But he’s exceptional at what he does. He fights for those who really need to be fought for.”
“Was he already a lawyer when I met him?”
“No, ma’am, he was still studying at the university in Brisbane. I guess his career was made easier for him. His father was a partner in the law firm, so he got plenty of hands-on experience. Marcus was born to do this. His father and his grandfather were both lawyers. It’s in his blood.”
A sudden hush falls in the car as we pull down a small dirt road that leads past a tall concrete building. Four large spotlights come off the building, supplying light into the distance. Spying a single plane on a long stretch of bitumen makes my heart heavy. Why must it be this way?
“We’re here,” Grady says as the rain increases its force against the car. “They won’t have arrived yet, but they will soon. We’ve got clearance to fly, so it shouldn’t be much longer now.”
“The pilot?” I ask quietly.
“Yes. The pilot and air controller. The pilot’s a good friend of Marcus’s, and very experienced. Thirty years under his belt. You’re in safe hands.”
“Safe hands,” I repeat mechanically. “Can you tell me more about Marcus and the lock-up while we wait?”
“Sure. What do you want to know?” Grady removes his hands from the steering wheel and lays them on his lap.
“You said he was there because of me.”
“He was.” Grady shifts his body and faces me. His posture tells me he’s incredibly tired, as do his droopy eyes. “The night he said goodbye to you at the hospital after your fall, was the night he wrote himself off. And by write himself off, I mean drank himself into oblivion. Marcus was found trying to fight a man three times his size. He was fearless with all the drink under his belt, and still is, if he ever hits the bottle.” He gives a small shake of his head. “The police apprehended him, and he co-operated. Honestly, he was too drunk to resist. They never put him in cuffs. They just wanted to give him somewhere to sleep it off. Long story short, Marcus got in that fight and then urinated on the patrol car tyre, they weren’t overly happy, as you can imagine. He spent his night in the watch house and was released the next morning. They didn’t even end up charging him. That’s when we met. They called him a cab, and I was the driver.”
“Marcus told me some of this story when I met him on the coast, minus said tyre incident and the extent of his intoxication. He told me the love of his life forgot him, and he’d be surprised if she ever remembered. The love of his life was me.”
Grady nods before sighing. “He loved you, Abigail. Really loved you.”
“So it seems.” I find myself biting my thumbnail. “Where did he go after this happened? Sammy, my friend, said he was supposed to stay invisible.”
“Well, he has bounced around a bit. He was working as an undergraduate at Sims, General, and Klein on the Coast with his dad, Peter, when you had your fall. I did a lot of driving for Marcus after the day I picked him up, so he got me a job working for the company.”
“How old are you, seriously?” I blurt out, as he looks too youthful to even have had a licence back when Marcus got out of jail.
“Thirty-five.” Grady’s brows draw together as if he’s confused.
“What is your secret? You look twelve.”
“Twelve.” He chuckles. “I don’t know whether that’s a compliment or … I’m actually not sure how to take that.”
I giggle at his response and his now flushed cheeks.
“Can I continue?”
“Please do.” I wink.
Grady shakes his head. “When Marcus first moved to Melbourne, I went with him. He worked at the office there for a while. Then he came back to the Sunshine Coast for a few months. It was too hard for him to stay away from you like he had promised, so he moved to Sydney and tried to settle down. I moved with him. His father had retired not long before, and Marcus was offered his share of the partnership. That’s what brought him back to the coast. I stayed behind here with my new wife.”
“Congratulations on the nuptials.”
“Thank you.”
“Why are you staying in the house in Sydney if you’re married and live here?”
“I always do when Marcus is in town. It can be a