Chapter 18 #2
Ethan grabbed Chelsea’s hand and dragged her back towards the house, making her break into a jog just to keep up. Johann could have made it to Honeybrook by now if he’d come straight here after leaving his house, but why would he? Unless Leyton was supposed to call to say he’d done the job.
“Maybe he has a mistress and fishing is the excuse he gave his wife,” Chelsea suggested. It was what her father had done during his affair with her mother.
“Maybe,” Josh agreed. “I wanted to give you the heads up just in case.”
“We’ll keep an eye out for him,” Ethan said.
The team looked over as they walked through the front door. It was slightly disconcerting how alert they were all the time. “Thanks Josh.”
“There’s more,” Josh continued. “We looked into Lleyton’s claims about the company Johann works for. They are on our radar.”
Every person in the room went still. “Tell me more,” Ethan barked.
“I shouldn’t even be telling you that,” Josh retorted. “The most I could get out of my colleagues was to tread very carefully. Johann might be what he seems, a project manager with few scruples, or he might understand exactly what his superiors do and therefore be desperate not to let them down.”
Chelsea’s skin prickled. It would explain the lengths Johann had gone to to get Lilydale.
“Understood,” Ethan said. “Keep us up to date with anything new.”
“I’ll try.” Josh hung up.
Ethan ran a hand through his hair as Heath asked, “What do we know?”
“Johann’s in the wind,” Ethan replied.
“Last seen?” Rhys asked.
“Leaving his house at six. Supposed to be going fishing, but he’s not with his friends.”
“What do you need?” Noah asked.
“We’ll keep it casual,” Ethan said. “Do work in areas we can’t be seen from the road, so he doesn’t know how many of us there are.”
“Is he likely to come here if the police are after him?” Chelsea asked.
“We don’t know what he’s likely to do,” Ethan said. “I don’t want you going anywhere alone today. One of us should always be with you, even if you’re going inside to use the bathroom.”
Concern filled her. “Why would Johann attack me, especially with you all around?”
“He might be desperate and not thinking straight. It might be simply for revenge for messing up his plans. I’m not risking it.”
Around him the rest of the men nodded. Mila came down the stairs looking refreshed. Her footsteps slowed. “What happened?”
“They couldn’t catch Johann, and his company is associated with organised crime,” Chelsea told her.
“Level of danger?” Mila asked Ethan.
“Unknown, but Johann’s probably desperate.”
Mila nodded. “We’ll keep together.” She smiled sympathetically at Chelsea. “At least there’s plenty to keep us busy.”
Chelsea was soothed by her forthright acceptance. Mila knew what these men were capable of and had faith in them. Chelsea knew Ethan wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Some of her fear faded. “I guess you’re right.” She smiled at her new friend. “Can I get you a coffee?”
***
Unease settled around Ethan as they divvied up the tasks for the day. He pulled Chelsea aside. “Why don’t you spend the day going through Aunt Maggie’s things?”
She glanced at him. “You mean lock myself inside?”
“Yeah.”
“Not going to happen. Besides, the next room I need to go through is Aunt Maggie’s and Dobby is sleeping in it.”
He opened his mouth and she put her finger over it.
“No, you’re not waking him. I’m not hiding away because Johann lied to his wife about where he would be. I haven’t done enough work in the garden, and I can’t expect you and your friends to work so hard on your days off.”
“We’re not great at relaxing,” Heath joked. “You saved us from a weekend of boredom.”
She rolled her eyes. “Nevertheless, I want to do some of the work. I want to look back and know I contributed.”
“You’ll have plenty of opportunity,” Rhys said.
Chelsea just looked at Ethan.
“Fine, but you’re working with me, and I’ve got sprinkler duty.”
She screwed up her nose but nodded. “Fine.”
They headed outside. Today was overcast and there was still the hint of both smoke and petrol in the air.
Chelsea explained to each soldier what she wanted done. She’d let them choose their task, and they had chosen locations that would give them a good spread throughout the garden to keep watch. Heath was working with Mila to ensure she was safe while Dobby slept.
Ethan didn’t think Chelsea had noticed.
Finally they returned to the barn where the reticulation panel was. “There are ten sprinkler stations,” Ethan said as he opened the cabinet where all the switches were. He reviewed the dated display which was familiar from his youth. “I haven’t done the ones in the public garden yet.”
“Do we turn each one on and see what works and what doesn’t?”
“Let’s go into the garden first and check the sprinklers are clear. Barry would have uncovered most of them, but it’s better to identify broken ones before we get everything wet.” He picked up the plastic box which contained sprinkler spares. “Shall we?”
A couple of hours later, they had reviewed and tested the sprinkler stations which were in the public area of the garden.
Chelsea yawned. “Morning tea break?”
“Yeah. I noticed you made some things last night.”
She grinned. “All your favourites. Plus I figured I’d need a lot to feed your friends.”
As they returned to the house, he whistled and yelled, “Smoko!”
Rhys glanced over, acknowledged the call, and gestured to someone Ethan couldn’t see. Word would spread.
Chelsea filled the kettle and had made a couple of espressos by the time everyone had washed up and come inside.
She handed the espressos to Noah and Rhys and then spread the food options over the table.
Ethan grabbed a Father’s Favourite, a chocolate ball made from Weet-Bix and condensed milk and covered in coconut.
He closed his eyes as the sweet flavour hit his tongue and memories of his teenaged summer came back to him.
Aunt Maggie had fed him well, which he appreciated, because he hadn’t been allowed to help himself to food in the pantry at his foster parents’ place. Everything had to be approved beforehand, and most of the time he’d been told to wait until dinner.
He reached for another ball and Heath grabbed one. “They must be good if you’re already going back for seconds.” He bit into it and nodded. “Really good. Chelsea, you want to forget about Ethan and marry me?”
Chelsea laughed and Ethan ignored the small burst of jealousy, though he glared at Heath. “Back off.”
Heath grinned and fetched his tea from the kitchen.
When they were all seated around the table, Ethan asked, “Any signs?”
One by one they shook their head. “Pretty quiet,” Noah answered.
Perhaps it was a good thing, though he hadn’t heard from Josh, which meant the police hadn’t tracked down Johann.
He called Josh as Heath told Chelsea, “Most of the garden beds cottage side are ready for plants.”
“Chelsea and I can head to the nursery after we’ve eaten,” Mila said. “I can feel some retail therapy coming on.”
Chelsea grinned. “That would be fun.”
Ethan exchanged a glance with Dobby. Would they be safe?
Josh answered. “Nothing new to report.”
“No sign of him here either,” Ethan told him. “Did Leyton say anything about needing to call Johann?”
“No, he said he hadn’t arranged anything. I’ve got to run.” Josh sounded harried as he hung up.
Ethan repeated the information to the others.
“Maybe he did go fishing,” Mila said.
“Or perhaps Darren was supposed to call him,” Chelsea said. “Just because he didn’t light the fire, doesn’t mean he’s not still involved.”
She was right.
“Maybe it’s time to pay Darren another visit,” Ethan said.
“Why don’t you do that while we go to the nursery?” Chelsea said.
Ethan shook his head. “You’re not going anywhere alone.”
“Mila’s coming with me.”
“How about we call Lauren and invite her?” Mila suggested. “Then there will be three of us. He’s not likely to try anything with two witnesses.”
Was she right and he was being paranoid? He glanced at Dobby, who gave a subtle shake of his head. Yeah, he was worried about Mila too.
“Invite Lauren if you want, but I’ll drive you to the nursery. My car is bigger.” He wouldn’t leave Chelsea unguarded.
“We’ll visit Darren.” Rhys grinned.
Noah cracked his knuckles. “It’ll be fun.”
Ethan chuckled. His friends always had his back. “Thanks. Let’s get to it.”
“Great!” Mila grinned at Chelsea. “I’ve never been plant shopping before.”