Two days later, I touched down at the airport in Cairns. An older man in his late sixties wearing a weathered bush hat and a bright, tropical, button-up shirt—only the bottom four buttons were fastened, so his white chest hair poked through the top—was waiting next to the luggage carousel. He looked like a senior-aged model for Tommy Bahama. He introduced himself as Froggy and said he would take me to meet with Senator Ashby, but I had somewhere else in mind I wanted to go first.
On the way to the car, I made my intentions clear, which didn’t seem to please him.
“James has been waiting for you to arrive,” he said. “It’s best not to keep him waiting, all right.”
“I just want to make a quick pit stop. It won’t take long, and I feel the senator would appreciate me getting right to work.”
He frowned, so I presented him with another option. “If you don’t want to drive me, I can grab a cab or an Uber and meet up with the senator once I’ve finished.”
Froggy sent a quick text message, which I assumed went to the senator. He received a reply moments later and said he’d drive me where I wanted to go, then afterward would take me to see the senator.
Twenty minutes later, a freckled, redheaded Victoria Bennett glanced up at me from her desk, giving me a look that made me feel like I was expected. Victoria was the coroner for the North Queensland region, and although we hadn’t spent much time together on my last visit, she was a straight shooter, and I hoped she’d be willing to fill me in on what she knew so far.
“Nice to see you again so soon, Sloane,” she said.
“You too,” I said. “Your hair is different.”
She blushed. I assumed it was because the last time I was there, she was sporting a Pulp Fiction type bob. Now her hair was as short as mine and styled much the same.
She brushed her bangs to the side with her hand and said, “I hope you don’t mind. It’s just ... when I saw your pixie cut the last time you were here, I finally got up the nerve to chop my own hair. I’ve been wanting to do it for years.”
“Of course I don’t mind. It looks great on you.”
And it did.
She was even more stunning than I remembered.
“James told me you were stopping by,” she admitted. “News travels fast in this place.”
“Did he tell you why I’m here?”
“Not at first, but I know what you do. It wasn’t hard to figure out. When I asked him, he didn’t say much, but he didn’t deny it, either.”
“I was hoping we could talk about what you’ve learned about Caroline’s and Hugh’s deaths.”
She stared at me for a moment but didn’t respond, and then her gaze shifted to something behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Froggy hovering by the door. We made eye contact, and he started whistling, like piping out a tune was going to make his eavesdropping just fine and dandy. It wasn’t fine ... or dandy, and I wondered if he was really a driver or someone the senator had sent to shadow me during my visit, as his casual attire suggested. If so, he’d soon learn I didn’t work that way.
“Can I help you?” I asked. “This is a personal conversation.”
“Oh,” Froggy said. “I ... uhh ... just wanted to know how long you think you’ll be here.”
I shrugged. “I can’t say. As long as it takes. I’m aware the senator wants to meet with me today, and I will, just as soon as I finish talking with Victoria.”
“It’s just ... you’re expected, and you shouldn’t keep him waiting for too long.”
“I’m jetlagged, sweaty, and in dire need of a shower, but I’m here, already working, doing the job he hired me to do. He should be happy about that.”
“He is. It’s just ... he shifted his schedule around today to accommodate your arrival.”
“He never told me he’d moved his appointments,” I said.
“He wouldn’t. He’s too modest. I’m not.”
Obviously.
“For a driver, you seem to care a lot about the senator.”
He tipped his head back and let out a full-bellied laughed. Victoria followed suit, letting me know I was missing something they both knew and I didn’t.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“I’m not James’ driver. I’m his father.”
I was starting to feel like I’d been right before in thinking that James had sent someone he trusted to keep an eye on me. Perhaps it was to protect me while I did my investigating. Or perhaps his reasons were entirely different.
“You could have told me who you were earlier,” I said.
He shrugged. “I could tell you a lot of things. Doesn’t mean I will.”
“You can go.”
“I’m sorry. What?”
“You can go. I have the senator’s address. When I’m ready to see him, I’ll give him a call.”
“I was just teasing you a little. You know that, right?”
Victoria seemed to sense the tension between us. She walked over and stood next to me. “Sloane, you’re probably hungry after such a long flight.”
I had been flown in first-class and had taken full advantage of the upgrade, but she was offering me a way out of an uncomfortable situation, and I knew better than not to take it. “I’m starving.”
“Great.” She turned toward Froggy. “I’m taking her to lunch, Noel, and then I’ll drop her off to see James.”
Noel—we had a name. A real name.
He grimaced, yanked his phone out of the pocket of his cargo shorts, and sent another text. Seconds later, my phone rang. I didn’t answer it. I didn’t need to. I knew who was calling.
“Aren’t you going to get that?” Noel asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t like being followed around and spied upon. I’m not at your son’s beck and call just because I’m working a case for him. I’m sure that’s what he expects, but that doesn’t work for me.”
Noel crossed his arms in front of him. “Understood. Just so you know, I wasn’t spying. I was just trying to give you a lift after your long flight.”
He walked out of Victoria’s office without saying another word. She grabbed her wallet and car keys and said, “Well, that was fun.”