The Fallback by D.L. Hicks

Author:D.L. Hicks
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pantera Press

CHAPTER NINETEEN

As arranged, J.D. waited for Angus in the late afternoon out the front of the amusement parlour at the top end of town. He sat on a low wall that ran either side of the single entry and exit point to the car park. A lot had happened since his arrival in Point Imlay almost a week ago, but he was confident the meeting with Angus would continue to push their investigation in the right direction. He ran through the list of items still on his to-do list: the surf shop – and a chat with Angus’s parents; the meeting with Janice, which he’d finally got her to agree to the following day; the ongoing drama of contacting Paul Flint; and the whole issue of the severed finger, and everything that could mean for the Sixers and Niners.

J.D.’s thoughts were disrupted as Angus ambled towards him along the lumpy footpath. Rocky led the way, tail wagging. Before J.D. had a chance to call out, the dog was guiding Angus to the exact spot where he was sitting, as if it knew the purpose of their walk.

‘Hey, Angus, thanks for meeting me. You need a hand?’

‘No thanks, I’ll be fine.’ Angus backed himself down onto the wall, Rocky sitting at his feet, ears pricked.

‘How’s school?’ J.D. asked, breaking the ice. ‘Are those two fellas still giving you grief?’

‘Nah, it’s all good,’ Angus replied, scuffing his feet on the ground. ‘I’d rather that than them treating me like a leper – at least I feel like I’m part of it, y’know? Anyway, I appreciate your interest, but believe me, I know what a counsellor sounds like, and you ain’t one. You said you wanted me to look at something? Pardon the pun.’

J.D. laughed at his self-deprecating humour. ‘Well, not exactly look at. But I could do with your help. Your expertise, you might say.’

‘My expertise? You mean walking with my eyes closed and not falling over?’

J.D. laughed again. ‘No, not that – although you are pretty good at that. What I want is to borrow those ears of yours for a minute.’

‘Ah … okay. You know they aren’t detachable, right?’

J.D. chuckled as he pulled out his mobile, scrolling to the video file he had downloaded earlier that day. Then he held the phone up to Angus’s ear.

‘I need you to listen to something. You okay with that?’

‘As long as it’s not thrash metal, I’m fine with it.’

J.D. hit play, and heard the scratchy sound of the wild weather that accompanied the CCTV footage from the Guptils’ surveillance camera. After several seconds, a male voice yelled loudly, the profanity ringing out, causing Angus to shrink away from the phone to cushion his oversensitive hearing.

‘Whoa,’ he said, rubbing at his ear. ‘Someone’s pissed off about something.’

‘Do you have any idea who that someone is?’

Angus scrunched up his nose up as he pondered this. ‘Can you play it again?’

J.D. reset the recording and played it a second time. There was no need for a third.

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