“Everything OK?”
She shook her head, her hand shaking. “Tan’s out there somewhere. We should be careful.”
She was right. He’d been so caught up with his concerns she might be a spy that he’d forgotten the potential danger. “Let’s take the food to go. Head back to the Ridge.”
“OK.”
Ed headed inside and requested the drinks to go. All the way back to the car, Tess scanned the surroundings, her steps fast.
Afraid.
He hated to see it, but it gave him hope she was telling the truth.
“Which way’s the beach?” Tess asked as they drove away from the shopping centre. She hunched down, hiding her face.
“This way.” Ed detoured to the town beach. The turquoise ocean spread out before them, and Tess relaxed as he pulled into the near empty car park. She smiled. “It’s beautiful. I never get to the ocean when I’m in the city.”
“Where were you living?”
“Balga,” she said.
“Well, you can go to the beach as much as you like while you’re here.”
How long would that be? Dot hadn’t updated them at the wedding, so he had no idea how things were progressing. In two weeks he had to be back at work.
“Ed, I don’t know what to do.” The soft admission made him put the car into park and turn to her.
“The police are involved now,” he said. “You’re not in this alone.”
“I’m sure you didn’t realise what a mess you were getting into when you offered me a lift.” Her wry smile warmed his heart.
“I haven’t had much adventure lately.” Work was a daily grind. The only fun he had was playing on the computer or volunteering at the observatory. He was already tired of answering the same questions repeatedly on the help desk. He hated to admit he might have made a mistake with his choice of career. But computers had always been his escape from the Ridge, a way to explore the world.
He’d enjoyed learning to code and creating programs, but finding a job doing what he loved had been difficult.
“I’m sure it was more adventure than you bargained for,” Tess said. “Thank you.”
He shrugged. He wasn’t a hero.
A black car with dark tinted windows pulled in next to them. The kind of car mobsters always drove in movies. Ed’s heart pounded. “Duck.”
Tess gasped and buried her head in her lap as Ed put the car in reverse, and hit the accelerator. As soon as he’d backed out, the car’s doors opened and two young kids leapt out, carrying towels.
False alarm. He exhaled, as the parents got out calling for the kids to wait.
It was definitely time to head back to the Ridge. As he drove out of town, Tess said, “There aren’t many places in Singapore this quiet. I’m so used to people everywhere.”
He wanted to know more about her. “When was the last time you were home?”
“At the beginning of the year.”
“Do you miss your family?”
She shrugged. “We’re not close. I thought studying in Perth would give me a chance to see some of the world and have independence.” She sighed. “But my parents insisted I stay with Tan, and work at his restaurant. I went from my strict family to him.”
He understood her frustration. “When they arrest Tan, I’ll show you around this area.” He pointed to the ranges in the distance. “That’s the Cape Range National Park,” he said. “The view from up there is gorgeous. Then we can go around the point to Ningaloo Reef and go snorkelling.”
“How close to the shore do the whale sharks come?” Tess asked.
