Chapter Eleven
Nhiari watched Lee leave, her muscles clenching as if they wanted to go after him. Who was she kidding? She hated the idea of him going to face whoever was coming on his own. But he was right. She would be safer here and going with him might endanger their long-term plan.
Nhiari turned her attention back to the southern boat ramp. She couldn’t see details, but as she watched, Dot called over the radio, “Require ambulance to southern boat ramp. Man impaled through the chest with a spear.” The horror and fear in her voice meant it could only be Oliver.
Nhiari’s muscles tightened. What had happened? Neither Andrew nor Kristy were supposed to be violent. Oliver should have been fine. She prayed he would be all right as another police car raced down the road. It would be even more time before an ambulance got there, but at least Dot had backup.
Not far away the motorbike engine roared to life. Lee was leaving. The black car heading towards the ranges was already out of her sight, somewhere behind the ridge.
The police car turned at the boat ramp and further behind them an ambulance was speeding down the road after them.
There wasn’t anything she could do from here. Better she prepared herself in case it was Lucas heading to the ranges.
As she walked back into the cave, she hesitated, her gaze resting on the car. She could take it and head for the boat ramp to help Dot.
The desire to flee wasn’t there any longer. She wanted to see this through with Lee, desperately hoped there was a way he could avoid prison time.
Perhaps she should call her contact.
Nhiari checked her phone reception. No bars here, but she’d had a couple on top. Perhaps she would even see Lee returning.
She pursed her lips as she grabbed one of Lee’s day packs and filled it with water bottles and food. If she had to flee, she would need to go back up the tunnel and from there down the western side of the ranges.
Her police uniform caught her eye. She couldn’t leave that here. She stuffed the clothes in the bag and then dressed in the police vest, feeling comfort from the sturdy shield. If it was Lucas, she might need the protection.
Feeling better prepared, she headed back to their lookout, glad her ankle had healed and was only an occasional pain.
More reception from here. No cars on the road, so the ambulance must have reached the boat ramp, but there were no other calls over the radio.
She flicked through her contacts until she came to the one she wanted. Detective Doug Pecherczyk had been a good friend at the academy and had gone into the Organised Crime unit. He would know what bargains they could make. But there was always a chance he would have to run it past someone who could be working for Stonefish. And if Rodney knew she had made the request, he would do everything he could to thwart her.
She scowled and tapped her thumb on the front of her phone. Was it better to let Organised Crime know now they had someone on the inside, or wait until it all came out?
Just call.
She pressed the button and waited as the phone rang. She wasn’t even sure what cases he was involved in at the moment. He could be working undercover.
“Nhiari, long time no see.”
She smiled at the smooth, familiar tone. He seemed happy to hear from her. “How are things, Doug?”
“Really great. I’m going on leave the week after next and I’m going to propose to my honey.”
Her heart lifted. “Congratulations. Who’s the lucky man?”
“An artist who paints wall murals. He’s so talented.”
She grinned at his gushing tone and felt a twinge of envy.
“How are you? Are you ringing to complain about Rodney?” He chuckled.
“How did he get the gig?” she asked.
“He insisted. I wanted to go, but we weren’t sure how long this would last and I’ve had my leave planned for months. How’s he been?”
“Dot’s been dealing with him,” Nhiari said, picking up a small twig and twirling it around.
“So what can I do for you?”
“It’s more of a query… something you might not want to mention to anyone I asked.”
His tone sharpened. “What’s happened?”
There was the alert cop she knew. “Theoretically speaking, if you had someone who was working for a crime syndicate, but then gave evidence to end them, could a plea bargain be arranged for them to avoid gaol time?”
He made a low sound, displeased but considering. “It would depend on what illegal activities they carried out and how much they helped to put them away.”
She squeezed her eyes closed. “Let’s say they killed a couple of people, but those deaths protected innocent civilians.”
“That’s specific, Nhiari. What’s going on?”
She closed her eyes. Could she trust him? She switched the topic. “Dot isn’t sure whether she can trust Rodney or whether he might be working for the syndicate we’re trying to stop.”
He whistled. “That’s quite an allegation.”
“I know. Maybe Rodney is just being his usual charming self and the things he’s hiding are because he dislikes us so much.”
“You two must bring out the worst in him. He’s one of our best and most people like him.”
She couldn’t imagine it. She shook the image of a popular Rodney out of her head and asked, “How much do you know about what is going on?”
“Not a lot. They keep it as need to know and I’ve been working on my own cases.”
Right. “We have a couple of officers at the station who Stonefish has got to and with Rodney being Rodney, we don’t have a lot of options.”
“You can trust me, Nhiari. I still owe you one.”
She smiled at the memory and then exhaled. He was her only option. “I’ve been working with someone from Stonefish. We almost have enough evidence to arrest the man in charge and stop the entire company, but when it’s all over I don’t want this person to go to gaol.”
“Do they deserve to?”
Could she answer that neutrally? “He’s done things that aren’t great, but his goal has always been to stop Stonefish.”
“Why? Are you sure he’s not spinning you a tale?” It was a fair question and not one asked with a condescending tone.
“They killed his father.”
“Have you proof?”
The question made her stop. She hadn’t thought about getting proof. Hadn’t been in a position to get it. “No.”
“What’s his name?”
She clenched her teeth. No, she couldn’t do it. Not until Lucas was behind bars. “I can’t, Doug.”
“I can do a check on him. Find out what he’s been involved in. Make sure he’s not lying to you.”
“Stonefish have people everywhere,” she answered. “All it would need is for the information to go across the wrong person’s desk and he’d be dead.”
“Fine. Tell me when you can. I’ll do a little digging on this side into the investigation. The others who went up to Retribution Bay with Rodney are back in the office, and one of them is a mate. I’ll chat to him.”
Relief filled her. “Thank you. I owe you one.”
“No, we’ll be even. I’ll call you when I know more.”
Nhiari hung up. In the distance, an ambulance raced down the road from the southern boat ramp and headed into town. Oliver was on his way to hospital and the speed suggested he was still alive.
Closer to her came the sound of the motorbike. Lee was on his way back.
Her muscles tightened. But was he alone?
Lee clenched the handlebars of the motorbike as he bumped over the uneven ground towards the cave where he’d kidnapped Nhiari. Who would be there when he arrived?
Joseph he could easily get rid of, but Lucas would be more of a challenge. And Lucas would be furious that Andrew had been caught.
He pulled up, not bothering to cover the bike in case he needed a quick escape. He unclipped the strap over his gun, checked again it was loaded, then he slipped through the back of the cave and used touch along the rock wall to navigate to the area where he’d kept the boys. As the tunnel lightened, he gave himself enough time for his eyes to adjust as he slipped the gun into his hand. Pressing against the wall, he peered into the cave, his muscles tense.
Joseph prowled the length of the cave, muttering under his breath. Medium height, short brown hair, wearing jeans and a T-shirt with a cartoon character on the front. Everything about the man screamed average. Lee gave himself a second for the tension to release and to check Joseph had no discernible weapons before he tucked his gun back into its holster and stepped out. “Didn’t I tell you to leave town?”
Joseph spun, eyes wide, and crouched to a fighter’s stance, bracing himself for an attack.
Lee didn’t move. He stood, arms crossed, and put all of his disdain into his glare.
Joseph straightened, but didn’t relax. “Lee. The cops were after me. I saw the flashing lights behind me.”
“So you decided the best idea would be to lead them straight to me?” Lee’s voice was ice cold.
The man flinched, glancing behind as if expecting the police to burst into the cave behind him. “I knew you could hide me.”
Joseph was a simpleton.
“The police aren’t after you,” Lee told him. “There was an incident at the boat ramp. They stopped there.”
Joseph exhaled.
It was tempting to tie him up and leave him until everything was resolved, but Lee would have to make sure he was fed and it was too much of a hassle. With brains like his, he wouldn’t be hard to find.
Lee stalked forward. “Leave.” He kept the smile to himself as Joseph hurried back, keeping his eyes on Lee. “Do what I told you and disappear. You’ve got a couple of hours’ grace before the police will even remember you exist. Use it wisely.”
Lee had backed him outside the cave now and the dark car was parked haphazardly in the bush. No way was he helping get it out if Joseph got himself bogged.
“Thanks, Lee.” His hand fumbled on the handle, but he jerked the door open and leapt inside. In a roar of the engine and a cloud of dust, Joseph disappeared from view.
Lee stepped back to avoid the dust and made note of the licence plate number. He could only be thankful that Clark had hired stupid people looking for a quick buck rather than doing his research and finding people who would do a good job.
His satellite phone rang, and he unclipped it from his belt. “Yes.”
“Have you got eyes on what’s happening at the boat ramp?” Lucas asked.
Shit. “Not at this second.” He strode back into the cave and down the tunnel which led to his motorbike.
“Why not?”
“Because Joseph paid me a visit. He panicked and thought the police were after him.”
“They are.”
“Yes, but not at this moment. He was driving out of town when the police were heading for the boat ramp. He thought they were after him, so he decided his best course of action was to lead them to me.” Lee let his displeasure through.
“I never should have involved Clark,” Lucas said.
Lee raised his eyebrows. It was the closest he’d ever heard Lucas come to admitting he’d made a mistake. “The last I heard was Dot calling for backup and Martin and Rodney were on their way.”
“You heard that?” Lucas sounded surprise.
“Police radio,” Lee answered, not wanting to remind Lucas that Nhiari was with him. He slid through the narrow section of the tunnel and then continued. “Can we trust Andrew to keep his mouth shut?”
“How do you know Andrew is there?”
Shit. “He called me. Told me he had a lead on the treasure.”
Lucas made a growl of displeasure. “If he doesn’t keep his mouth shut, Martin knows what to do.”
Lee’s gut clenched. Lucas would kill his own son. Someone who had done nothing but try to live up to his father’s expectations. He pushed aside the fear. “Do we know where the Stokes are keeping the treasure?”
“It has to be on the property,” Lucas said. “There’s been no word of it appearing at the museum or anywhere else.”
“The property is a quarter of a million acres.”
“I know!” Lucas spat. “Have you got anything out of that cop yet?”
Lee reached the motorbike and straddled it but didn’t start it. “She’s close to telling me. I think another day and I’ll know everything. Where do you want me to take it when I have it?”
Would he admit he was in town?
“I want to be there. I can’t rely on anyone to do the job right.”
Lee smiled. “All right. Are you still in Australia? I should have the location by tomorrow evening.”
“I’ll be nearby. Call me when you have it.” Lucas hung up.
Lee clipped the phone back on his belt and then started the bike, heading back to Nhiari. It was time. Andrew would be in gaol tonight, the drug smuggling was over with no one left to carry it out, and he could focus on Lucas.
He had to get Nhiari to tell him where the treasure was so he could set a trap.
As he neared the main cave, he glanced up and spotted Nhiari on top of the cliff. He lifted a hand in acknowledgement and smiled as she waved in return. Soon, this would all be over. He hid the bike and hurried to the cave, but it was still empty. He climbed to the top of the range where Nhiari was watching the road through the telescope. She turned to him.
“Who was it?” she demanded.
“Joseph. Idiot thought Dot was chasing him.”
“Where is he now?”
“I sent him on his way, but I have his licence plate number.”
“I need to call Dot.” The concern on Nhiari’s face gave him concern.
“What happened?”
“I think Oliver was injured. An ambulance came to get him. I haven’t heard anything else.”
“Are the police still at the boat ramp?”
“Yeah. Neither Dot nor Martin’s car have left, but the ambulance sped off in a hurry.”
Dot could be in danger if Martin was there. “You don’t know for sure who is in the ambulance?”
She shook her head. “Nothing on the radio.”
He moved forward to look through the telescope. A police car drove back towards the main road. He focused in on it and saw a man behind the wheel. He stepped back. “It’s not Dot.”
Nhiari looked and swore. “Rodney, but there’s no one in the passenger seat.”
“So Martin is still with Dot.” There was no way to see whether there was anyone in the back of the paddy wagon. “Would she let Rodney take Andrew and Kristy by himself?”
“Rodney wouldn’t have given her a choice,” Nhiari said bitterly. “He’ll take the glory of bringing in the culprits and leave Martin and Dot to clean up the mess and gather the evidence.”
Which Martin would no doubt corrupt.
But hopefully Dot would still be safe. He debated calling Martin, but phone reception was spotty in that area. Still he withdrew his phone as his gaze followed the police vehicle, and he frowned as he spotted another ambulance heading down the road, though not at any great speed. “How many ambulances does Retribution Bay have?”
“One.” Nhiari followed his gaze. Her eyes widened. “It’s not got its lights on.”
“Which means what?” Lee asked, hoping it wasn’t what he thought it was.
“Someone’s dead.”