Dave leaned up against the car and slowly scanned the whole area. Here, almost at the bottom of the hill, how could they be sure that no one was going to come over the top? Did they have a decoy on the other side? If so, how would they have stopped another vehicle? Who do you stop for at night on a lonely country road?
Then there were the broken bushes and branches on the side of the road. The deep drag marks in the gravel, the width of a human body, were still visible. Dave ambled over to examine them, his hands behind his back. He followed the impressions until they stopped at the edge of the scrub. ‘Right,’ he said aloud, ‘so that’s where Amelia must have been left, until Gus arrived.’
Despite the fact that the furrows were obviously from someone being dragged along, they’d been interfered with by Gus and the ambos. This meant a lot of the footprints were hard to distinguish, too. Nothing was pristine; Dave could hardly regard any of the markings as nice, clean evidence.
He broke off a long stick and poked around in the thick bush. His search turned up a faded Coke can, an empty beer bottle, a battered sneaker and a whole lot of chip packets. Just the normal litter you’d find beside roadways anywhere. Then Dave paced across the bitumen, finding the black tyre marks and following them. They only lasted a few metres, so the brakes must have been applied quickly and heavily, but not for very long. He assumed—hoped—that Jack and Andy had photographed all of this and collected evidence to be sent off to forensics. They’d at least towed Amelia’s car to a lot behind the police station in Barker, where Dave was headed next.
In the car he checked his mobile again, even though he knew what he would see—not a single bar of reception. When his battery was dead he’d missed three calls from his supervisor, Steve. The last message had been a very terse command to call back as soon as Dave saw fit. Dave had tried twice now, but the calls had gone through to message bank, and now he was out of range and might continue to be for most of the drive to Barker. He had a strong feeling he would soon be read the riot act.
Dave headed to the hospital first thing Monday morning. Before he went in, he sat beneath a tree on a bench outside, looking at the phone in his hand. Five missed calls from Steve the day before, and then two more from him to Steve—well, it wasn’t surprising on a Sunday night. The man had a family. Dave sighed, not really wanting to try again. So much for technology.
‘Why so glum, chum?’
Dave looked up, knowing who it was but wanting to see her face. He indicated the phone. ‘Haven’t been able to get on to my supervisor and reckon I’ll get a bollocking for letting my battery die.’
‘Oh, you’ll be right! He’s not likely to replace you with another detective all the way out here.’ Kim sat down on the bench beside him. ‘So you’ll be involved in the investigation, I take it?’
He nodded and brushed away a fly. ‘How’s Amelia now?’
Kim smiled. ‘She’s so much better. Such a strong girl.’
‘I’m very glad to hear that.’
They were interrupted by the shrill tone of Dave’s phone. He looked at the screen. ‘Better take it.’ He got up and answered the call, then walked a few metres away. There was no way Kim should hear this conversation. ‘Burrows,’ he said.
‘Where the hell have you been?’
Dave apologised and explained.
‘Damned inconvenient,’ Steve grumbled. ‘A full day’s passed since this robbery was reported. I wanted you there with the locals when they interviewed her.’
‘Well, I’ve been to the crime scene, I’ve looked at the ute the girl was driving, and I’m at the hospital now. I’ve also been told all about her injuries—’
‘Yes, I know she was tasered like that man last week,’ Steve interrupted impatiently. ‘The crimes are obviously linked.’
‘She was, but did the locals tell you that the violence has escalated? Amelia has got bruised and cracked ribs, her face looks like a bloody eggplant, and she’s been bound, hands behind her back, and dragged through the dirt. She wasn’t just tasered either. She was drive-stunned.’
Steve was silent for a moment. Drive-stunned meant that someone had put the gun on her skin and pulled the trigger, sending shock waves through her body—it was much more painful than being tasered from a distance. ‘No,’ Steve said, his voice low and gruff, ‘the locals didn’t tell me anything about that.’
‘Those blokes are good kids, Steve, but that’s all they are. Kids. You can’t expect them to be able to manage this themselves. It’s beyond their experience.’ He paused. ‘Look, my take is that Amelia was pulled from the car, bound and dragged to the edge of the road. Then she struggled a bit, gave him, her, whoever, a bit of lip or tried to escape, and was kicked. Pretty sure that’s how her ribs got injured.’ Dave kept walking, looking around him all the time. ‘It happened halfway up a hill, so it seems pretty brazen. Desperate even. If someone had come over the top, they would have been seen straight away.’
As he spoke, he watched a florist’s van pull into the hospital car park. A plump lady, carrying a large box of flowers, hurried up the steps and inside.
‘I tend to agree. On all accounts. And we have this problem of a taser gun—where the hell did it come from? You don’t just pull one out of your arse.’
‘Exactly. My money’s still on the black market.’ Dave glanced behind to see where Kim was. She was still sitting on the bench under the tree, watching him intently. ‘Could be organised crime. Bikie gangs.’
‘Let’s hope not. Good God, out in that neck of the woods? Still, as you and I know, anything is possible when it comes to organised crime. Well, you’d better get in there and ask the girl some questions. That’s what you’re bloody there for.’
Dave clenched his fist and drew in an angry breath through his nose. He knew that, for fuck’s sake. He knew he’d fucked up. Did Steve really have to go on about it? Quietly he banged his fist on the fence between the lawn and parking area.
‘Point taken,’ he said through gritted teeth.
‘Right, I’ll be waiting to hear from you then. Good luck.’ The phone went dead.
Dave stood at the fence a little while longer, his eyes narrowed and his mind spinning in different directions. Then, with purpose, he strode towards Kim. ‘I’m heading inside to interview Amelia,’ he told her. ‘Do you want to be there while I do it? Or her parents?’
‘I’ll come with you,’ Kim answered. ‘Natalie and John are taking care of things at the farm. I said I’d stay until they both got back, but Milly was sleeping so I slipped out to grab a coffee.’ Kim ran a hand through her hair and hoisted her large handbag up over her shoulder, and they walked together towards the hospital.
‘You care for her a great deal,’ Dave observed.
‘Of course I do, she’s like a daughter to me. I’ve loved her from the moment I first held her in my arms, and I can’t bear to see her hurt.’ Tears welled up in Kim’s eyes. ‘I’ve never been up close and personal to anything like this. How do you cope?’
‘It isn’t easy,’ Dave answered quietly. ‘I keep my mind on the job I have to do.’ He didn’t mention he couldn’t let himself get emotionally involved. He’d seen that bring too many good detectives to their knees.
They continued towards the hospital in silence.
‘So Amelia,’ Dave began, once they’d exchanged pleasantries, ‘can you tell me about the night of the rodeo?’
The young woman shifted uncomfortably. ‘I spent most of the night in the office, so people knew where to find me—they had to drop off money for the safe and get change. I counted it as it came in, recorded it in all of the books and stored it. I wrote receipts for late entries and took the entrance fees. It was busy all night, so I didn’t get out to see any of the events.’
‘Was there anyone else in the office with you?’ Dave had his pen and paper poised, but so far there hadn’t been any information worth recording.
‘No, just the committee members coming and going—Gus, Pip, Anne, even Cappa a couple of
times.’ She leaned forward to take a sip of water, but Kim beat her to it, grabbing the plastic cup, angling the straw towards her niece’s mouth and holding it steady. Amelia wrapped her hands over Kim’s and smiled at her before drinking. ‘I could have done that myself, Aunty Kim.’
‘I know, sweetie, but I was right here.’
Dave cleared his throat. ‘What about people you didn’t know?’
Amelia nodded. ‘Yep, there were a few—those late entrants.’
‘So tell me how they pay. Did they have to come into the office? Could they have seen the money sitting anywhere?’
‘No and no. There’s a window that acts as a counter. Like the ones in a movie theatre in the city, I guess. I sat behind it, taking their money and giving them change. You can’t see very far in and I didn’t leave any money lying around, if that’s what you mean.’ She sounded defensive and this intrigued Dave.
Kim leaned forward. ‘No one is accusing you of anything, are they, Dave?’
‘Not at all.’
Amelia just stared at him, distress in her face.
‘You probably need to understand,’ said Kim, ‘that Milly seems to think people are going to blame her for this—’
‘Aunty Kim!’ Amelia cut in, a blush rising over her cheeks.
‘Well, it was quite a thing for the committee to let a much younger person take on such an important role.’
Dave sensed there was more to the story but let it go for the time being, making a note on his pad to ask Kim about it later. He looked up at Amelia. ‘Who else, other than you, has the key for the safe?’
‘Gus and Anne. We needed a couple of backups in case they couldn’t find one of us.’
Dave checked his notes again and decided to change tack. ‘Judging from what Gus has told me, you were in his ute, in front, and he was in your car.’
‘Yeah, that’s right. I was going to go in my old car, but we swapped at the last moment. Gus thought it would be better if I went in his, in case mine broke down.’
‘So you put all the money into Gus’s ute?’
‘Yeah, I already had a lot of bags in my car and we switched them over.’
‘Right.’ Dave looked at her intently. ‘I’m assuming you hired some security guards for the rodeo?’
‘Of course, it’s a legal requirement. There’s four guards, and they work in shifts.’
‘Why didn’t you have them around while you handled the money? And why didn’t they escort you to the bank?’
‘Oh, they’re not proper security guards. More like crowd control. They’re only there to break up fights or move people along when they’re a little too drunk.’
Dave made another note on his pad. ‘Where do you hire them from?’
‘Two of them are locals—Anne Andrews’ sons, Mike and Tony, and the other two came across from Barker. Harry King and Ian Pincott.’
After adding the names to his notes and making a note to contact them, Dave glanced up at Amelia again. ‘Just so I’m clear, do you know why Gus wasn’t right behind you on the road?’
Amelia looked miserable. ‘I was driving too fast. I can remember looking down and seeing that I was above the speed limit, so I slowed down. Guess it was too late.’ Tears formed again and she turned to Kim. ‘Told you I stuffed up.’
Kim leaned forward and clasped her niece’s hands. ‘Whoever did this to you, that’s whose fault it is. You, darling girl—’ she put her hands on either side of Amelia’s face and looked her in the eye ‘—cannot blame yourself for any of this.’
Dave studied Amelia’s crumpled face, and was inclined to agree with Kim. He had to stay professional, though, and get through the rest of his questions.
Chapter 14
A quiet tapping woke Amelia. When she rolled over, her hospital bed creaking and complaining, she saw Pip and Gus standing in the doorway. Pip carried a blue plastic vase filled with brightly coloured blossoms: gerberas, chrysanthemums, a couple of deep red roses, all set in a forest of Australian native greenery. ‘Hi there, you!’ she said quietly, putting the flowers onto the side table.
‘Hi.’ Amelia tried to sit up without hurting her ribs, but failed. She gasped and clutched her side.
‘Oh, Milly, let me—’ Pip rushed over and helped her into a sitting position.
‘Thanks,’ Amelia breathed. ‘Just got to learn to take my time.’
Gus stood at the foot of the bed, hat in hand, looking uncomfortable. ‘Sorry this happened, Milly,’ he said gruffly. ‘Bit of a bugger really, considering how successful the rodeo was.’
‘A bit?’ Pip glared at him and shook her head. ‘Men!’ She turned her attention back to Amelia and raised her eyebrows. ‘So how are you, love?’
‘Pretty sore and tender, but other than that, not too bad.’ Amelia felt as uncomfortable as Gus looked: all she really wanted to ask was if they blamed her at all. Or if there was any news about the money or the thieves. Everyone seemed on tenterhooks around her. She told herself that was just because they were worried, but she couldn’t quite believe it. ‘I just feel really bad about—’
Pip cut in. ‘Everyone’s saying what a wonderful job you did, all the media attention and so on. You really boosted the profile of our little rodeo. Everyone is so proud of you!’
‘What, even with this classic Milly Bennett stuff-up?’ Amelia couldn’t help herself.
‘It was not a stuff-up,’ Pip assured her. ‘It’s something no one could have foreseen. Unfortunate, sure, and we’re all so sorry you got hurt, but none of this is your fault.’ She perched on the edge of the bed and smoothed Amelia’s messy hair away from her face. Her voice was gentle when she spoke again. ‘I think you’re being too hard on yourself. I don’t see anyone else sitting here in hospital with bruised and cracked ribs. You took the full brunt of the attack for the rodeo committee. We—’
Gus interrupted, putting his hand on his wife’s shoulder and clearing his throat. ‘Look, I’ve got an apology to make. I got a little, um, too relaxed, I suppose. I need to accept some of the responsibility. When you couldn’t get a second escort, I should have found one and followed up on two-ways and everything else. I’m the president, the buck stops with me.’ He scratched his head. ‘I still can’t believe this actually happened. It shouldn’t have. It used to be safe out here, but this sort of crap makes it seem there isn’t much difference between us and the city.’
Though his expression was terribly sad, as if he’d lost something deeply personal, Amelia felt a great wash of relief. She didn’t know about the rest of the committee, but these two didn’t blame her, and their good opinion mattered the most.
‘What about the money?’ Amelia asked. ‘Will insurance cover it?’
‘Don’t you worry,’ Gus said. ‘It’s only the cash that’s gone, not all the transfers that were already made into the bank. And yeah, the insurance’ll cover about eighty per cent of what we lost. Not bad at all.’
Squeezing Amelia’s hand, Pip said, ‘Please say you’ll come back, Milly, and be our treasurer again. You really did such a wonderful job. And we’re going to give you another title.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Media officer.’ Pip grinned cheekily. ‘You deserve it after all the extra things you did on the worldwide web.’
Amelia looked from one to the other, a wide smile forming. How could she say no? ‘I’d love that. Thanks.’
The door opened and Amelia’s mother came in, carrying a foil container with steam rising out of it. Greetings were made, then Natalie placed the meal on the wheeled table in front of Amelia. ‘It’s your favourite,’ she said. ‘Apricot chicken and rice. Thought it might be a nice break from the hospital food.’
‘Oh, thanks, Mum,’ Amelia said, grateful, then looked at Natalie properly: she was exhausted. There were shadows under her eyes, the lines around her mouth seemed deeper, and her face was drawn and pale. ‘That’s really kind of you.’
Unusually kind to me, she thought, pleased that her mother coul
d still throw surprises her way.
‘I guess you’re busy out at Granite Ridge?’ Gus asked Natalie.
‘Yes, of course. The men are always busy, aren’t they? That’s the way of farming—Things don’t stop just because . . .’ Natalie flashed a smile instead of finishing her sentence. She started to tidy up around the room, gathering get well cards and newspapers and stuffed toys, rearranging the flowers in vases, pinching the heads off blooms that were wilting in their wet-foam boxes.
‘And you’ve still got all the arrangements to make for Danielle and Graham’s engagement party on Saturday?’ Pip offered.
‘Hmm, yes I do.’
Amelia tuned out the conversation and watched Natalie. She was clearly tired, stressed and agitated. Seems like she’s really taking this hard. Whatever their differences, and despite all the discouraging things that Natalie had said over the years, her mum really did love her and want her to be safe.
The door was pushed open again and Anne, wearing dusty jeans and a checked shirt, strode in. She was carrying a large box of white daisies. Amelia realised her room was starting to feel like a crowded phone booth.
‘I am so sorry, Milly,’ Anne boomed without saying hello, walking straight to Amelia’s bedside. ‘I swear that boy of mine needs his head read. So unreliable. Don’t know what got into him that night, I really don’t.’ She set the daisies down and put a hand on Amelia’s shoulder, peering at her bruised face. ‘Will has a lot to answer for.’
Tears welled in Amelia’s eyes. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I’ve got to confess, I thought you’d all be so cross with me. Didn’t think you’d want me back on board or to have anything to do with me. But you’re all being so kind . . .’
‘Why would you have thought that?’ Natalie demanded, glaring around at the three committee members. ‘It’s quite clear that the blame lies elsewhere.’
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