Dangerously Placed (12 page)

I opened my mouth to argue that one, then stopped, thinking about the way Budi had talked to me about Inge and Grody.

‘And the man who was killed …' went on Mr Guildenhall.

‘Mr Grody,' I supplied.

‘Mr Grody. Was he someone you'd like to model yourself on?'

I gulped. Now there was a horrible thought.

‘I'm not trying to discourage you from a business career, Alex – I think you're very well suited to this sort of thing, virtual environments and suchlike. I'm just trying to point out that it's important to remember there are other things in life besides work. If you're looking for a role model, I'd choose Elena over there!
She manages to retain the real human warmth that a lot of people in important jobs lose.'

‘But she's …' I began.
No – best not to go there
, I decided.

‘Well, I'd better be off,' said Mr Guildenhall, standing up. ‘Don't know how long it'll take me to get out of this suit and up to see Mark Lombardi at the accountancy place.' He lifted his coffee cup to his lips.

‘It's not real coffee, Mr Guildenhall!'

‘Oh.' He stopped with the cup halfway to his mouth. ‘I suppose it wouldn't be, would it? Just like that couch. Amazingly realistic, though. You'd be forgiven for thinking you could drink the stuff!' Peering at it, he flipped the cup over to look at the base.

‘No!' I cried, too late to prevent Mr Guildenhall from tipping virtual coffee all down his front.

‘Ah.' He looked down at the stain covering his protruding stomach.

‘Actually, it's not
exactly
like the couch,' I explained. ‘You can't drink it, but it still acts like a cupful of liquid.'

‘Feels like it, too.' Sighing, he straightened up.

‘Well. Thanks for coming to see me,' I said.

‘My pleasure,' said Mr Guildenhall. And mustering all the dignity a tubby man in a soggy, skin-tight bodysuit could possibly have, he marched out of the room.

I was halfway home that evening when I saw my stalker.

He was close. Closer than he'd been since I saw him at Kiyoko's lab. It was definitely the same guy: red hair, round face, tall and thin. And he was only a few metres behind me, pretending to study the oh-so-fascinating shop windows advertising half-price pizza on Tuesdays and two-for-one manicures. Trying to act calmly, I pulled out my phone and called Sky, whose house was only three blocks away.

‘Damn, I'm not home yet and no one else will be there,' she said, as soon as I'd explained the situation. ‘Go onto the beach. There aren't as many places for him to ambush you from, or pull you into. And there should be plenty of people at the beach in this weather, in case you need to, like, scream for help or something.'

‘Thanks for that cheery thought,' I said, but I knew she had a point.

‘I'm on my way. Don't run – he'll know you've seen him – but try to get there quickly, okay?'

At the beach I paced around the crowded kiosk, trying my best to look calm. There were two other familiar figures behind Sky when, to my relief, I spotted her running towards me.

‘Alex! Are you okay?' asked Sky.

‘Do I
look
like I've been beaten up?' I asked, but I hugged her.

‘Where is he?' demanded Nix, arriving next.

‘He was behind the war memorial when I last looked. Hi, Joel.'

‘We finally get to do bodyguard duty – awesome!' Joel grinned.

‘I see him,' said Nix, looking over my head. ‘What do you want us to do – go up and grab him?'

‘Have you completely lost your marbles? What if he's armed or something?'

‘Well, we have to do something!'

‘I just want to lose him, okay?'

Nix nodded.

‘Come on. We'll head over to the rocks – maybe we'll be able to hide while he goes past. Everyone just walk casually, all right?'

We set off, the others flanking me in true bodyguard style.

‘You don't need to be
that
casual, Joel,' I remarked, as he paused to grin and wave at two girls in bikinis.

At the northern end, the beach narrowed. To the right was the ocean and to the left the land rose up sharply into a long low cliff. Sky glanced back as we neared the rocks that jutted out from the cliff's base.

‘He's still behind us. We need to be really quick if we're going to get out of sight.'

‘There's a little sheltered bit behind here that you can climb up the cliff from,' said Nix. ‘Get ready, you guys. We'll nip in there, wait for him to go by and then make a run for it, okay?'

I took a deep breath.

‘Go!' Nix darted into a gap between the rocks, with the rest of us following close behind. It was a tight fit, but as I glanced back I could see that our view of the beach was being closed off – which meant the stalker's view of us would be gone in a moment too.

Thud!

‘What the hell?' I muttered, rubbing my face where it had hit Nix's back.

‘What the
hell
?' yelled another voice.

I stood on tiptoe to peer over Nix's shoulder. A guy a year or two older than us was getting to his feet. He glared at Nix, wiping sand off his legs and arms while the girl behind him adjusted her top and skirt, her eyes averted in embarrassment.

‘Can't you see we're busy?' demanded the sandy guy.

‘I think we can
all
see that,' replied Nix, laughing.

‘Then why don't you get the hell out of here?' The sandy guy's face was rapidly turning red.

‘All right, all right! No need to get your Speedos in a knot,' Nix told him, holding up his hands in a pacifying gesture. ‘I'm sorry we disturbed you, but it's not like we knew you were down here, dude. Next time, hang a Do Not Disturb sign on a rock or something, okay?' As he turned away, I saw him wink at the sandy guy's girlfriend, who giggled in return. I'd definitely seen some new sides to Nix since we'd started work experience.

The sandy guy noticed the wink and took another step towards Nix. ‘I'm not going to ask you again!'

We took the hint.

‘So much for plan A,' said Nix, as we emerged from the alcove. I looked around. The stalker was down by the water about a hundred metres away. He wasn't looking at us, but he was slowly heading our way.

Nix peered along the northern stretch of beach.

‘We're getting further away from territory we know really well,' he mused.

‘We could take those steps up to the top of the cliff just ahead,' suggested Sky. ‘But we'd be really easy to spot.'

‘Well, I don't want to go back,' I told him. ‘He's near the narrowest part of the beach. We'd have to go right up close to him to get by.'

‘Then let's go on,' said Nix, and set off.

‘I don't know – are you sure you don't want to try going back?' Joel asked me.

‘Why?' I stared at him. The usually cheery face under those blond dreads looked troubled. ‘What's wrong, Joel?'

‘Nothing.' He was silent for a few seconds. ‘It's just …'

‘Spit it out, Joel,' advised Nix.

‘It's this end of the beach, man,' muttered Joel. ‘Don't you remember?'

Nix began to laugh.

‘What is it with you guys?' demanded Sky. ‘Alex is being stalked, here – it's no laughing matter!'

‘I know, I'm sorry,' chuckled Nix. ‘Joel's just a little
jittery because further up here is the nudist area of the beach.'

I couldn't help smiling. ‘Oh yeah – I remember Mark Lombardi telling us about that in year eight. But as I recall, you two were always pretty keen to go down and take a look, weren't you?'

‘Actually,' said Nix, ‘we already did.'

‘Really? When?'

‘In the summer holidays, while you were so busy studying and writing applications for your Simulcorp placement.' Nix frowned for a moment, then looked at Joel, laughter creeping back into his voice. ‘Let's just say, it wasn't everything it was cracked up to be.'

Joel turned to me with the haunted look of one who's been scarred for life.

‘No one told us that almost all nudists are over fifty.' He shuddered. ‘Trust me, Alex, you do not want to go down there.'

‘Apparently Mark still comes here every day in the holidays to watch,' Nix told me.

‘Eww!' Sky wrinkled her nose.

Nix's eyes gleamed. ‘Some guys prefer older women,' he remarked.

‘Besides, weren't you the one who said Ki and I should be less prudish?' I added, trying to keep a straight face. ‘People are less hung up about nudity in Denmark, you said!'

Sky looked annoyed to have been foiled by her own argument.

‘It's not the nudity that bothers me, it's the secret perving,' she said loftily. ‘If Mark Lombardi wants to enjoy the benefits of getting closer to nature, he should become a nudist himself and socialise openly with them.'

‘There's a charming image,' I said. Joel looked like he wanted to throw up.

I looked back. The stalker was getting closer.

‘Actually,' I mused, ‘maybe being at the nudist end of the beach can help us …'

The others stared at me.

‘Alex Thaler, if you're thinking we should strip off and blend in with the nudists as a way of losing the stalker, you are out of your freaking mind,' growled Sky.

‘That's not what I meant,' I assured her, although I noticed Joel was looking a lot less traumatised all of a sudden. ‘Nix, did Mark Lombardi ever tell you where he watched the nudists from?'

Nix frowned.

‘How do you mean?'

‘Well, presumably he doesn't just stand in full view on the beach, staring at them through his binoculars, does he?'

A slow smile spread over Nix's face.

‘Ah, I see what you're thinking. Actually, he did tell us once that he used a cave down here somewhere as his “observation post”. Look around, you guys.'

We scanned the wall of rock beside us.

‘I think I see it.' Sky gestured at the cliff face. ‘That dark area just near the ground.'

I squinted. The cave was there, all right. It was a small opening, but it looked big enough for a person to crawl into if they got down on their hands and knees.

‘If we could get in without the stalker spotting us, he might think we've gone up the steps and head up there,' I told the others. ‘We could go back the way we came without being seen if we stay close to the cliff.'

‘Sounds good,' nodded Sky.

‘There's nothing to hide us as we go in,' Nix commented. ‘If he sees us heading in, there's no point at all.'

‘I've been thinking about that,' I said. ‘If we can get the stalker to turn away, he won't see us get in the cave. Maybe we can pretend we're turning back in his direction or something.'

‘Joel and I can sort that part out,' offered Nix. ‘Sky, can you go on up the steps? That way, when he looks again he'll think we've all gone up.'

‘Why me?' demanded Sky.

‘You're the most … colourful one,' said Nix, with rare tact. Sky seemed to accept this at face value. ‘If he keeps following you even when he sees Alex is gone, call and I'll get Mum to pick you up in the car. I don't think he will, though – Alex seems to be the one he wants.'

‘We'll see you back at your place, okay?' I told Sky.

She nodded and set off. We were almost level with
the cave now. A small group of people were splashing about in the waves a little way off, but it wasn't possible to tell if they had bathers on or not, to Joel's obvious relief.

‘You go in first, Alex,' directed Nix.

‘Who died and made you king? This was
my
plan,' I reminded him indignantly, but I slowed down. Nix ignored my objection completely.

‘Okay, Joel,' he said, ‘turn around with me and act like you've only just spotted our stalker buddy. We want him to think we're wondering what he's up to.'

The two boys spun around. Joel made a big show of shading his eyes with his hand to get a better look at the red-haired man, while Nix pointed at him and started to walk back the way we'd come. The stalker, who had been walking along in the shadow of the cliff, stopped abruptly, then turned around, looking at his watch as if he'd just realised how late it was.

‘Now!' said Nix, and I dropped to my feet, rolling under the lip of the cave entrance. Inside it opened up immediately into a dim cavern I could sit up in. I shuffled quickly out of the way to let Nix and Joel in. With all three of us inside, there was hardly room to breathe. I could feel the soft rise and fall of Nix's ribs against my arm.

‘Did he see?' I whispered.

‘I don't think so.' He held up a hand to stall further questions, then pointed at the thin strip of sand we could see through the cave's entrance. There was a sound of
feet pounding on the sand. The footsteps slowed and a pair of feet, clad in shiny black shoes, came into view. The stalker had stopped right outside.