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Chapter Twenty-Nine

K rystal heard her grandmother calling her name and likened the voice to the screeching cockatoos that woke her every morning as they swooped amongst the palm trees outside her window.

She placed her iPod buds in her ears to block out the noise and hoped to be left alone.

She rolled onto her stomach and gazed out the window. Beyond the cascading pool a boat full of tourists cruised along the canal, the sun reflecting off their camera lenses like a Morse Code distress signal. She hated the tourists. They made her feel like a prisoner in her grandmother’s embarrassingly gaudy mansion. To relax by the pool meant keeping an eye on the canal and she hated playing a part in their garish freak show.

“Krystal!” Her grandmother grabbed the iPod wire, snapping the bud from her ear.

“What?” She snatched it back and sat up.

“I’ve been calling you.” Her grandmother’s eyes looked like they were gradually being sucked into her brain and the shadows from her heavy eyebrows didn’t help. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Botoxed skin on her forehead made her look part plastic doll. It was impossible for her to frown and Krystal stifled a laugh every time her grandmother was angry with her, which was often.

“Well, as you can see, I couldn’t hear you. What do you want?”

“Police officers are here to see you.”

“Police? What do they want?”

“They want to talk to you about your dad and mum.” She avoided Krystal’s eyes.

Krystal jumped up. “Have they found Dad?” Without waiting for an answer, she raced down the marble staircase.

The police officer and an obese man in a tattered grey suit were seated in the sunroom. But as soon as she saw them a bad feeling gripped her. Their dire expressions confirmed they were dreading talking to her. The room swayed ever so slightly when the overweight man dabbed sweat from his forehead with a striped handkerchief.

The female officer saw her at the doorway and rose off her chair.

Krystal stared into her eyes and shook her head as the officer walked toward her.

“Hello, Krystal.”

“I don’t want to hear it. I won’t.” She cupped her ears.

“Please, Krystal. Take a seat.”

Krystal’s feet were nailed to the floor. “Is he dead?”

“Krystal, please come and sit down. We’ll tell you everything.”

She clenched her teeth until her jaw hurt. She wouldn’t believe it, couldn’t. Not until she saw his body.

“We don’t know if they’re dead.”

She refocused. “What? What do you mean?”

“Come take a seat.”

Her feet released their grip on the plush carpet, and she shuffled to the lounge. The leather squeaked as she sat in the corner, her knees pressed tightly together. She was determined not to cry.

“Krystal,” the female officer began. “My name’s Detective Sergeant Powder and this is Mr. Hollingsworth. As you know, your parents’ plane disappeared somewhere on route to Kakadu ten days ago.”

Krystal sat frozen, waiting for her to get to the point. Out the corner of her eye, the overweight man’s knee was shaking. She tried to ignore it.

The police officer continued. “There’ve been no sightings of the plane, or any wreckage and the area where it went missing is thousands of acres of dense jungle. The likelihood of finding a small plane like theirs is minimal.”

Detective Powder cleared her throat. “Krystal, what I’m saying is they’ve called off the search. Your parents are now officially listed as missing and presumed dead.”

The words were a slap to the face. “How can you stop searching? They’re still alive. I know it.”

“Unfortunately, we’ve exhausted all areas of search along the flight plan.”

“What about tracking devices? Don’t you have those?”

Powder cleared her throat before she continued. “We haven’t located a signal from any tracking device either.”

“So, you’re just giving up? They’re still out there. Starving!”

The police woman sat forward; her hands clasped together. “Without a tracking signal it’s impossible to pinpoint where to look.”

Krystal’s grandmother appeared in the doorway and Krystal couldn’t decide if her expressionless face was the result of Botox, or simply lack of emotion. “Tell them to keep looking!”

“They can’t, Krystal. They don’t know where to look.”