Underground

Chapter 4

At seven o'clock I decided it was time to call my mother. Her answering machine politely told me to leave my name and number, and a short message and she would get back to me. I gave my details and waited for my mother to call.

She finally rang at nine-thirty. She had been at a B-Cup meeting. B-Cup was the nickname of BBRA, Brisbane Businesswomen's Resource Association, of which my mother was an avid member.

"A disagreement started over where funds should go this year. Usually, Janet would calm them down, but she wasn't there tonight, so the rest of us had to deal with them," my mother told me.

"Who is Janet and why wasn't she there?" I asked, not genuinely caring about the answer. There was always drama at B-Cup meetings.

"She started BBRA. Before that, it was just the Queensland branch. Janet thought each area should have their own smaller branches because different areas have different issues. The Sunshine Coast has SCBRA. You should go and check it out." My mother always wanted me to go with her to see what they achieve. I tried to explain to her that I wasn't a businesswoman. She insisted that I was, but my field was real estate investment. "It was a great idea because each area fundraises for themselves and donates a percentage to QBRA. That way the smaller regions aren't having to scrape together the same amount as Brisbane."

"Can anyone go to the QBRA meetings or do you have to be a representative?" I asked, pretending I was interested.

"Anyone can go, but each area has one speaker who brings up their area's issues at the Queensland meeting. Janet was elected as our speaker, but a lot of people want her kicked out. I think she has a lot of helpful business knowledge and to lose that would be a waste."

"Why should she be kicked out?" I asked. "Is she a bitch?"

"No. She's bankrupt. That wasn't her fault." My mother was clearly a little upset with her fellow B-Cuppers. "Now they're trying to drive her away. She still has so much to offer the organisation."

"Maybe Janet feels uncomfortable going there now." I tried to reason with her, but my mother disagreed.

"Rubbish. She's more than welcome there. Not all of us are power-hungry wenches who want to control BBRA." Power-hungry wenches. I had to change the subject. She did it for me. "Your brother said he would call last week and still hasn't."

"You've got a phone," I told her.

"Now he and Lou will be working on the Kaber case instead of their wedding." Damn.

"Who?" I asked, hoping I at least sounded sincere.

"Rebecca Kaber. The woman we met the other day at the café, with the real estate woman." She tsked me. "You need to read the papers. You're locked up in your little house, oblivious to what is going on in your area."

"Alright, alright. I'll watch the news." Either the B-Cup meeting was very volatile, or she had lost a case. My mother was losing the plot. "I'll go to the library and read the last week's papers and if there are twenty questions next phone call I should ace them."

My mother was silent.

"I'll look it up on the Internet. I have to go," I said, rolling my eyes. "I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. Bye." She hung up. I wondered if I was out of the will.

After a long, hot shower I crawled into bed and fell asleep instantly.

I had decided to pay the Forbes a visit. I drove into the service station's parking lot at twelve-thirty. A man in his late fifties was mowing the lawn at the adjacent caravan park. I had seen him here before. I assumed he was Bob Forbes. He had the same tall, stocky build as Grant. I locked the car and walked into the store. A lady, around the same age as the mower man, greeted me with a big smile.