It was just past ten o’clock. Steve glanced at his gold watch as he trotted up the stairs to his office, wondering how Ally had managed to talk him into staying in bed an hour later than they normally did. Then again, his wife could be extremely persuasive when she wanted to be. He frowned thoughtfully as he opened the door to his office. What did the Federal Police want with his wife? He knew that her methods were highly unorthodox but he didn’t think she would’ve have done anything that was illegal enough to attract the attention of the Federal Police. He sat down at his desk and stared at the folder in front of him. For some reason, he couldn’t concentrate on the case he was working on. His mind wandered off, reflecting on whether or not Ally would inform him if she ever did get arrested by the Feds.

‘Steve ...’ a voice echoed in the background. ‘Steve? Oi! Steven Winsdor!’

Steve blinked and came back to reality. Kathryn McLaren stood in front of his deck, smiling in amusement. The young law graduate had been working under him for nearly a month and had heard rumours about his unconventional wife. When Steve stared out into space, he was usually worrying about Ally.

‘Was there something you wanted?’ Steve asked, regaining his composure once more.

Kathryn placed a closed manila folder on the immaculate desk in front of him.

‘The information you requested from the archives,’ she answered before pausing slightly. ‘Your wife making your head spin?’

Steve looked straight into the graduate’s green eyes.

‘Was it that obvious?’ he queried, although he already knew the answer to that question.

‘Lets just say that if you were caught with that expression in the courtroom, I doubt the magistrate would take too kindly to it,’ Kathryn grinned. ‘Would I be too intrusive by asking what she’s done to zoom you out of your mental focus?’

Steve debated whether discussing his marital affairs with the younger associate was a wise move. However, on reflection, it wasn’t really a martial problem. So far, neither couple had argued with the other nor had they shunned the other from personal issues. Mind you, Ally had a strong tendency to do that although she always seemed to reason that it was purely to save them from a marriage breakdown. At times, Steve wondered just what he saw in her. She was rebellious, Risk-taking and highly unpredictable. Something that, as a child, he certainly didn’t expect as being part of a traditional marriage. He soon realised that her strawberry-blonde hair and twinkling blue eyes had hypnotically drawn him into her arms.

Admittedly, their initial meeting hadn’t exactly been love at first sight. In fact, their very first meeting had been in a courtroom more than five years ago where Steve had defended a well-known criminal that Ally had been prosecuting and he had won the case against his client. He remembered Ally avoiding him for weeks after that until they met once again, by chance, in a cafe on King William Street. Ally hadn’t been too welcoming towards his presence and their interaction had been awkward to say the least. She had apparently been rather determined to convict his client in the courtroom showdown and was still effected by her failure to do just that. Steve knew that, like himself, Ally hated loosing. The cafe had been rather busy with lunchtime customers and Ally had - quite reluctantly - invited him to share a table with her. The next half an hour had proceeded with apologies on both sides and a truce had unexpectedly been created.

In the next few weeks that had followed, they saw more and more of each other and it wasn’t just in courtrooms either. Ally had apparently taken a shine to the raising young lawyer as he her and they eventually cemented their relationship towards each other on Valentine’s Day. Steve clearly remembered calling her on her mobile and asking her out to dinner for the first time since they had met. He recalled being half afraid that she might reject his offer but the unpredictable detective had done something anyone would have done in her shoes - she accepted. One thing led to another and the rest was now history.

He looked up at Kathryn and sighed. No, he couldn’t confide in his younger associate. Firstly, he didn’t know if there was anything to worry about. For all he knew, Ally could just be doing business with them. Given that she had taken up the occupation of private investigator, that was a very high possibility. Secondly, he didn’t think it was any of Kathryn’s business to know the details of Ally’s case. It would be a breach of confidentially. If Ally was working for the Feds, then the information she would be asked to keep would most likely be extremely sensitive. The last thing he wanted was to place his wife’s life in jeopardy because he discussed the situation with his law associate. He gave a thin smile.

‘I’d rather not mention it,’ he replied, looking straight into her eyes to cement the reply.

Kathryn returned the gaze and nodded.

‘Just curious,’ she shrugged.

 

I alighted from the bus on Acton Street in the city. It was quarter to twelve and the lunch-time traffic was disgraceful and extreme care had to be taken when crossing the wide busy road. I looked around and witnessed several people jay-walking towards the Academy cinema despite the fact that the traffic lights were less than ten metres away. It seemed to be a common practice these days, even though the Federal Government had introduced new nationwide roads rules two decades previously condoning it. Considering the police station was just up the road, I was surprised not more people were caught breaking the law. Somehow, I didn’t think many people actually realised where the Headquarters was. I had done so many times in the past myself but, since I was going to be working with the Feds for the next couple of days, I figured I probably should do the right thing and cross the road at the traffic lights.

Once I reached the front of cinema, it was another five minute stake to the federal building. The automatic front doors gracefully slid open as I approached it and I headed straight for the reception area. A young senior constable sat at the front desk with a communicator headset glued to his ear. The front foyer was fairly quiet as several well-dressed agents walked past me and stopped by the elevator door. The senior constable finally got off the communicator and looked up at me.

‘I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Ma’am,’ he apologised politely. ‘How can I help you?’

‘My name is Alison Windsor,’ I introduced as I produced my private investigator’s licence for his inspection. ‘I’m here to see Commander Bentley. I have an appointment with him at noon.’

He examined my licence then returned it to me before holding up a finger. He then recited what appeared to be an internal number to the headset. He waited for some seconds before speaking into the mouth piece.

‘Commander, I have an Alison Windsor here to see you. She claims to be a private investigator who has an appointment with you. Her ID checks out.’ There was a pause. ‘Yes, Sir.Straight away.’

With that, he hung up. He then turned around to an office at the back and called out to someone.

‘Tracy!’ A curious young constable soon emerged from a doorway which seemed to lead to a back office. ‘Tracy, this is Mrs Alison Windsor. She has an appointment to see Commander Bentley. Could you direct her to his office please?’

‘Sure,’ Tracy agreed cheerfully and opened an authorised door into the building to let me in.

‘Thank you very much, Senior,’ I replied to the other officer and followed the young constable.

Detective Commander Caleb Bentley was sitting behind his desk when Tracy knocked on his office door and announced my arrival. The office was well-furnished which included a nice big desk complete with the latest computer technology. To the left was a stylish mock leather sofa which seductively enticed visitors to rest their tired legs. The commander stood up and held out his hand, warmly.

‘Mrs Windsor!’ he greeted as if we were long-time acquaintances. ‘It’s a great pleasure to meet you.’

‘Likewise,’ I returned shaking his hand. ‘But please, call me Ally. Mrs Windsor makes me sound like an old hag. I haven’t even turned 30 yet.’

The commander laughed and nodded in agreement. He directed me to a leather chair opposite his desk before sitting back down again. The chair didn’t look quite as alluring as the couch did but I surmised that it would probably be sufficient for now.

‘Very well,’ he smiled. ‘Perhaps we can stay informal. Ease the tension a bit. You can call me Caleb.’

I just smiled and accepted his invitation to sit but refused to comment.

‘I’ve heard a lot about you,’ Caleb replied, leaning back in his leather chair. ‘Very ... unexpected. Like a scorpion, you could say.’

‘A scorpion?’ I repeated.

‘Please don’t take offence,’ he apologised. ‘I meant it as a compliment. A scorpion traps its victim with its claws before disabling it with a final sting. I believe that’s very much the way you work. Am I correct?’

‘Well, I ...’ I began, suddenly caught off-guard. ‘I suppose so. I never really compared myself to an arachnid before.’

I could feel my face burning up in slight embarrassment. What exactly had Helen told him about me? Caleb chuckled.

‘Helen also tells me you’re a Army Reserve Military Police Officer and that you used to be in the police force. Reached the rank of Sergeant.’

‘Yes, I’m a Captain with the Army Reserve and I did use to work for the state police. I left about three months ago.’

‘Then you’d know the rules of the game,’ he nodded, before looking at me carefully and touching his fingertips together. ‘We have a rather delicate matter on our hands and I believe you would be an asset to the operation.’

‘Whoa! Time out for a second!’ I suddenly replied forming a T shape with my hands. ‘Before I agree to anything, I’d like to know how I will be rewarded when this is all finished.’

‘I’m assuming you’re talking about financial benefits?’ he smiled. ‘Don’t worry, Helen warned me about your methods. I’ve agreed to pay for your expenses in full.’

I relaxed. That was one thing sorted out.

‘Okay, so what’s the problem? Helen said it had something to do with catching the baron off-guard.’

‘Yes, there’s been a slight problem on our side of things. He seems to know exactly when we’ll strike. The problem is we can’t do anything to him without him putting in a complaint of police harassment.’

‘Yeah, police harassment,’ I repeated thoughtfully. ‘He’ll get up-tight if he knows you guys are going to be watching his very move. How complicated is your surveillance operation on her at the moment?’

‘We have two teams on the outlook for her every shift. Three rotations every day.’

‘Well, if you gave me photos of him, I’ll take it from there. Oh, and it may help to take the team off him. It may be why he’s acting so guarded. I’ll take care of that.’

‘I hope you’re not expecting to take over the operation.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of it,’ I smiled.