a swarm of bees and they will go through our computers . . . Nothing will be left unturned.’

  ‘Miles, Matthias,’ said Cate, looking from one to another. ‘I don’t understand. Some people break into your house and set fire to it with someone in it and you’re worried about the police? These guys have to be stopped.’ She looked Matthias straight in the eye. ‘They could have killed you. What if they do it to someone else?’

  ‘That won’t happen. They’re not after anyone else,’ Miles said. ‘It was a warning to us, to the Eco Trust. Think about it. If they really wanted to kill Matthias they wouldn’t have sent me that message to come here. Whoever it is just wanted to scare us.’

  ‘Well, they certainly succeeded in scaring me,’ said Cate, folding her arms. ‘And you looked pretty freaked out to me as well, Matthias.’

  The two men looked at each other.

  ‘The thing is, Cate,’ said Miles slowly, ‘there are names on our computers and in our files of brave people who work in government and newspapers all over the world, who tip us off and help us out at great risk to themselves. People who work for our sworn enemies, like the whaling companies, the rogue oil companies, the corporations that persistently ignore all the environmental and moral rules that the rest of us take for granted. If the police get hold of that information our network will be finished, and so will the careers of a stack of really good, decent people. Please, Cate. Think of them.’

  A year ago, before her experiences in the South of France, Cate wouldn’t have hesitated. She would have rung the police and reported an attempted murder. But now she had learnt that things weren’t always that simple, that sometimes doing the right thing meant bending the rules.

  She blew out her cheeks, buying time and then looked at Miles, who was gazing at her with a worried expression. ‘Please Ca
te,’ he said. ‘Don’t wreck years of hard work over one incident.’

  At the penthouse suite of the Ridgeway Boutique Hotel, the party was in full flow. The glass doors, which ran the length of the long sitting room had been pulled wide open to provide access to the huge balcony and the large marble swimming pool that took centre stage within it. Chinese lanterns swung in the light breeze, their gentle red glow standing out against the gathering dusk. Cate had been let in by a butler and now stood taking in the city view, breathing the jasmine-scented air, the events of the afternoon a million miles away.

  Nancy, resplendent in a bright red string bikini, was dangling her long tanned legs into the turquoise water. Lucas was sitting cross-legged beside her, jeans rolled up above his bony knees. He was strumming a guitar, seemingly oblivious to the R & B music belting out from some invisible outdoor speakers. Nancy, her sunglasses pushed up over her head, and a pile of celebrity magazines next to her, looked bored. Although the two of them were sitting closely together, it seemed to Cate as if they were a million miles apart.

  At the side of the pool was a swim-up bar, with a barman expertly juggling bottles and glasses to the delight of his audience. The pool was packed with the other members of Black Noir and some gorgeous Aussie beach-babe types whom Cate recognised from her favourite Australian TV soap opera.

  The balcony jutted out over the water providing an utterly breathtaking view of the harbour. People had finished work and were now making their way to their sailing boats, jet skis and surfboards. The water was crammed full of sails of various different shapes, sizes and colours, the gently ruffling breeze enough to send them briskly on their way.

  Cate could have stood watching for hours but Nancy was waving frantically at her to come over. Cate grinned back and she picked her way through the abandoned towels and wooden sun loungers to greet her.

  ‘Hey, Cate, great to see you!’Nancy stood up, pulling a gold-threaded shawl around her waist and tying it into a sarong. As Cate reached her she sniffed. ‘God, Cate, what have you been up to? You smell like you’ve been standing over a bonfire.’ Her gaze travelled down to Cate’s denim skirt and T-shirt and winced. ‘And, babe, I know you like to rock the casual look but this might be taking it a bit too far.’

  ‘Nancy, I’m so sorry.’ Cate was mortified, the more so because Lucas Black was within hearing distance.

  After she had agreed to secrecy about the fire, Cate had done her best to clean herself up, washing her face and hands and rinsing out her hair in the filthy little bathroom at the Eco HQ. Miles and Matthias had run her back into town in Miles’s battered old car, Matthias insisting on stopping at a sports shop to replace her ruined running gear.

  ‘Thanks for everything, Cate,’ Matthias had said, as the pair stood outside Nancy’s hotel. He hesitated and then gave her a massive hug. ‘I still can’t believe what you did today. You’re an amazing girl.’

  ‘What will you do?’ asked Cate. ‘You can’t be thinking of staying here in Sydney? What if whoever was after you decides to have another go?’

  He shook his head. ‘You’re right, this was a pretty heavy scene and I’m not that keen on hanging around for a repeat. I’m going back to Europe for a while, just until things calm down. My folks haven’t seen me for a few months so they’ll be thrilled to have me back for Christmas. I can’t persuade Miles to leave though.’

  Miles stuck his head out of the window. ‘Hurry up, Matthias,’ he said. ‘We’ve got work to do.’ He nodded to Cate and put out his hand to shake hers. ‘Hey, Cate,’ he said. ‘Respect. Tell Noah I’ll call him as soon as. And maybe I’ll see you one day up at Snapper Bay.’

  Nancy wandered off to join the party at the bar and Cate sat down by the pool. When someone sat down next to her it took her a while to register it was Lucas Black! When she did she felt like pinching herself. Lucas Black was one of the hottest rock stars around, an ex-soldier who had fought in the Middle East. He had been commended for bravery but gave it all up to become a musician, reaching number one with his first record, a love song written to a beautiful Iraqi girl who had died in suicide bomb attack.

  Since then his career had gone stratospheric, and now he was pictured in just about every celebrity magazine, week after week, with a succession of gorgeous models and actresses.

  Cate was itching to take a picture of them together with her phone and send it to her friends but somehow she didn’t quite dare.

  ‘What’s going on, Cate?’ Shocked to be spoken to, she looked up to find Lucas staring at her, his sharp brown eyes boring into hers. Close up, his shiny black hair and prominent nose gave him the look of a crow, slightly scary, missing nothing. For a few seconds she found herself wondering if he was always that intense and if so, how he and Nancy found a balance between their two opposite personalities. ‘Nancy said you were hanging out with some eco-warriors today.’

  Cate nodded, suddenly tongue-tied.

  ‘I’m guessing from the look on your face and the state of your clothes that you didn’t have the best time with them, right?’ He plucked a small tune on his guitar, looking at her thoughtfully. ‘It’s none of my business but I’ve got a kid sister not much younger than you and I’d like to think someone would give her a word of advice when she needed it.’ He paused, choosing his words carefully. ‘These eco-warriors like to think they’re always on the side of right and I know most of them mean well. But some are just in it to cause trouble and they don’t give a damn about who or what gets hurt.’

  Cate began to protest, but Lucas shrugged. ‘Whatever, Cate. Feel free to disagree. All I’m saying is, don’t take anyone on face value. And watch your back.’

  Cate woke early, stretched and pulled open the shutters. She’d started falling asleep halfway through the evening meal with Nancy and the Black Noir members the previous day, but was so excited to be there with them that she had forced herself to stay up late anyway.

  Before she went to bed she had tried to Skype her family but there was no reply. It would have been late morning in Switzerland and Cate suspected that they would already be on the slopes. For a few minutes, she desperately wanted to see them, wishing that she could somehow teleport herself across the world. She imagined racing her dad down a black run, throwing snowballs at Arthur and going window-shopping with Monique.

  But now, after a deep, refreshing sleep, Cate felt cheerful and excited again about the days ahead. For half an hour or so, she lay watching Sydney harbour coming to life then, at six a.m., she got out of bed, splashed her face and brought out her brand new running gear. She grabbed her belt bag, chucked in her phone and bottle of water and crept out of the penthouse and down to the hotel lobby where a young night porter sleepily waved her off.

  Cate loved running, and found it the best way to explore new places. She marvelled at the vivid colours she passed, the bright blue jacaranda trees, the deep green tropical ferns and the neon colours of the birds that flashed and darted around as she ran.

  Despite the early hour, a few shops were already open. Cate could smell coffee and bacon coming from a café, and the mouth-watering aromas made her stomach grumble. She breathed deeply, enjoying the feeling of crisp, clean air against her face and bare arms.

  She reached the water’s edge and looked down over the stone wall into the harbour. The clear water was completely calm, lapping quietly at the flat stones that edged the wall. Up ahead, a ferry steamed past, a few early bird commuters out on deck clutching coffees and newspapers. The searing heat of the day lay ahead and for now it was the perfect temperature to be out.

  Cate sprinted for a kilometre or so and then, momentarily exhausted, she sat down on a park bench and lazily watched an olive green helicopter circle overhead before dropping in to land close by. Mindful of the ever-strengthening sun, Cate reached into the small belt bag for her suncream. As she did she noticed her phone flashing with a message from Arthur. Interesting fact number one about Snapper Bay. See link. Xxxx

  Cate grinned to herself. S
he could just imagine Arthur sitting in his ski chalet burrowing about on the internet for facts and figures about the place where his sister was going. He had probably Google Earthed it already as well. She followed the link. It was a report from a newspaper called the Friday Island Herald dated a few weeks earlier.

  Last night an attempt by a mystery consortium to buy the expired lease for the coastline north of Passande Airport running up to and including Snapper Bay was turned down by the Friday Islands Local Authority.

  The consortium’s bid was largely anonymous and was applied for via a firm of local solicitors. All bids for the lease were confidential but our exclusive information suggests that the anonymous bid was around twenty times larger than that of the Australian Government, the previous leaseholder.

  On a presentation to the hearing, a spokesman for the consortium said that, as well as a very generous offer, his clients had also made substantial guarantees for the preservation of the coastline.

  However, the Local Authority was adamant that the Australian Government, with its record of protecting and conserving the unique beauty of their coastline, should continue as the leaseholder. The motion was passed unanimously.

  Good for them, thought Cate, as she finished the report. How brilliant that they put their environment before making money.

  Back at the hotel the young porter had gone, replaced by a middle-aged man whose formal attire perfectly matched his slicked-back hair and smooth skin. Cate asked for her room key and as he reached for it he pulled out a note from her pigeonhole.

  ‘You are Cate Carlisle?’ he said. ‘There is a message here for you to go to the roof garden as soon as possible. Lucas Black is doing a photographic shoot right now and he wants you to help him.’

  Cate blew her cheeks out. Lucas Black asking for her help! ‘I’ll just grab some food.’

  The man smiled at her. ‘Madam, I happen to know that a breakfast buffet was delivered to the roof terrace not less than ten minutes ago. Take that lift over there and press the button for the twenty-fifth floor. When it opens turn to the left and then left again. You can’t miss it.’