Shortly before they reached her uncle’s home Clara pulled down the sun visor and started fixing her makeup. Then she ran her fingers through her hair and swallowed a pill.
When Reggie opened the door, Ellie saw surprise on his face and, for a fleeting moment, a smug expression. “What’s going on? Did the old man kick you out?”
“Fuck off, Reggie.” Clara turned to Ellie. “Thanks. I’ll speak to you later.”
Before Ellie could leave, Nazeem Williams entered the hallway. He also seemed surprised. “What’s going on?”
“Can’t I visit? I miss Auntie’s food. Why are you interrogating me?” She kissed his cheek. “I thought you loved me.”
“I’m just surprised.” He looked at Ellie. “Thanks for bringing her, Miss McKenna.”
“It’s a pleasure.” She looked at Clara. “Let me know what time to pick you up on Monday.”
Nazeem Williams accompanied her outside.
“Is there something I should know?”
“No, I think she was just homesick.”
“Is everything under control?”
“As far as I know. To tell you the truth, I don’t actually know what I’m doing there. The security is really good and they look after her very well.”
“I’m happy to hear that, but I’d feel better if you stayed a bit longer.”
“She’s a lovely girl. I enjoy working with her.” Ellie unlocked her car door. “I’m going home for the rest of the weekend, but I have my cellphone with me if you need me.”
He shook her hand. “Thank you. I’m glad our paths crossed.”
CHAPTER 28
As she drove away, Ellie began to make plans to get her hands on the cellphone. Even though it was on silent mode, there was still a chance that Nick Malherbe might find it. Her hands on the steering wheel felt damp. She took a few deep breaths and let them out slowly. She had to get a grip on herself before she got to his apartment.
She pressed the intercom button in the foyer three times before Nick answered. In the background she could hear music playing.
“Hello, it’s Ellie McKenna. May I come in for a minute, please?” On the way over she had realised that she couldn’t tell him outright that she had left her phone in the vehicle. He might go and fetch it himself.
The door clicked open and she walked slowly down the passage. The front door was open and Nick was drying his hands on a tea towel. She hardly recognised him. He was barefoot, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt. Soft music was playing in the background. She thought it was Bruce Springsteen.
“This is a surprise.”
“I’m sorry to bother you, but I think my phone might have fallen out of my handbag in the Range Rover. I can’t find it anywhere. Do you mind if I take a look?”
He went back inside the flat and came out with the key. “I’ll go.”
“No, don’t worry, I can see you’re cooking.”
“There’s nothing that can burn. Back in a second.”
Ellie pretended not to hear and followed him, keeping up a conversation. “Clara and Enzio had an argument. She’s spending the rest of the weekend at her uncle’s house.”
In the lift he turned to her. “What was the argument about?”
“I don’t know. She called me and told me they’d had a fight. Said it would do them both good to get out from under each other’s feet for a day or two.”
“Where is she now?”
“I dropped her off at her uncle’s house.”
“And Enzio?”
“When we left, he was at home. Did anything happen to upset him? He didn’t seem to be in a good mood.” Ellie tried to keep her voice neutral, but sweat was trickling down her neck.
They entered the parking garage and she lengthened her steps to keep up with him. “Clara is young and I don’t know if she understands how demanding the grown-up world can be. I can imagine someone like Enzio is always working. Doing business at that level probably requires more than an eight-to-five day.” Ellie kept talking, hoping to distract him.
Some distance from the Range Rover Nick used the remote to unlock the vehicle. Ellie picked up the pace. She reached the front passenger door slightly ahead of him. She opened it and leaned over the seat where she had been sitting. She felt around on the other side, then looked underneath before she leaned back slightly and pushed her hand into the gap next to the seat. Sweat was pouring down her back and she felt as if she might stop breathing at any moment. The moment her hand closed around the phone she closed her eyes and sent up a quick prayer.
“Thank goodness. I was beginning to think it had been stolen or that I lost it.” She looked at the screen. “Fortunately nobody has been looking for me. Thanks.”
“I presume if Clara is with her family you have the weekend free?”
“Yes. I’m grateful. I’ve got work to do and I’d love to get home for a change.”
“Stay for supper. I always cook too much for one.”
Ellie felt her heart beat faster, and not in a pleasant way. It sounded like an innocent invitation, but she suspected that few things were innocent where Nick Malherbe was concerned. It had been a long day and she didn’t have the energy to play games. Besides, she had to get home to find out what Clive had arranged with Albert. At the thought of Albert, she was suddenly excited. And not only because she wanted to talk to him about Nazeem Williams and Allegretti.
“I …”
“I’m a very good cook and I bet you have nothing at home. We’ll eat early and you can be home before nine.”
Ellie looked at her watch. It was seven o’clock. She swallowed her objections. “Thanks. That’s kind of you.” They walked back to the apartment, the phone in her hand. “Will you excuse me for a minute? I want to call my mom. I kind of promised I’d pop round tonight.”
He gestured at the big sliding windows. “You’ll get the best reception over there.” She saw him go round the counter and get busy at the stove. The room was full of delicious aromas and she realised how hungry she was. It had been a long time since she had been in a kitchen with someone cooking.
She dialled Clive’s number. “Hello, Mom. I’m sorry, I’m going to be a bit late. But I’m definitely still coming. I’ll call when I leave town.”
“Is everything okay?” Clive sounded worried.
“Yes, don’t worry, I’m just having a quick supper with a friend.” Ellie ended the call and sat down at the counter that separated the living room from the kitchen.
“I’m not going to offer to help. I’m not much use in the kitchen. I can cook if I have to, but only with a recipe.”
“Don’t you ever improvise?”
“By this time you should know I like things to be orderly.”
He pushed a glass towards her over the counter. “I don’t have Enzio’s selection, but this one isn’t bad.”
She sniffed the whisky and felt the wound inside her reopen. She smelled her dad in the aromas in the glass. She turned the glass around and around, knowing she wouldn’t be able to swallow. When at last she took a sip, she felt like curling up into a ball.
Ahmed had been right. Everyone who had warned her had been right. This was a big mistake, and if her dad had been alive, he wouldn’t have believed that she had made such a stupid decision. He had tried all his life to teach her good judgement. Not to make hasty decisions. To focus. Those are the things that will keep you out of danger. Not how fast or how accurately you can shoot. Or how fast you can run. Good judgement, and the ability to focus on the task at hand.
Ellie stared at the glass for another moment or two. When she looked up, she hoped her face didn’t betray her emotions.
“Thanks. Before you know it, I’ll be thinking up excuses to drop in.”
“Was the phone just an excuse to come here tonight?”
Ellie smiled. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know. With you, I’m not always sure. And usually I read people quite easily.”
She wanted to say that made two
of them, but she wasn’t sure he was speaking the truth. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Women generally don’t like men to find them too transparent.”
“What do you think your father would have said about the fact that you’re working for Nazeem Williams? In Enzio Allegretti’s home?”
She felt as if he was scrubbing her tender skin with a wire brush. She took a sip of her drink and sat back on the barstool.
“I could tell you he would have understood that I couldn’t stay on in the force, but I don’t know. Maybe he would have understood, maybe not. It’s something I prefer not to think about right now, or I suspect I’d find it hard to put one foot in front of the other.”
“Did you have a good relationship?”
“Yes. My mother started drinking when I was fourteen, but even before that my dad and I had always been a team.”
“Where’s your mom now?”
“Still living in their house. She’ll probably sell it as soon as the estate has been wound up. She doesn’t want to live there any more.”
“And the two of you?”
Ellie took another sip. “We try.”
He began to slice tomatoes, slowly, rhythmically. As if he had all the time in the world.
“Why aren’t you married yet? You’re an attractive, intelligent woman. Is there some hidden flaw?”
“I was engaged, but it didn’t work out. I haven’t met anyone since who was marriage material.”
“What does marriage material look like?”
She shrugged. “The fact that I’m not married should tell you I’m no expert.”
“Was it a mutual decision?” The knife stopped slicing and he looked up.
“No. He decided it wouldn’t work.”
“Was it a relief, or were you happy in the relationship?”
Ellie couldn’t remember anyone ever asking her that before. “It’s probably easy to say now that I was relieved, but when it happened it was very hard. I thought he was the one I was going to grow old with.”
Nick looked at the woman in front of him. He had been truly surprised to see her tonight, but he didn’t know if he believed the cellphone story. Had it really fallen out of her handbag, or had she left it in the car on purpose? If it was the latter, what could her motive have been? He was reasonably sure she wasn’t here because she was lonely.
He was glad he had mentioned her father. It was her weak spot and she was less careful when she was talking about him.
Nick handed her an avocado and a knife. She took the knife and wordlessly began to peel and slice the avocado. She dissected the fruit, carefully removing every brown spot, ending up with slices that were perfectly uniform.
“Do you think Clara will go back?” He was standing with his back to her, taking a dish from the oven.
“Yes. Unless Enzio decides he doesn’t want her back.”
“What are you planning to do with your free weekend?”
“Call on my mother, do my laundry, go to the office. Nothing exciting.”
He took out plates and cutlery and put a plate of sausages between them on the counter.
Ellie smiled when she saw the rest of the meal. Maize porridge with braised tomatoes and a mixed salad.
“Not quite what I had envisaged when you said you were a very good cook.”
“You haven’t tasted my pap and wors.”
“You forget that I’m Cape Town born and bred.”
“All the more reason to taste my pap and wors.”
Nick watched as she cautiously began to eat. Neat mouthfuls. He wished the nagging feeling that something was amiss would go away. He looked at the phone lying on the counter next to her. Chances were the phone was clean, like her home, but you never knew. If only he had known it was in the Range Rover.
“I’m impressed with your taste in music.”
“What did you think I’d listen to?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t think about it. I was just surprised to hear it.”
“What do you listen to?”
“Too much to list. I come from a musical family. My father and his whole family were musicians.”
“And you?”
“I play the guitar and the piano. A bit of organ. My father sometimes stood in as organist at his church. I liked to go along.”
That explained the guitar in her bedroom. Nick wished he could get such easy answers to some of his other questions. About Captain Greyling, for example.
She added: “You must have been a good interrogator during your time in the police. You manage to make people talk without them realising it.”
“Do you feel I’ve been interrogating you?”
“No, but I realise I’ve been answering questions the entire time. I don’t usually share my personal information this easily.”
“I’m sorry you feel I’ve been cross-examining you. I’ll have to work at my social skills. At the moment I don’t have much opportunity for normal social interaction. I guess I’m rusty.”
“It didn’t seem like it today. You looked totally relaxed.”
“I find it an interesting world.”
He had poured her another whisky and she sipped it slowly. “Does it ever scare you?”
“No more than when I was in the police. I have a reasonably fatalistic attitude towards danger. What’s the use being scared of what could go wrong when you could get run over by a car any day? Life is a hell of a risk. Nothing can really protect you from it.”
“Yet you see to it that Enzio is surrounded by heavily armed people.”
“I’m still going to take precautions as far as possible. Especially when I’m being paid to do so.”
“There are other jobs that pay well.”
He smiled at her. “Are you trying to convert me?”
She swallowed the last of the whisky, picked up her phone and got to her feet. “If I say yes, it means I think you’re on the wrong path. We don’t know each other well enough for me to make a statement like that. Thanks for the meal. It was much better than I expected.”
He got up as well and came around the counter. “Maybe it’s time we got to know each other.”
He noticed a light flush on her cheeks, and for a moment her eyes grew wide. Then she looked away. A few scenarios went through his mind. Then they splintered into images of Monica, Allegretti, Barkov, Mang, Williams. The lies that lay between the two of them. But it was a nice moment.
Ellie sighed with relief when she turned on the ignition and pulled away. She had not felt so out of control for a long time. The only thing she could rely on at the moment was her sixth sense. The one that had made her talk about her father, that had allowed her to tell him about her mother, about her love for music. Something told her that, the more she shared with him, the less suspicious he would be. People who have something to hide don’t usually talk about themselves.
She called Clive. “I’m on my way.”
“I’m waiting for you. Pack an overnight bag and climb over the wall at the back of the house. I’m parked in the street.”
At home Ellie threw a few items of clothing into a bag, switched her alarm back on, locked her house and climbed over the wall that separated her from her neighbours at the back.
“Where the hell have you been?” Clive started the engine the minute she got in.
“Having supper with Nick Malherbe.”
He frowned. “Should I worry?”
“I’m not going to answer that.” She took out her phone. “I have a little present for you.” Ellie pressed a few buttons and felt her mouth go dry again when Allegretti’s voice became audible.
Jesus, how could you have let it happen! You assured me again and again that everything was in place. Why didn’t you know about that fucking roadblock? Where are your informers at the local branch?
Silence.
I don’t want to hear any excuses. This was supposed to be a simple operation.
Silence again.
It was supposed to be the last resort. You
know if we do it, there’s no turning back.
Silence.
No, I told you I haven’t been able to reach him. Allegretti appeared to be listening again. I’m not the one who’s fucked up twice. If we continue with this one, it’s going to be my call.
There was another silence. When Ellie realised the conversation was over, she switched off the recorder.
“Where did you get that?”
She told him what she had done.
“Hell, Mac, I told you your job is observation only. Malherbe is no fool. That was an unnecessary risk.”
“I’ve got a feeling Clara is somehow involved, and I wanted to know what’s going on. I know I wasn’t really hired to look after her but she’s a child who’s involved in things she has nothing to do with. I can’t just look on when there’s a possibility that she’s being abused.”
“That’s why I think it may be time for us to get you out of there. Something doesn’t sound right. As long as we don’t know what’s going on, it’s reckless to keep you there.”
“You can’t take me out now. We may be on the verge of a breakthrough. I’ll keep my eyes and ears open.”
“You can do that as much as you like, but the shit could hit the fan within minutes and before you know it, it’s all over. In this job you don’t necessarily have a lead-up. Things happen without a plan, and I don’t think you’ll be able to handle it. The fact that you’re emotionally involved with the girl isn’t good news either. When shit happens, chances are you’re going to go with your emotions.”
“Thanks for the motion of no confidence.”
“That’s not what it is. It’s bloody common sense.”
“Where are we going?”
“I rented a house in Hout Bay for you and Greyling. I’ll pick you up tomorrow afternoon.”
Nick parked the Range Rover in a side street and walked around the corner. Her car was in the driveway. Lights were on inside the house. She didn’t go to her mother after all.
After she had left, he had hesitated for only a moment before grabbing his car keys. There was a good chance he wouldn’t catch up with her, but he had to try to do something to silence that nagging little voice in his head.
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