Dan looked around and decided if he was merely attending as a casual observer, he may as well sit in the back row. He sat down, smiled briefly at the couple next to him and let his eyes wander round the room.
A hush fell over the crowd as a tall, thin man in a suit approached the lectern. Dan watched as the man fussed over some wires on the floor, then adjusted the height of the main microphone. Finally, once happy with the arrangements, he gave the audience his full attention and held up his hands for silence.
‘Please, ladies and gentlemen, please.’ He turned to the press, the murmurs of conversation around the room falling away to silence. ‘Mr Delaney will be joining us shortly. He will give a ten minute presentation before we open the floor for a brief question and answer session,’ the thin man explained. He looked around the room. ‘Questions will be limited to the new joint venture and to next month’s coal conference in Sydney.’
A collective groan rumbled round the room from some members of the press who were present. The tall thin man looked down his nose at them.
‘We are not in the habit of entertaining questions of a spurious nature ladies and gentlemen, so please do not waste our time, nor that of your colleagues.’ He ducked his head slightly. ‘Thank you,’ he concluded and with a small bow, left the lectern.
Dan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The conversation in the room began to rise in volume again as people grew impatient. After a couple of minutes, a man walked past the front row of reporters and took his place behind the lectern. Dan watched as he observed the crowd.
He looked like a king appraising his subjects. Tall – a broad powerful man with a mane of thick white hair. His face was lined and tanned. Dan guessed he was in his sixties but couldn’t be sure – if the guy spent a lot of time out in the sun on his yacht, he may have been younger, it was hard to tell. He walked like he owned the room. Dan figured he probably did, given the number of non-press attendees, all lending their support, all probably indebted to the hulk of a man who now stood at the lectern, preening. A smattering of applause welcomed him before a hush fell over the room.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, thank you,’ said the man. His voice was smooth, reassuring and powerful all at once, a deep baritone that resonated through the air.
‘For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Morris Delaney and I am the proud owner of Delaney Energy Corporation – among other businesses of course,’ he chuckled. A brief patter of sympathetic laughter sporadically filled the room then died away.
Delaney held up his hand, acknowledging the support.
‘We’re here today to celebrate the new joint venture between myself and my good friend and business colleague, Stephen Pallisder. Together, we are now capable of bringing an estimated additional seven hundred and fifty million dollars’ worth of business to this State over the next two years through our combined coal and rail consortium.’
Camera flashes permeated the room as Delaney’s supporters lent a thunderous applause to the moment.
Dan leaned forward and cast his eyes across the attendees. Most were held in rapture by Delaney. He concluded most of them would have a vested interest in Delaney’s success in the project, as well as other ventures he might have up his sleeve. He couldn’t help wonder who in the room would also resort to murder alongside Delaney to ensure their investments remained successful.
‘The joint venture will help cement clean coal technology in this state,’ continued Delaney. ‘Not only does this keep jobs safe in Australia, it provides us with enormous export opportunities which would be lost forever if we listened to the environmental scaremongers touting solar and wind power as the future for our country.’ He paused, soaking up the applause.
Dan tuned out as Delaney continued to sell the joint venture to the press then gestured to his press liaison officer to field any questions.
The tall thin man returned to the lectern and looked down his nose at the assembled guests. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, raise your hands please if you have any questions on the joint venture and we’ll address as many of them as we can in the short time we have available.’
Dan’s mind began to wander. It seemed most of the media representatives were toeing the line when it came to Delaney’s rules of engagement and were concentrating on the benefits of his project to the job market and state revenue.
Dan’s attention was drawn back to the room as Delaney held up his hands, grinned at the crowd and walked away from the lectern. He disappeared through a panelled door, closely followed by his entourage.
Dan waited until the audience began to stand and file out of the room back towards the reception area. A string quartet struck up a melody and as he glanced through the door, he spotted the same waiters working the small crowd, ensuring everyone had a drink. He followed the other guests through the doorway, and decided to call it a night. He nodded to the security guard at the main entrance and stepped through into the hot humid night air.
A sudden movement on the opposite end of the public concourse caught his attention. He glanced over, then did a double-take. It was a ghost, surely. He stared at the man in the t-shirt and board shorts leaning against the wrought-iron railings opposite the government building.
The man signalled to Dan not to react, his eyes twitching briefly to the doorway behind him. Dan glanced back. A security guard was sweeping his eyes over the small crowd of people which had spilled out of the press conference and were now milling about, exchanging business cards and saying their goodbyes. Dan looked back but the man had disappeared. Dan’s head was spinning.
That was Mitch!
He hadn’t seen him for three years – and he looked like he had borne a lot more knocks than the ones they’d suffered in Iraq together, but Dan was sure. He turned his head to the left, back towards the main road. The man reappeared and beckoned to Dan that he should follow.
What the hell was going on?
Chapter 16