Resurrection Bay
Page 22
‘Yeah. Like you thought, they did the second robbery – a nice little copycat of McFarlane’s. Not quite bright enough to cover their tracks though. He found out and smacked them around for bringing unwanted attention to his operation. I guess he let them live because they were useful, then cut his losses when things got too heated.’ His eyes widened. ‘Is that someone you know? Or is she heading for me?’
Maria was striding across the park towards him. She looked immaculate: no breeze daring to disarray her perfectly styled hair and elegant navy pantsuit. He stood a little straighter.
‘You’re looking well, Maria.’
‘I wish I could say the same, Caleb. You look appalling. You need to get some of that weight back on. Now, you weren’t very forthcoming in your emails. Should I believe what I’ve been reading in the papers?’
He hadn’t read a newspaper since Gary’s death. Had gone out of his way to avoid them. ‘They probably got the basics right.’
‘I’m sorry about your partner. That must be hard.’
The fact that Frankie had betrayed him? Or that he hadn’t seen her for the traitor she was? How could he not have recognised the signs of her addiction? Everything that had happened, all the pain and death, could have been prevented if he’d looked a little harder. If he’d seen.
‘Why haven’t you spoken to Kathryn?’
‘She doesn’t want me to.’
A hesitation. Or maybe a sigh of relief. ‘Did she tell you that?’
‘Scott abducted her, beat her and tortured her, all while I stood by and let it happen. She doesn’t need to tell me.’
Beside him, Tedesco stirred.
Maria’s mouth tightened. ‘You should take better care of yourself, Cal. I went to a lot of effort getting you well.’ She strode away.
‘Jesus,’ Tedesco breathed. ‘Who was that?’ There was a hint of reverence in his expression.
‘My ex-mother-in-law.’
‘That must have made for some interesting family dinners.’
‘She’s not too bad. Once you get to know her.’
‘I’ll take your word for it, mate.’ Tedesco’s mouth moved, testing some idea. ‘Have you considered counselling? It could help.’
‘Yeah, she’s getting some.’
‘I meant you.’
‘Me? I’m not the one McFarlane tortured.’
‘You sure about that?’
He felt a flash of heat. ‘Pretty fucking sure. And Kat’s got the scars to prove it.’
‘There’s all kinds of pain, mate. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.’ He turned away before Caleb could respond.
Enough. He obviously shouldn’t be in human company any more. He headed for the car.
Anton was sitting on the bonnet, wearing an out of date, too-loose suit that had to have been their father’s. Clean hair, freshly shaven, normal pupils.
Caleb stopped in front of him, trying not to wince at the memory of their last meeting.
‘Hey Ant, looking good.’
‘You’re not. Did you sleep in that suit?’ Every word signed.
He relaxed a little: forgiven, although he had no idea why. ‘Last time, at the house. Sorry I was such a prick.’
Anton shrugged. ‘Another mark on the scoreboard – I also totalled your Camry.’
‘My first fucking car? The one I saved ten months to buy? I thought that was the O’Brien brothers.’
Anton grinned. ‘Mum was a wicked liar.’
‘Jesus. Any more family secrets you want to tell me?’
Anton smoothed the lapels of his coat. ‘Not a secret, but we’re right now, aren’t we? I mean you’re sure I had nothing to do with Gary or that Scott guy?’
‘Yeah, I’m sure.’
‘The way you looked at me that night … Fuck. Listen, I’ve still got that message Gary left me. The cops’ve heard it and I played it to Frankie when she called. She said she’d tell you that she’d heard it, but I guess she probably didn’t. I can make you a copy if you like. You can get someone to, you know, confirm what’s on it.’
The sun felt too bright.
‘No need, I believe you. Sorry, Ant, I shouldn’t have let Frankie get in my head. I should have trusted you.’
Anton shook his head. ‘I’ve done some bad shit over the years, I know that. I was clean yesterday, I’m clean today, but who the fuck knows about tomorrow?’ He slid off the bonnet of the car. ‘You staying the night? Let’s get a drink.’
‘No, I’ve got to get back to Melbourne. The business is a mess.’ More than a mess; failing. Bad enough that he hadn’t answered a message in weeks, but word of Frankie’s betrayal had swept quickly through the old-cop network. He hadn’t had a referral since and there was a good chance he never would again.
‘Come on, Cal – a lovely cup of tea. I’ll even wash a mug for you. You can drive back in the morning.’
‘Next time.’
Anton’s face settled into his usual, oh-well-fuck-it expression. He glanced over Caleb’s shoulder. ‘Guess I’ll get back to the – fuck, what’s Brad O’Brien doing here? He and Gary weren’t mates, fucking hated each other.’
‘Free grog.’
‘Oh, look, he’s brought his great-grandfather along, that’s nice. Oh. Maybe not nice. The old fella’s getting very friendly with Kat.’
He wasn’t going to turn around.
‘He’s upped his medication, you know. Twice the recommended dose, but apparently it does the trick. You know what medication I’m talking about, right?’
‘Shut up, Ant.’
Anton’s eyes widened. ‘Dirty old man, pawing her like that. Thinks he’s in with a chance.’
He turned. Jeremy O’Brien was standing in front of Kat, one hand on her good arm, delivering a way-too-close monologue. He caught the odd word: beach, picnic, dress. Jesus, what was the old perve suggesting?
‘You think she’ll have him?’ Anton said. ‘You know she’s got bad taste in men.’
Jeremy finally stopped talking. He smirked happily at Kat’s brief reply and shuffled away. Caleb smiled at her suppressed shudder. She looked up, looked at him. His breath caught somewhere low in his ribs. What the hell was he meant to do now?
‘Go,’ Anton signed.
Her clear, blue eyes held his as she waited. For what? For him to leave? Go to her? Spontaneously combust?
‘Go on, quick.’ Anton gave him a little push. ‘Before Jeremy wins her over.’
He began to walk.
‘I’ll come for that drink later,’ he said over his shoulder.
His eyes locked on Kat’s as he made his way towards her. The words were already flying from his hands. So many words, so much to say.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My enduring gratitude to everyone who made Resurrection Bay possible. Thank you to all my Deaf, deaf and hard-of-hearing friends for their honesty and for not laughing (too hard) at my Frankie-like attempts at Auslan. To the wonderful Janette Currie, who helped me find the book within the manuscript, and the WoMentoring Project for giving me the opportunity to work with Janette. Everyone at Pushkin Press, in particular Daniel Seton and Tabitha Pelly. Brooke Clark for her insightful editing, Kate Gorringe-Smith for her pink pen and Tom Sanderson his evocative cover design.
And above all else, to Campbell, Meg and Leni for their patience, love and support. You are my everything.
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Emma Viskic
Resurrection Bay
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
EMMA VISKIC is an award-winning Australian crime writer. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, Resurrection Bay, won the 2016 Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut, as well as an unprecedented three Davitt Awards: Best Adult Novel, Best Debut, and Readers’ Choice. It was also iBooks Australia’s Crime Novel of the year in 2015.
Emma studied Australian sign language (Auslan) in order to write the character of Caleb Zelic, whose adventures will continue in And Fire Came Down, coming soon from Pushkin Vertigo.
COPYRIGHT
Pushkin Press
71–75 Shelton Street
London, WC2H 9JQ
Copyright © Emma Viskic 2015
Resurrection Bay was first published in Australia by Echo, 2015
First published by Pushkin Press in 2017
ISBN 978 1 782273 75 2
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from Pushkin Press
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