Tess's Tale (The Chanel Series Book 3) (16 page)

‘There
was
a reason I left home when I was sixteen.’

The waitress approached the table with two plates piled high with bacon and eggs. Trent attacked his, chewing noisily as he devoured his breakfast.

The appearance of the food had been timely. It gave me time to get the rest of my ducks in a row.

Trent swallowed the last mouthful noisily and said, ‘So what are you doing here?’

‘Having breakfast with you.’

‘Not here, here. But here.’ He tapped the table with the end of his knife.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the goofiness of it. ‘You mean Sydney?’

‘Yes, Sydney.’

‘My father-in-law gave my husband and me plane tickets for a wedding present. Harry’s father had a stroke, but I wanted to get away from Las Vegas.’ I pulled a face and real tears trembled on the ends of my lashes. ‘I couldn’t stop thinking about Mom. Anyway Harry is meeting me here once we know his Dad is stable.’

‘Huh.’ Trent plucked a toothpick from a little container and sat back. He twirled it between his thumb and first finger while staring into space above my head.

I ate my breakfast while he twirled. ‘So what did the anonymous caller say?’ I asked when I had finished.

His eyes snapped back to mine. ‘That you killed Lou.’

‘I wish I could,’ I said. ‘I would feel no guilt about putting a bullet through his head. The man is an asshole.’ I was very careful with my choice of words.

‘People always say that.’

‘That they want to kill Lou?’ I pushed my hair back behind my ears. ‘You’re probably right. I know of at least a dozen that would like a shot at it.’

‘No.’ His smile was really cute. ‘That they wouldn’t feel guilty. They always do. It’s human nature to feel bad about taking another life.’

Huh. What was wrong with me?
‘Have you ever taken a life?’

He shook his head. ‘Not yet. But I’m sure when I do I’ll feel guilty.’ He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and I put up my hand.

‘I said my shout and I meant it.’

‘Thanks. Next time I’ll shout.’

‘There’s going to be a next time?’

‘Probable. The Las Vegas police are looking into things at their end.’ He stood up, making me feel diminutive in my seat. ‘Don’t go anywhere Tess Milano,’ he said. ‘I’m sure we’ll be talking again.’

‘Oh I won’t,’ I said.

I was telling the truth to a certain extent. Tess Milano wouldn’t be going anywhere, but Lorraine Smith would.

***

Now that the police had an eye on me, the pressure to get out of Sydney had increased exponentially. I went to visit Adam again that evening.

‘I said four days,’ he said when I walked in the door.

I pulled a face. ‘I know. No harm in asking though, hey?’

‘What sort of trouble are you in?’

‘The better question would be what sort of trouble
aren’t
I in?’

He laughed and sat on the edge of one of the tattooing beds. ‘A life half lived and all that.’

I didn’t bother telling him that right now a life half lived was sounding mighty fine.

‘Can’t help you unfortunately. Anything else you need while you’re waiting.’

‘A financial advisor.’ I turned back towards the entry door.

‘That I can help you with.’

‘Really?’ I didn’t like to judge or anything, but he didn’t look like the type that had ever taken
any
sort of advice, let alone financial.

He pulled a bundle of cards out of the top drawer of his tattooing cart and leafed through them. ‘Here.’ He held a tattered one out to me. ‘Uncle Ron will look after you.’

The look I gave him must have been sceptical.

‘How do you think I afforded this place?’ He held his arms out.

‘This is your business?’

‘This is my building.’

‘Oh.’ I had to stop pre-judging people.

‘He’ll take a higher commission if the money is hot, but I’m thinking he’s the man you need.’

Hot money? He was definitely the man I needed.

I was waiting outside Uncle Ron’s office at nine o’clock the next morning, when a short man in a shabby brown coat put his briefcase on the ground to unlock the door.

‘Adam sent me,’ I said.

He looked me up and down and then said, ‘Well if Adam sent you, you must need my help.’

I followed him into the little office and perched on the edge of a cracked vinyl chair. It was the only chair in the room apart from the high-backed, black one sitting on the far side of his desk.

‘What can I do you for?’

‘I have some money I need investing.’ I gave him my best don’t-ask-questions-where-the-money-came-from look. He didn’t, so I guessed I pulled it off.

‘Exactly how much are we talking about?’

‘One million.’

‘American or Australian?’

‘American.’

He nodded and pulled his calculator towards him, tapping the keys rapidly.

‘I need to buy a car,’ I said, ‘and a house.’

‘Is it hot?’ He didn’t even stop his tapping. Adam was right, this
was
the man I needed.

‘Kind of.’

‘We’ll get you a bomb once your papers arrive.’ He looked up at me. ‘Adam is getting you those?’

I nodded. A bomb? What
was
he talking about?

‘A flash car will just draw attention. I know a man who will get us what you need.’ He continued his tapping. ‘We’ll buy you the house once you’re settled and the investment has returned enough that we aren’t touching the capital. You going to the country?’

‘I was thinking it might be best.’

He nodded again. ‘Houses are cheap. Won’t take us long to get you one. Six months, maybe a year. Now as for the rest. We’ll invest some of it in blue chip shares and the rest in an aggressive portfolio. That way you’ll get some capital growth as well as the dividends. I’ll take ten percent on entry.’ He stopped his tapping and stared at me as if daring me to protest at his high commission.

Truth be told, my head was spinning with how fast he was organising me. Ten percent? One hundred thousand dollars? I thought about how hard it would be for me to change the money and bank it and buy a house. The chances were high the police would be on to me as soon as I started trying. Ten percent was a bargain.

‘Deal.’ I held my hand out to shake his.

‘When do you want to start?’

I reached into my bag and pulled out five of the manila envelopes. ‘Here’s the first half. I’ll be back with the rest shortly.’

Uncle Ron had the paperwork ready for me by the time I got back. He also had a map. ‘You want to look at these sorts of areas.’ He pointed to some towns north west of Sydney, towards the border. ‘They’re suspicious of strangers, but they’re small. You stay low and keep quiet and work on that accent of yours. Pretty soon they’ll forget you weren’t born there.’

I leant over the map, looking where he was pointing. One town jumped out at me. Hickory. ‘There.’ I tapped my finger on it. ‘I’ll be there.’

He rubbed his hands together. ‘As soon as you get there you get a post office box and let me know what it is. Have a look around at houses and let me know when you find one you like. I’ve got a real estate licence. I’ll sort it all out for you.’

I wanted to jump over the table and kiss his ruddy cheeks. After everything I had gone through over the last few months it was nice to find someone who could help me out of the pickle I found myself in.

I walked back to the hostel feeling better than I had in days.

***

‘Looks good.’ I handed Adam’s passport back to him and put Lorraine Smith’s in my bag. It sat next to Lorraine’s new driver’s licence. Well, technically
my
licence. I was having trouble assimilating myself with my new identity.

‘Uncle Ron said to go see him as soon as you had these. He’s found you a car.’

I had been rearing to get out of Sydney ever since Constable Bailey had come to see me, but now that it was happening I found myself strangely sad to leave.

I had felt at home in King’s Cross. Had listened to the singers in the bar and watched the drag queens perform. True to my word to Liss, I hadn’t sung a single note myself, but I could see myself living here. Could see Harry and me living here.

But Harry wasn’t coming. He was firmly entrenched in his new job as Mob boss. He was also firmly entrenched in Hillary. It was time to leave Tess Milano behind. It was time to become Lorraine Smith.

I gave Adam the rest of his money and went back to the hostel only long enough to get my bag and pay my bill. Then I dragged my bag down to Uncle Ron’s office.

‘It don’t look like much,’ he pointed at a dinged-up blue car parked across from his office, ‘but the engine is reliable. My cousin Frank went over it with a fine-toothed comb.’

‘What is it?’

‘Holden Kingswood. Australian made, so parts are cheap.’

‘I like it.’ I walked across the road and stared through the window. Blue vinyl bench seats ran the length of the front and back. ‘Roomy.’

‘Good. Cause it’s all yours. I’ve put a road map in the front for you.’ He handed me a set of keys. ‘Open up a bank account as soon as you arrive. I’ll transfer some money for you.’

‘Oh.’ I was holding the keys to my new car in one hand and all my possessions in the other. There was no reason to stay any longer. Yet leaving here, the last place where Harry knew my location, that was even harder than leaving Las Vegas had been. I took a deep breath, then another one. Tears pricked the back of my eyes as loneliness flooded my heart.

Damn him. Why hadn’t he loved me enough?

Uncle Ron was watching me with a concerned look. Most men were bad with tears and it seemed he was no different.

I dashed the back of my arm across my eyes. ‘I’m okay,’ I said, opening the back door and placing my bag on the seat.

‘You will be,’ he said.

I felt a flutter in my belly. She kicked at the most appropriate moments, as if to remind me what an idiot I was being. And she was right. Again. I wasn’t alone. I had her.

I opened the driver’s door and climbed in, winding down the window so I could say goodbye. It felt weird to be on the wrong side of the car.

‘Indicator and wipers will be opposite to what you’re used to,’ Uncle Ron said. ‘Only take a day of driving and you’ll have it.’

‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘For everything.’ Sometimes you found friends where you least expected them.

‘I’ll be in contact.’ He touched the tips of his fingers to his brow in a salute.

I put the key into the ignition and turned it. The car leapt to life.

‘Turn left here, then take your next right,’ Uncle Ron said. ‘Follow the signs to Canberra.’

I nodded, then promptly turned on the windscreen wipers. He let out a chuckle while I turned them off and instead put on the indicator. I pulled out of the parking spot, into the steady stream of traffic and headed out of Sydney.

Driving on the opposite side of the road took up most of my concentration, but tears still slid down my face.

***

I took a deep breath and looked around. My throat was parched and it felt like I had been talking for hours. I looked at the clock. I
had
been talking for hours.

Tears tracked down my cheeks like they had all those years ago. I felt the old ache in my chest. I had hidden it away so well over the years that I had thought it was gone. Talking about it had let it re-surface.

Trent squeezed the hand he held. I returned the pressure, thankful for his calm acceptance of my story. I had feared it would change how he felt about me.

‘I came to Sydney.’ Harry’s voice was raw with emotion. ‘I looked for you where Liss said you’d be. The lady told me you had left the day before.’

He had come?
New pain lanced through me.

‘That night you left, Dad had a turn. I was at the hospital with him when the Corleonesi chased you. He died a few days later.’ He stood up and poured himself a glass of water. It looked like he had been crying. ‘Liss told me you would be there a month. I came as soon as I could. As soon as Dad was buried.’ He shook his head. ‘You were gone.’

Longing filled his voice and for the first time I felt the enormity not of my own tragedy, but of what I had done to him. He had searched for me and then spent twenty-five years not knowing what had happened to me.

‘Oh Harry.’ I hopped off the couch and went to him. He pulled me into his arms. It still felt the same as it always had. My emotions flooded to the surface.

He had come for me. He had loved me enough.

‘There was never anything between Hillary and me. You have to believe me.’

I shook my head. I was such an idiot. I had believed her over my belief in Harry. I had let her manipulate me into leaving before he could get there. All those years apart. All those years Harry hadn’t known he had a daughter. All those years I could have been his wife.

If I ever got to be in the same room as her again, I was going to beat the shit out of her.

‘So…,’ Chanel’s voice was tentative. ‘What happened after that?’

‘Well, I got to Hickory and then I had you.’

‘And Uncle Ron stole your money?’

I let out a surprised laugh. ‘What ever made you think that?’

‘But… well… you know our house was very small.’

‘It was big enough for the two of us.’ That was typical Chanel. Always wanting more than she had.

‘So you’re saying…?’

‘That Uncle Ron did well by me.’ I was going to leave it at that. No need for her to know
how
well he had done for me before he’d retired. I’d never get another day of work out of her.

‘There’s one thing that doesn’t make sense.’ Chanel tapped the first finger of her right hand against her bottom lip. ‘How come you can pole dance?’

‘
That’s
what you got out of that story?’ Honestly sometimes I didn’t understand how that girl’s mind worked.

‘You
sang
at the club. That doesn’t explain how you can suddenly hang upside down from poles.’

The look Harry directed at me made me blush like I was still a seventeen year old virgin. ‘Pole dancing?’

‘I went to some clubs while I was in King’s Cross. One of them had pole dancers. It looked like fun.’