Chapter Fifteen
The heat took Lee’s breath away as he jogged across the yard under the piercing sun to the shade of the sheds. There were no cars parked next to the caravans any longer, though someone could still be inside. He sent a message with images of the treasure and before he had a chance to call Lucas, his phone rang.
“You’ve found it.”
Lucas’s chortle made Lee cringe. It reminded him of family dinners when Lucas was making fun of Lee or Lee’s father. “Yeah. I don’t have long,” he said. “The museum knows about it and they’re planning to move it on Saturday with the cannon Steven Hamilton brought up from the wreck.”
Lucas laughed. “Steven didn’t take the cannon. I arranged for it to be dropped there after he got caught.”
Lee raised his eyebrows as concern filled him. What contacts did Lucas still have in Retribution Bay? “Did Martin do it?”
“No.”
Lee waited, but no more information was forthcoming. “Joseph?”
“No.” Lucas was enjoying this game.
“Then it had to be Rodney.” It was a stab in the dark, but unless Lucas had an entire team hidden up here, Rodney was the only other option.
“Well done. I was wondering whether you would pick him.”
“He shot Martin because he was no longer reliable.” It was another guess, but it made sense.
“This whole attempt in Retribution Bay has been a failure. It was time to wrap up loose ends and go back to what we do best.” He paused for a second. “Do the Stokes really trust you after everything?”
“Yeah. They trust Nhiari, and she trusts me. Wasn’t hard to convince her she’s shown me the error of my ways and that I want to help her.” He forced out a derisive laugh.
Another chortle. “Well done. I knew you had it in you.”
Lee wanted to be sick. Did any of his family have empathy or consideration?
He shook his head. Focus on the end game. “All right. How do you want to play this? The Stokes haven’t shown me where the treasure is being kept, and I suspect they are guarding it. Our best chance is hijacking the truck, taking it to Perth.”
“They’re not flying it down?”
“Cannon is too hard to move,” Lee said. “But there are multiple points along the road where we could stop the truck and offload the treasure. Then we get it to your plane or boat.”
“You’ve thought it through,” Lucas said, a hint of suspicion in his words.
“It’s what you sent me here for. If I hadn’t, then I haven’t been doing my job. Is your plane nearby?”
“It’s within an hour’s journey,” Lucas said.
“And you got to the safe house all right?”
Silence. Lee waited, not explaining to Lucas.
“Yes. How did you know?”
“Andrew called me, freaked out the night before he died. I reassured him everything was going to plan. He mentioned you were in town.”
“Yet you said nothing before now.”
“Wasn’t my place to question you. You’ll tell me what I need to know.”
More silence, but Lee could practically hear Lucas’s mind ticking over. If Lee had known he was in town, he could have told the police and had him arrested days ago if he wasn’t loyal. Would the fact he hadn’t been enough to earn Lucas’s trust?
“Let me think about options for Saturday. I’ll call you back.” Lucas hung up.
Lee stood in the shade of the shed and scanned the area. He’d spent time here, sneaking into the storerooms to go through boxes of memorabilia, hoping to find a clue to the treasure. Amy had nearly caught him a couple of times and Tess caught him inside the house on the day of Brandon’s wedding, but he’d come up with an excuse that had worked.
His phone beeped with a message from Nhiari. We’ll get there. It included a gif of a puppy trying to climb onto a couch and eventually succeeding.
He smiled.
Lee wandered back to the house, tapping on the door frame before letting himself in. Everyone was still sitting at the table.
“What did he say?” Nhiari asked.
“He’s considering options. He confirmed he’s staying at the safe house and Rodney is involved.”
Nhiari swore. “That’s going to make things more difficult.”
Lee shook his head. “I’ve told Lucas I’ve convinced you I’m swapping sides, so anything I do will make sense to Rodney.”
Nhiari glanced at Dot. “Where is he?”
“In town. Should I call him?”
The reluctance on Nhiari’s face was clear. “I guess so.”
“He won’t come out to the Ridge,” Dot warned.
“Tell him I won’t go into town,” Lee suggested. “If he’s as bad as Nhiari suggests, he will want to see me and the treasure for himself and make his own assessment.”
Dot nodded. She made the call and though she didn’t have the phone on speaker, Rodney could be clearly heard.
“Where the hell are you?”
Dot rolled her eyes. “I’m out at Retribution Ridge. You’ll want to come out here.”
“We have a shit-tonne of paperwork to get through and you visited your friends.”
“It’s related to the case. I have a good idea how we can catch Lucas Fitton.”
“He’ll have left town by now.”
Dot glanced at Lee, and Lee shook his head. No, she shouldn’t tell Rodney that snippet of information. “I have what he wants.”
“And what is that? He doesn’t care about anyone. Both his kids were killed, and he didn’t break his stride.”
“Several million dollars in treasure,” Dot said.
A long silence. “What? How did you come in contact with treasure?”
“It’s a long story, which I don’t want to discuss over the phone. You need to come out to Retribution Ridge. I’ll send you directions.”
“I know where it is.” A pause. “Do you believe you’re in any position to make demands right now, Dot? The brass aren’t feeling friendly to you at the moment.”
“And whose fault is that?” Dot asked. “I didn’t have to bring you into this, but I’m doing you the courtesy. If you don’t want to be there when we catch Lucas Fitton, then don’t come.”
“We?”
“Nhiari and I. She turned up at the Ridge this morning.”
“Where the hell has she been?”
Lee stiffened at Rodney’s tone. Everything about it put Lee on edge. It was as if Nhiari hadn’t been doing her job properly.
“I can’t discuss it over the phone, Rodney,” Dot replied. “Are you coming or not?”
“I’ll be there in an hour.” He hung up.
Dot blew out a breath.
“He hasn’t changed,” Nhiari said.
“No, he hasn’t.”
Nhiari hugged the sergeant. “I’m sorry you had to deal with him on your own.”
“I’m glad you didn’t have to.”
Lee scowled. It would be a pleasure to bring Rodney down along with Lucas. He hated bullies.
“So how much are we going to tell him?” Sherlock asked.
“We’ll show him the treasure and where you found it,” Dot replied. “Lucas thinks Lee is double-crossing us, and has seduced Nhiari, so they’ll need to hint at that.”
Nhiari grimaced. “I can hear his comments already.”
“Maybe he won’t say anything,” Lee said. “If he doesn’t want you thinking too hard about our relationship, it’s in his best interest to let you continue to be seduced by me.” He winked at her, trying to make her feel better, not wanting her to second-guess their relationship.
“If he’s playing his part as lead investigator right, he’ll want evidence from you that you’ve turned,” Sherlock said. “Won’t he demand information about Stonefish? You’ll need to tell him enough to get him off your back, but not too much that will actually threaten Stonefish’s set up.”
It was going to be a very fine line to tread. “Maybe I can get him to interview me alone,” Lee said. “He won’t want civilians present, and if his past behaviour is any indication, he won’t want Nhiari and Dot present either.” And if he could get Rodney in the lounge, the listening device he’d planted months ago would record all of their discussion.
“He’ll want to see all the treasure.” Nhiari gave a pointed look at the bag on the table. “Do we want him to know where it’s kept?”
“No,” Dot responded.
Lee got to his feet. “Want me to wait in the lounge again?”
Dot nodded.
He left the room, moving as quickly as he could without arousing suspicion so he could check the bug he’d planted in the lounge before Nhiari followed him in. As he entered the room, he glanced over his shoulder. Nhiari was still talking to the others. Quickly he ran his hand underneath the coffee table. Yeah, it was still there. He sat as Nhiari entered the room.
She played with the tail of her braid, a sure sign she was stressed. “What’s wrong?”
Surprise danced across her face. “Nothing.”
“You’re playing with your hair.”
She looked down at her hand as if unaware of what she was doing. She released the braid and sighed. “I don’t want to see Rodney’s rat-like face again. I don’t want to deal with him. He makes me doubt myself and feel deeply insecure.”
He pulled her down to the couch with him and wrapped his arms around her. “You are an excellent police officer,” he said.
“Am I?” she said. “Rodney’s going to have a field day with our relationship.” She pushed him away. “He’ll make me feel inferior, he’ll question my loyalties and say I have no right to be an officer if I’m so easily manipulated.” There was pure misery in her eyes. “And worse yet, he won’t be saying anything I haven’t already thought myself.”
Shit. His stomach twisted in knots. He had made her feel like this and there wasn’t anything he could say to help her. “I’m making this extremely difficult for you,” he said. “But for what it’s worth, this thing between us is real to me.” He squeezed her hand. “If I had a choice, I would want to spend my life with you, Nhiari.” He hesitated. This might be the last chance he had to be alone with her. He sighed and then said the words that had been in his heart since the night they’d gone on their date. “I love you.”
Tears welled in her eyes and she stood, pacing away. “I can’t. Not until this is all over.”
“I know.” As much as it pained him, he understood.
But at least she knew the truth.
By the time Bennett barked announcing Rodney’s arrival, Nhiari was a bundle of nerves. She left the kitchen where they’d been waiting since Brandon and his friends had fetched the rest of the treasure and stalked down to the lounge to get a hold of herself.
Nhiari shook the nerves out of her arms and exhaled, counting to ten. She could handle anything Rodney threw at her. She had all the way through the police academy where he’d made it his mission to belittle her and make things difficult.
Now she was a senior constable, she’d been working for over ten years and was damned good at her job.
But the one way he could get to her was through Lee. She doubted herself with him, and it would be an easy attack point. She would have to convince Rodney that she was using Lee, not the other way around.
The thought settled her. She took another breath and returned to the kitchen as Rodney was walking up the steps to the verandah.
Dot raised her eyebrows in question, and Nhiari nodded. She had this.
Dot opened the door. “Thanks for coming out.”
Rodney grunted. “You didn’t give me a choice.” He scanned the room and his eyes widened as he spotted Lee sitting between Sam and Sherlock. “What’s he doing here?”
Rodney’s puffed up chest and incredulity was convincing. Perhaps Lucas hadn’t been in touch with him to say Lee was at the Ridge.
Was everyone in Stonefish playing each other? It didn’t seem to be a great way to run a business.
“Nhiari brought him in,” Dot said.
Nhiari braced herself as Rodney’s gaze fell on her. Her skin prickled at his derisive sneer and the dismissive up and down scan. “Rodney,” she acknowledged.
“You’ve finally come out of hiding?”
Why did it have to be him on this case? She brushed aside the useless thought. “We have information which might be useful to your case.”
“Doubtful. Lee’s been out of the game since he fled after shooting Tan.”
Was Rodney trying to convince them, or was that what he believed?
“I’ve kept my eye on things,” Lee said.
“The Stokes have something Lucas Fitton wants,” Dot said, getting to the heart of the matter.
“What’s that?”
Brandon opened the backpack in front of him. “This.” He tipped the coins and jewels out on the table.
Rodney’s eyes bugged out of his head, and Nhiari smiled. Finally, something that shut him up.
“Where did you get it?”
“It was uncovered during the storm,” Dot told him. “We believe it was originally on board the ship Oliver has been examining.”
“And you were going to keep it?” Rodney asked Brandon.
“No. We’ve been waiting to figure out what to do with it. We suspected Stonefish wanted it and we weren’t sure who to trust. We only told Dot about it today.”
That was a lie, but probably for the best. Nhiari and Dot had discovered the Stokes had it on the day Lee had kidnapped her.
“Why would Stonefish want the treasure?” Rodney asked. “They’re a billion dollar company.”
“Because Lucas’s ancestor was on board the Retribution when it sank,” Lee said. “They found part of the treasure then, and he set up Stonefish with his cut. He sees the rest of the treasure as his.”
Rodney assessed Lee. “Why should we believe you? You’re working for him.”
Nhiari lifted a hand towards her braid and dropped it again, conscious of not showing her nerves.
“Nhiari offered me a deal if I helped her catch Lucas,” Lee lied.
“She doesn’t have the authority,” Rodney said. “And you’re smart enough to know that.”
Lee shrugged. “Maybe I was tired of being Lucas’s lackey. Nothing I said made any difference and Clark made a complete mess of what I was trying to do here. Everyone I’ve come across is incompetent. Why should I let them take me down?”
The nonchalance in his stance, the uncaring tone in his voice, everything pointed towards a man beyond caring any longer. He was so convincing that Nhiari again questioned her feelings.
Why did he have to be such a good actor?
“I need to interview Lee,” Rodney said. “I’ll take him into the station.”
“No,” Dot said. “Lucas can’t know he’s here. You can use the lounge.” She gestured down the hallway.
“This is highly irregular,” Rodney blustered.
“I didn’t need to bring you in on this, Rodney,” Dot reminded him. “You do it my way.”
“I hope you enjoy your last days as a police officer, Dot,” Rodney snarled. “This way,” he ordered Lee and stalked down the hall.
Lee glanced at Nhiari. “I see what you mean.” He followed Rodney out of the kitchen.
Nhiari exhaled. “What did he mean about it being your last few days?”
“I’ve been asked to explain everything happening up here and why I haven’t trusted Rodney with all my information.” She tugged her dark hair. “It’s been difficult.”
Oliver ran a hand over Dot’s back. “I’ll speak with whoever’s in charge to make sure they know she’s been doing her job well.”
Nhiari smiled at his defence. “It’s good to see you again, Oliver.” They hadn’t had a chance to talk yet.
“Likewise. It’s been too long.”
She nodded. “We’ll have to catch up when all this is over. I’d love to hear some of your stories.” Oliver had worked on shipwreck expeditions all over the world. She had no hard feelings for him. Not if Dot had forgiven him for breaking her heart, which it appeared she had.
“Do we need to listen in?” Brandon asked, nodding towards the lounge.
Nhiari glanced down the hall. “They’ve closed the door.”
“Perhaps we should make our own contingencies while they’re gone,” Sam suggested. “Depending on what Lucas comes back with.” He glanced at Nhiari.
She understood his unspoken message. They needed to make plans in case Lee was double-crossing them. She nodded. “Let’s talk.”