Blindside - By Gj Moffat Page 0,4

Rebecca went on into the night. Cahill was glad. It was a good relationship for both of them.

‘What can I say?’ Logan answered. ‘It was fun.’

‘I’ll bet.’

‘I take it this is more than a friendly call, given we’re due to be in the same office in less than two hours.’

‘Yeah, it is. Did I remember right that when you were in private practice you had a couple of cases with the US Government? Or at least some kind of organisation connected to it?’

‘It was at DHS. Homeland Security. I defended them against a couple of claims in the courts over here by Scottish tourists who did not appreciate their very thorough customs examinations.’

‘Criminals, eh?’ Cahill said. ‘Never happy getting arrested.’

‘Something like that,’ Logan said, laughing.

‘Can you make contact?’

‘I don’t know. I can try. Why?’

‘I’ll fill you in later.’

‘Okay. We’ve got to get the kids ready for nursery and school. Can we catch up about it in the office?’

‘Okay. But get there as soon as you can, okay? I get the feeling the longer we wait on this the more likely that the lines of communication will close up.’

‘Sounds mysterious.’

‘You ain’t heard nothing yet.’

4

CNN was showing a helpline number for families to call at the airline in the US if they wanted information about the crash. Cahill thought he’d give it a go while he waited to hear back from Hardy.

It took a while for the call to be connected and a man’s voice came on, sounding harassed.

‘Uh … it’s about the crash.’ Cahill did his best to sound upset and distracted.

‘How can I help, sir?’

‘My brother. He’s—’ Cough.

‘I know this is difficult, sir,’ sounding sympathetic now, ‘but before I can do anything for you I need a name.’

‘Sorry, of course.’ Sniff. ‘His name is Tim,’ Cahill said. ‘Tim Stark. I just know he was on it. He told me he would be.’

‘I’m checking for you now, sir.’

Silence.

Cahill heard fingers tapping on a computer keyboard. Then some more tapping.

The guy started talking to someone beside him, but was covering the mouthpiece of his phone.

The talking stopped.

‘I’m going to put you on hold for a minute, sir,’ the man said. ‘Please stay on the line.’

Cahill held.

Held some more.

Looked at his watch and saw five minutes tick by. No way to treat a grieving brother, he thought.

‘Good evening, sir.’ A different male voice came on the line. ‘You’re asking about your brother. About Tim Stark.’

‘Yes.’

Cahill had given up the pretence of trying to sound upset. This man sounded like he was not in the mood for anyone’s bullshit.

‘What’s your name, sir?’ the man asked.

‘Alexander Cahill.’

Pause.

‘Sir, I don’t understand.’

‘We’re half-brothers.’

The line went dead again – back on hold. Cahill had given his own name because he knew that they would check him out and find out that he had been a serious player, and had a connection with Stark in the Service.

He held again for a while. It was approaching ten minutes this time when the same man came back on to the line.

‘Mr Cahill,’ he said, ‘what’s your interest in this matter?’

‘Are you with the airline?’ Cahill asked.

‘I think you know that I’m no more with the airline than you are Mr Stark’s half-brother.’

‘We’re being honest with each other, are we?’

‘Let’s see how we get on.’

‘Tim and I go back a ways.’

‘We know. We looked into it.’

‘So you know that he’s on our side, right?’

‘I know that he was.’

‘His wife called me today in a state. Tim told her he was going to be on that flight but his name is not on the passenger list. And no one will tell her anything. So I offered to help. I’m good that way. Helpful, I mean. Especially where my friends are concerned.’

‘The information she was given is correct. His name did not appear on the passenger manifest for the flight.’

‘That’s a very carefully worded answer.’

No response.

‘Which agency are you with?’ Cahill asked. ‘FBI?’

‘I’m sorry I can’t be of any more help.’

‘Are you there because you think that plane was brought down deliberately?’

‘This is a very serious incident and a lot of families are suffering tonight. A lot of people lost their lives.’

‘I understand that. All I want to know is whether Tim Stark boarded that plane and if he was still on it when it took off.’

‘You have no official role in this and I am not able to release any further information to you as a result. No matter what your relationship with Mrs Stark.’

Cahill didn’t like the innuendo.

‘That was a cheap shot.