CHOGM Pt. 05

"I was thinking of going fishing but I don't think that it would be a good idea with this." He held up his still heavily bandaged hand.

Jenny held his wrist and tenderly kissed the bandages. "What are we going to do with this?"

"I could scratch your back."

"No way. Those wire bits hanging out the end would rip my back to pieces especially as there is very little protecting it."

"I will be very gentle. Of course I would have to undo your top so that I don't tear the material, not that there is much there."

"Material or top?"

"Both. Do you realise that not so very long ago if you wore that at Bondi Beach you would have been thrown off by the Inspector?"

"Oh, and I suppose that you are objecting to it?"

"Au contraire my dear. You are even more beautiful today than I have ever seen you."

"Are you trying to tell me that I look better with this on than without?"

"I get the feeling that you are trying to back me into a corner here. I think that I'll have to have another look at you without before I can safely say one way or another."

Jenny stopped suddenly and Russell pivoted as she pulled his arm back. The sudden turn caused him to bump into her, they both fell to the sand, his damaged hand burying itself in the soft sand.

"Christ! Careful Darling that bloody near killed me."

There were tears in her eyes as she tenderly took his hand, held it to her cheek, dampening the bandages with her tears before kissing it gently. "I'm sorry, really I am."

"Hey don't cry, it's not that bad. I'll survive you know. I may be crippled for the rest of my life but I will survive."

"You idiot. Here I was shedding real live tears because I thought that I had half killed you and all the time you weren't really hurt at all."

"I was mortally wounded. This is just another example of the amazing recuperative powers of the French family. What say we go back to the house and get some lunch or something."

"I think that we had better stick to lunch, you aren't in any fit condition for your idea of 'something'."

"Spoilsport." They scrambled to their feet and headed arm in arm back to the house.

By the time they arrived they had both worked up an appetite. "How would you like fish and chips?"

"Great! Do you know I haven't had fish and chips for years. Not since a school excursion I went on. We never had them at home and after I left and took up modelling I was never game enough to have them in case I put on too much weight."

"Oh so it's alright now that you have trapped me in to marriage for you to pig out and get fat?"

"No. It was you that suggested we have them and we are supposed to be having fun. You can always work it off later you know."

They took the Triumph and drove into Toukley so that Russell could get some money out of the bank. On the way back they called into a Fish and Chip shop on the main road. "The family always had fish and Chips from this shop at least once, often more than once, whenever we were here on holidays."

"Russell! What are you doing here this time of the year?" Russell was greeted by the proprietor. "What can I get for you and who is this amazing creature you have brought into my lowly shop?"

"This amazing creature, as you so colourfully put it is Jenny Peters, my fiancé. Jenny this is Tony and at any time now his wife Angela will come out and tell him off for ogling you."

On cue Angela emerged from the rear of the shop. "Tony, why haven't you taken the order yet? If you can't serve properly you had better go out the back and peel some more potatoes. What will you have?"

"You are too hard on him Angela."

"If I don't keep his mind on the job he would spend all day out here making a fool of himself with all the pretty girls. Who is this with you?"

"Jenny, this is Angela, Angela, Jenny Peters, my fiancé."

"I hope that you know what you are letting yourself in for. This one is just as bad as my Tony."

"I have him exactly where I want him," Jenny said in fluent Italian, "There is no way that he can possibly step out of line."

Angela laughed and immediately broke into Italian, "You take my advice and let him believe that he is the boss of the family but if you play you cards right you can have him doing everything you want. We have to keep up the tradition of the Italian matriarchal society."

"I will follow my mother's example."

"Now what can I get you?"

"Just a couple of pieces of fish and fifty cents worth of chips, thank you." Russell said.

"Coming up, would you like something to drink?"

"No thank you Angela. There is plenty to drink back at the house."

Several minutes later, as they left the shop with an open invitation to come back any time and a large parcel of steaming hot fish and chips, Russell turned to Jenny, "What was that all about back there between you and Angela?"

"Oh she was just giving me some friendly advice on how to keep you in line."

"Was she now? I suppose she should know, she keeps poor Tony on a pretty tight leash."

"Funny I didn't hear him complaining."

The Triumph slid effortlessly along the almost deserted road back to the house, Russell and Jenny lost in each other, the confines of the car helping to give them an even greater sense of intimacy, of oneness. The mood continued until they opened the door of the house.

Russell could hardly be called the most fastidious person in the world but even his hatred for housework would not have sunk as low as to leave the house in the mess in which they now found it. Furniture was overturned, food was scattered over the kitchen floor and out into the living room where breakfast cereal covered the carpet. The bedroom was no better, clothes scattered all over the floor, drawers hanging drunkenly from the dressing table, the bed clothes dragged from the bed and draped over the bed end. The place was a shambles.

"No Darling, tell me that I am dreaming." Jenny sobbed. "I thought we had left this sort of thing behind us in Sydney."

"So did I. Look I'll call the police, it could just be a simple burglary. Why don't you get a couple of plates and we'll have something to eat while we wait for them to arrive."

"I know you are right but I think that I've lost my appetite. I'll get yours ready for you."

"Don't worry about it Darling, I think I might not be very hungry either." He picked up the phone to be met by nothing. The receiver was a silent lump of plastic in his hand. "Great, Mum must have forgot to pay the bill."

"I don't think that is the explanation." Jenny held the limp end of the phone cable in her hand."

"That's it, let's go." Russell said, "We are going to get the police out here to sort this out."

They left the house exactly as they had found it, making sure that it was locked up tightly. Moments later they were headed back down the road towards the nearest police station.

"Why don't we ring them from a public phone box?"

"No. I am not going anywhere near the house until we have the police with us."

They hadn't travelled more than a kilometre when a car pulled alongside of them, as Russell glanced across to the other car it swerved towards them. Russell was forced to break savagely to avoid being shoved off the side of the road into a stand of trees. "Shit! What does he think he's playing at."

"I think that he thinks that he is going to kill us. Do you think we can get away from him?"

"Only if we can get to the Toukley Bridge before he does. If we can't we might have to double back to Morisset."

"How can we get in front of him? Every time you try to pass him all he has to do is to cut in front of you."

"I suppose this is where I put into practise all of the tricks I picked up watching 'B' grade movies." Russell followed the other car, matching his speed with it until the chance came.

Leaving it until the very last second, he swerved into a side street that he knew would lead him back onto the main road. He accelerated quickly down the road hoping that some elderly pensioner person would not blunder into his path.

The driver of the other car had realised what his plans were and had also accelerated, but unfortunately for him he had become embroiled in the slow moving mid-day traffic jam and could only watch helplessly as he saw the Triumph fifty metres ahead return to the main road on the approaches to the bridge.

Russell made sure that it would be even more difficult for the other car to catch him as he squeezed past a slow moving truck just before crossing the narrow wooden bridge.

Once over, Russell sped up, the Triumph relishing the chance to show its paces once more.

Through Gorokan they sped. Reaching speeds of up to 130Kph, Russell dodged his way through the sparse traffic. Having reached the Pacific Highway Russell opened the car right out. On the long straight just north of Wyong the speedometer climbed quickly to 200Kph. Jenny was looking out of the back window of the car to see if she could see the other car. No sign of it.

Suddenly a policeman stepped onto the roadway about 100 metres in front of them. "Bloody hell, this is all we need." He jammed on the brakes and the Triumph slowed to a halt beside the policeman.

"Going to a fire are we Sir?" The voice was dripping with intended sarcasm.

"If you must know we are heading to the Police Station in Wyong."

"The way that you were driving you might not have made it. Tell me if I'm wrong, but would your speed have been approximately 200 kilometres per hour as you came down this straight?"

"I suppose you could be right. I wasn't really concentrated on the speed. You see we are staying at Norahville and our house has been broken into. There is food all over the place and everything has been ransacked, our clothes are everywhere. We tried to call the police but the phone has been cut and when we were driving down a car tried to run us off the road. We were trying to outrun it when you pulled us over."

"I'm afraid that you might have a hard time convincing the Magistrate that this is a valid reason for driving in such a dangerous manner."

He had no sooner said that when the other car pulled in behind the Triumph. The driver got out of the car and identified himself as a police officer.

"Then why did you try to run us off the road back there?" Russell asked.

"I tried to apprehend you. This car is listed on our stolen vehicle sheets. I presume you can prove that it is yours."

"Certainly." Russell took out his wallet and produced the Registration papers, still in Burroughs's name, and a signed and witnessed document confirming the transfer of ownership to Russell.

The policeman took the papers and walked to his car. After several minutes talking on the radio he returned. "That seems in order Sir. It appears that the stolen vehicle report has been cleared up."

"This gentleman claims that his house has been broken into and turned over, that is why he was in such a hurry. He was driving in to Wyong to report it."

"Couldn't you have phoned for assistance?"

"No. The phone was cut off."

"Well, why don't we go back to your house and have a look? If you would follow me at a more sedate speed we will investigate your complaint."

Russell and Jenny followed the unmarked police car back to the house. The trip seemed to take forever, especially compared with the recent trip from the house.

"Why is he driving so slowly?" Jenny asked.

"Probably to teach me that I shouldn't speed."

They arrived back at the house and Russell unlocked the door and ushered the policeman inside. The rooms were tidy with not a thing out of place. "This is the house that has been ransacked? I must say that burglars are getting much tidier, I was expecting stuff to be all over the place like in your normal burglary. As it is I would be almost prepared to swear on a stack of bibles that this place has never been touched."

"I can't explain this. Not half an hour ago this place was a shambles."

"Look at this." Something had caught Jenny's eye. She walked over to the wall and stooping, she picked up a small piece of red plastic coated wire. "This looks like a bit of phone cable. It looks as if it was missed in the rush to clean up after they reconnected the phone."

The policeman took the piece of wire and placed it in a small plastic bag he produced for his pocket.

"What about this?" Russell asked.

"What about what?"

"The packet of fish and chips has been moved. See, we put it on the bench top right about here. If you feel here you will find that it is hot and there is condensation on the surface. Now over here where it is now is barely warm and there is no condensation."

"Is there anything else that you can see that would indicate that someone has been in this room?"

Russell looked around the room, "I don't know."

"I'll make a note of this. I'll have to write up a report on all of this. You may still be charged with speeding but I'll leave that to the Police Prosecutor. How long do you intend staying here?"

"We had intended staying for at least the rest of this week, but now I don't know. We may decide to go back to Sydney or yet again we may go further north."

"Where can I contact you if I need to?"

"At the address on the Rego papers."

"Both of you?"

"Yes. And in answer to the questions you are about to ask, no we are not married, yes we will be soon, and yes we are living at the same address. We are both adults you know."

"I never for a moment doubted it. If you are not at home where will I be able to reach you?"

Russell took a card from his wallet. "This is my work address. They will know how to get in touch with me at any time. Just ask for Brian Thompson, he's my boss. Will that be all?"

"For the time being yes. Thank you for your co-operation." He turned to leave.

"Just a moment. Can we see some form of identification? If we find out anything of interest we will need to know who to talk to." Jenny asked.

The policeman took a warrant card from his wallet. Jenny looked at it briefly and handed it back. As soon as he had left she wrote a name and number on a piece of paper and. picking up the phone dialled the number of the newspaper office. When Brian answered she gave him a précis of the events and asked if he could find out anything about the policeman.

"Ask him if he can come up with any reason why this has happened when to all intents and purposes this case is over."

"Russell wants to know if you have any bright ideas as to why this happened. He thinks, and I tend to agree with him, that this is not a coincidence."

"My guess is that the powers that be are taking out an insurance policy in case we just happen to change our mind about that article."

"How will that work?"

"They will harass him until he signs an undertaking not to allow publication. I guess we will have to sign such an undertaking as well."

"But what about the piece of phone wire?"

"You don't honestly believe that it still exists do you. My betting is that he won't even write up a report, at least not an official one. He will probably have one tucked away in case you get naughty. In future trust no-one."

"What are we going to do now? We can't very well stay here."

"I don't see why not. If you go somewhere else they will only track you down."

"Whatever you do is up to you but I suggest that you should think that, maybe, just maybe, this conversation is being overheard, if you get my drift."

"Got it. I still think we should go somewhere else because I don't feel comfortable knowing that it has been so easy to get into this house."

"Do you have anywhere else in mind?"

"I thought that Brunswick Heads sounded nice. A friend of the family owns a block of holiday flats there."

"I should have that information you wanted when you get back. Do you have any idea when that will be?"

"That depends on how much we are enjoying the break. We'll probably see you in two weeks."

"What about the funeral?"

"We'll give Jenny's mum a ring as soon as we hang up from this call and make the necessary arrangements."

They rang Maria to find out that the funeral would be in two days time and arranged to fly down from the North Coast for the occasion.

"Jen, could you get the road map from the glove box please?"

"Sure Darling." Russell was deep in thought when she returned.

"If we head off through Budgewoi to Doyalson," He traced the route with a pencil on the map spread out on the table. "Instead of turning back onto the Pacific Highway and going through Newcastle, we can head through Wyee along the Branxton road. This will bring us out just north of Hexham." The pencil made a left turn at Wyee and headed through Hue Hue and followed a path that swung west of Wyong and up onto the Central Mangrove road. "We double back to the Pacific Highway and follow it north." The pencil traced a route through Wisemans Ferry and Windsor back into Sydney.

It didn't take long for them to pack their bags and as they walked out to the Triumph Russell said, "Let's see how well they picked up that message. With a bit of luck by the time they realise that we have given them the slip it will take them forever to find us."

Once more the Triumph was loping along the road at an easy pace. At Doyalson they both noticed the car parked just north of the intersection, its driver sitting pensively, head resting in his hand talking into the microphone it concealed, informing his listeners that the quarry was following the plan by taking the roundabout route north and not heading back to Sydney. He had been prepared to follow them if they had turned back, but as they hadn't it was no longer necessary, so, signing off he drove slowly back towards Wyong.

46

If the American Consul in Sydney had thought that life would quickly return to normal he was very much mistaken. The phone had woken his afternoon reverie. "I have just had another interesting discussion with the Foreign Affairs Minister. He has again accused us of complicity in the bombing of the Hilton Hotel. When I tried once more to assure him that his information was inaccurate he read from a statement obtained from one of your hot shots which was an admission that the whole plan was put together by the CIA and was a combination of a plan to upset the conference and one of revenge against the British. Now what do you say to that?"

"Shit!"

"That's just about what I said. Now do you know what he said to me then?"

"No, what?"

"He told me that if you were not replaced immediately the Australian government will release a statement to the effect that you have been involved in acts of espionage against the people of Australia and have been declared 'Persona non Gratia'. When I raised the subject of the present government's tenure he invited me to do my damnedest."

"Are you going to allow him to dictate to you like that?"

"Do I have any choice? You will be replaced and a statement will be released to the press that you had to return to the US for 'personal reasons'."

"Who do you have in mind as my replacement?"

"Someone with a little more experience than you have. She should be just about there as we speak."

On cue his assistant came into the office followed by a woman in a wheel chair. "Sir, may I introduce Miss Gloria Solomon. She doesn't have an appointment but has given me a note which compelled me to admit her."

"You must be kidding." The Consul said just loud enough for the Ambassador to hear before hanging up. Turning to Miss Solomon he held out his hand. "A pleasure to meet you at last."

"I would have preferred it not to be this way, but unfortunately we have something of a mess to clean up."

"What do you know of what has happened?"

"Probably more than you. This is strictly between you and me, but I have been in charge of CIA operations in Australia for the last ten years."