The Girl in the Hard Hat (13 page)

Now she felt that hard-won power was out of her hands, somewhere out of reach.
But
she was so close to getting the answers she wanted and her identity once again something of her own making. Hector Warner was finally within driving distance. So she decided to put the audit out of her mind, at least till the following morning. This evening she might just be able to put her fears to bed once and for all.

But luck still wasn’t on her side.

When she turned up that evening at the address she’d received from Hector’s resume, the house was locked up, dark and quite obviously vacated. On the front lawn was a huge real-estate sign advertising the property, and a large sticker had been placed over the front of it.

SOLD
, it read.

Her palms went sweaty on her steering wheel and her heart rate jumped. Hector and his wife were gone.

Foiled again.

Could she not get a break here? If she didn’t know any better, she’d say he was actively running from her. Maybe he was. What did she know? She knew nothing.

She closed her eyes, willing her shallow breathing to deepen, and it did after a moment or two. It wasn’t the end of the world. She took down the real-estate number from the sign board. Perhaps Hector had left a forwarding address with them.

When she got to work the next morning, she called the real estate first thing. The receptionist who answered the phone was as bored with her as the clerk at Births, Deaths and Marriages. Apparently, the Warners had not left a forwarding address or phone number. The agency could not help her.

‘Why so glum, little mate?’ Chub asked her as she hung up the phone.

‘The address in that resume was a dead end.’

‘Well, why don’t you go speak to Gavin? He might know where his man moved.’

It was the very last thing she wanted to do. But unless she wished to concede defeat, it was the only option left.

A gentle, tropical breeze whispered against her sun-kissed cheek. She’d never get sick of this balmy spring weather. The Pilbara always delivered on atmosphere. Pity there wasn’t a deckchair to hand. She smiled at the ridiculous image it created in her mind. A deckchair on this wharf would look as out of place as Annabel George in the TCN site office. Her smile faded as soon as she spotted him.

He hadn’t seen her yet. His back was to her and he was leaning on the railing talking to one of his subordinates. A perfectly proportioned rear encased in navy Hard Yakka couldn’t help but draw her notice. She marched up to the pair of men with determination that was more for herself than for them. As soon as she was within a metre, however, she realised she was intruding upon a private conversation and awkwardly hung back.

They still hadn’t noticed her, so engrossed were they in the subject matter.

‘I don’t know what to tell you, Gav. I’m fuckin’ freakin’ out here. I just can’t concentrate.’

‘Then you should go to her, Craig.’

‘Carl will have ten fits. The berthing dolphins are the most behind schedule.’

‘I’ll cover for you.’

‘I couldn’t ask you to do that,’ Craig protested. ‘Your R and R is coming up next week.’

‘You can pay me back when you return.’

‘You can’t just work through.’

‘Why?’ Gavin grimaced. ‘Bulldog does it.’

‘That’s different. He’s a fuckin’ robot.’

‘I’ll survive.’

Feeling like a guilty eavesdropper, Wendy tried to take a couple of steps back, and that’s when they noticed her.

Craig turned around first and coughed. ‘Oh, it’s the Sergeant. Didn’t see you there, Wendy. What can we do for you?’

She waved her hand in a gesture of denial. ‘I didn’t mean to interrupt. Shall I come back later?’

‘No, no.’ Craig shook his head. ‘I was just about to head back to my men. Did you need to see me?’

‘Er, no, I actually wanted to speak to Gavin.’

‘No worries.’ Craig tipped his hat and walked off.

‘Miss me, Sarge?’ Gavin threw her a whimsical smile.

‘Like a fly in my tea.’

His smile only broadened unashamedly. ‘So I guess you’re not here to offer to take me to dinner for getting your boots back?’

‘Nope.’

He sighed. ‘A man can always hope.’ He turned around to lean on the rail and she followed his gaze.

They were standing right on the end of the wharf. Before them was the ocean, sunshine sparkling on its surface. She could hear the sounds of waves crashing against the piles beneath the deck. A couple of lone piles that had been driven but not built on yet stuck up out of the water in front of the wharf. She couldn’t help feeling like she was one of them. Alone, in an ocean of waves crashing all around.

Beyond these, setting up to drive another pile, was Gavin’s barge. With a sigh, she also leaned against the rail. ‘So you’re not taking R and R this time?’

His lips twitched. ‘Eavesdropping on a private conversation, were you?’

‘I didn’t mean to. I just showed up when –’ She broke off, knowing it was probably useless to try to explain herself. ‘Are you sure you should skip your break?’

‘Yep, pretty sure.’

‘It’s not good for your health.’

‘Are you going to give me a safety lecture, Sarge?’ He glanced at her ruefully. ‘I wouldn’t bother.’

‘Everybody needs to re-charge. Working the hours we do –’

He cut her dead. ‘Craig and his wife just found out she has cancer. He needs to go home and see her.’

Wendy’s heart lurched.

‘Craig needs to put his family first right now and if I can’t help with that, what kind of friend am I?’

‘I . . .’ Wendy swallowed, feeling both out of line and concerned. ‘I didn’t know . . .’

‘Then save it.’ He shook his head. ‘It’s between me, Carl and Craig anyway.’

She grimaced, knowing that much was true. Not that she wanted to stop him if Craig’s need was so dire. But she was worried about him; that was all.

As an employee of Barnes Inc, of course.

An employee who wasn’t getting ample rest and recuperation.

His gaze returned to the barge or SEP as his expression morphed into annoyance – with her or with himself? She couldn’t tell.

For the first time, she wondered, could Gavin be her mystery handyman? Her Fairy Dongamother. The do-gooder who had fixed her flyscreen and her air conditioner without any expectation of a thank you.

Till now she had written him off. Surely if he had done it, he would have mentioned it, boasted about it, held it over her head and used it as a means to flirt with her – as he did whenever their paths crossed. But now, after hearing his thoughts about Craig, she wasn’t so sure.

The breeze whipped strands of his fringe into his eyes so he momentarily took off his hard hat to smooth it flat. The brief sight of the wind in his hair brought back that night on the hill. She pulled her gaze away and looked down at her hands.
Stop it!

With iron-clad will she focused once more on the scene at hand. The giant red sleeve of the pile hammer was strangely silent. Her eyes ran over the massive claw that usually held a fresh pile over the side. It was empty. The men in the control room were currently sitting outside it having a cigarette.

‘What’s going on?’ she asked.

‘Nothing,’ he grumbled. ‘Absolutely nothing.’

‘I can see that.’

‘I’m having a bit of a bad day. My Norwegian boys never turned up.’

Her brow wrinkled. ‘We’re hiring some guys from Norway?’

The first sign of his mood lifting touched his face. ‘A Norwegian buoy is an air bag apparatus that seals the ends of piles. We float them out from the land to the end of the wharf and the Norwegian buoys seal the ends so they don’t sink to the bottom of the ocean. I ordered some and the bloody things never arrived.’

‘Oh.’

‘I’ve got two piles on the ocean bed and none in the hammer.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

‘Me too.’

There was a momentary pause in conversation, then amusement lit his features. ‘You still haven’t told me why you’ve come to see me. Is there something you need help with?’

She hesitated. Had she been wrong to suppose that Gavin might actually give a damn about her as a person? He’d been very flirtatious so far. Except for today.

Today he seemed . . . preoccupied.

The favour she had to ask now seemed silly to mention. It was the kind of help you asked a friend you trusted. ‘Actually, you know what?’ She took her hands off the rail. ‘Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.’

‘Wendy.’

A breath whooshed out of her at the gentling of his voice and the uncharacteristic use of her real name instead of the teasing ‘Sarge’ that usually dropped so easily off his lips.

‘For goodness’ sake, just say it.’

She turned around, wringing her hands. ‘It isn’t work-related.’

‘I figured that.’

‘I’m just looking for someone, that’s all. And I thought you might be able to help me find him.’

‘Who?’

‘Your site supervisor, Hector Warner?’

He blinked. ‘Yabber?’

That gave her pause. ‘
Yabber?
’

‘Yabber was his nickname because he used to talk a lot. Bit of a chatterbox. Has five children all fully grown, so heaps to yabber on about.’

‘Really?
Five
children?’ She couldn’t stop the inflection in her voice.

Five unknowns.

Five people who were connected to her.

Five shocks waiting to happen.

‘You okay?’

She swallowed. ‘Yeah fine.’

‘Well, he’s retired now. I’m afraid you’ve missed him.’

She bit her lip, almost too scared to ask the question. ‘Did he leave a forwarding address?’

‘Not with me.’ Gavin shook his head. ‘But maybe with one of the rest of the team. They were all good mates. He also hung around a lot with Fish’s crew after knock-off.’

‘Oh.’ Her face fell as she looked over at the group of guys having a smoke on the barge. She was hoping she wouldn’t have to ask everyone and thus put all her personal business on display.

‘I can ask around for you,’ he offered shrewdly. ‘Then no one will know it’s you who’s looking for him.’

Her gaze flicked to his, gratitude quickly changing to caution. ‘What’s the catch?’

‘No catch.’

‘What do you want in return?’

‘Nothing.’

She watched him cautiously. ‘You sure?’

He paused, searching her face. She didn’t know what he was looking for but he seemed to find it because he said finally, ‘All right. How about that dinner?’

The thing was, that teasing look in his eyes wasn’t there this time when he asked her.

‘Really? That’s all you want?’

‘That’s the only way you’ll trust me, isn’t it? If there’s something in it for me?’

She stuck out her hand. ‘Okay. I’ll buy you dinner if you get me Hector Warner’s address.’

He looked at her long white fingers, a strange expression on his face. ‘I didn’t mean for you to pay. Your company is enough.’

‘I think it’s necessary.’

Keeps it more like a business deal
, she thought to herself, but said out loud: ‘Now are you going to shake my hand or am I going to stand here looking like an idiot in front of your men?’

His lips twitched into that smile that never failed to take her breath away. ‘All right, Sarge, I’m in.’ Taking her hand, his fingers curled around hers, sealing the deal and somehow much more.

‘Information, Instruction, Training and Supervision.’ Wendy drummed her fingers on her desktop.

‘You’ve said that like four times now,’ Chub commented from his side of the donga. ‘Is it supposed to mean something to me?’

Wendy stood up and began to pace the floor, the back of her hand slapping her other palm. ‘That’s what we’re supposed to be demonstrating to the client.’

‘Demonstrating?’ Chub queried vaguely. ‘Demonstrating when?’

‘In the safety audit in four weeks.’

That made Chub sit up. ‘We’re being audited?’

‘Audited or shut down. One or both.’ Wendy cringed.

‘
We’re being audited?
’ Chub said again just to clarify.

‘Yes! Aren’t you listening to me?’

‘Maybe you should say that part four times.’ Chub dabbed a hanky across his beading brow and grabbed his comfort jar. ‘Smartie?’

‘What happened to the jelly beans?’ Wendy absentmindedly took a couple.

‘I ran out. Besides Smarties also provide positive verbal reinforcement. Let’s face it, we need that right now.’

Wendy grinned. ‘So you’re on board, are you?’

‘That depends.’ He snorted. ‘Have we got a plan?’

‘Sort of.’ Wendy sat down in her chair and wheeled it towards him. ‘I think I’m going to have to prepare a Safety Presentation for all Barnes Inc staff and get everyone to attend during the next month.’ She bit her lip. ‘They’re not going to like it, because it’s going to pull them off the job. But it will definitely count towards us demonstrating the first three outcomes
and
also make good preparation for cyclone season.’

‘It’ll take some convincing.’

‘Well,’ Wendy spread her hands, ‘isn’t it better to be off the job for a day than for good? That’s how we’ll market it. They have to be made to see the bigger picture here, Cobber.’

‘I’m starting to hear the word “we” a lot in your sentences.’