Deep Water Read Online Free Page A

Diego.’
    Their happiness communicated itself directly to me and cut through the jet lag. ‘I should be able to come up with something about the heart and growing fonder and all that,’ I said, ‘but I’m too knackered. Good luck to you. Let’s have a drink.’
    A few days later, installed back in my house and with outstanding correspondence and obligations, mostly financial but also social and medical, dealt with, I called on Hank in his Newtown office to talk over the Henry McKinley matter. I climbed the familiar stairs from King Street but now a fluorescent light made them more negotiable. As I was making my way up a man coming down fast bumped into me and almost knocked me off balance. He steadied me with a strong hand.
    â€˜Terribly sorry,’ he said. ‘Are you all right, sir?’
    I was until you called me sir
, I thought. I nodded and he went down, turning at the bottom of the stairs to look back. I signalled to him and went on.
    Formerly mine, the office had been carpeted and painted and the windows cleaned. Hank had rented two adjoining rooms and put in partitions and doors so that he now had a small suite.
    â€˜You must be doing OK,’ I said as I settled into a chair about three times more comfortable than the one I’d provided for my clients.
    Hank shrugged. ‘There’s work about. The politicians and spin-doctors are worried about bugging, so I’m doing regular sweeps. Quick and easy and well paid.’
    â€˜Politicians on which side?’
    â€˜Hey, I’m a resident alien. I’m neutral. Both sides.’
    â€˜And you’re finding what?’
    â€˜Paranoia and zilch, but who’s complaining?’
    â€˜Any serious work?’
    â€˜Some insurance fraud—autos, personal accident. I cleaned up a couple of those cases you left me. Gave me a kick start.’
    I’d seen another desk in one of the other rooms and one in a cubicle. ‘You’ve got some help?’
    He nodded. ‘A casual. He just left. Must’ve passed you on the stairs. And … Megan.’
    â€˜How’s that?’
    â€˜Cliff, she was keen. She’s enrolled in the TAFE course. I got her associate status—provisionally.’
    â€˜What happened to acting?’
    â€˜She got tired of it, and it was going no place.’
    My relationship with Megan was complex. Because I hadn’t known her as a child, I didn’t feel the full weight of a father’s responsibility and attachment. I felt a lot of those emotions but not the full serve and, of course, I felt guilty about that. Complex. My warring feelings must have shown in my face and body language.
    â€˜She’s basically a clerk,’ Hank said.
    â€˜Stick around. She won’t be for long. OK, we’re all adults here. I’m not laying down any laws. How’s the McKinley thing looking?’
    Hank eased himself out of his chair the way a fit thirty year old can, took two steps and opened a filing cabinet. Forget the paperless office. Never happened. You can have anything you like on hard disk and flash drive but nothing beats a printed sheet when you want a quick grasp. Hank had several sheets in the standard manila folder and he spread them on the desk.
    â€˜Waiting for your input,’ he said, shuffling the pages. ‘I can tell you that there’s something funny about this Tarelton company. Their website says they’re a minerals and natural resources exploration company. You know that. But just where and what they’re exploring and developing is kind of hard to pin down. It’s a private company, so there’s only so much it has to reveal about its personnel and operations and, in its case, that’s virtually zero.’
    â€˜Margaret McKinley had the idea that it was paying her father well.’
    â€˜Oh, it’s got assets—an impressive building in Surry Hills, staff, a fleet of cars. But what the hell does