Times of Trouble by Victoria Rollison Page A

Easton. She’s
a friend of Sophie’s. They worked together, back when Carla was
their boss. They met Danny through the gym, and sort of became a
trio, running their business together, working alternating nights
so that someone was always available when the clients called. I’m
pretty sure she’s in Sydney with Sophie.’
    Any thoughts of a
huge scale con on Liam’s part had completely vanished. But the
reality of what he was telling me was much harder to bear than
having money stolen from mum.
    ‘ So these people,
Danny, Katie and Sophie, or Molly or whatever, they got into some
sort of situation where some people wanted them dead. And you’re
telling me that whoever these people are, they’ve killed Danny and
you think they are after Katie and Sophie now?’
    ‘ I don’t just think
so. I know they are.’
    ‘ And how do you know
Sophie - and Katie as well? - made it to Sydney?’
    ‘ A contact told me.
Someone I met who knew both the girls.’
    That would have to do
for now. He wouldn’t have left London for Sydney unless he was
certain they were there. ‘And you haven’t got any idea where they
are in Sydney?’
    Now Liam looked even
more concerned. ‘One of the things I did when I got to Sydney was
to visit the morgue. I wanted to find a contact there who would let
me know if... you know...someone came in who might
be...’
    ‘ I get what you’re
saying.’
    ‘ I paid him money to
keep me informed, and he called me yesterday evening.’
    The blood drained
from my face.
    ‘ The description he
gave doesn’t match Sophie. But I think it is probably Katie,’ he
said quickly, knowing he was putting me out of my
misery.
    ‘ How can you be
sure?’
    ‘ Because I’ve got a
photo of Katie. She had dark skin. She was West Indian.’
    I exhaled for what
seemed like the first time in minutes. There wasn’t time just then
to care that Sophie’s friend might be dead. It was Sophie I needed
information about.
    ‘ Ok, so you’re
telling me these people have possibly killed this Katie in Sydney.
And now they are going to be looking for Sophie. They weren’t
together?’
    ‘ I don’t know. I
don’t know where Sophie is.’
    It was understandable
that Liam was rushing back to Sydney. If these people had found
Katie, it might not take them long to find Sophie. I felt small and
stupid for questioning Liam’s motives yesterday, when he was quite
obviously as worried as I was about what might happen.
    People were starting
to stand up and queue to board the flight.
    ‘ Liam, you haven’t
told me who you gave the $30,000 to. What information did you get
for that money? You said in your email you got an address. Was it
somewhere Sophie was living in Sydney?’
    Liam didn’t seem to
be listening. He started to flick through his back-pack, eventually
pulling out his boarding pass.
    ‘ About the money
Ellen, I’m really sorry you had to sell the piano. But honestly,
you’ve got to believe me, the money has been well spent. I would
still be in London, chasing my tail, if I hadn’t got that
lead.’
    ‘ But that’s the
thing. We can’t afford to pay you for the work you’re doing. The
money I’ve made off the piano has to cover the mortgage. I know you
are still working, and still have expenses. I regret now that I
accused you of being a, well, you know, not doing the right thing.
But I believe you now. I’m really sorry.’
    It was the first time
I’d seen him come close to a smile all day. His expression showed
he understood how hard it was for me to admit this. Now he was
walking towards the line, his mind a million miles away from the
money trouble mum and I were facing, as was mine. He waved his
hand, brushing off what I was saying.
    ‘ Don’t worry about
the money Ellen. I won’t keep sending your mum payment requests for
now. We’ll sort if out once I’ve found Sophie. My parents have lent
me enough money to keep me going for a while.’
    ‘ Are you sure? I
mean, I don’t really have a choice