Tall, Dark & Distant

by Julie Fison

  ‘Alice, get that dress off!’ Georgia snapped. ‘It’s not yours!’

  ‘You’re not going to need it,’ Alice whined. ‘Mum, tell Georgia to stop being so mean.’

  ‘Off!’ Georgia shouted at her sister.

  ‘Okay, okay,’ her father interrupted. ‘Calm down, girls.’

  Alice stared at Georgia defiantly. ‘You’re not even going to wear it!’

  ‘I am so!’ Georgia said. She hadn’t been planning to – Nik had already seen her in it, after all, and it felt a little dressy for a beach party. But she wasn’t about to let her sister take her stuff without even asking. It was the principle of the thing.

  Alice stomped to the bathroom. ‘I hate you!’ she screamed over her shoulder.

  Georgia followed, banging on the door until Alice handed her the black dress. Georgia disappeared into her bedroom and slipped it on, changed her sandals, let down her hair and added a touch of mascara. As she was putting the finishing touches on her outfit, the doorbell rang.

  ‘It makes you look fat,’ Alice growled, glowering at her from the doorway to the bedroom.

  ‘Why, thank you,’ Georgia replied with a smile, not giving her the satisfaction.

  ‘Georgia, Nik’s here! Don’t forget your mobile,’ Georgia heard her mum shout towards the bedroom.

  ‘Okay,’ she replied. She grabbed her phone, but didn’t think she’d need it. There was only one person she wanted to speak to and he’d just rung the doorbell.

  Georgia rushed out of the bedroom to rescue Nik before he spent too much time with her parents. She knew it was only a matter of time before her dad got onto melanomas and the Queensland sun. It was a personal campaign of his, to inform every member of the public of the dangers, one by one.

  Nik was on the balcony with his back to her. Her father was rattling on, getting worked up about something, but once Nik turned to face her, Georgia couldn’t hear a thing.

  It was like the first morning in the national park all over again. Was it possible for someone to get better-looking in the twenty-four hours since she’d last seen him, or had her mind just failed to preserve Nikolai Morozov’s glorious combination of features? She felt like she was seeing him with her heart rather than her eyes. The late afternoon sun had turned the leaves behind him golden-green, framing his perfect face and lighting up his hair.

  She floated towards Nik, past the kitchen and through the lounge area. Unfortunately she drifted too close to a sofa, stumbling slightly. It definitely spoiled the moment, but Nik pretended not to notice.

  ‘All set to go,’ she smiled, leading Nik out of the apartment.

  ‘Stay away from drugs and alcohol,’ Alice shouted from the doorway. ‘I’d hate you to drown in your own vomit.’ She slammed the door, which made Nik jump. He looked quite jittery.

  ‘My sister’s a psycho,’ Georgia said. ‘Don’t worry about her.’

  Georgia didn’t even give Alice a second thought. How could she when she was about to spend her first New Year’s Eve with Nik? Tonight was going to be amazing – she already knew it.

  ‘That’s nice, Mei returned your car,’ Georgia said as she climbed into Nik’s Ferrari.

  ‘Mei had a fight with Dim. I think she gave it back mostly to annoy him.’

  Georgia laughed. ‘He was looking very comfortable in it. He’ll probably rob a bank so he can buy one of his own.’

  Nik opened the driver’s door. ‘That’s exactly what he said he’s planning to do. But I wouldn’t worry – I don’t think he’s smart enough.’ There was a hard edge to Nik’s voice.

  ‘Ouch,’ Georgia said. ‘I thought you were friends.’

  Nik shrugged. ‘So did I.’

  ‘Something go wrong on the fishing trip?’ Georgia asked as they drove towards Nik’s house.

  ‘A difference of opinion,’ Nik replied shortly. ‘Cameron and Dim spent all day trying to talk me into going … fishing in Sydney for New Year.’

  ‘Oh,’ Georgia said, feigning innocence. ‘What do you mean?’

  Nik didn’t reply. In fact, he offered no more than two words to anything Georgia asked. The closer they got to his house, the less he seemed to want to speak. The boat trip must have been a bad one. Nik looked pale, and he seemed really tense.

  ‘Are you sure everything’s all right?’ Georgia asked.

  ‘It’s fine,’ Nik insisted, giving her a hollow smile. ‘I think I’ll get a security firm to start in the new year,’ he said, as they pulled into the garage at his house. ‘It’s probably a good idea to have some security around here.’

  Security arrangements were the last thing Georgia wanted to discuss. They walked through the tropical garden, watching the sun sinking behind the mountains. It was her favourite time of day. She liked the way the sun’s blistering heat mellowed and the glaring white sunlight turned golden. It didn’t just make pretty patterns in the sky – it gave everything a special glow. As they took a seat under the frangipanis, she noticed the colour returning to Nik’s face. The golden sunset gave him a glowing aura.

  But Nik seemed immune to the beauty. He was still on about security. ‘I’m thinking we could have a proper security fence and gates. I mean the gates here are a joke – anyone can just walk in.’

  Georgia let him talk on about his security plans, snuggling into his shoulder and mmm-ing here and there. Nik had brought a bottle of champagne into the garden. He popped the cork, and poured her a glass. As Georgia sipped, he picked up a frangipani that had fallen onto the seat next to him. ‘These flowers remind me of the first time I saw you.’

  Georgia was only half-concentrating, so she took a moment to register what he said next.

  ‘I love you, Georgia,’ Nik said simply. ‘God, you look so beautiful tonight – really, really, beautiful. I don’t know how I’ll keep my hands off you.’

  Georgia almost choked on her champagne at his abruptness. But she didn’t have a chance to clarify things, because Nik was leaning towards her and then he was kissing her.

  Georgia let her eyes drift shut and felt her body soften under his touch. As his hand moved onto her leg and slowly up her thigh, her whole body was burning.

  She was starting to think about ripping off his clothes when Nik sat up and poured them both another glass of champagne.

  It was beautiful champagne, but she was desperate to move the party to Nik’s bedroom and climb onto his bed. Nik didn’t seem to sense this, though, so they sipped their drinks and talked. He had finally started to open up about his childhood in Russia, and told her about the evenings, when he would play outside until midnight in summer, because the sun went down so late.

  ‘It gets dark so early here,’ he said as the sun slipped behind the mountains and the evening began to draw in. The temperature dropped a little and parrots, screeching in the flowering gum trees, started to look for roosts for the evening. Nik looked at his watch. She knew what was coming.

  ‘We should get to that party,’ he announced.

  ‘Really?’ Georgia said, wanting to be alone with Nik. She didn’t want to share him. She’d lost interest in the party completely.

  But Nik stood up from the sun lounger and extended his hand. ‘Georgia, we have to go now.’

  ‘Tell me about Paris on a summer evening,’ she said, watching the light disappear from the hills and making no attempt to leave her seat. Her mind drifted off on a grand tour of Europe. She was strolling down the Champs Élysées in Paris on Nik’s arm, walking along South Bank in London, visiting St Mark’s Square in Venice. She was in a complete trance.

  ‘Georgia, we really need to leave,’ Nik said impatiently. ‘We’ll talk about Paris in the car.’

  ‘Do we have to go right now? It’s still early. We won’t miss anything.’ Georgia was trying to prolong her time with Nik, but he seemed intent on drawing it to a close.

  ‘I have a couple of things to do before the party,’ Nik said. ‘I’ll drop you off and come back.’

  ‘What? No!’ Georgia said, snappin
g out of her daydream and getting to her feet. ‘We’re going together.’

  Nik looked at her sternly. ‘I’ll meet you there.’

  Georgia frowned. What had changed in the past two minutes? And then it dawned on her. ‘Is this something you’ve planned with Dim?’ she asked, suddenly seeing why Nik had been up and down all afternoon. He was just about to abandon her on their first New Year’s together. ‘You’re going to Sydney, aren’t you? Or is it a party in New York? I don’t care. I’m coming with you.’ Georgia returned to the sun lounger.

  ‘Georgia, come on,’ Nik said, scooping her up in his arms. His tone was playful but Georgia could tell he was at least half serious.

  ‘No!’ she said, mock-fighting to get down as Nik carried her across the pavers. As he struggled to keep hold of her, a few photos fell out of Nik’s pocket and fluttered towards the pool.

  ‘Wait!’ she said, finally hurling herself to the ground.

  Nik spotted the photos, too. He bent down to snatch one from the pavers, while she ran after the one closest to the pool. It was sticking to a wet patch on the poolside, along with a note. Georgia grabbed them both just before Nik got there. He stood beside her, his hand out, waiting for her to hand them over.

  His face was serious, almost angry. Had she caught him out?

  Georgia looked from Nik’s face to the photo – a grainy black and white shot of Nik on a jet ski with a girl. The girl was obscured slightly, her face half-hidden behind Nik’s shoulders. It could have been anyone. She couldn’t be sure of the girl’s identity, but it looked a lot like … her.

  ‘It’s a picture of you and me,’ she said, not understanding why Nik wanted to hide the photograph.

  Nik said nothing, his hand still outstretched. He had the darkest expression Georgia had ever seen.

  Georgia didn’t understand what the photos meant, but she did know it was the creepiest thing she’d ever seen.

  Until she saw the note.

  Georgia only got a glimpse at the note before Nik snatched it from her, but the figure $500,000 stood out.

  ‘It’s just extortion,’ Nik said, returning the letter to his pocket. ‘I don’t want you involved. It has nothing to do with you.’

  ‘It has everything to do with me!’ Georgia shouted, a bit too loudly. ‘I’m in the photo!’

  ‘You’re not in the other one,’ Nik replied, but he offered no evidence of that. ‘I’m going to drop you at the party and then I’m going to deal with this.’

  Now she could see why Nik was interested in security. Now she understood why he was in such a weird mood.

  ‘What do they say?’ Georgia asked.

  Nik paused for several seconds, apparently weighing up whether to tell her.

  ‘Nik, I want to know what’s going on … Please.’

  ‘They want five hundred thousand dollars by nine o’clock tonight,’ he said eventually.

  ‘What? Who has that kind of money lying around on New Year’s Eve?’

  Nik didn’t reply. He just walked into the kitchen and picked up a backpack. That answered her question. Nik Morozov did. He probably had it lying around every evening.

  ‘Come on,’ Nik said. ‘I’ll drive you to the party.’

  Nik looked apprehensive as he opened the car door for Georgia and then stepped in on the other side. The garage doors opened and they roared towards Noosa in the open-top Ferrari.

  ‘Where did you find the note?’ Georgia asked as they sped along the dark road. ‘What else does it say?’

  Nik hesitated a moment, then slipped his hand into his pocket and handed her the photographs and the note. ‘I found it on my windscreen when I got back from the fishing trip.’

  Georgia unfolded the letter and read.

  Dear Nikolai Morozov,

  I know about your new girlfriend. I would hate anything to happen to her. Leave $500,000 in a backpack outside the Tigers Football Clubhouse in Weyba Road at 9 p.m. tonight or you’ll both be sorry.

  Georgia’s heart was racing by the time she got to the last line. It didn’t just have something to do with her. It had everything to do with her. Someone was threatening to hurt her.

  Nik banged his fist on the steering wheel. ‘I can’t believe this happened – I’m careful. I don’t stick to a routine, I change cars, I move around. This shouldn’t have happened.’

  ‘You move around in a bright red Ferrari. In a big white boat. It’s hardly subtle!’ Georgia said sharply.

  ‘It was that frigging boat,’ Nik said, banging the steering wheel again. ‘I wanted to impress you. And now …’

  ‘Impress me?’ Georgia repeated. ‘Why did you think you needed a stupid boat to impress me?’ She was getting angry now.

  ‘All I wanted was you. Do you think I’m here because you’ve got a big boat?’

  Nik frowned. ‘I offered to give up everything, and you weren’t interested. I offered you a day out on the boat and suddenly you were.’

  ‘That’s such a lie!’ Georgia shouted and then she thought back to the day on the beach when Nik was stripping down to his Calvin Kleins. She had turned her back on him. And of course she had been impressed by the boat – in the beginning. But it wasn’t like that, although she could see perhaps how it looked like that. Not that she’d admit it.

  Georgia gasped, suddenly remembering something. Nik jumped and the car swerved a little.

  ‘Someone followed me in the park about a week ago,’ Georgia said. ‘I thought I’d imagined it, but now I’m not so sure.’

  ‘What?’ Nik shouted. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

  ‘Because you were in Aspen!’ she fired back. ‘You weren’t answering my texts. And anyway, everyone thinks I’m paranoid. I didn’t want to look even more stupid.’ Georgia swallowed hard. ‘What kind of something do you think might happen to me?’

  Nik shook his head. ‘There won’t be a something. These guys are novices. No-one demands five hundred thousand dollars from a Morozov. They demand ten million. These guys don’t know what they’re dealing with. They’re just fishing to see what they can get. I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you.’

  ‘Are you going to pay them?’

  Nik shook his head. ‘The backpack is empty. I’m going to deal with them.’

  That’s when Georgia’s phone went off. Georgia looked at the screen. It was her mum.

  ‘What is it?’ Georgia said without any pleasantries.

  ‘Georgia!’ her mum replied. ‘It’s Alice! She’s gone. She stormed out just after you left. I thought she’d gone to see her friends. But they’ve just been here. No-one’s seen her. Have you been in touch with her?’

  Georgia had enough to deal with. Alice had probably run away because she didn’t let her wear the sequined dress. She was most likely at a beach party, drinking and taking drugs just to get attention.

  ‘She’s probably just bumped into someone in Hastings Street,’

  Georgia lied. ‘I’ll have a look on the way through. Try not to worry, Mum. Did she say anything before she left?’

  ‘She just said, “New Year’s Eve stinks,” and walked out. I thought she was just going for a walk.’ Her mum choked up. ‘I know it’s probably nothing, but you know how all the drunk hooligans come out on New Year’s Eve. And I can’t get hold of her on her phone. It just rings out.’

  That was odd, Georgia conceded. Alice was the kind of person who couldn’t help answering her phone even to people she didn’t want to talk to.

  ‘I’ll find her,’ Georgia said confidently. ‘I’ll be in touch.’

  She ended the call. ‘My sister’s missing,’ Georgia told Nik. ‘Not even answering her phone. Mum’s freaking out. Can we look on Hastings Street on the way through?’

  ‘Mmm. That’s a worry,’ Nik mumbled. But he didn’t look worried about her at all. They were driving past the Tigers Football Club. Nik slowed the car to a crawl and peered into the darkness.

  ‘I think I see something back there!’ Nik whispered urgently. He pulled the c
ar off the road and onto the hard shoulder.

  ‘Nik! What are you doing?’

  ‘You wait here,’ he said, jumping out of the car. ‘I’m going to have a look around.’

  Georgia opened her door and got out of the car. ‘I’m not staying here on my own!’

  ‘Georgia, get in the car,’ Nik said. ‘You’ll be safer there.’

  She shook her head. She was way too scared to stay in the car by herself. Even though a small part of her was excited by the possibility of a medical emergency unfolding at the Tigers Football Club, the larger, saner part of her knew that any emergency was most likely to include her. ‘Call the police. Let them deal with it.’ Nik glared at her. ‘No way.’

  Georgia stared at Nik. What if he was wrong about these guys? They didn’t seem like novices to her. They tracked her down in the park; they found her in the bay. They knew Nik’s name. They seemed to know what they were doing. What was Nik going to do against a gang of thugs?

  ‘Don’t do this, Nik,’ she pleaded.

  ‘I’m not having them threaten you, Georgia.’ Nik looked back towards the football club. Whatever had caught his attention had gone. There was no movement anymore. Nik got back into the car and started the engine. ‘Get in. I’ll take you to the party.’

  Georgia was about to get into the Ferrari when a door slammed somewhere across the road. She froze.

  ‘Get down,’ Nik hissed. ‘It’s them.’

  Georgia ducked behind the Ferrari, peeking out the side. A black Mercedes appeared from out of the shadows. It rolled slowly to the side of the road, then suddenly the driver revved the engine, the wheels spun in the gravel and the car took off in a cloud of dust.

  Nik started the Ferrari. Georgia clambered in beside him.

  ‘Georgia! It’s too dangerous!’

  But there was nothing else for it. Nik couldn’t leave her standing by the side of the road. If he wanted to catch the Mercedes, he didn’t have a choice. And nor did she. Nik craned his neck to see which way the car was going. Georgia strapped herself in and Nik hit the accelerator.

  ‘Welcome to my world.’ Then he said something else but it was lost in the squeal of tyres as the car roared across the road in a U-turn, then howled down the road after the black Mercedes.