Chapter Eight
Lee watched Nhiari sleep, which would probably be considered kind of creepy under the circumstances, but he couldn’t help himself. He didn’t want to wake her. The dark circles under her eyes and her constant yawning during the previous days told him she wasn’t sleeping very well. The bedroll was hellishly uncomfortable and only good for a night or two if there was no other option.
But she refused to use his bed so what could he do?
He checked the time. Dot should have left the information at the lighthouse by now, and he didn’t want to leave it too long in case someone else found it. He’d also arranged for Steven to leave food and clothes for them and he had to get to them before the fresh food went off. He made Nhiari a coffee and despite the noise he’d made, she still slept.
Carefully he approached her. She had the sheet flung back and lay there in just his T-shirt and gym shorts, her dark hair splayed out around her because she hadn’t tied it back after they’d gone swimming.
Stunning.
Her wearing his clothes felt like a commitment, though he knew it wasn’t.
He braced himself. “Nhi, it’s time to wake up.”
She grumbled and opened her eyes.
He offered her the mug. “I made you a coffee. We need to get going before too many people are around.”
She blinked at him and sat, brushing her long hair out of the way. It had tangled during the night, and he itched to run his hands through it and comb it, like he had the morning after their date.
Nhiari reached for the coffee. “Thank you.”
He smiled. “You’re welcome.” He left her to wake up and fetched a comb from the tent. It would take some finesse to get all the knots out of her waist-length hair.
Lee held up the comb. “Shall I comb your hair while you drink your coffee?”
“I can do it myself.”
“Yeah, but we need to get moving. You can enjoy the coffee while I deal with the knots.”
She stared at him a long moment and he read the surprise and want on her face. Still he waited until she nodded. “Please. I’ll drink the coffee as fast as I can.”
He appreciated someone who understood the time constraints.
He sat behind her, wincing at the hardness of the bedroll, and teased out the knots. Her hair was thick but glossy, and he was careful not to pull too hard. He didn’t want to hurt her.
She sat silently, drinking her coffee, and he couldn’t see her expression.
He didn’t speak, didn’t want to risk saying the wrong thing and her pulling away, but he took his time, allowing himself that one luxury. When he was done, he moved away.
“Thank you.” She handed him her mug and then braided her hair, her fingers moving so fast he couldn’t quite make out how she was doing it. But in very little time, her hair was tied back and she was putting on her shoes.
He needed to get his things sorted.
“Are we riding or driving in?” Nhiari asked.
“Driving,” he replied.
“You don’t think that’s risky?”
“The only one likely to pull us over is Pierre,” Lee pointed out.
Nhiari sighed. “Fair enough.” She frowned, looking at the car. “You have a different number plate.”
He nodded, impressed she’d noticed. “I took the ones from Clark’s car.”
He drove out of the cave, turning east to move further into the canyon.
“There’s a trail along the ranges to the west,” Nhiari said.
“I need to pick up something else this way,” Lee told her.
She didn’t ask him what, which must have taken some effort. Lee gritted his teeth, wanting her to interact with him, to ask him questions. He’d thought they’d reached at least an understanding last night. She’d taken him to her secret waterhole rather than going to the beach. He’d hoped it meant she trusted him.
But no. It seemed for every step forward he gained, she took at least a half step back.
It was a bumpy trip over rocks and shrubs along the bottom of the canyon. When they reached the eastern side, he turned north and followed a barely-there track to where a ranger road was.
From there it was less difficult, and he increased his speed. The road wound up the ranges and in about ten minutes, they were at the top. He pulled up next to a hut and got out. “Won’t be long.”
He scanned the surroundings, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. The hut was unlocked, and he prised the door open, making sure it was empty before gathering the four bags which had been left behind in a large esky. He shut the door behind him and placed the bags into the back of the four-wheel drive, checking everything he needed was inside. A few of the cold items he placed straight into his fridge. Hopefully this would be the last time he had to ask for food deliveries.
Then he retrieved a hose and went around the back of the hut where there was a rainwater tank. He attached the connection and filled the water tank he had installed in the four-wheel drive.
Nhiari got out. “So that’s how you do it.”
He smiled. “The tank was getting empty, but the recent storm topped it up. It’s been a good source of fresh water as long as I use purification tablets.”
“Few people would use it.”
He shook his head. “Only the rangers, and most of the time, they carry enough with them.”
He packed up and drove towards the lighthouse. There was another path he could take to the other side of the ranges, which would get them to the lighthouse without many people seeing them.
When he turned west again, Nhiari said, “You really know these ranges.”
He glanced at her. “Declan shared maps with me, which showed all the ranger trails. It was a real help in finding routes and knowing the areas to avoid, so I wasn’t seen.”
“I’ll add it to his list of crimes.”
The slight wryness in her voice made him smile. His knowledge of the ranges was a distinct advantage to them at the moment.
“Who left the bags?” she asked.
“Steven. He picked them up from Lindsay’s supermarket yesterday and brought them out this morning.”
“Did you send him a list?”
“No. He thinks I told Lindsay I was a friend of his and camping in the area.” Steven didn’t question it. He wasn’t the smartest man, but he knew how to keep his mouth shut.
“I also heard from Andrew yesterday,” Lee continued.
“How?”
“He has my number. He left a message, and I called him back after you spoke with Dot.”
“What did he say?”
“The police found one of the drug barrels. He also said Dot and another woman dropped two journals off at the maritime archaeologist’s house last night. It identified the ship they were researching and spoke about the treasure.” Which confirmed the Stokes had found the treasure Lucas wanted.
“Andrew told his father. I’m expecting a phone call today.” He was a little concerned Lucas hadn’t called him last night. “I also got a call from one of Clark’s men. He’s in town and wanted to know if there was any work.”
“What did you tell him?
“That I’d be in touch in a couple of days. He might prove useful in some way.”
He parked in the small hollow a couple of hundred metres behind the lighthouse. A tour bus was heading down the slope away from the car park and no other cars or people were in the area. Lee followed Nhiari up to the lighthouse where she went straight to a metal box and crouched down, feeling inside. “Gotcha!” She grinned as she pulled a thick, yellow, A4 envelope out of the box. Opening it, she flicked through a few of the documents. “It’s all here.”
Her smile washed over him and hope filled him for the first time in a long time. His heart skipped a beat. Was it possible for him to stop Stonefish, and have Nhiari as well?
Nhiari scanned a document and her expression darkened. “You have got to be kidding me!” She read some more and then swore, pacing away from him and then back, her eyes flashing with anger.
“What’s wrong?”
“They sent Rodney fucking Taylor to head the drug investigation up here.”
He waited for her to explain who Rodney was to her.
She stalked to the car. “Let’s go. The sooner we can put this together and show Rodney as a complete imbecile, the better.”
Lee pressed his lips together. He’d never heard such contempt from Nhiari. Who was this man?
He drove back to camp while Nhiari pored through the documentation. After a few kilometres, his curiosity got the better of him. “Who’s Rodney?”
Her eyes were death lasers. “Only the bastard who made the police academy a complete nightmare for me.”
His protective instinct kicked in. “The one who’d constantly undermined you?” She had told him a little about the man but hadn’t mentioned a name.
“Yeah. He’d blame me for mistakes he made and would do things to make tasks harder for Dot and me.”
“Because you were female?”
She snorted. “Partially. Mostly because I refused to go out with him.” She shook her head, obviously reliving the moment. “He approached me on the first day and said he’d never seen such an attractive black woman.”
Lee gritted his teeth as she continued.
“Told me he could help me get through the course and that I could study at his place. There was a lot he could teach me.” She glanced at him. “He said it at the initial get-to-know-you session and half the cohort heard him.”
He clenched the steering wheel. “What did you do?”
“I told him I’d met plenty of misogynistic arseholes like him, and I’d choose a lifetime alone over a night with him.” She grinned. “Those around us laughed, and he stormed off. I guess I hurt his little ego because he did everything he could to get me thrown out of the academy.” Nhiari read another page. “Dot’s not sure if he’s working for Stonefish.”
Lee hoped so. He’d love to see the bastard in gaol. “I don’t know the name. I’ll try to find out.”
Nhiari flicked through more notes. “Here. Dot mentions visiting the archaeologists last night. The Stokes told her about their ancestor, who was on the Retribution when the ship sank in the gulf. The ancestor discovered the treasure from the Dutch captain’s journal but hid her portion of it for later.”
“Which the Stokes found.” Lee waited.
Nhiari glanced at him but didn’t comment.
He hadn’t yet shown her the long-range drone he had which he used to keep track of what was happening in the area. He’d seen the Stokes dig up the treasure after a recent storm and then heard them discussing it through the bugs he’d left in their lounge room and kitchen.
Nhiari continued to go through the documents Dot had put together. She made a few noises as she read, and he was curious to see how much of a case Dot had built.
He’d just backed the four-wheel drive into the cave when his satellite phone rang. He stiffened. “This will be Lucas. You need to be quiet.”
She nodded and he answered the phone.
“They’ve found the journal,” Lucas said. His refined tone spoke of years of privilege and reminded Lee of his mother.
He cringed, not needing to ask who ‘they’ were. The Stokes were all Lucas ever spoke about. “We suspected as much,” Lee replied.
“Well now we have confirmation. Andrew said the policewoman and that girl who witnessed the murder dropped them at the researchers’ house last night.”
“Them?” Lee asked. He wasn’t certain Lucas knew Andrew was feeding him information.
“The Stokes’s ancestor wrote a journal too. She was on the Retribution.”
“Can you get me a copy?”
“Just sent it. Andrew scanned it this morning while the others went to watch the sunrise.”
“I’ll go through it now,” Lee replied.
“What are you doing with the other cop?”
Lee glanced at Nhiari. What could he say? He lowered his voice as if trying to stop her from overhearing. “I’m using her for information.”
Nhiari flinched.
“What do you mean?” Lucas demanded.
“She knows what the police know, which will be useful in putting them off our scent.”
“Why would she help you?”
He gave her a helpless look, begging her to understand that he wasn’t telling the truth. “Because I seduced her a few months ago. It wasn’t difficult to rekindle the relationship. Decent men are hard to find in Retribution Bay.”
“So you didn’t kidnap her?” Lucas didn’t sound convinced.
“She arrested me, but it wasn’t difficult to escape the cuffs and overpower her. I convinced her she’d be better off working with me.”
Nhiari’s expression went hard, but Lucas’s next words captured Lee’s attention.
“I’m coming to Retribution Bay.”
“When?”
“Soon. Andrew heard Oliver talking with the boat owner. It won’t be long before they share details of the treasure with him. They’ll want to do the right thing and ensure the treasure is returned to the state.”
“Do you need a place to stay?” No way Lucas would lower himself to camping, but Lee wanted to know where he was.
“I’ll make my own arrangements. I expect you to know where the treasure is being kept by the time I arrive.” He hung up.
Lee made sure the phone was disconnected before he spoke. “I’m lying to him, not to you.”
She ignored the comment and strode to the table. “We need to go through everything Dot sent us. This might be our only chance to arrest Lucas while he’s in Australia.”
“Nhiari, I swear—”
She held up a hand. “That isn’t what’s important right now. We have to stop Stonefish.” She sat down, focusing on the envelope Dot had sent them.
Lee bit his tongue to stop himself from rambling on, begging her to believe him, telling her Stonefish wasn’t what was important. He rocked back on his heels.
Shit.
At some stage over the past couple of days, stopping Stonefish had lost its all-encompassing importance.
Now Nhiari took centre stage.
He was in so much trouble.