Seven Days Grace (A Grace Rose Novel Book 1) (34 page)

She was glad for Kate
’
s company. She was also pleased Kate had her camera with her
,
the one she used for those extra special travel shots. Grace asked her if she could fill the photographer
’
s shoes and she was happy to oblige.

Grace put on her jacket as she made her way through the crowd of fellow journalists
,
on one crutch
,
and found a position near the speaker so she could record his speech. She had debated over using only one crutch and finally decided she needed a free hand to take notes in case the recorder didn
’
t do its job.

Blasted foot.

As the politicians gathered around to commence the occasion
,
Grace wondered if she would find anything newsworthy about the opening of the dam apart from the obvious –a new dam had opened in Sydney and would relieve the pressure off the other dam and consequent water shortages.

She took a quick look around and noted Nick had sent a junior journalist along to cover the story.
Good on him.
Well
,
I did hang up on him so he
’
d have to send someone else.

Her thoughts on Nick and how he had fired her were interrupted when a man dressed in a light grey suit
,
with a crisp white shirt and a red tie
,
stepped up to the speaker
’
s stand. He was tall
,
solid and had an angular nose. His light brown hair looked like it had recently received a two hundred dollar cut. Unlike the rest of the people gathered here
,
his polished shoes showed not a speck of dust. Even his fingernails glistened in the sunlight along with his teeth. He opened a folder and turned on the microphone. A small team gathered behind him.

‘
Good afternoon
,
ladies and gentlemen
,
and welcome to the opening of Sydney
’
s newest water supply
,
Ku-ring-gai Dam. We are pleased to have you in attendance at this momentous occasion. Thank you for coming to this special event and we trust there will be an abundance of news stories you will be able to assemble for Sydney and Australia
’
s public. We are pleased to provide you with any information you may need. You
’
ve all received your press kits
,
however
,
if you missed out
,
please see me afterwards. I would now like to invite Minister Sleen to the podium to say a few words
,’
he said.

‘
Thank you very much
,
Alex
,’
Sleen said.
‘
Where would a politician be without his faithful media officer?
’

The crowd clapped politely while Grace
’
s mind hit overdrive. Sleen
’
s media officer was familiar though she had trouble placing him. The Minister
’
s words rolled into one continuous murmur as her intellect struggled to make sense of how she knew Alex. She closed her eyes and tried to picture him. It failed which was most annoying.
Who was he?

Sleen was rattling off a list of facts and figures about the dam and how proud he was to be a part of making history in this great country. She had given Australians a great deal to be thankful for in today
’
s every-changing world.
Blah blah blah. Typical politician.
She dreamt of the day a politician would say something different
,
perhaps even insightful
,
at one of these events. Anyway
,
Sleen
’
s days of freedom were numbered
,
Grace was sure of it.

She studied the rest of the VIPs to see if she recognised anyone. She nodded at Celia who returned the recognition with a small smile. Then disbelief rocked her again. Was that Jock? She caught his eye and the next thing she knew he winked at her.
This has to be a joke. What in heaven
’
s name is he doing here?
She would be sure to avoid him like the leper he was
,
after the speeches were over. Grace wondered what IT had to do with the dam. Then again
,
nothing worked these days without it. The entire operation was no doubt computerised
,
right down to pressing your thumb against a scanning device to allow you into the facility before you could even start work for the day.

She decided to ignore Jock. She returned her attention to the speaker. While one part of Grace wanted to focus on Sleen and see the man behind the façade he presented here today
,
the other half of her frantically searched her mental files as to how she knew Alex. When Sleen had finished his speech
,
Alex then invited Ku-ring-gai
’
s Mayor to say a few words. Grace chose to concentrate on the Mayor
’
s talk and dismissed thoughts about Alex. It frustrated her she could not pin point him. She began to think about which angle she would use for the story.

As soon as her psyche changed tracks and relaxed
,
it came to her. It was The Voice! If there was nothing else to be sure about after the events of this week
,
she was sure of this revelation. She wanted to jump up and down yet it wasn
’
t the place for such antics and her foot wouldn
’
t take the beating. Everything was beginning to make sense
,
well
,
not everything
,
though a whole lot of pieces were coming together and she felt as if the light had finally been turned on in the dark tunnel she had been living in all week. As her mind was being assailed with an onslaught of thoughts
,
she shook her head in the hope it would stop.
He was Sleen
’
s media officer and right-hand man?
He had not looked at her in all the time he had been up the front
,
not even a glance in her direction. She tried to catch his eye
,
he avoided her. She had no idea what to make of his cover up.
Alex? Alex was his name?
She had told Jake it wasn
’
t John. She knew he had lied and straight to her face. How could she trust him? Why didn
’
t he tell her who he was and be done with it? She didn
’
t understand. Her emotions overwhelmed her senses
,
she had to gain control. She was useless in this state.

It was clear to Grace now. His height
,
the shimmering teeth
,
the eyes. And she did know him. He was right about that. She had done several stories for him over the years as he had been the media officer for a number of ministers. The event drew to a close. Grace stood rooted to the spot as fellow industry people made their way around her and back to the makeshift parking lot. She was gobsmacked
,
shocked
,
stunned all at once. She could not wrap her brain around the big reveal. It was like being forced to participate in one of those corny reality shows where there was the before and after shots of a makeover. She could hear the announcer
’
s voice from the show in her head
,
‘
Here
’
s The Voice before the makeover
,
adorned in black everything from head to foot including a toupee and moustache
,
and here
’
s Alex after he takes his disguise off. Yes
,
he
’
s Minister Sleen
’
s important right-hand-man
,
the media officer
’
.

She even remembered a man behind the desk at Sleen
’
s office
,
when she dropped in the other day
,
who had scurried away. It was a glimpse of a figure
,
nevertheless
,
she now felt in the pit of her stomach it was him. He
’
d given her information on Sleen
,
of course she would check it out
,
even if she had to go to his office. Why didn
’
t he mention it on the Ferris wheel? What would she do knowing his identity? Perhaps he didn
’
t trust her
,
yet
,
why was he giving her all the information if he
didn
’
t
trust her? Grace had more questions she needed answered and was more confused than ever.

‘
Good to see you again
,
Grace. Who knew we
’
d run into each other at a work function? You look great
,’
Jock said as he leered at Grace.

‘
If you do not step away from me this instant
,
I will make sure everyone here knows your true nature which is that you
’
re an indecent grub and it
’
ll ruin your career.
’
She was not joking.
‘
Get away from me or I will scream and tell them you were sexually molesting me in public. It
’
s your choice.
’

Kate turned up as she
’
d finished taking photos for now and stood beside her friend in defence.

‘
No need to be nasty about it. You certainly are a piece o
’
work
,
aren
’
t you? I was going to apologise because I didn
’
t want you thinking badly of me.
’

‘
Of course you were not.
’

‘
Your friend
’
s cute.
’

‘
Go now
,
before we both do something we won
’
t regret.
’

Jock stepped away from her. He looked at her and dropped his head. Grace wondered if he felt any remorse for his abhorrent actions earlier in the week. She watched him walk away. She thought he had something to say to her but he changed his mind and walked back to his group. He did not look in her direction again. She was grateful he heeded her threat though annoyed she had to contend with Jock and The Voice.

Grace came up with a plan. He would not think she would have the courage to do what she was about to do. She scrolled through the text messages on her phone till she reached the required one. She hit the call button. The Voice
’
s phone rang. Grace observed him feel his pocket and retrieve his phone.
‘
Hello?
’

‘
Surprised?
’
she asked
,
not expecting an answer. He froze. She relished the moment where she saw the realisation cross his face she still had his number and had not deleted the text as per his instructions. He looked horrified. The Voice
,
Alex
,
whoever he was
,
had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and he could not deny he was guilty. He knew he was in for a lashing.

Grace and The Voice were the two left standing at what remained of the press conference. Kate had wandered off to take more photographs and she noticed Jock had disappeared
,
too. Cars were heading back down the hill as others were slamming doors and leaving dust behind them. Sleen
,
along with his bodyguard
,
Black Suit
,
were back in their black
,
taxpayer paid for car
,
waiting for the trip back to the Minister
’
s office.

The Voice glanced in her direction
,
‘
You don
’
t want to do this right now
,
Grace.
’

‘
How would you know what I want to do?
’
she asked
,
fighting to stay in control of her rising anger.