Seven Days Grace (A Grace Rose Novel Book 1) (32 page)

‘
This is what we
’
ve been waiting on. I
’
m going to head into the office and do some research. I
’
ll see if I can work out who
’
s making these deposits. Can you email those statements to me now?
’
Christian asked.

Jake tapped at the keyboard a few times.
‘
Done. Hey
,
call me on the hospital phone. My cell died when I fell into the water. Room 312
,’
Jake said.

‘
Will do. See ya
,
guys
,’
Christian said and left.

‘
Sleen
’
s dodgy
,
for sure
,’
Grace said. After an awkward pause
,
‘
How
’
re you feeling?
’

‘
I
’
ve been in car chases and all sorts of scary situations over the years but falling into the harbour in a Ferris wheel cage tops the list.
’

‘
It was wild
,’
Grace agreed.
‘
What did the doctors say?
’

‘
The main diagnosis was a bad contusion to the head which probably happened when we hit the harbour water. The shock of the cold water caused me to go into an unconscious state. Anyway
,
I
’
m great now.
’
He put out his hand and took one of hers before she had time to move away and pulled her close to his side.
‘
How are you? I don
’
t know how I would have lived with myself if something had happened to you. Two days in a row
,
two accidents
,
that
’
s not fair
,’
he smiled as he searched her eyes.

‘
A sprained ankle is the worst of it.
’

‘
Apart from that
,
how are you holding up? You look down and your eyes are red and swollen.
’

She knew he was deeply concerned and there were words about to be spoken between them. She looked at the floor.
‘
Why did you have to lie to me?
’
Her sister often told her that in this state her body was awash with doses of toxic chemicals and she dropped her chin so he wouldn
’
t see the tear in the corner of her eye she refused to let free.

His response was rehearsed.
‘
We
’
re bound by all sorts of codes
,
ethics and regulations. It
’
s not as simple as you think
,
Grace. I had no idea you were going to be involved in all of this. You know now.
’

She stared into his eyes
,
striving to be composed.
‘
Would you have told me if I didn
’
t see the message?
’

‘
Yes. I was planning on telling you today when we had some time alone.
’

‘
How do I know you
’
re telling the truth? Looks to me like all you wanted to do was be close with me.
’

‘
Grace
,
I am a guy and I
’
m deeply attracted to you like no-one I
’
ve ever known.
’

‘
It
’
s about attraction?
’

‘
Grace
,
I know I
’
ve hurt you. Please believe it wasn
’
t my intention to do so
,’
he sighed.
‘
Can
’
t you appreciate the professional position I
’
m in? I
’
ve been following this case for months on end. We
’
ve been trying to figure out the trail left around the world but we didn
’
t have the proof. Now we do.

‘
The last thing I wanted was for you to get hurt. I was beside myself when the man in the black suit attacked you at the harbour the other morning.
’

‘
What? You saw me being attacked?
’

‘
Yes
,
I was about to come and help and then someone else did. I already told you I would look for you. However
,
seeing you there was the last thing I expected. It was a job and you were there. I was following the guy in the suit
,
part of Operation Sleen
,
it was surveillance.
’

‘
How did you find out I was in the hospital? Joy told me a short while ago that she spoke to Kate this morning so it couldn
’
t be Christian who called Kate. She
’
d been on a trip and had no signal
,
I
’
ve since found out. Are you psychic or is it another lie?
’

‘
At de Silva
’
s hearing
,
I put a tracking device in your phone
,
’
he confessed.

‘
I knew I saw you there. That was on Monday. You didn
’
t even come and say hello.
’

‘
I
’
m sorry. I was tongue tied and I was getting instructions from work and it was all over before it even started.
’

‘
What else?
’
She folded her arms
,
took a step back from the bed and looked above his head.             

‘
I knew I had to meet up with you as I felt we were working on the same case. I went to the bar the night –
’

‘
You knew my location because of the phone tapping?
’

‘
Yes. And I did want to see you. It wasn
’
t the story
,
it was you
,
Grace. Please?
’

‘
Is that it?
’

‘
I saw you with Jock on your date at the expensive restaurant.
’
Then there was silence. The chasm between them widened.
‘
I wanted to come clean. I wanted to run into you and catch up
,
be friends again.
’
He reached out for her.

‘
You only wanted to be friends?
’
She refused his hand and stepped away.

‘
No
,
you know that
’
s not even close to the truth.
’

‘
Another lie was you wouldn
’
t know where to look for me?
’

‘
Yes. I would have found you another way if you hadn
’
t been tangled up in this case. I was planning on calling all the major newspapers to try to find you and I wouldn
’
t have stopped looking until I did.
’

‘
Anything else?
’

‘
I saw you coming out of de Silva
’
s on Tuesday morning. I was there with Christian. We weren
’
t following you
,
in case you
’
re wondering
,
we were there because of the court case and his adjournment. The trail led us to him.
’

‘
Don
’
t. Don
’
t say anything else.
’
She found her mobile
,
opened the back of it and took the battery out. She found a small
,
thin foil circuit stuck to the battery and she ripped it off. She dropped it into the water jug on the bed side table.
‘
I imagine it
’
s dead once it
’
s in liquid?
’

‘
Yes.
’

Grace stood there staring at him
,
unsure what to say next.

‘
Grace? I
’
m sorry
,
until I knew exactly what was going on
,
I couldn
’
t talk to you about my work.
’

‘
You followed me?
’

‘
Yes
,
for your own good. You don
’
t know what these international criminals would do to someone like you and also because I care.
’

‘
Ah
,
someone like me? You
’
re referring to me being a mere female?
’

‘
No
,
I did not mean that and you know it. Though the sad thing is some men think like that.
’

‘
And you?
’

‘
You know I don
’
t
,
Grace. I couldn
’
t think more highly of you. You
’
ve ruined me for anyone else. It
’
s only you.
’

‘
Jake
,
I admire your gumption and how you don
’
t give up. But please
,
please let me go?
’
She looked at him as she held back tears.

He took a few deep breaths and she waited for him to say something. It remained as quiet as a morgue except for the humming of the machines in the room for several moments.

‘
I
’
m not giving up
,’
he said.

She picked up her coat and left his room. The last sound they both heard was the hospital room door closing with a clunk.

31

‘
Findanything
?
’
Jake asked over Christian
’
s shoulder.

‘
Hey
,
man. What are you doing here?
’

‘
I checked myself out. I couldn
’
t stay couped up any longer. Plus I need another phone.
’
He opened his desk drawer
,
took out a mobile phone and opened the back and transferred his SIM card to the non-waterlogged phone.

‘
How
’
s Grace?
’

‘
Don
’
t ask.
’

‘
Right. Let
’
s get into it then
,
mate. These accounts show what we talked about earlier this evening. However
,
the interesting thing is they are being channelled via Dubai. He has someone at the other end doing the dirty work for him. It
’
s highly sophisticated. That
’
s all I have so far
,’
Christian said.

‘
You know how I followed someone from Sleen
’
s office on Monday morning and then I saw him at the gardens with Grace?
’
Jake asked.

‘
Yeah? What of it?
’

‘
Have we done a run sheet of all the staff at the office who fit the height and weight description? I
’
m sure it
’
s not Sleen. The guy I met with Grace on the Ferris wheel today was young. Mid thirties. Sleen
’
s in his fifties. They could have been two different people
,
although I
’
d find that unlikely. I mean
,
if you were Sleen
,
a mastermind criminal
,
would you dress up in a disguise
,
same outfit as this guy The Voice had on today and then talk about yourself in the third person? Doesn
’
t make sense
,’
Jake said.

‘
Third person?
’

‘
Yeah
,
he said
,
‘
Sleen
’
s behind it
,
he
’
s a scum bag
’
or
‘
Sleen
’
s as corrupt as the Godfather
’,
that sort of stuff.
’

‘
That is weird. I haven
’
t heard anything quite as creepy as that. I think we can agree it wasn
’
t Sleen you were following on Monday morning.
’

‘
Someone
’
s sure going to extreme lengths to make us think it is Sleen. The last thing we need is another complication in this case
,’
Jake said.

‘
True. Hey
,
the young guy
,
ah
,
what
’
s his name –
’

‘
Matt Davidson?
’

‘
Yeah. He was working on the list of staff at Sleen
’
s office plus going over records of who had visited him over the past couple of weeks. He should have finished it by now. It might help us
,’
Christian said.

‘
We have to find it.
’
Jake searched through a number of computer files common to staff all working on the Sleen case.
‘
I found it
,
it lists about ten people. Hey
,
I
’
m going to head home and go over this information and see if I can
’
t glean some insight into this character.
’

‘
Get some rest. Tomorrow will come up with its own surprises.
’

‘
No doubt. What are you going to do?
’
Jake asked.

‘
I
’
ll keep working on these statements and call you if I find anything. Good luck with Grace.
’

‘
I think I
’
m going to need more than luck with this one.
’