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Ava Perdu had turned the black car into the first street past the police check point. As she was doing a U-turn to continue her pursuit, a police vehicle pulled up and blocked their way out. There was a lot of police activity for such a small town. A female officer, who looked strikingly similar to Isabella, walked over to their car.
“Sorry, folks, but we need to seal off this road. There’s some crazy young man scooting around on a dirt bike. He’s been up to some mischief.”
At first Ava thought it was a dog barking but then the bike came into view. The rider paused when he saw his predicament. He spun the wheels and headed back in the direction he came. Puffs of smoke and dust trailed behind as he took off.
The police officers shrugged their shoulders. The Isabella look-alike spoke. “You folks can go now; just let us get our car out of the way.”
When the police officer was out of range, Ava let out a few expletives.
“I think we lost the girl,” said the occupant of the backseat.
“Now that’s stating the obvious,” Ava said. “That car was heading to the target. I wonder who the driver was?”
This town had not been kind to them. They first came here to monitor a post office box receiving items addressed to the person under surveillance. No one came to collect the items, but they saw the occasional mail-drone fly off. They concluded the box owner had paid extra for drone delivery service. They couldn’t follow a drone. Nor, it appeared could they even execute a simple car pursuit.
Ava opened up the police channels on her tablet device to make sure they hadn’t raised any suspicions.
There was plenty of police chatter and she’d discovered who the driver was. There was an alert out for an escapee from Queensland and the police had just met him. The police obviously got the alert after they’d pulled the driver over as there was now a frantic police search underway for the car that Ava was pursuing.
15 – Meeting Gramps
ISABELLA WAS HAPPY WITH THE MEAL GRAMPS HAD CHOSEN to make her—lamb shank soup. Mum had made it too—Isabella loved the tenderness of the meat and the chick peas or whatever they were that floated around.
“Nice, Gramps.” Isabella tried not to slurp too loud. “I don’t think you should let Lucas drive your car. He’s a bit of a lunatic.” She wanted to bring humour into their recent cat and mouse chase, at least for now. It helped relieve the tension.
“Isabella.” She turned towards Lucas who had a spoonful of soup and pretended he was going to flick it at her. “You know that’s not true.”
“I’m sure you’re not a maniac, Lucas.” Starkey said as he gave Isabella a wink. “Saved you walking here, dear. Talking about walking—and I know I’m sounding like a poet—your mum mentioned that you went on a long walk with her recently.”
Isabella dug into her memory banks. “Not really into walking but, yeah, been on a few with Mum and sometimes Dad. Mum was into Aboriginal medicine in a big way. She gave Dad and me a guided tour on our most recent walk, although I’m sure Dad knew most of it anyway. Stopped at different plants and told us what they were used for. It was a nice walk but I’m not a plant person. More into animals. Where are your animals, Gramps?”
“I’ll introduce you to them tomorrow.”
Isabella realised the adrenaline rush from the recent fight-or-flight was gone and her body was working its way back to normal. Well, sort of normal, as she still wasn’t sure what the medication she was taking was doing to her body. Mum would’ve been able to tell her. Why had gramps asked about the walk?
They moved from the kitchen into the lounge room and made themselves comfortable around the fireplace. Isabella sunk into the oversized armchair.
Isabella positioned herself more upright in the chair. “Why were those men chasing you, Lucas?” Isabella asked.
“It wasn’t Lucas they were chasing, Isabella, it was me. I’m getting forgetful with things and one check of my car registration would have set off alarms in every police station in the country with my outstanding fines. Did you notice the car can go pretty fast? I get a bit carried away at times and there always seems to be a policeman around.”
Why did she think that wasn’t entirely truthful? “So where do you know Lucas from, Gramps?”
“We used to work together.” Starkey said as he turned his head to Lucas and tilted it back towards Isabella. “Her mum is a clever lady.”
“It must be in the genes, Starkey. You’re clever too.”
“Well, thank you, Lucas. Isabella’s mum, my daughter Lee-Ann, made some marvellous discoveries about the brain. She believed we’re starting to create zombies out there and felt bad that she was contributing to that.”
“Zombies?” Lucas asked.
“People who don’t want to think, but prefer medication to do all the work. Having a down day? Don’t put some positive thoughts in your head, put a pill in your mouth instead.”
“Isn’t that a bit harsh, Starkey? Isn’t it something to do with the chemicals in the brain?”
Isabella disengaged herself from the conversation and stared into the fire. Was that a face she saw in there? Some imps, those small demon-like creatures, were dancing on the burning log. Was the medication wearing off again? She couldn’t remember the last time she took the tablets. The men were talking but she couldn’t make out what they were talking about—she couldn’t concentrate. She needed sleep.
“Gramps, could you show me where I’m sleeping? I’m feeling really tired. Must be the country air and the excitement provided by Lucas.”
Starkey got up from his comfortable lounge chair. “Will do.”
“Nice to meet you, Lucas. Will you be here in the morning?”
“Yes, he will be, Isabella.’
Why did Gramps answer? “Good night, Lucas.”
“Good night, Isabella. Lovely to meet you. I’m sure tomorrow won’t be as adventurous.”
16 – Fugitives located
IT HAD BEEN A LONG DAY FOR AARON FITZPATRICK. The prison was short of staff, and mixed with the policies that had to be implemented because of the prison escape, taking officers off duty to interview was a slow painful process.
Aaron and Steve Marshall sat together in an interview room on bolted-down chairs. Aaron was on the phone and tapping his fingers on the bolted-down table. Apparently, prisoners affected by drugs could exhibit superman attributes.
Some of the staff on duty that morning were doing double shifts. Aaron and Marshall were waiting for the guard who did the rounds covering Lucas’s cell. Apparently there was some apprehension from the guard when he was asked if he would mind attending a brief interview.
Aaron smiled as he finished his call. “Looks like we may have accidently found your man. We had someone under surveillance, and they’ve joined forces. But then again I suppose there are some linkages there. She’s the Professor’s granddaughter, and as you know, your fugitive had past connections to the man we’ve been looking for.”
Marshall phone beeped. He looked at the message. “Yep, we also just got a police alert that he’s been sighted but not apprehended.”
“Good, we’re on the same page. We’ve repositioned one of our drones and have tracked them to a property. We should be able to take him into custody for you.”
Aaron did not reveal everything. The Defence surveillance officer also mentioned that another party was following the girl. The surveillance officer did not engage in communication with this party. A foreign interest in the technology?
Aaron didn’t get to spend much time with his Mum. It was late evening before he got to her house.
She wanted to know how Mackenzie was, and if there was any news. He wasn’t aware of any. Aaron realised one way of getting Mum to Melbourne would be grandchildren.
He also thought about the Professor’s granddaughter. The Professor had slipped up. They’d been watching the granddaughter and her mother for years, hoping they would one day lead them to their target. Now they’d found him. Was the slip-up intentional?
He didn’t get to bed until close to midnight, and was on an early flight out in the morning. They’d come up with a strategy and it would be executed before he got back to his office in Melbourne.
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It was morning recess time. There was a thunderous roar. The activity in the school playground came to a halt. One of the kids yelled out and pointed up in the sky. The children stared up as a troop-carrying helicopter passed over. The kids waved but the troops didn’t respond.
