Double Take (15 page)

“Where'd he go?” Eden's lip did its dance thing.

She shrugged. “I don't know.” She paused. “But I know where they're going to divide up the money after they rob the bank.”

“Where?” Steel cocked his head at her.

“The boatshed.”

“Boatshed? What boatshed?”

She spread her hands apart as if it was obvious. “It's a derelict old building at Norman Park.”

Thomas cocked his head. “How do you know what it looks like?”

She shrugged her shoulder, suddenly looking coy. “I followed Jack.”

“You what?” Thomas barked at her.

“One day, after one of these meetings, I followed him around in my car. I didn't know he was going there. I went back there the next day to have a look.”

Her eyes glimmered with excitement.

“Jeez, Tiffany, you're one crazy lady.” Thomas slapped his palm on the table.

“It was fun.”

“And incredibly dangerous.”

“I was cautious.” She shrugged and the diamond in her top lip twinkled when she smiled.

“Okay.” Thomas rolled his eyes at Steel. “Now for the question on everyone's lips, which bank are they going to rob?”

“Well, um…that's a problem.” She twisted her face into doubt.

“Why?” said Eden.

“I don't know which one it is.”

I
t had been an unusually warm day, and as Jack and Candice sat on the front steps of the caravan watching the sunset, a steady stream of neighbours strolled past either from an afternoon walk or the shower facilities. Jack and Candice waved to each of them and shared friendly superficial banter. A storm was brewing on the horizon, which was strange for this time of year. Thunderstorms didn't usually start until late summer. The potted palms Jack had placed along the side of the van were uncharacteristically still, as if preparing for the onslaught.

He was on edge too, but was trying to act like tonight was just like every other night. He had to be careful or Candice would suspect something was wrong. She had a knack for that.

She slapped his knee. “So, got any hot tips for tomorrow?”

Jack frowned at her.

“The race.” She beamed up at him with her beautiful innocent eyes. “Who do you think's going to win?”

“Oh.” In all the craziness Jack had lost sight of what the Melbourne Cup was all about. Years ago, he and Candice went to a Cup luncheon together. It was a huge day of drinking, laughter and of course a flutter or two on the horses. “I haven't even had time to see what horses are running.”

“It's a pity you're working, you could come with me to the community hall.”

A bunch of the caravan park residents were planning to watch the race in the hall, and Rose had promised to escort Candice up there. “Sorry babe.”

“Did I tell you I've got Castletown in the sweep? Imagine if I won the twenty-dollar prize pool.”

“Yeah, that would be magic.”

At the first sign of mosquitos they moved inside. The air within the caravan seemed to bristle. “I'll get dinner on the go.” Jack reached for a frying pan and laid strips of bacon in the bottom.

Candice touched his shoulder. “Okay, I'll have a quick shower.”

As she headed to the bedroom, the urge to call her back was unbearable. He'd have given almost anything to just confess, tell her everything. But it was far too late for that. Jack figured he had about five minutes to get his shit together. It wasn't easy. In nineteen hours' time, their lives would change forever. That was a certainty.

Nothing else about tomorrow was as certain.

His stomach rumbled at the bacon smell, but he was pretty sure he'd have trouble eating it. Right now he felt more like throwing up. He heard the squeaky shower taps turning as Candice got ready to hop out. At the sink he splashed water on his face, wiped it off and then sucked in a couple of deep breaths.
Pull yourself together.

“That smells great,” Candice said as she stepped from the shower cubicle.

“Don't get too excited. Boring old bacon and egg burgers tonight.”

“Nothing boring about that. I could eat them every night.”

She was lying. Once upon a time they could afford eye fillet steak and prawns for dinner. Some of his favourite memories were the two of them cooking up a feast in the well-stocked kitchen of their old home. He would have given anything to return to those times.

Candice stepped into the kitchen and he immediately smelt her delightful scent. She smelt fresh, clean, pure. Jack couldn't hold back any longer. He clutched his wife to his chest, forcing the tears from his eyes.

“What is it, baby?” The concern in her voice crushed him. She trusted him—believed in him. And he was about to blow it all.

W
hen Superintendent Steel grasped Gemma's hand in his oversized palm she thought her ruse was over. His dark eyes seemed to see right through her and she was certain she was in over her head.

He wasn't as old as she'd thought a man in his position would be, and although she was sure that Thomas—and particularly Eden—had fallen for her over-the-top flirting, she was just as certain that Steel didn't have a bar of it. He had an air of authority about him that sent a shiver through her body. When he spoke his bushy eyebrows rose, forming deep creases in his forehead, and the strange purple scar over his temple was nothing but intimidating.

But he had let her go, and as she walked out of the police station and returned to her car adrenaline blazed through her body.

As she drove home, she replayed the interview in her mind and each time she reached the end she'd convinced herself they'd believed her. Her decision to leave it to the last afternoon to notify them was perfect. Without time to do anything else, they'd have no alternative but to go with her plan. She'd thought she was going to throw up when they'd laughed at her suggestion to catch the robbers at the boatshed after the robbery. But what else could they do. Without knowing which bank they would rob, or where they were meeting beforehand, the police didn't have a clue where to start.

Stealing Tiffany's driver's licence from her purse was also a stroke of genius. Tiffany probably wouldn't even notice it missing for months. Gemma had been to Tiffany's shoddy little flat in New Farm once before, and if the police did venture over that way, then the scenario she'd given about the thin walls might not seem so far-fetched. She just hoped they didn't have time to knock on Tiffany's door.

She pulled in to a shopping centre and used the bathroom to undo her disguise. It was a shame, because she really enjoyed playing the sassy Tiffany. She was so proud of her performance at the police station. It was like being both the director and leading actor in a movie that she'd plotted to perfection.

When she finally turned in to Murray's road, the high she'd been riding came crashing down. She was one hundred percent certain Murray couldn't go through with her idea; he was just too nice. No, tomorrow was all up to her. Now all she had to do was get through the night without revealing her plans.

Murray just about strangled her in a bear hug when she walked in the door. “Thank goodness. I was so worried. How did it go at the police station?”

“I'm sorry, they took so long. Asked me heaps of questions, too.”

He released her and when she looked up at him, the concern in his eyes made her want to tell him everything. Oh God, she wanted to. But she was certain he'd try to talk her out of it. He wouldn't understand that she was doing this for him. For them. All of them. She, Murray and the boys would be able to live a life of luxury because of the risk she was taking. Seeing the look on his face only proved she was doing the right thing.

“You were gone so long. Do you want a cup of tea?”

The urge to tell him was merciless. But she forced the desire from her brain. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and nothing was going to stop her now. Especially not Murray.

“Actually, I think we should have champagne.”

“I don't think we have any.”

“Yes we do.” She trotted off to the kitchen. She'd bought a bottle of Carrington Blush on special the day before. After tomorrow, though, she would never have to check the price before buying champagne again.

A
t times like this Montgomery Steel was grateful he was no longer married. Back then, if he'd had to choose between explaining to his wife why he was pulling an all-nighter or having his fingernails pulled out one by one, he would've chosen the nails any day. Another good reason was because he could eat pizza whenever he wanted and not hear her devil voice in his ear complaining about the extra couple of kilos he was carrying. Yep, he was quite happy as a single man.

Senior Detective Daniel Thomas, his second in charge, was heading up the case and at present he had them all gathered in the downstairs room of the Coorparoo Station. When Steel was first transferred here, beneath the workers' cottage was crammed full with storage boxes and unused furniture. But Steel had it cleared out and renovated so the staff could use it as a lunch room and a meeting space. It wasn't a very big space, especially with six of them cramped around the table, but it was their only option on short notice.

Thomas stood at the front of the table. All eyes were on him. Thomas was tenacious as hell when it came to organising a squad and could spot deficiencies and strengths in the men long before trouble brewed. His deep voice was calm, although Steel figured he was probably a long way from being that. Less than twenty hours to put an operation like this together was practically impossible. But if anyone could do it, Thomas could.

Since Tiffany Black left the station, the place had been as chaotic as a kindergarten party on red cordial. Steel had pulled in a couple of favours to get two extra men on the case. Although he'd never actually worked with either Parker or Shearer, his buddy at Wynnum CIB assured him they were solid, capable men. And best of all, they were available on short notice.

“I'm glad we've eaten,” said Thomas. “There's not much chance we'll have a feed until morning.”

“What's the rush?” said Parker.

Thomas explained what had happened that afternoon. He ran through the strange woman, the tape recordings, the robbery plot. But he left the best bit for last. “This is the crazy part. The robbery is set to happen tomorrow. During the race.”

“You're kidding,” said Shearer. “Just about every cop is busy manning race day events.”

“Exactly,” said Thomas. “Doomben Race Track. The Riverside Marquee Party.” He held up his hand and flicked out a finger for each place he rattled off. “The Southbank Festival. Even City Hall has a massive function. Not to mention all the big pubs: Story Bridge, The Regatta, Breakfast Creek Hotel. The city practically stops for twenty minutes or so.”

“The thing I don't get is, if this woman has known about this for a few weeks, why did she wait until now to come forward?” Parker was flicking a pen between his finger and thumb, but he paused while he waited for an answer.

“She claimed she wanted to gather as much proof as possible, so we'd believe her.”

“And do you?” Parker had only been here for less than half an hour and already Steel was warming to him.

Thomas eyeballed Steel for an answer.

Steel cleared his throat. “It doesn't matter whether we believe her or not. Right now we have no choice but to act on the premise that somewhere in Brisbane city a bank is going to be robbed during the Melbourne Cup.”

“I assume we'll be contacting the banks,” Shearer said.

“We didn't get this info till after they closed, so I'll be doing it first thing in the morning. I'll start with their head offices, and work my way down from there.” Steel wasn't looking forward to that job. How do you convince nine banks and over twenty-seven branches that one of them is going to have a really bad day? And then have to explain that they simply didn't have the manpower to do anything about it. It was going to be a shitty couple of hours on the phone.

It seemed like a crazy plan to simply let the robbery go ahead and then catch them afterwards with the money. But after reviewing the tapes another two times they still had no idea which bank, let alone which branch, was being targeted.

“So let me get this straight,” Shearer said. “You have a first name and photo of the would-be robbers, but have no leads as to who they are.”

“Correct.” Thomas nodded.

“You don't know where any of them are right now.”

“Correct.”

“You don't know which bank is going to be robbed. Or even if this story is true.”

“Also correct.”

“And,” Shearer jabbed his stubby forefinger on the table, “because you have no idea where, or even if, they're meeting between now and then, you plan on letting them rob the bank so you can catch them afterwards with the money.”

Thomas nodded again. Shearer burst out laughing. “Are you guys nuts?”

Parker joined in the laughter and Steel let them enjoy their chuckle.

“We've been over it a dozen times,” Thomas said. “But without anything else to go on we don't have any other options.”

“So whose idea was this?” Shearer looked at Steel for the answer.

“Tiffany's.” Steel realised he was embarrassed to say it.

“What the fuck? You guys are as crazy as she is.”

“Do you have another idea?” Thomas said it in a way that showed he really was open to other ideas.

Steel hoped he did, because what they were planning at the moment was ludicrous. He just hoped like hell Jack and his gang didn't have real weapons, or else he'd be getting a whole lot more fishing in pretty soon.

“What do we know about the boatshed?” Shearer said after a very long pause.