Seven Days Grace (A Grace Rose Novel Book 1) (33 page)

SATURDAY

32

Grace explained
the story she was working on with The Voice
,
again. Her hope was Kate might see something in the information she hadn
’
t seen because she had been over it too many times.

‘
You have to work out the missing links. Once you have those you can piece it all together. Grace
,
I
’
m no good at solving riddles
,
figuring out intricate details
,
it
’
s all too deep and meaningful for me. I wish I could help
,’
Kate said.

‘
No worries. It
’
s good to talk it out
,
something might come to me.
’

She stared out of the window. The day was calm and sunny. Her insides were knotted and she couldn
’
t eat.

‘
Gracie
,
Jake would not intentionally hurt you
,’
Kate said.
‘
Perhaps he had your best interests at heart. You used to say what a nice guy he was when you were in the States. He could be worth it.
’

‘
I don
’
t know. Sometimes people don
’
t turn out to be who you thought they were. How do I know he won
’
t lie to me about the important stuff? Not that this hasn
’
t been important. He actually stole my phone out of my bag and put a chip in it. Then he followed me around. It
’
s pretty disturbing. Then he gets to know me while he
’
s working on the exact same case. It
’
s unbelievable. Then
,’
she was on a roll now
,
hands flying around
,
raising her voice
,
‘
then he tells me he
’
s falling for me. I mean
,
what the? Is the guy nuts? I guess I
’
m feeling betrayed. It
’
s hard to get over. I hate lies
,
you know that. I
’
m completely undone
,’
she sighed as if she was defeated.
‘
I
’
m confused
,
Katie.
’

‘
I haven
’
t seen you in this state
,
over a guy
,
for years. Give it time
,
Gracie. How
‘
bout the kiss on the couch though?
’

‘
Now you know where my dilemma lies and why I am confused. I haven
’
t experienced anything like it. There was this… connection. I didn
’
t know it existed. Even with –
’
she still had trouble saying his name.

‘
Better than that
,
huh?
’

‘
Afraid so.
’

Kate reached over and squeezed her friend
’
s hand.
‘
It
’
ll be okay. We all mess up at some point
,
ya know?
’

‘
I know. And it
’
s turned my life into a mess. What will today throw at me?
’

‘
Today will go smoothly. There have been enough traumas in this past week for a whole year
’
s worth of stories.
’

‘
Anyway
,
thanks for driving me to this press conference. Can
’
t wait for this foot to be better
,
I feel like an invalid.
’

‘
You drive an old manual rust bucket. Trade it in for an automatic
,
then you can still drive.
’

‘
When did you find out what Christian did?
’

‘
Last night. We caught up and he told me. He obviously knew Jake was about to come clean. I can appreciate their secrecy. Then again
,
I haven
’
t been as involved as you. In fact
,
I haven
’
t been involved at all. I have no reason to be upset.
’

‘
I wish it didn
’
t sting so much. You
’
re lucky. Christian didn
’
t lie to you about everything and pretend to be interested in you for the sake of his work.
’

‘
I know you
’
re hurting
,
Grace
,
and I
’
m not going to defend the man who is deeply
,
truly
,
madly in love with you and would never hurt you in any way
,
at least intentionally. We both know this sort of guy comes along every week so why would I judge your decision? It
’
s your life. I
’
m sure there
’
s another like him in next week
’
s big breaking story you
’
ll crack.
’

Grace poked Kate in her ribs. Kate deflected her hand and looked at her friend with the famous cocked eyebrow.

‘
Aren
’
t we the comedian? You
’
re on his side. Unbelievable.
’

‘
Calling it as I see it
,
bestie. And I
’
m on your side
,
dummy. However
,
your thinking is clouded and I
’
d love to be there when the sun comes out and the revelation hits you.
’

‘
Those books
are
paying off.
’

‘
Yep.
’

‘
This whole week has been monopolised by this possible story. It
’
s ridiculous how I
’
ve given up my time for it when you think about it. Even before I was at the RAAF I couldn
’
t find you at work and I
’
d forgotten about your trip. How obsessed have I been with The Voice and his little packages? Little packages that contain big information. It
’
s ridiculous. I
’
m guessing you missed the breakfast with Christian yesterday because you came to see me in hospital?
’
Grace asked.

‘
We have plenty of time for breakfasts and lunches and lots of other dates. So
,
what are we doing today? What is this event about?
’

‘
There
’
s a new water catchment dam opening on the north shore in Ku-ring-gai National Park. Actually
,
you could do follow up stories on the site. It
’
ll attract a lot of tourism to the area.
’

‘
Finally it
’
s opening
,
about time. And it
’
d be a great tourism piece. How many years has it been in construction?
’

‘
I don
’
t know. Openings usually bore me to tears. Nothing exciting ever happens at these events. It
’
s the same old news re-hashed.
’

‘
Yep
,
it
’
s the hard-core crimes and death-defying dramas that create adrenalin running through the veins of our Ace Reporter
,
Grace Rose
,’
Kate said.

‘
You
’
re on fire today
,’
Grace said and the girls laughed. It was just what Grace needed – a day out with her friend so she could lighten up and leave the week behind her.

‘
I
’
m still in shock Nick fired you. I bet he comes crawling back when he has time to think of how stupid he has been.
’

‘
I have other plans now
,
I
’
m not concerned.
’

‘
What?
’

‘
I
’
ll tell you later. You know
,
I
’
m working on assumptions with this whole story. I have pictures of maps and politicians
,
letters from foreign countries about business deals
,
bank statements
,
a voice recording of what sounds like someone being done in. There
’
s nothing tying it together. The single real intrigue is The Voice and his stupid disguise and the fact someone has tried to kill me. I wonder if they rigged the Ferris wheel.
’

They turned onto a dirt road which led up the side of a small mountain. Kate
’
s small four-wheel-drive managed the incline with ease.

‘
The Voice sounds dodgy. Who goes to those lengths?
’

Grace laughed again.
‘
You
’
re right. It must sound ridiculous hearing it for the first time. What have I landed myself in this time?
’

The girls fell silent for a few moments and an ease and sense of calm came over them.

‘
Kate?
’

‘
Yeah?
’

‘
Thanks for coming today
,
it means a lot to me.
’

33

Television camerame
n
jostled for the best position
,
journalists began to take their place closest to the podium and an entourage of dignitaries dressed in their finest gathered at the front. Too busy with her personal life and the breaking story she was fixated on cracking wide open
,
Grace barely had time to breathe during this past week. The realisation she had neglected the ongoing news world overwhelmed her. Usually on top of her game
,
Grace scolded herself on how she could have overlooked such a newsworthy event. As if the world at large would stop revolving because she had met Jake and The Voice.              

How could I have been this stupid?

There must have been close to a hundred people standing around waiting for the proceedings to commence. Many of them were looking at the new dam and surrounding area. There was a dirt path from the car park to the presentation area. Tall Eucalyptus trees swayed in the breeze and provided a pretty backdrop. They released a slight scent into the air.

At the back of her mind
,
she knew the announcement of the opening of the new Ku-ring-gai Dam was imminent. It all flooded back to her now and she was alert and ready. She dug into her bag and was thankful she had packed it with her notepad. She would take notes during the presentation and also record it on her phone to be certain she would not miss any important details she could use in the story. In hindsight
,
she should have organised for a photographer to be there to take pictures of the dam
,
especially at the moment the switch was turned on to begin operation of the facility with the water running down the spillway.

The project had delivered hundreds of jobs into the local area
,
solved the challenge of what to do if Sydney
’
s only water supply couldn
’
t provide for the whole city during times of drought and created a tourism site for future income into the economy.

Everyone who was anyone in the media was there covering the opening. As a freelancer
,
she would have to come up with a unique angle to compete with all the leading newspapers
,
both on and off line
,
plus the radio and television stations. It wouldn
’
t be easy.