Chapter Two
Lee smothered a laugh. No way was Nhiari going behind him where he couldn’t see her. He wasn’t stupid. She might have agreed to go with him, but that wasn’t the end. She’d given in too easily. And the one thing he’d learnt during their date was she didn’t give up, and she didn’t give in. It was something he admired her for, which made betraying her even more difficult.
But he had to be focused on the end game.
“After you.” He pointed back to the tunnel, trying to release the tension in his shoulders. This was all Kurt Webb’s fault.
Kurt was supposed to meet him to swap information, not bring two innocent boys with him, and force Lee to take them off his hands. He’d recognised Jordan and Cody immediately and knew if he hurt them, there would be nowhere he could hide. The Stokes and their friends would make it their mission to find him.
He’d already done enough to hurt them, and he might need their help to end this.
He couldn’t hurt those boys.
Added to his stress was the uncertainty of whether this was a test from Stonefish, to check if he was still loyal. His loyalty had already been questioned, but that might have been a taunt from a man who had always been jealous of him, rather than the truth from the top. Either way, he was safe as long as Stonefish didn’t know for sure where his loyalties lay.
The boys escaping on their own didn’t help matters.
It took a lot to surprise him, but returning to the cave to find it empty had shocked him. Then he’d been impressed by the boys’ ingenuity. Neither boy had seemed scared. They’d been defiant. Jordan was certain Sherlock would come for him, and the boy had been right. Sherlock had been smart enough to recognise how much of a threat Kurt was and to teach the boys to protect themselves.
A relief, really, because Lee hadn’t known what to do with them.
Lee followed Nhiari back into the tunnel, admiring how the cut of her blue police uniform pants moulded to the curves of her bottom. He suppressed the urge of longing. Their one night together had been perfect, but the memory would have to last him a lifetime, because there was no way she would trust him again.
He was a criminal and she was a cop.
Nhiari stopped at the small gap in the rock. “Where now?”
“Keep going.” It was a tight squeeze, but doable.
“I’m supposed to go through there?” Her voice wavered at a slightly higher pitch than normal.
Lee kept out of her reach and shone the torch on her face. Sweat glistened on her forehead, but it was humid as hell in here. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, and her hands trembled as she clenched them. Shit. She was scared. This strong, brave woman was claustrophobic.
Or pretending to be.
The reminder gave him pause and tempered his protective instincts. They couldn’t go back without risking being caught by the others. He nodded and kept the emotion out of his tone. “That’s the way out. It widens on the other side.”
She stared at him, ignoring the glare from the light. “No.”
He raised the gun. “Do it, Nhiari. We don’t have all day.”
The whites of her eyes showed as her eyes widened, but he couldn’t let it get to him. Couldn’t show his weakness for her.
She just stood there.
He huffed out a breath. “Close your eyes and imagine you’re in a large room. Feel your way through.” He couldn’t shoot her, couldn’t end this beautiful woman’s life, but he hoped she didn’t realise that. He pointed the gun at her head. “If you don’t go through, you’re no use to me.” His voice was void of emotion and he kept his gaze steady and uncaring.
She swallowed hard and turned. Her fingers shook as she placed her hands on the rock and closed her eyes. Slowly she slid through the gap. As soon as she was trapped between the two rocks, he moved closer. The tunnel widened on the other side, and she might run, whether or not she had lighting. He couldn’t let her get too far ahead of him. She could get lost in here, and if she did, she would likely die.
His gut clenched.
By the time she exited the tight gap, he was halfway through. He pointed the gun at her, but she didn’t notice, bent double, panting.
Perhaps he’d found her kryptonite.
He kept his distance as he entered the larger space and gave her a minute to get her breath back before saying, “We have to keep moving. There’s another couple of hundred metres of caves before we get out in the open.”
She glanced at him. “We’re getting out of the cave?”
He nodded.
She straightened. “Which way?”
He gestured and she moved quickly, striding along the hard, sandy floor towards the exit. Lee softly exhaled. After they left this cave system, they would be fine. It exited on the western side of the ranges and those searching for the boys were on the eastern side. They wouldn’t be spotted.
The walls of the cave lightened and Nhiari increased her stride, trotting towards the glow. Lee kept pace, always out of her reach in case she went for him, but it was unwarranted. Her focus was on the exit.
The bright sunlight hurt his eyes, and he kept in the cave’s shadow as Nhiari burst out into the sunlight.
She inhaled deeply, turning in a circle to take in the new location, even while recovering from her panic attack.
Impressive.
They’d come out at the base of the ranges and there was sparse vegetation around; a few bushes, a couple of trees, but mostly grasses.
Lee waited until her breathing returned to normal and she started studying the surroundings more closely, before he took her arm. “This way.”
It was a short walk to where he’d left his off-road motorcycle. They’d both fit on it, but Nhiari wasn’t a willing passenger. He didn’t know what she would try.
A frisson of excitement shot through him and he tamped it down. At any other time he’d revel in the challenge, the idea she could give as good as she got, but right now he needed simple and easy. Lucas was getting desperate. He would make a mistake and Lee would be there to trap him in it.
Then Lucas would pay for what he’d done.
Lee smiled and directed Nhiari through some bushes and the few hundred metres to where he’d left the bike. He’d been careful to use a different path each time he came this way so as not to leave an obvious trail that someone could stumble on. He was certain Georgie was trying to keep tabs on where he was and she’d found him once already.
Nhiari eyed the dirt bike. “Want me to drive?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Do you know how?”
She laughed, the sound a little sarcastic and disbelieving. “I’ve been riding motorbikes since I was a child.”
Good to know. He’d keep the key in his pocket so she didn’t steal it when he wasn’t looking. “You can drive.” That way he could keep hold of the gun and hopefully she wouldn’t do something stupid.
She straddled the bike, her pants tightening as she sat and put her hand out for the key. He got on behind her, using his free hand to pass her the key and then pressed close, wrapping an arm around her.
She smelled like honey and although she wore an equipment vest, he felt her warmth underneath. Memories of the softness of her skin swept over him. Running his hands over her body, hearing her moans… He stifled a groan.
Not for the first time he wished things had turned out differently. He hadn’t expected to connect so deeply with her when he’d taken her to dinner.
But she’d been so different from what he’d expected. Underneath that tough police exterior she’d been sensitive, shy and well-read. They’d discussed everything from Shakespeare and Chaucer to E.L. James and Lee Child. He’d spent the entire night so intrigued and entertained that he’d almost forgotten the reason he’d invited her in the first place.
To get information.
As the bike roared to life, he leaned closer and murmured into her ear, “That way.” He pointed.
She shivered and pressed her lips together. Was she repulsed by his presence? Probably. He wasn’t stupid enough to hope her reaction was proof she wasn’t immune to him. Not after the way he’d behaved. There was no love lost on Nhiari’s side.
He directed Nhiari along the ranges and into one canyon, across rocky terrain until they reached their destination. “Stop there.”
She did as he asked and shut off the bike, pocketing the key. He grinned briefly before controlling his expression and held out a hand. “I’ll take that.”
A sullen expression as she fished it out and slapped it into his palm. He got off, keeping his gun pointed loosely at her as she dismounted.
“Is this where you shoot me and hide the body?” Nhiari asked.
He kept the surprise off his face. “If I was going to kill you, I would have done it in the cave.” He thought she understood. “I can’t let you free only to have you hunting me.”
“You really think whatever you need to do will be easier with me as a reluctant participant?”
She was right, though he wouldn’t admit it. When he’d freed himself of the handcuffs and pressed into Nhiari, his only thought was to keep her with him. To steal more time with her. Idiotic. He’d been trained to ignore his feelings. “You might have useful information.”
She snorted. “As if I would give it to you.” The derision in her eyes was clear. He had hurt her, which meant this was going to be twice as difficult.
“Nhi, please. I know I’ve hurt you, but I promise you, the man in charge is within my grasp.”
“Give me a name.”
He hesitated. If she escaped and then started monitoring Lucas, Lucas would know. The traitors at the Retribution Bay police station would tell him. “I can’t. Not yet.”
“What can you tell me?”
He pressed his lips together and moved the motorbike so it was next to a bush, and then added branches on top of it to hide it further. “We can talk when we get to camp.”
She crossed her arms and her stare was hard, but rather than intimidating Lee, he itched to pick up his camera and photograph her just like that. He’d call the photo, Gives No Shit.
It would be some time before he could go back to taking photographs for enjoyment—if ever. When he’d started this, he hadn’t thought past stopping Stonefish. But he had killed people. Both men had threatened the lives of innocent people and would have continued to make lives miserable, but that might not count.
His justification sounded weak in his head. Who was he kidding? He had hurt people and committed enough crimes to send him to gaol. He pushed down the guilt and gestured with his head. “This way.” He moved towards one of his campsites, not looking back as if sure Nhiari would follow. He’d gone a couple of metres before her footsteps crunched behind him. Lee exhaled softly, relief filling him, and continued on his way.
They climbed for about ten minutes before they reached an overhang on the side of the ranges. It was high enough to stand upright, and hopefully wide enough not to freak out Nhiari. Inside was his larger backpack with some emergency supplies.
“Cosy,” Nhiari snarked.
“It’s not too narrow in here for you?” he asked.
She hesitated and crossed her arms, hugging herself. “It’s fine. Surely you haven’t stayed here all this time.”
He debated not answering, but it was something he could tell her and maybe it would help to soften her, show her he would share what he could. “No. I’ve got camps all along the ranges.”
“Is your car at one of them?”
He nodded. One of the first things he’d done on arriving in Retribution Bay was to set up his bolt holes. He knew if his involvement with Stonefish had been exposed, he’d have to run and the peninsula didn’t give him a lot of options. Particularly if Lucas wasn’t willing to bail him out.
He’d figured lying low until the heat faded would be his best bet. And posing as a nature photographer gave him plenty of reasons to spend time in the ranges scoping out the best locations.
That had definitely paid off.
“Have you got any water?” Nhiari sat on the rock he used as a seat.
Lee dug in his backpack and pulled out a flask, handing it to her. She gulped down the liquid without hesitation and he moved across to the entrance. From this height he could see down the canyon, but aside from a kangaroo lazing in the shade below, nothing moved. The ranges were perfect for hiding as there were very few roads in.
“So what now?”
It was a good question and not one Lee had a good answer for.
“Can we search for the boys from here?” Nhiari added.
Lee shook his head. They’d come too far north and west. There was no way the boys could have made it this far. “They would have found the boys by now.”
“You can’t know that.”
He glanced at her. “Do you think any of them will give up before they find them?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “The boys couldn’t have gone more than a couple of kilometres and if Sherlock trained them as he said he did, they would stick to shade and cover until they could find help.” He hoped he was right. He hated the idea of the two children out there alone, but he had to look at the bigger picture.
Nhiari scowled as if she was building her argument.
“Those boys weren’t scared, even when Kurt handed them over and drove away. They whispered together, but I heard Jordan reassure Cody that Sherlock would come for them.” The only person to show him that amount of faith had been his father.
The stabbing pain hadn’t lessened in the past year, but he could ignore it. “Will they mount a search party for you?”
“Matt will search even if no one else does.”
“Your brother is a pain in the arse.” Matt had been in the wrong place at the wrong time on a number of occasions and had almost blown Lee’s cover. And he was continuing to be a pain even now. It didn’t matter that Lee had saved his and Georgie’s life.
Nhiari barked out a laugh and then smothered it as if realising she shouldn’t agree with him. She swallowed. “Did you kill Clark?”
The question was unexpected, but how should he answer it? He couldn’t forget Nhiari was a police officer, and she could put him behind bars.
Though she knew enough of his crimes to arrest him now. He hadn’t cared what happened to him when he first started his mission. He had only wanted Lucas to pay.
Now, he wished he’d done things differently.
“Yes. Georgie is innocent.”
Nhiari leaned forward. “Why did she say she killed him?”
“Because I asked her to. If Stonefish knew I had killed Clark, they would have stopped trusting me and I need their trust.”
“So you let her be accused of murder?”
He narrowed his eyes, annoyed she was trying to push his buttons. “Self-defence not murder, and you know it.”
“Tell me what happened.”
An order, not a request. Lee clenched his teeth. He should have just left her tied up in the cave. Should have ignored the small part of him that hoped if they spent time together, she would see who he truly was, not who he’d had to become.
He kept his eyes on hers as he crossed to the other side of the cave and leaned against the cave wall. “Clark kidnapped Matt and called Georgie to come to his rescue. His plan was to kill them both.”
“Why?”
“Clark was a spoilt child who had watched too many movies. He only got involved in the business at the beginning of the year after I did. He couldn’t stand the praise his father gave me for my work.”
Nhiari’s eyebrows raised, but she didn’t speak.
“He embraced being the bad guy and discovered he enjoyed the power that came with killing. So when Matt and Georgie messed up his smuggling ring, he decided they needed to pay.”
“How did you get involved?”
“He called me and told me to meet him. I thought he wanted to gloat about how good he was, but he said his father wasn’t sure about my loyalty and I had to prove it by killing Matt and Georgie.” It hadn’t been a difficult choice. Matt and Georgie had been kind to him from the day he’d met them, whereas Clark had been the bully of his childhood. “Georgie turned up with a rifle. I retrieved it from her, shot Clark and asked her to take the blame until I could finish building a case against Stonefish.”
“That was over two months ago.”
His failure ate at him, but he was so much closer now. “I know.”
Nhiari was silent for a long moment. “Thank you for saving them.”
“I care for them too.”
Her eyes shuttered and she crossed her arms, leaning away from him. Right, too much touchy-feely. He moved over to his larger pack and took out another water flask and a couple of ration bars. “Catch.” He tossed her one, forcing her to move, and let him in.
She caught it, watched him for a moment and then ripped open the packet, taking a bite. Yeah, it was going to take a lot more to get her to open up to him.
He’d made a mistake bringing her here. He should have taken her to his main site, where he could share all his information if he wanted her to work with him. But letting her in also exposed her to danger and showed her just how much of himself he’d compromised in the past year.
Then there would be no hope for them.
He wasn’t ready to admit he had lost her yet.