The next morning she awoke alone. She dressed, brushed her hair and found Stu making tea in the kitchen but no sign of Satchin.
'He was a bit embarrassed this morning, and has gone to find a vehicle for us. Are you okay?'
'You bet,' she smiled at him. They drank their tea in silence; Danielle contemplating her arrival back in Australia and the changes in her life she had determined to make. Her reverie was interrupted by a soft knock at the door that obviously set Stu on edge, but it was only a cab that took them to the High Commission.
It was as though they were expected and had barely been able to reclaim their possessions that had been dropped off by someone unidentified, before they were taken in a diplomatically flagged car to the airport.
They were escorted by two Commission officials into the Qantas lounge where they finally began to relax.
'So what's going on?' Stu directed his question at their escorts.
'Once we heard that you were free, Foreign Affairs threatened a public row over the kidnapping of a leading Australian businesswoman. Without you the Indian's didn't have a leg to stand on, so they returned your stuff and promised to drop the whole issue.'
'Will my business be affected?'
'Unlikely,' the official said with a shake of his head. 'You were never under suspicion and we're fairly certain that our counterparts here aren't convinced that the police ever had a case. Military intelligence would've launched a huge hunt for Stu if they really thought he had the goods. Besides, I understand that they had reason to believe that Stu wasn't Jeff, but apparently a couple of days ago they received some evidence from senior police officials that convinced them otherwise.'
'Oh,' said Danielle, feeling the blush rise in her cheeks.
