Times of Trouble (12 page)

As I drove home, I
thought about Sophie, all alone, running from these people. She
must be absolutely terrified. I wondered if she knew what had
happened to Katie. I almost hoped she did, so she would know to be
extra careful. I wanted her to hide somewhere no one would ever
find her, except Liam of course.

Sophie was always so
brave. As a child, I thought she was invincible. I remembered one
time, when I was about seven, I found a huntsman spider in the
bathroom sink. I was so terrified I dropped my hairbrush, and stood
there screaming. Sophie grabbed one of its legs and flung it into
the toilet, flushing it before it had a chance to swim. I stood in
shock, staring at her as if she had slain a wild beast. The next
day, mum let out this piercing shrieked when she came to the front
door with her shopping. Dad and I went to see what was wrong.
Hanging from the doorway were three huntsman spiders, dead, and
strung up with cotton at waist height. We looked at each other in
astonishment. Then Sophie wandered out of her bedroom, and calmly
explained she had hung them there to warn other spiders not to come
into our house. Dad thought it was hilarious, and congratulated
Sophie on her creativity. Mum told her to take them down, and that
it was disgusting to kill spiders. I was touched she went to all
that trouble for me.

I hoped Sophie still
felt brave. But would her bravery make her more likely to run from
these men, or to confront them? They wouldn’t be so easy to string
up in a doorway. Maybe she needed some help?

By the time I walked
in the front door, I was almost convinced I should go to Sydney.
Sure, I hadn’t any idea where to start looking for Sophie. And I
also had none of the things people usually used to find missing
people: ingenuity, guts, bravado and luck. But would my presence do
any harm? My email to Tina was a good idea; maybe other inspiration
would come.

Chapter 12

When I got inside, I
prepared myself for the idea I might chicken out of going to
Sydney. Maybe the comforts of home would suddenly seem like the
better option. But the first thing I saw was the living room
without Picasso in it.

‘
Mum, I have to go to
Sydney.’

‘
Oh no, Ellen. I’m
worried sick about Sophie, and now you want to put yourself in
harm’s way as well? Why would you want to do that? It's not like
you.’

‘
I can’t just sit
here waiting for Liam to call. I need to do something to
help!’

Mum was desperate to
get me to change my mind. ‘Please Ellen, leave it to Liam. He has
the best chance of finding Sophie. You are better off here with me.
Please stay here.’

I wavered.

'How on earth do you
think you’re going to be of any use anyway?'

She didn’t mean to
upset me. The words just popped out of her mouth. But the comment
did more than upset me: it spurred me on. I hated being her useless
daughter who never made anything of her life. I wanted to show her
I could bring Sophie home.

‘
I’ve already decided
mum, I’m old enough to look after myself. You can’t force me to
stay here.’ I jumped up from my chair so quickly that it launched
backwards, banging against the floorboards. Mum jumped a foot in
the air.

‘
How on earth are you
going to afford to live in Sydney?’

This was her last
ploy, but I was prepared for it. ‘I’ve got plenty of frequent flyer
points left from all the travelling I used to do…’ I almost
faltered at this point, but managed to keep going. ‘I’ll stay in a
cheap hostel. I’ve got a bit of money saved up. I won’t be using
the funds from Picasso. I’ve already transferred them into your
account for the mortgage. It’s not like I’ll be sightseeing. All
I’ll need to buy is food.’

I booked my flight
for later that afternoon.

Before I left, I
explained to mum as much as I felt I could about what Liam had
found so far. Without being completely truthful, I said it was not
really clear what Sophie had been working as, since it was very
difficult to get information from her employer. But I told her
about Danny, and Katie, and Danny’s parents, as much as I had found
out, anyway. Mum looked horrified by the information that Sophie’s
friends had been killed, one at a time, like birds picked off a
fence.

‘
I knew something
awful was happening. Why else would Sophie ask for help after so
much time away? Can Liam prove beyond doubt that Sophie is still
alive? Can he, Ellen?’

All I could tell her
was the same thing she had been telling me for the last two
days.

‘
We have to trust
him, mum. He’s our only hope.’

She made one last
attempt to persuade me not to go.

‘
You’ve just told me
that this Danny person...that his family died in a suspicious
crash. I’m sure they didn’t feel like they were at risk. These
people are dangerous, Ellen.’

She expected me to be
the obedient, sensible one like always, but obedient and sensible
was not going to get Sophie found.

I tried to reassure
her. ‘I know you’re anxious. I am too. But I’m not in any danger.
These people, whoever they are, can’t have any idea I exist.
They’re not chasing me. Or Liam. And I know I can help
him.’

Now I understood how
real the danger was for Sophie, I realised I had to be in Sydney,
helping to find her. Whatever our differences, whatever she had
been doing since she went away, I couldn’t just leave it to a
stranger. I would have better insights into Sophie’s behaviour than
Liam. Moping around the house wasn’t achieving anything. I felt
like I had been walking on a slow moving treadmill for weeks,
months, years, and the decision to go to Sydney felt like turning
it off, and slowly stepping onto real ground. I was petrified of
going in an uncharted direction, but also exhilarated to have a
reason to turn the machine off. It was amazing how much energy and
determination I suddenly found. And, if I was really truly honest
with myself, I didn’t hate the idea of spending time with Liam
either.

As I waited for my
bag to arrive on the carousel at Sydney airport, I called Liam to
announce my arrival. He sounded tired and stressed as he answered
the phone.

‘
Hi Ellen, I don’t
really have much news for you. I’ve been to the morgue. I’m sure it
is Katie.’

‘
How do you know it’s
her? How do you know what she looks like?’

‘
I told you, I’ve got
a photo of her. It was amongst Sophie’s things at the charity
shop.’

‘
Oh. I’m sorry about
Katie, but I’m relieved it wasn’t Sophie.’

‘
Yes, so am
I.’

‘
I wasn’t actually
calling for an update. I was just letting you know I’m in
Sydney.’

Liam didn’t say
anything for a moment.

‘
Liam... are you
there?’

‘
Yes, I’m here. I
heard you. I really think you should get straight on a plane back
to Adelaide. I’ve told you how dangerous this situation is, the
last thing I need is for you to get into trouble as
well.’

‘
Don’t even start
with me Liam. I’ve already had this lecture from mum. And I’m here
now. I’m not going back until we find Sophie.’

‘
I don’t think you’re
taking this seriously. I’ve told you, there are people who want to
hurt her. They’ve killed people! What makes you think you’re
immune?’

‘
They don’t even know
I exist. Or you. We’re just two people in Sydney, looking for one
person.’

‘
Listen to me Ellen.
I want you to get back on a plane.’

‘
No, I’m staying. I’m
here now. Whatever we’re doing, whatever it takes to find Sophie,
I’m not scared, and I can look after myself!’

I was aware I wasn’t
just trying to convince Liam. I was also trying to convince
myself.

‘
I just don’t think
you fully comprehend how much danger you are in by even coming
here. Asking questions, chasing leads, all these things put you in
the firing line.’

‘
I know, I know. But
you’re in the firing line too. So why are you still working on the
case?’

I heard Liam pause to
think.

‘
Because I hate
giving up. And I think I can find Sophie, and sort out this mess. I
want to prove myself as a private investigator, so I’m going to
finish this case.’

‘
Ok, fine. That’s all
very nice. But Sophie’s my sister, and that’s why I’m
here.’

‘
You’re not going to
be convinced to go home, are you?’

‘
No, I’m not. Where
are you?’

‘
I’m on the way to
the airport to pick you up.’

‘
Good. What are you
driving?’

‘
I’ve borrowed a
mate’s car. He’s on holidays for a month. It’s a white
station-wagon. I’m staying at his house. I guess you can stay there
too.’

He didn’t sound rapt
about the prospect of staying with me. But I wasn’t about to turn
down his offer. It was better than a hostel.

‘
Ok thanks. I’ll see
you soon. I’m at the Jetstar exit.’

I was relieved Liam
had a car, particularly as I had no money to hire one. It would
definitely make the search much easier. I felt satisfied. It had to
be better with two of us.

When Liam arrived, I
expected he would be over his annoyance that I had turned up
unannounced to help, but he was far from it. He pulled up, and
didn't even get out of the car to help me load my bag into the
boot. When I got into the front seat, he was moody, and hardly said
anything as we drove out of the airport.

‘
Can you tell me
anything else you haven’t had a chance to fill me in on yet?’ I
suggested.

‘
Yeah, I’m going to
have to. Basically at the moment I have no idea where Sophie is.
I’m doing my best to trace her movements in Sydney, but I haven’t
got too many leads.’

‘
You still haven’t
told me who told you she made it to Sydney.’

‘
Ok. Danny ran the
businesses, but he needed someone to help him with the accounts.
They laundered all the money earned by escorting through the gym.
It would barely have turned a profit as a legitimate business, but
with the escort stuff on the side, it was making good money. The
guy I met was their book keeper.’

‘
So this guy was
looking after their cash? What was his name?’

‘
Frank Sporalli. He
took a lot of convincing that I was looking for Sophie for
legitimate reasons. He worked out that Danny had been – well -
eliminated - and he was terrified something would happen to
him.’

‘
Did he have any idea
why Danny was killed?’

‘
No, none whatsoever,
or so he said. He obviously knew all about their business dealings,
but he couldn’t see how this had got them into so much
trouble.’

‘
And am I right in
guessing he was the one who took the £15,000 for
information?’

‘
Yes. He said he
needed it to pay debts for the business. Since Danny died, the gym
hadn’t re-opened. And Katie and Sophie hadn’t worked for quite a
while. He said he was out of pocket, and wouldn’t give me any
information about Katie and Sophie unless I paid for
it.’

‘
So all he really
knew was they both left London and went to Sydney?’

I suddenly realised
how flimsy this information was. How could Liam be sure this
Sporalli guy knew what he was talking about? He wanted cash and he
got it, but where was the proof?

‘
It wasn’t until
Sporalli realised he knew something of value to me, that he got
really difficult to deal with.’

‘
So he told you he
knew where they were, but he wouldn’t tell you unless you gave him
money?’

This Sporalli sounded
like a charming specimen.

‘
First he told me
Katie and Sophie needed to get out of the UK.’

‘
And you asked him
where they were going?’

Liam was glaring at
me out of the corner of his eye. He wasn’t enjoying the
interrogation.

‘
Of course I asked.
When I gave him the money, he told me they were travelling to
Sydney. And he told me they were using fake names.’

‘
For £15,000, I
should hope so! Did he know what the fake names were?’

‘
Yes, he organised
the false passports. Katie is...or was...Kerry Middleton and Sophie
is Yasmine Phillips. I have a contact in the Department of
Immigration. Two girls with those names arrived at Sydney airport
on the 10
^th
December last year. Sporalli had given me an address for
them in Sydney but they weren’t there. I don’t know if he was
lying, or they changed their plans.’

Right. I felt like I
was getting somewhere with Liam. His mood hadn’t improved, but he
had finally given me the information I needed to work the case with
him.

Out my window, I
watched the traffic fly by. Everywhere I looked it seemed to be
mayhem on the roads, even on a Sunday evening. Traffic jams.
Tooting horns. Screeching breaks. Yuk! I had forgotten how much I
hated Sydney. It was like a labyrinth of dead ends and no-right
turn streets. Why did they make it so difficult for people to get
around?