“Eventually, you all ended up in the same place. I looked it up and found it was that bikie place, so I guessed you were probably in trouble. I had your phone, Opperman’s and Heinzer’s all in the same place and I was dying to know what you were all saying. So I turned on the microphones and cameras on all three phones. Opperman and Heinzer must have had theirs in their pockets but yours was lying on the desk in Opperman’s office so I could see them and hear them shouting at one another.”
A small frown creased her smooth features. “It was shocking stuff. They were arguing about killing your girlfriend and that man, Anning. And it sounded like you and your friend, Ronnie, would be next.
“I’d recorded all of it, of course, so I packaged it up with a note for the detective lady and sent it all anonymously.” She smiled. “I’m glad they took it seriously. I’m glad they got to you in time.”
I nodded. “Not as glad as I was. If you’d sent it to anyone but Bertolissio, there might have been a fatal delay. I don’t think I would have survived that night if you hadn’t given the police a reason to be there.”
For a moment, I found myself reliving the rush for the door, turning back to see Ronnie holding back all those angry blokes with his gun, my heart pounding like a frenzied dance song, my mind all fear and desperation.
I shook it off. No doubt I’d revisit it all again in the night, as I had done every night since it happened.
“Anyway, I wanted to thank you again.” She began to make deprecating sounds. “No, seriously. I know you didn’t want to get involved. I know it reminds you of things in your past. And that’s why I’m even more grateful that you did what you did. If there is ever anything, anything at all, no matter how big or small, that I can do for you, just ask. It will be my privilege. It will be my duty.”
Sadly, I seemed to have embarrassed her. She gave a small, stiff bow. “Thank you,” was all she said.
After a long silence, she said, “This is Chelsea’s grave?” It was a change of subject, moving the conversation on. I pointed to where Chelsea was buried. I wondered what kind of spiritual beliefs about the dead Karen might have but felt it best not to pry.
“What will you do now?” she asked.
It had been the question I’d been asking myself for a fortnight but I found I didn’t want to discuss it with Karen, or with anyone, until I’d spoken to Chelsea about it. So I shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I have some ideas but… We’ll see.”
She seemed to take that as a dismissal, which, in a way, I suppose it was. She stood up to go and I rose to shake her hand again.
“I am in your debt,” I said, as earnestly as I could. “Don’t hesitate for a moment to claim what I owe you.”
I watched her walk away, unsure that she really understood how much I would do if called on. I had already spoken to Kazima about putting a hefty bonus in her next pay packet but that was nothing to what I owed her.
I sat down, smiling, remembering how I had paid off Dicko as soon as I was mobile. He’d been amazed at the little extra I’d added to his agreed rate and was falling over himself to let me know how eager he was to drive me around again if I needed it. Ronnie was absolutely scandalised. He couldn’t believe how I’d been “throwing my money around like a drunken sailor,” the minute he wasn’t around to keep an eye on me. But I knew from the cops that Dicko had waited for me well past the agreed time and had then gone to the nearest police station to tell them I was probably in trouble. It would have been too late to help, as it turned out, but it was the thought that counted.
I walked over to stand by Chelsea’s grave. I closed my eyes and pictured her in front of me.
“I suppose you know why I’m here,” I said. “Since you’re in my head, you know everything before I even say it.” In my imagination, she smiled indulgently. “It’s been really hard without you and I think it will just get harder.” I hadn’t meant to say that but picturing her so clearly hurt more than I expected. I hurried on, to get it out before I couldn’t speak at all.
“I’m going to start a business. I’m going to get my private investigator license and run an agency. I’ve looked into it all. It’s not that hard and I don’t even need to make any money at it. Thanks to you, I’m set up for life – as long as your business keeps going. Even so, I’ve done a business plan and all that. Ronnie got a good laugh out of that. He thinks I’m a complete nerd. Mind you, you should have seen the look in his eye when I told him I’d need him to work as a paid consultant, you know, guide me, make sure I do things right. The chance to do more detective work – even after what happened – had him drooling like a dog watching me eat a chop. I’d ask him to be my partner only he says can’t get his license back. He won’t tell me why. He probably beat up a customer or something. You know what he’s like.
“I know it sounds stupid – childish, even – but I really feel like I need to do something about all the bad things I’ve seen. You know what I mean?”
“You always wanted to be Batman,” my image of her said and laughed. It sent another stab of pain through me to hear even the memory of her laughter.
“Is that what it is?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t. “The thing is, although I stumbled around like a drunk, I still managed to find Anning and bring down Opperman and Debra. And what if I could do it again? Wouldn’t that be something really cool and worthwhile to do with my life?” She raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I know I was scared all the time. Really, really scared. And I know I nearly got myself killed. And I know I had a lot of help. But I did it, hey? And maybe I could do it again. Even one more time would be worth it, don’t you think?”
She smiled. She seemed proud of me. Or did she? I didn’t know, to be honest. I had always thought she was proud of my achievements, that she admired me, but, lately, I hadn’t been so sure. Maybe it was all just indulgence, like a mother telling her child how great its crappy drawing is. It was love, for sure, but maybe that’s all it was.
As I struggled with my anxieties, her image faded and I couldn’t get it back. I opened my eyes. The world around me seemed unusually solid, the light unusually harsh. “Goodbye, darling,” I said to the ground with her dead body in it. I turned and walked away, disturbed and uncertain, to start building my new life.
Thank You
Thank you for reading Bright City Deep Shadows, the first of my Luke Kelly crime novels. I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If so, I'd be grateful if you'd leave a review on one of the book retail sites, your blog, or pasted to a wall on the nearest underpass. There will be more books about Luke’s adventures. To stay informed of when new books of mine are about to appear, please visit my website and sign up for my newsletter.
About the Author
I am a writer living in Queensland, Australia. A former research scientist, IT consultant and award-winning software designer, I now live and write, mostly science fiction, in a quiet corner of the Australian bush with my wife, Christine, and a Tonkinese cat called Minsky.
Other Books By Graham Storrs
Timesplash, my début novel, was a Kindle best-seller. The series, Timesplash, and its sequels, True Path and Foresight, was originally published by Pan Macmillan Australia. Both True Path and Foresight were shortlisted for Australia's première science fiction awards, The Aurealis Awards, as Best Science Fiction Novel.
In addition, I have written three series of novels set in my Placid Point universe: the Rik Sylver series, the Canta Libre trilogy, and the Deep Fracture trilogy, set eighty, three hundred, and ten thousand years in the future respectively. They are adventure stories, space opera, first contact novels, tales of the first transhumans, and so much more.
I also have a few stand-alone novels out there. Heaven is a Place on Earth is a thriller set in a near future dominated by augmented and virtual reality technologies, with all the opportunities for deception they bring. Cargo Cult is a sci-fi comedy in which the most ridiculous things that could plausibly happen, keep happening. Time and Tyde is a d
ark comedy set in the present day, about a man stalked by an amoral jerk from the future, or perhaps a man driven insane by a present-day stalker. Either way, it doesn't turn out well. And Mindrider – an urban sci-fi thriller about an alien invasion nobody wants and which even the aliens seem unable to prevent.
Alexandra Bertolissio – a fairly minor character in Bright City Deep Shadows – has a starring role in several of my short stories and novellas. These are all collected in one place and arranged chronologically, in a collection called Sisters: The Complete Crime Story Collection. All of the stories in Sisters predate Detective Bertolissio’s appearance in Bright City Deep Shadows.
You can find links to fuller descriptions of all my novels and short story collections on my website (http://www.grahamstorrs.com). Or just type my name into your favourite online book store and they should all appear.
Acknowledgements
As usual, I would like to thank my wife for her support and encouragement.
While there is typically only one author, it always takes a whole group of people, working behind the scenes, to get a book into production – beta readers, editors, artists, designers, layout specialists, and so on. It may be invidious, but I’m going to single out just one of these, my friend and fellow writer, Chris Giacca, for his help and guidance on local Australian idiomatic speech. Chris is an amazingly careful reader and the text is definitely better – and more authentic – for his input.
Also, as usual, despite the legion of people who have helped, any problems that remain with this novel are all my own doing.
Contact the Author
I am always happy to hear from readers, so don't be shy. And if you enjoyed this book, don't forget to post your review.
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/graywave/
or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrahamStorrsAuthor/
For details of all my novels and short stories, visit http://www.grahamstorrs.com/
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Contact the Author
Table of Contents
Return to the Beginning
Bright City Deep Shadows Page 28
