Managing Death by TRENT JAMIESON

Author:TRENT JAMIESON
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780748116454
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2011-01-19T23:00:00+00:00

19

‘Well, would you look at that?’ Tim says. ‘You’re early.’

Tim’s sitting in his office and that’s where I’ve shifted again. ‘Right place, wrong time. At least your pants are on,’ I say.

‘You don’t have a clue what’s going on behind this desk.’ Tim lights a cigarette. ‘I thought you were reading those briefing notes.’

‘Funny you should say that. I was interrupted by a call from Solstice.’ I open Tim’s door, and wave across the room at Oscar. He grimaces at me. ‘Tim, I don’t like how the Feds keep poking their noses into our business.’

Tim sighs. ‘Steve, it’s all about accountability.’

‘It sounds like you agree with their approach.’

‘No. But I understand it.’ He ashes into a Coke can. ‘You read my notes?’

‘Most of them. But this group doesn’t feel like that. I spoke to Alex, too. He says he can’t get anything on them. This is Australia. We don’t have any covert groups.’

‘What about us?’

‘That’s different. We’re not so much covert as unacknowledged. We’ve been around since life began.’

Tim walks with me to my office then heads to reception to wait for our possible new recruit.

Oscar’s waiting outside my door. There’s a certain percentage of rage beneath his professional demeanour.

‘Sorry,’ I say. ‘Had an interview with the police.’

Oscar grimaces, though I think he’s coming to terms with me a little. ‘How hard is it to phone, eh?’

He opens the door to my office. Lissa’s sitting in one of the chairs.

I turn to Oscar. ‘What’s this with the security breaches today?’ I ask. He grimaces again and shuts the door in my face.

‘And don’t you have your own office, Ms Jones?’

‘This was the only time I knew I would be able to see you,’ Lissa says. ‘There’s not much window in either of our schedules … You look a little pale.’

‘I’ve been chasing shadows all day, not much chance to get a tan.’ I drop into the throne. ‘How is it that everybody knows about Rillman except me? Did you know he’s regularly been crossing into the Underworld? Suzanne –’

‘What about Suzanne?’ Lissa says sharply.

I try not to look guilty. ‘Mr D says she’s told him that Rillman has been making trouble for years. Just not here. Seems it took my promotion to bring him back to Australia.’ It’s another thing Morrigan has to answer for.

I sense another heartbeat in the building. ‘We have a visitor,’ I say. ‘Clare Ramage?’

‘She’s good,’ Lissa says. ‘One of the best I’ve found. Even has a bit of family history in the trade.’

Oscar knocks on the door, then swings it open, giving me the thumbs-up, and a woman (Clare, I’m guessing) in her early twenties walks into the room. Tim follows her.

I scan her face to see how she copes with this space. She tilts her head. Good, she can already hear the creaking of the One Tree. My mind’s not on the interview, though. I’m back at that odd morgue, trying to piece things together. Who was the assassin working for? And when did

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