He was still struggling to come to terms with this shift in loyalty, but it was solidly there, and he acknowledged this with a grimace. It encompassed both Hera and Meredith, but mostly because anything affecting them would impact on Bede’s well-being. He probably needed to discuss this with Martin, but from the looks he’d intercepted, Martin already suspected. He hoped this wouldn’t cause any problems with his twin; they’d been inseparable since conception.
Gabriel quietly walked down the hall and out of the house. He took his phone from his pocket. There was information he needed now, and he really didn’t want anyone in the house to hear this conversation.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lucien is Stunned
Lucien was stunned, George dead, it didn’t seem possible. George had been one of his sparing partners for years. He hadn’t envisaged a violent end for George, not yet at least; in fact, it didn’t fit. There was more to this than appeared, so forcing himself to relax, he sat back and allowed his mind to drift.
With a glass of 20-year-old brandy in his hand, sitting in his favourite chair in his beautiful and comfortable living room, he closed his eyes; and using his surroundings to anchor himself, sank into a meditation. It was pure indulgence to have an open fire these days, but he found the heat soothing. Smiling gently to himself, he thought of his daughter constantly trying to bring him into the twenty-first century, trying to instil an awareness of the planet’s vulnerability. He was so proud of her, so beautiful, intelligent, and principled.
Staring into the fire, he listened to the crackle of the flames devouring the wood. He felt the warmth seeping gradually through his limbs, starting at his feet. He absently examined his feet, still allowing his mind to drift. His shoes were off, and he contemplated his socks, not matching, an affectation that had started years ago at university. That was where they’d all met; he, Justin, and George—the ‘terrible trio’. They had been known by that appellation since. There had been several others in their little group, hangers on, really, but the three of them had remained friendly competitors.
Those heady days of insanity at Charles University were still clear in his mind. The scams the three of them had pulled, the constant juggling for supremacy between them. They were all competitive, all highly intelligent, and all with the morals of an alley cat. Their constant competition around women in particular had been intense. As soon as one of them had found a new woman, the other two would move in, trying to seduce and undermine. Consequently over the years, he had learned to be very circumspect. Neither of the other two had any knowledge of his wife and daughter. He chuckled to himself briefly. He had learned very early in his career to keep his private life very private indeed. He made certain that neither Justin nor George had ever suspected how domestic his life now actually was, and neither of them had ever discovered where he really lived. They had tried over the years, but never succeeded.
He had accepted that he couldn’t trust either after the disaster with Justin’s fiancée. He had never known the full story. No one would ever discuss it, certainly not Justin, or his brother who was somehow involved. Justin had never really recovered. He denied this, of course, and always intimated it was something to do with his brother. But the facts were he had never married, and although over the years there had been many beautiful women hanging off him, he couldn’t or wouldn’t make a commitment to any of them. That family was riddled with jealousies and power struggles and had been for generations. Because of the Second World War, and the demise of most of his own family, he had a degree of autonomy that they had no concept of.
He thoughtfully took another sip of brandy. He remembered Justin’s fiancée. She had been a beauty, all long legs, startling blue eyes, and those cheekbones; she was the epitome of feminine beauty even within the Caruso-Kern family, and they were a startlingly good-looking lot.
George had fallen for her first, but in his arrogance, had frightened her. She had just arrived in Paris, a beautiful teenager, her parents were dead, and she and her brother were staying with relatives. But George, the alley cat, had tried something with her, and that brother of hers had beaten him almost senseless. George had never forgiven that one, but he’d backed off; then Justin, a few years later, predictably had moved in. What was her name? Meredith.
He never did learn the details of why that engagement had been broken. It was all so long ago, but George had been talking about it before he left, reminiscing like a lovesick schoolboy. Now George was dead, Justin was in Australia, and staying with the former fiancée and James’s daughters. One had to wonder about the timing of all this. George was devious and dangerous, as was Justin.
Over the years, Justin had managed to obscure most of his illegal activities from his family. But he managed to implicate George in some of those activities. The most significant was the Turner affair. Justin had been the original instigator of that one, but had arranged for George to run with it—of course expecting to receive a percentage of the profit. Justin must have known that it would fall apart. It had been an insane undertaking from the start. George had panicked when it started to unravel and had managed to implicate James. Stupid really, even he realised all those years ago that one didn’t mess with James. He was young, but there had never been anything weak or indecisive about him. All those qualities when young had coalesced into the James of today. He was a canny investor, quick, and determined with an almost supernatural ability to make money. He had no need to be involved in any underhand swindle even all those years ago.
George was clever and devious with a mind convoluted and mischievous. His schemes were always inventive and imaginative, but quite often badly executed. Justin was always there to rescue him and to subtly skim the top. But George had trusted Justin completely in their financial schemes, and George had been the perfect scapegoat for Justin. Lucien had often thought that Justin had secretly hated George. On the surface, Justin was the more successful, but George had the more creative mind. He was almost a genius in his analysis of people, and his ability to manipulate people and situations to his advantage.
So the question was why had George really gone to Australia? He had to have some scheme in hand. He hadn’t mentioned Edmondo when chatting about his latest schemes. In fact, he had been unusually circumspect, not even mentioning where he was heading. Lucien suspected Justin had no idea George had even left Europe. Why was he dead, Edmondo as well? For Christ’s sake what was it all about? It didn’t make much sense at this particular time. He could almost suspect Justin of finally disposing of him, but that didn’t fit either. If anything, Justin needed to keep George alive. For all his brilliance, George had never suspected Justin’s machinations.
He continued to gaze into the fire, speculating and thinking. It must have something to do with the past. Justin, George, and those twin nephews of Justin’s all in the one place, this definitely smacked of Family business.
Closing his eyes briefly, he couldn’t shake the conviction that he was missing something. There was a memory just out of reach. Finally drinking the last of his brandy, he got to his feet and moved to the stairs. Tomorrow, he would put some feelers out. He knew he was missing something vital, but in the meantime, his beautiful and gentle wife was waiting for him, warm and snug in bed.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Club
Justin was still sitting quietly, frowning at his own thoughts. Bloody hell, this development put his plans for George into total disarray. How dare the little shit get himself killed, and at this particular time too?
Martin, standing quietly, watched first Gabriel leave, and then Justin. Gabriel came back into the room and paused in the doorway. Martin raised his eyebrows in query and Gabriel nodded, they were in accord as usual. Justin was up to something.
The inspector and his sergeant had just left.
Bede suddenly stood up. ‘This is hopeless. I suggest we continue with our plans for lunch. We’ve all made our statements
. We can’t do anything here.’
Meredith, sitting quietly in an armchair, agreed. ‘Yes, we should all go. Damian go, and tell Pete we’re leaving in half an hour. There’ll be time for a swim and a late lunch. We’ll keep in touch with the inspector by phone.’ She got to her feet and moved to the door.
Bede was driving the big 4WD with Gabriel beside her and the other five comfortably in the back. Hera was holding forth on what she was planning for lunch. It would be an hour’s drive, but the three women didn’t think twice about it, treated it like a trip to the supermarket. Justin was uncharacteristically quiet, and Damian seemed to have fallen asleep.
Gabe, watching the landscape through the open window, was again mesmerised by the stark beauty, the space, and the rugged low-lying mountains on the horizon. The colours were not the colours of Europe. He catalogued them as they raced past grey, green, red, black, silver grey, ochre, deep purple, blue, deep green, but again, not the deep green of Europe, but a blue green very rich. He had an overwhelming desire to ask Bede to stop the car and walk toward those distant mountains. Across the flat plain, they were now transecting. The soil looked more like sand than soil, again a deep red, coarse, and gritty. A lot of iron ore in that soil, he thought to himself.
Leaning across to Bede, he murmured his desire to walk toward the mountains. She laughed gently. ‘Be very careful, Gabe, it’s the magic of the desert calling. Once you succumb, you’ll never be free. It’s calling to you.’ Just at that moment, a mob of red kangaroos streaked past, hopping in their strangely graceful, rhythmic movement that ate the distance, and a herd of feral camels fifty metres back from the road. He was enchanted.
‘What do you mean once you succumb?’
Bede glanced across at him. ‘Well’, she said with a decided twinkle, ‘it has been known for travellers to get out of their cars, leave them on the side of the road, and walk toward the mountains and just keep on walking.’ He snorted in disbelief. She turned to him. ‘Seriously, trackers have had to be called in to find them, it’s happened more than once. The trackers call it magic. I call it people being unhappy with their lives, and needing an excuse to opt out of life for a while. It’s very effective, but you had better not try it, or I’ll personally track you down and beat you.’
He looked across at her grinning, and to his astonishment, saw not a hint of humour in her face. She was deadly serious. He sat back in the seat, and gazed at her for several moments before speaking again. ‘You really are serious?’
‘It’s partly something to do with the isolation, I think, but there’s something else, another element, something almost mystical. Not to be ignored.’ She looked thoughtfully out of the widow. ‘The last guy, and it always seems to be guys, was an engineer stationed in Kalgoorlie. His wife had just left him, and he was driving back to Adelaide when he suddenly stopped the car and just walked into the desert. He was found after two days, and recovered nicely apparently, but it happens.’
Hera spoke up suddenly from the back seat, ‘Hey, you two, you’re being morbid. This is an excursion geared toward relaxation. Gabe, put some music on.’
Justin spoke, ‘Not some loud raucous modern stuff please, Gabriel, something classical. Beethoven would be nice.’
Martin snorted, Meredith sighed, and Hera giggled.
Gabriel, ruffling through the CD’s, said, ‘What about some of his piano concertos? There’s a disc here, you would probably approve of Jean-Bernard Pommier playing.’
‘Perfect,’ Justin relaxed.
Bede said quietly, ‘I don’t know where that came from, but it will keep Justin and Meredith happy.’ She called into the back seat, ‘Sorry Hera, Martin, and Damian, I think you’ll just have to put up with it.’ She chuckled, and Gabriel reached across and cupped his hand around the back of her neck, gently massaging. Bede sat back and concentrated on driving.
The rest of the trip passed in companionable silence.
The lunch was delicious, and the swim before, refreshing and relaxing. Hera had arranged for them all to go out on a friend’s sloop after lunch, but Justin declined, and then Meredith became involved in a game of bridge with several friends, so it was just the five of them joining the merry crew—all school friends of Bede and Hera on the halcyon for the afternoon. They enjoyed themselves enormously with Damian becoming the butt of much gentle ribbing, as he had never sailed before. Bede wondered in passing if there was anything Gabriel and Martin didn’t excel at. But there wasn’t the slightest arrogance in either of them, at least not that she’d seen yet.
It was a perfect day, the sky was clear, and the wind gentle, just enough to ensure a very pleasant afternoon. By the time they docked and wandered up to the clubhouse, they were all feeling mellow despite the dreadful shock earlier in the day. Justin signalled to them imperiously, as they entered the bar. He had obviously been waiting for them, and by the scowl on his face, he was irritated and waiting to take that irritation out on someone.
Gabriel turned back to Martin and murmured, ‘He’s not pleased about something, and we really need to find out what he’s actually doing here. Stay alert.’
Martin slapped him on the back and laughed aloud, as if they were still joking about something on the boat, then turning, waved to Justin and called, ‘We’ll just order some drinks for our hosts and then join you.’
Gabriel herded them all to the bar where Bede introduced him to the barman, David, another old school friend. Orders were called with gay abandon, and then they turned on mass to join Justin. He’d managed to smooth the scowl from his face as he stood to greet them all. Without any preamble, he stated, ‘Meredith is still playing bridge if you can believe it. She’s been at it for hours, and doesn’t seem inclined to finish in the near future. I thought we might make arrangements to have dinner here before we drive back.’
‘That’s fine with us.’ Gabriel turned and then caught sight of Damian’s face. He had lost colour and was rigid in his seat. Gabriel and Martin both turned to see what he was looking at when to their astonishment, Damian surged to his feet, charged across the room, and threw himself at the waiter who had just entered. He hit the man under the nose with the heel of his hand, and followed it up with a knee to the groin. The waiter went down without a sound, simply collapsed, and lay writhing on the floor, groaning, surrounded by broken glasses from the tray he dropped.
There was stunned surprise on the faces of all who had witnessed the incident. Damian was almost dancing in his excitement and rage. He yelled, ‘You fucking bastard, what are you doing here? Did you follow me?’
Drawing back, his foot was about to kick the writhing man when Gabriel strolled up and caught his arm, and drawing him away, spoke calmly. ‘Ah, Damian, he isn’t going anywhere, I assume this is one the crooks chasing you in Perth?’
Bede looked on in astonishment. Damian’s face was almost purple with rage, and he was shaking. She looked toward Gabe and realised he was completely relaxed, not shocked in any way; in fact, he looked almost amused by the incident. Glancing at Martin, she saw the same expression on his face. There were times she realised when she really didn’t know either of them. Hera, obviously stunned, had bounded to her feet and was now holding Damian’s arm trying to drag him away, while he was still snarling and muttering.
Damian turned back to Gabe. ‘Yes, this is the prick who broke my arm, beat me up, and drove me crazy. He’s the one that drove me into hiding. I think he’s got something to do with drugs.’ He got in another swift kick before Hera finally dragged him away.
Justin, looking around the room, spoke, ‘Well, Gabriel, I suggest you remove him somewhere more private before someone else comes in.’ He looked across at their friends, and David, the barman, all calmly watching the proceedings.
David murmured, ‘He’s an arrogant sod.’ And turning to Gabriel, ‘He has a friend who usually comes in around now for a drink. Tall, thin English chap, you might want to take him
out of here fairly quickly.’
Gabriel now grinned. ‘Thanks, friend, appreciate your help.’ He hauled the waiter to his feet, and he and Martin hustled him out of the lounge.
Hera was still trying to calm Damian down when their friend behind the bar slid a glass of brandy down the counter. ‘Damian, calm down and drink this, your friends seem to have him in control. Is the Pom involved with this as well? Because he’ll be here soon, you might want to make some plans.’
They were now all sitting around the table, and David brought the drinks over. Bede asked, ‘How long has he been working here, David? You obviously don’t like him much. What do you know about him?’
‘He’s just started working here in the last week or so, but he’s been around before. No, I don’t like him, he tried to chat up one of the girls, and turned nasty when she turned him down.’
‘You’ve been working here for months now. Were these two here when James died?’
‘No, I don’t think so, but I can’t really remember. They’ve both been asking questions about you lot, and particularly Damian. I don’t think anyone has said anything to them, but the Pom has been throwing money around, trying to find out what’s happening at your place.’ He paused for a moment then continued, ‘It’s not as if they could just turn up out there.’ He grinned, and turning to Damian, ‘That was great, you know, I’ve wanted to sock him for days now.’
Just then, Martin came back into the lounge and signalled Damian to join him and Gabe.
Justin turned to Bede and murmured, ‘Perhaps you should round Meredith up. I suspect we will be heading home instead of staying for dinner. Just give her a gentle hint perhaps. It’s been an interesting day.’
A Conundrum Page 18