Chapter 26
Twenty-six
The kitchen still smelled like mangoes and rockmelon, with his fridge overfull with more veggies than any man could eat on his own. ‘Well, so much for bringing breakfast…’
Bree was gone. Ryder and Ash, too. But Taryn was still here, sitting at the table, sipping coffee from one of his cracked mugs while scrolling through her phone, like she’d always belonged in this house.
That unsettled him more than working out who SW was, and all the other intel Bree had delivered.
On his phone, he tapped a message out in the group chat Amara had set up:
Quarry caretaker and SW suspect identified: Bob. Two-bob Bob. Real name—Samuel Ward. Sawyer Dixby’s cousin.
Amara—run background checks on Bob. Find a link to SW Rural Contracting. And the quarry’s owners.
Romy—pull images of the ute tyres from the quarry and Red’s ute, too. Send to Craig and Porter to check if they match the mystery tracks from Seery’s crime scene. The ones near his buried quad and body. Also, grab shots of cattle brands for the team to identify.
Craig and Stone—head to Tinderflats with a photo of Bob. Confirm he’s been working out there under SW Contracting and dig up whatever else you can.
Sawyer Seery Dixby didn’t just drive into that bulldust pit by accident. He knew that land too well. The coroner ruled it a fluke that the tyre on that quad blew out, causing Seery to lose control, getting pinned beneath the bike, and drown in that bulldust pit.
But it never sat right with Finn and the rest of his crew.
Not with the mystery tyre tracks that ran straight across the path of Seery’s quad.
If he’d been panicking, looking over his shoulder, desperate to get away from Porter and Craig, who were racing after him in the Hellhound, he’d be looking for an exit.
If Seery saw a ute waiting, he would’ve gunned it in hope of a rescue. But instead, someone let him die. Maybe Red.
But Seery’s ute was registered to SW Contracting—that had to be Bob’s business. The same Bob who was running stolen stock out of the quarry, must’ve been running stolen stock off Dixby Downs Station—while his cousin, Seery, was busy digging holes to find the deeds to the place.
It was too much of a coincidence to ignore.
And in this game, every little breadcrumb mattered.
Finn stared at his phone as his team gave quick replies. That left him home alone with the Fed.
‘You handled Bree.’ Who really didn’t like being handled by anyone. Ryder Riggs had his hands full, that’s for sure.
Taryn didn’t look up from her seat at the table, scrolling over her phone. ‘She’s one of a kind.’
‘Yeah…’ He didn’t smile. Couldn’t. Not yet. Because whatever this was between them still felt as dangerous as barbed wire. It had to be cut before it got twisted any tighter.
‘Who sent you?’ he asked.
She just looked up, calmly. ‘My director sent me to audit the unit. That’s the official version.’
‘And the real one? Not the one about your cousin, I get that. But the speech your boss would’ve given you to sell this job.’
‘Russ warned me it’d be a cowboy operation, while telling me about his fishing trips that involved crocodiles the size of sedans. Or was that a bathtub?’ She shifted in her seat to face him. ‘I came out here expecting a hillbilly mess. Instead, I found you, the team, and this town… All of it.’
He didn’t move.
She then placed her phone down on the table. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Last night, I set up surveillance in the quarry. Cameras. Drone feeds. Vehicle tags. With no warrants.’
‘What sort of cameras?’
‘Romy’s specialised field cameras that she uses for her documentaries. That’s where Bob’s photo came from.’ The real SW signing off on the paperwork the entire time.
Finn was pretty sure he’d walked past Bob dozens of times in the pub, and at the stockyards, looking like any other ringer. Hiding in plain sight.
‘I’m telling you this because if this case blows up, I don’t want you blind or burned because of me.’
‘Are you saying you trust me?’
He hesitated. Had to. ‘I want to trust you. But if you’re still here to tear this squad down—and if you’re just playing me—then say it now. Don’t smile in my kitchen and stab the squad in the back later.’
She answered with nothing but silence and that steady stare.
‘So, ask me anything,’ he said. ‘Question me over what you’ve set out in that spare room, and I’ll tell you whatever you want, as I’m trying to trust you.
I’ll give you the file on your cousin, no strings attached.
But here’s the thing…’ He shuffled his boots, crossing his arms tight over his chest. ‘Last night, Red announced to Bob that they’re stopping for a month because of you. ’
She didn’t even raise her eyebrows at that.
‘They know you’re here to stop me and my team. And they’re waiting for you to shut us down.’ He huffed with annoyance. ‘Were they wrong?’
Taryn didn’t blink or fidget, she just stood. ‘The whole town knew I was coming, and they weren’t wrong about my assignment. I came here to evaluate this team and give my honest report. And if the numbers didn’t stack up? Your squad was on the chopping block, as it was only on a trial.’
Finn’s jaw clenched.
She stepped closer. ‘But I came here seeking justice for my cousin, and for the part of me that still believes this job means something… But what I found wasn’t a mess. Even if the rules don’t always apply the way they should, the job was getting done.’
‘And you?’ she added, with her eyes narrowing a little. ‘You’re not broken. Or some rogue cop. You’re…’ She breathed in heavily.
While he held his own, waiting for her judgement.
‘You weren’t the threat they warned me about, Finn. Instead, I found proof that someone like you could make this team matter, while also showing how it’d make a big difference to this region. I’ll admit they didn’t send me to help you, but to confirm their excuses for shutting you down.’
He dropped his head, with his shoulders suddenly weary. ‘You weren’t part of it?’
‘No. My boss, Russ, told me to be fair, and he’s a good guy. As to who put in the initial request for someone to come out here? I don’t know. But I’ll admit I was biased, thinking you’d let Everlight get away with murdering my cousin because of your incompetency.’
Finn scowled hard at that.
‘I know now that you didn’t,’ she said, her hands raised as if to calm him down.
Surprisingly, it did.
‘But after what you’ve told me, I believe I’m just a pawn in their game. Do you agree?’
He nodded. Just once. ‘Last night, Red said he’s shutting down for a month, hoping you’ll send us packing. He’s not cleaning up, he’s just covering until your report is completed. That means we’re close.’ Closer than they’d ever been.
But they had to do this right and not go in guns blazing.
Even though they had enough to make arrests, Finn wanted everyone.
He wanted to shut them down properly and not let them pop up somewhere else like they’d done, moving from Dixby Downs to the quarry, demonstrating how fluid their operation was.
Who knows how many backup places they had in the outback—the place where secrets went to die.
He headed for the spare bedroom to face the wall of red string filled with file notes, places, dates, and names that she’d spent all night pulling into order.
‘Now that you’ve gutted my Gaps File, do you think we can connect anything back to SW Rural Contracting, or the quarry, for leverage?
’ He pulled out the folder from the hallway cupboard, the one she’d been waiting for, and dropped it on her laptop. It was hers now.
Taryn moved beside him and stared down at the file. Surprisingly, she didn’t touch it. ‘You know I’m going to ask this, so I’ll just say it—Why?’
‘We need to find out who’s bankrolling their operation. Someone has to have the funds for land, like the quarry, the utes, trailers, fuel and fencing. I’ve always thought that money came from Everlight’s grants.’
‘Really? How?’
‘Izzy’s research of Everlight showed me the pattern they had for buying those particular blocks of land—’
‘Across the nation.’ She shrugged. ‘Go on.’
‘They were all in prime livestock corridors,’ he said. ‘Our first case, the Rough Stock case, was on Everlight’s property. It wasn’t set up for a solar farm, but it had all the signs of being a way station for livestock.’
‘Are you saying that Everlight was going to set up other way stations, like they did at Dixby Downs?’
Even though he could feel it, he just couldn’t prove it, and with her skills and almost unlimited access to information, maybe—just maybe—Taryn could help him find those missing links.
‘I know Red is the local source who finds the stock worth taking. SW—Bob—is the one who manages the cattle drafts and trucks like a muster crew. And now I have two extra names to add to that list.’ He picked up a marker from the stationery box and wrote over the peeling wallpaper, the names: Clancy and the Pilot.
Then in bold letters he wrote the Top Dog drawing a line back to Everlight Energy Solutions.
Taryn was quiet for a moment staring at him and not at the board. ‘You’re different when you’re in the game.’
‘Focused?’
‘No, hopeful.’
He froze for half a second. Because hope was dangerous.
‘Did you carry me to bed?’
‘What?’
‘Last night. I fell asleep under the wall. Did you carry me?’
His jaw ticked. ‘You were half dead on your feet—’
‘So that’s a yes.’
‘It was nothing.’
‘Sure.’ She walked towards him. ‘Because you’re real good at nothing, aren’t you?’
She was so close he could see the flecks of blue in her eyes and the tiny scar on her lip that only showed when she smirked like that. ‘What do you want from me, Finn?’
He didn’t know how to answer that. Not without saying too much.
She stepped even closer. ‘I’ve got questions about what’s on that board.
And about SW Rural Contracting, and where all of this leads.
But right now?’ she said, tilting her head in a way that did something to his self-control.
‘I’m wondering if you kissed me last night when you put me to bed? Or if I dreamt it.’
Finn’s breath caught.
He hadn’t.
But he’d wanted to more than he’d even admit to himself. But she’d been asleep—and that was a line he’d never cross.
But now he was thinking about nothing else.
‘No,’ he said, with a rough voice. ‘I didn’t want it to be something you missed. Or something I stole.’
Taryn’s eyes softened, while the tension hummed between them like a live wire, as her fingers lightly brushed the side of his hand, to send a light spark scurrying across his skin.
‘So, kiss me now,’ she said. ‘While I’m awake. While it’s mine to remember.’
Finn didn’t move as his pulse thundered. ‘Taryn—’
‘Don’t think, Finn. Just do it, before we both say something dumb and start fighting again.’
He reached for her, one hand cradling the side of her face, his thumb brushing her cheekbone, the other hand sliding to her lower back like he’d known her body shape his entire life.
She leaned in at the same time, and their lips met.
The kiss wasn’t hesitant. It wasn’t shy, either. It was everything they’d been holding back, that was finally allowed to break free.
And when they pulled apart—just barely, for air—she didn’t step back.
Neither did he.
They stayed there, foreheads brushing, breath mingling, long enough for him to know this wasn’t a mistake or a distraction. This was like a beginning.
And for once in his life, he wasn’t waiting for the fallout.
He was going to let himself fall.