Endgame. Wilna Adriaanse

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СКАЧАТЬ small restaurant was packed, but she managed to find a table on the pavement, where she ordered a Hunter’s Dry and pasta. She had just taken the first bite when she heard tyres squeal and the sound of a stern voice. Instinctively her hand reached under her arm. Then she remembered she had left her firearm at home. She looked up to see a motorist and a pedestrian shouting at each other. She sipped her cider and carried on eating.

      Different scenarios were going through her mind. Who was looking for her, and why? Her first hunch was that Reggie had sent them. Five months down the line, he might have decided she was a liability after all and that something should be done about it. She didn’t think he had expected her to survive the attack. At the time, the investigating unit couldn’t find enough evidence to pin it on him. Being unconscious so long meant that two weeks had lapsed between the incident and her testimony. It had not helped her case, especially since she could not remember the finer details. In the end a psychiatrist had testified that she’d probably identified Reggie as her attacker simply because he was the last person she’d laid eyes on. There was a car full of people who swore that they had dropped her off at home and left. That it was impossible for Reggie to have assaulted her. They had finally managed to make her doubt her own evidence, which is fatal for any case. Once the image in your mind has made room for a different possibility, you can never ignore the alternative again. She still didn’t know Albert’s version of the night’s events. There had been no time to talk about it. Maybe she would ask him one day.

      Clara had been so distressed that her recollection of that night had, at best, been incoherent.

      And now someone was looking for her. If it wasn’t Reggie, who was it? Ellie pushed away her half-eaten food and knocked back the Hunter’s.

      CHAPTER 2

      When she had invited him for supper earlier this afternoon, Nick Malherbe knew there’d be more than pizza on the menu.

      He wasn’t wrong. She wasn’t a woman for playing games or dropping hints. The plates with the pizza crusts had not even made it to the kitchen when she began to unbutton his shirt.

      He slipped his hands under her silky blouse and felt her skin contract under his fingers. He couldn’t remember when last he had felt the touch of a woman’s skin. Better not to remember. He might start feeling sorry for himself.

      He was undoing her bra with one hand when his cellphone rang. Her hands stopped moving and he groaned. He should have switched the damn thing off, or at least put it on silent.

      He looked at his watch and then at the screen. It was Monica – senior analyst at Interpol, and technically his boss. When Monica Blake phoned on a Sunday night, you answered. Especially if you were waiting for good news. If the reason for the call was what he thought it might be, he was about to wind up the biggest and longest case of his career. In his imagination he saw the sign: Gone fishing. Maybe he should invite his neighbour along.

      “Malherbe.”

      “Can you talk?”

      Nick felt warm lips on his neck. “The signal is weak, give me a second to go outside.” He got to his feet. “Sorry, I have to take this. Work.”

      “As long as you come back.” She stretched out on the couch.

      “Do you have visitors?” Monica asked.

      “It’s just the TV.”

      “When was the last time you saw Clara Veldman or heard from her?” Monica cut to the chase.

      Nick hesitated a moment. It wasn’t the conversation he had been expecting. “I ran into her in the city a month or two ago, but Williams’s men were with her so we just exchanged a quick greeting. She seemed nervous. Why do you ask?”

      “She appears to have been kidnapped outside a restaurant in Camp’s Bay on Friday night.”

      The heat of a few moments ago seemed to evaporate and a chill passed through his body. With one hand he held the front of his shirt together. “Where did you hear this?”

      “I still have a few reliable contacts down there. You know they don’t always have the details. They tell me what they hear. Sometimes it’s no more than rumour.”

      “Was it reported to the police? Have the kidnappers contacted her family?”

      “Steady now. As I’ve said, I don’t have all the information. It’s —”

      “What did I tell you?” he interrupted her.

      “I know.”

      “Repeat what I said to you. I want to know if you remember my exact words.”

      “You said Clara remains a risk.”

      “Why didn’t you believe me?”

      “It’s not that I didn’t believe you. You know how we battle to get support. I warned you at the time that this wouldn’t be easy.”

      Silence.

      “You still there?”

      “Yes.”

      “I don’t like it when you go quiet. That’s when you get dangerous and I’m not sure what to expect.”

      “Don’t worry.”

      “And those are words I don’t want to hear at all.”

      “We don’t always get what we want. I definitely didn’t want to hear this tonight either. How are you getting along with the paperwork?”

      “Nearly finished.”

      “And?”

      “So far it seems as if everything is there. I don’t like the word ‘watertight’, but you did a good job. If we don’t succeed with this, we should change careers.”

      “We can’t do anything without the final paperwork, so tell the guys to move their arses. I want to finish it this week, if possible.”

      “I’ll tell them. Would you like me to try to find out about Clara?”

      “No, leave it to me. We don’t even know if it was really a kidnapping.”

      “Nick, technically her disappearance has nothing to do with us. We’re not responsible for her safety.”

      “If you believe that, you definitely don’t understand what’s going on down here.”

      “Okay. I’ll leave it in your hands, but I want to be kept in the loop. And let me know if you need help.”

      “Do you want to come and hold my hand?”

      “If it’s what you need.”

      “It’s not. See that the paperwork is finished. I’ve had it.”

      He heard her take a breath as if she wanted to say something more. Then she exhaled softly. “Goodnight.”

      Nick ended the call.

      Five СКАЧАТЬ