The Candidate (19 page)

She held up a hand. ‘We’re not there yet, Daniel. Who else can I speak to if he wants another reference?’

The grin faded and she saw the tension that replaced it. He shook his head.

‘Daniel. This is an important role. RK Investments and Strategy do important work with important clients. References are a standard part of the process. What’s the big problem?’ She looked at him carefully. ‘Is this about Claire?’

‘What?’

‘Claire. Vanessa told me what happened. It must have been horrible and I wondered if that’s why you don’t want me talking to anyone.’

He stared at her. ‘How on earth did that come up?’

‘Vanessa mentioned it in the course of the conversation, as part of the firm’s history, I guess. I didn’t mean to upset you — I just thought it might, well, explain your reluctance to make contact with any of them again. I imagine you’d want to put all that behind you.’

He stood up abruptly. ‘I’d better get going, Ginny. Call me when you’ve spoken to Robert, okay?’

‘Of course.’ Ginny got to her feet. She’d put her foot in it mightily. She showed him out, then turned to Ange.

‘I thought you’d be gone by now.’

‘I didn’t want to leave you alone with him.’

‘Why on earth not?’

‘I don’t like him. Mac’s right — he’s narky.’

‘You’re as bad as each other. Daniel thinks that playing hardball is the way to get what he wants. Nothing more. Anyway, I think I understand why he’s been so difficult over his references.’ She told Ange what she had learned.

‘Doesn’t mean he can give you the runaround. Especially if he wants the job so much.’

Ginny shrugged. ‘Everyone reacts differently to things. I can’t presume to know how badly the death upset him. I’d understand if he didn’t want it coming up again.’

‘You’re too nice, Ginny.’ Ange reached for her bag. ‘Seeing Mac tonight?’

Ginny shook her head. Despite how much she was enjoying his company, she was trying very, very hard to cut down on Mac time and had developed a minimisation strategy to get her through until she left for her mother’s.

Tonight she was going over to help Mads pack as she and Paul were taking the kids to Taupo for Christmas. The following night — Friday — Mac had his work Christmas party. She had swiftly rejected his invitation. Having Mac, his father, Jen and Susannah in one room would be far too much to deal with. However, Mac was likely to end up at hers afterwards. Saturday she had a night out with girlfriends and was seriously toying with the idea of leaving her phone at home so she couldn’t give Mac a drunken summons part way through the night. She hadn’t got as far as Sunday, but Monday she left for her mum’s and that meant a whole week away from Mac. And that was a good thing, wasn’t it?

‘Why not?’ Ange asked. ‘Had a scrap?’

‘Not at all. I’m just sort of trying to keep it … under control, I guess.’

‘Why on earth would you want to do that? He’s lovely. And very into you.’

‘We’re mates. I don’t want the other stuff to take over.’ Even though the other stuff was fairly top notch, and having it take over every now and then didn’t seem to be doing too much harm. So far.

‘Sometimes life throws you things and you just have to run with it,’ Ange said. ‘I’d be sprinting if it were me. Just go for it. Take as much as you can get. Didn’t you say he was only around for the summer?’

Ginny nodded.

‘How long is he going away for?’

‘Not sure,’ Ginny replied, frowning.

‘Right. And when he comes back? You two will …?’

‘Not sure.’

‘Well, there you go; make hay while the sun shines. Because winter is long and cold, and if you won’t have that one warming your bed, you’d better store up as many memories as you can. Have a great Christmas.’ Giving Ginny a hug, Ange left.

Ginny looked after her, pondering.

When Robert still hadn’t called by six, Ginny called him. Getting only voicemail, she left a quick message and hung up. Bloody typical. When the ball was in her court, everyone was at her to deliver at warp speed; when it was in theirs, they could go at snails’ pace. Sighing, she packed up and went to Mads’.

Robert called her first thing the next day, as she walked into her office.

‘Right then, Ginny. The reference was good, but I need to know more about what he can do. Have we got another one?’

‘Not yet, Robert. One of the directors has passed away, and the other has gone AWOL in Europe.’ She thought of Daniel’s former colleague, Mark Hutchinson, but she hadn’t heard back from Vanessa. ‘I may have a lead, but it isn’t guaranteed.’ She paused. ‘Do you want me to see if Stella is still interested?’ She was going out on a limb, but wanted to put it out there in case Robert was getting as sick of Daniel as she was.

‘No, not yet. Tomorrow’s Friday. I fly out for Christmas on Monday afternoon and won’t be back until the third of January. Let’s see what happens over the next day or so and we can pick it up again next year if we have to.’

‘Sure, Robert.’ Ginny tried to sound upbeat. ‘Can I pass on anything to Daniel?’

‘Just that we’re keen. I’d like to be talking an offer, but you’re right, Ginny — we need to do this properly.’

Ginny hung up, and sighed. The thought of starting the year with this did not fill her with joy.

Daniel answered after the second ring and was silent as Ginny talked him through what Robert had told her. ‘He’s very interested, Daniel, but we need another referee.’

Daniel let out a long sigh. ‘I’ve told you, Ginny: I don’t know how to get hold of anyone else. There isn’t anyone else. Unless you want to speak to someone I worked with before I left New Zealand.’

‘No.’ She rubbed her forehead. ‘That was nearly a decade ago, Daniel. No good.’

There was another long silence. ‘Can’t we just make this go away, Ginny? Miles Hawthorne thinks my references are fine.’

She held her tongue and counted to ten. ‘I’m not Miles Hawthorne, Daniel. This is how I do things.’

He laughed lightly. ‘Yeah, well. He told me a thing or two about how you … do things.’

She gritted her teeth, appalled by the insinuation but refusing to bite. ‘Daniel. As I’ve told you, if you want this job, you have to work with me on this. If you want the job Miles is talking about, then go do that.’ She paused before playing her card: ‘I take it the other role offers equity too?’ It wouldn’t hurt to remind him of it.

‘No,’ he answered quickly, ‘but Miles thinks he can get me another twenty K on top of what you’re talking about. He reckons you’ve massively undervalued my experience.’

‘Well, if you think an equity option is worth less to you than twenty K, go for it. I’m not bending your arm on this, Daniel.’

He rang off angrily, agreeing to speak again the next day.

By Friday afternoon there was still no result. Daniel was refusing to budge, insisting he’d done all he could and that it was her job to explain it to her client. Robert was sticking firmly in his corner too: he wouldn’t take things further until Ginny had spoken to another referee.

They’re like a couple of bloody kids, Ginny thought, exasperated. She hadn’t heard back from Vanessa about Mark Hutchinson and her own attempts to track him or the other director down hadn’t yielded results. There wasn’t much else she could do; she might as well go shopping. She hadn’t even thought about what to get her mum for Christmas, let alone her niece and nephew.

Chapter 23

Ginny woke early on Sunday and was relieved to discover she wasn’t hung over; nights out definitely weren’t what they used to be. Getting out of bed, she quickly pulled on her running gear. A few drinks with dinner were more than enough these days. There had been a mild attempt to coax her on to a bar, but by then her thoughts were on how she’d spend Sunday and she’d happily said her farewells a little after eleven. She congratulated herself again for her clear head. She could still get a run in before Mac picked her up.

Ginny had surprised both herself and Mac when she heeded Ange’s advice and took up Mac’s invitation to go out on the boat. Andrew and Jen were going too, so she’d gained Mac’s half-hearted agreement to play the ‘just friends’ card. An enforced day of hands-off could be fun, she’d explained, and more so when they got back to her flat. Hearing it put like that, he’d agreed, and told her he liked the way she thought. She smiled to herself as she drove toward Hobson Bay. It was a glorious day to be heading out on the water.

Despite the splendid weather, Tamaki Drive was quieter than usual. No doubt the pre-Christmas festivities were keeping all but the most devoted runners away at such an early hour. She didn’t mind; she had her iPod and the empty footpath.

Reaching Mission Bay, Ginny turned off the main footpath and crossed the footbridge to the more scenic beachfront track. She was enjoying a good, hard run: the buzz had come in early and strong. The music was up loud so she didn’t hear the footsteps gaining on her. There was no warning. Mid-stride, Ginny was shoved roughly from behind. She tried to right herself but stumbled and the ground rushed up. She landed hard on hands and knees, wincing as the gravel cut into her skin.

She hardly had time to think before her body was slammed down again, and the breath knocked out of her. She gasped for air as hands grabbed her wrists, pulling them back and up between her shoulder blades, making her cry out with pain and fear. She struggled and her hands were jerked higher and secured with one hand while another hit her sharply in the face as she tried to turn her head to get a look at him. Pain shot across her cheek and she tasted blood. She kicked out with her legs and he swore before kneeling on her lower back, forcing the breath from her. Holding her tightly against the ground, he straddled her. He was strong and, with her arms secured, the action had her pinned. A hand scrabbled under her, squeezing her breast hard. He laughed as she struggled again, choking out a sob as she did.

‘Do you like this, you little bitch?’ The voice was harsh, a bit muffled, and it made her very, very scared. The hand moved over her backside, grabbing at her before pushing down under her waistband.

Oh, God. Not this — please, not this.

He grabbed her again, hurting her, then fumbling, reached into the tiny pocket in the back of her running shorts where she kept her keys. He pulled at them, but they snagged and he rose slightly to pull them free. His grip loosened, just a fraction, and Ginny reared up.

He pushed her hard back into the ground, then, suddenly, let go of her hands, dragged out the keys and grabbed her hair instead. Pulling her back by her ponytail, he rammed her head into the ground … and again. Once more and her vision dimmed, lost colour and narrowed rapidly … so quickly … until it all went black.

Mac hated hospitals. He hated the smell of them, the sound his shoes made on their floors and the temperature — always too warm and slightly suffocating. He hated the food, the crap coffee. He hated the forced cheer he saw on faces, the endless waiting. He knew good things happened in hospitals, miracles even. But for him they were imbued with fear and worry and grief.

He’d been helping Jen load the car when he got the call. She was fine, the nurse at the other end of the phone assured him. She’d only been unconscious for a short while, had a few scrapes and bruises, but she was okay. They’d had her under observation for a while and she’d be free to go pretty soon. She had asked them to give him a call. She was okay, he told himself, as he charged into the damn place, trying not to run, to shout out her name.

He was led to a curtained cubicle where a nurse stuck her head in, murmured something, then stood back to let him in. Ginny’s head was turned away as she talked to the policewoman beside her bed, so he didn’t see, not at first. But when she faced him and he saw the bloodied bruise across her cheek, and the split and swollen lip, he nearly roared.

‘Ginny,’ he said unsteadily, ‘what the hell happened?’

Before Ginny could speak, the policewoman stood with a smile. ‘I’m Constable Sandra Mathews. Ginny was just giving me her statement, Mr …’

‘MacNamara. James.’

Mathews nodded. ‘Well, we won’t be long, will we?’ She smiled at Ginny. ‘Would you like your friend to wait outside or stay with us?’

Ginny looked up at him. ‘Can you stay? He didn’t hurt me, not really. So don’t freak out, okay?’

‘Of course.’ Mac hooked a chair with his foot and sat down beside the bed. He leant over and took her hand, staring hard at the dressing across her palm.

‘It’s fine, Mac. Just a bit of gravel rash.’ Ginny turned to Constable Mathews. ‘Sorry, what did you say?’

The constable glanced at a notebook in her lap. ‘So he pushed you down from behind … then pulled your arms up. Sat on you?’

‘Yes. I can’t remember exactly what happened when; it was fast. Very fast. I tried to get a look at him. That’s when this happened.’ She touched her lip, wincing at the contact. ‘Then he … um …’ She shot a look at Mac whose eyes were fixed on her. ‘He … ah … groped me a bit.’ She cleared her throat. ‘He grabbed my keys, hit my head on the path a couple of times. That’s all I remember. The next thing I know the lady who called the ambulance was leaning over me.’

‘Do you have any idea who it was?’

Ginny shook her head.

‘Did you recognise his voice? See any rings on his hands? Anything like that?’

‘No … it happened very quickly. And I didn’t see anything. Sorry.’

‘You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.’ Mac spoke quietly.

‘You’ve had a bit of a rough trot lately, Ginny,’ Constable Matthews smiled gently as she spoke. ‘The bother with your car, and now this. Any reason to think they’re connected?’

Mac flicked a look at the policewoman, then back to Ginny. ‘Car? What bother?’

‘Um … someone let my tyres down. And another time someone broke into my car. Well, not really broke in … I left it unlocked. It was my fault.’ Ginny gingerly rubbed the bridge of her nose. ‘Bloody well locked it this morning, though. My phone … wallet … Locked up safe and tight and no bloody keys.’

Mac’s head spun. Why hadn’t he heard about any of this? He thought of the rubbish bin, of Ange mentioning one of Ginny’s meetings being cancelled, someone mucking her around. Then he thought of Miles, the look on his face as he’d pushed Ginny up against that wall.

‘It’s Miles Hawthorne,’ he said angrily. ‘That little fucker.’

Ginny shook her head vehemently. ‘Miles wouldn’t do something like this. He’s a prick, and a bully … but he wouldn’t do this.’

‘We need to eliminate every possibility, Ginny,’ Mathews explained. ‘Even if you don’t think it was this … Miles Hawthorne? Who is he?’

Ginny paused, feeling trapped between the two of them. ‘He’s an ex. He’s also a work competitor — and I’ve recently won a project he thought he’d get. He’s just pissed off. But he wouldn’t do anything like this.’

‘So nothing ever happened when you were together to indicate he might be capable of something like this?’

Ginny closed her eyes. ‘Once or twice.’

She heard Mac’s growl.

‘It was just a few shoves, the odd push at first. Then a slap one night after an argument. Then a few more. Then I found out he was cheating on me. So I confronted him. And he punched me. So I left.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Mac breathed out.

‘You weren’t here.’ Ginny enunciated each word carefully. ‘And I could handle it. I handled it. I left.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ he said, as guilt collared him. ‘That I wasn’t here.’

Ginny gave him a small smile, and then his own words: ‘You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. And you’re here now. I needed my friend today. That’s why I got them to call you.’

The policewoman looked between the two of them before getting to her feet. ‘We’ll talk to Mr Hawthorne, just to be sure. And we’ll give your place a look-over — but it’s probably a good idea to change the locks. Okay?’

Ginny nodded. ‘Thank you.’

Constable Mathews smiled at her. ‘I’ll be in touch. Here’s my card, if you remember anything.’

By the time she got the all-clear to leave, Ginny was champing at the bit. Still in her running gear, she limped a bit, and her head was thumping, but she insisted she was fine.

‘I’m taking you back to Dad and Jen’s,’ Mac said, when they got to the car.

‘No, Mac, I …’

‘Ginny, please. It’s either there or I drive you to your mum’s.’

She frowned at him. ‘I have to go in to work tomorrow. I can’t go to Matamata today.’

‘Well, if not to my place, where else were you planning on going? Without your keys.’

‘I don’t know.’ Tears filled her eyes and she wiped them away angrily.

‘Okay then.’ Laying his hand on her leg, keeping it there as he drove, Mac took her home.

Jen was waiting for them and gently took over from Mac. ‘Your dad’s in the front, love,’ she told him.

Feeling worse than helpless, he watched Jen lead Ginny downstairs.

‘How is she?’ Andrew asked as Mac entered the room.

‘She says she’s okay.’ Mac sat down next to him on the couch. ‘She told me her ex used to push her around a bit. Did you and Jen know about that?’

Andrew raised his eyebrows. ‘Was it him? This morning?’

‘Don’t know.’ Mac frowned out over the water. ‘She doesn’t think so, and I get the impression the police think it’s a random incident…’ He trailed off then looked at Andrew and repeated his question: ‘Did you know?’

‘Not at all.’

Mac shook his head. ‘I feel so fucking useless, Dad. That I wasn’t here, then, or this morning. This should never have happened to her.’ He thought of Nick and wondered at the irony that what he’d trained so long and hard for had still left him unable to protect those who meant the most to him.

Andrew put a hand on his son’s shoulder. ‘You can’t go punishing yourself for something you didn’t know about.’ He paused. ‘Jen said Ginny’s car is out on Tamaki Drive?’

Mac nodded.

‘Okay then.’ Andrew got to his feet. ‘Let’s go and get it. That’s something we can do.’

A few hours later Mac knocked gently on the door of the guest room and opened it a crack.

‘I’m awake,’ Ginny called out. ‘Come in.’

He stepped inside but didn’t approach the bed. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Better.’ She saw the worry on his face even in the dim light. ‘Really, Mac, I’m fine.’

‘Can I get you anything?’

‘No. Jen brought me something to eat. I’m fine,’ she repeated. ‘Where have you been?’

He stepped forward and placed her wallet, phone, and a new car key on the bedside table. ‘Dad and I went and got your car. You’ll need to get a new remote key programmed, but this will do in the meantime.’

‘You didn’t have to do that.’ A slight frown crossed her face as she pushed herself up on the pillows.

Mac shrugged. ‘I didn’t want to leave it there. One less thing for you to worry about.’ He looked down and cringed inside at the state of her face. ‘I hope you don’t mind — I called the police and spoke to the woman we met at the hospital. I told her you were here, in case she needs to get hold of you.’

Ginny nodded slowly. ‘Okay.’

‘She said they’ve spoken to Miles. He’s in Queenstown. Has been since Friday lunchtime. It wasn’t him, Ginn.’

She let out a sigh and lay down again. ‘I didn’t think it was quite his style. And he was never much of a runner.’ She looked up at the ceiling and he saw the relief on her face. ‘Just an asshole, then.’

‘I guess,’ Mac said, sitting gently on the end of the bed. He wouldn’t tell her the rest of the conversation, how he’d aired his own nagging doubts. Wasn’t it odd that someone would do that, take that kind of risk, for a set of keys, unless they knew what they were for? The constable had agreed, cautiously, adding that there were, however, a lot of nasty types out there, and they couldn’t know which had come first: the opportunity for the attack, or the belief there might be something more valuable in her pocket than keys.

‘Look … about your place …’ he continued to Ginny. ‘How about I call a locksmith? So you can get inside.’

She shook her head. ‘Thanks, but there’s no need. I keep another set of keys with the twins. I’ll pick them up in the morning.’

‘You’re not going to change the locks?’

‘No — as you said, it wasn’t Miles. Whoever grabbed them won’t know what they’re for. My address isn’t on them.’

Mac wasn’t convinced, but he wasn’t going to argue with her now. ‘Well, let me go and get the spare set. Give me the twins’ number and I’ll sort it out.’ He pulled out his phone and looked at her.

‘I can do it tomorrow. It’s not a biggie.’

‘Can you just let me do this, Ginny? Please?’

‘Let you do what?’

He didn’t say anything; not sure how she would respond if he told her how much he wanted to look after her. Protect her.

‘Mac,’ she said softly. ‘I don’t need a white knight.’

‘What do you need then?’

Ginny wavered, uncertain. Looking at him, she felt something rush up and grab her by the throat. She swallowed hard. Then smiled, and held out her hand. ‘A cuddle would be nice.’

He smiled back. ‘That’s easy.’ Mac slipped off his shoes, moved up the bed and curled himself around her.

She drove back to her place the next morning and while she parked her car and walked to the office, Mac went up and checked everything was alright.

‘What time is your brother arriving?’ he asked when he came back down to the street where he had instructed she wait.

‘After lunch sometime.’ Her mother had called the night before, verging on hysterical after Ginny’s text telling her what had happened. She informed Ginny that Julian would drive up to collect her and return her to Auckland after Christmas and they wouldn’t take no for an answer. Although she appreciated the gesture, Ginny was proud of her hard-won independence and the mollycoddling was getting on her wick.