Seven Days Grace (A Grace Rose Novel Book 1) (35 page)

He turned from her
,
bent down to pick up his briefcase
,
‘
I told you to trust me. Don
’
t stop now.
’

‘
You lied to me. You told me your name was John.
’
Another lying man.
‘
How do I know you haven
’
t lied to me about everything else and you
’
re not setting me up for a fall?
’

‘
I have to go
,’
and he hung up. The Voice strode to the minister
’
s car
,
opened the door
,
climbed in and shut the door behind him. The car drove off.

She turned around and scanned the area for Kate. After no luck
,
she hobbled towards the dam to look at the water rushing down the spillway. She saw Kate standing over on the spillway bridge with Jake and Christian.

Great.
Grace felt like she was on the verge of insanity.

34

Grace could
n
’
t
ignore them forever as it wasn
’
t part of her DNA to be that rude. She limped over to collect Kate.

‘
What are you doing here?
’
Grace asked Jake.

‘
Following up on leads
,
investigating. It
’
s what we do as undercover cops
,’
Christian said.

‘
Hey
,
take it easy
,’
Jake said to his partner.

Christian walked off with Kate
,
leaving Jake alone with Grace.
‘
He knows how I feel about you and –
’
he left it hanging.

‘
Yeah
,
it
’
s not about taking sides though
,’
Grace was calmer than she thought she would be and not surprised to see him. Why wouldn
’
t he be here
,
checking up on Sleen
,
trying to put the final pieces of the puzzle together?
‘
Are you feeling better?
’
She might not want to be in a relationship with him
,
nevertheless
,
she was still concerned about how he felt after the horrific accident yesterday. She knew if he wasn
’
t anxious about Grace
’
s safety
,
shielding her from the fall by surrounding her with as much of his body and arms as possible
,
he wouldn
’
t have had to endure what he did.

‘
Yeah.
’

With his short response
,
Grace wondered if he
’
d accepted her decision about not being able to be with him. She felt it was for the best.
‘
Thank you for what you did for me on the ride yesterday. I probably wouldn
’
t be in one piece if it wasn
’
t for you
,’
she meant it and was grateful.

He nodded silently.
‘
Have you thought about forgiving me yet? I
’
m aching for you
,
Grace.
’

‘
No
,
I haven
’
t had time and I don
’
t want to think about it right now. You look tired.
’

‘
Thanks
,
I hardly slept. Grace
,
I
’
m sorry. How many times do I have to say it?
’

‘
I don
’
t know. Please
,
drop it. Now is not the time. I
’
m going to take a look around.
’

She heard him sigh loudly behind her. She travelled further along the spillway bridge with her one crutch and watched the water rushing down into the valley below. She saw Kate talking with Christian. Jake stood by kicking the dirt as his hands rested in his pockets. Kate pointed to her watch.
‘
No rush
,’
Grace mouthed the words. Her phone rang. Her sixth sense told her it was The Voice.

‘
Hello?
’

‘
Grace
,
it
’
s Alex.
’
He used his real name with her for the first time.

‘
I don
’
t know what to call you now. First
,
you tell me it
’
s John
,
now I find out your name is Alex and
,
ah
,
big shock
,
you work for Sleen
,’
Grace endeavoured to keep her irritation in check.

‘
Grace
,
I
’
m sorry
,
I only have a few minutes. If Sleen saw me with you I would have been next on his hit list. I had to leave with him
,
I had no choice. Now you  know why I wore the disguise. They couldn
’
t know it was inside information. You know what happens to whistle blowers? I
’
ve had to keep phone calls short. I don
’
t want them to trace it to you as I
’
ve landed you in enough trouble with the two accidents.
’

‘
How would they know you
’
re giving me information? I
’
m media
,
you
’
re allowed to talk to me. Besides
,
you do realise every call is recorded on your phone bill
,
they can go through the list. It doesn
’
t matter how long they are
,’
Grace said.

‘
I know. I was trying to play it safe and I didn
’
t give you my number as it would be safer for both of us. Then I could call you when I had a few minutes away from everyone. And if you were to call me with media enquiries
,
they would ask questions.
’

‘
Surely you receive lots of media calls?
’

‘
Yes
,
I suppose you
’
re right. I may be over cautious
,
nonetheless
,
I
’
m attempting to keep this as low profile as possible without getting any of us into trouble. You see what I mean?
’

‘
I guess.
’
Nope but I don
’
t have the energy to argue with you.

‘
Please don
’
t judge me too harshly. It
’
s been crazy leading up to the press conference today and all the controversy surrounding the building and opening of the new dam. By the way
,
how did you get my number?
’
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

‘
You sent me a text the other day with the address of the building in North Sydney where I was to meet you. The number was at the bottom of the message.
’

‘
Under all the stress and deadlines of this past week
,
I didn
’
t think. Please don
’
t call me. Other people answer my phone and with this about to break we cannot afford to slip up. Are you still at the dam? I can come back and see you once the Minister
,
and his driver
,
is back at the office. They would have found it strange if I had stayed on.
’

‘
Yes
,
I am. How do I know I can trust you?
’

‘
Grace. I informed you from the beginning Sleen was a low life and dirtier than the mud on the bottom of the harbour. If I didn
’
t leak the information to you to uncover the sordid details
,
then he would come out of this cleaner than your grandma
’
s teeth after a night in the denture glass.
’

‘
Ah
,
a sense of humour. Funny.
’
Grace was not amused.

‘
Can you meet me or not? We
’
re stopped at a petrol station to fill up and I
’
ve made my excuses to go to the bathroom. The driver should have organised this earlier but it
’
s given me some time to call you. I promise it will all be clear later and you
’
ll get your story. Say two o
’
clock?
’

Grace paused.
‘
This is the last time
,
I swear.
’

‘
Great
,
I
’
ll see you then
,’
and perhaps what Grace thought would be their last phone call
,
The Voice hung up.

Grace
’
s experience in reporting over the years and liaising with politicians and their entourages was a trusty friend at these times. She could sense within her the cover up Sleen and his gang were embroiled in was about to bubble up and over the surface. She and The Voice had to have the upper hand in this situation. She had no choice
,
she had to trust him. And whatever light was shed from the final meeting with her ally she would affectionately know forever as The Voice
,
the crux of the story had to be revealed. The position she was left in meant she had two stories to finish and send to the media later today. Although
,
she couldn
’
t think who would publish her stories.

35

Grace discovered
the stairs and investigated. She wanted to leave the voices of Jake
,
Christian and Kate behind her and be alone.

There was a gate to pass through which was unlocked. She began to climb down the stairs that wrapped around the side of the hill. There were several landing platforms and exits from the stairs at measured intervals from the top to the bottom. It looked to Grace like there were a hundred stairs to navigate. She saw there was a doorway about ten metres from the top at the first landing.

She traversed down the staircase wide enough for one. Officially not open to the public for another twelve months
,
there was next to no chance of having to worry about others today.

Over the crutch
,
she threw it away and continued down the stairs
,
hanging onto the railing and jumping on one foot. As she reached the door she saw it was ajar.
I shouldn
’
t be in here. Ah
,
who cares?

There was a long
,
concrete corridor with small bunker lights creating a dimly lit passageway. She heard voices and they were heading right towards her. Two men were chatting amiably when they stopped to talk with her.

‘
G
’
day guys
,
you lost?
’
one of them asked.

Grace looked behind her to where the men were looking and saw Jake coming in the door.

‘
Yeah
,
we
’
re part of the IT crew. We were told the boss was down here and to check in with him
,’
Jake said.

‘
Down the hall
,
last door on the left. It
’
s open
,’
and the friendly men walked off.

‘
Don
’
t you ever give up?
’
she asked him.
‘
I can look after myself
,
you know.
’

‘
Grace
,
I know you
’
re annoyed at me. Despite our personal issues
,
I am here to protect you on a professional level. I can
’
t help it
,
okay? Plus
,
I want to see what
’
s down here
,
too.
’

The man is relentless.

She felt Jake
’
s hand on her upper arm
,
indicating he wanted her to move from the spot where she was transfixed. She fell in beside him as he walked down the corridor and she jumped. She used her other hand to support her weight against the wall.

‘
I
’
d offer you my support but you
’
d push me away.
’

She stopped
,
puffing a little from the jumping.
‘
I
’
d accept it if you did.
’

He put his arm around her waist and she leaned into him.

‘
Thank you
,’
she said.

Suddenly she felt nervous. Who knew what awaited them at the end of the corridor? Perhaps it would be Sleen
’
s henchman securing the area on a Saturday afternoon with gun in hand. They knew who she was and it would be easy enough to eliminate both of them and no-one would ever know. Here they were inside the top of the spillway with no idea where they were going or what they were doing.
This is stupid.
She stopped dead in her tracks and refused to go any further.

‘
What
’
s the matter?
’
Jake whispered as he turned to face her.

‘
What are we doing here? This is suicide
,’
she found she was also whispering.
‘
Sleen
’
s henchman could be right around the corner and they know who I am. They won
’
t hesitate to kill me.
’

‘
Grace
,
I saw them drive off
,
they
’
re not here. Let
’
s creep around the corner of the doorway and see what
’
s there. If there
’
s nothing of interest we
’
ll head back to the top.
’
He had turned towards her and had his arms on her shoulders as he talked. He shrugged his shoulders
,
titled his head and opened his eyes wide.

‘
Okay
,
let
’
s go
,’
she said.

‘
Nothing
,
and I mean nothing
,
is going to happen to you.
’
Then he opened his jacket to show her he had a gun in a holster.

With no time to think about his gun
,
she gazed past Jake with a sickened look on her face.

‘
There
’
s someone behind me
,
isn
’
t there?
’
Jake asked.

As she nodded a voice behind him said
,
‘
How nice to see the happy couple again. Grace
,
you look fabulous. To think we caught up only moments ago.
’

Jake turned and the threesome gawked at each other.

‘
Congratulations. I guess she thinks you
’
re the better man though she looks a little worse for wear
,’
Jock said as he nodded towards Grace
’
s bandaged ankle.

‘
Thanks for the sympathy
,
Jock. Anyway
,
there
’
s nothing going on here. We
’
re work colleagues
,’
Grace said.

Jock grinned
,
widened his pea-sized eyes and moved towards Grace.
‘
Excellent
,
I guess you
’
re open game then.
’

She was shocked at his gall after their previous conversation. Jake stepped in front of Jock with his hands down by his sides. He inhaled and puffed out his chest. As Grace came around from behind him
,
she planned to step in between the two men to stop any heated arguments before they began. Jake held up an arm across her chest to prevent her moving forward. She pushed past him
,
slipped both arms in front of the two men and pushed them apart.

‘
Forget it
,
we have more important things to do than fight over a girl who
’
s not interested in either of you
,’
Grace said. She stared at one then the other.
‘
B
oth of you take a step back now. Do it.
’

Her tone caused the men to comply.

After a few tense moments Jock broke the silence.
‘
The press conference is over. What are you still doing here?
’

Grace and Jake exchanged glances. Jake shrugged his shoulders. Grace decided it was up to her to speak.

‘
I
’
m taking a look around
,
searching for a more exciting angle for my article. All the other stories will be standard pieces
,
I want to come up with a sizzler. Something different
,’
she smiled with her teeth together.

‘
Coy doesn
’
t suit you
,
what
’
s the real deal?
’
Jock asked.
‘
You better start talkin
’
or I
’
ll call security and you can explain to them how you found your way into a secure area of the spillway.
’

‘
The gate was unlocked and the door was open
,’
Grace said.

Jake cut in.
‘
We don
’
t even know who you are except you treat women like second-class citizens. Why would we tell you anything when you could be one of the bad guys?
’

‘
One of the bad guys? What bad guys? This is a dam
,
man. There are no bad guys here
,’
Jock said. He stared at one then the other. Jake and Grace waited patiently.
‘
By the serious tone on your faces you obviously think there are. Well
,
if you must know
,
my company has been hired by the state government to install the technology to operate the dam. It
’
s a cost-saving measure that reduces man hours with almost the entire system run by computers. We
’
ve set up the first dam of its kind in the States and this is the second one in the world to use this technology. No-one here fully knew how to do it. I was bought over for several months to show them how the trickier parts of the operation work.
’

‘
Who hired you?
’
Grace asked.

‘
Department of Environment
,
I
’
m not sure. It
’
s the man who opened the plant earlier
,’
Jock said.

‘
Minister Sleen?
’

‘
That
’
s right
,
Grace. Sleen is his name. He has something to hide if you ask me though who am I to question. I
’
m an employee and he
’
s the boss.
’

‘
You can talk
,’
Jake said.

‘
Hey
,
I have nothing to hide. I have a thing for attractive women. It doesn
’
t mean I
’
m not here to do a job and do it well. Don
’
t go casting aspersions.
’

‘
We have to get out of here
,’
Jake said.
‘
Let
’
s go
,
Grace.
’

‘
Ah
,
no you don
’
t. You haven
’
t told me why you
’
re here
,
why you
’
re really here.
’
Jock stood in their way.

‘
We have to meet someone and they
’
re probably searching for us right now. Like I said
,
we
’
re seeking more information to sharpen up my story.
’

Jock refused to budge.
‘
Are you actually working on a story?
’

‘
Yes
,’
Jake said then showed him his gun.

‘
You a cop?
’

Jake pulled out his identification.
‘
Will you co-operate now?
’

‘
I will if Grace puts my name in the story.
’

‘
Unbelievable
,’
Grace said.

Jake pulled his gun out.

‘
Whatever
,
come this way
,’
Jock said as he lead them down the corridor.

Grace hobbled on her one foot.

Jake noticed her struggle
,
‘
Let me help you.
’