When Dave arrived, the camping sites at the national park were full again and people were sitting in deckchairs outside their vans. The smell of cooking permeated the air and Dave could see a couple of crows sitting on a rubbish bin, fossicking through it, looking for something to eat.
He drove over to the ranger’s house and after checking to see if the ute was in the garage, got out and knocked on the door.
‘Hang on,’ called a female voice.
Dave waited on the verandah until the door opened and Eliza stood there.
‘Oh, hi, Eliza. Sorry, I didn’t expect you. I was looking for Chris.’
Eliza looked uncomfortable before glancing over her shoulder. ‘He’s not here at the moment. I’m not sure when he’ll be back.’
‘Righto. Do you know where he is?’
She shook her head.
‘No worries. I’ll see if I can get hold of him.’ He turned to leave, then stopped. ‘How are you settling in?’
‘Fine.’
‘That’s good. I’ll catch you later.’
‘Bye.’
Dave went back to his car, his mind whirling. He was sure there was more to Eliza than met the eye. He was also pretty sure he knew what it was, but he needed to talk to her alone before he did anything else. Looking back at the house, he saw she was still standing in the entrance, watching him. When she saw him looking at her, she quickly disappeared.
He recalled the earlier conversation he’d had with Reen, when she’d agreed there was a lot more to Eliza than she’d let on.
There was certainly more than one reason for him to keep coming back to the national park.
He pulled the two-way mic from its holder and called Chris. There was no answer. He waited a moment before calling again, but there was still no reply.
Maybe he’d go and chat with some of the national park visitors until Chris returned.
There were plenty of people around, but no one Dave spoke to in the national park had any information about smuggling native wildlife. He had put out a few feelers but not one person picked up on them.
He was back in his car, about to head off to Blinman, when a ranger’s ute came into view.
Chris pulled up next to him and wound the window down. ‘G’day, Dave. What brings you up here again? It’s not that long since you were here last.’
‘How are you, mate?’ They shook hands through their respective windows. ‘There’s a few things I need to talk to you about. Got a couple of minutes?’
‘Yeah, no problems.’ They both pulled over, then got out of their vehicles and leaned against them.
‘Just wondering if you’ve noticed anything odd while you’ve been out and about? Car tracks where they shouldn’t be, people where they shouldn’t be, that type of thing?’ Dave said. ‘Hurt or injured animals?’
Chris looked at him curiously. ‘That sounds a bit strange. Want to tell me anything more?’
Dave shrugged. ‘I really don’t have anything more to tell you. I’ve had a bit of intel that there might be some movement in animals from up around here. I’m just doing prelim enquiry stuff at the moment.’
Chris stared at him. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
The sun slipped below the hills and immediately the air became cool.
‘Smuggling native wildlife out of the park or taking it from nearby properties.’
Dave watched a look of shock cross Chris’s face. Then he leaned in through the window, took out a jacket and shrugged into it.
‘Holy shit,’ he said.
A vehicle started up and they both looked towards it. A woman was directing her husband as he brought their caravan back further into the bay. She was making elaborate hand signals.
‘Keep coming, keep coming!’ she called out.
‘Ah, bugger,’ Chris said, starting to jog over to them.
‘Stop!’ screamed the woman just as the van hit a marker.
Dave walked over to where Chris had stopped, with his hands in his pockets.
‘Fun times,’ Dave remarked.
‘Mate, you wouldn’t believe how many marriages split up over reversing caravans,’ Chris said with a small laugh. ‘Anyway, another thing to fix tomorrow.’ He turned to the couple. ‘You blokes right?’ he called.
The man, who was out of the four-wheel drive and looking at the scratch on his caravan, gave him a thumbs up without looking over, while his wife stood there, her hands over her mouth.
Dave turned as he heard children’s voices, and saw Eliza climbing into a dual cab. She waved goodbye to Heidi and Tilly, and drove out, acknowledging him with a slight nod. She stopped briefly to talk to Chris, then left, a cloud of red dust hanging above the road. The air was so still, Dave knew the dust would still be there ten minutes later.
It didn’t seem like he would get anything out of Chris for now, so he decided to head to Blinman. He knew he could stay the night at the park, but he had a suspicion it might be a good idea for him to leave and come back under the cover of darkness.
‘Hey, Chris, I’ll leave you with it. I can see you’re going to be busy,’ he said. ‘Catch you later, maybe tomorrow.’
‘Yeah, yeah—no worries. I’ll have a think and see if anything stands out, hey. Cheers.’
Driving through the shroud of dust, Dave followed the road back to Blinman. He kept looking in his side mirrors and catching glimpses of gold, pink and red shimmering off the hills.
It was interesting, he decided, that Eliza had appeared out of the blue and suddenly he was getting reports of wildlife smuggling. Maybe she wasn’t avoiding him for the reason he had thought she was. Maybe she was here on business, not hiding from a different life.
He narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.
Too late, he saw the kangaroo and slammed his foot on the brakes. There was a heartbreaking whoomp and a thud as the roo hit the front of the car. He saw it crash to the ground and knew at once that it was dead.
Dave groaned. ‘Bloody, bloody hell.’ He hit the steering wheel, and got out to make sure the roo hadn’t destroyed the radiator and that his car was still drivable. If it wasn’t, he was stuck—at least until he could get another car.
Chapter 19
Dominic walked down the main street of Jindabyne, ignoring all the openly curious stares.
It had been like this ever since Ashleigh had disappeared. People watched or avoided him. They talked behind his back, or whispered to each other while he was in plain view.
The man who had been known as generous and kind, and only ever held in high regard, was now the centre of another type of attention and he didn’t like it one bit.
He’d heard some of the rumours through members of his entourage. No one had asked him anything outright.
‘Dominic?’
He kept walking.
‘Dominic!’ The voice was insistent and now he could hear footsteps behind him.
He checked himself, making sure he had a smile plastered on his face as he turned around.
‘Ah, Lilian, how lovely to see you,’ he said, groaning on the inside. Lilian was the Esme Watson of Jindabyne.
She went to church every Sunday without fail, mainly to see who needed prayers. She loved to speculate as to why they did, and her conclusions were usually so far from the truth, they were laughable.
‘How are you holding up, love?’ Lilian put her hand on his wrist, holding on fast.
‘I’m managing.’ He tried to move his arm away gradually, but she tightened her grip even further.
‘Such a terrible tragedy. I can’t believe it. And not having a body.’ She tut-tutted and Dominic gritted his teeth.
‘I’m hoping we’ll find her alive, Lilian.’
‘Yes, of course. But, as I’m sure the police would have told you, the longer there’s no word, the less likely it is—’
‘Yes. Yes, they have,’ Dominic interrupted, desperate to be gone. He wished he’d never braved the walk from his house to his office, but he’d needed the cold, cris
p air to help him think straight. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me.’ He made to walk forward.
‘I’ve had an idea,’ Lilian said, still hanging on.
‘I’m sure you have. And I’ve got one too,’ he growled. ‘Why don’t you . . .’ He was tensed, ready to rip his arm away. He could feel the all-too-familiar anger welling up inside him. All he wanted to do was strike out and hit this interfering old witch. He had to get away before he did something that would completely change the community’s opinion of him.
‘A vigil,’ Lilian said quickly.
‘Sorry?’ He pulled away and started to walk.
Lilian ran with little steps to keep up with his large ones. ‘A vigil. To remind everyone we’re looking for her. We can get newspapers and magazines to cover it.’
Dominic stopped and looked down at the wrinkled face.
‘Talk,’ he commanded. Media attention. That was what he really wanted. Webs that would spread across Australia to wherever she was hiding. Someone who didn’t know her would go to the police, and then he’d have her.
Lilian looked affronted for a moment, then started to speak quickly. ‘Oh, this must be so difficult for you. No wonder you’re a little . . . um . . . tense. Not to worry, love. We want to do anything we can to help you.’
‘Yes?’ snapped Dominic.
‘Well now, whether Ashleigh is found alive or not, we need to remind people she’s still missing. We know you’re not a God-fearing man, Dominic, but you’ve done so much to help this town, we want to try and do something to help you.’
‘Very kind of you, but if the police can’t do anything, I’m not sure you can.’
Lilian rushed on quickly, now wringing her hands nervously. ‘We thought if we held a vigil on the edge of Lake Jindabyne. Pastor Hunter would pray for Ashleigh’s safe return.’
An idea started to form in Dominic’s mind but he stayed silent.
‘We all miss her, you know. She was so wonderful with all the children when she was teaching. Such a beautiful, smart girl.’
Too smart for her own fucking good, thought Dominic. He stared into the distance, imagining the publicity. He could stand in front of the camera, crying. Begging for her return, like he’d done before. Her photo would be flashed across screens all over Australia. He felt a hand on his wrist again and looked down blankly. Shit. He’d forgotten Lilian was standing there.
‘What a lovely idea,’ he said softly. ‘But I’m really not sure I’m up to organising it, Lilian. I’m finding it all so hard.’
‘That’s why we thought we’d do it for you, love. All you have to do is be there on the day. We thought next Saturday, at sundown. It’ll be cold, but we can all rug up, can’t we? It’s not like we’re not used to the cold here.’
He nodded, smiling at her. ‘Well, if you insist. I’d be very appreciative.’
‘Don’t you worry about a thing, Dominic. We’ll handle everything.’ With a satisfied smile, she patted his arm once more and turned away. ‘Oh,’ she said, looking back over her shoulder, ‘would you like some more casseroles? We can have another bake-up, if you’re running low.’
Dominic shuddered at the thought. The church ladies had filled his freezer with all sorts of different meals. It was like a lucky dip—you never knew what you were going to get. In his experience, though, there were only a few worth eating.
‘Thank you for such a kind offer, Lilian. But I’m coping okay. After all, while I hope I don’t have to, I might have to get used to looking after myself.’ He strode away quickly, before she could say anything else.
‘You need to alert the media,’ Dominic said to Simon when they met for their usual afternoon drinks.
‘I haven’t got any capacity for that while they have me on leave,’ Simon answered, raising a Scotch to his mouth and drinking deeply. ‘I still can’t believe they’ve done that.’
‘I hope you haven’t implicated me in any way?’
Simon looked scornfully over at Dominic. ‘As if. You’d kill me if I had.’
‘At least you know that.’
They were silent, staring into the fire. Rain hurled itself against the window.
‘Where do you reckon she’s gone?’ Simon finally asked.
‘If I knew that, she’d be dead by now.’
‘Do you reckon she might be trying to track down her family? After all, she took her birth certificate with her.’
‘She can try, but there’s nothing for her to find.’
‘How do you know that?’
Dominic stared into the fire again, wondering whether to tell Simon the story. Maybe it would stop him asking questions. He decided to tell him the basics.
‘When she was dropped at the church, there was a note from her mother. She said getting pregnant had been a mistake. She didn’t want the child and she wasn’t going to raise a child alone. She didn’t want to be found now or later. And that was it. And her foster parents didn’t want anything to do with her once she’d turned eighteen and they weren’t getting any money to look after her. As I said before, there weren’t any names on the birth certificate, just the place where she was born and her birth date. That’s why I chose her, you know that. She had nowhere to go. I thought I could control her and keep her close. I fucking hate the fact I was so wrong about her. I’m not usually wrong.’ He took another sip of his wine and savoured the taste, swirling it in his mouth before he swallowed.
‘Is she really worth all this? I mean, mate, she’s gone. Why not just let it go? If you don’t make any more noise, everything’ll die down. People will forget. The police will file it as an open unsolved.’ He paused and looked over at Dominic. ‘Unless she’s really dead, she’s never going to turn up.’
‘What the fuck do you mean?’
Simon looked at him steadily.
The policeman knew damn well she wasn’t dead because he, Dominic, would have been the one to do it. ‘You know I don’t work like that,’ he answered sullenly.
‘Yeah, I do. But is it really worth putting yourself in the cops’ line of sight, with all your other business operations? Honestly, they’ll turn over everything they can until they work out why Ashleigh’s run. People who are happy and content don’t run for no reason. The police are looking at you first and foremost.’ Simon took a breath and continued, ‘Are you sure your sister’ll thank you for bringing the Alberto name into the media and to the attention of the police?’
‘You can shut the fuck up any time you want.’
Simon held his hands up in a peace gesture. ‘Just putting it out there.’
Dominic poured another red wine. There’s another shipment coming next week,’ he said.
Simon shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
‘It’s coming the usual way,’ Dominic continued, staring at the floor.
Simon stayed silent but put his drink down.
‘I’ll let you know where you have to meet it.’
‘I can’t do it.’
‘Yes, you can.’
‘No, I can’t. I’m on leave.’
‘You always do it.’
‘I’ve never been made to go on leave before. They’re going to be watching me like a hawk, Dom. I can’t do it.’
‘Can’t or won’t?’
‘Jesus, Dom, which bit don’t you get? If you want me to keep being useful to you, I’ve got to get back onto the force. At the moment, they’ve taken my badge away and that means I can’t do anything for you. I can’t get in and see reports, I have no access to the computer system, and if I use my ID to get inside and look at anything, they’re going to know what I’m looking at and relate it to you. The best thing I can do is stay well clear. They might even have someone tailing me, for all I know.’
‘Have you been watching out?’
‘Of course I bloody have,’ Simon snapped. He got up and walked over to the window to stare out into the rain-filled afternoon. ‘I’m not fucking stupid.’
‘That’s good to know. I’ve been wondering.’
/> ‘Get fucked.’
Simon had been the most pliable one in the whole group and now he was making noises like he wasn’t going to be so cooperative anymore.
Dominic would have to keep a close eye on him.
Chapter 20
Dominic’s pocket watch was burning a hole in Eliza’s side as Reen drove them to Port Augusta.
She was running out of money. But she was nervous about hocking the pocket watch. For all she knew, Dominic had discovered it was missing by now—actually, she was sure he would have—and reported it to Simon, who would have notified every pawn dealer in Australia.
She had little choice, however. The cash she got from Chris was eaten up by photography expenses and food, and she really needed her car back—the repayments were killing her. She hadn’t sold any photographs yet.
‘Can we just call in and see if the girls are at the park?’ Eliza asked Reen. ‘I tried to ring earlier and see if they wanted anything, but I couldn’t get hold of them.’
‘Yeah, that’s fine. I’ve got a box of things to drop off to Chris anyway,’ Reen answered. ‘He rang yesterday, wanting some pies and Cornish pasties to freeze for lunches.’
Eliza looked out the window and watched the now familiar sights fly by. There was more traffic on the road than she’d ever seen—caravan after caravan was snaking its way north. More wild flowers had burst into bloom in the last couple of weeks and were brightening the countryside with every colour of the rainbow. She found it amazing that flowers could grow out of what looked to be nothing but stones. Then there were the carpets of blooms that could have been planted by hand, they were so precise: lines of red Sturt desert peas; white and blue everlastings; and many other flowers, whose names she hadn’t yet learned. They stretched across the flats and under the native pines, up the sides of the hills and into the valleys, and along the banks of the creeks.
What Eliza found magical about these fields of flowers was that when she sat quietly among them, taking photos, she heard every tiny thing there was to hear. The bees, which hopped from one flower to the next, loaded with pollen, before flying away to their hive. The buzz of the flies, and the thump of kangaroos hopping.
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