Promise of Hunters Ridge

by Sarah Barrie

  ‘Forget it.’

  ‘Ally.’ She looked at Cam but he was talking quietly with Ben. ‘I hit Rob with my car. I can’t see him being in any state to come after me even if he wanted to. And I have Netflix movies lined up to watch. So go out, have fun.’

  ‘She’ll be fine, Ally,’ Cam said.

  ‘Done,’ Mia said before Ally could object further. Ben’s eyes were on her again. She got up and walked to the table to refill her glass then took a welcome sip.

  ‘That’s three,’ Ben said from behind her.

  ‘So?’ Nerves were jumping in her stomach almost relentlessly.

  ‘So what’s on your mind?’ he asked. ‘You’ve been turning something over in there all evening.’

  ‘What are we going to do if he doesn’t emerge again? I can’t stay up here indefinitely. I want to go back to the cottage.’

  ‘We’ve got his car, his belongings, units watching the road out of town. And he’s got to be injured. He’s holed up somewhere, but only temporarily. We’ll find him.’

  An image popped into Mia’s head. ‘Did you find the bike? There was a trail bike in the church.’

  ‘I didn’t see one. Still, that won’t get him too far.’

  ‘I ran into a couple of women from the local trail riding club while I was taking photos of some other places last week. They said there’s lots of trails. The RFS has a map of them all at the fire station.’

  ‘I know, we’ve been on them. On a bike he could go a lot further, though, so we’ll extend our range.’

  Of course he knew. He always knew, she thought. She took another sip of her wine and it was taken out of her hand. ‘Hey!’

  ‘It’s the only way you can sleep, isn’t it? Otherwise you wouldn’t risk it. Not when you’re going to so much trouble to be prepared.’

  ‘I could drink a bottle and still hit a target. Don’t worry about it,’ she snapped.

  ‘I’m not sure how you know that, but I’d better not ever catch you trying.’

  As if she’d be that stupid. Didn’t he know her better? ‘Everyone’s going to wonder what’s happened to us.’ She stepped around him and he gently caught her arm.

  ‘Do you think telling me not to worry will change anything? Right now my priority is keeping you safe. I need you to stay close, to work with me.’

  ‘I can’t afford not to. But I have to go back to the city on Monday. I have work booked for Wednesday through to Friday.’

  ‘I’ll take a few of my team and head back with you. You’re his target now. I don’t want you too far away.’

  ‘I can look after myself. You need to make sure he doesn’t get near Chloe.’

  ‘I will, and I know you can. I want to thank you for doing what you did. Getting Indy out of there when Rob was coming in was incredibly brave.’

  ‘That’s a stupid thing to say. I couldn’t just leave her there.’

  ‘Stupid? Some people might have thought it was stupid to hang around once they saw what was in that church.’ He paused. ‘No more going off to visit remote locations on your own. Please.’

  ‘I just needed something to do to take my mind off Indy.’

  ‘And Cassie had said the church was okay to visit?’

  ‘No, I just took a chance I could get in there.’

  ‘But the old church is on council land.’

  ‘And some locations need a ranger to come out and unlock gates for me. The church didn’t have a gate, but it could have been on private property.’

  ‘Can I get a copy of that list of places?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘What are you up to tomorrow?’

  ‘Just getting a couple of last-minute things done so I can babysit.’

  ‘Watch Netflix.’

  She grinned. ‘That too.’

  ‘Want some company?’

  ‘Why would you keep me company?’

  ‘Because I want to.’

  She felt a pleasant little jolt, but then she figured it out. ‘No, that’s not it. I’ll babysit Chloe, you’ll babysit me.’

  ‘That too. I’ll get there a bit after eight, bring food.’

  ‘I should make you eat something I cook.’

  ‘Mia, we’re friends now, remember?’

  CHAPTER

  19

  Mia arrived at Cam and Ally’s and put Jasper in the backyard, then let herself in. ‘I’m here!’

  ‘Good timing, I’ve just finished changing Chloe. And what a change it was!’ Ally added playfully to her daughter. ‘Give her a bath in about half an hour, and there’s a bottle in the fridge to heat up. Then she should sleep for you.’

  ‘Don’t stress, I know the routine.’ Mia took her niece and snuggled her into her arm. ‘Go, enjoy.’

  Cam appeared. ‘Hi, Mia.’

  ‘Looking good.’

  ‘I wasn’t sure if you’d already have eaten,’ Ally was saying, ‘but there’s heaps of food in the fridge and some meals in the freezer. I should have thought to make you something.’

  ‘You’re supposed to be having a night off,’ Mia reminded her. ‘Besides, my babysitter’s arriving with food later.’

  ‘Your babysitter?’ Cam enquired.

  ‘Ben. And don’t play dumb. You were talking to him, then suddenly all this was all right.’

  ‘I would never,’ Cam said, eyes full of humour.

  ‘You did,’ Ally said. ‘And it was that or we didn’t go. Do you want us to wait until Ben arrives?’

  ‘No. Go have fun. We’ll be fine.’

  ‘Okay, thanks.’

  Mia took Chloe out to the veranda to wave them off, then went inside. It was quiet, already quite dark outside. Maybe she should have brought her gun. But she’d left it at home because Ben was going to be here. ‘I’m just being silly,’ she told Chloe. And went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea.

  She played with Chloe and bathed her, watched her eyes close as she drank from her bottle. By the time Mia laid her gently in her cot, the baby was sleeping. ‘Goodnight, precious girl,’ she murmured. ‘You’re safe.’

  She snuck downstairs. The dogs needed to be fed so she did that, then locked up. It was nearly eight, but she still had a bit of time before Ben was due. She stared at the lounge. Was she really going to sit there and watch movies with him? Just the two of them? She pressed a hand to her stomach. ‘Idiot.’ But she did need to get around to analysing her feelings for him before they tied her up in too many more knots. It was getting out of control.

  She dug into her bag when her phone beeped with a message. The joy of being at Cam and Ally’s. She grinned. It would be Ally checking up.

  Did you wear that for me?

  What? She read the message again. Looked down at her modest shirt and jeans, then up at the windows. There was no light but a crescent moon. Her heart went into a fast rhythm. It must be a wrong number.

  Maybe she’d just close the curtains. Wouldn’t hurt. She went around pulling them across the windows, then turned off all the unnecessary lights. After staring at the phone a few more seconds, she sat and turned on the television.

  When the phone buzzed again she leapt from the lounge and opened the message.

  I can still see you.

  ‘Shit.’ She spun around in a circle. There was no one in the house—the place was locked up, the alarm system on. Should she call the police? She tried Ben’s number. It was out of range. ‘He must be on his way,’ she told herself. The thought was a reassuring one. Maybe she’d let the dogs into the house. But they’d probably make a racket and wake Chloe. So what?

  She was on her way to let the dogs in when her phone buzzed again. A picture message. Breathlessly, she opened it and a video started running. The camera was entering Chloe’s room, looking down at the sleeping baby.

  Rob was here. He’d come for Chloe. She didn’t have her gun.

  ‘Oh God!’ She grabbed a knife from the kitchen bench and flew up the stairs.

  Mia threw open the nursery door, knife raised.
Chloe was in her cot. She stirred at the noise of the door banging. Mia’s gaze darted around as she flicked on the light, her whole being primed for fight. Where was he?

  Backing into the corner of the room, she grabbed the baby sling and dropped it over her head. As quickly and gently as she could, she slipped Chloe inside. The baby settled back into sleep with a little sigh.

  How could she use a knife with the baby around her middle? She needed a better weapon. She called Cam, but it went to voicemail. ‘Damn it!’ The movie hadn’t started yet—where were they? She was typing the second zero to call the police when her phone rang. She almost screamed.

  ‘Mia, it’s Cam, you rang?’

  ‘Where’s your gun?’ she whispered.

  ‘What? Why? Mia what’s wrong?’

  ‘Where?’ she breathed desperately.

  ‘Laundry, top shelf. Bullets are in the back of my top bedside drawer. What’s going on?’

  She could hear Ally’s worried voice in the background. ‘Call the police for me. I have to go. I have to listen.’ She ended the call before he could object and turned the phone to silent. Cam and Ally’s room was right next door so she went there first. The small amount of noise she made shuffling around for ammunition seemed ridiculously magnified.

  She slipped the phone in with Chloe and held onto the bullets and knife. He was in here somewhere. He would not get the baby.

  Almost too scared to breathe, she crept back downstairs. Getting to the laundry involved walking to the far end of the darkest part of the house, but she didn’t want to turn a light on. If, by some miracle, he didn’t know where she was, she didn’t want to broadcast it. When she reached the small room it was too dark to see anything. Should she slip in and hope he wasn’t there, or turn on the light, risk it drawing him to them and hope she could load the rifle fast enough?

  She turned on the light, found the rifle. Loaded it with shaking fingers. There was a loud crash and the alarm system kicked in with a vengeance. Chloe fussed, beginning to cry, then scream. Mia walked cautiously back down the hallway, rifle pointed straight ahead. A dark figure appeared. Her finger convulsed.

  ‘Mia!’

  The gun went off, but the sound of Ben’s voice had her lifting the barrel as it fired.

  ‘Ben!’ She rushed down the hall as a light snapped on.

  Ben straightened and took the rifle from her shaking hands. ‘Is he in the house?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘How do you shut off the alarm?’

  Her hand trembled so badly she could barely hit the numbers on the keypad while Ben made a call. A trail bike kicked to life and tore off into the silence.

  ‘There he goes,’ Ben muttered.

  ‘Take the baby,’ she ordered, removing Chloe from the sling and pushing her at Ben. As he took her, Mia slipped to the floor, put her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands.

  ‘Are you hurt?’

  ‘I nearly killed you.’

  ‘I called out. I’m not surprised you didn’t hear me over the alarm. What happened?’

  ‘I didn’t know it was you. I thought—’

  ‘Don’t worry about that just now. Tell me what happened.’

  How could she have been so stupid? That rifle could drop a six-hundred-kilo steer. What it would have done to Ben would have been …

  Exactly what Rob wanted.

  ‘Hey.’ He sank down beside her, Chloe in one arm, fussing but no longer screaming. The other arm he threw around Mia and pulled her in. She allowed her head to fall to his shoulder, turned her face into him and felt the pulse beating at the base of his neck, heard his breathing, smelled his scent. His arm was holding her tight. She used all of it to fight back the shock.

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Just give yourself a minute. You’re okay.’

  ‘He was already here,’ she said eventually. ‘I don’t know how. I heard a smash and the alarm went off. I think he was leaving.’

  Sirens alerted them the police had arrived.

  ‘Mia?’ Indy came in. Spotting them, she hurried over. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Ben asked. ‘You’re supposed to be taking a few days to recover.’

  ‘Cam couldn’t get you, so he called me. As if I wouldn’t come.’

  ‘Rob was here,’ Ben said. ‘I doubt we’ll find him though, he took off on a bike when I arrived.’

  Mia took Chloe in arms that were still not quite steady and held her close to soothe her.

  ‘Up you get,’ Ben said, helping her to her feet and guiding her to the lounge. She sat. Stared into Chloe’s wet, tired eyes.

  ‘I got a message,’ Mia told them. ‘I thought it was a wrong number but I went around and closed everything up just in case. Then I got another saying he could still see me. It was followed up by a video of him going into Chloe’s room. I loaded Cam’s gun and the alarm went off. Then you appeared.’

  Ben looked at Indy, who was studying Mia. ‘So Rob was already in the house, obviously since before the alarm was set. The alarm had already been tripped when I pulled up, but Rob didn’t leave until well after that.’

  ‘You’re saying he snuck around in the house, scared Mia into thinking he was taking the baby, then when you arrived, tripped the alarm on purpose. Why? To create confusion? So you wouldn’t hear him take off on the bike?’

  ‘Or so Mia wouldn’t hear me calling out.’

  ‘She was scared, armed, and didn’t know it was you. He tried to make her shoot you. But how did he know you were coming?’

  ‘He’s already in Hunters Ridge, watching her. He might not have started out with that in mind, just took the opportunity when it arose.’

  ‘And if he was here when I arrived, he could have heard me talking to Ally and Cam.’ Mia pressed her fingers to her eyes. ‘He was in the house.’

  She’d said she wouldn’t shoot Ben. That he couldn’t make her. But he’d manipulated the situation so she would. Before this is over you’ll know what it feels like. And he’d used his threat with Chloe to make it happen.

  ‘Mia?’ Cam and Ally burst through the door.

  ‘All fine,’ Indy quickly told them.

  ‘Look at her.’ Cam gestured to Mia. ‘That’s not fine. What happened?’

  Ally gently took Chloe from Mia and held her close.

  ‘Indy’s right,’ Mia said, ‘I’m fine. But Ben nearly wasn’t. And neither is your roof, sorry.’

  ‘Stuff the roof.’ Cam pulled her to her feet and gave her a tight hug.

  ‘Rob was in here,’ Ben said. ‘He tripped the alarm and broke a window. I’m afraid there’s going to be some people poking around in here for a while.’

  ‘That’s fine. Go find the bastard.’

  ‘I’m on it. I’ll update you as soon as I can.’

  Ben did what he could, kept doing it when he sent everyone else home for the night. Was still doing it when Indy walked back into the office at ten the following morning.

  ‘You didn’t get any sleep, did you?’ she said from the doorway.

  Ben yawned and dragged his fingers through his hair as he stared at the RFS maps. ‘It didn’t seem worth it. You got something?’

  ‘The phone number Rob sent those texts and the video from was registered to a guess who?’

  ‘Liam Jones.’

  ‘Obviously we’re tracking it. If it turns up anywhere, we’ll know.’

  ‘I wonder how many other phones this guy has?’

  ‘I’ll find that out,’ Indy said. ‘Have you been out on the trail yet?’

  ‘First light.’ And it had been beautiful out there with the bush waking up around them, minus the we’re-tracking-a-serial-killer element, it would have been a perfect start to the morning. ‘We found bike tracks, but lost them where the trail came out two roads along. I’ve left men out there trying to figure out where he turned off the road again.’

  ‘Is Mia still going into the city today?’

  ‘I’m going to call
in and make sure before I leave. I just need to arrange for a unit to watch Cam and Ally’s place while we’re gone.’

  ‘I might head off soon too.’

  ‘And Russ and Stuart are already on their way. Okay, drive safe. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

  CHAPTER

  20

  Mia did one last check of the house. Did she have everything she needed? Her head wasn’t exactly on her work, and if she forgot anything for these presentations she was screwed. She ran through everything again. Laptop, prints, display folder, presentations—Was that a car? She opened the door and saw Ben pull up.

  She walked out to greet him. ‘Hi. I didn’t expect to see you today.’ He’d showered, his hair was still damp and he smelled of his cologne. He wasn’t in his suit, just the jeans and black tee he lived in outside of work.

  ‘I’m about to head into the city. I just wanted to make sure you were on your way. You came back down here alone?’

  ‘Just to get my things. We’re about two minutes away as well.’

  ‘I’ll let you go first.’ He stifled a yawn and she looked closer, noticing his eyes were red and slightly shadowed.

  ‘You’re exhausted. Have you slept at all?’

  ‘I’ll try to catch a couple of hours when I get back. I’ve got some work to do first.’

  ‘A four-and-a-half-hour drive on no sleep?’

  ‘Worried about me?’

  ‘I’d be worried about anyone in your state. Does that car need to go back to the city?’

  ‘Not particularly.’

  ‘Then put your things in my car and come with me.’

  ‘You know what? That would be great. Thanks. Can you drop me at the station on the way through?’

  ‘No problem. I’ll leave Jasper where he is up at Ally’s. He can stay there and we’ll have more room for your stuff.’

  He moved his things into her car and climbed in, closing his eyes.

  Mia started the car. ‘How did you go last night?’

  ‘We found a few trail bike tracks, nothing else. I’m sure Rob has someone helping him. He can’t just disappear. His face is easily identifiable and he can’t be existing in the bush without supplies. I need to take another look into what friends he had before everyone knew what he was doing.’