Seven Days Grace (A Grace Rose Novel Book 1) (7 page)

‘
You
’
re not getting away now. Let
’
s go.
’
He took her arm in a vice-like grip
,
led her out of the restaurant and hailed a taxi. Grace was tossed into the back of the car in an undignified manner. He scrambled in after her and leaned over to her side.

She was pressed up against the arm of the door with the window handle imbedding itself into the side of her knee. When she managed to release the handle
,
she felt the indentation on her leg that was followed with a dull throb. She managed to wind it down. Grace put up with the cold wind rushing in as she needed to feel less claustrophobic.
‘
Where are we going?
’

His non-verbal response left no doubt as to his intentions. He forced his body against her in the back seat and put his arm around her waist pulling her to his side. He put his other hand on her knee and she felt it moving up her inside leg. She threw it off and called out
,
‘
Could you pull over here
,
driver?
’
She levitated from the vehicle and slammed the door behind her.

Then she heard the click of a door. Within seconds
,
Jock had his hand on her shoulder and spun her around.
‘
You
’
re not getting away that easy.
’

‘
Wanna bet?
’
She seized him on both upper arms and brought her knee up hard
,
not once but twice
,
in quick succession into his groin. She followed this with a punch to his stomach.
‘
Hmm
,
looks like those boxing classes have finally paid off.
’
She put her foot on his arm as he lay on his side
,
writhing and moaning on the ground.
‘
Don
’
t ever
,
ever treat another woman the way you
’
ve treated me tonight or I will come after you. Next time I won
’
t be as gracious. Do you hear me?
’

A small crowd cheered her on. She curtseyed
,
straightened up and walked off
,
silently vowing to end her blind date escapades for good.

She also vowed not to speak to her best friend again, ever. Anyway
,
Kate would be dead because those earlier thoughts of how she would kill her friend returned. As she rounded the next corner
,
Grace careened into the instigator of her nightmare date who was exiting from a building. She launched into her attack
,
‘
I
’
ve had this megalomaniac with his hands up my inside leg after listening to him rattle off his long list of achievements for the past two hours.
’
One arm waved in the air with passers by stopping to watch.

‘
What are you laughing at?
’
Grace roared.

‘
I
’
m sorry
,
I
’
m sorry.
’

Her alleged best friend was soon to be her ex-best friend if she didn
’
t stop laughing.

‘
I
’
m sorry
,
truly
,
I am. You
’
ll laugh about this one day. Tell me all
,
I
’
m dying to hear how ghastly he acted. This could only happen to you
,
Gracie. With me they wouldn
’
t be bothered. It
’
s kinda flattering.
’

 
‘
Flattering
,
I
’
ll give you flattering.
’
Grace put her hands around her friend
’
s neck and pretended to choke her. She let go of Kate with a frustrated sigh and sent her eyes heavenward. Kate continued the apologies.

‘
God
,
help me
,
please? And Katie
,
I
’
m done with blind dates forever.
’

9

He stood
across the street leaning against the rock wall
,
dressed in dark colours to camouflage himself into the surroundings. He could not remember ever feeling as self-conscious as he did right now. Surveillance was like breathing to him. He was good at it
,
too. But this
,
this was different. Once he had cared for her but his emotions surprised him today. This was the third time in one day he had seen her. The first two were coincidences but this one was premeditated. Now he was tracking her and she had no idea. He shoved his feelings of guilt deep down and buried them. The last thing he needed was to let his feelings overtake his logic. And logically
,
he was convinced
,
this was purely for her protection.

Despite his best intentions
,
overpowering feelings of jealousy rose up within him as he watched her on her date. He was intent on confronting her tonight even if he had to drive to her house and knock on her door. No
,
there would be too many questions of how he had found her. Instead
,
he decided to follow her on her date. When she came out
,
he would pretend to run into her on the street and an acting performance would ensue. They would both be dazed at seeing one another after so long. However
,
there would be another man there. How would it work?

He wondered how serious this date was considering someone had dropped her at the front door and the man was already waiting inside. His colleague had driven him into the city as they followed her. He jumped out when he saw her enter the restaurant and ran across the street. The date didn
’
t start well and the man she met appeared rude. They had shaken hands and then he had not looked at her. Was the man blind? She was breathtaking. Her beauty caused him to catch his breath in his throat
,
although
,
there was more to her. She had a way about her
,
a manner that surpassed physical beauty. Astoundingly
,
she wasn
’
t even aware of it. He refused to acknowledge it but he was infatuated with her.

After half an hour of watching the couple on their date
,
he dropped his binoculars. He couldn
’
t do it. He couldn
’
t pretend to run into her with another man by her side and surprise her with his visit. He scolded himself for his lack of courage though it did no good. He left.
 

TUESDAY

10

The bodyguard
wore a shiny silver shirt. He sported a thick beard and a flat nose. He controlled who was allowed in and who was not allowed into the house.

As Antonio de Silva was not answering his phone
,
Grace decided to drive to the exclusive harbour-side suburb of Double Bay and knock on his door. She wasn
’
t the only one who had thought of doing it. About a dozen media had turned up at the doorstep of Mr de Silva
’
s house in the hope of a follow-up interview.

‘
You
,’
Silver Shirt said
,
pointing at Grace.
‘
You can come in.
’

There was a collective grunt from the others.

She stepped inside the door to a foyer lined with marble. It was the size of her kitchen and living room combined.

‘
Mr de Silva will see you now
,
Ms Rose. Follow me.
’

How does he know who I am?

The man led her down a hallway to a large room with Persian rugs and walls lined with glass-door bookcases.

‘
Thanks
,’
she said to the bodyguard.
‘
I like your shirt.
’

He smiled at her.

‘
Grace
,
come in
,
please sit down.
’

‘
Thank you
,
Mr de Silva.
’

‘
Call me Antonio
,
please. Grace
,
I
’
m going to get straight to the point. No doubt you have questions ready. I
’
m going to tell you something nobodyno else knows and you can quote me.
’

Grace took out her notepad
,
looked for the voice recorder app on her phone and pressed start.

‘
I have a foreboding feeling
,
young lady.
’
He paused
,
closed his eyes
,
rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his face in his hands. He sat in a luxurious single-seat
,
high-back chair upholstered in expensive patterned silk. The sitting room was opulent with pieces of art from around the world. Mr de Silva picked up a glass half filled with what looked like whiskey or scotch
,
in a toast to Grace
,
and drank it in one gulp.

Is he drunk at nine in the morning?

‘
Grace
,
we
’
ve all made mistakes but there
’
s someone who is orchestrating this whole ugly mess. His vulgarity knows no bounds.
’

She wondered what mess he referred to
,
especially as the trial was adjourned. She had her own thoughts about the
voir dire
and from past experiences an adjournment indicated there was evidence that required careful consideration. Usually the evidence favoured the defendant and he or she was typically found not guilty.

‘
I can
’
t tell you the deplorable crimes that have been done for the sake of money
,
my dear.
’

I thought he said he
’
d get straight to the point?

‘
Listen to me carefully. I
’
m guilty
,’
he said and stared hard at Grace.
‘
What do you think of that?
’

There
’
s nothing like getting to the point.
‘
I
’
m thinking
,
why are you telling me and not your lawyer? How do I know it
’
s true and if it is what would you like me to do with this information?
’

‘
I
’
m sure you already have in mind what you
’
d like to do with it.
’

‘
I try not to get ahead of myself
,
Mr de – Antonio. I will need a lot more information before I write this story.
’

‘
Ask your questions.
’

‘
Let
’
s start with your lawyer.
’

‘
Yes
,
he knows.
’

‘
Well
,
if you
’
re guilty –
’

‘
There
’
s no
if
about it. I know what I did.
’

‘
What was the reason the judge adjourned the trial?
’

‘
I
’
m not allowed to discuss it until things are resumed
,
my dear.
’

What
’
s with the
‘
my dear
’
?

He waved his hand off dismissively as he poured another full glass of liquor. He laughed like a man possessed until it induced a coughing fit.

‘
Is there something I can get you
,
Mr de Silva? Some water?
’

‘
Antonio
,
please. No
,
no. I
’
m fine. Where was I?
’

He
is
drunk.
‘
Antonio
,
we can do this some other time if you
’
re feeling unwell. I can come back later?
’

‘
No. There
’
s no time. It has to be now. I
’
m not drunk
,
I
’
m
,
I
’
m
,
well
,
I
’
m good
,
Grace.
’
He suddenly became more sober and calm.
‘
This is worse than anyone even knows. There
’
s a man I liaise with
,
although
,
I don
’
t know who he is
,
as in
,
I don
’
t know his name. Not his real name anyway.
’
He sighed
,
leaned on his left elbow and rubbed his temple. With his right hand he refilled his glass
,
slopping it on the small table near his chair
,
and then he took another swig.
‘
He
’
s tall. I think he
’
s the fall guy. I can
’
t figure it out. He says he
’
s working for someone who
’
s the head honcho. Anyway
,
he
’
s blackmailing me. He
’
s the one who organised for me to smuggle those diamonds into the country in the shampoo bottles. Pure profit
,
you see.
’

‘
Why is he blackmailing you?
’

‘
It
’
s irrelevant. I did it.
’

‘
Why are you telling me this? As I said before
,
the trial has been adjourned so there
’
s no verdict yet.
’

Mr de Silva sighed.
‘
I had to tell someone. Apparently politicians at the highest level are involved in this embezzling racket. Your job is to find out who he is and why he
’
s doing it. You must uncover it
,
Grace.
’
Then he mumbled to himself
,
‘
I
’
m so stupid.
’

‘
You alright?
’
she leaned forward on her chair. She was unsure how to offer help yet available if he needed it.

‘
I
’
m fine.
’

‘
Why did you pick me to talk to?
’
She continued to take notes.

‘
The cops are glad I
’
m out on bail. They need me on the outside to help them with a sting. I haven
’
t looked into whether entrapment is legal here. Besides
,
I don
’
t have to help them. My lawyer said I shouldn
’
t talk to anyone. Perhaps it
’
s a job for you?
’

His words didn
’
t make sense.

‘
What job?
’
Grace asked.

‘
You must find out who
’
s behind it?
’

‘
Behind what?
’

‘
You need to do some investigating and find out who the man is that forced me to embezzle the diamonds. He
’
s the one you have to find.
’

‘
Where would I even start?
’

‘
You
’
re smart
,
you can do it.
’

‘
Antonio
,
it doesn
’
t explain why you picked me.
’

‘
I don
’
t like the media much
,
Grace. However
,
you wrote a story on me years ago after we did an interview together. Do you remember?
’

‘
I do. It was about the diamond industry in Australia and how you were implementing standards for buyers and sellers to adhere to before they could be involved in the industry.
’

‘
You quoted me correctly and you were pleasant which is why I picked you this morning. You
’
re ethical and you
’
ll do the right thing. I
’
ve been in the media a lot over the years
,
however
,
with some of those stories
,
no-one even bothered to interview me. I don
’
t know how they get away with it.
’

‘
That
’
s quite a compliment
,
thank you. And I agree with your sentiments on media. It
’
s a catch-22 for me.
’

‘
You love it yet there are some parts you detest.
’

‘
How did you know?
’

‘
I feel the same about what I do. I think we all do in some way. I must say
,
ciao
,
my dear. Thank you for your time. Please call me if you have any further questions. You have my numbers?
’

‘
Yes
,
though will you answer the phone when I call?
’

He handed her his phone with jerky movements.
‘
Program your number in
,
please?
’

‘
There it is and thank you
,
Antonio.
’
Will he remember this meeting?

‘
Let me offer you some unsolicited advice
,
my dear. Don
’
t buy into the trap of money buying you happiness.
’
He nodded
,
sipped the liquor and slipped back into his strange state.