12. On the run
The cold hit her as soon as she opened the door, and, not for the first time, Ann wondered why she had moved to Canberra. Life as an assistant at Manly Books in Sydney had been close to perfect. An even climate, beaches, the harbour, the excitement of the big city. Even in midwinter, a [...]
11. Private chats
The meeting place was discreet enough. Elderly folk in varying stages of health banged about in wheelchairs and walking sticks. Kim only saved his toes from being crushed under ambulatory aids by tucking them under his plastic chair. Which exposed his kneecaps to destruction, but he covered them with a briefcase. He had a paperback [...]
10. Hatching a plot
Harley did two more of Sharkey’s special jobs. He could see why they needed to be discreet, there didn’t seem to be anything illegal about them, but he was astounded by their nature and frequency. He finished the novel he’d taken from the Heartbake Official BookCrossing Zone. It didn’t take too long to get through [...]
9. Kim's game
It was the memory of the kiss and the thought of more to come that drove Kim. It had been a quick embrace while Lee checked the twins, just a few seconds, but Zoe’s lips had seared onto his with an almost audible sizzle to match the heat he’d felt. It helped ease the pain [...]
8. Treasure Chests
Ann’s week began with a visit to the supermarket, where she bought an electric kettle and a large jar of instant coffee. Facing Ben the barista for her caffeine fix wasn’t something she relished quite so much now. She priced the books Quint had brought her, noted the amounts on the list he had left, [...]
7. Watching the birdie
Quint spent Saturday researching digital cameras on the net. He constructed a spreadsheet cross-listing models, features and prices, read a slew of reviews containing acronyms and arcane terms, aiming for something that he thought he could afford, would be easy to operate, and have the features he wanted. He was mainly looking for good zoom [...]
6. Red wine for a blue lady
Harley’s passenger was waiting with a suitcase outside the Civic police station in the dark. When he saw who it was, Harley almost drove off again.
“2A Monash Drive, Campbell 2612,” Quint said.
On writing
Sorry about the lack of updates. Truth is that the last week or so I’ve been travelling. currently in the USA, where I saw an exhibition at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco that gave me a lot to think about. I hadn’t actually heard about Maurice Sendak until a few days ago, when [...]
5. Site for sore eyes
Quint knew about Nazis. They had been a puzzling tribe. Their architecture had been impressive. they made the trains run on time and their roads were superb. But the trains had been full of innocent people sent to death camps, the buildings had been constructed by slaves, and the highways had been used to move grey soldiers around to fight a terrible war.
Great grey buildings lining a ceremonial avenue several kilometres long.
“Have you heard about the new ASIO headquarters, Ann?”
“No.” Ann turned away for a moment, pulled a tissue out of a box. Her eyes were gleaming.
“I looked it up on the internet. It’s not going to be underground at all. It’s going to be a great long building with security fences all around.”
“Okay. But even spies have to work somewhere.”
“They’re building it across the street from my flat. It’s going to be busy and dirty and noisy. And they are cutting down the trees.”
4. Admin Support Officer
The bureaucrat was on board, fully committed, au fait, up to speed and well-versed. He knew his onions. In due course and the fullness of time, he could expect to see his name in The Canberra Times one Queens Birthday, a satisfied member of the Commonwealth Club.
His name was Kim, which was a good name for a man in his occupation.