G'Day USA

by Tony McFadden

  The Killer weighed his options. She was tougher than he thought she was. He needed a plan B. He couldn’t do her now, and there was a witness. He didn’t want witnesses. She saw his face, but he knew where she lived.

  He staggered to the north side of the pier and pushed through to the beach. It was vacant. The surfers had surrendered to the weather. Not even the insane would be out in this. He wiped the water off his face and winced when he touched his nose. ‘Shit. Fuck, that hurts.’ He looked at his hand and watched the rain wash away the blood. ‘Oh, she’s gonna pay.’

  He was drenched and it felt like he had a broken nose. ‘There will be blood. Lots of blood.’

  It looked like Ellie was staying with the old lady. Tonight was going to be a two-fer.

  Cathy hung up.

  ‘What did you find out?’

  ‘I was on hold the first time so long my battery almost died. The second time I called I got shunted between homicide, robbery, and someone who had an accent so thick I couldn’t understand a word they were saying. This last time I was on hold again. Gave up waiting.’ She looked at her watch. ‘And pretty soon all the office schleps will be gone.’

  Bernie snatched the phone from the table. ‘Let me try.’

  He waded through a veritable IVR hell before he got a person. ‘Ah, fantastic. My name is Steve Austin with the Valley Free Press. I’m doing a story on the proposed State initiative to halt all pay increases for the next two years. Can I talk to your media relations person?’ He winked at Cathy while he waited for a pissed off media rep.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Just wait.’ He returned his attention to the phone. ‘Good afternoon. What was your name again? Miss Wilson? Oh, Nancy. So would you care to comment on the proposed initiative to cap salaries in the police departments around the state for the next two calendar years?’

  He listened with a concerned look on his face. Cathy tried hard to stifle a laugh.

  ‘My name? Steven Austin of the Valley Free Press. I just read about this initiative on the wire so I’m not too surprised you haven’t heard about it yet. Apparently the Governor is pulling out all stops to balance the budget, or at least appear to, before the next state election. A bit harsh on the public servants, but the polls seem to support his actions.’

  He nodded and listened. ‘Yes. Yes. Interesting view. May I quote you? Your official title?’ He nodded and pretended to scribble. ‘Thank you very much. I appreciate your time.’

  He listened for a couple of more seconds before interrupting her. ‘Hey, listen, can you help me out here? Took me a dog’s age to get through to you and I’ve got to talk to a girl in the evidence room. I tried calling her mobile, but it’s off, or the coverage in there is as bad as it’s always been. Can you put me through to her? Transfer me or something? We met last weekend and were supposed to get together tonight for drinks.’

  He listened, frowning. He put his hand over the phone. ‘It’s Stevie, right?’

  Cathy nodded. ‘Why?’

  He held up a finger and returned to the phone. ‘No, it’s not Wally I’m looking for. Her name is Stevie. Works in the evidence locker area. Really? Wally? Maybe Stevie has transferred to a different department?’

  He shook his head while he listened. ‘So Wally has been there for the last two years and will be until he retires in six months. So no Stevie? This is Devonshire, right?’

  Cathy whispered. ‘What’s going on?”

  He shrugged and talked to the phone. ‘No Stevie of any sort there? Huh. I guess I was stood up. Well, Nancy, I apologize for taking your time, and thanks for talking to me about the Governor’s initiatives. I’ll be sure to send you a draft before it goes to press on Monday.’

  He hung up and sat back. ‘Weird.’

  ‘That was slick, and possibly illegal. What was that all about? Wally? Who’s Wally?’

  ‘Ellie told you her buddy, what’s his name, Kent had an inside track with the cops, right? A Stevie in the evidence area, right?’

  ‘Records clerk.’

  ‘Same difference. There’s nobody at the station by the name of Stevie unless you count Steve Hanson, the dude who washes the cars.’

  ‘Wally?’

  ‘The guy at the evidence locker. Overweight dude putting in time until he can cashier out on full pension.’

  ‘Very weird.’

  ‘Ellie’s under a lot of stress. She probably heard the name wrong.’

  Cathy snorted. ‘How much stress do you have to be under to mistake “Wally” for “Stevie”? No, something’s fishy about this. I’m going to call her.’

  ‘Really? Over an incorrect name?’

  ‘She’s got the right to know.’ Cathy dialed the number and went straight to voicemail. ‘Ellie, it’s just me. Call me when it’s safe. Tried to reach Kent’s contact at the police station, Stevie. There is no Stevie there in any job. How well do you know Kent? Watch your back, Ellie. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.’ She closed her phone and took a deep breath. ‘Don’t like this, Bern.’

  ‘What? The guy got the name wrong?’

  ‘I don’t think he got the name wrong. I think he’s feeding her a line of bullshit.’

  ‘Why in the hell would he do that?’

  ‘How the hell should I know? You’re too trusting, Bernie. My best friend is running around trying to keep from getting killed and one of the guys supposed to be helping her has been lying to her. What am I supposed to think about that? Shit. Where the hell is she?’

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I ran out of the water with Ann holding my arm, fighting to fill my lungs and keep my balance. The rain and the spray cut visibility to a few hundred feet and I had no idea where the asshole was.

  ‘Ann, thank you.’ I stooped and grabbed my clothes and kept running. ‘You’re a sight for sore eyes.’

  ‘You better put a shirt on before you get arrested.’

  ‘I’ll take a cop, right now. Can you see the guy?’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘The guy who just tried to kill me. Is he still behind us?’

  Ann looked back and shook her head. ‘I don’t see him. Are you okay?’

  ‘I thought I was dead there for a minute. But I got a few good licks in. Did you see him?’

  Ann nodded and kept running, pulling me with her.

  ‘Hang on, putting on the shirt.’ I put the pants and the shoes on the wet beach and struggled with my polo short over wet skin. ‘I’m incredibly uncomfortable right now.’ I scooped the pants and shoes and kept running. ‘Where are we going? Back to your place?’

  ‘No good. He was there already. He knows the place.’

  I nodded. Smart. ‘So where?’

  She took my arm and ran between two buildings and turned an abrupt left.

  ‘Ann, I’m shocked. You’re in pretty good shape.’

  ‘Spend a lot of my time on my feet. Keep up will you?’ She slowed a bit. ‘He was bleeding. Did you see him?’

  ‘Didn’t see his face, no. Did I get him in the nose?’

  ‘Seems so. He wasn’t happy. Do you know who this crazy person is?’

  ‘Like I said, I didn’t get a look at him. He talked like Batman all the time so I don’t recognize his voice and I have no idea why he’s doing this. But he certainly knows me. My fucking luck.’

  She tsked me.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Young lady shouldn’t talk like that.’

  I smiled. ‘Okay mom.’ A gust of wind swamped us with a wave of rain. ‘Dam - Darn it, I’m soaked. Where are we going?’

  ‘Just around the corner.’

  ‘That’s what you said last time.’

  ‘What’s wrong, getting tired? I thought you were fit.’

  ‘I just had the stuffing beat out of me, ma’am. If you don’t mind, I’d like to sit a spell.’

  She laughed. ‘In here.’ She pulled open the door of a container sitting on a construction site.

  ‘What is this?’

  ‘Th
ey haven’t worked on this site for six months. A friend broke the lock off this a couple of months ago. Not many people know about it and it’s not very comfortable. But it’s safe.’

  She closed the door behind us.

  ‘It’s dark in here, Ann.’

  ‘I haven’t been able to convince DWP to hook anything up.’

  I couldn’t see her face so I couldn’t tell if she was kidding or delusional. But I wasn’t going to argue the point. ‘Thank you very much. I owe you my life.’

  ‘I’ve been bored lately anyway. You’ve added a bit of spice to my life.’

  ‘You’re better than this, you know that, right?’

  I heard her sigh and adjust herself. ‘It’s just too hard to try and keep it on an even keel. I gave up a couple of years ago.’

  ‘Surely you have friends or family who can help you.’

  She didn’t reply. I heard a sniffle and then nothing.

  ‘You okay?’

  Nothing.

  It was going to be a long night. And it was starting to cool off. Wind blew sheets of rain against the side of the metal container, sounding like nails against the metal sides.

  I felt around on the floor for my jeans. I heard a thunk as I picked them up. ‘Shit. My phones.’ I pulled the wet pants on my wet legs. Better than nothing. Body heat would help them dry. I felt around until I found the phones. The pre-pays were flip phones. I couldn’t tell in the dark which was which. I turned them both on and check the call records and turned the busy one off and left the new one on. The light from the display was weak, but it allowed me to see the inside of the container. Shelves lined the far end. Blankets, burlap sacks and other scraps of cloth lined the half the floor they were on. The other half was bare metal, empty food containers scattered around the floor.

  ‘It’s not going to work in here.’

  She was awake. ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘It’s a metal building. The signal in here is too weak. It’s not going to work in here.’

  She was right. I was flickering between no service and a single bar. I stood and moved toward the door. ‘I’ll have to go outside then.’

  ‘It’s pouring out. You’ll get drenched.’

  ‘I’m already wet, Ann. It’s not going to make any difference.’ I cracked open the door and quickly closed it behind me and ducked around to the lee side of the container. I needed to talk to a friend.

  I leaned against the wall and hugged myself. I dialed Cathy’s number from memory. This meant she’d have my number now, but frankly I didn’t care. I was cold, wet, alone and some jerk-wad had just tried to kill me. And I was hanging with a lady who all of a sudden wouldn’t let me fucking swear.

  She answered almost before it rang.

  ‘Is this...?’

  ‘Cathy, Ellie here. Thanks for answering. I needed to hear a friendly voice. I’ve had a hell of a day.’

  ‘Where are you? I’ll come and get you. We can hang in that Super-8 we shared a room in a lifetime ago.’

  I smiled. Good memories. ‘I can’t get you wrapped up in this. I just needed to hear a friendly voice. You been hassled by the cops much?’

  ‘Not really. They’ve come by a couple of times. Perkins and his kid partner. Reminds me of Josh Hartnett.’

  ‘Perkins?’

  ‘His partner. Bernie ever pushes my last button I may track this cop down and make him an offer he can’t refuse.’

  I laughed. I could hear Bernie yelling something in the background. ‘Why wait?’ A clatter of rain drowned out the conversation for a second as a gust swept through from the ocean.

  ‘Are you out in this? Ellie, you’ve got to get under cover. This is a hell of a storm and it’s just going to get worse.’

  Good old Cathy, mother-hen from the first time I met her. ‘I’m cool. Got a place I can go to get out of this mess. Just standing outside right now so I don’t disturb my roommate while she sleeps.’ I sniffed. ‘It’s getting cold.’

  ‘Are you okay? You don’t sound okay.’

  ‘Well, aside from the fact I’ve been framed for killing someone I wanted dead, been threatened myself and not half an hour ago fought off some asshole who tried to drown me, yeah, I’m peachy.’

  ‘So you’re still near the beach. Someone try to pick you up and got a bit too aggressive?’

  ‘No. The same guy who killed Sweeney tried to get me.’

  ‘Shit.’

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘Did you get my voicemail?’

  I was momentarily confused. ‘You didn’t have this number. How did you get it?’

  ‘I called in the last number I knew. You must have just changed it.’

  ‘I was getting too many creepy messages and now apparently the cops have it. Marty was arrested for not cooperating with the police and they, I guess, got the number from his phone.’

  ‘So what now?’

  The thought of a warm hotel room, a pizza and a couple of beer with my best friend was very tempting. ‘You’re wearing me down.’

  ‘Tell me where you are and I’ll be there as fast as I can.’

  ‘I can’t. Really. Look, this is coming to a head. The whack-job tried to drown me and he’ll be looking for me to finish me off. I’ve got to get him and the cops in the same room and end this once and for all.’

  ‘Did you get my voicemail?’

  ‘You asked that already. I didn’t know the prepay had voicemail. So no. What was it?’

  ‘I called the station - sorry, I tried to call the station. Bernie called the station and asked to talk to Stevie. We wanted to find out what they knew.’

  I closed my eyes and swore. ‘Jesus, Cathy. You’re going to get yourself in serious trouble. I appreciate the thought, but don’t help, okay? This is serious stuff.’

  ‘No, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. There is no Stevie there, in the records room or the evidence locker or anywhere else. Not a female Stevie, anyway.’

  I stood up straight. ‘You called the right station?’

  ‘Devonshire.’

  ‘Yeah. That’s the one.’ I twirled some hair. Some nervous tics held on from my early teen years. ‘Kent must have got the name wrong. Or maybe she’s in a different station and has contacts in Devonshire.’

  ‘Or maybe Kent’s full of shit.’

  ‘What would he gain from that?’

  ‘Trying to get into your pants, maybe? You known him long?’

  ‘Since we filmed Beast of Bondi in Australia some four years ago. No. He’s never shown any interest in anything like that.’

  Cathy laughed. ‘You are a blind girl when it comes to the opposite sex, honey. He could be crawling all over you and you wouldn’t get it.’

  ‘Am not.’ God it felt good talking to a friend. ‘This is nice. I’m glad I called. I’ve got to get going, though. I need to get inside before the jack-hole finds me.’

  ‘You need to talk to the police about this. He’s going to kill you.’

  I shook my head. ’No fucking way. He got the drop on me and he had no success. I’m not going to be that stupid again. I know he’s coming after me and he won’t catch me by surprise. Don’t worry about me. I’m a lot tougher than I look. And whoever he is, he’s going to find that out once and for all.’

  ‘You’re not going to go looking for him in this weather are you?’

  ‘I’m not crazy. No, I’ll hole up where I can keep my back covered tonight. Tomorrow I’ll finish him once and for all. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Cath. And fingers crossed I’ll be clear of this shit.’

  ‘Be careful. I feel like I should be helping you.’

  ‘I’ll talk to you tomorrow.’ I hung up and walked out from behind the container. The rain was pelting down, in waves. Global warming, my ass. I was freezing. I slipped into the container, careful not to disturb Ann. I closed the door behind me and sat against the wall, an old blanket around my shoulders.

  I couldn’t sleep. A few things Cathy said kept running through my head. I didn’t know the
se prepay cards had voicemail. I had a couple of missed calls earlier from her and one from the person who had been threatening me. His voice mail, if he left one, might shed some additional light on what was going on.

  Other than the light from my phone, though, it was pitch black in the container. I fished my old pre-pay phone from my pocket. Hopefully it hadn’t been damaged in all the crap I’d just gone through.

  I cycled the power on the phone and when it came back up I had no service. I was inside this metal box. I had to go outside again. Shit. And I was just starting to warm up.

  I slipped out, pounded by the weather and scooted to the relative calm of the lee side of the box. The phone vibrated with four new messages: Cathy’s missed call and assumed voice mail, two missed calls from Marty’s phone and one indicating an unheard voice message.

  The pre-pay phones were with the same provider as my iPhone so I dialed the same retrieval number and got through to a recording informing me I had four messages.

  The newest one was from Perkins. He must have used Marty’s phone to call me, expecting me to pick up.

  “Miss Bourke, I’m calling again in the hope you listen to this and take yourself to the nearest police station, for your own safety. I understand you believe this to be some sort of trick. It’s not. You would be well advised to follow these instructions as soon as you hear this message.”

  Blah, blah, blah.

  The messages were in reverse chronological order. The next one was also from Perkins:

  “Miss Bourke, Sergeant Perkins calling you from your manager’s phone. He is currently in custody for resisting arrest, harboring a fugitive and obstructing justice. Do him and yourself a favor and contact me as quickly as possible and let us help you sort this problem out.”

  I smiled. Marty in jail would be a treat to listen to. Ann wouldn’t like it. Marty had some of the most colorful swearing I’ve ever heard a non-Australian use.