Ecstasy Lake (26 page)

Bert laughed, and it broke the tension. The helicopter revved and headed off. The sudden silence was nice.

‘The other odd thing is,' said Tarrant, ‘that Barenfanger reckons Harlin's mob was waiting for him. Barenfanger said his plan was to take them by surprise, break a few jaws and torch the place. But as soon as they got here the shooting started.'

‘Harlin's mob had been tipped off, too,' I said.

‘So it seems. Barenfanger's mob had superior firepower, but they were caught in the open. So they copped the worst of it.'

‘How bad is Barenfanger?'

‘He'll live.'

I thought for a while. ‘I've got a theory,' I said.

‘Can't wait to hear it.'

‘First, tell me this. Is Harlin one of the dead or injured?'

‘No.'

‘What about Coy?'

‘No. Is that significant?'

‘I didn't think Harlin would be. I thought Coy might be.'

‘Tell me your theory.'

‘I think Harlin tipped off Barenfanger, and then told Coy that Barenfanger was coming.'

‘Why?'

‘First of all, he would have known about this place. So he had the knowledge. Second, Coy gave me the hammer that killed Hiskey. Harlin would have hated him for that. This was a way of getting revenge. It was smart. Barenfanger did his work for him.'

‘But why would Harlin tip off Coy?'

‘Because he didn't like Barenfanger, either. Who would? He probably tipped off Coy early this morning, to make sure Coy and co didn't have time to piss off. He engineered this battle, hoping both sides would get wiped out.'

Tarrant blew out his cheeks, one after the other, several times. ‘It works. Except Coy might not even have been here.'

‘Harlin probably didn't know where Coy was, he just hoped for the best. Coy must have phoned the guys to warn them.'

Tarrant nodded and his attention was drawn to the caravan. A tubby, balding and obviously important person who looked like the police commissioner had emerged from it, with slightly less important, less tubby and less balding persons on either side, and was walking towards one of the cop cars.

‘He's about to do the press conference,' said Tarrant. ‘I have to go.' He looked at Bert. ‘Get this guy out of here, will you? Without incident?'

Bert and I drove back to Adelaide. I called Melody, who was eating lunch with Chris and Paul. She sounded unexcited by it. I knew from experience that lunch at their place involved little more than opening a can of tuna and a loaf of white bread and combining the two, washed down with a cup of thoughtfully brewed tea. While we were chatting, Bert's phone rang and he answered it without taking his eyes off the road.

‘Sweet Jesus.'

‘What's up?' I said.

‘Harry's missing.'

‘Tasso's boy?'

‘Yes. He's been taken from the hotel.'

39

We were there in twenty minutes. Appleyard greeted us with the bleak look of someone staring at the back end of a gravy train he had just fallen off. He let us through doors and corridors to the security centre. It was a small, windowless room with a bank of television screens showing various parts of the hotel, a couple of computers, a couple of phones, and a small kitchenette with a coffee machine and a fridge. Seated on an office chair was a young, slim woman with long black hair and a taut face. Next to her, a middle-aged man was playing with a computer mouse, and standing behind him were Tasso and Goldsworthy. All four were staring at one of the television screens. Tasso glanced at us as we came into the room. He looked drained.

‘She put him in the hotel day-care, for fuck's sake,' he said.

The woman in front of him turned, angry. ‘Only for half an hour, Tasso, only for half a fucken hour.' I gathered she was Melinda, the mother of Tasso's boy.

‘She needed a
manicure
,' said Tasso.

‘So how did they get him?' said Bert.

‘A woman went in there claiming to be her sister,' said the middle-aged man, turning. He had the deceased eyes of an ex-cop. ‘She knew all the details, and the staff booked the child out.'

‘They should be fired,' said Melinda. ‘I don't even have a sister.'

‘They'll be looking for new jobs tomorrow,' said Appleyard, ever the kiss-arse.

‘Don't be stupid, Appleyard,' said Tasso.

‘What time was it, Barry?' said Bert to the guy with the deceased eyes.

‘She was booked out of the day-care centre at 2.08,' said Barry. I looked at my watch. ‘Melinda discovered him missing maybe forty minutes ago.'

‘Do you know who the woman was?' said Bert.

‘Show them the lobby,' said Tasso.

Barry moved his mouse and brought up footage of the front lobby. For a while, nothing interesting happened. The concierge was behind his counter and an elderly couple wandered through. Barry moved the mouse again, and the motion slowed. ‘Top right-hand corner,' he said. As we watched, a woman in dark glasses entered the frame, carrying a child with dark curly hair. Barry paused the tape. The image wasn't especially sharp.

‘Jesus,' I said.

‘Recognise her, eh?' said Tasso.

‘That's Fern.'

‘It is.'

‘That's right, Tasso's fucken
girlfriend
has stolen my baby,' said Melinda.

‘I can see why they thought she was your sister,' said Barry. It was true that Fern and Melinda were both slim and had long straight black hair.

‘Shut up, Barry,' said Melinda.

‘Have you tried calling her?' I said.

‘Of course,' said Tasso. ‘No answer. I called her parents; they don't know anything. Goldsworthy has sent a couple of guys to their place anyway.'

‘Cops?' said Bert.

‘Not yet.'

‘We need to let them know,' said Melinda. She was wringing her hands, with their beautifully manicured fingernails.

‘Fern won't hurt the boy,' I said.

‘I don't know about that, Steve,' said Tasso. ‘You didn't see her the other day. She was crazy.'

‘It's one thing to cut up a few suits. Hurting a child would be completely different.'

‘I hope you're right.'

‘Call the cops,' said Melinda, her voice almost a snarl, almost a plea.

‘She's right,' said Goldsworthy, the sweat on his forehead caught in furrows as if they were contour banks. ‘The sooner people are out looking for her, the better. I've got my team on it, but there's only so much we can do.'

‘Yeah, we need the cops,' said Barry.

‘Not sure there are any left in Adelaide,' I said. I told them about our trip to Truro and the massive contingent of police up there.

‘Their resources might be stretched a bit thin,' said Goldsworthy. ‘But they still need to know.' He pulled out his mobile phone. Tasso's phone rang and he answered it. Immediately he held up his hand to Goldsworthy, who stopped dialling. There was a deep frown-line between Tasso's eyes, and his skin was pale.

‘Who is this? Is this Fern?' He listened. ‘Where's the boy? What have you … Don't you hurt him. You hurt him and you're … No I haven't called the cops. I want to speak to Harry.' More listening. ‘Whatever you want. But I want to speak to the boy.' The call must have disconnected because he looked at the screen of his phone, held it back up to his ear and then looked at it again. We were all watching him. He took a couple of deep breaths.

‘What's happening?' said Melinda. ‘Where's Harry?'

‘I don't know,' said Tasso.

‘Was that Fern?' I said.

‘I don't know who it was. The voice was kind of electronic. I think they were using one of those gadgets that distort voices, whatever they're called.' He was still frowning, looking at the blank screen of his phone.

‘Voice changer, that's all,' said Goldsworthy. ‘Cost less than fifty bucks. You can't even tell if the speaker is male or female.'

Tasso looked up. ‘Whoever it was, they said they had Harry and he was unharmed.'

‘Do you think it was Fern?' I said.

‘I don't know. I don't think so. I can't imagine Fern being so business-like about it. Besides, what does she have to gain from holding my boy for ransom? She can get money from me just by asking.'

Melinda snorted.

‘What did this person say?' said Bert.

‘He said Harry would be unharmed if we did what they say.'

‘Which is?'

‘First of all, no cops.'

‘Standard kidnapping line,' said Goldsworthy. ‘We should still bring 'em in.'

‘Except the cops in this town are leaking information like a sieve,' I said.

‘What else?' said Bert, to Tasso.

‘That they'll be in touch with their demands. I'll be able to speak to Harry then.' He shook his head. ‘Jesus, the poor little guy, he must be scared shitless.' Melinda let out a sob, and Barry, who was sitting next to her, rubbed her arm in sympathy. She looked at him as if he was a paedophile.

‘I suggest you return to your suite,' said Appleyard, to Melinda. ‘I'll have some food brought up to you.'

‘I can't
eat
,' said Melinda. Her voice was almost a wail.

‘Perhaps you would like me to send the masseuse instead?'

‘Yes, a massage would be nice.' She dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

‘Why not a pedicure and a sauna as well?' said Tasso.

‘Don't be a bastard,' said Melinda. ‘It's not
my
fault he's been kidnapped.'

Appleyard helped her to her feet and guided her out of the room. Before she left she turned on us with a final spurt of anger. ‘
Just get him back
.'

‘Appleyard has finally done something useful,' said Tasso, after they had gone. ‘Got her out of my fucken hair.'

‘Can you find any footage of Fern coming into the hotel?' said Bert. ‘Let's look at the lobby tape.' He tapped the screen, still paused on Fern and Harry. ‘Go backwards from here.'

Barry used the mouse to reverse the footage at about double normal speed. It didn't take long: Fern had walked through the front entrance of the hotel and across the lobby only a few minutes before she had carried Harry out.

‘How did she know where to go?' said Tasso. ‘How did she even know Harry was in day-care?'

‘Someone must have told her,' I said.

‘She wasn't working alone,' said Barry.

40

We went up to Tasso's suite. We waited several hours not speaking much, each of us lost in our own thoughts. I spent a long time staring through the newly replaced window, which was startlingly clear. I thought about the tape from Hardcastle's office I had listened to and what bearing it had on anything. Perhaps none. Tasso wasn't in a mood for talking, so I didn't talk to him. He seemed paralysed by fear for his boy. At four, Appleyard reported that Melinda had taken a sedative and was sleeping. He brought food, but I didn't feel much like eating.

‘Better eat while you can,' Bert said to me. ‘We might be busy later.'

Tasso's phone rang a couple of times in the afternoon but they were false alarms. The third time, at about half past five, it was the kidnappers. We had decided against trying to monitor the conversation, so we just had Tasso's responses to go by.

‘Fine, you're clever,' he said. ‘Of course I didn't.' He was keeping his temper, but his face was hard with tension and concentration. ‘Let me speak to Harry … Now? Goldsworthy, Parker, West and me … No, they can't. Let me speak to … Okay, fine. Yes.' Then his face, which had been so stiff, transformed into something loving and gentle, and his voice became lovey-dovey. ‘Hello, Harry, it's dada … That's right. How's my little boy?' Then, just as quickly, his face disfigured into a snarl and his voice became thin and hard. ‘If you harm him …' He listened for what seemed like ages, and he seemed to age as he did so. The skin on his face slackened and turned grey. He nodded. ‘Yes, I get it.' He disconnected and looked at nothing for a moment and made an effort to compose himself. Then he looked at us.

‘What do they want?' said Bert.

‘Five million dollars.'

‘Five million dollars?'

Tasso nodded and sneered. ‘Small-time crooks, that's all they are. I have that much in cash accounts. I'll withdraw it first thing tomorrow. The drop-off is tomorrow afternoon. They'll let us know where and when.'

‘So you're just going to pay up?' Bert was staring hard at Tasso.

‘Do I have a choice?' Tasso stared equally hard back at him, and then at Goldsworthy and me. Goldsworthy shook his head.

‘You can spare the money. It might be best.'

‘We don't know anything about these people,' said Bert. ‘Except that they used Fern. They're clever. Tell us what they said.'

Tasso said, ‘The first thing they said was, “You've been good, you didn't contact the police. We will know if you do.” Then they asked who was here with me and I told them. They put Harry on, and then they said they wanted five million dollars and they would contact me tomorrow about the drop-off.' Tasso stood up and walked to the door. He opened it and stood aside. He still looked haggard. ‘Thank you for your help, gentlemen. I'd better start organising the money. Let's meet back here tomorrow morning at,' he looked superfluously at his watch, ‘say, 8 am.' The three of us stood to leave. ‘Steve,' said Tasso, ‘can you hang around a minute?'

‘Sure.'

After Bert and Goldsworthy had left, Tasso grabbed two beers from the fridge and gave one to me. ‘I lied about the phone conversation,' he said. ‘I was told to. They wanted me to get rid of Bert and Goldsworthy. They don't want five million dollars.'

‘What do they want?'

‘Me.'

‘Shit.'

‘And you.'

‘They want us
both
? For what?'

‘They didn't say, but I don't think it's for anything pleasant.'

‘What do they want us to do?'

‘We've got to go to some bar. After that, I have no idea.'

‘We're not stupid enough to fall for that, are we?'

‘The problem is,' said Tasso, ‘they have Harry.'

‘So we're just going to walk into their trap.'

‘They didn't want me to tell you all this, they wanted me to just bring you along. If I don't bring you with me, they'll shoot Harry.'

‘When is all this supposed to happen?'

Tasso looked at his watch. ‘Now. We've got to be at a bar on Hindley Street at six. That's in fifteen minutes.'

‘You realise we're dead men?'

‘It's possible. But what can we do?'

‘Tell Bert.'

‘They said no backup. Any sign we're being followed and Harry is dead. No phones, either.'

‘I still think we should tell Bert. He's smart. They won't know he's tracking us.'

‘If it was just you and me, Steve, I'd agree. But they've
got
Harry
. I'm just going to do what they say.' He was quiet for a moment. ‘I've got to swallow.'

I had almost finished my beer. ‘Got anything stronger than this?'

Tasso opened a bottle of scotch and poured us both healthy slugs. We clinked glasses, but the sound was dead. ‘We'll get through this,' I said.

‘Yeah.'

We arrived at the bar in Hindley Street a couple of minutes late. I had left my sling at the hotel, and my shoulder was hurting. It was a seedy place, and standing at the bar was Numbat, looking mean and as if he would like nothing better than to knife someone, especially me, or chew some faces off.

‘You're late,' he said. ‘Next time, there won't be a next time.' He pushed a button on a phone and handed it to Tasso.

Tasso put it to his ear. ‘Yeah,' was all he said. He handed the phone back to Numbat. ‘Got it,' he said to me.

‘Don't be late,' said Numbat.

‘What a shame you survived the shootout at Truro,' I said.

Numbat grinned and showed me his tongue. ‘See you later,' he said. We walked to a taxi stand and took a cab to the entertainment centre on Port Road. The car park was emptying; commuters used it during the day so they could ride the tram for the last few kilometres into the city, and now they were heading home. ‘We have to catch the 7.05 back through the city,' said Tasso.

‘These guys are dicking us around.'

‘And we stay on it and head to Glenelg. We'll be told when to get off.'

Tasso and I took our seats and looked out the window at the dimming street. We were silent as the tram stopped on King William Street and filled with workers heading out of the city and home for the evening.

‘The world is full of dicks, Steve,' said Tasso. ‘But you're a good guy.'

‘You getting sentimental?'

‘No, just being honest. Thanks for standing by me.'

‘What else did you think I would do?' There was a lull. ‘Why are we friends, Tasso?'

‘What do you mean?'

‘I mean we don't have much in common. You're rich, I'm middle-class. You like eighteen-year-old girls, that's not my go. You're the life of the party, I prefer to sit in a dark corner. It's always puzzled me why we're friends.'

‘Mutual respect, that's all.'

After a while I said: ‘Do you mind if
I
say something sentimental?'

‘Go ahead.'

‘We've had fun.'

‘Yeah.'

Just before Morphettville Racecourse, half a dozen stops from Glenelg, there was a voice in my ear.

‘Don't look round. Get off here.'

I caught Tasso's eye. ‘This is us,' I said. He nodded. I wasn't sure how alert he was anymore. He looked defeated. I had never seen him so morose. He had plenty of reason, I supposed, and maybe I looked just as glum. I had a deep dread for what lay ahead. We left the tram and stood on the side of the street. The passengers who had alighted with us hopped into their cars or walked off along the footpath, and soon it was just the dusky street and us. The man who had spoken to me on the tram might not even have got off. The darkening sky was smeared with red. A car approached, headlights on, moving slowly. It stopped next to us. It was a Mercedes and looked a lot like Harlin's car. The rear window lowered.

‘Get in,' said a familiar voice.