Chapter Twenty-One
Lee vowed it wouldn’t be the last time he saw Nhiari as she walked out of the room. Somehow he would figure out a way for them to talk, even if they arrested him and were planning to gaol him for life.
“What happened last night?” Detective Doug Pecherczyk asked.
“Rodney arrested me.” Lee glanced at Rodney. He was still having difficulty believing the man had been working for the police all along and wasn’t a crooked cop. “He brought me into town from Retribution Ridge and threw me into a gaol cell,” he continued. Lee explained everything that had happened until he arrived at the hospital.
By the time he finished, he’d drained his water jug and fatigue clouded his brain. The doctor walked in and glanced at everyone in the room. Doug introduced himself and the other detective, Karen.
“Are you discharging Lee?”
“Possibly.” The doctor picked up Lee’s chart, glancing through it. “How are you feeling?”
“Sore,” Lee admitted. “But it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“Good.” He turned to Doug. “I’ll get the nurses to organise his discharge papers. If he’s being remanded in custody, there are some things you’ll need to know.”
Doug nodded. “I’ll sort it out.”
Lee watched the detective. He was nicer than Rodney and didn’t have the attitude. Lee wasn’t certain he believed Rodney’s statement that he’d gone back to ‘old’ Rodney as part of his cover, but at least Doug seemed to be on Nhiari’s side.
“I’ll need to take your passport,” Doug said.
Why? Wasn’t he going straight to Carnarvon gaol? “It’s in my backpack out at the Ridge.”
“I’ve asked Darcy Stokes to bring your things into town,” Doug continued. “We’ll need you to sign your statement and be available for more questions as needed.”
Lee frowned. “Am I not under arrest?”
“Nhiari contacted me several days ago to ask about clemency for you. With the information Rodney’s been feeding us and your willingness to cooperate with the police, it has been decided your sentence will be suspended indefinitely. You helped us stop Stonefish.”
Lee stared at him, not comprehending it. “I’m free to go?”
“To a certain extent. Consider it a type of parole. We’ll need your passport, and for you to check in regularly until we can clean up the rest of Stonefish’s operation.” Doug smiled. “We’re bound to have more questions as we go through the files Andrew extracted for us.”
Lee closed his eyes as the disbelief made him dizzy. This was more than he had ever hoped for.
“Your mother’s and your uncle’s bodies are at the hospital,” Doug continued. “They will be released to family in a few days if you would like to arrange what you would like done with them.”
“I’ll give you my aunt’s details. She can decide.” He didn’t care, but his aunt would want Lucas’s body back in Singapore. She’d lost her whole family in only a few months.
“Karen will take you back to the police station to finalise things when you get your discharge papers.”
Lee nodded. His heart pounded with the anticipation which came just before the first dip of a rollercoaster.
He wasn’t going to gaol.
His life stretched out in front of him, myriad paths for him to choose.
There was only one path he wanted to follow.
A couple of hours later, he stood with Dot at the police station entrance.
“What are you going to do now?” she asked.
There were so many people he needed to contact, but only one he wanted to speak with. “Find Nhiari.”
Dot smiled. “She’s at home. Good luck.”
“Thank you.” He walked over to his car where Darcy, Ed, and Matt waited. They’d driven his car with his things into town. He didn’t blame them for hanging around to find out what had happened. There was a lot Lee had to make up for, but right now, he wanted to see the woman he loved.
“They let you go,” Darcy said.
“I’m on parole,” he answered, sizing up the man. “There’s nothing I can do to make up for what Stonefish did to you and your family,” he began. “For what I did to your family. I would have stopped Clark if I’d known what he had planned. Your parents were kind people.”
“You killed Clark and prevented the deaths of more of my family.” Darcy looked him right in the eyes. “For that, I thank you.”
“You killed Tan and saved Tess,” Ed said, holding out his hand. “You have my eternal gratitude.”
Lee shook it and turned to the scowling Matt, who shifted next to him. “You lied to my sister.”
“I protected Nhiari as much as I could.”
Matt gave a reluctant nod. “Pretty stupid to jump in front of the knife.”
Lee raised an eyebrow. “Instinct. If I recall, you stepped in front of the woman you love too.”
Matt’s eyes widened, and he whistled. “Shit.”
Lee smiled. Finally he had found a way to shut Matt up.
Darcy cleared his throat. “It might take some of us time before we can forgive you completely.”
“I understand.” He was being more than generous.
“However our women are very forgiving. They’ve invited you to dinner tomorrow night at the Ridge.”
Lee stared at him.
Ed chuckled. “Tess said she and Georgie would drag you there. They have questions.” The love in his voice was clear.
Darcy handed over the car keys. “You’d better be there. Dinner’s at six.” With that, they walked away.
Lee rubbed his thumb over the warm metal of his keys. He’d always known the Stokes were special.
Lee got into his car and drove the short distance to Nhiari’s town house. He’d only been here once before on their date, but nothing had changed. It was a small brick and tile place in the same complex as Georgie’s and had two bedrooms. Her car was parked in the carport and he parked in the spot next to it, nerves scrambling around his stomach.
This was it.
Would she forgive him for lying to her? Would she forgive him for shooting her?
Did they have a future together?
The only way to get answers was to knock on her door.
Taking a deep breath, he walked up the few steps and knocked.
The wait was interminable. It was almost midday, so she shouldn’t be sleeping any longer, but he couldn’t hear her walking around inside.
He rapped again, louder and a little more insistent. This time she called, “I’m coming!” with a little irritation in her voice.
He exhaled and stepped back to give her space. She flung open the door. Her dark hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, she had a plain T-shirt and shorts on and her eyes widened in shock. “Lee.” She rubbed her hands over her face, looking as if she’d just woken up.
He smiled. “They gave me parole.”
She frowned and stepped back, blinking her disbelief. “What?”
He clenched his hands together to stop himself from pulling her into his arms. He needed to give her a chance to compute what was happening. “Since you contacted Doug a few days ago, they’ve been putting together the evidence about what I’ve done to stop Stonefish. With what Rodney’s now added to it, they agreed to parole me based on a few conditions.” He kept his gaze steady on her.
She tugged on the end of her ponytail. “What conditions?”
“I had to hand over my passport, be available for further questioning, and report to a police station weekly.” When she continued to stare at him, he asked, “Can I come in?”
She nodded and stepped back so he could enter her house. The living area was simple but with touches of her. Comfortable sofa in front of a moderate sized television and a coffee table with several books on it. The photo on the wall was of the waterhole they had swum in. She’d told him on their date that it was her special place.
“Are you all right?” She touched her chest in the same place as his injury.
“Yeah. I need to take it easy for a couple of weeks. No strenuous exercise.”
She walked into the kitchen and put on the kettle, getting out a couple of mugs. “Do you want a drink?” She grabbed her phone from the counter and dashed out a text message.
Who was she contacting? “No. I want to talk to you.”
Her phone dinged, and she smiled.
“Who was that?”
Nhiari hesitated. “Dot.”
“You were checking I was telling the truth.”
She nodded.
He couldn’t blame her. “Will you talk to me now?”
In answer, she sat on the sofa, wincing a little as she did so, her hand going to her side. Where he’d shot her.
Horrified, he knelt in front of her and reached for her, but hesitated, not touching her. “May I?”
She lifted her top so he could see the slight graze to her skin and the dark bruise spreading from it. Lee brushed it lightly. He had caused this. He had hurt her. Remorse filled him. “I’m so sorry.”
She hissed and shifted away. “Why did you do it?”
“Because my mother was going to kill you,” he said. “She had a gun pointing at you and would have aimed for your head. I figured I could hit your vest and you would take cover. Sam dragged you away, and it surprised Mother enough that I could get the upper hand.” Briefly at least.
“Why didn’t you contact me when Rodney broke you out of gaol?”
“Because Lucas said he would kill any police officer he saw. I wasn’t risking your life. You’re too precious to me.”
She closed her eyes and leaned away from him.
How could he make her believe him? “I wasn’t double-crossing you. My goal was always to stop Lucas. I could do that without putting you in danger.” He frowned. “How did you find us?”
She looked at him. “I put a tracker on your phone.”
It was his turn to lean back. “When?”
“That message I sent you at the Ridge.”
Surprise filled him and then he smiled. “Payback. Nice work.” Then he frowned. “Were you already out there?”
She nodded. “Lucas spoke to my father the day before. He was pretending to be a tour operator. When I heard someone had been asking about the airstrip, I figured he might plan to use it. We were there just in case, but then I remembered the airstrip to the north, and we headed there.”
She was so smart. “Good work.”
“You’re not mad I tracked you?”
“It was sensible,” he said. “Though when you turned up, I was terrified for your life. I thought Lucas had killed you when I heard the gun shots.”
“Sherlock was faster.”
“Remind me to thank him.” Lee took her hand in his. “I’ve done a lot of bad things; I’ve killed, I’ve lied, and I’ve hurt you. But that’s all over now. My father’s killer is dead, Stonefish is being disbanded, and I’ve been given a second chance with parole.” He looked into her eyes. “And if you’ll give me a second chance, I won’t waste it. I’ll spend a lifetime making it up to you, proving that you are the most important person in the world to me.”
“What will you do now?”
He hadn’t thought that far ahead, but he should have. “I have my photography,” he said. “The coffee table book I told you about wasn’t a lie, though now Stonefish is finished, the publisher might pull the contract.” He’d call them tomorrow. “And I’m sure I’ll be able to get a job around here. I’ll do whatever it takes; stocking shelves, herding sheep, picking up litter.”
“Lindsay will give you a job if she has one,” Nhiari said with a smile.
“Did you speak to her?”
She nodded. “She spoke highly of you.”
He bit his lip. “And do you agree with her assessment?”
Her thumb rubbed against the back of his hand where she still held on to it. “I do, but I don’t know if we can make it work. You’ve hurt all of my friends.”
“Darcy, Ed and Matt brought my things into town,” he said in a rush, trying to stop her from rejecting him. “Tess and Georgie have already forgiven me, and I’ve been invited out to the Ridge for dinner tomorrow night.”
Her eyebrows raised. “Really?”
“Really. Perhaps they realised how much I love you.”
Her eyes glistened with tears and she sighed, long and heartfelt. “I love you too.”
Elation filled him and he shifted to the couch, pulling her gently into his arms, and sealed the declaration with a kiss.
“You captured my heart the day of our date as well,” she admitted when they pulled apart. “I’ve hated the thought you were manipulating me. My taste in men has always been terrible.”
“I’m so sorry, Nhi. I’ll never give you pause to doubt me again.” He kissed her again.
She nodded. “We’ll make it work.”
“Yes, we will.”