The Last Paradise, page 14
‘Well, that’s a lot to look forward to,’ said Tina dryly.
‘One step at a time,’ Grace said. ‘It’s becoming my mantra! And for now my focus is on getting me, and eventually Daisy, to Bali. Would it be okay with you if Daisy stays here for a few weeks while I go there and sort all of that out?’
‘Of course, sweetie. But you need to get the finances worked out. And, I did have an idea . . .’ Tina gave Grace a big smile. ‘When the time comes, why don’t I bring Daisy up to you in Bali? I’m intrigued now to see it again. I can stay a while and help look after her. I have time – one of the benefits of being retired!’
Grace felt a rush of happiness, relief and gratitude. ‘That’s a great idea! Thanks, Mum. My mind is so full of my job, I just don’t want to know about all the Lawrence hassles. This makes the case for Daisy coming with me even stronger. She’ll have the two of us to look after her there.’
‘Wonderful.’ Tina beamed. ‘And speaking of Lawrence, I had another idea too, Grace. Why don’t you contact that woman who works for Lawrence and say you need to get into the safe? Do it in person. Say you want Daisy’s passport.’
‘But I already have it, Mum.’
‘She won’t know that for sure, though. It seems to me you need to find out a few things. He’s been too secretive and controlling. You’ll be in Bali for a while and might not get another chance while he’s out of the country.’
‘Mum, I wouldn’t have thought you had such a conniving streak in you. Great idea. Let me check out the time zones. I don’t want her calling Lawrence to ask permission.’
*
Grace was at her most charming with Jenny, the part-time personal assistant Lawrence had been using for the past eighteen months. She was fairly sure Lawrence would not have shared any of their personal issues with his PA. He’d always been very firm about keeping their private lives private, which in this case Grace planned to use to her advantage.
Grace had spent a lovely evening with Melanie and had sent a late-evening text to Jenny saying she was spending the night in town and had an 8.30 am appointment, but needed Daisy’s passport to enrol her officially at school and also some documents from the safe for the meeting. Could Jenny let her in early and open the safe for her, please? It would only take a few moments.
Jenny answered her text at 6.15 the next morning, agreeing, if hesitantly.
Grace arranged to meet her at the office at 7.45 am. Melanie went along with her.
They waited on the footpath below Lawrence’s office, until Jenny hurried towards them, fishing the keys from her bag.
‘Sorry to keep you. I only live a few blocks away.’
Grace introduced Melanie to Jenny as they caught the lift up and she opened the office door.
‘I’ve been so overwhelmed with things, paperwork and such since the fire . . .’ stammered Grace, hoping she seemed flustered.
‘Oh, yes. What a horrible thing. Just awful.’
‘I’m so relieved Lawrence had the sense to keep some papers and things here in his office,’ added Grace sweetly.
Melanie rolled her eyes behind Jenny’s back as Jenny put her bag on her desk and went into Lawrence’s private area.
Grace stood by Lawrence’s clean desk as Jenny punched in the safe numbers. Melanie sat on the sofa watching Jenny open the safe door with a clunk, and straighten up. She stood to one side as Grace took her place. She was surprised to see another passport in the safe, so she quickly took it.
In the outer office Jenny’s phone started to ring and the PA hesitated and then dashed out to answer it. Mel was beside Grace in an instant, reaching over her shoulder and grabbing two large, unsealed envelopes marked Personal and confidential, one of them very bulky. She stuffed them into a tote bag.
Grace scanned what was left in the safe and recognised the insurance papers so she snatched them up and put them in her own handbag.
They could hear Jenny saying, ‘Hello . . . hello . . .?’
She came back into the office as Grace straightened up.
‘Thanks so much, Jenny. I have the passport.’ She held up the crinkled leather passport holder. ‘Sorry for the rush and being so early. It was one of those now-or-never appointments. You know what bureaucrats are like.’
‘Nice to meet you, Jenny. C’mon, Grace, can’t be late.’ Melanie was almost pushing Grace across the floor.
Jenny nodded. ‘You’re welcome. I’ll let Mr Hagen know you came by. He’s probably not up yet. It’s very early in Mumbai.’
Out in the street, Melanie’s phone rang. She glanced at it and smiled. ‘Jenny. Checking who rang her.’ She disconnected the call and put her phone in her bag.
‘Oh, Mel,’ gasped Grace. ‘You’re incorrigible. Did you ring Jenny to distract her? How did you know her number?’
‘I saw it in your contacts when you texted her yesterday and thought it might be useful. Turns out it was!’
‘Wow, good thinking. I need a coffee, I feel quite shaky. Let’s go in here.’ Grace walked into a café.
It was a little rundown, bordering on old-fashioned, with dim lighting and a printed menu featuring Devonshire Tea as their speciality.
Grace was clutching the tote bag. ‘Should we look at the stuff in here?’
‘Stop feeling like a criminal, you haven’t done anything wrong,’ said Melanie quietly. ‘Of course. What did you grab?’
‘Well, I got the insurance papers.’ She pulled out and opened one of the envelopes Mel had picked up. Scanning the document inside, she said, ‘I think this is the trust document. The one that Lawrence said gave him the right to sell my Paddington flat. Mr Jamison is still trying to get his hands on a copy, I think.’
‘Oh fantastic!’ said Mel. ‘Whatever happened with the flat?’
‘Mr Jamison came down on Lawrence like a ton of bricks. I think he spooked him and Lawrence backed down. Said it was a “misunderstanding” on my part,’ Grace said, rolling her eyes. ‘Mr Jamison threatened taking out an injunction, but we didn’t have to take it that far.’
‘That’s a surprise. How do you know he won’t try it again?’
‘I suppose I don’t,’ said Grace.
‘Well, we’d better give a copy of that trust document to Mr Jamison and find out just what it gives Lawrence the power to do.’
Grace nodded and turned back to the insurance document. ‘Here they list the contents of the house that were saved from the fire . . . it’s all odds and ends. But no jewellery. It’s not that I loved the jewellery; it’s the money it must have cost. I could do with that now.’ She went back to scanning the insurance document. ‘What did you get?’ she asked, without looking up.
‘Ta-da!’ Melanie tipped the contents of the bulky envelope, which proved to be a number of small boxes, onto the café table. Grace recognised them immediately and gasped. Mel took one and, opening it up, she showed Grace what it contained: a pair of diamond and ruby earrings.
‘My jewellery! Oh no. Those were a wedding anniversary gift. I’ve hardly worn them. Was always scared I’d lose one.’
Melanie opened a few more boxes. ‘Look at this stuff. Bit OTT; doesn’t seem your taste.’
‘It’s not,’ Grace said. ‘The word “gaudy” springs to mind. I like sweet, sentimental, simple things. I so treasured a necklace Daisy made for me at school. I’d much rather have saved that from the fire. Over the years I tried suggesting nicely to Lawrence that he didn’t need to buy me expensive jewellery. I hardly wear it and he won’t let me choose anything. I think at one point it wasn’t insured, which is why I didn’t want to wear it. So I was happy to leave it in the safe. Don’t know why he thought it’d be safer in the office.’ She was pondering this when her thoughts were interrupted by the waitress bringing their order: the tea came in a metal pot with a dangling teabag string and the coffee was basic. Having deposited their drinks, the waitress was about to walk away but then paused in some shock, looking down at the jewellery.
‘It’s okay, we’re not thieves,’ smiled Melanie. ‘She just left her husband.’
‘Good for you. All I left with was a black eye.’ The waitress gave them a crooked smile and turned away.
‘So what am I going to do with this? I can’t sell it; he’ll notice it’s missing. I need to copy the documents and put it all back in the safe.’
‘While I keep Jenny busy!’ Mel laughed. ‘You know, you could sell just one or two pieces of this jewellery, just to give you some cash while you sort out the insurance money. It is yours, after all. We’ll put the empty boxes back in the safe and hope it’s a while before he notices.’
Grace nodded slowly. ‘Yes, that could work.’
‘Well, that settles it then,’ Mel said, handing the ruby and diamond earrings to Grace. ‘We’ll get the documents copied this afternoon – and properly witnessed. I know a JP, he can notarise them. Do you know when Lawrence is due back?’ Mel started closing the boxes and putting them, including the now empty earring box, back into the envelope.
Grace said suddenly, ‘Actually, there are a few pieces missing. Were there any other boxes in the safe?’
‘I don’t think so.’ Mel put the envelope back in her bag. ‘I’d say Lawrence is probably selling your stuff for urgent funds. I guess he thought you’d swallow the line that it was all destroyed in the fire.’
‘Well, if that’s the case, the joke’s on him,’ said Grace darkly.
As they prepared to leave, Grace, who was rifling through the remaining papers, gasped.
‘What on earth . . .’ She was looking at the passport she’d taken, which she then thrust at Melanie. ‘It’s one of Lawrence’s old passports. But look inside.’
Mel stared at it. ‘Seems this is an early one. Why would he keep it?’ She looked at Grace. ‘What’s up?’
‘It’s from the UK. Look at the name . . . Mel, it’s him, see the photo . . . but the name?’ said Grace. She stared in shock at Mel. ‘Who the hell is Justin Odford?’
‘What!’ Mel glanced at the passport again then looked at Grace. ‘This is his real name, or it’s a fake passport. Except it’s expired . . .’
‘What on earth is going on? Who did I marry?’ said Grace hoarsely. She dropped her head in her hands.
‘You okay?’ Mel reached over and put a hand reassuringly on Grace’s arm.
Grace looked up. ‘What else don’t I know about this man? It’s scaring me now.’
‘Calm down. He thinks he’s clever and everyone else is stupid. Like I said, we’ll get these documents photocopied and witnessed, and we’ll put everything back in the safe.’ Mel leaned forward. ‘We could start doing searches on this name. But you know what? You don’t care, Grace! You don’t want to know! Just disentangle yourself from this man as soon as you can. You must send copies of all this to your lawyer and keep a set yourself. Say nothing to Lawrence. He’ll figure it out soon enough. Then he can’t bluff you and you’ve got ammunition.’
‘He’ll know I saw it all. Jenny will tell him.’
‘She doesn’t know that you took anything other than the passport, and we’re going to return it all. And right now, who cares? Say nothing. Carry on. We can use this to your advantage, Grace. Drink your coffee; I hope it’s better than my dishwater tea. We have a few errands to run, and a return trip to Jenny. And after that, you’re going to Bali!’
*
The next week or so passed in a frenzy of preparation. Grace sold the earrings for a decent price – not as much as they were worth, but enough to give her some money to tide her over. She could start contributing to her lawyers’ fees – and there was a lot of work for them to do. She gave Mr Jamison the certified copies of the insurance document and the trust deed so he could advise her on what they meant. She also gave him a copy of that creepy old passport, for safekeeping.
The fact that Lawrence seemed to have had a different name, a different past that Grace knew nothing about, coupled with the fact that she’d heard nothing from him about the insurance money, tipped the scales for Grace. She told Mr Judd that she wanted to seek parental orders, and that he should do whatever was required to get mediation rolling. She had to protect her little girl. Then, instead of heeding Mel’s advice, she googled ‘Justin Odford’. So many references came up that she quickly abandoned that approach. She thought for a moment, then logged on to Facebook. She hardly ever used it, and knew that Lawrence didn’t use it at all, so it was unlikely he would have an old profile she could search for. But maybe his sister would be on there. Her name was Beatrice, or so Lawrence said. Hoping that he hadn’t lied about her first name, Grace typed ‘Beatrice Odford’ into the search bar. Of all the entries that came up, there was only a woman in the north of England – Lawrence had always said his family was from Sussex – who looked like she might be around the right age. Grace sent her a brief, polite message, explaining that she was trying to find relatives of Justin Kenneth Odford. She included the date of birth on his passport. That would have to do for now: she turned her mind to the seemingly endless list of things she had to do ahead of her departure.
Next, she had to gather as much information as she could about her Bali living arrangements, to show Lawrence that it was the best thing for Daisy over the next few months. Fortunately, both Johnny and MGI made it easy for her, lining up top-notch accommodation and helping her choose a school.
The Kamasan had organised a villa bungalow close to what would be Daisy’s International School in Canggu. Grace’s accommodation and living expenses were covered by the company, as they were for Steve and his key people: Henry, his tech and drone assistant she’d met in Sydney, and Mateo, the cameraman. Steve had already lined up several whizkids from a local production company to work with him, including negotiating the use of their studio and facilities. He and the crew had opted for a large shared villa in a complex near where Grace would be staying. There was, she was informed, a cook and staff at her villa. And a driver, of course. She, Daisy and Tina would want for nothing.
Once she’d gathered this arsenal of information, she sat down and wrote to Lawrence, copying in both his PA, Jenny, and Mr Judd, trying to keep it as short as possible.
Lawrence
As you have not responded to my messages, I am forwarding this to your assistant, Jenny, as well. If you have engaged a lawyer, please let mine, Mr Judd (copied in) know.
Please respond to my text messages about the insurance money. I understand it has been paid entirely to you. Apart from the fact that half of it belongs to me, it proves that you at least have the funds necessary to support our daughter.
As you have not cooperated in any way to financially support your family since we lost everything in the fire – house, car, belongings, etc. – and as you have control of the finances, I have found it necessary to take what employment has been offered to me, in order to support myself and our daughter.
I have accepted a position that requires me to spend some time in Bali, Indonesia. My mother is caring for our daughter, using her own finances, until I can make arrangements for Daisy to join me in Bali, where I will be working for the next couple of months.
You have no home, no belongings and are travelling overseas. I feel Daisy will have a more stable and secure life with me in Indonesia in a comfortable home and she can attend school in the expatriate community. She is old enough to value the experience and learn from it. I have attached details regarding Daisy’s accommodation and schooling while we are in Bali. My mother will also be with us. I’m sure we can agree that Daisy will be well looked after. I don’t want to prevent Daisy from seeing you – you are her father. If you let me know when you will be back from India, we can work something out, I’m sure.
I want our marital and financial situation settled as soon as practicable. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.
Grace
After carefully re-reading the email, Grace hit ‘send’ and sent up a silent prayer that Lawrence wouldn’t cause problems. She knew she’d done the right thing in informing him. Then she turned her mind to the next important issue: explaining what was happening to Daisy.
She held her daughter on her lap and told her that Mummy had to go away for a little while for work, but that very soon Daisy and Nana would come and join her for a while in a magic place. ‘It’ll be like a special holiday.’
‘But I want to go with you now, Mumma.’
‘I know, sweetheart. But I need to go and get things ready for you and Nana. Then when you get there, you’ll get such a lovely surprise. You know how you have to wait for big surprises . . . like your birthday, holidays, Christmas? Well, it won’t be fun if you come and nothing is ready. It’s going to be so amazing, you won’t believe it.’
Daisy’s lip trembled but her interest was clearly piqued. ‘Like what sort of surprise?’
‘If I tell you it won’t be a surprise.’ Grace tickled Daisy and she squirmed, giggling.
‘Gimme a clue.’
‘Well, this place is like summer all the time. Lovely and warm. There’s sunshine, swimming pools, beaches, funny monkeys, yummy food, special music and dances: you’ll get to wear your sarong and kebaya that I bought you . . . I think you’ll have a lovely time.’
Daisy clapped her hands. ‘Really?’
‘Promise. And because we’re going for a little while, you’ll need to go to school there, too. But guess what, I’ve found you a super-cool school. That way you can keep learning new words and get better and better at reading.’
Daisy grinned. ‘Maybe they’ll have a guinea pig too? Like Charlie?’
‘Maybe they will,’ said Grace with a chuckle.
Daisy’s brow furrowed. ‘But I like my school here. Will we come back here?’
‘Yes, darling. This trip will be for a month or two, but then we’ll be coming home, and you’ll go back to school and see all your friends again.’ Grace hoped that Lawrence wouldn’t stick his oar in on the schooling issue in the meantime.
