Penumbra (Spook Squad 3)

Talking still hurt, but nowhere near as much as it had only hours before. Though her mouth still felt tender, at least the swelling had gone down, her teeth seemed to have reanchored, and the bruise that stretched from her lip to her eye was already beginning to get that faded, yellow look. Even the cut had begun to heal.

At least she looked less like a boxer that had taken too many hits and more like something a cat had dragged in and toyed with for several hours. It was a definite improvement.

“Voice scan correct. Eye confirmation required.”

She looked into the small scanner fitted into the left-hand side of the unit. A red beam swept over her eye.

“Eye scan correct.” The unit clicked open.

Izzy appeared onscreen. “Morning, sweetness. Being portable is a new experience, I must say.”

Sam grinned. Having her cyber character on the unit was an unexpected bonus. She’d thought Stephan would place voice-only response software on the portable unit, as both he and Gabriel seemed to prefer it. But maybe he wasn’t as insensitive as she’d thought.

“Morning, Iz. Listen, I asked for a trace to be done on a gray-haired man last night. Are the results back yet?”

Izzy twirled her purple boa for several seconds. “Yep. Got it right here. No ID match so far.”

Sam frowned. How could there be no match? The man had to exist on a computer somewhere. “Have they checked the Motor Registration records?”

“Yup. There is no car registration, no driver’s license and no Medicare card match.”

Every adult in Australia had a Medicare card. You couldn’t go to the doctor without one these days. She picked up her coffee and sipped at it for several seconds.

“What about the shooter?”

“Again, no ID match. A formal request for ID has been sent to Hopeworth, though.”

Sam raised her eyebrows. That could cause a few waves. “Any response from Hopeworth?”

“Not a fig, sweetie.”

Not surprising. What was surprising, however, was the fact that the SIU still had the body. She’d have thought Hopeworth would have tried a clandestine retrieval by now.

“Are they doing tests on the body?”

“Agent Finley is currently examining it.”

Then she’d have to remember to ask him what he discovered when she saw him at the meeting O’Hearn had arranged for later today.

“Do I have any mail from that real-estate cretin yet?”

The boa twirled; the response time was slightly slower on the portable unit. “Yep. One came through last night.”

“Put it onscreen, and thanks, Iz.”

Izzy disappeared, replaced by a three-page list. Sam smiled slightly as she scanned it. He was obviously sending her everything in the State of Victoria that had a sea view, not just those apartments within the metropolitan area. Some of them were as far away as Warrnambool, while others were over on Western Port Bay.

It wasn’t until the very last page that one caught her interest. It was an old A-frame house, surrounded by trees and close to the top of a hill, so that it overlooked the bay.

Kingston, she thought with a frown. It was a hell of a distance to travel to work every day, even with the recently completed Western Port tollway. Still, she had nearly a whole day ahead of her and nothing to lose by looking. Leaning sideways, she grabbed the phone and quickly dialed the real-estate agent’s number.

—

“You could fit six to eight villa units on a block this size, easy. It’s a great investment for the future.”

Sam ignored the agent’s ramblings and stared out the ceiling-high windows. Though listed as a part of Kingston, the house was actually several kilometers outside the resort township. Built on the side of a steep hill, the house had an almost unhindered view of Western Port Bay. Just across the dirt road, the cliffs plunged toward the ocean. With the wind blowing hard, as it was today, the waves reared high, as if trying to escape the bay’s grasp, and foam sizzled across the black rocks lining the cliff top. The bay looked stormy—dangerous—and yet it called to something deep within her. At night, she could lie in bed and watch the sea. Watch all the brightly lit tankers glide by or the storms roll in.

She opened the sliding door and walked out onto the deck. The wind carried the rich tang of the ocean, and gum trees tossed and shivered. She leaned on the railing and looked at the ground.