She waited for Lachlan to look incredulous, or laugh, but his face stayed serious.
‘That can’t be right, can it?’ she continued uncertainly. ‘I mean the nugget’s not even here, it’s in the bank.’
‘They don’t know that, do they?’ said Lachlan. ‘Shit!’
A cloud of dust appeared on the road ahead of them.
‘Shit!’ Lachlan’s voice was high, almost childish, as he looked for an exit.
‘It’s only Hilary,’ said Nina, recognising her mother’s red car. As she watched, it braked suddenly, coming to a stop at an angle on the side of the track. In a second Hilary was running towards them.
‘They’re right behind me,’ she shouted.
‘We need to get off this road. Leave your car and get in,’ Lachlan yelled at her startled face. ‘Just do as I say. I know these guys …’
‘You what?’
‘And they don’t muck around. The fewer cars we have, the better. For fuck’s sake, hurry up, woman!’
‘How do you know them?’
‘Later,’ barked Lachlan.
Hilary surveyed him silently for a second, then strode back to her car and leaned in to extract her voluminous handbag.
Nina was unable to speak.
Syd whimpered.
‘What the fuck is he doing here? Get him out!’ yelled Lachlan.
‘No,’ cried Nina and Syd gave a low growl.
As soon as the door closed Lachlan spun the car around. ‘That’s all we bloody need.’ He headed back down the road past The Springs and took the track that led to the waterhole. He drove steadily, the car bumping over the grass tussocks.
‘Where are we going?’ Nina found her voice.
‘Well, we can’t go towards the highway now, can we?’ snarled Lachlan. ‘They could head us off. We’re going to the waterhole.’
‘Why can’t we cut across to Kurrabar?’ Nina demanded. ‘We can call the police from there.’
‘You never answered me, Lachlan,’ said Hilary. ‘How do you know those men?’
Lachlan pressed his lips together and hunched over the steering wheel.
‘Well?’ added Nina but Lachlan seemed to have eyes only for the rough track ahead. This couldn’t be real. She stared at the familiar road then turned to Hilary in the back seat. ‘Did you really see a gun?’
‘Of course I did. It’s hardly something I’d make up,’ she snapped, madly tapping at the keys on her phone. ‘Useless!’ She threw it back in her bag. ‘I left them looking at a map, trying to find out how to get here.’
A loud crunch. Nina faced forwards to see the front windscreen covered in branches as the car came to a halt in a stand of mulga bushes by the waterhole.
Lachlan turned off the engine. Silence.
In the green shadows, Nina reached for the door and pushed it open against the weight of the branches. The bush was suddenly so quiet, the sparkling waterhole beyond so peaceful, that it seemed like a parallel world.
In the back seat Hilary humphed.
‘Right, girls, let’s go,’ said Lachlan, pushing open his door.
‘I am not getting out of this car until I hear everything you have to say,’ said Hilary. ‘Stay where you are, Nina.’
‘No, we have to get going …’ demanded Lachlan.
‘Start talking then,’ Hilary interrupted. ‘And make it the truth for once.’
Lachlan looked cornered. ‘Thing is, I owe these guys money, a lot of money,’ he said at last.
‘What the …?’ Nina’s head swam.
‘They’ve been after me for a while. And now they’re after you.’ Lachlan wiped his brow with the sleeve of his jacket.
‘How much money exactly?’ asked Hilary, her voice icy.
‘One point seven million.’
‘What? How do you come to owe them all that? And what sort of people are they anyway?’ Nina demanded. Who was this man she’d sheltered these past months?
‘It was an investment plan. Real estate development,’ he said. ‘It wasn’t my fault. When the whole thing went belly-up, I turned to these guys to pay back the investors. God, I wish I’d just gone bankrupt. But that’s what happens when you try to do the honourable thing.’
‘And these guys are …?’
‘Seriously bad news, Nina. They will hurt all of us, kill us if they have to, to get hold of the money. Come on, I just don’t feel we’re safe out here. We need to hide.’
‘Alright. But only for a while, until they leave. Then I’m going straight to the police,’ said Hilary, opening her door with a struggle.
Nina pushed her way out of the car, the twigs and leaves scratching her bare legs. She battled through the undergrowth to where she could stand in the open sunshine. Syd followed, tail wagging.
Shit. Lachlan was now pulling branches from the bushes nearby and covering the car.
She gasped when he pulled a rifle from the boot and slung it over his shoulder. ‘What the …?’
‘It’s yours, I know. I borrowed it. I need it to protect us,’ said Lachlan. ‘Now let’s make our way up Goat Rock and down into the cave.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘The cave!’ said Hilary, joining them. ‘In these?’ She indicated her expensive shoes. ‘Not in a million years!’
Nina took in her mother’s linen pencil skirt and silk blouse. Hilary was not dressed for this. But then, neither was she.
‘Sorry, Hilary, you’re just going to have to,’ said Lachlan impatiently. ‘It’s the only way I can keep you safe. You first, Nina.’
Nina led the way up the rough, rocky path holding Hilary’s arm as she wobbled over the small stones and grass tussocks. Syd kept close to her as Lachlan followed with the rifle. When they came to the crest of the hill, Hilary stumbled and cursed.
‘Look!’ She held out a shoe with a broken heel to Lachlan. ‘Look what you’ve done, you moron.’
‘Get real, Hilary,’ he snapped back. ‘I’m trying to save your life and you call me a moron.’
‘You got us into this in the first place. Why here of all places?’
At the sound of the raised voices, Syd started to bark.
‘Come on. Let’s just take a moment and catch our breaths,’ said Nina. They stood, staring at the open blue sky and the expanse of country rolling out to the horizon. A slight breeze dried Nina’s sweating back. A perfect spring day.
Izzy would be arriving with the artists soon, she realised with a jolt. ‘What if these guys show up at The Springs while Izzy’s there?’ she asked, urgently. ‘This is crazy. We have to go back. We should have left a note.’
‘Not far now,’ said Lachlan, ignoring her.
‘I may as well ditch these since they’re ruined,’ said Hilary, pulling off her shoes.
Lachlan threw out a hand to stop her but they were already flying down the hill. One lodged in a tree near the cave’s entrance and the other tumbled into the grass near the water below.
‘This is just ridiculous. No-one’s going to come looking for us here,’ said Hilary. ‘And even if they did, it would be better to be out in the open where we can see them coming, rather than being stuck down there.’
‘We’d be sitting ducks,’ snapped Lachlan. ‘We need to get under cover.’
Nina offered Hilary her hand again. Why hadn’t they just gone to Kurrabar?
She helped Hilary hobble and slide the rest of the way down the gravelly slope that led to the cave.
Its entrance, some 10 metres above the waterhole, was a narrow rock chimney about two metres long and concealed by bushes. No wonder it had lain hidden all those years until Jim had stumbled across it, thought Nina. She braced her feet on either side of the chimney, shimmied up inside and sat on the lip of rock that opened out into the cave.
She turned back to Hilary, who tucked her skirt into her lacy underpants and began to follow. Nina held out her hand but Hilary missed it, and skidded down the rock face on the back of her legs, barely missing Lachlan who stood below her.
Nina swallowed, her heart pounding. She thought she would never return to this cave. She and Heath first set foot here almost three years ago when they thought they had worked out the code on her locket. The same sandy floor, the same rough walls of conglomerate rock and pile of boulders at the back. Although she couldn’t see it in the shadows, she knew that was where the hole to the lower cave was. The place where Jim’s body had been entombed for decades.
This intimate space was where she and Heath had first held each other in another moment of madness. Nina wished desperately that he was here now.
She looked at Lachlan. He was breathing hard as he climbed over the lip. But far from seeming relieved that they’d arrived, he was agitated, jumpy.
‘Now what, genius?’ asked Hilary, crossing her arms.
Syd’s whines echoed up from the foot of the rock chimney.
‘We need to have a bit of a chat.’ Lachlan motioned for them to stand towards the dark end of the cave.
His face has changed. Nina was suddenly filled with dread.
‘If you do what I say, you’ll be fine.’ He drew an envelope out of his jacket pocket, balancing the rifle in the crook of his elbow. ‘Nina, I need you to sign this.’
‘What is it?’ She felt cold.
‘This is so I can access the safe deposit at the bank.’
‘The what? Are you out of your mind?’ she said.
He shook his head slowly. ‘This is the only sane thing to do under the circumstances.’
‘Why on earth would she sign that?’ said Hilary. ‘Nina – don’t do anything.’
Lachlan stepped back and then loaded the magazine.
He pointed the muzzle straight at Hilary’s head.
‘Just sign it, Nina,’ Lachlan snapped. ‘It’s only money, right? Not worth dying for. Hilary here probably has as much sitting around in her cheque account.’
‘Lachlan, if you let us go now, we won’t tell anyone. You can go on your way,’ said Hilary, trembling.
‘Sign it, Nina, I fuckin’ mean it.’
In the half light, Lachlan’s wild face became Jim’s – the father she loved. How could this be happening? And then the light shifted. She was wrong. She did not know this man. He was a stranger.
‘Okay, I’ll sign. Just put the gun down. Let’s be calm.’
Lachlan took a couple of steps back and threw her a pen.
Nina willed her hands to stop shaking as, using her knee for support, she signed the document.
‘Here, Hilary, you witness it,’ said Lachlan. Hilary gingerly stepped away from the rifle barrel and scrawled her name. Lachlan folded the form and put it in his jacket pocket.
‘So, now what?’ said Nina. ‘We sit in here and wait?’
‘I need you to do exactly as I say,’ said Lachlan. ‘Walk to the back of the cave and climb down the rope.’ He swung the gun in her direction.
‘What? We’ve signed the thing. You can’t be serious.’ Nina’s voice trembled.
‘I just need you out of the way while I go and sort this out. If I leave you in the outer cave, you’ll come straight after me. The whole thing will only take a few hours. As soon as I’m away and safe, I’ll send word where you are.’ He spoke rapidly, his manic movements betraying his agitation.
Nina looked through to where the boulders lay in the shadows. The rope used to retrieve her father’s body was still there. Her heart thumped. There was no way she could go down into that darkness.
Hilary stepped forward and firmly took her hand. ‘Lachlan, you have the signatures. Nina and I will stay here as long as you want. You have my word,’ she said in a low voice. Nina could feel her damp palm.
Lachlan raised the gun and pointed it at Hilary’s head again, but kept his eyes on Nina. ‘You first, Nina.’
There was nothing else for it. Nina stepped along the sandy floor. She scrambled awkwardly across the boulders, grazing her bare arms and legs. She grabbed the thick nylon rope and peered into the blackness below. The rope was knotted at one-metre intervals but it looked slippery.
‘Don’t make me do this. I can’t even see what’s there. I can’t climb down this!’ she called.
‘Lachlan, please, stop this now!’ Hilary’s voice came from the other side of the rocks. There was a loud thud and she cried out in pain.
‘If you don’t want your mother to get another thumping, then hook your foot around the rope and lift yourself down,’ Lachlan snarled.
Nina put her leg out into the black abyss and, summoning all her strength, wound her foot around the dangling rope. As it swung precariously back and forth, she managed to grab the highest knot and lift her weight onto it. Little by little, she slid down the rope, the friction burning from foot to thigh. She willed her hands to keep their grip – to be strong enough to hold her, knot by knot. After an eternity, she felt the rough floor of the cave. She looked up to see a grey oval patch of light.
‘Okay, I’m here. Now let Hilary go,’ she called out weakly.
‘One way or another you are going down there, Hilary. You choose.’ Lachlan’s voice was harsh.
Nina watched as her mother’s faint silhouette came into view in the dim light above her. ‘Hilary, I’m going to hold the rope tight. I’m here. It’ll be okay,’ said Nina.
She didn’t want to watch but knew she had to. Hilary threw her bag across her shoulders and reached out for the rope.
‘Just concentrate on what I’m saying. Wrap it around your foot. You’re more than strong enough. Use those horse-riding muscles …’
Nina continued gently instructing Hilary down the rope, till, with a rush, she reached the bottom and fell into Nina’s arms. They clung together.
‘Thanks, ladies. I’m just going to take this now,’ said Lachlan above them. ‘I don’t think you’ll need it.’ Nina saw his hand reach for the rope.
‘No! Please, leave it,’ Nina begged, feeling panic set in. ‘What if something happens and you don’t manage to tell them where we are? We’ll be trapped here.’
‘That’s not going to happen,’ said Lachlan.
‘But how do you know? You could have an accident, or anything. They might never work out where we are,’ said Hilary.
‘You’re not going to die then. You’re going to die now,’ Lachlan said, ice-cold.
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ It was Hilary. ‘Drop that rope back down now!’
‘You fuckin’ bitches, you both dumped me, only fair I do it back. Like shooting fish in a barrel.’
‘But why? I was good to you,’ shouted Nina, her panic now full-blown. ‘And I gave your mother a share of the gold!’
Lachlan’s head was outlined in the gloom above them. ‘Oh, yeah. Thanks for the charity, Nina.’ His voice was resolved. ‘Thanks for giving us just a tiny part of what’s mine. You hold onto your land, paintings, gold. Land and gold that was never yours in the first place.’
‘What on earth are you talking about?’ snapped Hilary.
‘Shut up!’ A metallic click cracked the air.
‘Lachlan please … don’t …’ Nina cried.
Beside her she sensed Hilary scrabbling on the ground.
‘You two are pathetic,’ he said. ‘Almost as pathetic as that piss-pot Maggie. You know she couldn’t wait for us to meet?’
‘Maggie? But …’ said Nina, her mind racing to keep up.
Click.
‘Oh yeah, we’re great mates. Thought I’d found my fairy godmother. And she led me straight to you. Now I’m just collecting accounts owed …’
Click, click.
Nina felt her knees begin to shake. So this is how it would end.
The gun barrel caught a glint of light as Lachlan leaned forward to take aim. ‘I can’t see you so I’m going to keep firing till I
can’t hear you,’ he said flatly. ‘But I’ll save one for the dog.’
Nina instinctively stumbled forwards, hands searching for some kind of cover.
There was a deafening explosion, a flash of light from above. Behind them, sparks flew from the cave wall.
Nina screamed and reached for Hilary, just as her mother pitched forward. Had she been shot? Then, above them, she saw the rock that had hurtled from Hilary’s hand shoot into the light. It connected with the point the flash had come from. For a second the shadow of Lachlan’s hands flailed against the pale light. There was a grunt, the sound of sliding rock. Then, a slow second later, a huge weight fell through the air and landed with a liquid crunch in the darkness.
They clung to each other and screamed.
‘Sit down, Hilary,’ said Nina at last. ‘I’m going to see whether he’s … how he is.’ In the deathly silence, they could only hear each other’s breathing.
Feeling carefully with her feet, she edged over to where Lachlan had fallen. Something struck her ankle. The rifle. She inched forward until her foot felt him. She knelt and moved her fingers across the body. His head and shoulders were warm and sticky and her nostrils filled with the metallic scent of fresh blood. Eventually, her fingers found his throat and she felt for a pulse. Nothing.
‘He’s dead,’ she whispered.
‘Good,’ came Hilary’s voice from the darkness.
‘Not good,’ replied Nina. ‘Don’t you see? No-one knows we’re here.’
CHAPTER 29
‘Stop pacing. We need to conserve energy,’ said Hilary, who sat slumped on a boulder directly under the opening.
‘You’re right, I know,’ replied Nina who, nonetheless, kept moving back and forth, back and forth. She must know every stone and bump in the seven paces between one wall and the other, thought Hilary.
‘What time is it? It’s so dark and I just … I just …’ Nina stuttered.
Hilary tried to ignore the rising panic in her daughter’s voice which only added to her own. ‘It’s 8.03 according to my phone.’
‘No! It can’t be. I feel like I’ve been here for days – not six hours!’
‘I know. We just have to stay calm. Think.’
‘Think! It’s a bit late for that,’ said Nina, her voice trembling. ‘I should have been thinking a whole lot more before I let someone like him into our lives. I invited him into my house. I can’t believe he did this to us. That he tried to kill us. I can’t believe he’s lying right here. I can’t believe that we, that we …’
The Shifting Light Page 30
