Page 98 of The Pearl Sister
‘Right, er . . . thanks. Tell him I’ll be down in five.’
My hand trembled as I replaced the receiver. So the press had tracked me down. Knowing there wasn’t a moment to lose, I scrambled out of bed, dressed hastily, then bunged the rest of my stuff into my rucksack and hoisted it onto my back. Counting out the dollars I owed for my stay, I left them with the key on the nightstand by the bed so I wouldn’t be arrested for not paying my bill. Then I ran along the corridor to the emergency exit I had noticed last night when I’d seen someone having a cigarette beyond it. I gave the door bar a push and, to my relief, it opened without an alarm going off. I saw a set of basic iron steps leading down into a yard at the back of the hotel. I ran down them as quietly as I could in my heavy boots. The yard wall was low, so I threw my rucksack over it and followed suit. A few backyards later, I found myself out on the street at the other end.
Okay, what do I do now?
I called Chrissie, who answered after the first ring.
‘Where are you?’ I asked her, still panting hard.
‘At my desk in the airport. What’s up?’
‘Is it easy to book a flight out of here?’
‘It is if you work on the tourist info desk opposite the airline sales counter, yes. Where d’ya need to go?’
‘Alice Springs. What’s the best way of getting there?’
‘You’ll have to catch a flight up to Darwin, and connect from there to the Alice.’
‘Can you get me on those flights today?’
‘I know there’s a flight from here to Darwin in a couple of hours or so. I’ll go and ask the guys if there are any seats left.’
‘If there are, book me on it. I’ll be there as soon as I can find a taxi.’
‘I’ll send one for you now. Walk to the bronze statues at the end of the road and he’ll be there in ten.’
‘Thanks, Chrissie.’
‘No worries.’
At the airport, Chrissie was hovering by the entrance doors waiting for me.
‘You can tell me what’s up after we’ve confirmed your bookings,’ she said as she put her arm through mine and marched me over to the Qantas check-in desk. ‘This is my mate, Zab.’ Chrissie indicated the guy standing behind it. ‘The bookings are all ready to go. You just need to pay.’
I pulled out my credit card and slapped it on the counter. Zab took the payment, then handed me my boarding passes and a receipt.
‘Thanks a mill, Chrissie.’
‘I’ll come through security with ya,’ she said. ‘We can hang out at the café and you can tell me all about Thailand.’
Shit!So Chrissie knew too, which was hardly a surprise as her desk faced a kiosk. She’d probably sat there for days staring at my face on the front of all the newspapers. Yet she’d never said a word.
We went through security together to a tiny café and Chrissie came back with two bottles of water and a sandwich each. I’d chosen to sit facing a wall in the corner, just in case.
‘So, why d’ya need to leave so fast?’
‘A reporter fromThe Australianturned up at my hotel this morning. You probably know why he wanted to interview me.’ I eyed her.
‘Yeah, I do. I recognised you the first moment you swung by my desk. And . . . ?’
‘I met this guy on a beach in Thailand and hung out with him for a bit. Turns out he’s wanted for some kind of bank fraud.’
‘Anand Changrok?’
‘Or “Ace” as I knew him.’ I then told Chrissie the story of how I’d met him.
‘What was he like?’ she asked when I’d finished.
