G'Day USA

by Tony McFadden

  Kent laughed. ‘I’m just repeating what I heard. But it doesn’t sound good, does it?’

  ‘Shit, Kent.’ I looked at my phone. There was a new text message. ‘I’ve got to go. This battery isn’t going to last forever. Thanks for all your help. I need to hunker down somewhere and think.’

  ‘No problem. Hey, you’re not the only one fucked over by this. Charlie and I had a deal in this new movie he was making.’

  ‘They’re still going to make it, right?’

  ‘I don’t know. Charlie’s talking to them today about taking the director’s role. I guess if he gets it I’m still in. If they go for someone else though, I’m pretty sure we’re out.’

  ‘In the grand scheme of things in my life, that doesn’t rate. Sorry. I’ve got to go.’ I hung up and looked at the text. It was from Cathy again. I sighed and called her

  ‘Oh my God, Ellie?’

  ‘Hey, Cathy. What’s new?’

  ‘Jesus, girl. What the hell have you gotten yourself in to? The news on TV is getting worse.’

  ‘Deep shit, it would appear.’

  ‘Anything I can do to help?’

  ‘I don’t want to get you involved in this. I’m sure they’re looking at my phone records and they’ll be by to talk to you shortly. I don’t want you to have to lie for me, so I’m not going to tell you where I am.’

  ‘You can’t survive out there on your own. They’re going to find you eventually.’

  ‘You’re probably right. I’ve got a friend who is helping me out. For now, anyway. I’m sure the cops will be sitting on him soon.’

  ‘Who is he?’

  ‘An old Australian mate. He’s got a friend inside the police. A Stevie someone who works as records clerk. She’s feeding him what the cops have and he’s relaying it on to me. At least we’ll be on a level playing field.’

  ‘Until they catch on. You trust him?’

  ‘Second time in fifteen minutes I’ve been asked. Yes I do.’

  ‘But you don’t trust me.’

  ‘I trust you more, but I’m not going to get you involved in this.’

  ‘You already have. Hang up Ellie. And tell me you’re in Oxnard.’

  ‘I’ll tell you first, then I’ll hang up. I’m in Oxnard.’

  ‘Cool. I won’t be lying when I tell them that you told me you were in Oxnard.’

  I laughed. ‘Cath, I love you. Too bad you’re stuck with Bernie. I’d be by more often.’

  ‘Discussion for another day. Stay safe.’

  She hung up. I looked at the beach and considered my next steps. I needed to get the witness’s name and contact her somehow. Clearly she really didn’t see me at Bernie’s place. I hadn’t been there. I texted Kent, asking for the lady’s name. I needed to meet her face to face.

  I left the phone on for five minutes waiting for a reply, then turned it off. He had it or he didn’t. Maybe he had to go through Stevie to find it out. That could take hours.

  Someone had to break into my place to get my gun and some of my hair and an earring. The number of cameras at the entrances and exits of my apartment building rivaled a movie set. But I couldn’t just walk in and ask security for a copy.

  Plus, the cameras would prove I never left the place. I needed someone to get a copy for me, legitimately.

  Henry and Emily’s cafe was right beside the main entrance to my apartment building. Might be some help there.

  Like a tree.

  I walked in the cafe and tapped on the counter. Emily looked up from the cash register and smiled a work smile. ‘How may I help you?’ She squinted. ‘Ellie? God, what are you doing here?’

  ‘You have a place in the back we can talk? I don’t really want to be noticed.’ Trade was light. She lifted the partition on the counter and ushered me through. Henry stepped to one side and opened the storeroom door, waited until we passed through and closed it behind us.

  Emily hugged hard.

  ‘Damn, you’re going to crack a rib. Good to see you too.’ I extricate myself. ‘I don’t dare stay long. I just need you to do one thing for me.’

  ‘Sure. Anything.’

  ‘I need to see the video from the security cameras on the front of my building. I can’t ask the security people at the building, but maybe you can help.’

  ‘I can ask, but why?’

  ‘Someone took things from my apartment. They needed those things to frame me. I need the cops to see if someone else went in there.’

  ‘How will they know who did it?’

  ‘It would be anyone coming in who didn’t live there.’

  She nodded. ‘I can do that. Not sure how, but we’ll think of something.’

  ‘Easy. Tell them you had a break-in. Nothing was taken, but someone broke in.’

  She shook her head. ‘I’ll see what I can do. When would this have happened, though? It would have been while you were out, which makes it daytime, and honey, we’re open every day. Would be kind of hard to have a break-in while we’re here.’

  I deflated. ‘Shit. Sorry to bug you.’

  ‘No, no. Hon. We’ll think of something. Anything. Anything for you. This whole thing is a crock of bullshit.’

  ‘Did you by any chance see me on my balcony the night before last?’

  ‘No. I could say I did.’

  ‘I’m not going to get you in trouble. Appreciate the thought though.’

  ‘So what do I do with the video when I get it?’

  I smiled and took her hands. ‘You won’t get it. The police will get it and I have a friend working inside the police station. Or a friend of a friend. She can get a look at it and maybe feed some info to the cop leading this investigation. I’ve got to try something.’

  ‘We’ll figure it out. Henry is good at this kind of thing. Where are you going to stay tonight?’

  I looked around. ‘Is there a back way out of here? I shouldn’t put you in any more danger. Harboring a fugitive is a felony.’

  Emily took me to the service door. ‘I don’t care about harboring a fugitive. You’re innocent.’

  ‘That’s very kind of you, but the cops don’t think so, and that’s all who count right now.’ I opened the door to the back and looked out, poking an eye around the corner. ‘If anyone asks if you know where I am, tell them I told you I was going to Oxnard.’

  ‘Why are you going to Oxnard?’

  I smiled. ‘Em, You just tell them what I told you. Where I end up could be anywhere.’

  ‘Ah, gotcha. Oxnard. Lovely this time of year. The strawberries are delightful.’

  ‘I’m allergic. Be safe. Be careful and text me when you get the video thing sorted out, okay?’

  ‘I will. Be careful.’

  ‘Thanks. You too. But seriously be careful. Perkins has a bee in his bonnet. And once he gets an idea, he never lets it go.’

  Chapter Sixteen

  Emily came out of the storeroom alone. Henry looked in as she exited. ‘Where’d Ellie go?’

  ‘Oxnard.’ She laughed. ‘Or so she said. Although I think she’ll stay away from the strawberries.’

  ‘What was that all about?’ He wiped his hands on his apron and locked the storeroom door. ‘She okay?’

  ‘I don’t think so.’ Emily patted her husband on the arm. ‘She wants us to get the security footage from the apartment building in the cop’s hands.’

  ‘There’s a good reason for this, I expect.’

  ‘Things at the scene of Bart’s murder came from her place and it had to be taken when she wasn’t there.’

  ‘And she wants us to look at the video? Why us?’

  ‘No, just get it to the cops. She says she’s got a contact inside the department who can get it in front of the right people. They can check who came in while she wasn’t there against the residents of the place.’

  ‘She’s got a contact inside the police department? Seriously?’ Henry shook his head and turned to serve the two customers who just walked in.

  ‘Who has contacts? That woul
dn’t be Ellie Bourke, would it?’ The man held out his badge. ‘I’m Sergeant Perkins and this is Sergeant Stanfield.’

  ‘Ellie who?’

  Perkins smiled. ‘She has breakfast here most mornings. She lives next door. You know who I’m talking about. Have you seen her lately?’

  Henry hesitated and Emily jumped in. ‘Sure. Lots of times. Like you said, she’s around her all the time. She was here for breakfast yesterday. If you can call it that. Small bowl of fruit and a piece of dry toast. Is that any meal for a growing young girl?’

  ‘Her mobile phone was located in this general area this morning. Have you seen her today?’

  Henry looked at Emily and cleared his throat.

  Emily jumped in again. ‘Yes. She stopped by to say she was heading north. A friend in Oxnard, I think.’

  Perkins opened his notebook. ‘Oxnard you say?’ He scribbled a note. ‘And when did she say that?’

  ‘She stopped by this morning. About an hour ago.’ Emily hoped they couldn’t tell she was lying. She hoped Ellie was far enough away right now that they wouldn’t bump into her by mistake.

  And maybe two birds could be killed with one stone. ‘Listen, officers, we’ve been having problems around here for the last week or so and some punks have been harassing customers. There’s a security video on the apartment building next door. Could I get you to have a look at it and we can see if the guys show up on it?’

  Perkins looked out the door at the apartment next door, then flipped through some pages in his book. ‘That would be the apartment Ellie Bourke lives in, correct?’

  ‘I believe it might be.’

  ‘Well, ma’am, if you’ve been having problems with the local teens, I’d suggest you call your local police department. The closest station is in Marina del Rey.’ He pointed at his partner. ‘Stanfield and I are from the Devonshire precinct in the Valley.’

  ‘Oh. Well, okay.’

  Perkins fished a card from his shirt pocket and handed it to Henry who handed it to Emily. ‘If you see Ellie, or hear from her, please give us a call, okay? Remember it’s a felony to aid a fugitive.’ He nodded at Henry and Emily and made his exit.

  Henry waited until the two policemen were well out of the cafe and had moved down the boardwalk. ‘Is she still in the storeroom?’

  Emily shook her head. ‘She made it out the back about five minutes before they showed up. I told her we’d get the security footage to the police, but if they’re in the Valley I’m not sure how we can pull that off.’

  ‘You think she actually went to Oxnard?’ Perkins walked along the boardwalk looking at tall blondes.

  ‘I think she told everyone she was going to Oxnard so they’d tell us she was going to Oxnard. Ten bucks she’s nowhere near Oxnard.’

  ‘No bet, kiddo.’

  ‘So we going to walk along the beach for the rest of the morning?’

  Perkins watched a bikini skate by. ‘For a bit, maybe. Keep an eye peeled for a tall blonde.’

  Stanfield laughed. ‘That’s like saying keep an eye peeled for sand. The place is polluted with them.’

  ‘This kind of pollution I can live with.

  The Killer sat on the beach wall watching the police leave the cafe. ‘The noose is tightening, bitch. Better hope they find you before I do.’ He slid off the wall and followed the police as they walked along the beach. ‘Piggy one and piggy two. You better hope I find her before you do,’ he muttered. ‘Because if you fuck up my plans, you’re both next on the list.’

  He followed about fifteen yards behind the plainclothes police as they looked for Ellie. ‘You boys really think she’s going to be out in the open like this? I’ve been down here almost an hour and I haven’t seen hide nor hair of her.’ He snorted. ‘Fucking lazy cunts.’

  He walked closer until he was no more than a couple of steps behind them. He sniffed. He could smell their piggy-ness. And it fueled a rage. He bounced his jaw muscles, clenching and unclenching them in rapid succession. He was within reach of them. It would take less than a second to knock the fat one on the ground, get his gun and shoot them both.

  He almost walked into their backs as they stopped to talk to a juggler. He blinked, took a deep breath and peeled off.

  ‘Calm down, old boy. You almost fucked up the whole plan.’ He stood back, leaning against a palm tree as the cops talked.

  Perkins held out a picture of Ellie. ‘Have you seen this woman, sir?’

  ‘Dude, you’re driving away business. I’ve got a right to make a living, man.’

  Stanfield looked around. The thinnish crowd walked by with no intention of stopping and the juggler wasn’t even set up. ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘I don’t have to tell you.’

  ‘No, you don’t. But if we think you’re obstructing our investigation we can arrest you and take you into custody at our station. In the Valley. It could take hours to get through all this, so why don’t you just help out a bit and get this over with. What’s your name?’

  He looked at the two cops, weighing his options. ‘Gerald. Gerald Fitzpatrick.’

  ‘Can I see your ID?’

  Danny shook his head. ‘I don’t have any ID. I don’t need any. Haven’t for years.’

  Perkins shook his head. ‘Right. Have you seen this girl around here today?’

  ‘You’re fucking with me, right?’ He pointed to a billboard on the side of a building. ‘She’s on every billboard in sight. Ellie Bourke. Australian goddess. Of course I’ve seen her. I see her every day.’

  ‘I think the funny man wants a trip into the Valley, Perk. Do you want to cuff him, or should I?’

  ‘Wait, wait, wait. Gents. Sorry. I have a natural distrust of authority. Comes from spending so many hours on this beach. Look around you. This is about as anti-establishment as you can get.’

  ‘So, about Ellie? When was the last time you saw her?’

  Danny looked up and down the boardwalk. Others who weren’t friends of hers would speak the truth. He couldn’t protect her this way and he couldn’t keep an eye out for her while in jail. ‘I had breakfast with her. This morning.’

  ‘Where?’

  Danny pointed to the cafe. ‘Over there. But don’t bother wasting your time looking for her around here. She’s left.’

  ‘Gone to Oxnard, right?’ Perkins flipped his book closed.

  ‘You’re psychic, dude. How did you know?’

  ‘Miss Bourke has a remarkable circle of friends who are willing, it would appear, to do anything to help her evade detection. She’s not in Oxnard, on the way to Oxnard, or planning to go to Oxnard. Although I do admire you all for sticking up for her. Listen to me carefully. This is how it’s going to go. If you see, smell, hear or in any other way interact with Miss Bourke you will notify me immediately.’ Perkins handed Danny his card. ‘And immediately means you drop whatever outlandish props you happen to be juggling at the time, pull out your phone and call me without hesitation.’

  Danny shook his head. ‘No way dude.’ He held up his hands. ‘Don’t arrest me or nothing, but I don’t actually have a mobile phone. And I don’t have a phone in my apartment. Don’t believe in them.’

  ‘Don’t believe in phones? It’s not like we’re talking about vampires, or alien abduction. It’s just a fucking phone.’

  Danny shook his head. ‘No way. Can eavesdrop, track location, all kinds of things. I don’t have one.’

  ‘So, smart guy, drop a quarter in the pay-phone over at the corner and call me from there. Because if I find out you’re keeping her below the radar you’ll be going to jail.’

  ‘Chillax, man. Got it.’ He stuffed the card in his back pocket. ‘You’ll be the first I call.’

  ‘Right you will, Mr. Fitzpatrick.’

  ‘My friends call me Fitzie.’ Danny smiled. You found fun where you could.

  ‘Well, Fitzie, be smart, okay?’

  Danny watched them walk away, showing Ellie’s picture and taking notes. ‘Fitzie. I like Fitzie.’

/>   ‘Your name isn’t Fitzie though. Isn’t it Danny something? Hey, I’m looking for Ellie. You seen her around?’ Kent stuck out his hand. ‘Kent Williams. An acting friend of the tall lady.’

  Danny slowly stood and took his hand. ‘An acting friend standing in until the real friend comes along?’

  ’Funny guy. You seen her today?’

  ‘Oh, yeah. I saw you with her yesterday morning. Breakfast. You and another smaller guy.’

  ‘Yeah. Charlie Bates. Anyway, nice meeting you and all, and have you seen Ellie around?’

  Danny looked at the receding backs of the two cops. ‘This morning. She said she was going to Oxnard, but just to throw the fuzz off her tracks. I think. She doesn’t have her car and her face is plastered everywhere, so I don’t see how she can get anywhere.’

  ‘Kinda hard to miss a tall, thin long-haired piece of work like her.’

  ‘Actually, that describes half the girls around here. They’re all from the same cookie-cutter. It’s short now.’

  ‘Short? She’s not short. Too much pot man. You’re making no sense.’

  ‘No, her hair is short. Cut it almost all off. Really butch looking.’

  ‘Damn. Really? Shame. Loved it long.’ He cocked his head. ‘Really? When did she cut it? It was long last night at the premiere. When would she have had time?’

  ‘So like it had to be between the premiere thing and breakfast this morning and it’s really, really short now. Didn’t recognize her.’

  ‘She color it too?’

  ‘Nah, I don’t think so. What was left was still blonde.’

  Kent looked up and down the boardwalk, as if he might suddenly spot her. ‘So she’s not going to Oxnard, or she is going to Oxnard? You weren’t too clear on that.’

  Danny sniffed and shrugged and started looking at his juggling paraphernalia. He had work to get to. This guy was holding him up. ‘Look, Kenny.’

  ‘Kent.’

  ‘Right. She told me to say she was going to Oxnard. Maybe it’s a double twist, telling everyone where she’s going so no one will believe she’s going there, but then going anyway. Or maybe she’s hanging out locally, sleeping on a park bench and living it rough. Why do you care?’