Private Sydney Read online

  We passed the Royal Military College on our right. Neither car turned off.

  I had two choices. One was to drive somewhere else and throw them off the scent. But that may cost Eliza the only chance to see her father.

  I took the second option.

  Chapter 119

  ‘HOLD ON,’ I WARNED Eliza as we approached the Kings Avenue exit ramp.

  Seizing the opportunity, I slammed the accelerator to the floor. The Commodore engine screamed to life, letting us overtake an elderly couple in a Mazda.

  The police kept pace as we sped across the bridge. Without sirens, they were likely to follow us all the way. Traffic ahead pulled to the left. I capitalised on the extra lane space and wove between lanes, gaining some distance.

  The Chinese embassy was only minutes away. Once we were inside its walls, we would be safe – temporarily. The problem was, Eliza couldn’t make it out of the car quickly and the Chinese didn’t know who we were, or that we were coming.

  ‘Call the embassy, tell them who you are and see if they’ll open the gates,’ I urged.

  She used her smartphone to find the number.

  We were fast approaching the Parliamentary Triangle, an area rife with tourists, workers and the highest concentration of police. And the biggest security response to potential terrorist threats. I needed to put time between us and our pursuers. We had no chance of losing them.

  The traffic lights on to King George Terrace remained green. I tapped the brake, then accelerated on the orange and swung right, barely missing an ACTION bus. The police lost time slowing at the red. But not enough.

  Clinging to the left verge, the rear wheels barely hung on. A furniture truck loomed just ahead and indicated right. I took it on the inside, thumping up the kerb, then swung hard right.

  Tyres squealed as the back wheels slipped. I took my foot off the pedal and steered out. The truck stopped mid-turn, buying me precious seconds.

  I crossed two more sets of traffic lights and found myself behind the Hyatt Hotel. The police were gaining.

  I looped around to the embassy but the gates were closed.

  On the phone, Eliza continued to plead for someone to open them. We needed more time. I passed the embassy and swung left on to Commonwealth Avenue then dog-tailed into the Hyatt entrance, barely missing a row of parked cars. Accelerating out of the bend, I turned hard left as the police car entered the drive, close behind, carefully steering past a Lamborghini and Porsche. Our pursuers weren’t so lucky. Eliza spun her head around at the crash.

  In the rear-view mirror, I saw the mess. The marked car clipped the Lambo and pushed it into the Porsche.

  I flinched at the carnage, cornered left and floored it to the embassy, metres away. ‘We’re outside now!’ Eliza shouted, and the gate began to open.

  I braked and spun hard. The car slid into the driveway as an unmarked car jumped the kerb and cut off my path, blocking our access to the gate. I put my left arm out to protect Eliza.

  Our car squealed to a sudden stop, just short of the vehicle that had swung in to block us. Eliza’s seatbelt locked but her head was thrown forward and back against the headrest.

  I unchecked my belt and saw a gun pointed in at me through the window.

  Chapter 120

  THE POLICE OFFICER yelled at me to raise my hands, as he opened my door.

  ‘Slowly exit the car!’ he ordered.

  As I stepped out, hands raised, I saw the Glock aimed at Eliza.

  ‘Get out, ma’am, with your hands up.’

  ‘She can’t physically lift her arms,’ I shouted. ‘And she needs a wheelchair. It’s in the boot.’

  Two plain-clothes men assisted her and she stood, propped against the car.

  There were sudden shouts in Chinese, and three armed guards appeared in the drive from within the embassy.

  Guns were pointed at the police now, who diverted their attention to the new threat.

  ‘Stand down!’ a voice behind me shouted.

  A well-groomed gentlemen gave an order in Mandarin. His men lowered their weapons as he stepped through the gate.

  ‘Sir, this is Federal Police business.’ The officer who still had his gun trained on us did the talking. ‘I ask you and your guards to step back and away.’

  ‘This has just become official business of the People’s Republic of China,’ the other man answered, now switching to perfect English.

  I noticed cameras on the brick fence, recording every minute. A fleet of police vehicles began filling the street.

  ‘Sir, you don’t understand. These two are wanted for aiding a fugitive, and are suspected of illegally selling classified information. Their crimes are covered by the Terrorist Act.’

  ‘What?’ Eliza demanded. ‘This has to be a sick joke.’

  The senior officer announced, ‘You two are under arrest.’ He gestured for us to be taken away.

  The Chinese official put himself between the gun and Eliza. ‘I’m afraid you will not be taking anyone from this embassy.’ He handed the officer a card.

  I lowered my hands a little. Eric Moss had to be inside.

  ‘Mr Chin, is it? They are on Australian not Chinese soil.’ The officer stood firm.

  ‘Technically, yes. Your laws allow you to arrest suspects, even on embassy grounds. However, it is customary to do so with the permission from the relevant ambassador. That would be Ambassador Xing. He is currently in Beijing but will return next week.’ He pulled out a notebook. ‘May I have your name please?’

  ‘Detective Sergeant Scott Wilson.’

  Chin wrote it down.

  ‘With respect, Mr Chin, we don’t need your boss’s permission. We are on a public street, outside your gates. Federally owned land.’

  ‘I am afraid you are mistaken. You are standing on our paved drive, which is very much part of our embassy.’

  The police looked at each other. We were at a stand-off.

  Wilson tried again. ‘Sir, we don’t want to concern you or your staff. We just need these two to come with us and we’ll be out of your way.’

  Chin stepped forward. ‘Forcibly removing anyone from within this perimeter will create – how do you say? – an international incident. Is that something you have authority to do?’

  The detective sergeant looked furious. He ordered his men to make sure no one moved then stepped away to make a phone call.

  Eliza and I were trapped. If we did manage to get inside the embassy, the Feds would be waiting for us the second we showed our faces.

  We were trapped with no way out.

  Chapter 121

  WE WERE IN limbo. No longer on ‘Australian soil’ yet outside the protection of the embassy, on a small patch of asphalt, metres from the Federal Police. Without so much as Eliza’s chair.

  Eliza leant heavily against the car. Her legs were fatiguing quickly.

  Tense minutes passed before the senior detective returned. The other officers still had their guns drawn on us.

  And all this time, the Chinese guards hadn’t altered their positions.

  ‘Mr Chin, I have been instructed to comply with your request.’ The Fed looked like he’d choke on his words as he directed his team to pull back, out on to the road.

  ‘I’m glad we could come to an arrangement,’ the embassy official said.

  I moved around to support Eliza and she wrapped her arm around my waist as I took some of her weight.

  ‘The wheelchair’s in the boot,’ I said. ‘Can someone get it?’

  Wilson clenched his jaw. ‘No. The car comes with us,’ he said. ‘And everything in it.’

  I looked at Chin, who shrugged.

  ‘My bag,’ Eliza said.

  ‘If it’s in the car, we’re taking it.’ Wilson stood ramrod straight.

  ‘But the car and its contents are on embassy grounds,’ I argued.

  Mr Chin walked over, reached into the car, removed Eliza’s bag and dumped it at my feet.

  ‘Thank you,’ Eliza said. ‘I ne
ed my wheelchair.’

  ‘You will not require it,’ Chin said, matter of factly.

  ‘We’ll be here when you get hungry or thirsty,’ Wilson declared before reversing the hire car on to the road.

  Mr Chin called his guards inside and the metal gate began to slide closed in his wake. With us on the outside.

  Chin raised a hand and the gate stopped, before he turned to us.

  ‘Miss Moss, Mr Gisto, you are very welcome to come in.’

  Chapter 122

  ‘ARE THEY ARRESTING us?’ Eliza whispered as I helped her walk. Two more military guards had appeared.

  I wasn’t sure. They knew who we were so they had to have been monitoring us. We were ushered through a door, down a corridor and into a lift. We were underground, no windows and no natural light. They searched us both at gunpoint. Our phones, watches and personal effects were immediately confiscated. A handheld metal detector beeped at my belt. I had to remove it, with the USB still inside. It was then handed back, thankfully without being searched. I quickly replaced it around my waist.

  Next we were each photographed against a wall and moved to what looked like an interrogation room. A scratched wooden table sat in the centre, with two sealed bottles of water. Two metal chairs on one side, one on the other.

  I helped Eliza into the first chair and she almost flopped into it with exhaustion.

  ‘Dad must be here. Why else would they let us in?’

  ‘They need to confirm our ID. Maybe they want to know why the Federal Police were on their territory.’ The thought occurred to me: the only possible reason for the Chinese government to harbour Eric was that he worked for them.

  I walked around the small room. Reflective glass inside, viewing room behind it. I was convinced we were being watched and possibly filmed. None of this felt right. I hoped we hadn’t walked into something far more dangerous than Detective Sergeant Wilson and his mates.

  ‘I’m sorry I got you into this,’ was all I could say.

  ‘I’m the one who got you into this … I just couldn’t let it go. Let Dad go.’

  I kept thinking of the Federal Police in the street. Even if there was a secret exit to this place, and we managed to evade them, we would be arrested as soon as we were recognised, anywhere in the country. There was no way to let Mary or the others know where we were.

  ‘Eliza, they may know of your dad but it isn’t clear if he’s with the Chinese or against them.’

  She unscrewed the lid on a bottle and stared at the label. ‘He kept so many secrets. What sort of person can be that deceitful? I didn’t know him at all.’

  I sat beside her and held her hand, aware we were being monitored. ‘Not his birth name, maybe. Or what he was involved in but the man loved you, read to you, cared for you. That was him. That wasn’t an act.’

  ‘Thank you, Craig. For everything.’ She squeezed my hand. ‘No matter what happens, I’m glad we met.’

  A bang on the door interrupted us and an armed soldier marched through. He was shouting in Chinese and English. ‘Where is USB?’

  Chapter 123

  THE DOOR OPENED further and a man appeared dressed in a navy jumper, grey tracksuit pants and ill-fitting slippers. He had a sling that positioned his hand over his heart. He looked thinner but, at five foot eleven, was still stocky. This time there were no reflective glasses, no dark lenses. Even in humble clothing, it was easy to appreciate the charisma he exuded to staff and politicians.

  Eric Moss spoke softly to the soldier, in Mandarin. He lowered the gun and the unlikely pair exchanged further words before the soldier left the room, closing the door with a bang.

  Wide round eyes glistened when he saw us.

  Eliza slowly lifted her face and wiped her eyes. ‘Daddy?’ She saw the sling.

  I slipped out of my chair and stood in front of the glass, to give them some modicum of privacy.

  ‘You’re hurt,’ she said.

  ‘Not as much as I’ve hurt you.’ He reached forward to touch her face.

  A thud on the glass made it clear. Contact was forbidden.

  ‘This is Craig –’ she tried.

  ‘I know who he is. I figured you’d contact Jack Morgan again, who would refer you to Private Sydney. Months ago I put a small tracking device on your chair so I could monitor your whereabouts on computer. I’m sorry, but I had to know you were safe.’

  That was why the Chinese embassy hadn’t seemed that surprised we were on our way. I couldn’t hide my frustration that he’d put his daughter at risk. ‘Did you know Eliza was attacked at home? And ADIA tried to detain her earlier today? She could have been killed.’

  ‘I was informed by my contact here. I’m sorry. If I could have stopped them from hurting you, Eliza, I would have.’

  Somehow ‘sorry’ didn’t seem to make up for all the lies and deception. If it were my child threatened, I would have been beyond angry. He didn’t show any emotion or remorse for what she’d suffered.

  I watched Eliza, studying her father’s face as if meeting him for the first time.

  ‘Do you know what they wanted with me? And that USB?’ she eventually asked.

  ‘I couldn’t just abandon you after things changed at Contigo. Unfortunately, my selfishness made you a target.’

  I felt protective of Eliza and didn’t want her being deceived anymore. Selfishness? ‘You mean when your illegal account keeping and secret contracts were about to be exposed?’

  He slipped into the chair I’d vacated. ‘All these years of work compromised by a few missing event tickets. The internal audit would have found more discrepancies. I’d managed to keep the fraud squad at bay. Time ran out.’

  He wasn’t going to worm his way out of what he’d done. ‘You’re not just talking about a routine audit,’ I interjected. ‘I had a visit from Jim Roden who was eager to find you, dead or alive.’

  He sighed. ‘I broke their rules with what I did to keep Contigo afloat. There was no going back once I became an embarrassment to the US and Australian governments. The simplest solution was the one they chose.’

  ‘Are you saying the Australian government tried to assassinate you twice?’

  ‘The assassination attempts were CIA. The Americans had a mole in with the Chinese who warned them I was meeting at a bay only reachable by boat. The exact location was secret even from me, until twenty minutes before time. Obviously, the boat was the best way to make sure I didn’t make it to that meeting. Only I got lucky.’

  I couldn’t let Eliza be taken in by him again. I stepped forward and slapped the table hard.

  ‘You’re a liar! You’ve been playing us all right from the start.’

  Chapter 124

  ACCORDING TO JACK Morgan, the CIA had suspected a rogue agent, which is why they were pulling operatives out of the country. Moss was that rogue agent. I guessed the missing tickets were incidental, and didn’t set off the series of events.

  ‘That isn’t true,’ he pleaded with Eliza. ‘You know me. Better than anyone.’

  ‘The fire at the cabin,’ Eliza concluded. ‘I knew you’d been there.’

  ‘You just happened to have magnesium on you, and get into an escape hatch which happened to be beneath a friend’s cabin?’

  He didn’t blink at the accusation.

  I leant forward. ‘You set a trap for them, didn’t you?’

  He sighed and looked up towards the glass. ‘I did what I had to to survive.’

  ‘You’re a regular MacGyver,’ I mocked.

  ‘Craig,’ Eliza warned. ‘Stop it.’

  ‘And the boat,’ I said. ‘Did they get lucky assuming you’d go there and rigged it to blow?’

  He pulled the chair close to his daughter, without touching her. His sole focus became Eliza. ‘I need to know where the USB I sent you is.’

  ‘Oh my God, it’s the only thing you care about.’ She covered her mouth. ‘You used me to get it here?’

  ‘I know you can’t understand. But it is our ticket to safety. W
ithout it …’ His voice trailed away.

  ‘I can’t believe you worked in secret for the Americans, then made a deal with the Chinese.’

  ‘It isn’t that simple. It was only through sheer luck I survived that explosion.’ He moved the fingers on his right hand in the sling. ‘The Americans and the Australians wanted me dead. They still want me dead. By running, I confirmed their suspicions that one of their agents had turned rogue. That put you at risk. It made sense to have people think I was dead and it ended the attacks on you. The man who took my place was part of a Chinese drug syndicate. His relatives couldn’t afford the burial. Chinese agents witnessed the explosion and pulled me from the water. They came up with the idea of substituting and the family signed over the body. I had to protect you, Eliza, and this was the only way.’

  Eliza shook her head, suddenly defiant. ‘Don’t make this about me. You’ve been lying my entire life. Hans Gudgast? Is that your real name?’

  He shrugged. ‘Gudgast was an embezzler, but in death he gave me a chance to do good.’

  I understood. He couldn’t fake the height difference, so wasn’t Gudgast at all. ‘You took his identity to enter Australia with the help of the CIA.’

  He lowered his gaze. ‘I came here from Europe, where doesn’t matter, after being recruited as a university student interested in biomedical engineering. I had no family and was idealistic back then. I saw it as an opportunity to do good. And the CIA offered to fund lifesaving research in exchange for information about foreign defence force bases and technologies. That’s why I developed training programs.’ He rubbed darkened eyes. ‘I never agreed to hurt anyone.’

  ‘Except the people who lent or gave you money,’ I said. ‘They won’t be seeing it again, after you conned them out of it.’ This man was either phenomenally naive or extremely manipulative.