Seven Days Grace (A Grace Rose Novel Book 1) (8 page)

‘
So for you
,
money doesn
’
t buy happiness?
’

‘
I don
’
t believe it buys anyone happiness. No
,’
he mumbled to himself again
,
‘
the simple answer is no
,
it certainly does not.
’

‘
Thank you.
’

‘
Please feel free to put that in your story
,
too.
’

Now he appeared alert again. Grace thought he was manic.

‘
I wish you all the best
,
my dear
,
and I trust you
’
ll uncover who is behind this nasty business. I
’
ll see you on the other side.
’

11

‘
That was
too close. She looked straight at you.
’

The two men were waiting outside Mr de Silva
’
s door when Grace exited.

‘
We
’
re permitted into his house when nobody else is
,
that
’
s why. She
’
s probably wondering what sort of credentials we have to be allowed in. Look at all the media still waiting. I wonder why they let her in.
’

‘
Who wouldn
’
t?
’

‘
True. There
’
s something about her
,
for sure.
’

‘
Yeah
,
it
’
s those legs that go all the way up to her neck. I
’
d let her in
,
too.
’

‘
No
,
there
’
s more to it. She
’
s enchanting.
’

‘
Sounds like you have a thing for her? You
’
re supposed to be following her
,
finding out how she
’
s involved. Be careful.
’

Silver Shirt opened one of the large
,
double doors and nodded to the two men. He closed the door behind them and the three of them stood in the marbled foyer lined with expensive paintings.

‘
Gentleman
,
Mr de Silva will see you now
,’
Silver Shirt said.

12

Grace felt
like a journalist turned private detective. She was back in the office at her desk. Nick was wrong about getting information from the courthouse
,
they
’
d told her nothing. She had enough from Antonio anyway. She pulled her keyboard forward and explored the Parliament House site. In the search box she typed
‘
Sleen
’
. Not knowing what she was even looking for
,
she had to start somewhere. Forget this business about sitting idly by waiting for something to happen. If there was a story in all of this mess The Voice had presented to her
,
she would find it.

She hoped to find some dirt on Sleen. He could be up to mischief
,
although
,
if he kept a low profile it would be easy for anyone to turn a blind eye to his antics. Yet
,
the Voice wouldn
’
t have given her any information on this guy if there wasn
’
t something to it. She needed to think more laterally. She was excited now and scanned the minister
’
s site to learn as much as she could about his portfolio. Richard Sleen was the Minister for the Environment and had recently been granted the position after the previous minister
,
Michael Crow
,
had died. Everything Grace read added up.

However
,
she felt conflicted and she wasn
’
t sure she could rely on her gut instincts any more. After bumping into Sleen yesterday
,
she sensed he was a good man. Although
,
this was where her mind played tricks on her because she also sensed he was behind something sinister. She didn
’
t know what to think. It was only facts she had to rely on to help her understand more about this Minister. So she delved into her exploration of the cold
,
hard truths.

‘
Grace?
’
Nick whispered closely into her ear and she whacked her knee hard on the underside of her desk.

‘
Ouch. Far out
,
Nick
,
you
’
ve shortened my life by five years. What are you doing sneaking around?
’

‘
Didn
’
t realise you were so absorbed into checking out the life of Minister Sleen that you couldn
’
t even hear me coming. What did you find out?
’

‘
I don
’
t know. I have a small lead
,
that
’
s all. I haven
’
t found anything yet.
’

‘
And you won
’
t. He
’
s cleaner than your reputation and that
’
s saying something. I wouldn
’
t bother if I was you
,
you won
’
t find anything.
’

‘
Who knows what people get up to?
’

‘
Oh
,
I know. He
’
s one of my closest friends. The guy has lived his entire life above and beyond what
’
s good
,
you
’
d think he was angelic. I
’
m telling you
,
stay away from Sleen
,
he
’
s a good guy
,
the best.
’

‘
No-one
’
s that good and I know the types you hang out with.
’

‘
Yeah? I
’
m a good guy
,
too
,
ya know.
’

‘
As good as they come
,
Nick. Can I get on with work now
,
please?
’
I need to get back to investigating Sleen.

‘
What happened at de Silva
’
s this morning?
’

‘
These were his words
,
‘
Listen to me carefully. I
’
m guilty.
’
Nothing else. Nick
,
there
’
s no credibility in it. He was drinking. I saw him swallow a whole glass of liquor in one gulp. And it wasn
’
t his first one for the morning either. I doubt the confession is real and I doubt he
’
ll even remember seeing me. He was erratic. The case is under adjournment so if we print it
,
he could deny everything. What do we do?
’

Grace noted that Nick actually took a moment to consider her words.

‘
Let me think on it for a while. We
’
ll have to be careful with this one. Sit tight and I
’
ll get back to you. I don
’
t want us looking like a tabloid. Are you the only one he spoke to today?
’

‘
Apparently. It
’
s strange. Why me?
’

‘
Perhaps he likes a pretty face
,’
Nick said.

Grace dropped her head and sighed with disappointment. Nick was almost acting normal then he ruined it. Grace ignored his backhanded compliment.
‘
He said something weird when I left. He said
,
‘
I
’
ll see you on the other side
’
. I have no idea what he meant.
’

‘
We
’
re journalists
,
Grace. People tell us weird stuff. After many years
,
I
’
ve come to realise it usually means nothing. Don
’
t read too much into it. In the meantime
,
see if you can corroborate his story with his lawyer. And lastly
,
back off from Sleen.
’

‘
If he
’
s such a good guy
,
how come he
’
s one of your closest friends?
’
She muttered under her breath. She
’
d had enough of Nick today.

‘
I heard that
,’
he said over her shoulder
,
reappearing again.

‘
What is it with you? Get your superhero hearing outta here
,
I have work to do.
’

‘
Touchy.
’

Grace was grateful he walked off. She opened a new window and Googled Minister Crow. Links to stories came up and she clicked the first one. It was a news story from another newspaper which stated the death of Mr Crow had been the result of a car accident. It described some details about how his brakes failed and his car plunged over a cliff on the south coast. He had been on his way home after a week of government meetings in the nation
’
s capital. As he drove a restored vintage car
,
no-one was surprised a vehicle of its age would have mechanical problems
,
therefore
,
initial thoughts the brakes were tampered with were dismissed. Case closed.

Minister Sleen
’
s portfolio plans were more controversial than Crow
’
s plans. Reports showed he planned to funnel more money into desalination water treatment plants
,
how he was on side with the Prime Minister
’
s plan to reduce carbon emissions through higher taxes to the public and how he planned more water catchment areas around Sydney to sustain the populace through future droughts.
It looks legitimate to me
.

She leaned back in her chair and chewed her lip. She remembered the pictures of Sleen that The Voice
had given her. Specifically
,
she recalled the one where he was with another man. Sleen had his arms around the man
’
s and they were laughing into the camera. She pulled her chair back to the computer and gazed at the story of Crow. Bingo. It was Crow in the photo with Sleen. Then again
,
why wouldn
’
t there be a photo of the two of them together? Grace was back to where she was before she sat down – confused and frustrated.
This had to lead to something interesting or why would he bother giving me this information for nothing
,
wasting my time and his energy?

She had been researching on different sites for several hours when she became aware of the quietness of her surroundings. She looked around and saw two others in the office. She checked her computer screen and saw it was already after five o
’
clock.

The shrill ring of her mobile jolted her out of her reverie. She noted the private number on the screen.

‘
Hello?
’

‘
Meet me tomorrow morning at six again in the city. Don
’
t be late.
’
It was The Voice
.

‘
Hi Grace
,
how are you?
’
she asked.

‘
Grace
,
I don
’
t need a scolding. I can
’
t be on the phone for long
,
they
’
ll trace it
,’
he paused.
‘
Can you be there?
’
Then after a short silence on both sides he added
,
‘
Please?
’

‘
How could I refuse when you asked so politely?
’

Click.

‘
Nothing like relationship building
,’
Grace said into her phone as if he was still there. She smiled with anticipation.