by Amos, Gina
‘You bastard.’ Jill clenched her knuckles so hard they ached.
Wan glared at Adam. ‘Get some rope. And make sure you do a better job of it this time. We’ll dispose of her at another location.’
Adam stomped off.
‘You won’t get away with this.’ Jill pushed her chin out, forced a steely edge into her voice even though it was an act. Was her life really going to end like this?
‘That’s where you are wrong, Detective. I am a powerful man. I have influence over many people.’
What a mess. She was in way over her head this time and sensed this would be her only chance. When she heard Adam pop the boot she felt for the screwdriver in her pocket.
Wan turned his head. ‘What are you doing, Shazi? Hurry up. The detective and I have finished our conversation.’ He turned back to Jill and stepped closer. A barrel of a gun, solid, metallic in his hand was aimed at her chest. ‘I’m becoming impatient and when I am impatient, I am dangerous.’
Jill’s fingers closed around the handle of the screwdriver in her pocket. He was close enough. It was now or never. She struck out at him but misjudged the blow. The gun fell to the ground. A single shot fired into the air. Jill tripped, straightened up and tried to run for the roller doors. Wan grabbed her from behind, spun her around, retaliated by slamming his fist in her face. Jill’s head snapped back, blood running from her nose. Her breath was jagged. Have to find the gun. Her head spinning from the blow, pounding, pounding. Her vision blurred. Banging on the metal roller door. Voices shouting, heavy footsteps, running, getting closer, no time. Wan’s back up.
Jill got to her feet. The gun. Heard the click of the safety, tried to forget the memory of bodies ripped open by bullets. She didn’t move, didn’t blink. She was about to die. She heard a sharp crack. Jill toppled forward and felt the thud of concrete against her forehead.
FORTY-SEVEN
The stench of antiseptic and the clatter of metal and trolley wheels rolling along the linoleum corridors had woken her. Jill didn’t open her eyes. It was a miracle she’d escaped with only a couple of broken ribs, concussion, an array of cuts and grazes and four stitches to the back of her head. Thankfully, her nose wasn’t broken.
From the time she was allowed visitors Bea and Harry had visited and now it was Rimis’s turn. Jill was confused about what had happened in the warehouse — how they’d found her, how she’d got out. And who’d fired the shot? Had they got Wan?
‘You gave us the real run-around this time, Brennan. When I saw you on the ground I thought…’ Rimis’s voice was soft.
‘You were there?’
He nodded.
So the cavalry did come. ‘Who else?’ she asked.
‘Choi, Carver and four uniforms,’ Rimis said.
Jill nodded and looked over at the flowers and cards on the shelf opposite her bed.
‘Vincent Wan and Adam Lee?’
‘Wan didn’t make it. The bullet nicked his heart. He made it to the hospital, but he died on the table.’ Rimis moved closer to the bed and put his hand on her shoulder.
Wan was no saint, but his life had been taken. After a few seconds Jill looked at Rimis. ‘Who fired the shot?’
‘You won’t believe me when I tell you.’
‘Try me.’ Jill sat up and adjusted her hospital gown.
‘Constable Patullo. Rimis’s hand fell back to his side. ‘He saved your life, Jill.’
Jill took a few moments to take it in. She wiped her eyes with the heels of her hands. ‘Looks like I owe him a drink.’
Rimis nodded.
‘So, tell me about Adam Lee,’ Jill said.
‘The scum’s in custody. Speaking of Adam Lee, we found your mobile phone in the front seat of Lee’s car. I charged it for you.’
Jill gave a small nod and smiled. ‘I’ve been wondering, how did you know where to find me?’
‘When Chapman first looked through Robbie’s laptop, he found a Google Earth search of an old warehouse. It was the last thing Robbie had been looking at before he died. Chapman printed it out for me but I didn’t know what it meant at the time so I filed it without realising its significance. Plus back then we’d…I mean I was sure it was suicide.’ Rimis edged back toward the end of the bed and sat near Jill’s feet. ‘And then Rawlings showed me the map you’d highlighted. We were in the middle of checking all the warehouses in the area when we received an unconfirmed sighting of Vincent Wan at Chatswood Mall by an off-duty constable. She thought she recognised him from photos, so she followed him back to Chatswood Chase parking station. A photo of Wan was sent through to her mobile phone and once she confirmed it was Wan, we tailed him to the warehouse.’
‘Scott Carver must be very pleased with himself. Another notch in his belt.’ Jill sank back into the pillows, suddenly very tired.
‘Jill, there’s something you should know, you’ll find out anyway.’ Rimis tugged at his collar and loosened his tie.
‘What? More bad news?’
‘I’m afraid so. It’s about Robbie.’
‘Yes.’ Jill barely had the energy to listen.
‘When we reminded Adam Lee that with Vincent Wan dead he was on his own, he became very co-operative. Apparently Robbie found out Adam was supplying Fin with drugs and suspected Adam had some more sinister associates. Robbie would have heard about the task force Carver was setting up into Asian gangs and, it’s only a theory, but I imagine he would have thought Adam could have been connected — drugs and gangs always go together. Or else he was trying to protect Fin, trying to get her away from Adam. Then Adam found out Robbie was investigating him.’ Rimis shifted on the bed and crossed his legs awkwardly. ‘Adam told us Wan ordered one of his henchmen to make Robbie disappear. He was watching Robbie’s house and followed him to Callan Park and the tower when he went to meet Fin the night he died. Apparently Wan’s man found Robbie and Fin arguing at the top. Told Wan that Fin was so pissed Santa Claus could have been there and she wouldn’t have known. She was on the edge, threatening to jump. Robbie grabbed her and pushed her to safety but before he could climb down himself he lost his balance, slipped and fell. It wasn’t suicide, but it wasn’t murder either. Just a horrible accident.’
‘So Robbie didn’t kill himself.’ Jill looked at Rimis. ‘Robbie would have done anything for Fin, even die for her. Robbie told me once he felt he’d failed Fin. He wouldn’t tell me how or why but obviously it was because of Patrick and what he’d done to her. Patrick liked young girls. Jill shuddered, thinking about Fin’s horrific life…first her parents were killed, then her uncle abused her and then her brother fell from the clock tower at Callan Park because of her.
Rimis rubbed his chin. ‘You were right. Right to fight for Robbie.’
After a few beats, Jill said, ‘What about Patrick Hill? He wasn’t involved with Wan was he?’
‘Actually, he was. But it was through Fin… indirectly.’
Jill frowned.
‘Fin told Adam what Hill had done to her, that he like young girls. Adam saw that as a business opportunity. He introduced Patrick to Wan, who was heavily involved in human trafficking and child prostitution.’
‘Oh, God.’
‘What?’
‘When I went to see Hill’s neighbour, she mentioned men with children visiting Hill once a month or so. They were…’ Jill didn’t want to finish the sentence. She followed the law, not vengeance, but either way Patrick Hill and Vincent Wan deserved to be dead. She swallowed back the anger. ‘So who shot Hill?’
‘Don’t know yet for sure. Adam says Fin, but we need her side of the story. Ultimately it will be her word against his. Not that it will matter…the gun shot wound was post-mortem.’ He paused. ‘But either way Hill was a marked man. According to Adam, Hill tried to get in on Wan’s business plan, said he knew plenty of customers who liked kids and wanted a cut, a finder’s fee. I don’t think Hill realised the sort of people he was dealing with because he actually threatened Wan, said he’d make an anonymous call to t
he police if he didn’t get his way. Adam admitted Wan wanted him to set Fin up for Hill’s murder, but then Hill had a heart attack.’
‘What about David Cheung?’
‘Adam was sent by Wan to kidnap Benjamin Cheung. But Benjamin fought back, got the upper hand and accidentally knifed Adam. At that point Wan stepped in. He threatened David Cheung and his family, told Cheung to pay up or they were all dead.’
‘Sounds like Wan was cleaning up his nephew’s mess,’ Jill said.
Rimis nodded. ‘Wan screwed up big time. He’d covered his tracks for years, and then made the mistake of involving Adam Lee in his business. What they say about mixing family and business is true.’ Rimis stared out the window, then back at Jill. ‘You going to be okay?’
Jill gave a nod. She was glad Robbie didn’t kill himself, but maybe this was worse. Robbie was dead because Fin got into bed with the Red Cave Gang. She should have known Robbie would start digging. Fin would have to live with that…if she could make sense of any of it through the booze.
‘Any sign of Fin?’
Rimis shook his head.
‘Try the Mountains. Maybe she’s gone back to Gracie’s house.’
FORTY-EIGHT
Fin was numb, but it wasn’t from the cold or from the wind tugging at her jacket. It could be snowing and she wouldn’t have noticed. A raindrop landed on her face, made its way gently down her cheek until it reached the point of her chin. Two drops, three, heavier now. Fin leaned a shoulder against a wall of an abandoned building and looked through the trees towards the imposing grey stone of the clock tower - the one place where she felt safe. In some twisted way the tower connected her to her childhood. Was it the story Gracie had told of Mad Annie Calloway, who’d hanged herself from the tower with a makeshift rope made from bed sheets, or was it the forked boughs of the Jacaranda tree in Gracie’s backyard that Fin and Robbie climbed to escape Patrick’s reach. She supposed there had been a life before Uncle Patrick but she had no memory of it. There were only scraps left, something familiar like a tune in your head that you couldn’t get rid of.
Fin reached into the pocket of her rain jacket and pulled out a crumpled passport-sized photograph of Robbie. She studied it, remembered the day it was taken. She and Robbie had gone into the city and stopped at one of those photo kiosks. Robbie’s eyes stared back at her like saucers. His mouth was oval-shaped — Robbie playing the clown, doing impressions of the horror movie, Scream.
Fin’s eyes teared up from the wind. She wiped them with the back of her hand. When had she decided living wasn’t worth the effort? Had it been before or after Robbie died?
Rimis reached for his mobile phone on his desk. It was Brennan talking so fast he couldn’t even decipher the words.
‘Take a breath, Jill. You’re not making sense.’
‘It’s Fin. She phoned me.’ Jill’s voice was slower, but still edged with panic. ‘She’s at Callan Park, in the tower. She wants to talk to me, only me; said she’d jump at the first sight of police.’
‘Christ, how the hell did she get up there?’ Rimis asked.
‘Got no idea but I’m on my way there now.’
‘What do you mean you’re on your way there? You’re in hospital.’
‘I checked myself out.’
‘Shit, Brennan. Do you know what you’re doing?’
‘No, but I don’t have a choice. There’s nobody else.’
‘We’ll be on standby. You’ve got twenty minutes to talk her down, after that, we come up, you understand me?’
But Jill had already hung up.
There were no spaces available when Jill drove into the car park behind the Kirkbride Complex, so she double-parked. She ran as fast as her body would allow, biting down on her lip to distract herself from the shooting pain across her ribs. She looked up at the tower but there was no sign of Fin. Three burly men from the security company were directing students away from the courtyard. Barriers had been set up.
The colour of the sky had changed. Cumulonimbus gathered on the horizon, tinted purple clouds were stirring and moving eastwards towards them.
‘Hang on, love, not so fast,’ said a man in a security uniform. Thunder rumbled in the distance.
Jill stopped and turned. ‘Is she still up there?’
The security guard’s face was firm. And who could blame him? She must look a sight with her tangled hair and battered and bruised face.
Jill flashed her ID. ‘I’m Detective Jill Brennan, Chatswood Police.’
‘Right, sorry, love. Yeah, she’s still there.’
‘How did she get into the tower?’ Jill asked.
‘She broke the lock. I guess she had a hammer. Whoever installed that lock should be shot. The lock’s as flimsy as all shit.’
‘How long has she been up there?’
‘No more than an hour. I’d just started my shift when I thought I saw someone up there so I went to have a look see. When I saw the broken lock I went up. I thought it might have been some of the students skylarking. I was almost at the top when this woman pulled a gun on me.’ He ran his hand roughly through his hair. ‘I backed off quick smart. They don’t pay me enough to take that kind of shit.’
‘Have you called an ambulance?’ Jill asked.
‘They’re on their way, should be here any minute. I told them not to use their sirens and stay back. I didn’t call the police; she said she’d jump if I did. She said she only wanted to speak to Detective Brennan so I was waiting for you to turn up.’
Jill gave a nod and asked the guard for his Maglite, remembering how dark it was in the stairwell. She walked over to the tower and made her way up the narrow, stone steps. Jill held her ribs, remembered the doctor’s warning about exerting herself.
When she reached the top, Fin was waiting for her. A packet of potato chips had fallen out from an open backpack and a hammer was lying on the floor at Fin’s feet. Fin had a gun in her hand. Jill guessed it was Robbie’s Glock.
Fin’s eyes were unblinking. ‘What happened to you?’
Jill put her hands in the air and took a step towards her. ‘This is about you, Fin, not me.’
‘Get back. You’re too close. I fuckin’ well mean it. I’ll shoot you, don’t think I won’t.’
‘Come on, Fin, put the gun down.’ Jill took a step back. Let’s try and sort this out. Just you and me, together.’ While Jill waited for Fin to speak, she tried to work out what Fin’s next move was going to be.
Fin seemed to relax a little. ‘We can talk, but I’m not putting the gun down.’
‘Whatever you want. Just stay nice and calm.’ Jill knew there was no point making things any tenser than they already were, so she sat down on the stone floor with her legs out in front of her and leaned up against the damp wall. She took a shallow breath. ‘Sit down, Fin, I don’t like talking at different eye-levels.’ Jill looked into Fin’s eyes, there was clarity there and she seemed more composed than the previous times they’d spoken.
Fin sat down and crossed her legs as if she was preparing for a yoga class. She balanced the gun in her lap and pointed it at Jill. ‘It was a mistake,’ she said. ‘It was all one big fucking mistake.’ A shadow crossed Fin’s face. ‘I thought Adam was a friend. He gave me drugs sometimes when I was feeling lousy. One day when we were hanging out at the Interchange, he told me what his uncle’s friends were doing to these kids they were picking up off the streets. The way he told me it was like he was a big man, like I’d be impressed or something. It made me sick.’ A beat of silence. ‘I told him about Uncle Patrick, how he abused me when I was a kid. What it felt like to be treated that way, how you never get over it. I told Adam what his Uncle was doing wasn’t right and I was going to tell Robbie about it if he didn’t get his uncle to stop. I still remember the look on Adam’s face. I should have known what it meant. By the time I found out what was really going on, it was too late. Robbie was dead.’
‘Tell me about Patrick,’ Jill said.
Fin’s fingers tigh
tened around the trigger. ‘Robbie told me he was going to give Uncle Patrick a good hiding for what he’d done to me and to our family, get him to pay us compensation, then he was going to make sure he went to prison.’
‘Is that why Robbie moved to Glover Street? To be closer to Patrick.’
Fin nodded.
‘When did Robbie find out about what Patrick had done to you?’
‘We were still kids. I told him after Patrick left Katoomba and moved away. With him gone, I thought it was safe to tell Robbie. While Patrick was still living with us I was always worried what Robbie would do if he ever found out. Robbie would have started something, but Patrick was an adult…he would have finished it.’
‘So what did happen when Robbie found out?’
‘He went crazy.’ Fin started breathing faster; she couldn’t get enough air. ‘He…he thought he’d let me down. I think that’s why he joined the police; it was too late to save me, but he thought he could save others like me.’
‘Why didn’t you go to the police about Patrick when Robbie found him? All we needed was a statement. We would have investigated him, got a confession. He would have gone to prison for a very long time.’
‘What? A statement from me? Who was going to believe me?’ Fin looked down at the gun in her hand. ‘I was only eight years old when Patrick started abusing me. At first he just cuddled me like I remembered my dad used to. I liked being close to him. I liked the smell of him and the way he told me he loved me. Then things changed, cuddles turned to other things. I used to think there was something wrong with me, that it was my fault that he did ‘it’ to me, like I needed to be punished.’
A stretch of silence.
‘What about Patrick? Did you shoot him?’ Jill’s voice was quiet and low.
‘I don’t know, I don’t remember.’ Fin raised herself onto the ledge. ‘When Gracie got sick, Robbie went to the Mountains to see her. Gracie told Robbie she’d promised not to report Patrick to the police if he moved away and never showed his face again. It was the only way she could get him out of the house and away from Robbie and me.’