Speaking for the first time and standing as well, Mark said, ‘That will be fine, Mr Stannard, but I must insist that you stay within eyesight and that we can see the Blackberry at all times.’
‘You cannot be serious and I resent the inference. What am I? Some sort of common criminal you think you can order around? I will have privacy while I speak to legal counsel.’
‘Of course you may. Only do it where we can see you and the phone at all times,’ said Mark with more force. ‘If we need to, we can have police at your front door in less than a minute. They’re parked just down the street. I’d prefer not embarrass you in front of your neighbours—it’s your call.’
In circumstances reminiscent of Todd earlier in the day, Stannard threw his Blackberry on the glass-topped table, saying as he did so, ‘Take the fucking thing and get out of my house. You’ll be hearing from my lawyers.’
‘What now?’ asked Mark as they drove away.
‘We go to the airport. My guess is Mr Stannard and Sir Lawrence will be on the next flight out of the country to somewhere that doesn’t have an extradition treaty with Australia,’ said Julie chuckling. ‘Some days I love what we do.’
Chapter 97
At the same time as the assistant commissioner and Mark were dropping in on The Man, Mike was slowly navigating his dozer to the site of the concrete blockage. Charlie and Sharon, on their quad bikes, stayed ahead opening gates and then closing them afterwards. The scene resembled a dinosaur being circled by hyenas, Sharon thought, and it got even more eerie as dust swirled around, daylight receded, and they turned on the lights of their respective vehicles.
As they approached; Charlie, who was up ahead, saw a black Land Rover and someone sitting in the excavator—Robbo! He raced back to his father and signalled him to stop. He jumped up on the massive machine. Sharon stuttered her quad bike to a halt beside the dozer.
‘There’s someone up there, Dad. Looks like bloody Robbo in the excavator. I reckoned it was those bastards that did it. What do you want to do?’ said Charlie, a little breathless from the excitement.
‘I hope it is them. Would be good to look them in the eye for once, the gutless mongrels,’ replied Mike.
‘Are you sure? They shot at you last time, remember. Maybe we should wait for Jack and his copper mate to get here?’ suggested Sharon.
‘They could be a while and these blokes won’t hang around, is my guess. You two get behind me and I’ll raise the blade a bit and go straight at them—see what they’re made of. Give me my shotty,’ said Mike.
‘Ok. If they start to shoot at you jump off the back of the dozer and we’ll high-tail it out of here on the quads. Alright?’ said Charlie.
Mike nodded and smiled. ‘Time for redemption, people,’ he yelled as the monster machine lumbered forward again.
Back at Charlie’s place, Jack and Luke had just arrived. Sandie came out to greet them.
‘G’day Sandie, have you heard anything from Charlie and Mike?’ asked Jack, easing his way out of the car.
‘Nothing so far. That bloody dozer of Mike’s is so slow they’d be lucky to be there by now. The silly buggers, it’s going to be dark soon. They should’ve left it until tomorrow. Boys will be boys,’ said Sandie.
She gave them directions and they headed off.
Mike revved the dozer and he heard Robbo do the same in the excavator. And, as if on cue, they both turned on their spotlights—trying to blind each other.
The dozer started to gather pace, as did the excavator. Mike was still about a hundred metres from where the concrete was deposited when Jack and Luke arrived to witness the two massive earthmoving tractors charging—in slow motion—toward each other, with all their lights blazing against the sunset sky of orange and blue hues—it was quite surreal. Jack was struck by how this felt a bit like medieval times—jousting—but with heavy machinery.
Sharon and Charlie pulled up beside Luke and Jack on their quad bikes.
‘What’s going on?’ asked Luke.
‘We got here and found those bastards had showed up too. I guess they were here gloating over their handiwork or maybe cleaning up the evidence. Either way, Dad’s had enough, so he’s going to take that concrete block out in front of them. I’m a bit worried though because he’s in the mood for a fight,’ said Charlie.
On the other side of the clearing, Vinnie had been watching this all unfold. Could be interesting, he thought, knowing that Robbo and Thompson were old sparring partners—always having a go at one another.
As the giant machines converged, everyone watching was spellbound by the spectacle, wondering what would happen at the moment of impact.
The machines were now only twenty metres apart and Mike lowered the massive blade on the dozer. Robbo lifted the bucket on the excavator, ready to let it drop on Mike. This was now very personal between these old enemies.
With the glistening blade lowered, the spotlights on the excavator were now blinding Mike, so he grabbed the shotgun. The onlookers heard two shots in rapid succession ring out—the two spotlights on the excavator died.
‘I have to stop this,’ said Luke. ‘Someone is going to get hurt.’
‘Not sure how you will—they won’t stop now and they won’t hear you with the machines all fired up,’ said Charlie.
The two earth movers were about to impact and high above in the chopper Pip and Jimmy had just made visual contact.
‘Jesus Christ, what the hell’s going on down there?’ asked Jimmy.
‘I think we’ve just flown into the set of that Transformers movie,’ replied Pip.
At that moment the two massive machines collided with an earth-shattering thud and crunch as the metal parts impacted and pieces flew off, or were twisted and bent by the impact. There was a momentary pause as both machines and drivers assessed their situation.
Robbo reacted sooner and his more agile machine reversed—accompanied by the screech of metal being torn apart—and then he moved forward but at an angle, trying to roll the dozer which was now perched precariously on the edge of the channel. As the excavator moved forward he yelled, ‘Hey Thompson, you prick, I’m going to bury you once and for all.’
Mike saw the threat, but rather than reversing out of trouble, he did the unexpected and surged forward, calling out as he did so, ‘Hey Robbo, try this for size, arsehole’. Mike’s machine was slowly tilting further and further until it teetered and then rolled on top of the excavator. Mike had a roll cage to protect him but the excavator didn’t, and Robbo was left to watch in horror as the huge dozer dropped toward him.
With that, things happened at high speed. Charlie fired up his quad bike and took off to rescue Mike, followed closely by Sharon on hers and Jack and Luke on foot. Vinnie decided it was time to leave and the Land Rover, with wheels spinning and dust flying, careened towards the tangled wrecks.
Robbo, having jumped clear just in time to avoid being trapped under the overturning dozer, saw Vinnie coming and ran to jump in his car. Vinnie four-wheel drifted to a halt, Robbo dived in the door and they accelerated away.
‘I’ll go after those guys,’ said Luke, sprinting back to the car.
‘Hang on, I’m with you’, said Jack.
They took off in pursuit of the black Land Rover.
Now that the noise of the earthmovers had subsided, Sharon could hear the chopper and she gazed skyward. ‘That sounds like Pip,’ she said.
‘Sure does. Can you help me here?’ said Charlie, trying desperately to get the side of the roll cage on Mike’s dozer open. Mike was unconscious—they hoped that was all.
Vinnie and Robbo had a lead on Luke and Jack. Vinnie was watching the rear vision mirror. ‘I can’t see anyone following—maybe they stayed to help Thompson.’
‘Let’s hope so. I can’t believe what just happened—wow,’ said Robbo.
Just then Vinnie saw headlights in the mirror. ‘Shit. Here they come. Hang on,’ he said, accelerating.
Luke spotted the tail lights of the Land
Rover. ‘There they are. Finally we might get to talk to Mr Sutcliffe.’ Just then a group of kangaroos tried to cross the road, forcing Luke to break suddenly and swerve. Locals would simply bowl them over, relying on their bull bar. Luke, without that local knowledge, lost control and the car took out a guide post and then scraped the passenger’s side of the car along a big old eucalypt. The car shuddered to a halt. Luke yelled, ‘Shit, shit, shit.’
Overhead, Pip and Jimmy had witnessed all this and she looked across at him. ‘How’s your night vision?’
‘I’m up for it, Pip, if you can get me close enough. Hit the spotlight,’ Jimmy replied.
‘This’ll be one hell of a shot, Jim. The trees are going to make it tricky for me.’
‘I might need a sighter,’ he said calmly. ‘After that we should be good. Bit of moonlight, not much wind. It’s time to slow these suckers down.’
Vinnie was still studying the mirror. ‘They’ve stopped. I can’t see them, can you?’
Robbo turned around and looked behind. ‘No, nothing. Something must have happened. Sweet.’
Just then a spotlight from above hit Robbo’s side of the car. ‘What the hell,’ he said.
‘It’s a bloody chopper,’ said Vinnie.
‘Where’s that shotgun?’ asked Robbo, reaching round to grab it from the back seat and then leaning out the window.
Above, Pip saw this. ‘He’s armed, Jimmy, better get your shot away quick.’
‘No worries. Drop back behind them if you can,’ he said. Pip slowed the chopper and dropped it low, in behind the car. She heard the shotgun fire, a few pellets peppered the front of the chopper, then there was a crack from Jimmy’s rifle and looking down she saw the side mirror next to Robbo’s arm disintegrate.
Robbo recoiled and pulled the shotgun back into the car. ‘Holy shit, that was close. That bastard can shoot. Floor it.’
‘Smart arse! Is that your sighter?’ said Pip.
Jimmy grinned across at her. ‘Got lucky. Now for a tyre I reckon. Can you get me up on the side now?’
‘I’ll have to go up higher—too many trees,’ said Pip, expertly manoeuvring the chopper sideways.
Jimmy took aim again. Vinnie had the Land Rover up to nearly 100 kilometres an hour on the gravel road and it had started to swerve.
As they rounded a corner, Mike’s mailbox came into view. Vinnie smiled thinking of how they’d flattened it countless time. Just then Jimmy fired again, taking out the left front tyre. The car slewed to the left and rolled onto its roof. The last thing Vinnie remembered was seeing Mike’s mailbox looming large and the car hitting it front and centre. Unlike the previous times, it didn’t buckle and fly apart—it was solid as a rock—concrete in fact!
Chapter 98
Luke and Jack got out of the car and examined it for damage. They’d seen Pip’s chopper pick up the chase of Land Rover. Then they heard the distinctive sounds of a shotgun blast followed by the crack of a rifle discharging, twice.
‘Come on, let’s go see what going on,’ said Luke jumping back into the car.
After seeing the Land Rover hit the mailbox and how it came to a shuddering halt, Pip put the chopper down beside Mike’s homestead, a few hundred metres away.
By the time she and Jimmy—who was still armed—arrived at the wreck, they could see headlights moving in their direction down the road. ‘Better be careful here. We don’t know who this is,’ she said moving to take cover behind the car. Jimmy followed her.
Luke eased the car to a stop, himself wondering what to expect. Jack opened his door slowly and was greeted by the welcome sound of Pip’s voice, ‘About bloody time you got here, Jacky boy.’
They all turned to look at the Land Rover, now a twisted and broken wreck, steam hissing out of the mangled radiator. The mailbox was sitting about where the dashboard once was. Then they heard a quiet moan. ‘Help me,’ coming from the driver’s side of the wreck.
They rushed to the vehicle and found Vinnie behind the wheel with a long gash bleeding profusely on his shaved head and down his neck. His arm was clearly broken and perhaps a leg too, given its odd angle. They looked across to the passenger’s side to see Robbo just coming around.
‘You’d better call an ambulance,’ said Pip.
‘You don’t want to transport them yourself? I hear you did it for me,’ said Jack.
‘Let ’em suffer,’ said Pip, turning away.
Back at the scene of the great earthmovers clash, Mike was clearly going to be ok. He was sitting there telling Sharon and Charlie all about Robbo’s ‘piss weak effort’.
Chapter 99
The assistant commissioner and Mark parked their car at the international terminal of Kingsford Smith airport. Accompanying them was a detective friend of Julie’s from the white collar crime squad whom she had briefed on the way to the airport. They showed their IDs to the security gate personnel at passport control and were allowed through once the detective spoke privately to a supervisor. They went straight toward the Qantas Club entrance, up the escalator in the bustling duty free shopping area, and approached the staff at the entrance desk.
‘Can I see your boarding passes please,’ requested one of the smiling young women perched on a stool behind the counter.
‘Well no, actually,’ said Mark, producing his ID. ‘We’re here to meet some people we believe will be flying later tonight. Is it possible to gain entrance to the Executive Club so we can wait for them?’
‘I’m afraid not sir, that’s for the exclusive use of our Executive Club members. You’ll have to wait here and we can have them paged for you when they check in,’ said smiley face. ‘If you give me their names I can arrange that for you. Would you like to wait in here, assuming you’re Qantas Club members?’
Julie contemplated asking to see someone more senior to gain access to the Executive Club but decided against it—this was just a hunch after all—and they’d look pretty silly to make an issue of it and then not have them show up. She stepped forward, producing her Gold Qantas Club card. ‘I’m a member and I assume I can bring my friends in as guests?’
‘Yes, of course madam. Thank you. Now who are these people you’re so keen to meet?’
They provided her with the names and she said, ever helpful, ‘I’ve put a system prompt in place, so we’ll know the instant they check in and I can page you.’
‘Thank you very much. You’ve been a great help,’ said Mark as they proceeded inside to wait.
After two cups of coffee and some soup and spring rolls from the buffet, they heard Julie being paged. They looked at one another and laughed. ‘I’m impressed,’ said the detective.
At the counter, Miss Helpful was there, beaming. ‘Your friends have just checked in downstairs. They should be through security and passport control in a few minutes. You’ll see them come through from up here if you go out on the mezzanine walkway.’
They thanked her again and proceeded out to wait. A few minutes later they saw Paul Stannard, followed closely behind by Sir Lawrence. Both were pushing airport shopping trolleys laden with duty-free alcohol and with very large overcoats hanging off them. Mark commented with sarcasm. ‘They’re clearly not going to Bali.’
The Man and Sir Lawrence, concentrating on the duty-free shops and skimpily dressed backpackers on their level of the concourse didn’t see Julie, Mark and the detective on the level above. They took the elevator up to the Executive Club.
As the doors of the elevator slid open, standing in front of them were the Assistant Commissioner, Mark and the detective, who had his ID already on display.
‘Going somewhere cold are we, gentlemen?’ said Julie. Sir Lawrence looked puzzled—not knowing who these people were, but the look on Stannard’s face was one that Mark would enjoy forever. What a pity Mike, Jack and the others aren’t here to see it, he thought.
Chapter 100
Several months later.
Pip eased the chopper down to land beside Mike’s homestead. There was water for as f
ar as the eye could see. The country had come to life thought Jack as he watched a small flock of wild budgerigars splashing in the shallow water under a tree. On the way there they’d seen waterbirds everywhere, even some magpie geese, a once common sight Mike had told him, and huge flocks of ibis, pelicans, swans and ducks of all sorts. They’d even spied some majestic brolgas wading through the flood waters.
Jack and Pip emerged from the chopper, followed by Jimmy and then little Jen was helped down. Mike came out to greet them followed by Mary and Gerry, who’d arrived earlier. ‘A bit different to last time you were here eh, Jack?’ said Mike with a smile from ear to ear. He gave Pip a big hug and shook Jack and then Jimmy’s hands vigorously before turning to Jen.
‘How’s your holiday with Dad going, sweetheart?’ giving her a big bear hug too.
‘Just fine thank you, Mr Thompson,’ she replied with impeccable manners that made Mike raise his eyebrows.
‘I have to go and pick up Sharon and her bloke—the roads flooded out in three places—you want to come for another ride Jen?’ said Pip.
Jen’s eyes lit up and she turned to Jack with a pleading expression. He said, ‘Off you go. You’re in good hands.’
Jen latched onto Pip’s hand and they headed for the chopper, skipping and laughing together.
Mike looked at Jack. ‘They seem to be getting on well,’ he said with a knowing smile.
Jack chose to ignore the innuendo, and turned to face the approaching quad bikes with Charlie and Sandie at the helm and the kids perched on specially-made seats behind.
‘G’day Jack, Jimmy, how you goin’ fellas?’ asked Charlie.
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