by Garry Disher
And Denise Meickle, waiting stonily outside the front door. Raymond nodded, approached, not liking what he saw. He was supposed to spend a few days with this, help her bloke get out of remand, hang around afterwards and help both of them get out of the country? For fifteen thousand bucks? Jesus. He wouldnt be listing this on his CV.
Raymond got closer. Denise Meickle was a real sadsack, okay clothes but gloomy in the face, with the kind of skin that is permanently red and chapped around the mouth and nostrils. Hefty jaw, broad forehead, slight body, as though her head and her trunk belonged to different people. It was inevitable that Raymond would think about Allie Roden and begin to count his luck. Steer had to be really hard-up.
Made it, he said.
The Meickle woman looked at her watch. I was expecting you an hour ago.
No wonder Chaffey hadnt wanted to be in on their first meeting. I got lost, Raymond said.
Hed taken a winding route through Doncaster and Templestowe, gazing unbelievingly at the crass houses, the evidence of vulgar new wealth, a lot of it acquired dishonestly. Thered been a story going around a few years ago that Wyatt had tangled with a crime family out here, raided their compound for the money they owed him. Nerve and vision. Raymond felt a kind of envy and resentment stir inside him. Why would Wyatt want to help him lift a collection of paintings, especially if he had a million bucks worth of stolen jewels hidden away? There had to be cash stowed away, too, over the years. Wyatt could pick and choose as he liked. One day theyll say the same about me, Raymond thought.
Tricky place to find, he said now, tucked away back here in the hills.
Meickle grunted. You might as well come inside. Bring your bag with you.
Raymond followed her into the house. It smelt of treated baltic pine, wood stain and a stale trace of cat. It belonged to friends of Denise Meickle. They were overseas for a year. Meickle had a key, but wasnt expected to do more than water the garden every few days.
They came to a poky loungeroom with a glass wall that faced a stand of spindly tall gums. Raymond waited, content to let Meickle take the lead. According to Chaffey, she used to be a Correctional Services psychologist at Ararat prison, where she met Steer. She might be a gloomy, box-faced cow but Raymond knew that a psychologist is someone who reads your mind, so he intended to keep his trap shut as much as possible.
Sleeping arrangements, she said. Im in the main bedroom, youre through here.
She led him to a tiny bedroom. There was a single bed, a nursery frieze around three of the walls, a zoo poster taped to an inbuilt wardrobe, a window that looked upon more fucking trees. Uh huh, he said.
If you dont like it, theres the sofa.
This will do.
When youre ready, we can start work.
Raymond unpacked. He found her in the kitchen, watching moodily as an electric kettle boiled. She poured weak coffee and they sat at a chrome and laminex kitchen table, 1960s kitsch. Raymond stretched the kinks out of his back and shoulders, yawned, and said, I suggest we start with
It was clear that Denise harboured all of the disappointments of her thirty years in her face and her voice. The face was pinched and disapproving, the voice, too: You start by getting a few things straight. First, youre here to help out, not take charge, not do your own thing, just do as youre told, okay?
Thats cool.
The plan is Tonys and mine. We
It was odd hearing Steers first name. Big Tone, Raymond said, then wondered why hed said it.
None of this is a joke. You come recommended by Chaffey, but Ive yet to be convinced. You dont impress me. You dont make me laugh. You dont turn me on. Im not going to cook or clean for you. Got all that?
Delivered with a low, uninflected voice full of authority. Raymond saluted. Yes, sir, maam, sir.
She waited. She might have been counting to ten. This is an awfully small house, Raymond thought, to be holed up in with a whaddaya call it, femo-nazi.
The plan, Denise Meickle said, is that we get him out on Sunday.
Bit soonish, Raymond said.
It happens to be a long weekend. The benefits are as follows. First, the remand centre in Sunshine is understaffed anyway, but even more so when we factor in the long weekend. Secondly, hes in a unit looked after by female officers.
Raymond clicked his tongue approvingly. Theyre not likely to try it on. Pushovers.
In other circumstances, Denise said, Id take exception to that. But youre right, theyll be easier to control if anything goes wrong for Tony on the inside. Just two female officers in charge of a unit of twenty inmates.
What time?
Six in the evening. Just getting dark out. Inside theyll be finishing dinner, heading off to watch TV. Everyone milling around, relaxed, a fair bit of noise and orderly confusion.
Raymond gazed out at the thick trees. Trees for miles. Houses and towns, too, and hills and paddocks, but this house was set fair in the middle of a fucking forest, it seemed like. Hed go mad if he didnt go out occasionally. But what really burned him up was the thought that if he didnt come up with some big money as a deposit soon, Vallance would sell the last syndicate share to someone else. The fifteen grand from this job would only appease Vallance for a while. What he really needed was to find Wyatt and convince him to help out with Chaffeys art theft.
He turned to Denise. You havent said how.
Wait here.
She came back with an architects drawing, which she rolled out on the table, weighing both ends down with their empty cups. She had short fingers with unflattering nails white flecked, poorly trimmed. Raymond liked a woman who looked after her hands. Allies slim hands on his back, Denise Meickles little hands on Steers back. He shook the image away and tried to concentrate.
This is the wall facing the alley that runs off Craigie Street. Its all administration here on the first floor. This she tapped a small rectangular shape is an air-conditioning unit set in the wall. It looks as if it cant be moved but in fact it will slide right out once Tony undoes a bolt holding it to the wall.
Hows he going to do that?
Every air-conditioner in the building was serviced recently. Tony was on the work detail because hes good with machinery and electrics. When he replaced this particular unit he made sure it looked finished off but in reality it will slide right away from the wall, leaving a gap he can climb through.
So we park in the alley and pick him up.
Yes.
Stolen car?
We steal two cars, and two sets of plates for them. One car to pick him up. We drive it a short distance to the first change-over car, somewhere near the start of the Hume Freeway, then somewhere half an hour out of Melbourne we change cars again, using my car to head across back here to Warrandyte. Theyll think were heading north, into New South Wales.
I steal the cars, I drive?
Its one of the things youre supposed to be good at.
Im good, Raymond said simply. Where do you come into the picture?
Ill pick you up on the Hume. Ive also been shopping for the gear.
What gear?
Denise slid a sheet of notepaper across the table. Shopping list.
Jesus Christ, Raymond said.
Stun gun, mobile phones, camping gear, camouflage net, police scanners, Victoria Police radio codes, handcuffs, bolt cutters, three pistols, three shotguns, ammunition, food, petrol and water.
How we supposed to get all this stuff?
Most of it Ive taken care of already.
Stun gun?
Mail order from the States. Arrived a couple of days ago.
Jesus.
Raymond thought: This is how the hard boys operate. Look and learn, Raymond, old son. Why all the outdoor stuff?
If something goes wrong well head for the bush.
Christ, Raymond thought. Mosquitoes, rabbits, foxes, sleeping with a rock in the small of your back, wiping your arse with a bunch of leaves. A lot of stuff to buy.
I need you to buy some of it, like the phon
es, camping equipment, etcetera. The rest is taken care of.
Must have some cluey mates.
Youll be told what you need to know, Ray. Dont worry about it.
For all her mousy ways, she was pretty confident. Im not worried, Raymond said.
Good. She looked at him, and he could see that she was looking for a way to make him feel that he was just as much at the centre of the operation as she was. Um, how will you get the cars?
Raymond thought, stupid bitch, then leaned back in his chair. We want cars that wont be missed until several hours after we break Steer out. Were looking at people who take a train to the city mid-Sunday afternoonoff to a movie, maybe a part-time job, concert, whatever.
Good thinking.
Raymond nodded.
Make sure one of them is a four-wheel-drive. Tough. Good tyres.
How come?
In case we have to leave the Hume and head into the bush.
Always a step ahead of him. Raymond pushed back from the table. No time like the present. Got any cash?
Meickle frowned. Chaffeys given you fifteen thousand.
My fee, Raymond said. It doesnt go on expenses.
Grumbling, she counted five hundred dollars into his hand. I want receipts.
Raymond took the Ruger automatic and a suppressor, stowed them in the glove box of the Jag and headed down to the city to go shopping. He started with the camping shops in Elizabeth Street. It felt good buying the best, peeling off fifties and hundreds of Denise Meickles hard-earned cash.
By six oclock hed bought everything on the list. Meickle was expecting him back at the safe house, but she could wait. Raymond let himself into his flat at 6.15, showered and shaved, and was ready for the voice on the intercom at 6.30.
Come on up.
He opened the door naked. It wasnt something you could do with every bird, but somehow he knew that Allie Roden wasnt likely to scream and run.
She didnt.
* * * *
Nineteen
By 6 oclock on the eighteenth, the two escape vehicles were in place. Raymond, armed with an automatic pistol for himself and another for Steer, and wearing gloves and a balaclava, nosed a stolen Fairmont into the alley next to the remand centre and waited. Shortly after 6 oclock, Steer came feet-first through the wall and dropped lightly to the ground.
Those aspects of the plan were faultless. The first thing to come unravelled was the drive away from the remand centre. Raymond was barrelling the Fairmont out of the alley, braking for Craigie Street, when a taxi drew in to drop off a passenger and he braked but slid smack into the side of the cab.
Get out, Steer said, waving his revolver at Raymond. Move.
The Fairmont was undrivable, the bumper and wing folded in against the right front tyre.
The taxi, Steer said.
Raymond followed him. The Fairmont had smashed in both passenger-side doors of the taxi, so Steer headed around to the drivers side. Raymond found himself matching Steer move for move. Steer opened the drivers door and hauled out the cabbie; Raymond opened the rear door and hauled out the passenger, who waved a wallet at him angrily.
Stop daydreaming, Steer screamed. Get in, for Christs sake, and drive like the clappers.
Raymond followed Steer into the front of the taxi. He felt a kind of elation, a kind of decisive, get-out-of-my-way competence. It was the feeling he got when he walked into a bank with the shotgun. He yanked the lever into drive and peeled away.
Raymond was soaring now. He slipped the taxi rapidly through the sluggish Sunday traffic and onto a broad, deserted avenue. Here his exhilaration broke. Ha! he shouted, punching the wheel. Yes!
Steers big hand seemed to float free of his lap and suddenly swing like an axe against Raymonds upper lip. His head rocked back. The pain was intense and blood spurted from his mouth.
Theres a certain bone in the nose. Hit a certain way, it gets driven into the brain. Not a good way to die. So dont fuck up again. Fuck up again and youre history.
Raymond eyed Steer bitterly. The guy was like Wyatt, a bit long in the tooth but coldly dedicated, efficient in the way he moved, full of power like a coiled spring. How was I to know
You didnt look, Steer said. You just barged through.
Raymond fished for a handkerchief and spat into it. Street lights slipped past outside and he wondered what he was doing here with this psychopath. Steer seemed to fill the car, heavy and accusatory, so that Raymond couldnt help himself. He had to appease the man. Go all right inside?
Just drive.
They switched to the Range Rover at Thomastown. Raymond felt rattled, and at the entrance to the Hume Freeway accelerated ahead of a truck. He sensed the driver behind them pushing his brakes to the floor. Headlights flooded them and a horn sounded, mournful in the night.
Easy, pal, Steer said. No sense getting us killed.
Raymond relaxed. The bastard seemed easier with him now. He drove on into the black night. After a while Steer muttered, I hear youre Wyatts nephew.
Raymond said hastily, He doesnt know about this.
Good, Steer said. The fewer the better. Youll be sticking around for a couple of days, right?
Yes.
Steer seemed to relax, stretching his legs and settling his shoulder against the door. Not many of us around any more. The old school, me and your uncle. Its all drugs with the youngsters now. No finesse. Too impatient to plan. Its a skill. You take each job slowly, meticulously. You have to think it through.
Right, Raymond said.
Like, never set up a base in the same town as the target. If youre working with others, you each make a solo reconnaissance of the target. Stay in motels or overnight vans in caravan parks. Never let yourself get boxed in. Make sure your alternative escape routes are clearno roadworks, no rubbish bins. If its going to help, tie up emergency services with a fire or an explosion somewhere.
Steer was on automatic pilot, lecturing, maybe out of nervousness. Still, Raymond told himself, why the fuck do I have to listen to it? He said sharply, Youre not telling me anything I dont already know.
Steer shrugged. Chill out, Sunshine. No offence. Only youd be surprised at the number of amateurs, addicts and ego merchants there are in this game.
Raymond could almost taste the dislike in his mouth. So, how do you know Im not one of them?
Steer went very still, very concentrated, a chill in his soft voice: You come recommended, but if you fuck me around, remember that Ive got a lot of favours owing. I know things. I network. The moment I walk into a nick, I run it. I know things or can find them out, and Id track you down and not even your famous uncle could save you.
They drove into the night. After a while, Steer rubbed his hands together. Howd you get on with my bird?
Fine, Raymond said warily. Had the bastard been stewing away in remand, wondering if Denise was screwing around on him? He waved a reassuring hand. I mean, we were pretty busy doing our own thing, putting this together.
Steer breathed in and out heavily. Shes an ace chick. Ive really been looking forward to this.
Christ, Raymond thought. The bastards actually keen on her.
Half an hour later they met Denise in a shadowy parking bay on the Hume Freeway. Denise flung herself onto Steer and Raymond had to stand back for a while, his head averted, while they kissed and murmured.
When they were finished, he said, Dont want to be hanging around here much longer.
Time for a quick snap? Denise asked.
Raymond frowned. What are you on about?
Denise pulled a small camera from her bag and said, self-consciously, A record of this historic moment.
Jesus, Raymond said.
But he was taken with the idea. First he snapped Denise and Steer with their arms around each other, then Denise snapped Raymond with Steer.
Then the job unravelled again. People, Steer announced, Ive got things I need to do. Ill see you at the house sometime tomorrow morning.
Denise had been hanging o
nto his arm, dopey with love, but stiffened when she heard this. What things?
Ill explain later. Just till lunchtime tomorrow. I want both of you to stay put at the safe house till I get there.
Raymond said, This wasnt part of the original plan.
Steer began to advance on him. Raymond stood his ground, trying not to flinch from the chest pressing against his, the hot breath gusting into his face. I said, Ill be back, okay? A finger jabbed him. You got that? Youre paid to see it through to the end.