“Sorry. Just on edge with what’s happened today. But no, I’m about to start a new project later this week. After spending a relaxing couple of weeks soaking in a Caribbean Island culture. I arrived here early to settle in and catch up with a few people before I started.”
“Nice,” he said, clearly envious. “Before that, what were you working on?”
“Just a quick bookkeeping job for a friend.”
“Bookkeeping?” Schultz raised an eyebrow. “Little below your pay grade.”
Emily chuckled. “I owed a friend a favor. Just helped them out for a few days while they found a new bookkeeper. And it helped get back into sync with the grass root fundamentals of accounting. After all, it’s what businesses are based on, aren’t they?”
Schultz looked at his cell phone then out to the garden. He seemed to be contemplating his next move. How to word it properly. Emily began to feel ill at ease as she watched him.
The detective standing at the base of the steps leading to the pergola stepped closer.
Emily shifted in her seat. She wiped her hot and clammy hands down her jeans.
“Okay, then.” Schultz looked down at his phone. “Explain this. A new project of yours?” He showed her a photo.
Chapter 21
Emily tried to grab the phone from Schultz, but he kept it just out of arm’s reach.
“Can I zoom in? It’s too small.”
“You don’t recognize it at all?”
She squinted, to show him she was studying the photo. But she’d already recognized it. The shades of black, white and gray were her apartment wall. A knot had developed in her stomach, twisting and turning.
While keeping a straight face, she replied, “Oh, that.” She waved it off. “Nothing big. It’s just a little side project I’ve been working on for the last few months. You know, to keep my research skills fresh in between jobs.”
“Looks like a little more than a side project.”
“You know me,” she shrugged. “Always learning. Always researching something trivial.”
“Only this,” Schultz waved his phone, “isn’t trivial. Is it?”
Emily looked away. She couldn’t look at him. They’d worked on many projects together. But she’d never seen the hurt on his face like he was showing now. It was like looking at the hurt on her father’s face when he’d learnt she’d betrayed him and his Chinese community.
“Our forensic team have started looking into your research.” Schultz continued. “They’ve advised me you’re in deep.”
“Don’t know why. It’s just your normal, straightforward unethical banking behavior. The boss is a conniving sleaze. He doesn’t care whom he destroys while he climbs the corporate ladder.”
“There’s more to this investigation than you’re telling me.”
“Not sure what you mean. I was following up on the increased media attention to the unethical banking behavior in the banking sector.”
“Do you know who has been trying to kill you today?”
“No idea. Right from the get-go, I’ve been targeted. They’ve shot at my apartment, and they shot at me ever since I left it after my sister was killed. If Brian hadn’t helped me get away, I’d be dead, as well.”
“Brian?” Schultz asked.
“Yeah. Brian. Brian Chalmers.”
“Brian Chalmers?”
On edge, Emily looked around her, up and down the street. Ensuring the hunters hadn’t caught up with her.
A man similarly suited to Schultz approached from the Nicholson Street side.
Emily eyed the man up and down, her eyes narrowed. Her legs automatically positioned themselves to flee if needed.
He flashed his badge.
Emily relaxed a little but kept her eye on him as he whispered into Schultz’s ear.
Schultz’s eyes saddened as he turned to face Emily.
“Emily,” Schultz said. “We need to take you into protective custody.”
On her feet, she waved her hands in front of her. “I am not going down that track. I’ve worked too damn hard to get my career to where it is today.”
“You’re in grave danger. You thought Sydney was bad. This will be nothing if they get their hands on you.”
“I... I don’t understand.” Emily placed her hands on her hips.
“Check your phone,” the detective advised Schultz.
Schultz clicked on the notification and showed Emily another photo.
Her mouth dropped open. Brian? “He’s a criminal? But-”
“Yes, last arrested ten years ago.”
“Ten years ago? He still looks like that now. I even thought him too young to be studying for a masters degree. And what’s with that surname, Alchez, on his arrest plate?”
“The name he gave you, Brian Chalmers, is one of his alternate identities.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“He’s never been enrolled in a University degree, short or long. Heck, he didn’t even finish high school. He dropped out at sixteen,” Schultz informed her.
Emily couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The man who’d gone out of his way to protect her earlier was a criminal.
“But... He said he’s studying cybersecurity. He seemed to know a bit about computers. More than your average Joe.”
“That’s because he’s a hacker.”
“A hacker?”
“Freelance,” the other detective stepped in. “Hacker for hire, for anyone willing to pay his seemingly outrageous fee. His clients have ranged from large corporations wanting to get leverage against staff all the way through to the black market, assisting gangs and dealers to clean their funds.”
Emily’s blood boiled as her frustrations built. She didn’t want to listen to them accusing her savior. Incensed, she paced back and forth under the pergola, hands on her hips.
“I don’t understand. Why did he save me?”
“Did he?” the detective asked.
“Yeah.” Emily snapped around to face the detective. She stared at him. “When that lunatic gunman let loose outside my apartment, he got me out of there.”
“Okay, then.” The detective nervously shifted his feet. “How did the gunman keep finding you?”
“We were constantly on the run. The men were always hot on our heels.” Emily paused for a moment before something clicked in her mind. She looked at Schultz. “I’d think we’d lost them but then... Out of the blue, they would appear, hot on our heels.”
Schultz looked up at the detective, who, without any change of expression, nodded. It appeared they were talking telepathically – even though Emily knew that wasn’t possible.
“We’ve been investigating Brian for the last five years.” Schultz turned to Emily, his face solemn. “Soon after his release from a shortened prison term, he resumed his services. He was quiet for the first few months, doing low-key corporate projects. Then he went dark, about six years ago. Since then we’ve arrested him many times but the charges never stuck. Some politician would always step in, and then the charges were dropped, no explanation, just disappeared. He would be a free man again.”
“Then how on earth did you manage to arrest him ten years ago?” Emily demanded.
“He was sloppy,” the other detective said. “He was young and naïve. At that time, he hadn’t learnt to hide his digital trail yet.”
“What doesn’t make sense,” Emily said, “is what he was doing in my apartment building. It’s a carded system. You can’t get into the elevators without your card.”
“We don’t have an answer yet. We didn’t even know, till just now, that Brian was in the city. He’s usually lurking in one of the suburbs near the city’s airports.”
“Why aren’t they using him to hack my bank accounts, my emails?”
“They’ve probably already done that.”
“You might be right,” Emily mused. “My TV was playing up when the breaking news headline was televised. The one for that hostage situation at the Bank of Victoria. I didn
’t think much of it at the time. Just chalking it off to dodgy digital reception.”
“We need to get some uniforms,” Schultz said looking up at the other detective. “Get them to secure the apartment. I need that apartment searched in its entirety. Bag anything that doesn’t belong in there, especially anything that looks like it could’ve been used to survey the apartment.” The detective stepped away to make the necessary phone calls.
Schultz returned his attention to Emily. His face had softened, no longer rigid and stern.
“We’ve received intel...” His voice lowered. “Brian’s been working solely with a Chinese syndicate for the last six months.”
“O-kay.”
“In the last few days, our computer techs-”
“Legalized hackers.”
“Computer techs.” Schultz smiled but his smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. He continued, “They’ve made some startling discoveries.”
“As one may expect — it’s their job.”
“How long have you been investigating your current case?”
“My current case? I’m about to start one. That’s why I’m back in town.”
“No. The one all over your kitchen table and wall.”
“Oh, that one. A little while. Just in my off time.”
“Our computer techs have been making similar connections.”
“Okay. But lately I haven’t made much headway. I still haven’t worked out how they’re all connected.”
“The missing connection,” the other detective said, returning to their conversation, “is that it’s led us to believe the lead investor in the Chinese-led international syndicate is in bed with the head honcho at Bank of Victoria.”
“Andrew? Cook?”
“That’s him. Brian has been working his magic with this syndicate.”
“That... That’s why he seemed to know a lot about Andrew, most of which hasn’t been in the headlines.” Emily couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. It was starting to make sense. “Do you think...? No, it can’t be.” Emily shook her head.
“That Brian is in bed with the men who were after you two today?”
“Yeah, but that’s ludicrous.”
Emily was still in denial. She still couldn’t properly comprehend it all and was finding it hard to believe that someone would double-cross, deliberately put someone’s life in danger as well as their own.
“Maybe not. We’re only going where the leads send us.”
“So, what if I jump on the next plane outta here and lay low for a while?” Emily asked.
“This syndicate... They’re dark. Hands in many pockets across the globe. It’d be hard to find a place that hasn’t been infiltrated by this gang.”
“I’m sure I could find somewhere.”
“Have they made any demands? Requested anything?”
Emily thought about it. The only thing she’d received was a set of co-ordinates. “Nothing. Only this set of co-ordinates.”
Emily pulled out her phone and brought up on the screen what Brian had sent her. Schultz read it before handing it to his other colleague.
“He was sending you into Chinatown?” the detective asked.
“Yeah. I was near there earlier, but the pursuers were right behind me. Brian told me I’d be looked after. I’d be given protection and anything else I’d need.”
“Protection? You need to stay away from there.”
“Why?”
Emily’s question went unanswered. The detective pointed his finger at her, indicating to be quiet, while he made a phone call, speaking in what she believed was Mandarin.
Even though her Chinese was rough, she tried to make out his end of the conversation. He wasn’t giving much away, just kept looking down at her phone and quite likely passing on details she’d just relayed to them moments before.
There was silence, then her phone was handed back to her. She stared at the screen until the screen turned itself off.
Something didn’t feel right. The city felt like it was closing in around her.
Looking up, she asked Schultz, “Are we finished?” Her hand closed around her cell phone at the same time.
Chapter 22
Squealing tires made Emily jump. She turned around to face the direction of the disturbance while instinctively inching back to the farthest part of the pergola.
A car was drifting from Bourke Street into Spring Street. Two more cars followed, drifting as well as they navigated the corner and accelerating as they straightened.
Schultz and his colleague jumped into action, guns pointing at the oncoming cars.
More of their colleagues appeared out of nowhere — two more plain-clothes and a dozen uniforms. A uniformed officer was calling the incident in as he approached the assembling officers.
Schultz and his colleagues were soon gathered along the one-way entrance into Spring Street. Emily turned towards Nicholson Street. No one was positioned there.
The cars were now half a block away and approaching fast.
Emily looked around. A few women screamed and ran away from the hotspot but most people were absorbed in their own lives, headphones and cell phones to notice what was going on around them.
Unable to find any more undercovers, she stepped out from under the pergola and sought protection on the other side of the concrete wall, beneath the young weeping willows.
Crouched low, Emily listened as the cars neared.
Peeking carefully over the wall, she saw the front car had its rear passenger window wound down. What looked like a barrel was sticking out of the car. She caught a glimpse of the passenger — who was sporting a similar scar as the gunman who’d chased her earlier.
Can’t be!
She dropped out of sight behind the wall just as gun fire erupted. Around her people screamed and began running around like ants in a disrupted ants’ nest.
Crouching, she scurried along the concrete wall to the other end. She stopped about a meter from the end, right before the solid wall gave way to narrow columns of concrete, like cell bars.
The gunfire stopped and the first car began to burn rubber.
Through the gaps in the wall, Emily caught another glimpse of the passenger as the car passed her. It sped away, not even slowing down for the red traffic light, cutting straight through the intersection.
How did they find me here?
About ten seconds of silence later, a second set of gunfire erupted.
Second car, Emily thought.
She watched the detectives as they continued to fire back. Their firearms were no match against the shooters. Some detectives fell, clutching their wounds. One fell where Emily had been standing only moments before.
A third set of gunfire started before the second car had passed her. This one wasn’t burning rubber; they were just getting out of there.
In the distance, Emily heard sirens. They were still a long way away.
Rapid gunfire replaced the screams. Car brakes squealed as they suddenly needed to swerve around pedestrians running every which way.
The unwounded detectives and nearby passersby began attending to the fallen. Some had phones in their hands, probably talking to the emergency services or their loved ones.
Emily looked after the cars that had sped off. Other than the wounded, there wasn’t any evidence they’d been there.
She scanned the scene. Her eyes settled on what she was certain was Schultz’s back, his curly locks resting on his collar. Relieved he didn’t appear injured, she slipped from the garden and onto the busy Nicholson Street.
In front of her were at least four lanes of traffic, with a two-lane tram line segregating the two directions of traffic flow. To her left was a tram stop and an empty line, the other direction empty as well.
On the other side of the street, a high wrought-iron fence bordered off a lush lawn area. Scanning the fence line towards the tram stop and a busy intersection, she noticed an opening half way along.
Down the righ
t side of the fence she saw another opening, and through it a path running parallel to the tall vegetation. But it was within the detectives’ line of sight, and there was no cover between her position and the park.
No, it was too risky. They’d be looking for her in a matter of minutes, and the cavalry would follow a few minutes behind them. She needed to get away. Now.
She surveyed the park area again. It was also very open, but it was a direct route to the adjoining street.
Behind her, everyone was still busy. Emily walked across the street at a normal pace so as not to attract unwanted attention.
She let out a small sigh of relief when she made it across unnoticed but didn’t stop. She walked directly to the park entrance. A tram pulled up at the nearby tram stop as she walked through the gates.
Perfect timing, Emily thought. She couldn’t see the oriental garden or the detectives.
The enormity of the open space hit Emily as she began to walk across the park, keeping to the center of the footpath. It was open, with a few trees near the fence line and the rest set to grass.
Looking around, she spotted a group of Asian tourists approaching from behind, who were taking photos of everything and hadn’t noticed her walking slowly.
Slowing her walking pace more, she pulled out her cell phone and stared at her black screen while watching them out of the corner of her eye.
The group took up the entire width of the footpath and pushed Emily around as they passed her. Biting her lip, she kept her head down.
As the last of the group passed, she walked in sync with them, moving from the center of the path to the left side of the group, the opposite side to Nicholson Street.
Gradually making her way up the side of the group, she pulled a loose set of headphones from one of the tourists’ bags and continued walking a little faster, until she was just in front of them, just enough to look like she was still part of their group.
So far so good.
They were so wrapped up in each other’s chatter and the photos on their devices they hadn’t even noticed her.
Emily lost her cover when the group stopped at a water feature positioned about half way along the footpath. She contemplated staying with them, using their cover, but she couldn’t afford to stay in one area for too long.
The Analyst (Emily Lee Series Book 1) Page 7