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“What do you get out of it?” I ask, annoyance clawing at my throat.
“The knowledge that she’s ok and she’s safe.”
“That’s my job,” I say, sternly. “Sheissafe. Why do you need to know who she’s friends with and how she’s behaving?”
He straightens and his frustration becomes evident in his features. “She is the face of a billion dollar empire, Isaac, which I have to manage. We have sponsorship agreements, investments, a sales plan, record company commitments. If her behavior goes off course just once, we could lose all that. She put me in charge of her assets. I am simply protecting them.”
“Don’t you trust your own daughter?” I fire at him.
“Of course I do,” he snaps. “But she’s a teenager for God’s sake. Don’t you remember what you were like as a teenager, Isaac?”
“I do actually. I was holding down a respectable job with a local bank before I was accepted into the CIA.”
“But you weren’t rolling around in mountains of money, were you? You don’t know what money can do to people.”
“Oh, I have a pretty good idea,” I say, looking him up and down, but the irony is lost on him.
“Look, I do trust my daughter; I just don’t trust the people around her,” he appeals.
“There is no one around her,” I frown. “Only her team. I don’t even see her mother here. She misses her sisters, you know.”
“Are you criticizing my family?” He seems to have cottoned on to the fact I’m reluctant to do his dirty work.
“No. I’m simply saying that, as her father, perhaps you should be focusing on ensuring she has stronger support from her family, instead of paying people to spy on her.”
“I’mnother father,” he hisses. “Her father left before she was even born. He was a damn low-life who couldn’t face up to his responsibilities. He left Aurelia and her mother with nothing. And they continued to have nothing until I came along.”
I rub my chin and cock my head. “Hadn’t she already scored a number one hit before you met her mother?”
“One number one record doesn’t give you riches, or security,” he sneers. “Aurelia is lucky to have me.”
I beg to differ but I don’t say anything. Despite what I’d told Aurelia, I did go through those bank statements and there’s a lot in them that seems untoward, that warrants explanation. But I’m not the one to demand that. Aurelia is.
“If that’s true, you would trust her. Aurelia is a grown woman and she can look after herself. I suggest you allow her to do just that.” I stand, my narrowed eyes instructing him to do the same. I don’t want this snake in my office a minute longer. He scowls at me as he rises to his feet, various chains around his neck glinting in the sunlight coming through the window.
“Just to warn you, I’m cutting her allowance. She won’t be able to afford you for much longer,” he threatens.
“I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out.” I have no idea how I’d manage to work for Aurelia for free but showing doubt now would be showing weakness, and I am definitely the stronger one here. “It was good to see you, Mr. Bird. Will we be seeing you at tonight’s show?” I know that previous to this meeting, his answer would have been no, but now he has a point to prove.
“Yes. You will.”
“Excellent. And when can I tell Aurelia her mother will be bringing her sisters to visit?”
His teeth grind again. “Tuesday. She’ll bring them Tuesday.”
“That’s great,” I say, giving him a genuine smile. “I’m so pleased we could talk.”
I walk him out of my office and watch as he stomps away, finally unclenching my fists. My eyes follow him as he walks in the direction of the café.
It’s then that I see her.
A woman with ice blonde hair to her waist wearing grey linen trousers and a white tank, is hovering by the golf buggies in the parking lot. She’s partly concealed by palms and foliage and her jerky movements tell me she’s attempting to remain hidden. Her eyes follow Chuck then scan the area until they land on me. I pretend not to notice when she moves shiftily towards a brown Toyota and climbs inside. But I turn to watch as she reverses out of the lot and back along the main drive. My thoughts process her quickly. She isn’t a guest and she sure isn’t a member of staff. She seems to know who Chuck is. She’s something to do with Aurelia. I retreat and close the door, then head straight for the CCTV suite.
* * *
I waitoutside Aurelia’s dressing room. It’s a Sunday night so there are no post-show meet and greets this evening. She changes in double quick time and bursts onto the corridor with a wide smile. “I’m ready!”
“You’re way too excited about this,” I laugh, shaking my head. “Don’t get your hopes up, ok? It’s a just a staff bar.”
