Kookaburra Gambit

I said, 'Then I'll say to you, 'Are you playing hard to get?' and you'll say to me…' I gestured for her to fill in the words.

'I'm impossible to get.'

'Excellent,' I said. 'You understand the cliche game very well.'

I took a sour pleasure in the fact I'd disconcerted her. A feather of anger brushed me. Was Ariana expecting I'd behave like some young teenager caught up in the exciting rush of a first sexual infatuation? But then I realized I wasn't being fair. I'd asked myself in, and she'd accepted. There'd been no stipulation that she fall in love.

I looked up to find her watching me. 'What are you thinking?' she asked.

Sliding out of the booth, I said, 'I'm thinking I must be going. I've got a busy day ahead.'

Ariana followed me to the door, a slight, puzzled frown on her face. 'It was a lovely night, thank you,' I said. 'See you tomorrow.'

She stood at the door and watched me drive away. As soon as I found a safe spot I pulled over to find a handkerchief to mop my eyes and blow my nose. My eyes kept filling with tears all the way home.

Once there, I hugged Julia Roberts, dashed cold water in my face, and called my aunt. 'Aunt Millie, we're going for a drive to Santa Barbara. I'll pick you up in half an hour. And if you're not too sick of shopping, we can stop at the outlet stores.'

'You're on!' said my aunt.

I didn't want to be first into Ariana's office for the scheduled Monday morning meeting. I couldn't think it would be anything but awkward for us to face each other without the buffer of other people being present.

When I finally went in, everyone but Ariana was chomping on doughnuts. 'There's a chocolate one left, your favorite,' Lonnie said to me. 'Grab it fast before anyone else gets it.'

It was totally ridiculous that his consideration over a stupid doughnut had tightened my throat. I snarled silently at myself, Get a grip, Kylie.

Sitting down next to Bob, I said brightly to him, 'How's it going?'

He gave me an odd look. 'OK, I suppose.'

'If we can start,' said Ariana, 'I had a very interesting call early this morning from an investigative reporter at the L.A. Times. It seems the newspaper has kept under wraps the fact they're investigating the Church of Possibilities and, more specifically, Brother Owen. A series exposing the church is scheduled to run next month.'

'How did he get to you?' Bob asked.

'When the reporter realized we were out there asking questions too, he wanted to know what we'd discovered. I said it was a Kendall & Creeling client involved and therefore confidential. I'll contact Nanette Poynter later to see if she's willing to cooperate with the Times. It's likely she will.'

We discussed the impact this would have on my case. I didn't say much, just listened. Harriet had harsh words about the contract Alf and Chicka had signed with Lamb White.

'To sum up,' Harriet said, 'the terms of the contract are unconscionable. The morals clause will be triggered by anything Lamb White finds felonious or immoral. That covers a lot of ground. And perhaps even worse, as you suspected, Kylie, the Hartnidge brothers have inadvertently licensed Lamb White to hold the rights to all Oz Mob characters. That means, even if the Hartnidges aren't involved, the characters they've created can be used in any Lamb White movie or television production.'

'So what would happen to the present Oz Mob movie,' I asked, 'if Alf and Chicka were arrested for opal smuggling?'

'All the rights would stay with Lamb White. They'd take over the project and freeze the brothers out.'

'Crikey,' I said, 'can they really do that?'

'I imagine the Hartnidges can challenge this original contract on the grounds that it is unconscionable and unreasonable,' Ariana said.

'If they don't pull off this movie, Alf and Chicka are close to broke,' said Lonnie. He shook his head. 'You've never seen such a financial mess. There's no way they'd be able to field a pack of top-flight lawyers, and that's what you'd need to take on Lamb White and the church.'

'What about playing a waiting game?' said Bob. 'We can hope the L.A. Times expose will bring down the whole Church of Possibilities organization. Lamb White would fall too.'

Harriet didn't agree with waiting. 'It could be years. Brother Owen will fight with every resource he's got. In the meantime, the Hartnidge twins lose everything.'

'A sting,' I said. Everyone looked at me. 'Let's set Lamb White up. Let them be caught with the opals and charged with smuggling. Alf and Chicka claim to know nothing about it, playing naive little Aussies who are victims of big business.'

'Not a bad idea in theory,' said Bob, 'but how the hell do we pull it off?'

'Tami Eckholdt,' I said. 'She's the key.'

Twenty-Two

'Tami?' I said into the receiver. 'It's Kylie. You said to call.'

'I did!' Her enthusiasm was disturbing.

'Tami, can we get together for a chat? I have this problem.'

'I'd love that!'

It was two days after the Monday morning meeting. The paralyzing haze of unhappiness that had surrounded me had lifted as I plunged into the details of planning the sting.

I'd insisted we name our maneuver the Kookaburra Gambit. After all, COP's Lamb White had set the gambit up in the first place by filling Kelvin Kookaburras with stolen opals. What we would do now, if it all worked out, was boomerang the scheme right back to them.

I arranged to meet with Tami Eckholdt in a coffee shop. I was wired for sound, so Lonnie told me to pick a corner not too noisy and definitely not near the coffee machine.

I was there early to scope the place out. Tami arrived shortly afterward. Today she wore a very short, bilious green skirt and a tight yellow top. For myself, I'd ratcheted down the alluring factor with old baggy jeans and an overlarge denim shirt. I had a rather shabby canvas book bag sitting on the floor between my feet.

Even dressed like that, apparently I was Tami's cup of tea.

'You look wonderful,' she breathed, sitting at the little table I'd snaffled in a private corner. She put her hand on my knee.

'Thank you. You look wonderful too.'

She leapt up, startling me. 'I'll get the coffee. You stay here.' She didn't ask how I liked my coffee.

Tami strode across the shop, bounced in place while waiting for her order, collected the overpriced cartons, then marched back to our table. That amount of energy was alarming, especially when she so obviously intended to expend some of it on me, if she got the chance.

'You said you had a problem, Kylie? I'd love to help, if I could.'

'It's like this, Tami,' I said, sounding deeply troubled, 'Alf's given me these opals.'

'Typical male.' Her mouth twisted in disdain. 'Men are always doing that, trying to buy sex with gifts. It's disgusting.'

'The opals weren't a gift. There's lots of them, all loose stones. Not made up as jewelry. Alf asked me to keep them safe for him.'

This was clearly an unwelcome shock for Tami. 'Really?' she said. 'Loose opals, you say?'

'Lots of them.'

Tami chewed her lip. Her feet did a little dance under the table. She could have done with a glance at The Complete Handbook's advice on revealing body language.

'Where did they come from?' she said at last.

I did the looking-over-the-shoulder bit. 'It's confidential, Tami. I don't know if I can tell even you…'

'Oh, you can tell me, Kylie. Trust me, you can.'

'I don't know…' I looked pensive.