Deadman’s Track

by Sarah Barrie

  ‘I’m Detective Jared Denham. Remember me?’

  ‘Uh, yeah.’

  ‘You look a bit stressed out. You okay?’

  ‘Sure. Just … got a cold.’

  ‘That’s no good. You didn’t look well last time I was in here, either.’

  Jai waited, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. He shifted from one foot to the next, felt the perspiration tickling his back. And the damn detective just stared at him like he knew. ‘So …’ he managed. ‘Do you need something?’

  ‘Yeah. I don’t suppose you saw this guy come in yesterday?’ The detective showed him the sketch of Pax on his phone.

  ‘Nup,’ he said, and cursed himself when it came out too fast. ‘I mean, maybe. But a heap of people could look like that.’

  ‘Lots of people duck in, look around and take off again,’ Tank said easily. ‘They don’t approach the counter unless they have something to pawn or sell, or see something they want.’

  ‘Of course,’ the detective said, still watching Jai. ‘I’m sure that’s it.’ Eventually those damn cop eyes turned back to Tank. ‘You’ve got some pretty good cameras. Mind if I take a look at yesterday’s footage?’

  Jai couldn’t help the look of distress he sent Tank. What the hell were they going to do now? If Pax got sprung, no doubt he was toast, too.

  Tank shook his head. ‘They’re not recording. Damn things don’t work properly. Course, I’d rather that little piece of information stayed between us. They’re a good deterrent, that’s about it.’

  Jai felt his chest relax. Tank was good at this. He’d never really put too much thought into Tank’s life in prison and before that, with his gang. He’d never brought it up. But now he was curious, found himself wondering about details that hadn’t interested him too much in the past.

  ‘Shame,’ the detective said. ‘Never mind. Keep an eye out?’

  ‘You know it,’ Tank said.

  Jai watched the detective leave, then relaxed. Maybe he could talk to Tank about what had happened. He could be the right person to unload to, ask his advice. But as the thought of the incident flooded back into his mind, the idea of talking about it had him going outside for some much needed gulps of fresh air.

  ‘Mate. You’re gonna have to calm down,’ Pax said from behind him.

  ‘Tank just lied for you. Again. The cop was here about you. If he finds you, we’re both screwed. I—the murder was all over the news. I didn’t mean to kill that guy, but you killed the woman. And you don’t care at all, do you?’

  Pax’s hand shot out and grabbed his shirt, dragged him in. ‘You’re gonna have to think real hard about what’s gonna happen if ya stuff this up. Like prison. Ya want to go to prison?’

  ‘No. No! I didn’t mean it! Maybe if I just tell them I didn’t mean it.’

  ‘Ya broke into a boat, pointed a gun at an unarmed man and shot him. That’s the reality. Wake up! The only way out of this is to keep ya mouth shut! Keep it together, understand?’

  Jai jerked his head. ‘Okay. Okay.’

  ‘What was his name?’

  ‘Huh?’

  Another shake. ‘The cop! Who was it?’

  ‘Um … Denham. Detective Denham. He has a sketch, that’s all. He knows you did the other robberies.’

  ‘Fuck.’ Pax released him roughly. ‘Must have been that drunk bitch from the news. The one that pinched my stash. Denham, huh? I’ll deal with the detective. Now toughen the fuck up and get on with it.’

  ‘What are you going to do to the detective?’ At Pax’s glare, he nodded. ‘I will. I—’ Jai turned to the door at the same time Pax did.

  Tank stood in the doorway, face thunderous. ‘Get inside. Both of you!’

  This just got better and better. Now Tank would fire him, probably dob him in, and his life and Pop’s were both completely stuffed.

  Tank turned over the ‘Closed’ sign on the door before heading for the office. Pax swaggered in in front of Jai, who felt like a student headed into the principal’s office and twice as sick.

  ‘You got him wrapped up in those murders?’ Tank asked, coming in behind them.

  ‘Chill, man,’ Pax said. ‘We’re good.’

  ‘It—it was an accident!’ Jai stammered. ‘We were just pinching enough cash so I could pay for Pop’s care. They weren’t supposed to be there.’ His voice broke as he choked.

  ‘I suppose this dickhead told you that?’ Tank asked.

  ‘Watch it,’ Pax threatened.

  ‘That’s what this has been about all along, isn’t it?’ Tank asked Pax. ‘This was never about Cochrane setting himself up with Madison’s diamonds. He wanted her dead. Payback.’

  ‘What’s he talking about?’ Jai asked Pax.

  ‘I’m saying he damn well did know they’d be on that boat,’ Tank snapped. ‘That was the whole point.’

  Jai stared hard at Pax in disbelief. ‘You … what? Wait—you planned this?’

  Pax shrugged. ‘Would ya have helped out if you’d known the plan?’

  ‘You bastard!’ He launched at Pax, his fist slamming into his face with enough force that Pax took a few steps back.

  Pax moved his jaw from one side to the other, dabbed at the corner of his mouth. ‘Suddenly we’ve grown some balls,’ he said, eyes boring into Jai’s with threat. ‘Ya do that again, I’ll cut ’em off.’

  ‘Why did you have to get him involved?’ Tank demanded.

  Pax shrugged. ‘He needed cash, I needed a wingman.’

  Tank swore viciously and paced the length of the office and back, fists clenched, expression grim. Finally, he stopped in front of Pax. ‘I’m not touching that jewellery.’

  Pax’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’d really fuck all this up over one sweaty-palmed little snowflake? I was doing him a favour!’

  ‘You turned him into a thief and a murderer. That’s no favour!’

  ‘Yeah? And what do ya call not telling me the cops have a fucking sketch of my face? I’ve been walking around without a thought to it and you’ve known for fucking days! What were ya hoping would happen? Ya think the boss would have been happy if this had all gone to shit? How do ya think he would have repaid ya for that?’

  ‘I lied to the cops twice already!’ Tank growled back. ‘The deal was to provide you some cover while you stole the diamonds, to get ’em clean and hand them over. That’s it. No murders, no dragging anyone else into all this.’ Tank’s face flushed red as he closed in on Pax. ‘You killed Madison Wilde!’

  ‘Yeah. And you’ve got diamonds to process. I wouldn’t want to have to tell tales. Do ya really think it’ll be you the boss takes it out on if he doesn’t get what he wants?’

  Jai saw the colour leach from Tank’s face before he nodded. ‘I’ll get it done, then you go. You get the fuck away and you never come back.’

  Pax gave Tank a heavy pat on the back. ‘Good choice, old man. Do it fast.’ Then he swaggered out, reaching for his cigarettes.

  Tank rubbed his forehead and resumed swearing under his breath.

  Jai stood quietly, in shock, trying to process what had just happened. ‘What were you both talking about?’ he eventually asked. ‘Did you know those two on the boat?’

  ‘Jai, sit down,’ Tank said wearily. ‘You need to tell me exactly what the hell happened.’

  He sat, not sure how to begin, but when he started talking it poured out of him. He didn’t stop until the last bit, then he couldn’t seem to get that out. ‘He said there was a dog. I would never shoot a dog on purpose, let alone a person. I wanted to leave but I made a noise and then it all just … happened. It was so dark and there was movement and something hit me so I—the gun just went off. I heard this terrible noise, this gurgling, gasping breathing and then it just stopped. I don’t even remember pulling the trigger. Pax told me to leave, so I did. I left her with him. Oh God, what have I done?’ He broke down into a fit of choking sobs. ‘I didn’t mean it. I swear I didn’t know. I didn’t know. I just needed the money for Pop. No one was supposed
to be there. No one.’

  Tank sat down heavily in his chair and stared at the roof. ‘Okay. All right. Hell.’ For an age he didn’t say anything more, just stared into space. Then he looked at Jai and cleared his throat. ‘I’m sorry you got wrapped up in this. Pax is a dick, but there’s one thing he said that I’m going to agree with. You have to pull yourself together.’

  He wanted to argue but Tank held up a hand to silence him. ‘It’s unfortunate, but it’s done. Nothing can change what’s happened and no one can know anything’s up. You’re going to keep your mouth shut, do your job and pretend this never happened.’

  ‘I don’t know if I can!’

  ‘This isn’t a choice, Jai. It wasn’t your fault, but you won’t walk free from it if anyone finds out. You have to find a way to live with it. Is there any way the cops are going to be able to tie you to this?’

  ‘No. I don’t think so.’

  Tank leant forward, elbows on knees. ‘Which is it? “No” or “I don’t think so”?’

  ‘That cop that came in said he found fingerprints at the robbery last week. I think they could be mine. And there was an old guy fishing when we took off in the car, but Pax reckons he wouldn’t have seen much.’

  ‘If they had your prints on record for anything they’d already have you under arrest. There’s no reason for them to come looking for you unless you were spotted. That old guy, you didn’t know him?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘What happened to the gun?’

  ‘Pax said he took care of it.’

  ‘Were you driving your car?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘What’d Pax do with the one you were in?’

  ‘Don’t know, didn’t ask.’

  Tank dragged his hand along the back of his neck and stared into space. ‘I know he’s good at covering his tracks.’

  ‘Then I’ll be okay.’

  ‘I said his, not yours.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  Tank levelled a sobering stare at him. ‘It means Pax doesn’t do people favours. He let you touch stuff without gloves, had you shoot that gun and, as far as you know, he didn’t bring it back. Cops said they’re looking for a knife—some special one. Did you touch that?’

  He thought back to the first robbery he did. ‘There was one knife … Pax asked me to put it in his bag. He had gloves. I didn’t.’ Tank was right. Pax had done all this on purpose! ‘He had it on the boat with that woman!’

  Tank nodded slowly. ‘That and any other leads the police are working on will point straight to you. Pax didn’t need a wingman—he needed a scapegoat.’

  CHAPTER

  15

  ‘I think this was nicer than going out for lunch,’ Aaron said. He was reclining on the hillside, looking as relaxed as Tess had seen him in ages. Around them, a dozen horses grazed peacefully while their riders explored the surrounding bushland of Calico Lodge’s back boundary.

  ‘This is going out for lunch,’ she said with a smile. She heard splashing and wondered why anyone would be in the freezing water of the creek, but whoever it was sounded as though they were having a good time. ‘Just with ten strangers and leftover food from a picnic to pack up.’

  He chuckled. ‘I’ll do that in a minute while you round them all up, if you like.’

  ‘Thanks.’ She’d expected him to be annoyed when she’d cancelled their plans so she could fill in for Logan leading a guest ride. Instead he’d suggested he come along and help, and all morning he’d been nothing but the considerate, attentive, humourous guy she’d fallen for.

  She watched him relocate a bug from his leg to the grass. Smiled. Maybe she’d invite him to stay tonight. They hadn’t spent a night together since their argument, and he hadn’t asked, but he’d dropped a couple of hints earlier.

  He turned and propped himself up on his elbow. ‘We should do this more often.’

  ‘I don’t see how. We’re both busy with our own businesses.’

  ‘Well, it just so happens I’ve had a brilliant idea.’

  ‘Oh, yeah? What’s that?’ she asked, mirroring his smile.

  ‘I think we should merge your hiking business with my tour company.’

  ‘You think we should what?’ she asked. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because it makes sense. We’d get to spend so much more time together. I can give you an assistant to take care of all the paperwork you hate doing, and we can pick and choose which groups you take out. Of course, the business would stay in my name but you would still be your own boss in every other sense. What do you say?’ His expression was so hopeful, so excited.

  She didn’t share his enthusiasm. ‘It’s not that simple,’ she said carefully. ‘I have an equal share in the lodge with my brothers, and my hiking business is tied up with that.’

  ‘So sell them your share. You don’t need it. We’ll build up our own business together.’

  ‘Sell my share of the lodge?’ she asked, stunned.

  ‘It’ll give us some serious capital to take the tour company to a new level.’

  ‘Your tour company,’ she said, suddenly annoyed. ‘Because it would stay in your name, be your business, you said.’

  He waved away the objection. ‘We can work out details later. I just want what’s best for you. Which is doing all the parts of your job you love without having to worry about the rest.’

  Tess placed her elbows on her knees and pressed her fingers to her temples. ‘I like things the way they are. I thought you said you were going to back off, give me some space to do my own thing? I’m the most competent woman you’ve ever met, remember?’

  ‘Of course you are,’ he crooned. ‘It’s not about competence.’ He got to his feet, helped her up and framed her face in his hands. ‘I want to marry you, Tess. I want us to be together forever. Let me take care of you.’

  Marriage? Their relationship had been so short and, lately, tenuous at best. The business proposal was ridiculous enough, but this? What was he thinking?

  Voices were getting closer and she looked over her shoulder to see four of the guests returning. A couple more came through the trees. She stepped out of Aaron’s reach.

  ‘It’s okay,’ he said conspiratorially. ‘It can be our little secret for now.’

  The ride back was anything but relaxed. She kept her attention on the guests, giving instructions as required, sharing information about the area and just generally chatting to anyone who wanted to talk. Marriage? The conversation echoed in her head in a constant loop. How could they be so disconnected from each other as to be on totally different pages where their relationship was concerned? And there was no way she was giving up the lodge and her own business to pour herself and her assets into Aaron’s. She was beginning to doubt he’d ever be happy until he was running her whole life.

  Once they reached the stables she was kept busy helping the guests unsaddle and cool down their horses, then a couple of teenage girls talked at her incessantly during the walk back to the lodge. She smiled and nodded occasionally, but her thoughts were on what to say to Aaron. He was staying quiet, but she could feel his eyes boring into her. It was like trying to think in a straitjacket. Then they were heading up the front steps of the lodge and she was almost out of time.

  ‘Let’s grab a cold drink,’ Aaron suggested, leading her towards the bar after she farewelled the group.

  ‘Okay.’

  The first thing she saw was Indy talking to Callie. They were seated in the lounge, with one of the lodge’s ploughman platters and glasses covering their table. Indy glanced at her and smiled before her gaze moved to Aaron thoughtfully. Indy had already bailed her up over the comment she’d made to Callie about the push out on rescue. Though she’d explained, she didn’t think Indy had been convinced, and since Indy was suspicious by nature, it didn’t look like she was giving Aaron the benefit of the doubt. Since then, Tess had lectured herself several times for even bringing it up. Aaron wanted to marry her, not kill her.

  Aaron placed a hand
at the small of her back and steered her towards Indy and Callie.

  ‘How’d it go?’ Callie asked.

  ‘We had a wonderful day,’ Aaron said, and beamed at Tess. ‘Everyone’s drinking soft drinks. Should we make it Champagne?’

  Tess’s heart leapt with panic. Surely he wasn’t thinking of announcing— ‘No!’ she replied sharply and saw the warmth leach out of his face, ‘I really need a large glass of water. I’m thirsty. Maybe we could go sit over in the corner for a while?’ She tried to smile, knew it came off more like a grimace.

  ‘All right,’ Aaron said, eyes narrow. ‘I’ll get it. You go find a spot.’ But he didn’t move, just stood there until she walked away.

  She spotted Joe and Duncan, two of the guys she’d taken to the snow, having beers in the corner and chose a table as far away from them and the other guests as possible. She didn’t want anyone overhearing, even if she felt better knowing Indy and Callie weren’t far away. She glanced at them and found their gazes fixed on her.

  Indy said something to Callie then stood, moved over to Tess’s table and sat. ‘What’s up?’ she asked.

  ‘I have to sort out something with Aaron.’ She wondered why she didn’t just tell Indy what was going on. But Aaron’s frown from the bar kept her mouth closed.

  ‘Something that involved Champagne?’

  ‘Quite the opposite. Indy, I don’t really think he wanted you following me over here.’

  Indy flopped back more casually as though settling in. ‘He didn’t want you talking to us without him, which is why he waited for you to walk away from our table before he did. So, what? He’s got you scared of upsetting him?’

  She opened her mouth to object as Aaron started back across the room. Her stomach dipped at his disapproval. Maybe Indy had a point. Aaron’s moods were getting under her skin. ‘We have to have a bit of an awkward conversation. It’d be better if he wasn’t annoyed before we started,’ she said honestly.

  ‘You’re being manipulated into being controlled.’ Indy got up. ‘Just think about that.’

  ‘What are we thinking about?’ Aaron asked, placing a glass of water in front of Tess.