Color of Blood(79)

She dialed the number, and the signal bounced its way from cell towers to a satellite, back to cell towers, and eventually connected to a telephone. It rang once, then again, and then again. Judy could clearly see Voorster sitting alone at the table, drumming his fingers on the tabletop and looking like a man without a care in the world.

When Voorster hadn’t moved after the fourth ring, she panicked. Voorster suddenly reached into his front shirt pocket and looked at his phone. Judy knew he could not identify or trace the number.

“Hello,” he said.

“David?” she said.

“No. Who is this?”

“I’m looking for David.”

He hung up, looked at the phone number again, and then put the phone on the table. His partner returned with two flat white coffees, and they spoke for a minute. Both looked at the phone. Judy slowly drove back to the AFP office.

She walked into Miller’s office without knocking. He looked up and smiled.

“G’day, Jude.”

She closed the door, and he watched her, puzzled.

She started on her well-rehearsed narrative, leaving out the role of her Yank friend and his CIA intelligence photo files and phone number hacking. She took off her right shoe at one point and showed him her scabbed toe.

“Bloody hell!” he said.

Judy defended her delay in reporting her abduction because she was worried about Simon. She believed Voorster indeed had a snitch inside the AFP, but she eventually deduced it was Phillip from something he had said to her in passing. Miller frowned at Phillip’s name, his face pinching on the left side in confusion and caution.

“Phillip? Your Phillip?”

“Yes, and he’s not my Phillip.”

She explained how she had caught a glimpse of a blond man with a bolt cutter in his hands during the kidnapping. She made up a story of seeing him later by accident in a restaurant and following him.

After forty-five minutes of give-and-take, Miller finally said, “Jude, surely you know that what you’ve said is probably not enough for us to put out a warrant on this Voorster fellow. You know that, right?”

“I think I know what might settle this once and for all.”

“What might that be?” he said, narrowing his eyes.

“I think I have this man Voorster’s mobile number, and I have Phillip’s two mobile numbers. You could get authorization to monitor all three numbers. Surely you can pull that off. The rest will be easy.”

“How did you get Voorster’s mobile number?” Miller asked.

“I was lucky,” she said.

“How were you lucky?”

“If I tell you, I’ll have to shoot you,” she said.

“Very funny. Jude, how did you get it?”

“You don’t need me to give you the number. You can get it through official channels right now.”

“Mmm. That’s true.”

“But you have to move fast. We need to make sure we finish this last piece while Voorster is here. He could leave the country at any moment.”

“Jude, you know how these warrants work; we can’t get authorization that quickly.”

“You’re going to have to. If you don’t, I’ll take matters into my own hands. They’re not going to touch my son.”

“Now wait a minute, Jude—”

“I don’t give a damn about how much trouble it takes; we have to act now. I’m not joking.”

“Calm yourself down, Jude.”

“Not until this thing is over. I’m at the end of my tether, and no one is going to harm my son. Phillip has no idea who he’s dealing with.”

***

The walk started out without a goal; Dennis was simply bored and decided to get out of the hotel. He had a headache after studying his large wall map and sticky notes.

As he walked he grew unaccountably buoyed by the fresh air and medicinal smell of the eucalyptus trees. The sky was bluer in Perth, the air cleaner, and even the birds were colorful. Small birds sporting green backs and indigo-blue heads screeched at each other in the trees overhead. Larger pink birds with spikey, Mohawk-like tufts on their heads swung lazily from tree to tree behind him.

After nearly ninety minutes, he came upon an overlook with a view of a bridge, a huge body of water, and the Perth skyline in the distance to his left.

He rested on a stone bench and took in the scenery. The air was very warm, and he realized that he might be getting sunburned. He also realized that he did not have the energy to walk all the way back to his hotel and was about to call directory assistance for a Perth cab company when his phone rang.

“Thank you,” Judy said.

“Pardon?”

“Thank you.”

“Thank me for what?”

“Don’t be daft. You know what I mean. Thank you.”

“OK. You’re welcome.”

“I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Hey, wait. When can I see you?”

“Not now, Dennis. Later. I’ll call you. I have to go now.”

Dennis sighed and leaned back on the bench. A small tour bus pulled up, and a group of Chinese tourists got out and milled around the overlook taking pictures.

His phone rang again.

“What time is it over there?” Massey asked.

“About eleven a.m.,” Dennis said.