Private Sydney (Private 12)

‘Did anywhere seem to mean something special to him? Or did he talk about any of those places?’

‘Dad insisted I learn about the world, not just our backyard.’

I swallowed a mouthful of coffee. ‘Why didn’t you tell me this before?’

She poured sugar into hers. ‘I was going to, only that guy broke into my house. Then I saw the TV news.’ She looked around the café. ‘If this is how Dad wanted me to remember him, I didn’t want anyone taking or –’

‘Dissecting it like a piece of forensic evidence.’

‘I know, it sounds stupid now to have kept quiet.’

I understood completely the need to keep a part of someone to one’s self, especially when they were gone.

‘Where is it now?’

‘I’ll have to go to the bathroom to retrieve it. And before you raise an eyebrow …’ She reached into her oversized handbag and removed, of all things, a sewing kit with a fine-tipped pair of embroidery scissors. ‘I had to hide it somewhere no one would think to look.’

Chapter 114

I SUGGESTED WE go straight to Eliza’s and pick up the book. Maybe there was a subtle message pointing to something in the text. And she could also extract the USB from her clothing in private.

My car was parked in the underground garage. I opened the passenger door and pain immediately exploded in the back of my skull. I hit the roof forehead first. Dazed, my head was suddenly in an arm lock.

‘You need to stay out of things that don’t concern you,’ a gravelly voice ordered, his grip tightening.

‘Like hell.’ I managed to pull more upright and jammed the heel of my shoe down his inside leg. The second he loosened his grip, I thrust my elbow hard into his solar plexus. He lost contact, staggered back. Using momentum, I spun around and struck. The crack echoed as my right fist made contact with his jaw.

He stiffened and dropped backwards on to the ground. He wasn’t getting up soon so I turned to Eliza. She was still in her chair, stunned.

‘Are you all right?’ She wheeled closer.

‘Better than him right now.’ A lump on my forehead throbbed. At least we were both alive. Bending down to check the pulse in his neck, I noticed red marks around his eyes. They looked like chemical burns. ‘I think this is the guy who attacked you the other night.’ I rifled through his pockets and found the wallet. Inside he had an Australian Department of Defence pass with his photo and name on it. Graydon Knight. I’d seen IDs like this before, different from ones carried by defence force members or public servants. ‘He’s Defence Intelligence,’ I said, as tyres squealed somewhere on a floor below.

‘ADIA was in my house?’

‘This time he didn’t mention handing anything over from your father.’

I suspected the Australian government wanted Eric Moss to stay dead as much for their own reasons as the CIA’s.

‘Craig?’ Eliza said. ‘Don’t move.’

I felt the sting of cold metal on the back of my neck.

Chapter 115

THE VOICE BEHIND me instructed, ‘Get him up.’

Knight had begun to rouse. I glanced sideways at Eliza, who nodded for me to do it. I wasn’t about to argue with the barrel of a gun at such close range.

A black van pulled up alongside us. The man with the gun aimed it now at Eliza. ‘Put him inside.’

It took what strength I had left to drag the semiconscious lug to the van. The man with the gun used his spare hand to open the van’s sliding door without his weapon losing its focus. I levered the dead weight of the agent in.

‘I’ve done what you wanted so let her go.’

‘Not so fast,’ he said. ‘I want Ms Moss to get in. We’d like to ask her some questions. Off the record, of course.’

He turned his back on Eliza for a moment and trained the gun on my chest.