Times of Trouble

by Victoria Rollison

  The nurse seemed to exhale as he disappeared, and then said conspiratorially, in as quiet a voice as could be heard: ‘I can’t show you the file, but I can look at it for you. Just don’t ever tell anyone. Ok?’

  We nodded, again in unison. She opened the file on her lap, and quickly looked through it. She then grabbed a post-it note from the desk, and scribbled some words on it. Closing the file, she didn’t look up from her desk as she handed the note to me. It said: ‘Referral: Dr Cheng, Paediatrics Department, Royal North Shore Hospital’. Charlie was sent to a specialist! Hooray! Another lead! I was sure Sophie would have kept the specialist’s appointment. If Charlie was that sick she would have done what the doctor advised. Liam and I smiled at the nurse, hoping she understood our gratitude, knowing words might get her in trouble.

  We raced back to the car, and Liam asked me to look up the hospital in the street directory. It was back where we’d just been, not far from the harbour. Liam’s foot hit the accelerator hard as I told him where to go. Was it possible we were actually getting somewhere? I wanted to believe we were. I didn’t have to ask how Liam felt. His look of determination told me he wanted to believe this too.

  Chapter 17

  As Vince swam closer in to the shoreline, he could see Melissa standing on the deck. She looked like she was waving his phone. Did she want him to speak to someone? Why didn’t she bring it down onto the beach for him? There was plenty of coverage. He clenched his fists in anger, assuming she was too lazy to cross the sand dunes, or that she would say the dinner was going to burn, or offer some other equally pathetic excuse. She knew his evening swim was his favourite time to have a break, to get away from the laptop and the phone. What could be so important that it needed his attention now? It better be an emergency, or there would be hell to pay. Even good news wouldn’t be worth the interruption. He grabbed his towel and moved slowly towards the house, his steps sinking heavily into the soft sand, making his calves strain under his huge frame.

  She still had the phone in her hand as he stepped onto the deck. She looked frightened as he glared at her, snatching the mobile from her.

  ‘What is it?’ he asked as she flinched, stepping away from his mood.

  ‘I was going to bring it down onto the beach, but I wasn’t sure if you’d want to talk to him down there. It’s Jared. He said he needs to speak to you urgently.’ She stepped back inside, eager to avoid his irritation.

  He put the phone to his ear. ‘What is it Jared? I was having a swim.’

  ‘Sorry, but you need to hear this. I’ve got some good news and some bad. I’ll start with the bad’. Jared knew how to communicate with his boss. Quickly and concisely. Without opinion, without assumptions. Just the bare facts, then wait for instructions. Vince grunted, waiting for him to go ahead.

  ‘The bad news is that our little accountant friend has been talking to the cops. We got a tip off that he’s been arrested.’

  ‘What for?’

  ‘God knows, but the cops are definitely interested in him.’

  This was bad news. Extremely bad news. It had obviously been a mistake not to get rid of him. He didn’t know much, but anything he did know was too much. The boys had got some of the information they needed from him, but had left him alive in case he came up with anything else. The last thing they needed was police sniffing around. Even so, there was no way to link anything the accountant knew with any of his activities.

  ‘And the good news?’

  Jared was keen to start talking again. ‘Our men in Sydney believe they have sighted Molly. They were hanging around the hotel where the other girl was staying, and she walked into the reception. She didn’t book a room. Just spoke to the man behind the desk. They are sure it was her. She’s lost a bit of the glam, but that’s no surprise. After she left the hotel, she got into a car. A man was driving. They didn’t get a good look at him, and they weren’t able to follow. But they got the licence plate of the car, and it’s registered to a Grant Morley at 47 Victoria St, Newtown. They’ve just been there now, but no one’s home.’

  ‘Did they go in?’

  ‘No. There were neighbours in the front yard next door, and no back access. They‘re going to keep an eye on the place, wait for her to come back. I think we’ve got her boss. I’ll call back with an update as soon as I hear from them.’

  This was good news. Extremely good news. And if he did ring back tonight with a report that they had been successful, the police wouldn’t be a problem after all. It would be nice not to have to pay to find her too. This whole mess could be put to bed and never thought of again.

  ‘Don’t forget to remind them of their instructions. She is to be taken without injury, and handed over to the crew that is set up to go. Unfinished business. I want to make the most of her.’

  Jared confirmed he understood, and promised to make this clear to his men.

  ‘And one more thing, I’m trashing this sim card. My new number will be messaged to you. Keep me updated.’

  He hung up, and stared out at the final moments of the sunset. Then he opened the clip on the back of his phone, and took out the sim card. He crunched it between his teeth for a few moments, and then spat it into the sand, burying it with his foot. He could smell his dinner cooking, so he went inside.

  ‘Babe, come here will you. We need to go back over the procedure for answering my phone.’

  Chapter 18

  The roads were nearly free of traffic as I carefully directed Liam towards the hospital. He was still speeding, making navigation a challenge. We finally pulled into the car park, after missing the entrance, and having to circle the block. There was a chance that the hospital could be a dead end, but we were both high on adrenalin.

  ‘Do you want me to run in, while you to find a park?’

  ‘No, we’ll go in together. There’s no point separating now.’

  The car park lift was frustratingly slow, and brought us out into a reception area with arrows pointing to what seemed like hundreds of different departments and wards. Liam glanced at the note Kylie had given us, and scanned the list for the Paediatrics department.

  ‘Level 4…’

  Just as we were about to run towards the lift, a nurse stepped in front of us, and asked if we needed any help.

  ‘We’re looking for Paediatrics. We have to see Dr Cheng,’ I blurted out.

  We must have looked so panicked she assumed we were visiting our sick child. She looked at us with the sort of pity that nurses must use every day, and directed us down the corridor, to another lift area, and up to level four. A sign above two large swing doors pointed us in the direction of Paediatrics, and we finally got to a nursing station, with a nurse sitting behind it.

  Liam hurried forward. ‘Is Dr Cheng here? We urgently need to see him. It’s about our… nephew…Charlie. He was referred here on Saturday… Can you tell us if he is still here?’

  I realised there were going to be the same privacy issues as at the medical centre, but Liam hadn’t considered this.

  ‘Dr Cheng isn’t working at the moment,’ the nurse explained. ‘But I can tell you if a patient is still here. What was the name?’

  Liam didn’t hesitate. ‘Charlie Patterson’.

  The nurse obediently checked her records.

  ‘Here he is. He wasn't admitted…’

  Shit. Dead end. Liam didn’t hide his frustration, covering his face with his hands in an effort not to scream. The nurse looked at us, puzzled as to why we were visiting a patient who had never stayed in the hospital. I jumped in before she could ask any questions.

  ‘We’re really worried about Charlie. He’s my nephew, and my sister is a bit unstable. We want to make sure he’s ok. Are they due back for a check up at all?’

  I was doing my best to act flustered and afraid, hoping the nurse would take pity on us. She was still looking at the screen.

  ‘He should be fine, he’s having a home visit every two days for the next week to make sure the croup is clearing up…�
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  ‘Home visit?’ Liam chipped in.

  He turned to me and said: ‘Do you think she’s living at Shane’s, or at her place in Dee Why?’

  I quickly caught on to what he was doing. I shook my head and then looked at the nurse.

  ‘We don’t know whether she’s gone back to her boyfriend. He beats her up, but she never stays away for long…’

  The nurse looked like she didn’t want to get involved. Before I could think of anything else to say, Liam lent over the desk, and pulled the computer screen around to face us. The nurse yelped, and tried to grab it back, but Liam needed more time to read the page. I grabbed the woman by the wrist, and tried to twist her away from the computer. She struggled, and opened her mouth to shout, but I let go before she had time to say anything. Liam had the information he needed, and he bolted from the desk. I chased after him, not looking back to see if anyone was following. The lift doors were opening for someone else as we rounded the corner, and threw ourselves in.

  ‘5/89 Beach Parade, Dee Why… it was on the notes… you’ve got to help me remember, I don’t have a pen…’ He only had to tell me once; the address was now imprinted on my brain.

  ‘It’s not the fake address It must be where she is… if the nurse is booked to visit she must still be there…’ I puffed, doing my best to keep up with him as he sprinted towards the car park.

  The journey down the car park levels was far too fast and, at times, quite scary. But I wasn’t going to complain, as long as Liam could control the car, and didn’t get pulled over for speeding. We were on our way back to Dee Why, and I couldn’t think of a reason why Sophie wouldn’t be there.

  ‘I can’t believe she’s living in a flat. How on earth did she manage that?’ I asked.

  ‘There’s no reason why she couldn’t get a flat. Not all leases are organised by real estate agents. Some people rent out their flats themselves, and aren’t as concerned about references and ID and things, as long as they get their rent.’

  That was true.

  ‘Thank goodness Charlie is ok. I’m sure the nurse visits are just a precaution. I was worried there might be something seriously wrong with him.’

  Liam didn’t respond, but he looked at me with surprise, as if Charlie’s health hadn’t even occurred to him. His focus was on Sophie. Every metre of road we covered was a layer of stress peeling off him. He was sure we were going to find her, and I was starting to be sure as well. I almost picked up my phone to call mum, but hesitated long enough to decide against it, knowing there was no point getting her hopes up until we had Sophie with us.

  Again I opened the street directory, and explained that the apartment was a few blocks behind where we had just been at the medical centre. I guessed Sophie would take Charlie to the closest doctor, but I also noticed that there were thousands of people who would count the Dee Why medical centre as their closest doctor. Having an address was more than helpful; it was completely essential. We left the main road, and were soon at the start of Beach Parade.

  ’57….63….slow down,’ I instructed. ‘That’s the one, apartment five.’

  Before I could suggest our next move, Liam had jumped from the car, having barely taken the keys out of the ignition. I had to struggle for a moment to undo my seatbelt, so by the time I ran through the entry gate, Liam was well ahead of me. He was bounding up the outside stairs, clearing three steps at a time. Halfway up the stairs, I could hear him knocking excitedly on the door. But nothing happened. He knocked again. As I joined him on the landing, a sound in the apartment made us both jump. A door slamming. A back door. Shit! Liam pushed me aside, and almost fell down the stairs in his rush. When I reached him at ground level, he was looking desperately for a way to get to the back of the building. But the block of flats was quite old, and was attached to other buildings on both sides. The only way to get behind it was to run all the way along the street, turn left, and then look for the back lane.

  ‘There must be a back entrance!’ I yelled, as I started to run.

  Liam quickly caught up. As we made the left turn, we saw a car pull out of the lane ahead of us, and speed off down the road. Dust and sand billowed behind it, but I saw enough of the back of the driver’s head to know what had happened. Sophie’s car was parked out the back, and she’d made a quick escape. I stopped running, feeling my legs ache, and my chest burn. Liam ran straight on, somehow believing he could catch the car. But it was long gone, and eventually he stopped, and turned around, trudging back towards me looking devastated.

  ‘It was her. I saw her hair. Short, peroxide blonde,’ I said.

  ‘FUCK!!!!!’ he screamed into the air, his face turned upwards as if cursing some higher force. I was too disappointed to react. It was the first time I had seen Sophie in over seven years, and I didn’t even see her face. Just the back of her head, disappearing into the night.

  ‘She won’t be back. She thinks someone dangerous has found her,’ I said. ‘We should have talked about this more. She must have seen you through the spy hole in the door. Of course she would be terrified of strangers.’

  Liam turned and glared at me. ‘How the fuck was I to know she was going to run?’

  ‘You should have let me go first. She wouldn’t have run if she’d seen me.’

  He didn’t respond, but ran back towards the car. Before I could get there, he jumped in, and drove towards me, winding his window down. ‘I’m going after her,’ he shouted. ‘You stay here, and see if you can get into the flat. She might have left some stuff behind that could help us find her. I’ll come back for you.’

  He drove off before I could argue. The sudden realisation that I might have just seen my sister for the last time filled me with a fierce dread. How would I explain this to mum? Hot angry tears ran down my cheeks, and I balled my hands into fists, looking around for something to shove or throw. How could we have stuffed this up so badly? It was our one chance, and now she was gone. The needle was back in the haystack.

  Liam had turned his anger into action. I didn’t like his chances of catching up to her, but he might as well try. I wiped my face on my sleeve, trying to pull myself together. Maybe Liam was right, and her flat would have a clue to where she had gone. I didn’t like my chances of breaking in through the front door; it had been solid, with two locks. I trudged around the corner. A bit further along the street was the small pot-holed lane that Sophie had driven out from. It had other residents’ cars parked in small garages, and white lined parking spaces. Sophie’s building was close to the end of the lane, and I could see back stairs similar to the front ones. If Liam had just waited for a second longer, we could have worked out there was a back entrance, and made sure we had it covered before going to the front door.

  I walked up the stairs to the third level, expecting to be confronted by a locked back door. I had heard the door slam from all the way outside the flat. It would probably be as solid as the front. But as I got closer, it looked as if the door wasn’t flush against the door frame. I pushed on it, and it swung open.

  My first thought when I went into the flat was that no one could possibly be living there. Unlike when I walked into Liam’s borrowed house, and saw remnants of his mess all over every surface, this flat was pristine. At first glance, it looked completely devoid of personal possessions. But then I noticed a baby bottle drying on the kitchen sink, and a magazine lying open on the kitchen counter. The fridge also had some evidence of life, with milk, baby food and yoghurt sitting on the top shelf. It occurred to me that Sophie hadn’t been here for long, and hadn’t felt able to turn it into a home, not knowing whether she would have to leave suddenly, and never come back. She couldn’t have had time to pack anything when Liam knocked on the door. She would have just grabbed Charlie, and run.

  I went into the bedroom. The bed was made and there was nothing hanging in the cupboards. Did Sophie still wear dresses? Or had she changed that look to suit her undercover life? As I stepped past the cupboard, I saw a sports bag lying next to
the bed, full of clothes. There was a baby-sized singlet, and some jeans on top. Sophie lived so carefully, she didn’t even unpack her bag. But Liam had frightened her so much she hadn't time to grab it from the bedroom. Now she was running without her things, so we’d made it even harder for her.

  I emptied the bag onto the bed, interested to see what possessions Sophie had carried with her. There were a couple of outfits for her and for Charlie, as well as some toiletries, and pills in a small makeup bag. The pills were prescribed for Charlie, obviously to treat the croup the nurse had mentioned. At the bottom of the bag, there was a tattered City Rail train timetable. I opened it to see if it told me anything, but it was just rows and rows of timetable information. This must have been the timetable Katie used to plan her doomed trip to Central Station. The empty bag still had some weight to it, and I realised there was a side pocket that had something in it. The zip was hidden on the inside lining, and as I opened it, a small notebook fell out. I went to open it, and see what it was when my phone rang. It was Liam.

  ‘I couldn’t see her. There’s a lot of places she could have gone. I’m coming back. Did you get into the flat?’

  I felt suddenly protective of Sophie’s little flat. It didn’t exactly tell me much about her: if anything I was surprised she had it in her to be so tidy. But that just showed how much pressure she was under. She couldn’t relax for long enough to make this flat feel anything but sterile and unloved.

  ‘Yeah, she left the back door open. I’m just having a look. She’s left her clothes, but there isn’t much else of interest. It doesn’t look as if she’s been here very long.’

  ‘I’ll meet you there. I’m just around the corner.’

  I put the notebook in my pocket, not ready to share it with Liam yet. I was pissed off he had avoided discussing what went wrong, and I just wanted to get home and have this day over with. I waited, feeling depressed, until Liam walked through the back door.