23: Close

Nothing was filed in Zach's office, although some of it seemed to be in a rough date order. Katie knew what the receipt she was looking for looked like, but it didn't do anything to alleviate the fact that she had to sort through thousands of mind-numbingly boring sheets. It took over an hour to do the whole cabinet and she was frustrated when she couldn't find it anywhere. George's message only made her feel slightly better. It was the climax of the mission, the moment when the difference between finding a single piece of paper and not finding it made a real difference. Next she checked Zach's desk drawers and in-tray, but there was nothing and the rest of the office was bare except for a few economics textbooks which had nothing tucked between the pages.

Next she checked the master bedroom, but the wardrobe was bursting with women's clothes and there didn't seem to be anywhere else to keep things. Katie didn't have the time or the means to search thoroughly and she knew that the moment Maria got back she'd destroy every piece of incriminating evidence. Getting desperate, she tried the sitting room without success and finally the kitchen, which seemed to contain nothing but food and utensils until she spotted the door to a utility room with a washing machine and dryer.

On the top of the cupboards in there she found a locked cash box but no sign of the key, so she pulled out her lock gun. It had a sophisticated lock and took three tries with different picks, but eventually it opened and she pulled out the contents, praying it would be in there. On top were share certificates and a couple of legitimate-looking company ownership documents, but no receipt, and the rest was all paper money. Katie scanned them anyway before putting them back, but she was running out of time. When she looked out of the kitchen window she spotted a small crowd gathered around the unconscious security guard and two policewomen advancing towards the house, looking purposeful. Katie ducked down instinctively and headed for the back door, trying desperately to remember where George had said it was. She accidentally went into the garage again, which gave her an idea. She stayed deadly still and listened for the sound of the policewomen trying the front door, then flicked the breaker back on and set off the alarm.

She found the back door at the second attempt, but it was a side door and let her out in direct view of everyone gathered at the bottom of the drive. Going back into the kitchen to find a window she could jump out of, she spotted a policewoman jogging around to the back of the house to cut off the intruder's escape. It was good policing and Katie cursed her luck. Heading back, she decided to take her chances with the side door. Unlocking it with her lock gun, she realised that her hair was probably distinctive and would give her away to Zach. Panicking, she looked around for something she could use to cover up, but the only thing nearby was a tatty mop with no bucket. She didn't want to go any further in case it attracted attention, so she crawled flat on her stomach into the utility room. There was nothing in the washer or dryer, but on the counter was what looked like a pair of Riley's shorts, so she grabbed them and tried not to think about it as she wrapped them around her head before crawling back to the door.

She took a few deep breaths and tried to get into a sprinter's mentality, ignoring her nerves and focusing on the plan, before springing up, throwing the door open and setting off as fast as possible down the driveway. People pointed and gasped as she moved, deliberately keeping the edge off her speed so nobody would guess she was a sprinter. One policewoman tried to chase, but Katie took a detour through an overgrown garden and lost her, trying desperately to keep the shorts on her head.

As soon as she had put some distance between her and the house, she threw the shorts into a bush and put her gloves into her bag, then set off as if there was nothing wrong while sending the bad news through to ASIS. She was bitterly disappointed and the fact that she'd got away didn't help improve her mood very much. It was only a short walk to the station and she caught the first train back to St Albans, feeling her tiredness catching up with her.

They were just over halfway back when Zach got a call. Maria answered it but handed it over after a few seconds.

"What's up, mate?" he said brightly to begin with, but then he fell silent and after a few seconds he passed the phone back to Maria and pulled into a side turning.

"I've just got to go into the office," he said grimly, crunching the gears as he tried to reverse. "It'll only take a few minutes."

Riley started to complain, but George guessed that Katie might have been discovered. There was no way that Zach could be allowed to get back to the office to destroy evidence, and the fact that he was choosing to go there instead of home suggested that whatever he kept there was more incriminating. George sent a desperate text to ASIS letting them know of the development, but before he could finish it, the car pulled up suddenly to the kerb.

"George, mate, can you make your own way home from here? Station's just around the corner," Zach asked, sounding like he was forcing himself to sound friendly.

"No problem," George said, hooking his bag onto his bag as he hopped out. Zach drove off in a cloud of tyre smoke and left him on the pavement, so he grabbed his phone and dialled the ASIS emergency hotline.

"Your call could not be connected, please-"

George wondered how an emergency hotline could be out of service as he ended the call. He tried Dawn and Linda, but neither of them answered and he walked to the station. He guessed from his knowledge of Melbourne that it would be about twenty minutes until Zach reached the downtown area. There was no point ringing the police, since they'd have no idea what he was talking about, and it took until he was almost at the ticket barriers to realise the only other number that could help.

By the time it had connected he was sitting in an empty carriage, waiting for the train to leave.

"Hello, this is Unicorn Tyre Repair, how can we help you?"

"Agent ninety-three twelve."

There was a slight pause before the next reply. "George?"

"Yeah, it's me. Look, we've got a situation on the ground here and I need you to try and get through to the Australian Secret Intelligence Service."

"No problem pet, what's the message?"

"Tell them that Zach is on the way to his office and will be there in about fifteen minutes."

Katie managed to fall asleep on the train and missed her stop, but only by one, so it took ten minutes to swap platforms and get the train back. She arrived home just after George, who had jumped into the shower, so she took the opportunity to get changed out of her sweaty clothes, planning to shower later.

"I didn't realise you were back," George said when he heard Katie moving about in her room, pushing the door open. "You should've said something."

"Get out!" Katie screamed, lunging for the door as she tried to cover her half-naked body with one arm.

George turned bright red and stepped back out of the room. "I'm sorry! I didn't realise you were changing!"

"Knock first!" Katie yelled through the door, sounding angry.

It took a minute for her to finish changing, but once she was done she let George in, kicking her dirty clothes under the bed.

"I'm so sorry Katie," he started, but she held up a hand to silence him.

"Forget it," she said sharply. "What's happening with Zach?"

"The school couldn't get Alice on the phone, so Zach offered to drive me home and I couldn't say no. Halfway there someone rang him and he turned around and headed for the office," George explained. "He dropped me off so I tried to tell ASIS, but I couldn't get them on the hotline."

"The hotline's down for me too," Katie said. "I'm gonna have words with them about it."

George tried to remember where he was in the story. "Oh yeah, then I tried Dawn and Linda without any luck, and finally I got through to campus and told them to try ASIS."

"Good idea," Katie replied, "but I'm not sure how they'd be any more likely to succeed than you."

"I eventually got ASIS on the hotline about twenty minutes later, but they'd already been tipped off, so it must've worked," George told her. "Apparently they rang ASIS at their Canberra headquarters and got it passed through. Last I heard, they thought they'd picked up Zach before he got to his office."

Katie beamed at him. "Looks like you saved the day there, sport."

George laughed. "Picking up the accent now, are you?" This earned him a smack around the ear which he was too slow to dodge.

"Anyway, I had no luck at their house and eventually had to leg it with some of Riley's shorts on my face. Long story," Katie grinned. "Why do you think Zach headed for the office?"

"That's I was asking myself," George agreed. "Either he's got something juicy stashed in there or he guessed the house had already been searched and tried to beat them to his office."

Katie seemed thoughtful. "It's interesting nonetheless. The police will search the office as soon as they've got him safely into custody, so it's no problem so long as they beat him there."

"Anyway, you'd better shower, I can smell you from here," George said, stepping away so he wouldn't get another smack.

"I'm going to shower and go straight to bed. Don't disturb me unless it's important," Katie said, rubbing one of her eyes. "Don't say anything to Alice unless you have to. I don't know what ASIS want her to know."

"No problem," George said, wondering about going for another swim. "I'll keep my phone with me."

Alice got back at the usual time, but George's school had left a message on her answerphone explaining what had happened. She had no idea that it had been planned and questioned him about it.

"I'm not supposed to tell you," George replied, truthfully. "I need to speak to ASIS first, but they're busy at the moment."

"Oh, I've heard all about that," Alice smiled, pulling her hair up into a ponytail as she started to make their dinner. "It was all over the office this afternoon that the police had picked up Zach and Riley."

"Riley?" George asked, confused. "Why would they arrest him?"

"No idea, mate. Nearly everyone in the office thinks Zach will be a free man by tomorrow, but I guessed it might have something to do with you two."

George shrugged. "I can't tell you anything, so don't ask."

"I know how it works. I ask you an innocent question and next thing I know, the government is chucking me in prison," Alice said, pulling out some pans from the cupboard. and sighing. "I'm going to miss this house when this is all over."

"Probably not long now," George said, feeling a touch sad. "I'll miss you, I think."

"Aw, that's sweet of you," Alice said, giving him a one-armed hug as she searched for food in the fridge. "I'll probably miss you both."

George pulled out his phone and wondered about sending Riley a text, but when he looked up, Alice was crying.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, pushing the fridge shut and feeling awkward about hugging her because she was taller than him.

"Sorry to bother you, Brian. I'm just worried about the future," she sniffed, trying to wipe her eyes on her sleeve.

"You'll be fine," George replied. "You've got great qualifications, so I'm sure you'll find a new job and everything."

Alice still looked sad. "You know how long I was going to get in prison if I hadn't agreed to look after you? Twenty-two years. I'd have been fifty-three, can you believe it?"

"What did you do to get that?" George asked, amazed.

"One thing the Syndicate used to do was launder money from corrupt regimes in Africa or the Middle East and I used to be quite involved and quickly got promoted to the top of the branch I was working in thanks to them. Unfortunately, a lot of this money ended up financing terrorists. At the time I just tried not to think about it, but when ASIS came knocking it all came crashing down."

George felt sorry for Alice, especially as she'd been nothing but nice to them all the time they'd been with her. "Listen, I'm sure you'll have a great life regardless. Think of it as your second chance," he said, trying to comfort her.

"You're right," she said, wiping her mascara. "It's all done now and if it means someone like Zach gets prison while I'm still free, then I'm lucky." She gave him a hug and smiled. "How long do you think we've got left here?"

"Maybe a week at most. We'll be heading back to London before long," George said sadly.

"I'll come and visit sometime," Alice said, and George nodded, even though he knew it would never happen.

"I'm going to go and make the most of the pool, so let me know when food's ready," George said, grabbing a towel from the rack.

"Alright, but it won't be more than twenty minutes," Alice said, going back to her cooking.