The Mission

by Fiona Palmer

  ‘No, not ASIO. He doesn’t work with national security. He’s more focused on keeping the drug dealers and terrorists to a minimum.’ Jaz probably shouldn’t be telling them anything but she trusted these two and Anna knew most of this anyway. None of this would leave the two of them, she trusted her friends more than she trusted Ryan.

  ‘Look, I’m going to get word to him about this, okay. I’m also seeing him on the weekend.’ Jaz chose to ignore the pointed look Anna gave her. ‘Just keep watching your back, Tay.’ She couldn’t believe it was one of Nicko’s cars that had been following them. Was it him or someone else in the car? So many questions and not enough answers. And De Luca Industries, was that company related to the guy she saw meeting Carl? Jaz shivered as she remembered the eyes of the man. She didn’t really see them that well last night but she remembered them as clear as a bell from when she ran into him at the casino. If Ryan hadn’t have told her that Sal was the biggest bad guy out, then she wouldn’t have thought him anything but a nice guy. She’d thought the same about Carl. Was he also capable of murder, like Sal? So many questions and not enough answers. That was beginning to be her new motto.

  ‘I trust you, Jaz,’ said Taylor, bringing her back to the present.

  ‘And so do I. Ryan will know what to do,’ said Anna. ‘And we will never speak a word of this outside this circle.’

  ‘Thanks. We really need to be careful.’

  The siren went, so they headed back to class but met up again at lunchtime. They had serious stuff to discuss and when they had exhausted all possibilities, they sat around wondering what would happen next. It was a horrible feeling not being able to take action. Being stuck in school made it even worse.

  On Wednesday after school Marcus asked her to meet at his place, so after dropping Simon at home she headed straight over to Cottesloe. She also had a note written, hidden inside another flower, ready for the cemetery. This time she would take Marcus with her to meet Becky. The last two days had been hell, waiting until she could see Ryan and hopefully get some answers. Anna had been spending more time with them and even made a roster so one of them was with Taylor at all times. Her theory was they wouldn’t get to Taylor if he was never alone. And quite frankly, Jaz agreed. Now the three of them were more inseparable than ever.

  ‘Hey, you.’ Marcus met her at the car, eager to hug her. His hair was out and blowing in the offshore breeze.

  Jaz put her hand up, letting it sift through the strands as they moved. ‘Hey, yourself,’ she said, giving him a kiss.

  ‘Wanna come inside for a bit, or walk along the beach?’ he asked.

  ‘Inside for a bit. Are your folks home?’ she asked.

  ‘No, not at the moment. Can you stay for a while? You’re not meeting up with Anna or Taylor?’

  ‘No, those two have got plans.’ The range was their destination but Taylor looked as if it may have been an exciting trip to the moon. He was loving every minute of his time with Anna. ‘I did want to go to the cemetery and visit my sister. Did you want to come with me?’ she asked hopefully.

  Marcus’s face softened and she touched his cheek, fascinated by how smooth it was. Nothing like Ryan’s stubble.

  ‘Of course, I’ll go. I’ll introduce you to my sister while we’re there,’ he said.

  They had talked about their sisters before and found they were at the same cemetery. Jaz felt a little sad that Marcus was sharing his life with her and caring for her so much. Especially when she knew, at some stage, she’d have to let him go. It would be hard. He’d become a wonderful friend.

  ‘Let’s go inside and I’ll get you a drink. What do you feel like?’

  ‘I feel like a coffee, actually,’ said Jaz as she headed to his kitchen. ‘Want me to whip us up one? Anna has the same coffee machine at her house,’ she said pointing to the fancy silver box.

  ‘Cool, thanks. Everything is in that top drawer.’

  Jaz turned on the machine and waited for it to warm up.

  ‘I’ve um, drawn another picture, do you want to see it?’ asked Marcus. He’d let his hair drop across his face like a curtain. Jaz went over and tucked it back.

  ‘I’d love to see it. You should know that. I’m your biggest fan, other than your mum,’ she said with a smile.

  ‘I’ll go get it,’ he said and headed to his room.

  Jaz knew this was a chance to snoop and followed him to the stairs but went into Carl’s office instead. She went straight for his desk. Just the usual bits and pieces, plus a notice for a shipping container sale in South Fremantle. At the bottom of the page he’d written SCWA6519924 in red pen. Quickly she took a photo of it, and the desk in case she’d missed something. Heavy footsteps clucked back down the steps and Jaz knew she was going to be caught.

  Oh hell. How did she get out of this one.

  Chapter 23

  ‘Jaz?’

  She nearly didn’t hear him, her heart was pounding in her ears so hard.

  Jaz stepped to the wall and looked at a photo. She could feel sweat starting to gather at the back of her neck. She’d realised it would look worse if she was caught sprinting from the room with a guilty look on her face. ‘In here, look what I found,’ she said, turning. ‘I like this photo of you. Very cute.’ She turned back to it.

  ‘Um, well, let’s get back to the kitchen. Dad hates anyone in his office, even me,’ said Marcus, steering her out and shutting the door.

  Now this was juicy news. Carl was protective of his office. Didn’t sound like a normal art dealer to me, thought Jaz. Especially the way Marcus herded her out, afraid of being caught himself.

  ‘Here is the drawing,’ he said, handing it over when they reached the kitchen.

  ‘Oh wow. I love it. You and me,’ she said smiling at him. ‘Is this the first time you’ve drawn yourself?’

  He nodded. Jaz compared the likeness of how he’d drawn himself. She could see the passion in his eyes, even on paper. Marcus was someone who would love deeply and Jaz just hoped she wouldn’t break his heart.

  ‘How come the only photo I can find of you is in your dad’s office?’ she asked, trying to sound normal while she still vibrated with adrenaline.

  ‘Mum took most of them down when Rachael died. She couldn’t stand seeing Rach, but she also hated the photos of us without her. She replaced them all with art pieces. Dad still has ones of us in his office, out of Mum’s way.’

  ‘Yeah, it’s hard. My mum was a bit the same to start with.’ Jaz moved to the drawers. ‘Okay, how do you like it, Mr Sinclair?’ she said, pulling open the drawer and getting the cups.

  Marcus came up behind her, pushing her against the bench with his body after she’d shut the drawer. ‘You really want to know?’ he asked huskily.

  She could feel the outline of his body pressed into her back; one part in particular caused her to stumble on her words. ‘Well…um…now?’ No. She hadn’t prepared herself for anything like this today.

  Marcus laughed. ‘No, not when my parents could arrive home at any minute. They sometimes do. But I was thinking that Sunday night, my mum is away and Dad works late. Wanna stay for a while?’

  His words were heavily laced with innuendo. Jaz could easily read between the lines and what she read scared her.

  ‘Sounds like a plan,’ she said, trying to keep the fear from her voice. She hoped to come up with a good excuse by then. Or would she go through with it? As far as first times went, at least she knew Marcus cared and he would be gentle. She couldn’t imagine him any other way.

  ‘So,’ she asked, getting back to the coffees, ‘do both your parents work at the gallery?’

  ‘No, Mum runs it most days, unless Dad takes over to give her a break. But Dad does most of the shipping and delivery stuff. He’s usually at the warehouse.’

  ‘You’ll have to show me, I’ve never been to a gallery before. My folks have boring office jobs.’

  Marcus laughed. ‘There’s nothing boring about what your dad does. Computers are where the future’
s at.’ He tilted his head. ‘What’s that face for?’

  ‘I was just wondering what my real father did for work. Mum has never said. Guess it’s no point if he’s dead.’ The noise of the coffee machine drowned out any more conversation, but Jaz was somewhat relieved. It gave her time to her thoughts. She was nearly eighteen. She had a right to know more about her father, even if it was bad. Right? Jaz felt for the medallion around her neck, hidden under her shirt. She’d gone searching for her birth certificate once, even requested a copy, but there was nothing of her real father. Just ‘unknown’ and Paul listed as her adopted dad. Without anything else, Jaz had given up. The medallion was all she had left. All the rest was locked away in her mum’s head and she wasn’t going to give them up anytime soon. But Jaz was hoping when she turned eighteen that her mum would change her mind. She had to.

  After their coffee they headed to the cemetery; a few gardeners were out raking as they made their way to Becky first. Jaz carried the flower, rolling it through her fingers as she thought of her coded message inside. It was short and simple.

  Target met with another known target.

  Other than that, she didn’t know what else to tell them. She’d decided that the rest she should tell to Ryan in person. He was dealing with Nicko and Salvatore, so in a way she was cutting out the middleman. But none the less, she left her message, as it was protocol. She knew they’d understand it.

  ‘Here she is. I’ll just put this down,’ she said, stepping towards Becky’s grave and lifting up the vase. Inside was tiny slip of paper wrapped in gladwrap, which she slipped out and hid in her pocket before putting the flower in and setting it back against the headstone.

  She had her first reply message. Her fingers itched to pull it out and read it, but she knew it would be in code and now was not the time. But her body was tingling with excitement. She had to try hard to hold herself together as Marcus took her to his sister’s grave.

  ‘I haven’t been here in a while. Sorry, Rach,’ he said as he faced the headstone.

  The sun dipped behind a cloud and Jaz’s skin prickled; not just from the sudden drop in temperature but the feeling someone was watching them. Without the sun, the cemetery felt dark and gloomy. Marcus crouched down and touched the little photos of his sister that were on the headstone.

  ‘Wow, I can see the resemblance. You know, you’re lucky. I bet you have some great memories with her. I wish I could remember Becky.’ Her voice faded away on the gentle breeze that floated through the cemetery like lost souls.

  Marcus stood up and put his arms around Jaz. ‘Life works in funny ways, hey. At least you still have Simon. It’s harder being an only kid. Mum and Dad are so focused on my life because I’m all they have.’

  They talked for a while by the grave before finally heading back to her jeep.

  ‘Come on, I’ll take you down to Mum’s gallery in Freo. There is a great coffee shop next door, and on the way I’ll show you the warehouse.’

  Marcus gave her directions to an industrial kind of area, lots of space and surrounded by trees, which would help to keep the noise to a minimum. He got her to pull into a large yard surrounded with a high fence topped with barbed wire and a massive big shed-like building in the centre. There was a medium-sized delivery truck parked by the shed. Sea containers, six of them, lined up against the back fence, and wooden boxes were stacked beside the shed, along with heaps of pallets. On the nearest end of the shed was an office area, and maybe the toilets, by the look of the small windows. There was a dog kennel beside the big sliding door in the warehouse part of the shed. Lots of protection but, she rationalised, they did work with expensive art.

  ‘Can we go in for a look?’ she asked.

  ‘Nothing much to see. It’s just a big shed where they pack up the sculptures and stuff. Lots of bubble wrap though. I remember going in when I was little and I spent the whole time popping the plastic bubbles. I don’t go visit nowadays in case Dad tries to get me to work there. He wants me to take over the family business and as much as I like art, I’d prefer to be the one making it, not selling it.’

  Jaz let out her breath slowly, not trying to show she’d been holding it ever since Marcus said ‘family business’. For a moment, she wondered if his dad had actually spelled out the business he was into. Even though Jaz had seen him with Sal, she still was struggling to think that Carl was into drugs of Sal’s magnitude.

  ‘But I can’t see his car so we might be safe. Park over there,’ said Marcus pointing to a spot by the office section. ‘Tommy is usually here,’ he said.

  Jaz was going to make the most of this opportunity to look for clues. As Ryan always said, see, not just look.

  The moment Jaz stepped out of the car, a vicious dog bark started up. A German Shepherd was straining at its chain upon seeing them, growling like it was ready to chew them up like a juicy steak.

  ‘That’s Cujo. Don’t go near him if you value your legs. Dad got him a few years ago, but said he was never a pet and no one was to be trusted around him. Apparently they’d had a break-in so Dad thought this would help deter graffiti kids and stuff. Don’t know about you, but I don’t trust the look in his eyes at all. Although he is fine with Tommy.’

  Marcus grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the big shed door that was open.

  ‘Hey Tommy,’ he said to a big man standing by a wooden box.

  Tommy turned, his tattoos and bulk making him look scary, until Jaz saw the smile he had for Marcus.

  ‘Marky mate, what are you doing here?’ Tommy came over, shook his hand, and then glanced at Jaz.

  ‘Tommy, this is my girlfriend Jaz. Jaz, this is Tommy, he’s been working for Dad for years. There’s another bloke, Rich who works on occasion too.’

  Jaz shook his hand, Tommy’s grip was gentle and he grinned like a proud mate.

  ‘She’s a looker, Marky. Nice to meet you, Jaz. You getting the tour?’ he asked. He wore blue work clothes, and his goatee was dark and thick, while the hair on his head was none.

  ‘Yep, we’re off to the gallery next. So you wrap all the stuff up and deliver it?’ she asked.

  ‘Sure do.’ He walked back to the box he’d been standing beside and picked up a clipboard. ‘This one here is off to Margaret River as a showpiece in a winery. I’ve got those two left to get wrapped.’ He motioned to a large picture on canvas, which was leaning against a proper frame rail, and some sculpture was nearby, made of wire and wood.

  Jaz walked over to them, taking the time to check out the rest of the shed. A sea container was at the opposite end sitting under a great big contraption that was kind of like a car hoist, but in this case probably lifted the sea containers on and off a truck.

  ‘Do you ship stuff overseas?’ she asked, turning to walk to the sea container.

  Tommy didn’t move or flinch. Obviously there were no drugs left around here. ‘Not much, mainly we get the pieces in from overseas. Diane spends a lot of time overseas looking for new things.’

  ‘I’ve never really seen a sea container before. Cool.’ The rest of the shed was full of bubble wrap rolls, just like Marcus had said. Also lots of cardboard and packing straps, everything you would need to safely transport delicate items.

  Jaz turned towards the office end of the shed. There were two doors.

  ‘That’s just the office part,’ said Marcus, watching her. ‘Sometimes Karen, Mum’s worker, comes here to keep the delivery paperwork up to date.’ Marcus shot Tommy a look, and Jaz laughed as Tommy glanced away as if he had no idea why Karen would be needed. ‘Tommy’s more the muscle, aren’t ya?’ he teased.

  ‘Too right, kid. I’m lucky if I can sign my name,’ he joked. ‘I’m just going to back the truck in,’ he said. ‘Nice meeting you, Jaz.’

  ‘You too, Tommy,’ she said as he walked off outside. Jaz turned to Marcus. ‘You know, if your dad is having trouble with break-ins, my dad could set you up with a good alarm system. His company make fully intergrated systems.’

  �
��No need. Dad has one set up in the office and he has big locks on the doors so no one could get in here without a big oxy torch.’ He pointed out the bolts. ‘But they try not to keep much in here anyway. The good stuff is kept under better security at the gallery. Dad has this place insured anyway.’

  ‘Good to know. I can’t imagine anyone would want to come and steal art pieces anyway. It’s not like it would be easy to sell or hide.’ Jaz turned back to the sea container. There was a link here, she could feel it between this sea container and the sea container sale notice she’d seen on Carl’s desk. There had to be. Why would he need to buy more when he already had a heap in his yard?

  Marcus agreed. ‘Yeah, I know. But some people do anything for money.’

  The beeping of a truck reversing had them moving out of the shed. They waved goodbye to Tommy, who was in the truck, and then got in the jeep.

  Jaz couldn’t see anything funny at all in there; not even Tommy seemed out of place. But maybe during daylight hours it was supposed to seem like that? If they were going to put drugs in art to ship to clients, then Jaz guessed this would be the most likely spot to do it. It was out of the way, in an unimposing area.

  Maybe she’d have to come back at another time to check the place out. If she did, she’d have to bring the biggest steak she could find!

  Chapter 24

  Jaz was nervous. As she sat by her computer she couldn’t stop her leg from bouncing, nor could she stop chewing on her fingernail. Tonight she would see Ryan.

  That thought alone made her leg pick up speed. Taylor was at Anna’s, but he was going to drop her off at Ryan’s tonight so her car wasn’t left outside his place. They were all eager to find out what Ryan could do about Nicko.

  She straightened out the note she’d received from the cemetery. Already deciphered and locked away in her brain. It informed her that Ryan would make contact soon to discuss her target and any findings. Did the Agency know she was going out to dinner with him tonight, or was their private life none of the Agency’s business?