I put my voice recorder down on the bedside table and leant forward. ‘Why didn’t you go to the police? Running didn’t look good, but there was no body and no evidence that you’d done anything wrong. It would’ve been your word against a former criminal’s.’
He grimaced. ‘Grady told me to go to Paris or he’d turn me in. I didn’t think I had a choice, so I did what he told me.’
‘At least you would’ve been safe in jail.’
‘Safe?’ He gave a rough laugh. ‘When Grady showed up in Paris, he told me he’s got men on the inside. If I talked, he said he’d go to the police and tell them I’d done it, and once I was in jail his guys would kill me. But if I got involved in the business, he’d protect me indefinitely. I’d have a place to hide out until this whole thing blew over and everyone forgot about me.’
‘So you figured you’d be safer joining the business?’
‘Exactly. After his threats, I started to think that he’d killed Angus.’
‘So did I, when I heard that phone message,’ I said.
‘I was on my way to look for evidence when I first saw you in Grady’s office,’ he said. ‘You were all I had by that stage. I was screwed. That’s why I agreed to meet you. But when you didn’t show up, I had to come up with a new plan. I’ve been staying on the couch in that room we were in before. I must’ve been in there when you arrived. When you didn’t turn up at Le Tigre de Papier I figured you’d chickened out, and I was disappointed. You seemed like you actually wanted to help me, not just get a headline.’
I avoided his eyes. Good thing he didn’t know I’d considered betraying him only a few minutes ago. ‘So, you’re leaving Paris tomorrow?’
‘A couple of us are driving to Amsterdam. The cartel has a warehouse where the drugs are stored when they come into Europe.’
‘Because the spirit of the band is in a warehouse in Amsterdam,’ I murmured.
He started. ‘Where did you get that from?’
I pulled his notebook from my bag and handed it to him. ‘You left it in your mate Jack’s apartment. Of course, he didn’t exactly give it to me.’
He chuckled as he flicked through it. ‘You certainly know how to get what you want, don’t you?’
Now he’d told me everything, he seemed a lot more relaxed, but I felt the opposite. This was only the beginning—we still needed the evidence to keep Ford alive and out of jail. ‘What happens in Amsterdam?’
‘Angus told me ages ago that was where the real work happened. That was the part he wanted to be involved in. Now he’s gone, Grady wants me to learn the way it works.’
‘Except Angus isn’t gone,’ I reminded him. ‘What if they’re ambushing you? What if Angus is there waiting for you?’
Ford was silent for a moment. ‘I don’t have a choice. If I don’t go, Grady will tell the police where I am and his thugs will kill me.’
‘Do you have the address of the warehouse?’
‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘The guy you saw me speaking to is driving me most of the way there. They’re dropping me just outside Amsterdam and then they’ll drive back while I go on to the warehouse.’
‘Give me the address and I’ll meet you there tomorrow,’ I said. ‘This is our chance to get the evidence you need.’
‘But how? I can’t just introduce you to him. He’s not going to talk to you.’
‘We’ll have to find a way to set it up so I can record what he says and my photographer can get some photos. It’ll be tricky, since he knows what we look like, but at least he doesn’t know I’m a journo. Thanks for covering for me, by the way.’
‘If I’d told him I was being chased by a journalist, he would’ve killed you already.’ He looked hesitant. ‘This is going to be dangerous, Sarah. If he catches you, I don’t know what he’ll do. Are you sure you want to do this?’
Was he kidding? I could die chasing this story. Of course I wasn’t sure.
‘Of course I’m sure.’
I handed him a piece of paper and a pen and he scrawled down an address and a phone number.
‘I’d better go.’ He stood up. ‘I’ve been gone for too long already. My number’s there, so call me if there are any issues. I won’t be able to answer, so leave a message on my voicemail.’
‘No problem,’ I said. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
He stepped closer to me and put his hand on my shoulder. ‘I look forward to it.’
I flashed him a nervous smile. The brief attraction I’d had to him in Melbourne had fizzled out, and while I could see myself hooking up with him under different circumstances, I had no desire for any romantic involvement now. For a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me, and then a loud banging on the door crashed into the awkward silence. We both jumped. Fear sliced through me.
‘Don’t move,’ I whispered.
The knocking stopped for a second, then started up again.
‘Who is it?’ I tried to stop my voice from wavering.
‘It’s Nick,’ came the answer from the other side.
I let out my breath in a rush of relief as I opened the door. The swelling on his face had gone down quite a bit, but his bruises had already turned a lurid shade of purple. The effect was startling under the fluorescent light in the hallway.
‘Hi,’ I said with an involuntary smile.
He gave me an equally idiotic grin in return as he stepped into the room. ‘I hadn’t heard from you about tomorrow, so—’ He stopped abruptly as he saw Ford. ‘Right. Sorry to interrupt.’
He turned around to walk out. I grabbed his arm.
‘Nick, wait. This is Chris. We were just—’
‘I know who he is.’
‘I should go,’ Ford
