Paul liked to know there was a plan. Nick didn’t know how to tell him that there wasn’t one just yet. They seemed to be stumbling along blindly, hoping to find something.
“Unfortunately not. You haven’t heard from him either?”
“No.”
“Was any money withdrawn from the accounts?”
Paul shook his head.
“And Gabriella didn’t say anything?”
“No.”
Nick went up the stairs. Gabriella was behind the desk again. The computer was on and she was busy at the keyboard. She smiled when she saw him.
“Just can’t stay away, can you?”
“Gabi, if you know where Enzio is, please tell me now. I don’t want to call your dad with the news. I don’t care where he is, it’s just important that I speak to him.”
“I hear you went calling on Ken.”
“I went to ask him if he knows where Enzio is.”
“I don’t know where my brother is. It’s no good asking me the same question over and over. If I’d known, I might have told you.”
“Don’t be childish. Your brother’s life could be in danger.”
“I’m not the one who lost him.”
“I know, but you can’t just sit back when he’s in trouble.”
She leaned back and raised her hands above her head. Nick could see she wasn’t wearing a bra under her sweater. Her eyes clouded over and she motioned at the chair on the other side of the desk.
“All of you think I’m an imbecile, that I don’t know what’s going on.” When Nick opened his mouth to speak, she held up her hand. “I’m not finished. Do you think kids don’t know from an early age that their homes are different from their friends’? Do you think, when your dad’s name is in the papers, that the kids and teachers at school don’t talk behind your back? Regardless of whether he was acquitted of whatever crime he was charged with. I’ve known from a very young age that my father is a criminal. But I decided early on that I don’t care. Show me an honest man and I’ll become a nun. Somewhere we all do something wrong, the degree just differs. I choose to enjoy the spoils. Why not? My father has worked very hard all his life and not everything he does is illegal. He does a lot of good as well.
“But my brother is not my dad. He made enemies of the wrong people and I’m not surprised he’s missing. It gives me a chance to try to put things straight here. I definitely don’t plan to go under with darling Enzio. We both know he’s on his way either to jail or to his grave. He’s greedy and he has a very serious gambling habit.” She raised her hand as if to tell him she had finished.
“Why don’t you tell me what you think is going on?”
“I don’t know where Enzio is, but I know he’s in trouble.”
“Where does Ken fit into the picture?”
Gabriella narrowed her eyes. “What do you want me to say?”
“Is Ken part of the problem?”
“I don’t know. The two of us have long since stopped sharing secrets.”
“Do you trust Ken?”
“With what? My life?” She shook her head. “I’m not sure. I think he has a soft spot for me, somewhere in his twisted heart, but I can’t swear he won’t throw me under the bus if it suits him. If you’re asking if I’d trust him with my money, the answer is simple. No. Not in a million years. He’s obsessed with money.”
“What’s your plan with the club?”
“Nothing big. I’m just going to see that the doors remain open and that Enzio doesn’t lose everything at the gambling tables.”
“You know the club is being used to launder money for some of the other businesses?”
She threw her head back and laughed. “Yes, darling. I know this is the laundry.”
“If neither you nor Ken knows where Enzio is, I’ll have to tell your father that he’s missing. He won’t take it well.”
She shrugged. “He’s a smart man. He knows it was bound to happen someday.”
Nick got up. “If you happen to hear from him, please let me know.”
She nodded. When he opened the door, she said: “I know what my reasons are for doing what I do, but what are yours?”
Nick stood with the doorknob in his hand and hesitated a moment before he turned to face her. “I’m good at my job and the money is welcome.”
“And your conscience doesn’t trouble you because you’re part of something most people would frown upon?”
“As you’ve said, show me someone with a conscience that works and I’ll resign tomorrow. I might not become a monk, but I’ll keep to the straight and narrow.”
She laughed aloud. “Ah, Nicky. The straight and narrow is boring and overrated. If your conscience starts to bother you, you can always come for a confession. I’m an excellent listener and I’ll gladly grant you absolution.”
“Thanks. I’ll remember that.”
Downstairs, Paul still had a deep frown between his eyes and Nick said a hasty goodbye.
CHAPTER 12
“I believe the two strangers who came to church on Sunday were looking for you. Problems?” Marius asked when he and Ellie had sat down at her dining-room table.
“No, just former colleagues who wanted to say hello.”
“Then why didn’t you stay and speak to them?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why did you leave in such a hurry?”
“I didn’t know they were there, and I’d promised someone a visit.”
“Didn’t you see them come in?”
“I saw people come in but I didn’t recognise them, so I didn’t take much notice.”
“And next thing you jumped on Wynand’s bike and off you went?”
“Jeez, but you’re full of questions tonight! Can we talk about something else, please?”
“I don’t mind talking about something else. The problem is that I’m beginning to feel like a fool and it’s not a good feeling.”
“You’re nobody’s fool.”
“I can’t help feeling like one when you find you need to lie to me.”
“Marius …” Ellie was suddenly exhausted. “My life is sometimes more complicated than yours. If there are certain things I don’t share with you, there’s a reason for it, and you have to trust me.”
“Thanks for the meal,” he said, changing the subject. “It’s really good.”
“Don’t mention it. How was your day?”
“Are you here to stay, or is this just a temporary stopover?”
Ellie laughed. “That’s your answer?”
“Just wondering.”
“I don’t know. Believe me, I didn’t come here with a pocketful of plans. It was just a place where I stopped one evening. I didn’t plan to make friends here. Usually it takes years for me to form a friendship. With hindsight, I realise it might have been a mistake. Perhaps I should have kept moving.”
“Life is different here. You connect more quickly because people take the trouble. In a city no one really cares who or what you are, but in a place like this it matters. Life has a different rhythm here.”
“I didn’t realise that.”
“Eleanor, I’m not trying to be difficult, and I don’t want to give you a hard time. In the past few weeks I’ve found myself thinking about you a lot and wondering if I’m reading too much into our friendship, if I’m making a fool of myself. I’m not asking if you have feelings for me, and I’m not asking you to marry me. I just don’t want to have these thoughts any more. So if you know this is just a visit, please tell me. It’ll save me many hours of fruitless thinking.”
Ellie pushed her plate away. She had suddenly lost her appetite. She drew her wine glass nearer. “I don’t know what to tell you. It’s a decision I haven’t made. I have six months’ leave and it’s not over yet. Maybe I’m delaying the decision. It’s just not easy. I believe the answer will come to me one day. The more I think of it, the more scared I get that I’ll make the wrong choice. I’d rather wait and see.”
�
�What happened that you were given six months’ leave? It must have been serious.”
Ellie thought of Clive’s question whether Marius had seen her naked yet. Maybe she should unbutton her blouse and show him. Maybe he’d have a better understanding then. But it wasn’t the right thing to do and she wasn’t sure what she was more afraid of: the horror or the pity on his face. She wasn’t ready for either.
“Unfortunately I can’t discuss it with you.”
“Were you in a relationship before you came here?”
“Yes.”
“Was he part of the reason why you left Cape Town?”
“No.”
“Are you still in contact?”
“I saw him yesterday, about a different matter. It was the first time we’d seen each other again.”
He wiped his mouth, sipped some wine and sat back in his chair. “I think you know by now that I’m a simple man. I don’t live an exciting double life. This is me, and this is my life. If I said I understood your life, I’d be lying. And yet I know I want to get to know you better, and maybe one day I’ll ask you if you have feelings for me. But it’s okay. For now, I’ll just be here if you want to talk, or if you’re looking for a shoulder.”
“You’re a good man.”
Marius laughed out loud. “I know you probably mean it as a compliment, but at the moment I could do with something a bit more exciting.”
Ellie looked at him across the table. If he were any other man, she might have reached out her hand to see what would happen, but she couldn’t do it to him. He was one of the few truly good people she had come across. He deserved better.
She got up to switch the kettle on, but he stopped her. “I’m just going to finish my wine, then I must go.”
Outside, he touched her hand briefly before getting into his car. “Thanks for the meal and the chat. It was good.”
She waved as he pulled away, then turned and hurried back into the house. The wind had come up and she thought she could smell rain.
When she had started studying psychology, one of the big questions she had tried to answer was why she was the way she was. Maybe she’d wanted to know if one day there would be a magical transformation. If one morning she’d get up and relationships would be easier, or she would trust people more easily. It wasn’t that she distrusted everyone, but rather that she was afraid of what people could do to each other. Sometimes knowingly, but often unwittingly.
The day Chris had broken off their engagement, he said he knew she’d be okay, because she was a strong, independent woman. She had felt herself slowly sink into quicksand. As her breathing became shallower, she could see he was convinced of the truth of his words.
Perhaps she had chosen psychology to find out whether she was the way she was because of her mother. If so, she’d have to work at it. If she was born this way, she was probably going to struggle. She had never found the answer. It was convenient to blame her mother. If her mother hadn’t turned to alcohol and embarrassed herself and her family at times, Ellie might not have been so wary of people. And if Chris hadn’t left her, things might have been easier.
She’d been serious when she’d told Marius that she hadn’t expected to form friendships here.
That first evening she and Wynand had talked until closing time. She was the last person there and when he started to clean up, she picked up his guitar and sang a few songs. He phoned a guesthouse and asked them to keep a room for her and leave the key under the rock at the front door. After he had closed up, she followed him to the guesthouse in her car. The next morning he dropped by to invite her for breakfast. That was the beginning.
She couldn’t really recall what her first conversation with Marius had been about. Once, when she was practising with the organist, he came to fetch something at the church and the two of them simply started talking. The sun dipped low on the horizon; still, they stood on the steps of the church.
There was a lightness about him. At thirty-five, he was a man with a lot of certitude. His world had no grey areas or shadows. He knew who he was and why. When she was with him, her own shadows seemed to recede. Still, she suspected some people needed shadows. Maybe she wasn’t made for so much light. And yet there was something alluring about it. The woman who ended up with Marius would be getting a good man.
Nick caught the smell of food before he pushed open the door of the flat. Nols was in the kitchen, stirring something in a saucepan.
“This is a nice surprise, but you don’t have to cook for me. I thought I’d just order takeaways.”
“I was craving a home-cooked meal. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.”
Nick left his keys and wallet on the small table at the front door and began to unstrap his pistol.
“What are you carrying these days?”
“Still my old favourite, just a more recent model.”
Nols came over and put out his hand. When Nick hesitated, he laughed and sat down.
“Sorry … reflex,” Nick began to explain.
“No, I understand.”
Nick removed the magazine and handed over the pistol. Nols turned it over in his hand. Felt the grip. He looked at it a while longer before he handed it back. “How was your day? Catch any criminals?”
“Afraid not.” Nick fetched a beer from the fridge. “Can I bring you one?”
“No, thanks. I’ve decided to kick some of my old habits. There’s lots of time to think in prison.”
“Would you mind if I have a drink?”
“Not at all.”
“Did you see Riana and the kids today?”
“Not yet. I had a few other matters to attend to. I have an appointment with her tomorrow.”
“Have you started looking at jobs yet?”
“Not seriously. First I want to know what Riana’s plans are. No good looking for a job in Cape Town if she plans to move back to Joburg. I’d like to be near the kids.”
“Do you have anything in mind?”
“I’ve thought about security. There could be an opening for a crooked bastard like myself.”
Nick looked at the man opposite him. He was smiling, but his eyes looked weary.
“Nols …”
Nols raised his hand and laughed. “I’m kidding. I knew what I was doing, and you did what you had to do. I admit I was pissed off and for many years I cursed you but, as I’ve said, I had a lot of time to think. I’m not angry any more. It’s a great relief the day you discover you’ve forgiven someone. The world becomes a different place.”
Nick wasn’t sure if he should thank him.
Nols got up and went to the kitchen, lifted the lid of the pot and opened the oven door. “Food’s ready; we can eat whenever you like.”
“Thanks, I’ll just wash my hands.”
When he returned to the lounge, the pistol was back in Nols’s hand. Nick felt a twinge. Then he noticed that the magazine was still on the table and he exhaled slowly.
“Remember when we caught those guys at the mine dump and they opened fire? I thought it was our last day alive. We shot our way out like a couple of cowboys. Fuck, those were crazy times.”
Nick smiled. “The best times, but it doesn’t mean I want them over again.”
“I wouldn’t mind going back,” Nols said when they sat down to eat. “Maybe I’d make better choices this time around. I’m grateful to have a bed in your flat, but it’s not really what I had envisaged at this point in my life. The two of us had plans to change the world. Remember?”
“It’s not too late. Hopefully we can still see a few dreams come true.”
“I think you get only one shot at certain dreams.”
“That doesn’t make the new dreams less. Just a bit different. Sometimes even better, because we’re older and hopefully a little wiser.”
“If you don’t want to do the job any more you can become one of those guys who try to cheer people up. A motivational speaker. In prison they sometimes came to speak to us. I think t
hey do it because they really don’t have a clue what it’s really like. If they knew, they wouldn’t try to cheer anyone up.”
“Doesn’t it help to know there’s hope?”
Nols lowered his fork. “Is there?”
Nick felt the food form a lump in his mouth. He couldn’t swallow it. He put down his knife and fork, took a sip of beer and sat back in his chair.
“Isn’t there some form of hope in every situation?”
Nols suddenly laughed out loud. “How the hell did we get onto such a dark topic? Tell me about your love life instead. I’m sure it must be more interesting.”
Nick didn’t pick up his knife and fork again. He had lost his appetite. “Believe me, that’s a dark topic if ever there was one.”
“There must be someone.”
“Really, it’s a topic that will drive you to drink.” When the words were out, he began to apologise but Nols stopped him.
“No need to watch what you say. I haven’t become a monk.”
Later, when Nick was lying in bed, he thought the two of them were like a rusty lock and key. They could probably get the lock open again, but not without a crunch. There were so many things he wanted to ask his friend. Prison is never good, but it’s worse if you’re a cop. Maybe there were a few topics they should rather not dwell on. Or maybe he was just trying to protect himself.
He could hear Nols tossing and turning. How did two friends change into two individuals sharing a space, but completely out of sync?
CHAPTER 13
Just after nine on Wednesday morning Nick stopped at a house in Tygerberg Hills. He looked at the view before pressing the doorbell. He hadn’t thought it would be this easy. He hoped the receptionist wouldn’t get into trouble. People were alarmed when they heard you were from the police, but often they were also eager to help. When he had spoken to Melissa Calitz she hadn’t seemed too annoyed with her husband’s gullible receptionist.
An attractive woman opened the door. She hadn’t changed much since the photos were taken. He always found it interesting how some women grew better looking with age. The lines and angles seemed to blur over time, making them even lovelier.
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