“Murder?” Ellie barely heard her own voice.
Dennis grinned at Meredith. “As she drinks herself into oblivion once again.”
“Well, at least I have the courage to carry out such a deed.”
“The only courage you have comes from a bottle.” Dennis sat next to Meredith. “Silly bitch.” There was no malice in his words and they exchanged a look which Ellie didn’t understand.
“Campbell—is Dad dead? Please tell me.”
“Well, it was all a bit of a mess and—”
“For God’s sake. I’ll tell you what happened.”
All eyes turned to Dennis.
“It was two days ago. Jack was stressed after the board meeting, so asked me to go sailing. Take a breather from important decisions at work. I was on time. He never showed up. I left a couple of voicemails and figured he got busy, so went sailing alone.”
“Did you check the other boats?” Meredith said. “Perhaps he found a little sea nymph to shack up with?”
“Have another drink, Meredith.” Ellie snapped.
Campbell cleared his throat. “When he came back to shore, Dennis tried Jack’s phone again, and the house. Then called the office.”
“He wasn’t there. I swear to it, baby.” Dennis stared at Ellie, his grey eyes cold behind small round glasses. “I swear it.”
Ellie turned away. “Campbell, would you come with me to the police station? To wherever the investigation is based?”
“I’ll take you.” Paul spoke from the doorway.
“For God’s sake.” Dennis reached across Meredith for the decanter and trickled brandy into his own glass.
“Leave it until tomorrow. There’s nothing to be done so late.” Campbell picked up a briefcase. “I’ll collect you in the morning.”
“I’ll get you home.” Paul said. He came to Ellie, offering his hand. She glanced up at him, then to Dennis.
“Dennis?”
“I’ve moved out of the apartment.” He didn’t even look up.
Ignoring Paul’s hand, Ellie pushed herself to her feet. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Meredith directed a drunken smile at Ellie. How could she smile when her husband was missing? When nobody knew where he was?
“Getting ready for our inevitable divorce. It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?” Dennis held his glass up like a toast. “Welcome home, baby.”
3
Fallout
Ellie wouldn’t let Paul or the driver help with the luggage. Her apartment came with a twenty-four-hour concierge service and the young man on duty whisked her bags away.
“I should check the apartment with you.”
“For what, Paul? If Dad happens to be there, I’ll call.” She’d had enough. The lack of answers, Dennis’ announcement, Meredith’s innuendo. Paul’s protective fussing.
Inside her apartment, door locked, she leaned back against it and closed her eyes. The quiet and darkness drained some of the tension away, soothing raw emotions and calming the jumble of thoughts. Ellie slipped out of her shoes and sighed as the tiles cooled her feet.
When she opened her eyes, all the curtains were drawn, blocking out the stunning view to the Yarra River on one side, and all the way to Port Phillip Bay on another. Who closed it? She hadn’t. Dennis must have, or…
“Dad?” It was a rasp, so dry was her throat. Nobody answered.
Ellie peered into the fridge. It was empty, apart from two unopened bottles of French champagne and half a bottle of white wine. The latter she took out. She didn’t like champagne and never kept it here, so what had Dennis been doing? Four weeks away in London. Just one month and everything had changed.
Their king-sized bed was stripped bare. She sat on the end and poured wine into the glass she’d collected on the way. The door to the walk-in robe was open. Dennis hadn’t quite moved out. There were some shoes, suits, and a bag tucked in the corner.
She grimaced at the stale taste of the wine. Probably the same bottle she’d opened the night before leaving for London. They’d argued. Disagreed was a better description, not the full-on fights from her childhood, with Dad and Gabi yelling at each other from across a room and doors slamming until she’d hide in the library, losing herself amongst the books her parents collected.
No, she and Dennis were always civil. She’d asked him one last time to consider marriage counselling. Try to find a comfortable middle ground, at least. He couldn’t see why. To Dennis, keeping things to himself was second nature and sharing was something women did. “I’m not one of your girlfriends. That’s what you all do, isn’t it, complain to each other about your husbands?”
He’d obviously decided leaving a marriage was better than working on it. As bad as the wine was, Ellie finished the first glass and poured another. In the hallway between main and guest rooms she stopped to stare at photos on the wall. She lifted a hand and touched the smiling face of a handsome young man with long hair and a surfboard.
“Daddy’s missing. How do I tell you, Michael?”
She opened the door to the guest room. This was as she’d left it, bed made up and fresh towels folded on the end, ready for guests.
Too tired to do more than strip off her clothes, Ellie climbed into bed. She hugged her body until sleep dragged her into a world of bad dreams.
“You don’t look as though you slept at all, child.”
Campbell and Ellie sat at one side of a table in an interview room in the police station. The room was cold, and she shivered. “I’m alright, I promise. I’ll be better when we find Dad.”
“I wanted to warn you last night…about the detective looking after this.”
“Warn me?”
The door opened and they both looked up as an immaculately dressed man entered. He sat on the opposite side of the table, shook Campbell’s hand, and only then made eye contact with Ellie.
She took in his three-day growth and collar-length black hair with dismay. Those dark, dark eyes of his were unreadable.
Ben Rossi.
She slipped her hands under the table to grip each other.
His lips tightened for an instant before he glanced at Campbell. “Thanks for coming in.”
“Have you found him?” Ellie forced the words out.
“We have yet to establish this is a genuine missing person case.”
She pushed her chair back. “Then we are wasting our time here.”
Campbell placed his hand on her arm for a second. “Ellie, wait on. You wanted to speak to the police.”
“But, this won’t work…” She bit her lip. Dad was all that mattered. Ellie glared at Ben as she settled back in her seat.
He appeared unfazed by her reaction to seeing him. “When was your last contact with your father?”
“I am under suspicion? What are you doing to find him? All I know is from second-hand information and newspaper sensationalism.”
Campbell leaned forward. “Detective Rossi, we’ve had no contact with Jack for three days. A man like him doesn’t just disappear. He doesn’t miss appointments and is never late. Never.”
“No history of going off on his own? A short break with someone?”
“Someone who? His own wife doesn’t know where he is. And Dad wasn’t that kind of man.”
“What kind?”
Not the kind you think. Not a man who doesn’t care. Not a bad…father.
“Last time I saw Dad, we met at his house, in the library. I was leaving for London a few hours later and we had some last-minute papers to go over.”
“You met at his house, rather than the office?”
“We both have desks in the library. Why did you question Dennis?”
“As the last known contact, your husband was able to provide useful information. Gave me a starting point. Your father’s disappearance is unusual.”
“We were meant to meet at eleven today. To talk about my London business trip.”
“Meet where?”
“On the yacht.”
Ben stood. “Here’s my card. If you hear anything, think of anything, call.” He held out a business card and their fingertips touched. Ellie almost dropped the card, but now Campbell was shaking his hand and without another glance, Ben left.
“Are you okay?” Campbell was on his feet. “I thought it was him. And you’d never speak that way to a stranger.”
No. I wouldn’t be like that with a stranger.
4
Sea Angel
A few minutes before eleven, Ellie stepped onto Sea Angel, a sleek—if older—yacht. She glanced at her watch. He should be here, striding down the pier with his broad grin, or already on board with a limited-edition blue gin on ice. Just to take the edge off.
“Dad, are you here?”
She knew her breath was wasted, but still ran downstairs. It was the same as always. Water, beer, and wine in the fridge. A few frozen meals for emergencies. Beds in the two cabins made and clean towels in the tiny bathroom. Everything ready for a quick sail or overnight trip.
The yacht rocked gently beneath her feet as she made her way up, longing for the sun on her face. London in winter might be beautiful, but Melbourne summer was her favourite time of the year. Dad’s as well. She sank onto one of the plump seats at the stern.
This place was private, quiet, yet only moments from the city. Tucked away at the bottom of a dead-end road, even the locals left the pier alone. Large signs warning against trespass probably helped, but Ellie couldn’t remember this being anything other than a peaceful retreat.
Without Dad, what would she do? They’d been close forever and Gabi leaving so long ago brought them closer. If only he’d appear from below…her eyes turned to the steps and then she saw it.
Under the furthest seat was a pen. She got onto her knees and reached for it. Dad’s pen, the one she’d had designed and made for him for his sixtieth birthday. It was always in his hand or pocket.
Footsteps approached and she panicked, slipping the pen into her handbag. If the media had found her, they mustn’t see this. She grabbed her sunglasses and pushed them on.
“Mrs Connor.” Ben Rossi stood, hands in pockets, on the pier. His black sunglasses masked his eyes.
Ellie’s heart pounded and the words snapped out. “Why are you here?”
“Eleven o’clock at the yacht. I hoped Jack might appear.”
There was a sympathy in his tone that cut through her anger and as tears prickled the back of her eyes, she was thankful for her sunglasses.
“Me too.” She climbed onto the pier. “But he hasn’t, so I’m going to do my best to find him.”
“Keep a list of who you contact and the responses. It might help.”
“So, you’ve decided he is missing.”
“He’s obviously missing. I’m investigating the possibility of foul play.”
“Why would anyone hurt him?”
“Any suggestions?”
Not willing to talk to Ben, Ellie stalked away from the yacht, past a couple of other boats and across a dirt track to the carpark. At her car, she dug in her bag for keys.
“What if Dennis only gave you part of the story?”
With a small jump, Ellie glanced around. She’d not heard him follow her and he stood staring back down the pier, arms crossed and legs apart.
“Dennis said he’d waited for Dad, who never showed. Instead of looking for him, he went sailing alone.”
“But, did he?”
“I don’t understand.” Ellie joined Ben.
“Jack Bannerman doesn’t miss appointments and is never late. Perhaps he was here at the arranged time. Perhaps they did sail out, a long way out.”
“And?”
“Something happened. Jack fell overboard. Might have been helped over.”
“Are you crazy?” Ellie dragged her sunglasses off. “Dennis and Dad are family. Dad isn’t dead and Dennis is not a killer. How could you say such a thing?”
“Is there a reason Dennis would want Jack gone?”
“Gone? Or dead? Neither, for your information. I told you, they were family as well as business colleagues.”
“And families are the most likely to kill their own.”
“Oh, for God sake.” She swung away.
“Is Dennis divorcing you?”
Ellie dropped her keys. Ben scooped them up, playing with them in one hand as he removed his sunglasses with the other. If it was compassion in his eyes, she didn’t want it.
“My keys, please.” She held out her hand.
“You deserve better.”
“My keys, detective.”
With a shrug, he dropped them into her palm.
5
Upstairs. Downstairs
The sub-penthouse floor of Bannerman House offered expansive views across the city. The executive of BWG worked here in glass offices with a central reception hub. Jack had one end of the floor for his huge corner office and his Personal Assistant—Joni’s work station.
Between the corner, along the windows, Dennis, as Chief Operations Officer, had the office beside Jack, then Campbell, Chief Finance Officer, was next. Their shared PA, Mark, used the reception area with two receptionists. At the other end of the floor, Ellie’s office was smaller, quieter. She had no PA, having the reception team at her disposal, or any one of the sales and marketing staff housed on the floors below. Where everyone else had their name on their doors, Ellie’s was a simple “Bannerman Foundation”.
Any other time, this floor was abuzz with movement and chatter. Considered the heart of the company, this was where decisions were made and where the future was built.
Today the mood was anything but upbeat. At the long, curved reception desk, four staff, including Mark and Kay, answered phone call after phone call.
Jack’s office was empty, the door closed. Joni sat at her desk with a lost expression. Dennis’ office was also empty, briefcase on his desk along with a steaming coffee cup.
Only Campbell was there. His door closed, he spoke at length on the phone, then hung up and turned to a laptop. Beside it was a PC with two monitors.
Two files lay on the desk, one titled “Future” and the other “Foundation”. He flicked through the former, intent on the contents, then tapped his laptop keyboard to complete an email. With a sigh, he hit send, his eyes straying back to the “Foundation” file. His shoulders tightened.
Several floors below was a much smaller room, its single window overlooking the next building. No Melbourne skyline here, just a workspace filled with monitors, filing cabinets, and a large desk.
“Glorified security guard.” Behind the desk, Paul stared at a photo on the wall. Jack and Ellie at a black-tie event, with Paul standing behind.
“Time you realised that.” Dennis walked in and dropped into a chair opposite Paul. “You’re overpaid.”
“Get out.” Paul snarled.
“We need to chat, don’t you think?”
“You don’t want to do this.”
“But I do. Actually, I want to fire you, but might have to wait a bit longer.”
Blood rushed into Paul’s face. “Such confidence from a murder suspect.”
“I’m not going to be blamed for something I didn’t do.”
“Of course, you did it. Or made it happen.” Paul swung his chair and stood. “I heard that conversation after the board meeting, and I’ll prove you got Jack out of the way.”
Dennis was on his feet in seconds, hands balled at his sides. “You’ve lost your mind. Bit hard to prove something that didn’t happen.”
“You believe that, Dennis. Then you won’t see it coming.”
“Are you threatening me? Are you setting me up?”
Paul sniggered.
“You think this is funny? Jack’s missing and until he returns, I’m going to be running things, so I’d be stepping carefully, baby. Very carefully.”
A sharp tap on the door interrupted.
“Detective Rossi. Please come in, Dennis was just leaving.” Paul stood and offere
d Ben his hand across the desk.
“Any news about Jack?” Dennis asked.
“Nothing about his whereabouts.”
“Do you need to see me?”
“Just Mr Dekeles for now. I’ll be in touch.”
Dennis straightened his tie and turned on his heel.
“Take a seat, Detective.”
“How’s your relationship with Dennis Connor?” Ben sat and crossed an ankle over a knee. “How long have you known him?”
“Too long. He wants to fire me but doesn’t have the power, so that should answer the first question. And he’s been here for five years. Appeared one day and won’t leave.”
“Chief Operations Officer. Second in command?”
“He thinks so. Not sure what he does. I think Jack owed him a favour and when Ellie decided to take a year off to travel, he needed someone to fill her role. She came home and Dennis managed to keep the job and win the woman.”
“And what does she do now?”
“Ellie runs the Bannerman Foundation. Looks after the causes. You know, big businesses today have their pet projects to help the less fortunate. She’s good at it and it’s as much her passion as a career.”
“She didn’t want her position back? Didn’t want to be Jack’s right hand again?”
Paul glanced at the photo again. “It wasn’t that simple. Anyway, she has a big heart.”
“You’ve been with Jack for a long time.”
“My whole working life. He’s a good man.” Paul faced Ben again. “Look, I want to find him. I’ve spent hours driving to all the spots I’ve ever seen him at. Spoke to the barman at his favourite drinking hole. And some of the men he plays golf with. I’m working my way through a list of contacts but…”
“Go on.”
“What if he’s dead? I mean, how will Ellie cope?”
“Do you think Jack’s dead?”
“How can it not be a possibility? Jack’s wealthy beyond measure. He stands between certain people who want his money and power. Even at the board meeting, Dennis made it clear he’s getting impatient.”
Last Known Contact Page 2