‘Found what you were looking for, love?’
Nat continued to scan the messages, just grunting a yes to Phyllie’s question.
She got down to the bottom and saw a brief exchange between Eliza and Suze that made her draw breath.
BrownDog40
Spoke to Jacob and excited about investing. We’re meeting tomorrow morning at a cafe near where I work. Wondered if you were free to join us? I would love to meet you.
LizaE
I’m free! Send me the details, and I’ll meet you and Jacob. Should we see if Lia’s free too?
BrownDog40
Let’s keep this between us this time (sorry Lia if you are reading this!). I don’t want to share too much about the details of my investment. I imagine she’ll be working anyway.
LizaE
No worries. Sure, she’ll understand. Great to hear you are planning to invest. Perhaps we’ll organise a celebration on the weekend once your investment is returned. Would be great for all three of us to meet.
BrownDog40
Sounds perfect! I’ll look forward to that. Champagne all round.
LizaE
The real stuff too, not just sparkling wine. I’ve always wanted to try Cristal but could never justify it before.
Nat watched as their conversation petered out and they said their goodbyes and how much they looked forward to meeting the next morning. Suze had sent through the details of the cafe they were meeting at. The address was very close to Hannah’s office. She’d never had a reason to visit Hannah at work but did know she was based somewhere around 300 St Kilda Road, which was where the cafe was. She wondered what she should do. It appeared Suze was genuine and knew nothing about the set-up. It also seemed she was about to hand over an amount of money for investment.
‘You okay, love?’ Phyllie broke into her thoughts. ‘The frown on your face is likely to stay there permanently, looking at how deep those lines are etched.’
Nat relaxed her face, realising just how tight her entire body was. She was wound up with fury and concern.
‘You chatting with those poker girls again?’
Nat shook her head. ‘No, just reading their conversation. The whole investment thing went a bit pear-shaped.’
‘Oh no, you didn’t lose any money, did you?’
‘No, I never put any of my own money into it. Others have though, and they stand to lose a lot.’
‘There are never any shortcuts to making money,’ Phyllie said. ‘It comes down to hard work and being smart. Sure, you can invest and increase your nest egg, but it doesn’t happen overnight. You ride the highs and lows of the market like anyone else.’
‘Some people make a lot of money.’
‘And they lose a lot too. If it was easy to make millions overnight everyone would be doing it. You keep that in mind, won’t you?’
Nat nodded. Phyllie was right. She should have woken up earlier to how unrealistic the entire idea was. She guessed she wanted to believe badly enough that there were kind people out there, like Eliza and Jacob had presented themselves to be, and that it was possible to turn her finances around.
‘I know you said you’d had dinner, but I’m going to make myself something. Did you have enough earlier, or would you like a little snack?’
‘Funnily enough, I am hungry. Ridiculous considering I ate the shepherd’s pie.’
Not ridiculous at all considering you ate the pie over twenty-four hours ago. Nat hoped that the doctor wasn’t going to find anything too wrong with Phyllie, but she was concerned that he might. The mix-ups and forgetfulness seemed to be happening more frequently. Was it happening before but none of them were aware because they weren’t with her full-time? ‘I’ll put some cheese and crackers together with some fruit and nuts.’
Phyllie held up her empty tumbler. ‘Add a top-up of whisky and it sounds divine.’
Nat called in sick at work, and arrived at nine thirty the next morning at the address Suze had given Eliza. She’d left Phyllie nursing a headache, which was not surprising after drinking whisky on an empty stomach. She’d made Phyllie laugh when she’d handed her a strong cup of coffee and declared a hangover at eighty-nine to be something to strive for. Now she wasn’t smiling, instead she was a bundle of nerves. She hoped Suze would be early and she’d be able to talk to her first. The problem was she had no idea what Suze looked like. At this point, however, she was happy to approach any woman on her own and ask her. It was too important not to. She’d know who she was the minute Eliza and Jacob turned up to meet with her, but that wouldn’t be the right time for the conversation.
She swung open the door of Cafe Reiki and stepped inside. The smell of ground coffee beans instantly made her mouth water. A coffee would go down nicely right now. Two women were sitting together at a table and a couple of solitary men at others, but that was all. She walked over to the women, on the off-chance Suze had come with a friend.
‘Excuse me, would either of you be Suze?’
They shook their heads, looking at her strangely. She retreated to the counter and ordered a long black. She’d get that and then wait outside out of sight in case Eliza or Jacob turned up early. The coffee took a few minutes, and only one other man entered the cafe in that time. She’d tried to contact Suze first thing that morning with a private message providing her phone number and asking her to ring her urgently. She hadn’t heard back. Logging in to the chat room, she saw Suze was still offline and there was no guarantee she would read the message from Nat before she had her meeting.
She thanked the barista and paid for her coffee before taking it out to the street. The traffic was heavy, and the dinging of trams as they zoomed along the median strip made Nat realise that Suze, Jacob and Eliza could appear from any direction, using a range of transport modes.
‘Lia!’
Nat froze. Jacob’s deep, rich voice was unmistakable. How was she going to explain what she was doing here? She turned, and he enveloped her in a bear hug.
‘It’s so great to see you again.’
Nat nodded, forcing a smile to her lips. She was staring at the bastard who’d robbed her father. ‘You too.’
‘Eliza didn’t mention you were joining us.’
‘She doesn’t know. I noticed her message with Suze about meeting up and thought I’d at least stop and say hi. My sister works nearby, and I had to drop something off to her. I don’t think Suze wants me hearing the details of her investment, so I’ll say hello and be on my way.’
‘Don’t be silly. Suze can write the figure down if she wants to keep it private. Eliza was talking about celebrating on the weekend with all of us, so this can be the preliminary one.’ He rubbed his hands together. ‘Let’s grab a table inside, shall we. It’s chilly this morning.’
Nat followed Jacob into the cafe and sat opposite him, her back to the door.
‘Your funds should clear tonight.’ He grinned. ‘I hope it’s helped you out. And I’ll have the return information for your dad later this afternoon. It’s looking good at this stage.’
God, how she’d love to pick up the napkin dispenser and smash it into his face. But she couldn’t. Instead, she tried to look as excited and grateful as possible. As Hannah had said, she couldn’t let on that she knew anything. Not if it had the potential to affect the investigation. ‘The money would make a huge difference to my life.’