“I guessed that,” Ryan said and pressed the call button. While they waited he folded his arms and shuffled his feet, feeling a bit edgy again. He hoped the elevator was empty when it arrived. It wasn’t. The doors slid open to reveal a man in his fifties standing inside. He was staring down at a clipboard and glanced up when the elevator stopped on the ground floor.
“Going down, gents?” the man quizzed, his tone light and friendly.
“Yep,” Jack said and stepped inside without a moment’s hesitation.
Ryan followed him in and the doors closed with a gentle hiss. Jack pressed the button for basement level two. The scientist was traveling down to level three. Both Ryan and Jack turned to face the doors.
“How’s your day going?” the man asked them, hopefully just indulging in small talk.
“Good,” was all Ryan could think of to say without inciting further conversation.
“Making good headway on some important discoveries, I hope?”
“Always,” Jack replied.
There was a soft chime as the elevator eased to a stop. The doors opened. Both Jack and Ryan nodded farewell to the scientist and hurried off to the left.
“I’m glad we’re out of there,” Ryan said. “The last thing I want is to get questioned.”
“I know. You’ve said that already,” Jack reminded him. He eyed Ryan curiously and said softly, “You sure you enjoy being a PI?”
Ryan shrugged. “It’s a job, and it has its freedoms. I don’t like every part of it, though. Especially this kind of thing.”
Maybe he could buy himself a new career when he cashed Selena’s cheques, he thought as they purposefully wandered the hallways underground.
They passed labs on either side, the workers all going about their business and paying Ryan and Jack no attention whatsoever. That was good. The corridors were lit with stark fluorescent lighting. The walls were painted white, the tiles on the floor were white and everything looked rather sterile. Which was how it was meant to be. The air was filled with a cocktail of smells and Ryan couldn’t distinguish a single one of them.
“Do you know where we’re going?” he asked his friend.
“Of course.” They went left at the next intersection and Jack slowed to a crawl. He whispered, “His office is just over there on the right.”
Ryan looked across the hall where a white painted door was emblazoned with gold lettering that said Doctor Marlon Becker. The door was shut. It had no glass in it and there were no windows through which to peer into Becker’s office.
“I wonder if he’s inside?” Ryan said under his breath.
“One way to find out,” Jack said.
Ryan grabbed him by the wrist. “You can’t just go knocking on the door. If he’s in there and he answers, what are we going to say? We’ll just get thrown out of here for being imposters.”
Jack grinned and pulled one of his little electronic gizmos from his pocket. “Who said anything about knocking?”
He switched it on and a tiny screen lit up. Jack waved the gizmo over the door and then the wall, watching the screen the entire time. After about thirty seconds he nodded, seemingly satisfied.
“What?” Ryan said. “What’s that thing do?”
“It’s a very powerful infrared heat sensor,” Jack explained. “The office is empty. If there was anyone inside, patches of red and yellow would have appeared on the screen.”
He grinned again, causing Ryan to smile. “I’m impressed. Where the hell do you get this gear?”
“I have my sources.”
“And plenty of money, obviously.”
“That’s why you’re paying me so well to help you out. I have access to things that you don’t, or can’t afford.”
Ryan moved over to the door and tried the knob. Locked.
Jack nudged him aside. “Keep an eye out.”
He’d taken another device from his pockets. It was a small rectangular piece of equipment with a keypad, a tiny LCD screen, and had a swipe card attached to it that dangled from a retractable cord. Beside Becker’s door was a slot to swipe an access card. Ryan watched as Jack went to work with his machine. It appeared to scan the electronics of the slot until it came up with the correct code. When it hit pay dirt there was a tiny beep. Jack swiped the card through the slot and a green light appeared on a console just above it. He nodded to Ryan, who tried the doorknob again. It opened and they entered Becker’s office, quickly closing the door behind them.
The first thing Ryan noticed was the vast array of certificates, diplomas and accolades that decorated the walls. There had to be over fifty of them. He couldn’t work it out. The doctor resided in Brisbane and worked out of three locations for the Institute. Did he take his certificates and awards with him everywhere he went? Or did he just have so many that he spread them out through all his offices?
Apart from the accolades the room was furnished with an L-shaped, glass top desk with stainless steel frame. On the desk was a computer with several large widescreen monitors attached to it by electronic umbilical cords. There was the mandatory mouse and keyboard, several printers, a fax machine, filing cabinet and a potted plant in the corner behind the desk. How the plant got enough light to stay alive down here, Ryan had no idea. He also had no idea what sort of plant it was, but obviously one that thrived on artificial light rays. It sure looked healthy enough.
“I’ll go through the filing cabinet while you get to work hacking his computer system,” Ryan said.
The filing cabinet had two drawers and it wasn’t locked. He opened the top drawer and commenced sifting through the contents.
Jack, meanwhile, was busy hooking up another electronic device to Becker’s computer. He attached it via a USB port and programmed the machine to do its thing. Whatever that entailed.
Ryan just concentrated on his own task and let Jack handle all complex electronics. He pulled out a file that caught his interest and placed it on top of the cabinet, where he went through its contents one page at a time. He still didn’t really know what he was looking for, but just figured he would photograph anything that he thought might interest Selena. By the time he’d gone through the file he hadn’t had the urge to pull his camera out of his pocket. Ryan replaced it and kept searching. In the end the top drawer proved to be full of paperwork that was irrelevant to the task. He quietly closed it, squatted down and opened the lower drawer.
“I’m in,” Jack announced, an edge of excitement to his voice.
“Awesome. Just copy anything and everything and we’ll sift through it once we’re out of here.”
Ryan felt tingles of nerves travelling through him. He had a feeling that what he was after would more likely be on the computer somewhere than in this filing cabinet. However, he continued to diligently go through the bottom drawer until he was sure there was nothing there. Just as he closed the drawer and stood up, Ryan heard footsteps approaching down the hallway outside. He held his breath and so did Jack. The footsteps didn’t slow and continued on past the door to Becker’s office. Ryan exhaled and sucked in some air as relief swept over him.
“How much longer?” he said to Jack.
“A couple more minutes.”
Ryan tried to wait patiently for Jack’s device to finish downloading files. He paced the floor, feeling agitated. With nothing to do himself, that couple of minutes really crawled by.
“Done,” Jack announced and quickly detached his device and pocketed it.
“Finally.” Ryan let out a sigh of relief.
Jack said, “It didn’t take that long.”
“It seemed like a long time.” He nodded towards the door. “Let’s get out of here.”
Ryan paused with his ear against the door. When he heard no footsteps in the corridor outside, he opened it and cautiously peered left and right. All clear. He stepped out, followed by Jack, who closed the door behind him. Ryan let Jack lead the way back to the elevators, where they rode an empty one up to the ground floor. The pair exited the buildin
g the way they’d come in and quickly made for the car park.
“Hopefully we’ve got what you need,” Jack said and started the car. He got out his pack of cigarettes. “Smoke?”
Ryan waved him away. “No thanks.”
Thirty
Ryan was on a plane late that afternoon heading back to the Gold Coast. Over lunch he and Jack had quickly perused the files Jack’s device had downloaded from Becker’s computer. There was definitely some useful information on there. Jack made copies onto a USB stick for Ryan and, at Ryan’s request, deleted everything from his device.
The plane landed at Gold Coast Airport around four thirty and by the time he’d hailed a taxi and ridden all the way back to Surfers Paradise through peak hour traffic, it was nearly six and twilight was setting in.
He entered the foyer and pressed the call button for the elevator, which he rode to the twentieth floor. When he entered his apartment the first thing he saw was Chelsea standing out on the balcony. He dumped his bag on the floor and went out to her.
“Since when did you start smoking?” he demanded and took the cigarette from her.
She scowled at him and said defiantly, “Since when did you become my parent?”
He stabbed the cigarette out in an ashtray. “Smoking’s bad for you, Chelsea.”
“Just following the example of my big brother. You smoke. Or did you forget?”
“I’m trying to quit. Since when do you copy what I do anyway? You usually try to do the exact opposite.”
“And I am still.” She grinned without humour. “You’re trying to quit so I’m taking it up.”
Ryan shook his head. He could never win a verbal battle with his sister.
“You go to school today?” He asked the question but already knew the answer.
“Nope. I’m never going back. I’m loving my life just as it is. I even have a boyfriend now.”
“Really? Who is he?”
“You don’t know him. He’s new in town. He’s nineteen and really cool.”
“Well, being cool is the most important thing,” Ryan said sarcastically.
“Something you wouldn’t know about,” Chelsea said and lit another cigarette. She inhaled deeply and deliberately blew a dense cloud of smoke in Ryan’s face. He waved it away.
“When do I get to meet this boyfriend?”
Chelsea shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe you will, maybe you won’t. We’ll see.”
“Why are you such a smart-arse to me?”
“Just seems to come naturally when you’re around.”
Ryan shook his head. Chelsea always managed to frustrate him.
“What are you doing tonight?” he wanted to know.
“I’m meeting up with Travis.”
“Is that the boyfriend?”
“Well done, Mr Detective. You figured it out all by yourself.”
“Where are you going?”
“Dunno. Probably for a drive in his car. We haven’t made plans.”
He was direct. “Are you sleeping with him?”
Chelsea’s features darkened. “That’s none of your business, Ryan!” she snapped. “Do I ask you who you’re sleeping with?”
“No, but I’m an adult.”
“Well, so am I.”
“Not quite. You’re only seventeen.”
“Old enough to do what I want. And I’m not jail bait anymore.”
“So you are sleeping with him.”
“I didn’t say that. I wouldn’t tell you if I was or I wasn’t. You should know that by now. I don’t communicate with you, Ryan, except to argue with you.”
“So it seems, Chelsea. Though why we can’t be civil to one another, I don’t know.”
“You do know. I’ve told you why I’m bitter towards you.” She blew more smoke in his direction.
When the haze cleared, Ryan looked over the myriad of highrise buildings, where numerous lights now burned in the windows. Beyond, the ocean was a deep shade of navy blue, matching the colour of the darkening sky. Stars were already visible to break up the monotony.
“Are you ever going to forgive me?” he said eventually, still looking out towards the sea.
She shrugged and continued to smoke.
“I didn’t kill them, Chelsea. You know that. I know you blame me because they were rushing down to see me, but I didn’t kill them. It was an accident.”
“We’ve been through all this before, Ryan.”
Ryan stared hard at his sister a moment. “I know.”
And then he walked away and went into his bedroom. He took the USB stick from his pocket and started his computer. When it was up and running he plugged in the memory stick and copied all the hacked files to his hard drive. He then busied himself reading through some of them. Even though it was all written in English, it may as well have been another language as far as Ryan was concerned. He couldn’t comprehend any of it. If he wanted to decipher it, then he would need to employ the expertise of someone in the know.
He sat there staring at the computer screen and tugging at his ear. He was curious as to what this was all about. Sure, he could just give Selena the files and, if it was what she was looking for, collect his money. But he was a detective by nature and that meant he wanted to know answers and to understand.
Ryan quickly typed up an email, briefly explaining what he wanted to know and sent it off to a friend of his who worked in pathology. He didn’t attach any files at this stage and even offered to pay her to look over them and explain them to him in layman’s terms.
After removing the USB stick from his computer, he sat there and contemplated calling Selena Thorne. Before doing that he decided to take a shower and freshen up a bit. That was followed by a shave and a splash of cologne, after which he dressed in charcoal jeans and a white button-up shirt.
It was approaching seven o’clock when he picked up his mobile phone and called Selena’s number. He arranged to meet her at Bliss in an hour, then hung up. She’d sounded quite excited that he had some information for her, and he found himself feeling excited on two counts: He was about to see her, and he was about to get paid.
Before leaving to head up town, Ryan checked his emails to see whether he’d had any reply from his friend yet. There was nothing but a couple of bits of junk mail.
In the kitchen he grabbed a snack. While he was eating Chelsea came out of her room dressed in jeans and a short-sleeved red top. She walked out the front door without saying a word. Obviously off to meet the boyfriend. Ryan headed downstairs soon after and took his time walking into town. The night air was humid and he didn’t want to work up a sweat. As he strode along the mall he adjusted his hair and clothing, something he did again as he climbed the stairs to Bliss Night Club.
It was only early and a Wednesday night, so the place was all but empty. He approached the barman and was told Selena was in her office. Ryan went round behind the bar, through the storage area and knocked on the office door.
“Come in,” Selena’s silken voice answered.
Ryan entered and closed the door behind him. Once more Selena was dressed in black, only tonight she had her hair tied back in a ponytail with a crimson ribbon. The splash of colour looked good on her. She stood up from her desk and greeted him with a bright smile. He shook her gloved hand and took a seat opposite her. From a pocket in his jeans he removed the memory stick and laid it on the desk. Selena picked it up and examined it a moment. Then, without a word, she plugged it into her computer and downloaded the files from it. Ryan sat there patiently while she perused the files, which took quite a while. Eventually she nodded.
“Did you make copies of these?” she interrogated.
“No,” he lied and hoped she didn’t see through him.
“Did anyone else make copies?”
“No.” That part was true. “Is it what you were looking for?”
“I think so,” she said, her brow furrowed. “But I’m no expert on this sort of thing. I’ll need to have someone else look it over first befo
re I can confirm that.”
“And payment?”
“Once I’ve confirmed it’s what I need, then payment will be made in full.” She looked hard at him across the desk, her dark eyes very intense. Ryan found he couldn’t look away. “If I need more information, then I’ll need you to go and get it for me. Either way, once I have what I want, you’ll get paid.”
“When will you know?”
“I should know by tomorrow night.”
Ryan nodded. He could wait until then.
The urge to ask her out on a date flashed through his mind, but he refrained from voicing the invitation. Jack’s words echoed in his brain, suggesting he wait until after he’d been paid. It was the best idea. He could wait a bit longer for a date, too, he decided. He looked for bulges on her fingers beneath the gloves, any telltale signs of a ring on her wedding finger. There didn’t appear to be rings on any of her fingers. Didn’t mean she was single, though. She may have a boyfriend. Should he ask her? Not yet. Too obvious.
“I’ll be in touch when I’ve had this information looked over,” Selena said in a tone that suggested it was time for Ryan to leave.
He said goodbye and left the office and the club. He walked over to the beach and stood there staring out over the dark ocean for a few minutes. That vibe that he and Selena had shared on their first few meetings seemed to have disappeared now. Suddenly she was all business and it showed in her demeanor. Maybe asking her out was a bad idea.
But then again, what did he have to lose?
Thirty One
After sitting at a cafe with a coffee for a while and people watching, Ryan went back home and immediately checked his emails. The reply he was waiting for was there.
Ryan had had a brief fling with pathologist Angela Cartwright several years ago after seeking her assistance on a case he was working on at the time. It was a very casual affair and didn’t last very long. However, they’d parted company on amiable terms and had remained friends.
He shot off another email to her, this time attaching Becker’s files, and hit send. Angela replied again ten minutes later and said she would be in touch probably sometime tomorrow to let him know what it was all about. Now it was just a matter of waiting to see what her interpretations were.
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