Private Sydney (Private 12)

‘Don’t hurt him,’ she pleaded. ‘I’ll go with you.’ She wheeled towards us.

Then I saw a silver glint in her hand. With one swift action, she lurched at the back of the man’s knee. He instantly buckled and I seized the gun.

Face contorted, he reached behind, yanked out the weapon and held up a bloodied pair of embroidery scissors.

Now I had the gun, I wanted answers. ‘What does Moss have that you need so badly?’

The man winced as blood gushed from his wound. ‘We thought he died in that blast, just like you.’

‘Who was behind the explosion? Moss can’t have acted alone.’

‘Ask her.’ He gestured with his head at Eliza. ‘She knows more than she’s letting on. That’s why we need to question her.’

I tightened my grip, aware the van had a driver I hadn’t seen yet, who could be armed. No one was taking Eliza. ‘Is ADIA acting alone or is the CIA pulling the strings?’

‘You already know Moss was privy to defence contracts.’ He tried to stem the bleeding with his hand. ‘Disabled or not, she’s dangerous. Next time it could be you she stabs.’

He wasn’t going to give me anything useful and his colour was fading. He needed medical attention.

I kept the gun steady. ‘Slowly get in the van and leave us alone, or we’ll go public with what we know. Ambassador Roden’s friends won’t be impressed at your cock-up.’

He limped to the open door and slid in, nursing his leg. The driver gunned the engine and sped off towards the exit. If they wanted Eliza, they had to be desperate. I dropped the gun to my side and moved to her.

‘Is there anything you can’t do?’ I asked in amazement.

‘The “YMCA” dance is out of the question. Can’t lift my arms above my head, remember?’

She was shaken but hadn’t lost her sense of humour. I pulled her to standing position, arm around her waist and eased her into the passenger seat. She drew the seatbelt across with her left hand.

I grabbed a packet of cleaning wipes from the side door and wiped blood from her hands.

‘Did I just commit grievous bodily harm?’ she asked.

I bent down so our eyes were level. ‘You stopped yourself from being kidnapped. They would have used you as a bargaining chip to get to your father.’ Or worse. They could have held her as a terrorist because of her father and his defence contracts. From what the agent had said, it sounded like ADIA really did think Moss had died in the explosion. So they weren’t part of any cover-up. They’d been duped like the rest of us. Maybe that was true of the US too. And if ADIA and the CIA didn’t switch the bodies, who did?

I closed the car door and folded her wheelchair into my boot, senses heightened for other potential threats.

We needed to find out what message Eric sent Eliza before anyone else tried to stop us.

Chapter 116

I PULLED OUT of the garage at top speed and called Mary on the hands-free about the ambush and threat. I warned them all to be alert and go to their cars in pairs for safety right now.

Darlene came on the line.

‘Craig, our little Gene-IE came through. The data from the DNA sample of the body was compatible with one on record.’

I flicked a glance at Eliza who held her breath.

‘All I got was a name, Bobby Sim, but he left a trail of media reports and public records. Fifty-nine years old, multiple convictions for drug possession, one for trafficking and a couple for aggravated sexual assault. This guy drugged and assaulted his victims.’

Eliza looked relieved it wasn’t her father.

‘How and when did he die?’ I asked.

‘Two weeks ago from lung cancer.’

‘Did he have any identifying features?’ I was thinking particularly about the arm lesion.