‘So Karen Hepworth is dealing drugs and laundering the funds through a TAB account?’ Mike said.
He flicked a pen round between his fingers, a seemingly idle action. Dan knew better-they’d re-watched Top Gun not long ago and Mike had been practicing Iceman’s pen move ever since.
‘That’s my best guess,’ Dan said. He had one foot cocked against the edge of his desk and was sipping tea from his favourite mug. It had a picture of a cowboy roping a steer on it. ‘Pretty common method. And it ties in with what Mol found.’ He pointed a finger gun at Molly across the office and fired. ‘Hit it, sweet cheeks.’
Molly rolled her eyes at him. ‘She got sacked for failing a drug test three years ago. She took it to the Employment Relations Authority for unfair dismissal and lost. I found the case online.’
‘Did it say what drugs?’ Mike asked.
‘Methamphetamine. P.’
‘Makes sense she’s still in the scene, given her behaviour,’ Dan said.
‘So what’s the link to the White Knights then?’ Mike pondered. He dropped his pen and picked it up again, placing it carefully before resuming the Iceman trick.
‘Don’t know yet,’ Dan said. ‘But I guess we can find out.’
Mike glanced at him.
‘Ask your girlfriend Stacey,’ Dan said.
Mike opened his mouth to retort but saw his mate’s grin and stopped. He shook his head and looked away. His lips twitched slightly.
‘Let’s split forces,’ Dan said, ‘we’ve got a few loose ends to tie up.’
Molly took the Esmonde Road off ramp and cut right across the motorway, arriving a few minutes at the fitness centre in central Takapuna.
She paused in the car to squirt a salt water solution into both eyes, wincing at the sting and screwing her eyes tight shut. She re-applied her lipstick, ensuring it was crooked and smudged.
She grabbed her handbag and headed to the Reception desk. She saw a bouncy young blonde talking to another member, and pegged her as Sash. A bald young Filipino guy with tribal tats of some sort on his heavily muscled arms met her at the desk, running an appraising eye over her. His name tag read Paulie in Gothic lettering.
‘Hi,’ Molly said, dropping her bag on the counter top. She ran a hand through her hair, blowing out her breath and giving him frazzled. ‘I really need you to help me.’
‘Sure.’ He looked interested, if not terribly smart.
‘Can I ask you something?’ Molly’s eyes were red tinged, and she looked stressed. ‘It’s really important.’
‘Uh, sure.’ Paulie glanced uncertainly towards his colleague, who was still talking-probably wishing she’d come and rescue him from the emotional wreck who had just crashed into his world.
‘My husband is…you know…’ Molly put a hand to her mouth and choked back a sob. ‘And I think…I know that…’ Another sob was choked back and she paused for a moment to collect herself. ‘Please…’
‘Um, yeah…of course.’ Paulie looked like the last thing in the world he wanted to do was talk to her. ‘I mean, I don’t know how…’
‘This.’ Molly thrust a photo across at him. ‘This is her…’ She caught herself again and sniffed hard. She pulled out a hanky and blew loudly. ‘Sorry…it’s just…you know.’
‘Uh, yeah,’ he said, ‘sure.’
‘Do you…I mean, I know…you must know…’
Paulie looked uncertain and she waggled the photo at him again. He looked harder.
‘Uh, yeah…’ He glanced at his colleague again, desperate now. She was still chatting, oblivious to the drama unfolding just a couple of metres away. ‘So you wanna know…what?’
‘Who she is.’ Molly sniffed loudly again and wiped at her eyes-damn, they were stinging. If Muscle Man didn’t hurry up they’d probably start to bleed. ‘Her name…the home wrecking slapper.’
‘That’s Tracy,’ he said.
‘What?’ Molly glanced at the photo. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yeah, positive. She comes in all the time. But I don’t think I should…’
‘Tracy Burns?’ Molly tried.
He nodded then shook his head. ‘Yeah, na. Burke, Tracy Burke.’
‘That’s what I meant.’ Molly withdrew the photo and a look of cold rage settled on her face. ‘I knew it would be her. All those late nights at work, always Tracy this and Tracy that. Funny how I never got to meet her, the amazing Tracy.’
She tucked the photo away and jammed her bag under her arm. ‘Right! Thank you so much for your help…’ she squinted at his name tag, ‘Pauline. I think I need to ring my lawyer.’
‘Uh, okay. No worries.’ Paulie touched at his name tag uncertainly, watching her stalking towards the door with her phone clamped to her ear. ‘But it’s Paulie…’
‘Daniel,’ Molly was saying loudly, ‘it’s her. I knew it, I knew it! Now I want this sorted. He can have the boat but I want the bach…’
Dan had been forced to hire a car as he waited for the pay-out on the Vectra, and he had even splashed out to upgrade from the mid-range sedan that his insurance covered to a more upmarket SUV.
It was a late model champagne coloured Mitsubishi Outlander with bells and whistles he didn’t understand. The bonus was that it fit into the Mission Bay scene effortlessly, and he figured he was less likely to get burned than in Molly’s seen-better-days black VW.
After three hours of watching Callum and Karen’s house he was bored, stiff and desperate for a convenience stop. He flagged it and made his way to a service station. He was waiting for his coffee order and contemplating a sausage roll to accompany it when Molly called. She was so excited he had to get her to repeat her update twice before he understood.
Ten minutes later he crossed the bridge with a cappuccino at hand-no sausage roll- and made his way to Devonport.
Liam Hepworth and Stacey Burns lived in a fully renovated villa with immaculate gardens and a spectacular view over the harbour. Stacey’s Jag was in the drive. Dan parked a few houses down and waited. The coffee was good and the view was fantastic. Seagulls swooped and joggers jogged. Some of them were lithe ladies in Lycra. Dan made sure he kept his wits about him and assessed each of them in turn. None appeared to be a threat to his wellbeing.
After half an hour he saw Molly’s VW slide to the kerb behind him. He climbed down from the Outlander and met her on the footpath. Her face was glowing with excitement and he couldn’t help but grin.
They made their way towards the house in silence. An off-shore breeze whipped up the white caps on the harbour and carried the smell of salt and nature.
They took the cobbled path to the front door and Dan rapped on the stained glass window. It was a cop’s knock. Authoritative, to the point.
When Stacey Burns opened the door she was wiping her hands on a tea towel and her brow was furrowed. It furrowed deeper when she recognised the couple before her.
‘Hi,’ she said, holding the door with one hand. ‘This is a surprise.’
Dan nodded, holding her gaze. Looking into her eyes now, he saw the wariness there. She knew.
‘I think it’s about time we had a talk, isn’t it?’ he said.
Stacey gave it a push and shrugged non-committedly. She almost pulled it off.
‘Um, okay…what’s up?’
Dan inclined his head slightly, his eyes still on hers. The wariness faded.
‘Come on, Stacey,’ he said. ‘We know. I said to you that I wouldn’t work for a client who was holding back on us, and that still stands. But I think you’re actually in real trouble here, and if you’re prepared to talk then I’m prepared to listen.’ He hiked his shoulders. ‘It’s up to you. If you don’t want to go down that path, that’s fine. I’ll send you the bill and wish you well.’
She nodded slightly and they could see her resolve start to slip away. She paused for a second, wiping her hands again on the tea towel, and tried to muster her defences for one last push.
Molly saw it coming before the other woman opened her mouth. ‘We know, Tracy,’ she said softly.
Stacey Burns nodded again and stepped aside, holding the door for them. ‘You better come in,’ she said.
They sat on wrought iron chairs at a matching table on the back terrace. Stacey poured tea and brought out a plate of biscuits.
‘They’re bought,’ she said apologetically, and gave Molly a small smile. ‘I don’t bake, sorry. I bet you do though.’
Molly took one and smiled in return. ‘I do. But these look great.’
They waited while she took a seat and gathered herself. She fussed with her tea cup and her brow furrowed again. Finally she looked up.
‘I knew you’d come.’
‘The past doesn’t go away,’ Dan said. He sipped his tea. It was Earl Grey. He nearly spat it back into the cup.
‘The guy from the gym called me. Said some lady had been asking about me, that I’d been having an affair with her husband.’ She cocked a slight grin at Molly. ‘I knew it wasn’t true, but nice try. He described you to a T. Except for something about your lipstick.’ She pulled a face. ‘I’m not sure what he was on about there.’
Molly hiked her shoulders innocently.
‘We needed answers,’ Dan said.
Stacey nodded. ‘Fair enough. So I guess, the first thing is, this is real. Someone is trying to blackmail me, and I don’t know who it is.’ She took a sip. ‘The second thing, I guess, is who I am. That’s what this is about, isn’t it?’
Dan nodded. Molly sipped her tea. She didn’t like Earl Grey but she sipped it anyway.
Stacey sighed and ran a hand across her face. She looked tired.
‘What I told you-told Mike-was true. I had a bad period in my life where I worked at a club in King’s Cross and hung out with bad people.’ Her eyes flicked up to Dan’s for emphasis. ‘Real bad people, the sort you don’t want to cross. It’s not something I’m proud of.’
He nodded silently. The biscuits were chocolate coated ginger stem and he wanted another one. He wondered if was too soon to reach across again. Molly saw him looking and shot him a disapproving look. He offered her innocent but she wasn’t buying.
‘It wore me down, it was just constant. Sleazy guys, sleazy bosses, the girls always fighting and trying to get one over each other.’ She shook her head. ‘There were drugs, fights, guys with guns, all sorts. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before.’ She sat up straighter and put a hand to her chest with mild indignation, looking to Molly now for some sisterly understanding. ‘I’m born and bred in Timaru, for God’s sake!’
Molly smiled. She wondered if she’d be able to tip the tea without anybody noticing.
‘So finally I had enough. I’d worked hard, pretty much slaved my guts out and squirreled my cash away. I didn’t get involved in the fights, I mostly managed to steer clear of the sleazy guys-as much as you can, anyway-and I stayed away from the drugs.’
Dan cocked an eyebrow but said nothing. Stacey noticed but ignored it.
‘I wanted out. I wanted to come home. I had plans to get ahead, get some real education and do something with my life. I told them I wanted out.’ Her face looked pinched now. ‘They said no. They said the only way I was getting out was either in a body bag or I had to pay them off. They knew where I lived, they even had my passport. I had nowhere to go.’
Dan nodded. ‘Bad spot to be in.’
She rubbed her face again. ‘I stayed another month or so, tried to make them think I’d changed my mind. I kept my eyes and ears open and my mouth shut. One night I did it. I went to a payphone and made a call to the Police. There was one cop I’d met, he came to the club when one of the girls got beaten up, and he was a decent guy. Honest-not all of them were. I made a call. A month later the cops raided the place.’ She leaned forward and started ticking points off on her fingers. ‘They found underage girls, illegal workers, drugs, guns, stolen property, records of bribes to cops and politicians, secret videos of important people-you name it, they found it.’ She sat back again. ‘The guys running it all got jail time-serious jail time, like ten years plus-and I gapped it. I got a new passport and flew home. I was too ashamed to go back to my parents, so I came to Auckland. The big smoke,’ she said mockingly. ‘The land of milk and honey. And here I am.’
Dan and Molly glanced at each other. He silently passed the baton to her.
‘So you have no family support?’ she asked.
‘No. My sister died years ago, when I was just a kid, and it basically tore my family apart. Mum and Dad never got over it. My brother made something of himself, and they’re very proud of him-rightly so too, he’s a decent guy. I was always the black sheep. The One getting into trouble, crashing the car, wagging school, getting caught smoking. Then I left home and went to live in Oz. My parents basically disowned me after a while-I never visited anymore, and I think they knew. Deep down inside, they’d never admit it, but they knew. Their little girl was trailer trash and that was that. So Tracy Burke fell off the face of the Earth and Stacey Burns was born.’
Molly put her cup down and folded her hands together. ‘So Liam is it.’
Stacey gave a small shrug. ‘He’s everything to me. He’s my world.’ She looked away and smiled. ‘I know people question it, the age difference and everything, but it’s the real deal.’
‘So why keep using your real name?’
Stacey shook her head ruefully. ‘It sounds stupid, I know, I mean I’m a different person now…but it was just kinda nice to hold onto something from the past, you know? If I did that, it was as if I hadn’t really thrown everything that I used to be away.’
Molly glanced back to Dan.
‘Ever hear of the White Knights?’ he asked.
Stacey looked up sharply and a look of fear crossed her face. ‘Why?’
‘It’s not a trick question. Yes or no.’
She nodded slowly. ‘Of course. They were the money behind the club.’
‘Ever hear of them since those days?’
‘Only in the odd news report when someone’s been shot or whatever over there. Why, is it them?’ She put a hand to her mouth. ‘Please don’t say it’s them.’
Dan was silent. He gave her apologetic.
‘Oh my God.’ Stacey shook her head and stared at the ground. ‘Oh…my God.’
A footfall sounded behind them and everybody jumped.
An elderly man stood in the French doors. His hair was white and perfect. His suit was silver and immaculate. He was toned and healthy with maybe just a touch of work done around the eyes.
‘Whoever these dogs are, honey,’ he said quietly, ‘we’ll deal with them.’ He stepped out to the terrace and held his hands out to her. ‘Believe me, it’ll be okay.’
Stacey stood and folded into his arms. ‘What…I mean…’
‘Enough,’ he said, ‘I heard enough.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.
‘It’s okay. Look at me.’ He held her away from him and spoke softly but firmly. ‘It’s okay. Nothing will change the way I feel about you, darling. Nothing. Nothing is going to hurt us, do you understand?’
Stacey nodded and folded into him again. ‘Thank you,’ she said quietly.
Dan and Molly glanced to each other, a look of understanding passing between them. Liam Hepworth looked from one to the other as he patted his wife’s back and made soothing sounds in her ear.
‘Three o’clock at my office,’ he said. ‘We’ll speak then and get this sorted out.’
Dan and Molly glanced at each other again, taking the hint.