Chapter Nineteen
Nhiari’s phone blared, shocking her out of sleep. She answered it without checking who it was, and sat up, already reaching for her vest. “What?”
“Rodney’s been shot,” Dot said. “Lee and Lucas have the treasure but they’ve disappeared. Rodney’s team outside Retribution Bay haven’t seen them heading south, so either they’ve found a safe house or headed to the boat ramp on the west coast.”
“How’s Brandon?” She put her police vest over the uniform she’d slept in and strode into the main room where Sherlock had slept. He was already up and waiting for her to fill him in. She put the phone on speaker.
“Lee tasered and restrained him before Rodney and Lee carried the treasure out to Lucas’s car. Brandon doesn’t know how he got out of the cell. Rodney was getting in the front seat when Lucas shot him. Lee jumped in and they took off.”
Nhiari’s gut clenched. What game was Lee playing? “Let me see if I can track Lee’s phone.” She pressed some buttons and said to Sherlock, “Get Sam in here.”
Sherlock made the call as the app opened and a dot appeared on the screen heading south along the western road.
“They’re almost at the boat ramp,” Nhiari said.
“I’ll tell Organised Crime.” Dot hung up.
Nhiari stared at the phone, her instinct screaming at her. “They aren’t going to the boat ramp.”
“There’s nowhere else they can go,” Sherlock argued. “They wouldn’t be stupid enough to hole up in the ranges. Lucas would want to get out of the country.”
She shook her head. “There’s a track across Yardie Creek which is accessible during low tide. It’s rough and nowhere near as fast as the bitumen, but Lucas doesn’t know we’re tracking Lee’s phone. He’ll think we’ll waste time checking the boat ramp while he gets away.”
She opened another app which tracked flights. Sometimes it also showed smaller aircraft. There was no air traffic north of Carnarvon. She called the Carnarvon police station. “I need to know whether a plane is still at the airport.” She gave the registration.
“I’ll send someone to check,” the constable said.
“It’s urgent. Call me as soon as you know.” She hung up and switched back to the tracking app. The dot had gone past the boat ramp.
“Call Dot,” she ordered Sherlock. She paced the living room while she waited for Carnarvon to call her back.
“Went straight to voice mail.”
Damn. She tapped out a message telling Dot what was happening.
When she was done, she brainstormed out loud. “If the plane is on its way, they’re going to want to time it perfectly. If the plane arrives too early, Rodney’s team at Coral Bay will have time to converge.”
“That’s assuming Rodney left any in place,” Sherlock said.
Good point. Rodney was arrogant enough to have pulled them all back to Retribution Bay assuming he’d catch Lucas in town. “It will take at least an hour to drive from Retribution Bay, but Lucas will be slower taking the dirt track. They might beat him here.” If they don’t waste time chasing him around the peninsula. “Try Dot again.” She checked the time. How long did it take to send a car to the airport?
“Nothing.” Sherlock pressed another button as Sam strode in.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked.
Nhiari held up a hand as Brandon’s voice came over Sherlock’s phone. “What have you got?”
Sherlock smiled. “You’re OK?”
Brandon swore. “Yeah. Bastard got me with a taser.”
Sam’s eyebrows raised and he moved closer.
“We think they might head here,” Sherlock said. “Nhiari’s trying to find out whether Lucas’s plane is still in Carnarvon.”
“The Yardie Creek road,” Brandon said, understanding. “It’s low tide.”
“Does Rodney’s team have a four-wheel drive?” Nhiari asked.
“No. Let me get Dot.” His voice was more distant as he said, “Dot, I’ve got Sherlock and Nhiari on the phone.”
“What’s happening?” Dot demanded.
“I think they’re coming here,” Nhiari said. “Are any of Organised Crime still in Coral Bay?”
“No,” Dot said. “Rodney pulled all of them to Retribution Bay and now they’ve taken off after Lucas.”
“Can you call them back?”
“Rodney wouldn’t give me their details, but I’ll try Doug.”
Hampering them at every move. Getting shot almost served Rodney right. Her phone rang.
“Yes?”
“The plane is gone,” her contact said. “Departed just as the team pulled up at the airport.”
“Can you track it?”
“Its flight plan was set as Singapore. No passengers. Just the pilot.”
With a stop here on the way, no doubt. “Thanks.” She hung up. “Plane is on its way.”
Dot swore. “Where’s Lee?”
She checked the tracker. “Near Yardie Creek.” Lucas must be doing about a hundred and fifty kilometres an hour. Dangerous. The road was bumpy and at this time of night dingoes and kangaroos would be out.
She hoped Lee would be all right.
Unless he’d been playing her. Her gut clenched.
“I’m calling Doug,” Dot said. “My guess is Rodney didn’t give them a full run down of all exits from town. They might not know Lucas can cross Yardie Creek.”
Sam went over to the map they’d been examining earlier when they made some contingency plans. He tapped on it. “There’s another airstrip here.”
Shit. Nhiari strode over. “There’s an airstrip at the station north of here.” Maybe Lucas turning up here was a red herring. They’d thought the truck would come in from the Coral Bay road, not Yardie Creek, so they hadn’t considered that airstrip an option. But this changed everything. The other station had a strip which was closer coming from that direction.
Dot swore. “How long will it take you to get there?”
“It’ll be close. We should get there about the same time as Lucas.” If Lee was telling the truth and wanted to stop Lucas, he would delay, but if not, it would be tight. “Has Lee got a weapon?”
“Yeah, he took my gun,” Brandon said.
The tracker dot still moved towards them. Lee hadn’t used the gun to stop Lucas yet, but Lucas was also armed and with Lucas behind the wheel, it would be too dangerous. “We’ll head for the airstrip,” she said. “They can’t pass us because there’s only one road. We’ll be out of phone range, though. I’ll turn my police radio on when we get there.”
She had little battery left.
“We’ll take the main road in case they get around you,” Dot said.
Nhiari hung up. “Let’s go.” Sam and Sherlock followed her outside and across to the four-wheel drive.
“I’ll drive,” Sam said, getting into the driver’s side.
Nhiari jumped in the passenger seat, with Sherlock behind her. “Turn off the lights.”
Sam immediately did as she asked.
“That way.”
Sam took off, heading down the track she pointed to. It was only a few nights until the full moon and there was plenty of light to see the track. It also meant Lucas wouldn’t see them coming. Light travelled a great distance out here and if they kept the headlights on, Lucas would know they were out here.
And hopefully they’d see Lucas before they were anywhere near him.
“You haven’t heard from Lee?” Sam asked.
“No.” The fact she hadn’t was telling. He could have messaged her before leaving the police station to update her.
She refused to think about it. Right now she had to concentrate on stopping Lucas and retrieving the treasure.
Nhiari directed Sam over the sandy tracks towards the neighbouring station. Their airstrip was north of the house, so the occupants shouldn’t be disturbed. She held onto the handle above the door as they bounced over the ground, Sam pushing the vehicle to its limits.
She checked her phone. Lucas was making good time on the dirt track, though there was potential they would slow down and even get bogged when it turned sandier. She doubted they’d let air out of the tyres.
Bringing up a satellite map on her phone, she zoomed into the airstrip area. The main track had a road leading off to the north of the airstrip and one to the south. She didn’t know from which end the plane would land, but it would have to turn around and take off again. Depending on the strength of the wind, they might have to taxi back to the other end before taking off.
Perhaps she should drop one guy halfway along, though she wasn’t sure what effect a few bullets in a plane’s tyre would have. Their current advantage was in numbers. Lucas and Lee against the three of them. Though the pilot might also be armed and willing to fight.
“There!” Sherlock pointed to a blink of light on the horizon.
Nhiari kept her gaze on the location, and a moment later, the flash of light came again. Definitely headlights bouncing over the dips and mounds of the track. She checked the tracker again. Not far to the airstrip for either of them.
“Any eyes on the plane?” She peered out of her window and twisted to look behind but couldn’t see any lights in the sky.
“Could it already be there?” Sam asked.
“We would have seen it fly overhead,” Nhiari said. “It won’t be flying dark.”
“Five o’clock,” Sherlock said. “Still about ten clicks away.”
It was going to be tight.
Nhiari switched on her radio and contacted Dot. “We’ve got eyes on the plane.” She gave the coordinates.
“On our way,” Dot answered.
The car jolted over a nasty bump and Nhiari’s head almost hit the roof.
“Sorry.” Sam’s voice was curt and his grip on the steering wheel tightened.
“What’s the plan?” Sherlock said.
“You two go for Lucas and Lee,” Sam said. “I’ll block the plane.”
Good idea. If Sam parked in front of the plane, it couldn’t take off.
They were still a couple of kilometres away from the airstrip when the plane flew low overhead, coming in to land from the south. It would stop at the other end, closer to Lucas and Lee.
But they still had to load the treasure, and that would take time.
Sam swore. “Hold on.”
Nhiari had only a second to tighten her grip before Sam accelerated again.
Lucas’s driving impressed Lee. He would have thought his uncle had no idea how to manage a four-wheel drive on a sandy track, but Lucas drove as if he’d been doing it all his life. Perhaps his car collection hadn’t just been for show.
He didn’t speak and Lee was too confused to ask questions. Why was Lucas rescuing him? It didn’t fit with the uncle he knew. At no stage in Lee’s life had Lucas done anything that made Lee think he cared for him.
It made Lee nervous.
When they crossed Yardie Creek without issue, Lee pictured the area in his head. There were two stations between here and Coral Bay. Nhiari’s parents and the one just south of the ranges. Both had airstrips.
It would make much more sense to land at the northern airstrip, which meant Nhiari’s parents would be safe. “Is the plane on the way?”
“Of course. You know where we’re going?”
“Yeah, the airstrip on the northern station.”
“Very good. I always thought you would be a useful asset to Stonefish. You were far smarter than either of my sons, but your father was so stubborn. If only your mother had more influence over you.”
Lee glanced at Lucas as his unease grew. “Mother had her social causes.” It was the nicest way he could say she’d never given him a second glance.
“Yes. She was thrilled when you finally fulfilled your family obligations.”
Right. He had to be convincing. “If I’d realised how much more challenging it would be compared to the army, I would have joined sooner. Father was… vague about everything that was involved.”
“Your father was soft. He didn’t like doing what had to be done.”
Lee bit his tongue. Was Lucas testing his loyalties? “Why?”
“His heart was never in it. He fell in love with someone before he married my sister.”
Lee raised his eyebrows as his heart raced. “Who was she?”
“Someone he met in Australia,” Lucas said. “He never told me her name, but he asked me to help convince our parents not to arrange the marriage between him and my sister.”
So Lucas had known about Lindsay. That was a worry. “That wouldn’t have been the best for the business,” he replied.
“Exactly.” Lucas nodded as if pleased Lee understood. “The merger between our families was a long time coming. It was the only way to consolidate and bring the company into the twenty-first century.”
“Did you tell him?” Lee asked.
“Of course, and when it didn’t work, I told both our parents. They set him straight. Your grandparents were humiliated he wanted to back out of the arrangement.”
Both his grandparents had been more concerned about the business and appearances than anything else. He’d hated it when they came to visit because he’d always had to be perfect.
“So he married Mother. Did Father ever mention the Australian woman again?”
“No. He was told if he did, they would make sure she was no longer an option.”
Lee’s blood chilled. They would have killed Lindsay if his father had run away with her. He closed his eyes briefly. His family was horrific.
“We will need to arrange you a marriage when we get back to Singapore,” Lucas said.
Lee looked at him, every muscle in his body tensing. He swallowed before he said, “Of course. Did you have anyone in mind?”
“Your mother has a list of appropriate women.”
Of course she did. Nhiari would never make his mother’s list. And Nhiari was the only one he wanted to marry.
This would soon be over and he wouldn’t have to deal with his mother again.
Ahead he noticed the lights of a plane coming towards them. “Plane is almost there.”
“Right on time.”
Hopefully they would get to the airstrip before the plane landed. He needed to disarm Lucas before the pilot came out, otherwise he’d be outnumbered.
As they came over the final mound and the airstrip stretched out in front of them, the plane touched down. Lucas slowed as the plane reached the end, turned to face back down the runway, and powered down.
Lucas stopped just near the wing and got out. “Let’s go.”
Now was Lee’s chance. He got out, grabbing the gun from his waist band. He strode around to the back of the four-wheel drive and levelled the gun at Lucas. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Lucas blinked at him. “What are you doing?”
“Stopping you,” Lee said. “You killed my father and I’m not letting you escape.” His pulsed roared in his ears.
Lucas threw his head back and laughed.
That wasn’t the reaction he’d been expecting. Nerves tickled Lee’s skin. He said nothing, waiting until Lucas was done, monitoring the plane for the pilot.
“I didn’t kill your father,” Lucas said when he’d finished laughing.
The engine died, and the noise echoed in the distance.
“He wanted to be free of Stonefish and you wouldn’t let him leave.” He stepped forward and retrieved one of the extra ties Rodney had thrown him from his pocket.
Lucas shook his head. “It wasn’t me.”
He was lying. “Then who killed my father?”
“Me.” The female voice had Lee turning towards the plane. His mother walked down the steps dressed in a pilot’s uniform.
Lee gaped at her and in that split second of inattention, Lucas lunged, grabbing the gun and pointing it at Lee.
Shit.
Lee raised his hands as he stared at his mother, trying to get his head around it. Why was she dressed as a pilot? She couldn’t fly. He shook his head. “You killed Dad?”
His mother was a shrewd socialite, but he’d never considered her a killer.
“Of course I did. He wanted to leave me, wanted to risk everything we had built here. He was weak.” She shrugged as she moved towards them. “I had high hopes when you joined us, but then things started to go wrong and I questioned whether you were any better than him.”
“I told you he was causing all our problems,” Lucas said.
Ourproblems. He felt as if he was on some crazy prank show. This couldn’t be right. “How long have you worked for Stonefish?”
Her eyes flashed. “I am Stonefish,” she said. “Not that my parents ever acknowledged a woman could run a company better than a man.”
What the hell? He glanced at his uncle.
“Surprising, isn’t it?” He smiled. “She had a head for it that I didn’t. I’ve taken orders from her since before our parents died. No one knew. Not even your father.”
Lee reviewed his life. His mother had always been too busy for him, always out with her friends, coming home with bags of shopping. Or there were the days when she was holed up in bed with some kind of malady and he wasn’t allowed to disturb her.
She could have run the company from her room with no one knowing. Lucas made a good figurehead.
Lee had never had a clue.
“Did you kill Clark?” The question was mild and had Lee coming back to the present to see death in Lucas’s eyes.
Had Lucas actually cared about his son? He’d put on a convincing front.
If Lee admitted the truth, he would be dead before he took his next breath. In his mind he apologised to Georgie. “I told you, Georgie Stokes killed Clark. He threatened the man she loved.”
“Love makes people weak and vulnerable,” his mother spat.
The echo of the engine was getting louder. Lee frowned. That wasn’t an echo. It was a car engine. Someone was coming.
It had to be Nhiari. No one else could have got here so quickly. Somehow she’d found him. He had to get this done before she arrived, otherwise she’d be in danger.
The others didn’t seem to notice.
His mother wasn’t holding a weapon, but it didn’t mean she was unarmed. And she was cool. Nothing riled her. But he had to try. “Dad loved me.”
“Your father was always weak.”
Lee clenched his hands, but kept his mouth shut. Lucas stood a metre away in front of the boot of the car, the gun pointed at Lee. If he so much as flinched, he’d be dead.
His mother glanced in the direction of the car noise. “We’ve got company.”
“We need to get out of here,” Lucas said. “Help me with the treasure.”
“I don’t care about the treasure,” she answered. “Get in the plane, or I’m leaving without you.” She turned and walked up the steps.
Leaving. The person responsible for his father’s death was getting away. Lucas grabbed a bag of treasure and hauled it over his shoulder.
Still obsessed. That’s what made him weak.
Lee lunged, twisting the gun from his uncle’s hand. Lucas hefted the heavy bag, and it slammed into Lee’s side, almost taking his breath from him.
Lee stepped back as a car burst onto the far end of the runway and barrelled towards them. It flicked its lights on as the plane engine turned over. Shit. His mother would get away.
He shot Lucas’s knee as the man lunged and he fell to the ground with a yell.
Lee raced for the plane steps and was halfway up them when another gunshot cracked and pain exploded in his right shoulder.
He stumbled into the cabin and glanced out the door. Lucas had pulled his gun and was pointing it at Lee. Lee ducked out of the way as another shot cracked and the plastic moulding around him splintered.
The plane shifted and Lee strode to the cockpit. The door was locked, but a bullet saw it open. His mother was pressing the throttle forward as the white four-wheel drive pulled up in front. Nhiari and Sherlock leapt out.
Lee’s heart stopped, his eyes widening.
Lucas still had his gun. Nhiari might not see him on the ground, and she wouldn’t hear his warning over the engine. He should have killed Lucas before he came after his mother.
Now Nhiari was in danger.
He twisted so he could see out the door of the plane as well, but levelled his weapon at her.
His mother chuckled. “I suspected this might be the case.”
Her words brought his focus back to her. “What?”
He flinched at the gunshots from outside and his mother raised the gun he hadn’t spotted. “That you were lying about seducing the officer. You’re just as weak as your father.”
Lee had no words as he processed the gun pointing directly at Nhiari.
“So either you lower your weapon, or I’ll kill the woman you love.”
Sam parked in front of the nose, not giving the plane any space to manoeuvre. Nhiari couldn’t hear anything over the roar of the engine as she leapt out of the car with Sherlock.
Nhiari focused on Lucas lying on the ground in front of her, one hand on his knee, his gun raised. Shit. Before she could raise her gun, Sherlock shot twice, and Lucas lay dead on the ground.
Where was Lee?
She looked up into the plane cockpit and saw a female pilot behind the controls. In the glow of lights, she spotted a man standing behind her.
Lee.
Why was Lee in the plane when Lucas was on the ground? Hadn’t his goal been to stop Lucas?
Or was this all a lie?
The door to the plane was still open and Sherlock strode around Lucas’s car, checking to make sure it was clear.
A quick glance showed a bag of treasure on the ground.
Where was the rest?
As she stepped out from behind the car, there was an explosion of glass and she stumbled as something slammed into her side. She gasped for breath, hand going to the hot bullet in her vest.
She looked up, saw Lee with his gun raised pointed at her.
He’d shot her.
Disbelief filled her as Sam swept around the front of the car, grabbed her arm and dragged her under the cover of the plane.
“Lee…and pilot…inside.” She tried to take deep breaths, but the impact and shock of everything made it difficult to inhale. Lee had shot her.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded. “Hit the vest.” She’d have the mother of all bruises tomorrow, but it was nothing compared to the pain in her heart.
Sherlock joined them. “They won’t be going anywhere with a hole in the windscreen,” he yelled.
They. Lee and the female pilot. Her uncertainty vanished. The heartbreak threatened to steal her remaining breath.
“Nhiari.” Sam shook her, and she blinked. “You all right?”
She pushed the pain away. She had a job to do. “Yeah,” she yelled back.
They moved down the back of the plane so they could hear a little easier and put their heads together.
“Who shot you?” Sherlock asked.
“Lee.”
Both men’s eyes widened and Sam felt her vest. “He could have aimed for your head.”
Meaning what—he hadn’t wanted to hurt her? Which meant he was still playing the game. Or she was grasping at straws.
“Two potential exits,” Sherlock called. “Windscreen and door.”
Of course. “Two vehicles,” she added, not allowing herself to hope.
Sam shot out two tyres of Lucas’s car. “One.” He slipped a fresh magazine into his gun. “Anyone else in the plane?”
“Not that I saw,” Nhiari said. But there could be more people in the cabin.
“Do we want them alive?” Sherlock asked.
Sam looked at her.
She nodded. “Yes.” Questions still needed to be answered.
“Sherlock, you take the front. We’ll take the rear.”
He nodded. “I’ll get eyes.” He moved down the belly of the plane and Nhiari and Sam took position on either side of the stairs.
Her heart beat in her ears as she gripped the warm gun.
It would be easy for Lee to shoot them as they climbed the stairs into the plane. She would go up first. If he wanted to kill her, he’d aim for her head this time.
She held up her fingers. Three…two…one.
She stormed the plane.