Half Moon Bay (9 page)

Ellie tucked her surfboard under one arm and tiptoed out into the chill of the soft pink dawn. Alex was still asleep on the couch.

After the anger of Saturday night, Sunday had been a pleasant and relaxed day. They’d read newspapers over a late brunch, solved the problems of the world and skirted around the trouble in the Bay. Every time Nina’s name was raised Ellie had felt the pang of loneliness. She suspected Alex was trying to push her in his direction with his sympathy and understanding.

Heading along the beach to the Point, she wondered if she’d ever fall in love. The closest she’d come was a crush on one of her lecturers at university, one who was happily married with two children. Anything else had been more a friendship than a lasting love.

She shaded her eyes against the glare of the sunrise as her toes sank into the silky fine sand. A perfect right-hand break was peeling off the Point and someone was already out there carving up the waves. She frowned, squinting at the tall figure weaving magic on the glassy one-metre swell this morning. Whoever it was, rode a mean wave.

She bent and snapped the leg rope firmly round her ankle, high-stepped into the surf, jumping to delay the inevitable cold, before finally diving through the waves, pushing the nose of her board low. Her shiver raised goosebumps all over her skin as the chilly water seeped into her wetsuit.

The ocean was winter-green and the white sandy bottom clearly visible as she hauled herself onto the board and started paddling. Her muscles worked smoothly and the fin made a slight hiss as it sliced through the water.

She crested the last wave and pulled herself into a sitting position roughly four metres away from the other surfer.
Oh no!
She hung onto her composure. Nicholas Lawson could surf as well? She raised a hand trying for nonchalant, even as her heart hammered.

‘Morning. Come to continue our discussion in front of the fish then?’ she called.

‘And a very good morning to you too, Ellie.’ His voice held a faint hint of laughter. ‘Thought on a morning like this the break would be packed.’

‘Bit early for a Monday, even for me. If I didn’t have so much to do today, I’d be just throwing off the doona.’ The intimacy of her words struck her and she faltered.

Shading her eyes against the glare of the sun, low on the morning horizon, she snuck a glimpse at the wetsuit-clad figure. Pretty impressive set of biceps, she admitted. Her eyes locked with his as she raised her gaze to his face and the knowing smile brought a quick flush to her cheeks.

‘Your tame journo’s not following you around still?’

A perverse corner of her brain took hold of her tongue. ‘I left him sleeping peacefully with Shadow watching over him.’

‘I can’t imagine a real man letting a woman like you leave bed this early. Something wrong?’ His teasing tone left her feeling lightheaded.

‘No one is going to stop me doing something I love, Mr Lawson.’ She held his direct gaze, conscious of the easy power that emanated from him. He was clearly enjoying himself.

‘Set’s coming.’ He nodded at the approaching swells. ‘Your choice.’

‘Visitors first.’

‘Age before beauty. I’ll take number two, you get the third. I’ll be watching.’

‘Well, you’ll see a good ride, won’t you,’ she retorted.

‘I’m sure I will.’ He grinned, disarming her flash of anger. Her cheeks tingled again as she angled her board towards the break.

In silence they both drifted over the unbroken crest of the first smaller wave, leaving it to swirl towards the shore in a surge of green.

‘All yours, Mr Lawson,’ she called across as the second swell closed on them.

‘Nick, the name’s Nick,’ he called over his shoulder as he started paddling along the breaking wave.

Ellie had to acknowledge talent. He rode the wave long, peeling off the lip and dropping lightly back onto his board. By then she was also on her feet, riding her own wave towards him. The jade wall curled on her left, shattering into a white fury that pushed her faster along the front. She reached out with her right hand, trailing fingers through the wave front and showering herself with iridescent droplets. Knees bent, she forced the board up the front and off the lip, snapping back down it and meeting the white foam again.

Watching her from where he waited on his board, Nick was reminded of a ballet dancer, light on her feet and floating in the air, her fingers turned elegantly to the sky. The tight-fitting wetsuit clung to her curves. The spray caught the light from the early sun and sent a shimmering halo round her as she cut back off the lip. Magnificent. His body reacted and he tried to shut it down.

In the military he’d managed to stay sane by remaining detached, but this operation was stretching his limits. Her natural suspicion was probably protection in itself. Besides, the lies he’d already told would take some un-telling.

He raised his hands in mock surrender. ‘I didn’t know you’d be that good.’

‘Don’t waste your flattery on me.’

‘I’m stating a fact, not trying to flatter my way into your confidence.’

‘Whatever. You do pretty well yourself,’ she acknowledged with an ungracious nod. She could protest all she wanted but his approval meant something to her.

He grinned at her, feeling inappropriately boyish. ‘Yeah, skipped too many days of school instead of studying.’

‘It obviously didn’t affect your career later on.’

‘Just learnt some different things along the way,’ he replied. ‘And you?’

‘And me what?’ She sounded suspicious of his new angle.

‘Where did you have time to surf?’

‘I grew up here. Before school, after school, holidays.’ She shrugged and turned away, but not before he saw pain flicker across her face.

‘You okay?’ He edged closer.

‘Fine, thanks.’ She started to paddle out through the break again, leaving him to follow her. She ducked through the top of the final wave and flicked her wet plait down her back.

‘Another set coming.’ She kept her face turned away from him, but the tremor in her voice betrayed the tight hold she had on her emotions. Was the development causing this much distress or did it have something to do with Nina? He tasted bitterness in his mouth and swallowed. He was partly responsible for it, whatever the cause.

‘I can’t change what’s been set in motion, Ellie. Believe me, if I could I would but maybe, just maybe, the end result won’t be so bad.’ He moved closer to her again, his knee just brushing hers as the swell pushed them together. He was willing her to look at him and see the truth in his eyes.

She kept her face averted as she started to paddle. ‘You get the third wave this time.’

He stroked after her, dropping onto the same wave. ‘I’m here, ride it together.’ His call distracted her and she almost lost her balance before tucking into the curling wave face again. Ahead, a dark shape in the water shot through the front of the wave; a waft of fishy breath blew back across them.

‘Dolphin!’ He heard the delight in her voice as she reached out towards the sleek grey shape arrowing through the water, a tiny bow wave pushing off its bottlenose. Nick followed her across the wave, watching for the broken water catching him. Would she cut him off or leave him room to clear the lip as the wave closed out?

Just in time, she turned up the face and dropped laughing down the other side, sitting on her board clapping her hands delightedly.

‘Magic.’ He smiled at her excitement, but she hauled her barriers up again.

‘But what were you doing dropping in like that?’ She didn’t quite manage to sound aggrieved.

‘Had to see you in action up close. I did wonder if you could really cut someone off a wave. Somehow I didn’t think it would be your style.’ He grinned at her. ‘And I was right. We’d make a great team, Ellie.’

‘Hard sell or what?’ She rested her hands on the board and leant towards him. ‘Did you organise the dolphins to appear on cue as well? Mr Lawson, we really don’t have anything in common, so just leave it. We’ll fight our own battles our own ways. I don’t hate you for that. Just enjoy the waves and leave the development to work hours.’

‘So you can play with the enemy, then?’

‘Outside of work I never hold a grudge.’

‘Hey, Ellie, what did you let him do that for?’ An angry younger surfer appeared over the wave, his dreadlocks still dry. Three other stringy teenagers were following in his wake, out for a surf before school. ‘We don’t drop in here, mate. Don’t try that on any of us. We don’t put up with fuckwits from the city.’

‘Hey, Max, it’s okay. I invited him.’

‘It didn’t look like that from the shore. He can’t come roaring into town in his sports car, buy up big chunks of land illegally and then pinch our waves. You leave Ellie alone as well. Don’t bother making any moves on our women or you and that flash car will end up needing some serious panel beating.’

‘Flash car? I don’t call a Toyota LandCruiser a flash car,’ Nicholas responded mildly.

‘Who’s driving the Porsche then?’

‘Alex, my friend the journo. Why?’ Ellie looked worried.

‘Ah . . . Fuck . . .’ The younger man paddled away, shaking his head.

‘Oh no, I think the Porsche’s been coined . . .’ Ellie said.

Nicholas laughed, genuinely amused.

‘It’s not funny. I need a good story from him and a scratched car is not going to make him happy.’

‘Sleeping with him should do the trick.’

She bridled again. ‘I’m not sleeping with him. He’s . . .’ She shook her head. ‘It’s none of your business.’

‘Oh, yes it is. If you’re sharing a bed with the journalist who’s supporting your cause, I’d say there was a conflict of interest, wouldn’t you?’

‘I wouldn’t be the first person to use sexual favours to win a battle,’ she said.

‘No, but from what I know of you it doesn’t seem like your style.’

‘Gossip from the town doesn’t give you insights into me, so don’t presume anything, Mr Lawson.’

‘Is the name Nick so hard to get your tongue round?’ he asked.

‘At best, we’re adversaries. At worst, you’re the devil.’

‘Take you to hell and back, you just might like the ride.’ His wicked grin left no doubt in her mind as to his meaning.

A sudden yell followed by a sickening crack cut through her reply as two surfers collided chasing the same wave. Both boards flew high in the air before snapping tight against leg ropes. One disappeared down the face of the wave after its fallen rider. A tousled head popped up next to the other one. It was the youngest of the four lads. ‘Max, Max! Mate, are you all right?’ he called to his friend. The level of panic in the boy’s voice galvanised both Nick and Ellie. Nick got there first to find Max floating face-down next to his damaged board.

‘Here, steady this for me.’ Nick thrust his board towards the young rider. He could feel the sandy bottom and gratefully stood. The water was just over chest-high, but he managed to manoeuvre the boy onto the board. Blood was streaming from a cut in the lad’s head. ‘Damn it. That’s a lot of blood.’

‘Great. We get sharks out here as well as dolphins.’ Ellie bobbed next to him, concern stamped on her face.

‘Right, up to my car. It’s the white LandCruiser by the steps. Key’s tucked inside the left end of the back bumper. There’s a first-aid kit in the pack in the back. The mobile phone’s in there too. Ring the ambulance. Go.’ She didn’t stop to answer or even question the authority in his voice, just started paddling for the shore.

‘Okay, he’s still breathing, he’s unconscious. Can you swim beside him and keep him on the board? I’ll tow us in.’ The lad nodded at him. The water was shallower here on the bar, but between them and the shore was a fast-flowing gutter. ‘You keep an eye out and swim like hell if you see a fin, okay?’

Nicholas steadied Max on the board and started to swim towards the beach, towing him behind. Several people out for their morning walk had noticed the commotion and waited on the shore. Two more board-riders about to hit the waves waded through the small shore break.

‘Steady, we’ve got him.’ Willing hands grabbed the board and lifted it between them.

‘Hang on.’ Nick bent to release his ankle rope as well as the one on the injured surfer’s leg. ‘There you go, put him down on the hard sand, he needs to be on his side.’ He looked up to the car. What was taking Ellie so long? The back door was open.
Come on, woman
.

Ellie stood very still, holding the handgun and ankle holster she’d found hidden in the side pocket of Nick’s hand luggage. What was a developer doing with a gun hidden in the back of his car? And where was the first-aid kit? She jammed the weapon back into the pocket and finally spotted the corner of a backpack, hidden by a towel. She grabbed it with unnecessary force and tipped it upside down, scattering its contents until a large travel first-aid kit fell out. She stuffed the loose gear into the pack and slammed the door. Clutching the kit to her chest, she ran down the beach, her mind in turmoil. No time now to analyse it.

Max was lying in the recovery position with a crowd standing around him. They parted for Ellie.

‘Did you get lost?’ Nicholas’s words caused a guilty wave to wash through her.

‘The ambos are on their way. Ten to fifteen minutes they reckon.’ Her voice was strained. She couldn’t help it.

‘He’ll be fine. It’s a nasty cut, but it’s not arterial.’ He pulled on protective gloves as he spoke and gently parted the boy’s dreadlocks. ‘Nasty divot, he’s going to have a headache for a while.’ He checked over the boy’s body, looking for other injuries. Satisfied, he sat back on his heels. ‘Hand me a compression pad, Ellie, and a roll of crepe bandage.’

She rummaged round in the kit, being careful not to meet his eye as she handed them over.

Max coughed, then vomited, salt water dribbling down his chin. He struggled to sit up.

‘Steady, Max, you need to stay where you are till the paramedics get here. Steady.’ Nick kept Max’s face angled towards the sand, his other hand holding firm on the lad’s shoulder. ‘It’s okay.’

Max vomited again, more water dislodged from his lungs. ‘Your mate’s safe and your board’s safe. They’ll cart you off to hospital for a quick check-up. Looks like it’s just a superficial cut.’ Nicholas kept talking, calming the young man. ‘I doubt they’ll even have to shave off your dreadies.’

The boy groaned as he raised a hand to his head, ‘It fuckin’ hurts.’ His voice was hoarse with seawater.

‘Just relax, mate. We’ll wrap it up for you, okay?’

Max finally obeyed, his breathing shallow and fast.

The other surfers started to drift away. The waves were calling and most would have to go to work soon. A siren could be heard faintly on the breeze. The only surfer left was the other lad involved in the collision.

‘Ellie, gloves on, I need a hand.’

Obediently she did as she was told, wondering how Nick could have the presence of mind to keep an eye on everyone else at the same time as he was patching up an injured boy.

‘What can I do?’

‘Just apply some pressure here while I get the bandage under his head.’

She kept the pad in place, watching his hands deftly unrolling the crepe and positioning it around the boy’s head. Each light accidental brush by his hand sent a tremor through her. A gun wouldn’t seem right in a hand that healed so competently. She frowned, certain if she met his eyes, he’d see the turmoil, the confusion in her face.

‘He’ll be okay, it’s only concussion. Nature’s way of keeping us safe. Just shuts down the body for a while.’

Nick’s words cut through her thoughts and she struggled with rising emotion for the second time that morning. She reached out to the other young surfer, drawing him close beside her. ‘You can go if you need to. School day today, I’ll see him off to hospital, okay?’

The lad was still in mild shock, his voice miserable. ‘I didn’t see him until it was too late. He’s going to kill me. It’s his new board and mine’s only lost the fin.’

Nick shook his head. ‘He’s alive, thanks to you. Send him round to see me if he’s got a problem. Boards can be re-glassed. Lives aren’t that easy to replace.’ His voice was rough. Too much emotion for a surfing accident. ‘Go on, off you go. Do what Ellie says. We’ll be in touch.’

The sharp glance Ellie shot at him went unnoticed. Footsteps on the sand behind them made her spin around. ‘Hey, guys, you made good time,’ she said to the two paramedics.

‘Yeah, we try, Ellie.’ The older one was already pulling on protective gloves. ‘Good meeting on Friday.’

The younger man smiled. ‘Yeah. If we’re not called out to another job, we’ll be at the town hall later this morning.’

Nick snorted in disbelief. ‘Guys, glad you have faith in my repair work, but do you think one of you could check the lad out?’

Two frosty pairs of eyes swung around to glare at him. ‘Thanks.’ The older man pursed his lips. ‘Good to see you can be of help somewhere, but we’ll look after him now.’

‘Right.’ Nick gathered up the first-aid kit in silence before he stalked off to his car.

‘Arsehole,’ the younger paramedic muttered.

‘Guys, he did do a great job,’ Ellie ventured.

‘What is he, a boy-scout leader or something?’

Once they’d loaded Max into the back of the ambulance, Ellie wandered back down the beach to pick up his board and her own. She cast a speculative eye up at the LandCruiser. She could see Nicholas talking animatedly on his mobile phone. For a moment there on the water he’d been almost human. Shame about the gun. A memory niggled but she couldn’t quite grasp it. She shook her head.
It will come eventually.

She struggled to pick up the two boards, then trudged up the beach. Maybe she could hitch a quick lift back . . . Two boards were a tad awkward.

‘Ellie, I’ll drive you home. Hop in.’ Nicholas was standing by the open passenger door. ‘Boards will fit in the back.’

Gratefully, she nodded. She couldn’t afford to be late. ‘Thanks.’

‘No trouble.’ He loaded the boards and slammed the door. ‘Will lover boy have breakfast waiting for you, or can I buy you some in town?’

Ellie bristled. ‘Look, it’s none of your business what I do in my private life so I don’t know why you keep digging.’

‘I got the distinct impression I was being warned off by your boyfriend on Friday. So who’s telling the truth? I don’t poach on other people’s turf, so . . .?’

‘Alex is not my boyfriend, but let me be clear I’m not in the market either.’ She hesitated fractionally. ‘And no offence, but especially not to you. Never.’

He shrugged. ‘Never say never, Ellie. You can’t deny there’s an attraction here.’

She scoffed. ‘I can and will deny it.’

He shot a mocking look at her, disbelief stamped on his rugged features.

The car bumped along and she sat in silence, looking out the window towards the ancient trees that towered over the proposed development site. She couldn’t help niggling at him again. ‘So how long have you been a civil engineer, Mr Lawson?’

‘Back to that, are we? What happened to Nick?’

‘Just for once, answer the question. How long, what’s your specialty?’

He looked puzzled. ‘Consulting engineer is a diverse job. I do everything from supervising the surveying of the site to overseeing the groundwork and infrastructure, to checking on the stormwater run-off; a multitude of different roles. I graduated ten years ago.’ He looked quizzically at her.

‘
Right.
But that’s not what you’re actually doing here.’

‘I don’t follow you, Ellie. What are you trying to say?’

She shrugged, ticking the points off on her fingers. ‘I know and you know that you are paying for O’Sullivan’s re-election campaign. You’re registered as an engineer, but no one’s seen you do anything remotely like getting your hands dirty. Instead, you’ve worked very hard to charm everyone in a fifty-kilometre radius of the Bay. You carry around a first-aid kit that makes an ambulance look under-resourced and you’re way too proficient at fixing up injuries. You walk like there’s trouble round every corner. And . . .’ She paused, deciding against mentioning the gun. ‘I don’t believe you are what you say you are. I think you’re lying about your true motives. I will work it out if you won’t tell me and if you’re into something more illegal than bribing O’Sullivan, I will find it.’ Her chin was up, daring him to deny the accusations.

The look of exasperated anger he shot across at her sent a clear message. He was not a man to be insulted lightly. She didn’t care. The gun worried her. By now they’d reached her front gate and she jumped down from the four-wheel drive without giving him a chance to reply.

He met her at the rear door, dark eyebrows drawn together and the look in his eyes bleak. ‘I honestly thought I helped somebody this morning. I don’t expect to be treated like a hero, but I also don’t expect to be treated like some sort of criminal and accused of having connections with the underworld. I’m sorry if you don’t like my job, but that job is not who I am. It is possible to separate the two, you know. Good journalists do it all the time.’

She raised an eyebrow at him, refusing to bite as he raked her up and down with a hard stare. Anger radiated from him, blazing in his eyes.

‘Maybe I’m wrong about you after all,’ he continued. ‘Maybe you are just a troublemaker, using whatever means required. Enjoy your mate Alex, but don’t believe everything he tells you either. Friends and family aren’t always the people we want them to be.’ He slammed the door, gunned the engine and accelerated away in a shower of loose gravel.

His temper left Ellie breathless. She felt as though she was walking on the edge of a precipice. One minute, she was drawn to his magnetism and the next, defensive at his arrogance. Which one was the real Nicholas Lawson?

Nick swung the car through the bends on the coastal road, tyres squealing. He’d let her get under his skin and under his guard. He should have known she’d sense any inconsistencies.

What else could he do? Ellie wasn’t going to forgive him easily when she realised he’d been lying through his teeth. And what role did Alex really have in all this? The man’s attitude had turned prickly, defensive at the public rally, and Nick didn’t think it was all about testosterone. It was highly unlikely Alex had tracked down any compromising information on him, but a well-connected journalist could never be overlooked as a threat. As long as Alex believed he managed Lawson Engineering, a family-owned civil engineering firm, and worked as a consultant for the developers, he still had a cover to finish the job. His service record was available with the right contacts, but nothing other than his hasty resignation was noteworthy.

Maybe it was time to find out exactly what Miss Ellie knew and what she was guessing. Lunch maybe? Or dinner? Playing with fire, he acknowledged, but then risk-taking was what he’d done for his entire career.

Combat engineers calculated the odds of a burnt-out wreck being an improvised explosive device or just a relic of war. They made educated guesses about the motives of a speeding car heading towards a checkpoint. In war, they made split-second decisions, using everything they’d ever learnt to keep themselves and their fellow soldiers safe.

Calculated risk-taking was what made his adrenalin run. Surely dinner with Eleanor Wilding couldn’t be any more dangerous than life in Afghanistan?