Читать книгу Endgame - Wilna Adriaanse - Страница 12

Ellie positioned herself across the street, keeping both Clive’s bakkie and the front entrance of the building in view. When she’d arrived, she’d been glad to see that he was still at the office.

He came out just before five. He had lost weight and his hair was cut very short. He saw her and stopped dead. Then he got into his bakkie, switched on the engine, and pulled out of the parking lot. Without another glance in her direction, he swung into the street and sped off.

She watched as he braked and the reverse lights came on. He stopped next to her, leaned across and opened the passenger door.

She got in and fastened her seatbelt. “Thanks. Can I buy you a beer?”

“I’m on diet.”

“I can see you’ve lost weight. A glass of water then, or a Coke Lite?”

He pulled away.

“But not at Joe’s,” she said as they turned the first corner. “I don’t feel like facing the others.”

“I suppose I should feel honoured that you can face me, or are you looking for a favour?”

“Come on, Clive, if there’s one person who should understand that I needed to get away, it’s you.”

“A fucking SMS, Mac! Was it too much to ask?”

“I’m sorry. It’s really all I can say. There were so many times I wanted to call or send a message, but I was afraid if I heard you were battling, I’d come back. I know I left at a bad time.”

He said nothing in reply. Just took the turnoff to the Panorama Hospital and drove to a shopping centre. They got out. He didn’t speak until they sat facing each other in the first restaurant they’d encountered.

“I thought you were dead.”

She put her hand over his. “Now you’re going to make me cry.”

“Fuck, no, not that, please. If you want to cry, go do it in another man’s drink, not mine. It’s been a shitty day.”

A waiter came to take their order. Clive asked for coffee. When she raised her eyebrows, he said he had another meeting.

Ellie ordered coffee as well.

“How are Ansie and the kids?”

He ran his hand across his face. “Ansie is fed up with other people’s brats who don’t want to learn. She takes it out on our two, and then they complain to me. She says it’s for their own good that she wants them to study. But they’re teenagers, and where have you ever heard of a teenager who can see further than his own nose? The future is the day after tomorrow’s problem. For now, it’s friends and dates and parties.”

“How’s Belinda doing in high school? Is she allowed to go out?”

“It’s a flippin’ nightmare. The boys come along – all smiles and hormones and gelled hair. Under the pretext of returning a book, or wanting to borrow one, or God knows what crappy excuse, and they stay for a quick coffee or a cooldrink. Sometimes I want to chase the whole lot away and lock the gate.”

Ellie laughed. “You can’t do that. We all have to start somewhere. What were you like at that age?”

“Not as full of hormones as today’s lot.”

“And you and Ansie?”

He wiped his face with his hand. “What can I say? Occasionally we still take out our frustrations on each other; she still thinks I should find another job before I’m no longer the man she married. Sometimes I wish she’d just chill and not take everything so seriously. If she’s not supervising homework, she’s cooking or cleaning or doing laundry. It would be nice if she’d leave the house and the kids sometimes and come sit with me, listen to some music and talk shit. I think that’s where marital problems begin, when you stop talking shit. At some point everything gets so serious. The mortgage and the car payments and the kids … you have no idea how much time we spend talking about the kids. Are they still okay? Are they doing drugs? What if they start? Are they drinking on the sly? Should we let them go to this or that party? This one needs shoes and that one needs a dress, but it costs the same as a month’s groceries. It never stops.” He paused, almost out of breath. “You asked.”

Ellie reached out and touched his hand. “Hell, I’ve missed you.”

“That’s what they all say.”

They looked at each other as if each was waiting for the other one to open a door.

The waiter brought the coffee. Clive added sugar and stirred for a long time. Then he sat back and took a sip. “Why Montagu? Do you know anyone there? Were you there the entire time?”

“Yes, and no. I don’t know anyone there. It happened to be the place where the sun went down after I’d left Cape Town. I stopped to get something to drink and started talking to the owner of a small restaurant and decided any place is as good as the next. It was close enough to Cape Town if my mother needed me, and with all the weekend visitors a newcomer doesn’t draw too much attention.”

“And the organ?”

“One morning I walked past the church and heard someone playing, so I went in. I struck up a conversation with the organist and when he heard my dad had played and I could press a few notes he invited me to play whenever I liked. Sometimes we play together, at other times I play alone. I like playing the organ. There are so many things you have to focus on that you don’t have time to think of anything else. It’s a lot like this job. You have to hold a lot of strings in your hand, or you’ll never solve a case. If you don’t get the fingers and the footwork right with the organ, there’s no music.” She smiled. “Short question, long answer.”

“What do you do all day?”

“I work in my garden and some nights I work in the bar of a small restaurant and when the organist is away, I play on Sundays. For the first time I have a simple life. I have a hammock and a swing under a tree, where I spend many hours. I have a dam that’s my pool in summer. And I read.”

“Where do you live?”

“I rent a house on a farm just outside the town. From lovely people.”

He shook his head.

“I think one of the ministers is falling in love with me,” Ellie added.

Clive put his cup down, folded his arms and sat back in his chair. Then he picked up the cup and took another sip. “A minister?”

“Why do you sound so surprised? Did you think no one would ever show an interest in me?”

He shook his head. “Fuck, now I’ve heard everything. You, a minister’s wife! The man has hardly known you five months.”

“Sometimes you just know.” When she saw his eyebrows go up, she smiled. “No one is talking about marriage. I said I think he’s falling in love with me. That’s all. Maybe he’ll never ask and maybe I’ll say no.” She widened her eyes.

“Sweetheart, if he’s a minister, he’ll want to get married. Trust me.”

“I might make an excellent minister’s wife.”

“Does he know about your previous life? And that you’re working in a bar? Does the man even know you?”

“He knows I am or was in the police service. The details aren’t important. He’s not too happy about the bar, but the patrons are his flock, so he can’t say too much. It’s not as if it’s a dive. The owner reminds me of Joe. A straight shooter. You know where you stand. If it wasn’t for him, I’d probably have kept going that first night.”

“Does he …” He stopped talking and she saw his gaze move briefly to her breasts before he focused on her face again.

“I don’t know. We haven’t reached that stage.”

“The man wants to ask you to marry him but he hasn’t seen you naked? What, do you switch off the lights?”

Ellie laughed out loud. “I’m not going to discuss my sex life or lack thereof with you.”

“Maybe you should go and see a shrink before you say yes to the man. You don’t sound all there to me. Or maybe you should both see one, because he doesn’t sound all there either.”

“I saw Albert,” Ellie changed the subject.

“And?”

She told him about their conversation, but not about her visit to Williams. Neither did she mention hearing about Clara’s kidnapping from Happy.

“Evidently, it’s not news to you. Did you know about it last night?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me when I phoned you?”

“Because I knew you wouldn’t stay away.” He raised his hand when she opened her mouth. “But if I had known that bloody Greyling had told Williams where you were, I would have told you.”

“Who told you about Clara?”

He shrugged. “A contact.”

“Do you still see Albert?”

Clive nodded. “I’ve seen him once or twice, but it’s not as if the two of us have much to say to each other any more.”

“How are things at the office?”

“What do you think?”

“What are you busy with?”

“Exactly what we were busy with when you left. Except that new fuckers come along every day who have to be checked out.” He raised one eyebrow. “If you’re not coming back, what’s the point in telling you?”

“Who said I’m not coming back?”

“You’ve just told me you’re thinking of marrying the minister.”

Ellie laughed. “That’s not what I said.”

“Mac …”

She knew that tone of voice. “If you’re going to apologise again, I’m leaving.”

He shook his head. “I fucked up.”

“We all did. It’s one reason why I had to go. If I decide to come back, I’ve got to make sure something like that never happens again. Not to me or anyone else.”

“I was responsible for you and I knew we were being too hasty. Setting up an undercover operation like that takes planning and training. It was your first time. We should have equipped you better, but I let myself get swept up in Greyling’s bravado and the need we all felt for some form of success. Lord knows, you can only get knocked down so many times before you give up.” There was a moment’s silence. “I still want to know exactly what happened that night. Greyling’s hands aren’t as clean as he wants everyone to believe.”

“It’s water under the bridge. Tell me what you know about Clara.”

“Only that she’s been missing since Friday night, and that Williams hasn’t reported it to the cops. Evidently, his own people are out looking for her.”

“What do you think happened to her?”

He shook his head. “She could have run away.”

“I know, but I bet she didn’t. She’s difficult at times and a spoilt brat, but she loves her family. However strange it may sound.”

“Do you really think you know her so well that you can guess what she’d do or wouldn’t do?”

“I didn’t know her long, but that’s not always important. What’s important is what I saw and heard when I was with her. I once asked her why she didn’t simply move in with Allegretti. She was twenty at the time, and didn’t need her family’s permission. She said that her family, especially her uncle and aunt, were good to her and she didn’t like to disappoint them. And she was serious when she said it. Remember, the Williamses don’t have children. She’s like their own.”

“You’ve always been selectively blind where she’s concerned. It’s probably the reason I didn’t tell you. I know you too well. I can actually see your mind has already started to work. Believe me when I tell you, if she didn’t run away, this case may be a lot more complex than it seems, and you’re not ready for it. Go home and get your head straight. The fact that you came at once when it seemed someone was looking for you says a lot. You haven’t gained enough distance from it yet.” He got up. “I must go.”

When he stopped at the office, they looked at each other.

“Go home and keep gardening, or play with the minister.”

“I worry about her.”

“I know, but she’s not your problem.”

She leaned across and kissed his cheek. “Take care of yourself. Give my regards at home.”

“Phone me now and then!” he called after her.

She raised her hand.

“And send me a wedding invitation …”

Ellie stuck her middle finger in the air.