Drowning City by Ben Atkins

Author:Ben Atkins [Ben Atkins]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781775535539
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand
Published: 2014-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

‘SO WHAT HAPPENED?’

Carmen’s sofa was a Victorian piece. It was harder than the living room floor. She was about to brew some coffee before I’d turned up, so it was no problem, she said, to turn one cup into two.

‘This book is keeping me up,’ she’d said, ‘so I thought I might as well help it out.’

I’d had a long shower. Once my skin was clean I’d concentrated on the wet air sucking into my nostrils. In and out. Repetition. Balance. We underestimate the effect that good breathing can have. Afterwards I’d put on a suit I hadn’t worn for ten months. It was the blackest suit I owned. I had missed it, yet I always forgot to pick it up. Now it was my new skin, and I accepted it gratefully. All the while Carmen’s voice eased me back into my mind.

‘I’d rather not talk about it,’ I said.

‘You haven’t changed.’

‘People don’t.’

‘You’re still wrong about that.’

‘Exactly.’

She paused. Once again, I was staring sullenly at a cup of coffee. Last time I’d done so my biggest worry had been bullshitting my way through dessert.

Carmen continued: ‘Was someone hurt?’

I said nothing.

A glint of worry. ‘Was Luca there?’

‘No.’

‘Say more than one word.’

First I thought more than one word. I was trying to steer the conversation away from what had happened in the park, but in doing so I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about it. I glanced back at my last conversation with Miller. I remembered his suspicions of Luca. It struck me that if Luca was the hijacker, Carmen might have been in on his antics. I could feel myself tensing up. Rapid thoughts ran through my head. What if Luca was trying to take over the business? This entire debacle could be a way of softening me up, before he made his move. Weakening me. And Carmen might be helping him. He might have told her I’d be coming over – and to prepare for it, to stay up late, to offer me kindness …

‘I haven’t seen Luca since seven,’ I said. ‘I’ve been trying to find him.’

I’d get her on my side and find out her game. She was far from adept at deception. If I could find a point of weakness and exploit it, she’d show herself. Until then, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Perhaps she’d called Luca while I was in the shower, and he was on his way. I looked at the coffee again. She could have spiked it.

I said, ‘He told me you two aren’t seeing each other at the moment.’

‘Correct. I’m surprised you listened.’

‘Tone it down, Carmen. Can’t I be concerned for my friends?’

‘I didn’t think you could be. You seem to think that asking about other people’s relationships constitutes an invasion. Don’t you?’

‘Often I do.’

‘Right.’

‘Then doesn’t the fact that I’m asking anyway,’ I said, ‘show how worried I am?’

She laughed. ‘You? Worried?’

‘I mean it, Carmen.’

Her smile faded. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean to seem spiteful. I’m just not used to you taking an interest.

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