Forgotten (20 page)

I cleared my throat. “All good,” I said,
with a dismissing wave of my hand.

His grin was
as wide as a playground full of unruly children and equally as
mischievous. He turned back to Saul. I instead shriveled back into
my sun-lounger.

“
So, what’s
this ‘fascinating shit’ of yours?” Saul asked.

Ethan’s grin
appeared permanently etched. “Firstly, mate, you were right, this
whole case
is
bloody huge… love it!”

“Fortuitous for some,” I mumbled.

Ethan winked
at me. Unexpectedly, it didn’t appear a brazen wink, more like a
reassuring one. Maybe I was wrong, but I couldn’t help but smile,
small and tentative as it was.

He smiled
back and then continued with his findings. “Iacovelli, aka Colt,
the man in Claudia’s car, so happens he knows three other people. A
Ruger, Remington and Wesson.”

Saul half-laughed. “You serious?”

Weren
’t they all
types of guns?
I said as much.

“
Revolvers
to be exact.” Saul straightened, planted his feet on either side of
the sun-lounger and began rubbing his temple. “So they’re aliases,
but for what exactly? An organization of some sort?”

“A boys with toys club? Not sure, mate.”

Ethan then
related how, after securing Colt/Iacovelli’s mobile, he encountered
the three names, and
only
those three names, in the
phone’s address book. The inbox and outbox were all empty. Upon
calling each of the listed numbers, one failed to answer, one hung
up when hearing Ethan’s voice and the third was silent for a time
before also hanging up.

“Where’s the phone now?” Saul asked.

“Back in Iacovelli’s shirt pocket where I
found it. The coppers can make of it what they will.”

“This group could be all rather
innocuous.”

“
Could be,
my friend, but I figure the actual dead body thing puts a dampener
on their monthly meetings.” Ethan took a small pause. “One more
intriguing little fact, Colt/Iacovelli was shot with just that, a
Colt Hammerless.”

“A 32?”

“
Yep, same
caliber as Alice Polinski.”

What did that mean? That Iacovelli was responsible for
Alice?
I began to ask, but Saul cut me
off.

“
Ballistics
will be testing for skid marks. See if the same gun was used in
both crimes. Be interesting to get our hands on that bit of
info.”

“Not more jailbait shit.”

M
ore jailbait
shit?
Again, I tried to ask but only got
an ‘um’ past my lips.
Saul overrode
me.
Once more.

“Gut tells me it won’t be the same gun,”
Saul said, still rubbing his temple.

“
Gut tells
me you’re right.”

My gut just wanted to scream.

“
You know
Wesson, Ruger
and Remington all come in
32 calibers.”

Saul acknowledged this. “So, any one of them
could’ve shot Alice.”

Ethan
shrugged. “Or none of them. As for the wound, single bullet, close
range, through the back of Colt/
Iacovelli
’s head, weapon left in
the back seat. Nasty shit.”

So someone stepped into the back of my car
and just shot him
.
I shuddered.

“
His wallet
carried the general items,” Ethan continued, “driver’s license,
cards, some cash but nothing else of importance. The whole area was
pretty clean. I doubt the police will even get prints.”

“And it definitely happened in the car?”

“Brain matter spatters communicate all,
buddy.”

Was he talking about those congealed lumps on the window?
Ah, shit
!
Something made an unhealthy flip in my tummy.

“Any idea when?” Saul again.

“Judging by the state of rigor mortis,
perhaps about five to seven hours previous.”

“Putting it somewhere between two and four
a.m.” Saul frowned heavily causing his eyes to squint. “No outward
sign how they got in? Claudia insists that she always locks her
car.”

Claudia? As in third person?

“
None.
Doesn’t mean that the lock wasn
’t
tampered with, though.”

I caught my
dizzying head oscillating between the two as they bounced off each
other like a pair of overzealous ping-pong balls. I growled softly,
if that was at all possible. I mean, really, what was this?
Testosterone on heat?

I instantly
took advantage of a short gap in their conversation. “Umm… pardon
me for interrupting.” Two heads spun my way. “How did you find all
this out with the prying Zephyr sightseers on watch?”

“
Haven’t you
told her?” Ethan asked Saul.

“Hasn’t really come up in conversation,” was
Saul’s reply.

They were
doing it again. A flame took light in me, materializing in the form
of my subsequent grouchy tone. “Will you two stop talking about me
as if I’m not here? I am still alive the last I
checked.”

“Ooo… feisty mate,” Ethan said. “Got to be
that Italian pedigree.”

I bit back
my sharpening tongue and turned to Saul. He was pinching the bridge
of his nose, appearing as if he were nipping back a grin. He then
gave me a sideways glance and apologized. “It’s the way Ethan and I
work, a long-time habit. We didn’t mean to leave you
out.”

He sounded
sincere and I accepted the apology but my
Italian pedigree
had yet to
cool down. He then went on to answer my question. “It was because
of Tony Braga.”

“
As in Tony,
our caretaker?”

I was the one who rang him
,
Tony had said to me. And I
immediately rebuked myself for not questioning Tony’s role
earlier.

“
He owed me
a favor,” Saul said. “I’ve had him keep an eye on your place since
the Polinski incident. When he found Iacovelli, he rang me
immediately. Gave us the time we needed.”

I tried to take it in. Any available room in
my head was fast becoming scarce.

“Tony waited until the last minute possible
before he rang the cops,” Ethan added. “Saul figured the last thing
you needed was a re-run of the Polinski drama and was hoping to get
you out of there before they arrived.”

I was
beginning to wonder just how many guardian angels I actually had.
“Do you think someone is trying to frame me?” It was a valid
question. After all, why was Iacovelli in my car?

But, Saul had already considered it and
dismissed it. “If they are, they’re doing a pretty lousy job. For
one, no weapon was found following Alice’s murder, hardly the thing
to do if you’re trying to frame someone. Secondly, with Iacovelli,
they should have, at the very least, made sure you were home at the
time of the shooting.”

I silently thanked my Papa for encouraging
me to stay.

“
But,
whoever they are,” Saul said, “they’re certainly going to a lot of
trouble to make you the central pivot.”

It sounded
too crazy. I didn’t see myself as anyone that important, or so I
had once thought.

“
If all this
is to stop Claudia summoning up some past, diabolical memory,”
Ethan said, “why not just shoot
her
?”

I let out a
short, sharp breath.

Ethan spun
to me. “Just making a point. I find it strange that
other
people are being
shot to make sure
you
don’t remember!”

“
Unless,
it’s someone who doesn’t
want
her hurt, someone who wants to protect her.”
Saul’s expression towards me was clearly sympathetic.

“Like a person in my family.” I groaned a
deeper, louder one. The fact that it kept ricocheting back to them
was justifiably disturbing.

“So connecting her to a couple of dead
bodies in the place where she lives is their way of protecting her?
I could think of better ways.” Ethan emptied his glass, then said,
“What’s for dinner, mate? I’m bloody starving.”

***

We ate
dinner on the deck. It became the ideal opportunity to continue
the
discussions. It also allowed me time
to consider Saul, his luxurious home, his live-in housekeeper, his
obvious wealth. I then reflected upon his so-called
occupation.

I don’t do it for the money,
he
had said
.

Then for what? I couldn’t imagine it was
something one did for the fun of it.

At times, I caught Saul looking at me. The
expression he wore appeared deeply troubled, coupled with that
unsettling darkness I noticed earlier that day. Other times he
smiled, exposing nothing more than what I sensed was a gracious,
caring sincerity.

He certainly was an enigma.

Ethan on the other hand was easy to
interpret. There was something very natural, very playful about
him. Furthermore, he had the ability to ease the sometimes-leaden
atmosphere with his roguish banter. Both men seemed to be of a
similar age, but Ethan was such a boy in comparison. In addition,
it wasn’t difficult to recognize that the two men were very
close.

Yin and yang
.

When dinner was over, Ethan collected his
almost lick-clean plate and stood. “I’m buggered. Don’t mind my
crashing over, mate?”

Saul placed his own empty plate on the side
table. “You’ve never asked before.”

“
In case you
haven’t noticed, we have a lady present and I’m trying to show her
my sensitive side.”

Saul coughed into his fisted hand. “She’s
not interested, remember?”

“Not in my vocab. Hey, Claudia, do you like
French toast for breakfast? I make the best.”

“When he’s not burning the house down.”

I grinned. “French toast sounds good.”

“It’s a date then. You can join us if you
wish Saul, but don’t feel you have to. See your beautiful face in
the morning, Angel.”

Angel?
I returned the good night
and watched Ethan disappear into the house. Saul had made his way
to the perimeter of the deck by then, resting both arms along the
top of the railings. I joined him.

“
Again, I
apologize for my friend,” he said in a seemingly good-humored way.
“Your turning him down at The Local is only going to make him all
the more persistent! Be prepared.”

“He’s certainly very charming.”

Saul
laughed.
“Charming yes and incorrigibly
brazen.”

“I like him,” I whispered.

“So do I,” he whispered back.

We both
stood there for a time side-by-side gazing out towards the
vastness. It was so tranquil, so ghostly quiet, except for the
melodious songs of the crickets and frogs. It was difficult to
conceive that amongst the soothing lights of the coast, amongst the
tiny cluster that is Nankari, amongst the highly protected grounds
of Zephyr, chaos and fear were reigning. Here, by Saul’s side it
felt anything but.

I was very
aware of his presence, his every movement, however slight. I could
hear his breathing, shallow and even; his sheer physicality at
times so overriding, I could sense something strong rock within me.
As for that woody cologne of his, it superseded the waning
citronella and the normally enticing scents of the natural,
night-time bush.

I cut the long silence. “Where exactly along
the Blackall Ranges are we?”

Saul hooked
a thumb over his left shoulder. “That way to Montville.” He then
repeated the identical gesture over his right. “And that to
Maleny.”

I explored the surrounding area for a while.
“This place is so beautiful. I feel safe here and for a while, it
actually makes me forget.”

“
An illusion
for now, Claudia. Granted it’s not an easy place to find. We’re
pretty well tucked away into the hills and forests here and the
track to the house is quite convoluted. However, it isn’t
infallible. Anyone who wants to find it will.”

I tried not to reflect on that last remark.
“Thank you for everything you’re doing for me.”

Saul rotated towards me, that shadowy look
swelling again. “Thank me when you’re safe, when all this is
over.”

I nodded.
Saul returned to the night. His mood had changed. It was complex to
describe, but it was there, visible in his entire demeanor.
Shoulders hunched, head down and a heavy frown lining his brow, his
eyes were as murky and as sinister as the blackness before
him.

His
night
eyes
.

I didn’t
know what precipitated these unforeseen shifts. Whether it was
something said or done, but I developed the strongest inkling it
was time to go.

I said goodnight and left Saul alone to his
thoughts.

December 26, 2010

11:45
pm

I FEEL SAFE.

Claudia’s words ran endless laps in
Reardon’s head.

He tried to drown them out by concentrating
on the messages he was tapping on his laptop, messages to specific
contacts that could provide him with the information he needed.

But it was useless.