Undara

by Annie Seaton

  He’d put Blake’s number into his phone earlier. Despite the late hour, the call was picked up straight away.

  ‘Detective Inspector Blake, it’s Travis Carlyle. We have a problem.’

  CHAPTER

  27

  Brisbane CBD, 1 February, 9 am

  Eric de Vere, CEO of Carroglen Gold, welcomed Gavin and his mate, Rod, into the conference room of the Park Regis Hotel in Brisbane. Having to fly to Brisbane for the final meeting with the gold-mining company—along with the new suit he’d bought—had almost taken the whole cheque that Travis had given him the other day. But if the deal was to go ahead, Gavin knew he had to look and act like a player. Everything—his finances and his future—hinged on this final meeting today. He’d sorted out that sponsorship issue, but having to leave the bitch in the bush had worried him.

  With a bit of luck, she’d bloody die out there. If she was ever found in that cave—and the chances of that were very slim—he’d be long gone. He’d only just made the airport with a few minutes to spare, after he’d taken a quick detour to dump her phone at the top of Castle Hill lookout. He hoped she had location services turned on, because he’d held it with the bottom of his T-shirt and made sure it was switched on before he’d thrown it out of the window. He’d made sure the battery charged on the way to Townsville. Once it was found, they’d think she’d been up there.

  Then Travis had called full of bloody questions while he was waiting for his flight, and for a while he’d thought that the bitch had already got out and made her way back to their house. On the plane, he’d calmed himself; there was no way she could have got out of that cave. And she was miles from anywhere; no one ever went out that way.

  A huge sense of relief rushed through Gavin as they entered the conference room, and he glanced at Rod. The beauty of the meeting being in Brisbane was that Rod lived there—and worked as an actor—and he’d agreed to come along with him and take on the persona of Travis Carlyle. He’d stayed at Rod’s place in West End last night and taken him through the whole scene. It had cost him the last of the cash he’d taken from the English girl’s wallet, but it was worth it.

  But after today …

  De Vere shook his hand and looked at his face. ‘Nasty cut you’ve got there, Gavin.’

  ‘Yeah, I took a tumble off a horse yesterday. I was lucky.’

  De Vere held his hand out to Rod. ‘I’m very pleased you could come this time, Travis. It’s good to finally meet you.’

  ‘I’m pleased I was able to come. The station and my kids keep me busy, but I had every faith in Gavin’s ability to negotiate us to this point. We’re a solid family alliance now that there’re only the two of us left.’

  Don’t overdo it, Rod, Gavin thought.

  ‘It’s time for all of us,’ de Vere began once they were all seated at the conference table. ‘Gold is certainly living up to its reputation as a haven for investors to park their currency. Brexit, Trump and volatile global interest rates have been good for our industry. The contracts have been drawn up, and once we clear up a couple more questions, we can sign off on the deal this afternoon.’

  Once the social chitchat was over, de Vere turned to Rod. ‘We’ve taken your brother through the process in detail over the past couple of months, and I need to confirm that you are also behind us one hundred per cent. There’ll be significant disruption to the back end of your property, and if the initial seam that we’ve found continues east, we’ll be following it all the way over the next few years. The lease we’ve taken up extends twenty kilometres into your property.’

  Rod raised his hand. ‘Gavin has kept me in the loop after every meeting and I’m happy to sign the agreement. Our solicitor has looked it over, and there’s nothing to amend.’

  Good, Rod was sticking to the script now.

  ‘Excellent.’ De Vere’s words echoed Gavin’s thoughts. ‘There’ve been some interesting finds. The drillers came across some of the historical diggings from the nineteenth century. The pioneer miners were on your property. There’s no doubt there’s gold in “them thar hills”.’ He put on a fake cowboy accent on top of his American accent and Gavin laughed politely. He could have told de Vere that. He had more in his cave stash, and he’d planned to sell them one day, but now he didn’t need the money and he had no intention of going back to Hidden Valley after he got the funds. He only had one regret: he would have loved to see the look on Travis’s face.

  Despite the air-conditioning pumping into the room, perspiration was soaking Gavin’s shirt. He just wanted to get this over and done with, take the deposit cheque and run. De Vere sat back and folded his hands.

  ‘My PA is just running off copies of the documents down in the business centre. So a couple more points to clarify, and then I think we’re right to sign.’

  Gavin slipped a finger inside his collar and loosened it; it was getting hard to breathe in this monkey suit.

  Rod leaned forwards. ‘Yes?’

  ‘Heritage listings.’ De Vere stared at Rod. ‘We’ve checked the state-heritage register, of course, and there’s nothing on there, otherwise we wouldn’t be here today. There are no buildings, homesteads or anything else of significance that could impact us in the future that you’re aware of?’

  Gavin bit back a smile and frowned. ‘What year was it the old homestead burned down, Rod?’ He hadn’t primed Rod about the fire. ‘That would have been the only building. But sadly it’s gone now.’

  ‘Ah, let me think? How old was I?’ Rod came back quickly, holding Gavin’s eye.

  ‘I was fourteen, so that would have been 1987.’

  ‘Good. I’ll get you to sign that addendum on the contract when Peter comes back. Now, to the best of your knowledge, is there anything of archaeological significance or Aboriginal cultural heritage on the property?’

  Gavin schooled his face into a serious expression and looked at Rod.

  Rod shook his head. ‘Nothing.’

  Gavin chipped in. ‘Just acres of flat grasslands that are good for nothing except cattle.’ He shook his head. ‘As much as we didn’t want the mine to go ahead, financially we have no other option.’

  ‘And finally,’ de Vere looked up as the door opened and a man walked in holding two folders. ‘Excellent. Thank you, Peter,’ de Vere said as he took the folders before sitting at the end of the table. He quickly introduced them to his PA and Gavin fought the urge to tap his fingers on the table.

  Just get to the bloody money.

  ‘So back to where we were.’ De Vere looked steadily at them both. ‘Finally, to the best of your knowledge, there is nothing on the property that may be environmentally sensitive and impact on the future of mining on the land?’

  Gavin tried not to let his relief show. He put his hand to his mouth and muffled the sigh with a cough. The final handicap was overcome. It looked like they hadn’t seen either the early interest of National Parks a few years back or knew about the university stuff that was happening. None of it mattered because they’d be gone in a few weeks. Travis’s sponsorship deal was dead in the water anyway.

  He and Rod looked at each other and both denied any knowledge. ‘No, just a working cattle station.’

  De Vere nodded to the fridge in the corner. ‘Peter, if you would?’

  As Rod and Gavin signed the contracts that were on the table—Rod had practised Travis’s signature last night until he had it down pat—the PA put three glasses on the table and opened a bottle of champagne.

  ‘Thank you, gentlemen. Carroglen looks forward to a long and happy, and of course mutually beneficial, relationship with Hidden Valley.’ He took the glass that the PA handed him, waiting for Peter to pass one to Gavin and Rod. With his other hand, he slid an envelope out of the folder and held it up.

  ‘Which one of you is the finance person of the station?’

  Rod took the glass and gestured to Gavin with a nod. ‘Oh definitely Gav, here. He’s the brains. I’m a simple farmer, out with my dairy cows and horses.’<
br />
  Fuck. Gavin’s breath stilled as he took the cheque and slipped it into his coat pocket. We’re a cattle station, not a bloody dairy. He sat there and gripped the glass, wondering whether to let the comment go or say something.

  But de Vere was obviously as dim as Rod when it came to cattle. He slid the envelope across the table, lifted his glass and proposed a toast to the venture. ‘The record of deposit that has just gone into your account. To a long and prosperous association.’

  ‘To a long and prosperous association.’ Gavin raised his glass and drained it.

  He didn’t have to wait for the cheque to clear. The money was already in there. He could barely stop himself from laughing out loud.

  * * *

  Rod drove Gavin to the airport. He pulled his car into the area for dropping off passengers, and Gavin opened the door.

  ‘Can I ask you a favour, mate? I’ve got no cash on me and my card’s been playing up,’ he asked. ‘Can you lend me a twenty, and I’ll add it to the money I put in your account when I get to the bank at Townsville.’

  Rod pulled out his wallet and passed Gavin a twenty. ‘No problem, thanks for the job. Every little bit of work helps these days.’

  ‘You did well, Travis. I’m happy to give you a bonus.’

  ‘I did. You’ve still got my account details. Two grand, you said?’ Rod asked as Gavin went to get out of the front seat.

  ‘Yep, and it’s now two grand and twenty dollars.’ A car hooted from behind, and Gavin patted his pocket. ‘Thanks for what you did. You convinced me, although when you started going on about dairy cows, I thought you’d blown it.’

  Rod laughed. ‘Sorry. I don’t know one end of a cow from another. I’ll have to come and visit you one day on your cattle station.’

  ‘You must,’ Gavin said, but his smile was cold. Rod had served his purpose, and there’d be no need to ever see him again. Bumping into him on the Strand in Townsville a few months back had been handy. The one year he’d gone away to boarding school at the end of primary school, he and Rod had forged a sort of friendship. Two misfits together, Travis had taunted him. Gavin had never forgotten that.

  Everything that was coming to Travis, he deserved.

  ‘I’d love to see the look on your brother’s face when you tell him the good news,’ Rod said as Gavin slammed the door.

  He ignored Rod’s last words and walked towards the terminal. Two hours in the air, a visit to the bank, transfer the money across to his account and his new life was about to begin.

  Anticipation vied with anxiety until he had the money in his hands.

  It was a shame their parents were dead; they could have seen that he was the son who deserved the admiration, and more respect.

  Oh, the satisfaction of besting his bastard of a brother, and having a quarter of a million in the bank.

  Life didn’t get much better.

  CHAPTER

  28

  Hidden Valley, 1 February

  Bluey called in on his way to the yards.

  ‘You okay, boss?’ He looked at Travis long and hard, but Travis shook his head and gestured to the boys. He’d been quiet since they’d got out of bed; there was no point worrying them until they knew for sure that Emlyn was missing.

  ‘You pair head over to the yards with Blue,’ Travis said. ‘I’m just waiting on a couple of calls. We’ll be over directly.’

  ‘Is everything all right, Dad?’ Joel asked. ‘I heard you talking to someone late last night.’

  ‘A couple of problems, mate. I’ll tell you about it later.’

  ‘Mum and Cass are okay, aren’t they?’ Jase’s brow wrinkled.

  ‘They’re fine.’

  Happy with that, the boys climbed onto their bikes. Travis stood on the last step and waited until they’d disappeared around the bend.

  ‘You look like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders.’ Bluey crossed the yard and stood at the bottom of the steps.

  ‘Feels a bit like that.’

  ‘You need me later, you just ask. Okay?’

  Travis frowned. ‘What makes you say that? Later?’

  ‘It’s that brother of yours who’s in trouble, ain’t he?’ Bluey pulled a cigarette from his pocket and put it in the corner of his mouth. ‘It’s been building for a long time. Just remember, it’s not your fault,’ he said before he cupped his hand around his lighter. ‘Gavin brings it all on himself. Always has.’

  ‘He is getting harder to deal with. It’s like having another child in the house, lately. His moods and his bloody unreliability are hard to take.’ It wasn’t necessary to tell Bluey the suspicions about Gavin. Travis looked at the cigarette in the corner of Bluey’s mouth. For the first time since he’d given up smoking ten years ago, he craved a nicotine hit. Last night, after John and Greg had left, he’d opened the bottle of Glenfiddich whisky that the boys had given him for Christmas, but he’d limited himself to one small nip in case he had to drive anywhere. Worry had pressed heavily on his shoulders and the whisky hadn’t helped him sleep. He’d lain there until the early hours, worrying about Cass, wondering where the hell Emlyn was, and the financial problems that were imminent if they didn’t get top dollar for the cattle. He couldn’t bring himself to think of the accusations against his brother.

  ‘It’s not going to be a good season, boss.’ He looked up at the house. ‘Where’s Gavin gone?’

  ‘Townsville again? Who knows?’ he said in a disgusted tone. ‘I can’t trust him anymore.’

  ‘Never should have,’ Bluey said. ‘I knew he was up to something when I saw him speeding down the back road yesterday.’ He blew a smoke ring away from Travis. ‘Actually,’ he said half to himself, ‘he’s been up to no good since he was a young’un.’

  Travis leaned forwards. ‘What back road? Where was he?’

  ‘Gavin was heading down the back road in that red ute of his. He must have been doing a hundred k. I was expecting the ute to roll after he flew past me, but he slowed it down before he got to that bad corner. You know the one, just before the turn-off that goes down to the main road.’

  ‘He must have been on his way to Townsville, but I don’t know why he’d go that way,’ Travis muttered, before he looked at Bluey. ‘What time was that?’

  ‘Wasn’t far off eight. I was on the way to have a morning cuppa with Billy Bates over on the main road.’

  Travis knew his eyes were wide. ‘Bluey, I need you to think carefully. Was there anyone in the ute with him?’

  The old stockman nodded. ‘I thought it was strange, but yeah, I think Dr Rees was in the front.’

  ‘Jesus Christ.’ Travis turned and took the stairs two at a time. ‘Wait there. I’m going to need you. I have to make a call.’

  Last night, Detective Inspector Blake had taken his call and promised that he would look into Emlyn’s flight details as soon as he got a chance, but Travis had sensed that he hadn’t seemed worried about it. It was Gavin that he was interested in.

  Travis’s stomach roiled when Baker answered. Before he could pass on what Bluey had told him, the detective kept talking.

  ‘Detective Inspector Blake has asked me to follow this up. What I can tell you is that Dr Rees didn’t travel to Brisbane on any flights yesterday. And her ticket wasn’t cancelled. She was simply a no-show. The vehicle that Dr Rees was driving has been found abandoned on your road not far from the main road.’

  ‘Jesus.’ Travis kept his voice calm as he relayed to Baker what Bluey had said.

  ‘Detective Inspector Blake has allocated the case to my team. We’re on our way,’ the detective said. ‘We also have a witness saying your brother stopped for fuel at Greenvale. And that he was by himself. He was there about one, around the time Dr Rees was due to check in. He had a chat to the guy behind the desk and bragged about going to Brisbane to make his fortune.’

  ‘Brisbane?’ Travis shook his head in disgust. ‘And a fortune? He can’t help himself,’ he mumbled.

  ‘And we’ve
confirmed Gavin was on the late-afternoon flight to Brisbane. Do you know why he’d be going there?’

  ‘I’ve got no idea.’ Travis put his hand on the doorjamb and braced himself as a shudder went through him. ‘I’ll get in my ute and we’ll head out to where Bluey saw him driving and see if we can find her. Maybe her phone’s gone flat and she can’t call?’

  ‘We’ve located Dr Rees’s phone,’ the detective said. ‘Strangely, it was in the car park at the top of Castle Hill.’

  ‘Castle Hill?’ Travis frowned and lifted his arm to wipe the perspiration from his face. ‘In Townsville?’

  ‘Yes, not far from the airport.’ The detective’s voice was firm. ‘We’re concerned for Dr Rees’s wellbeing and we’re just about to board the search-and-rescue helicopter. Are you sure you have no idea why he’d be going to Brisbane?’

  ‘No.’ Travis’s voice was flat.

  ‘And, Travis, I want you to stay where you are. Don’t start a search until we get there. We’ll organise a search grid when we arrive. We’ve also got ground-search crews coming from Mt Garnet and Mt Surprise.’

  ‘Do you have any idea how big Hidden Valley is?’ Travis’s stomach was churning. He couldn’t bring himself to think of where Emlyn might be. Or what Gavin might have done. ‘I’ll go see the university team before you get here. It’s probably a better base to plan a search from.’

  ‘Okay. If you see or hear anything, I’ll give you a different number to ring, and they can contact us while we’re in the air. Is there a clearing near there to land?’

  ‘Yes, it’s clear all around the dongas.’ Travis hurried to the desk in the corner of the lounge and wrote the number that Baker gave him on a slip of paper. When the call ended, he looked at the computer sitting silently on the desk. The one that Gavin was always on. It reminded him to call the main branch of his bank in Townville and sort out this mystery account. Once the boys were back in the house, he’d get them to help him log on and have a ferret through Gavin’s files. Joel was a computer whiz. Maybe there was something there that would explain what his brother was up to.