Authors: Alicia Hope
At another knock on her door, Verity looked up
and inhaled sharply.
John Reardon
stood
in the doorway
, but this time he appeared awkward, almost uncertain, which was completely out of character
.
‘Come in
,
John.’ She
eyed
him
gu
ardedly, wondering what was coming
.
‘Just wanted to give you this.’
She took his proffered envelope and stared at him. ‘What is it?’
‘N
o need for explanations, it’s all in there.’
He
looked ill at ease
, shifti
ng his weight from foot to foot as though
anxious
to leave.
Certainly not the same bellowing brute from the other day
,
Verity
thought
with a curious frown
.
‘John?’
He finally made eye contact with her,
and projected
raw, resentful hostility
. S
he shrank inwardly
, b
ut
he
merely said
,
‘Like I say
, it’s all
in there. Just read it
,’ and he
turned
and
marched
out.
Verity frowned as she watched him leave.
W
hat was he up to? Was this another legal paper about his proposed suit against the company?
Give me a break....
She rolled her eyes. ‘P
lease,
not more trouble,’
she whispered.
There was only one way to find out
what Reardon was up to now.
She
hesitated, staring at
the offending item in her hand.
When she finally tore ope
n the envelope and extracted a
single sheet, she unfolded it careful
ly, as though expecting a cloud of anthrax, or some other
deadly poison
, to
waft
from
it
.
Taking a deep breath, she made herself
read the
smattering of sparse words
.
Her eyes grew wide and s
he rais
ed
her head
once
to clear
it
,
before gazing at
the page
again
. This time she focused carefully on each word
.
She’d read
them correctly the first time.
‘I don’t believe it
,’ she breath
ed
, ‘I just don’t believe it.’
Royce glanc
ed up the
aisle of the Dehavilland Dash Eight
to where Verity sat in animated conversation with Guy Wallace
. Guy ha
d arrived in Australia the afternoon
before, along with
the other US-based board members
. After
their
flying visit to the refinery
early that
morning
,
which Verity
had
hosted,
they’d joined the other delegates on the commercial airline flight from Bunbury to Perth
.
Me
et
ing
up
with them
at the airport,
Royce
had
noticed
a
distinct
buzz among the members
that was more than pre-meeti
ng jitters, and he
quickly
identified its source. Most of the international delegates were meeting
RCL’s
new
CEO
for the first time,
and
they
looked
eager to get to know her
.
Verity’s fifteen minutes of fame had arrived.
Royce’s
lips compressed in
to a tight line.
Nothing more than she deserves,
whispered his inner voice, which, to his discomfort, sounded a lot like Ella’s.
Guy in particu
lar
seem
ed taken with Verity
, and
called dibs on the seat beside her for
the flight
to the island
.
I
can’t
blame hi
m
, Royce told
himself grumpily,
she’s
very
capable of getting under
a man
’s skin
.
He glanced at her again with grudging
admiration. She looked
compo
sed
and elegant
sitting there beside Guy. H
er
long
line silver-grey jacket fell
smoothly
over a matching skirt
, and her
classic court shoes
were
the same shade
of plum
as her
satin
blouse
. Royce’s
eyes
took in
the neatness of
her
posture, her shapely knees and
well-formed calves
in silken stockings
.
Her hair was tied at the nape of her neck, but as
usual,
a few soft strands had worked their way free. They framed her face, which she
abruptly
turned in his direction a
s though aware of his scrutiny.
He held her gaze for a moment and then, with what
he hoped was a nonchalant air,
he
focussed his attentio
n
on
the newspaper i
n his lap.
But he
couldn’t
take in
the words
, hi
s thoughts kept returning to that
uncomfortable
scene when he’d first boarded
the plane. Without meaning to, he’d
been about to claim
the
seat beside Verity, until she
looked
up
at him
with a
raised
,
inquisitive
eyebrow
and said quietly
, ‘I think Guy wants to sit here
.
’
A deep frown creased his forehead
.
Why did I have to
choose
that
seat, and then
stand there
like a
gormless fool
instead of
simply
mov
ing
on
to the next row
.
What’s wrong with me?
He scowled.
I
must be
suffering from
a guilty conscience
.
Well, I’ve already redeemed myself
for that, so it’s time to move on.
He gave a small,
satisfied nod and settled back to read the day’s Financial Review.
The flight to Perth went quickly for
Verity, tha
nks to Guy’s amiable
company. Although they’d only just met in person, she quickly felt at
ease
with him
,
as though she’d known him all her life. He was an interesting and entertaining conversational
ist, asking
questions
that Verity
found inquisitive rather than goading or intrusive.
The lively conversation left
Verity with little opportunity to ponder the question uppermost in her mind.
What
had influenced John Reardon
to
do what he did?
Once again Guy’s voice broke into her thoughts, ‘So
ma’am
, you’v
e organised a
pre-meetin’
dive excu
rsion for
tomorrow
?’
‘Yes, we’re going
out
on the “
Indian P
rincess”
early
in the
morning. Of course you’re most welcome to come along, Guy. It should be g
reat diving
, especially on the reefs around the island.’
Guy
simply
smiled indulgently so Verity
went on
, ‘Did you know that Western Australia has some of the best dive sites in the world? T
he water might be a bit chilly
this time of year
, but the visibility should be excellent, maybe
as much as
twenty metres in places.
And there should
be ple
nty of marine life around. I
f we’re lucky, we might see a manta ray or a pod of dolphins.’
Guy watched the enthusiasm light up her face. It made her look young, sweet, and somehow vulnerable. ‘Sounds great
lil’ lady
, but not for this ole’ landlubber. I’ll get all my jollies sippin’
somethin’ long and cold,
and hearin’ all a
bout it when ya
get back.’ He smiled at her with
what looked
like paternal affection. ‘Now you
be careful
, ya hear?
I hear tell there’re some nasty creatures around, and not all of ’em in the ocean.’
Although his smile lingered,
the
caution
in
Guy’s eyes wasn’t lost on Verity.
She p
ondered
on it while
he turned to
order a black coffee from the steward’s
trolley. This gave her a chance to study
his g
ood-natured face
in profile. She
could sense an undeniable strength behind the benevolent features, along with a comforting sincerity. Maybe he was one
board member
she cou
ld rely on, possibly even trust....
When
the plane touched down in Perth
, she felt
butterflies
quivering
in her stomach again.
With each leg of the journey she drew nearer t
he executive committee meeti
ng, her first as CEO,
and her next big test
. She pushed her nerves asid
e and disembarked with the other
delegates
. Not long
afterwards,
they boarded the chartered Beechcraft King Air for the transfer to Loquacious Island. Verity
had never visited the
island before, and she wondered if it
would live up to its na
me. B
ut while the venue
might
be marvellous, she doubted the occasion would be one where people could
truly
‘speak easy’.
During the th
irty minute flight in the small plane
, Verity took every opportunity she could, when
ever
Guy took a br
eather between subjects
, to look out
the
window at the
Indian Ocean below. She enjoyed flying over the water at lower altitudes
,
it afforded a closer look at the dif
fering hues
of blue and
shadowy
limestone reefs, and
occasional
glimpses of large ocean inhabitants. As an amateur open water diver
, she knew whales and sharks frequented the area.
She’d
only ever
come across
small reef sharks
when diving
herself
, and
those had been rare
and infrequent encounters
. But
she never forgot
the
Southern Ocean’s
proximity
,
with its cold waters
a favourite hunting ground for the ferocious
great white shark.
At t
hat thought, it occurred to her
that Royce might be joining
them on
the dive trip.
Someone had mentioned he held
a dive ticket.
She suppressed a
snigger
, wondering why thinking about
a
man-e
ater
like the great white had
brought Royce to mind
.
And then s
he found herself looking for
Kerry, who
sat close to the front of the plane, dressed in a very short skirt.
Now
there
was the human equivalent to a
man-eater
,
if ever
one
existed
.