Heartbreak Homestead (Hearts of the Outback Book 2)

by Susanne Bellamy

  “What do you think happened to him, Pete?”

  “Got no proof but I reckon Tait is in it up to his eyeballs.”

  “How? Jeb took an overdose of medication so how could someone have administered that without him knowing?”

  “There’ll be a way.” Pete whistled and Patch rose and padded over and sat at his side, muzzle raised and eyes fixed on his master. “We’re off to make a circuit. You right with taking the midnight shift?”

  “Fine by me.” Alex tipped his hat over his eyes and lay back. Sleep was the last thing on his mind with Pete’s comments running ragged in his brain. Alex’s decision to keep watch on his cattle instead of staying with Lizzy and Dan felt wrong on every level.

  Was Sanderson Tait an abusive, murdering bastard? And where did that leave Lizzy if Tait had already killed once?

  ##

  Lizzy leaned against a veranda post and sipped her tea as she looked up at the night sky. Somewhere out there, Alex kept watch over his herd. She tried to imagine living here with just Dan for company, watching him grow and teaching him about his parents. What would he remember when he grew up? That she raised him alone, with love? Or would he resent the isolation and loneliness?

  A thousand questions raced through her brain but two surfaced insistently; had Jeb been murdered, and was she doing the right thing for Dan? If Tait had killed Jeb as Pete thought, there was no doubt in Lizzy’s mind Dan should live with her. But if Pete was wrong, would she be depriving Dan of family life with aunts and uncles and cousins? And grandparents.

  “Pete to Craeborn, come in. Over.” Lizzy sprinted to the office. How long had they been calling while she’d been stargazing?

  “Craeborn receiving. Over.”

  Static filled the line but she caught two words that filled her belly with dread. “. . . accident . . . come . . .”

  “I’m coming with the car. Repeat, driving out now. Over and out.”

  Hands shaking and mouth dry, Lizzy grabbed the map and turned on the desk lamp. In the spill of light, she plotted her course to the herd’s new location. Along the river bank she and Alex had walked to the base of the hills separating ‘Craeborn’ from Tait’s land. “Enemy territory on the far side,” she muttered, unease pricking her mind.

  Gathering a medical kit, emergency pack, and Dan’s change bag, she made up a bottle for him and packed the all-terrain ute before lifting Dan out of his cot and carrying him to the car. “Please, baby, stay asleep.” She kissed his forehead and gently closed the door before slipping into the driver’s seat. Map and torch beside her, she reversed out of the house yard and headed to the creek.

  “Please be okay, Alex. I’m coming.” If only he was okay, she would— what? Was she bargaining for something she’d never had? Telling herself to concentrate on driving, she steered the ute into the creek. There was less water than when Alex had waded through a few weeks back and in places, she negotiated dry piles of stones.

  A couple of kilometres later, she stopped and checked the map. Where the creek took an easterly curve, she had to climb out of the creek bed, bash through a stretch of scrub and turn south towards the hills. Hoping for moonrise to light her way, Lizzy engaged first gear and rolled on through the water.

  Her shoulders ached from hunching over the wheel and peering into the darkness. As she rolled each shoulder, consciously trying to ease her tension, the compass showed a turn to the east. Wiping each palm one at a time over her jeans, she swung west out of the creek bed.

  Dry bushes and small eucalypts covered the bank and the bush scent rose as she crushed leaves beneath her wheels. Faint tracks showed the earlier passage of a vehicle along the path she took and she followed them until the headlights picked up the ghostly shape of a termite mound. Lizzy swung left to avoid it.

  A double bang shattered the night. The ute stopped dead and Lizzy was thrown against the steering wheel. As she lost consciousness, the last thing she heard was Dan’s cries.

  ##

  Moonlight threw dark, slanted shadows behind Alex and Patch as they headed back towards camp. Their first circuit together had been quiet and Alex wondered why he was out with Pete and his dog instead of curling up behind Lizzy in their bed.

  The need for her was stronger than ever and he realised with a start that his desire for her was more than purely sexual. He woke each morning looking forward to talking with her, enjoying her dry wit, sharing his day with her and playing with Dan. Between the three of them, they’d made a home and he wanted it for keeps. Would independent Lizzy be receptive to his suggestion?

  His jaw tightened as he thought of her frenetic cleaning in the homestead since the DCS visit as if she was trying to erase part of her life. Perhaps it was her way to heal her past. At night, when they made love, it was intense and glorious but during the day, they barely spoke and he sensed Lizzy keeping more than physical distance between them.

  But why?

  The more he wanted, the more she pulled away.

  Was that it? Did she think he was going beyond the bounds of their agreement? Damn the agreement. Focused on making his mark in the family company for the past decade, Lizzy had given him a priceless gift and shown him how much more life could be. He’d bought into the whole family thing with her and Dan for six months but Lizzy was the woman he wanted to spend his life with. Raising her nephew, and having more children of their own felt right.

  Could he convince Lizzy?

  As he rode past the camp, Pete snored, coughed and turned over in his sleep. Patch whined as he trotted alongside Alex’s horse. “One more circuit, mate, and you can go back to your master. Come.”

  Turning away from the glowing embers of the campfire, Alex headed east on the first leg of the route they’d planned to patrol. The ghost of the campfire flickered in his eyes as he scanned the immediate area and he walked the horse and waited for his night vision to return.

  Patch ran ahead, melting into the shadowy landscape. A low growl carried on the lightest of breezes and sent adrenaline racing through his veins. Peering into the darkness, he pulled the torch from his saddlebag. Thumb hovering over the on button, he guided the horse after the dog. A short way ahead, Patch barked at a dark shape tumbling towards him. Alex trained the light on the figure.

  “Lizzy?”

  Kicking out of the stirrups, he dismounted and dropped to his knees beside her. He took hold of her shoulders. Heart in mouth, he pushed words out around the lump in his throat. “Lizzy, are you okay?”

  Slowly she raised her head. A trickle of blood ran down her cheek and her forehead was bruised and swollen. Red-eyed, she gripped his forearm.

  “They’ve taken Dan.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The nightmare was real.

  Lizzy dug her fingers into the hard muscle of Alex’s arms. Darkness pressed in on every side, smothering her as it hid Dan. Dust clogged her nostrils as she breathed in the smell of man and horse. No dream could feel and smell like this. Shaking her head, she repeated the crazy, terrible truth. “Dan’s been taken.”

  “When?” Alex tucked a curl behind her ear but even that gentle touch drew a hiss of pain from her. “Sorry. What happened?”

  She blinked, trying to focus on Alex’s face. “You’re not injured?”

  “No, but you are. Talk to me, Lizzy. Tell me how this happened.”

  She struggled out of his arms but her legs wobbled and refused to hold her. “Got to find Dan.”

  Alex’s strong hands held her and he set her back on the dirt and held up one hand close to her face. “Lizzy, look at me. Follow my finger.”

  “Fuzzy. Your finger’s fuzzy. Why aren’t you hurt? The radio call—” Scrunching her eyes closed, she rested her head against Alex’s chest and breathed slowly through the pain lancing her forehead. Her mouth was drier than a gibber plain in the middle of summer. “Water.”

  “Stay there.” He rose and grabbed a canteen slung over the saddle. Sitting beside her, one arm around her shoulders, he opened the can
teen and held it to her mouth. “Easy does it, babe.”

  She drank several mouthfuls and pushed the canteen away.

  Alex tipped the canteen and drenched his handkerchief and carefully cleaned her face. Gentle as his touch was, she gritted her teeth until he finished.

  Revived by the water and secure in Alex’s arms, she gathered her thoughts. “I got a radio call that you were hurt. There was static but I thought it was Pete so I packed medical supplies and brought Dan in the ute to find you. There was a bang—no, wait, two bangs—and I blacked out. When I came to, Dan was gone.”

  “Where were you?”

  “I was following the tracks of another vehicle. I turned out of the creek where it turns east. I was coming out of the scrub and there was a massive termite mound I had to go around and—that’s it. Two flat tyres and no idea how it happened. It must be have been Tait. Their land is on the far side of those hills.”

  An aching emptiness expanded in her chest like a black hole sucking light and matter and love from her world. She pressed a fist over her mouth. The baby boy that she loved had vanished into the night. Someone had stolen him. Digging her fingernails into her palms she dragged in a deep breath. A shudder ran through her and she raised her chin. Giving in to despair was not an option.

  “Dan is somewhere out there. We’re going to get Pete and backtrack to the ute. Lizzy—look at me.” Alex put a finger beneath her chin and turned her face to his. Fierce determination shone in his gaze and gave her a sliver of hope.

  “We will find Dan and bring him home.”

  ##

  The camp fire burned low as Pete turned back to the radio. “Check. We’ll set off a triangle of flares to guide the helicopter in. Over and out.” Pete signed off and put the radio away. “That detective you talked to is flying out with reinforcements. He’ll meet us near the ute.”

  “Caleb Richards? Good. He knows what’s happened so far. Have you talked to him yet, Pete?” Alex applied a strip of tape to hold the sterile pad over Lizzy’s wound, thankful she’d been travelling through scrub and not at highway speed when the ute’s tyres blew.

  Gingerly, Lizzy touched the dressing on her forehead. “How big is it?”

  “About the size of a quail’s egg.”

  “Feels more like an ostrich egg.”

  “You’ll live.” He repacked the medical kit and stowed it in his saddlebag before offering Lizzy a hand up. “Come on. We’ve got to get back to your ute and scout around before Richards arrives.”

  Alex mounted his horse then kicked one foot free of the stirrups. “Put your foot there.” He reached for Lizzy’s hand and pulled her across the saddle in front of him. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he held her a little tighter than necessary as they followed Pete’s horse back to the creek.

  How much time had elapsed since the abduction? She’d covered a lot of distance and he marvelled that she’d found him at night, hindered by a concussion.

  Lizzy leaned her head on his shoulder and turned her face into his neck. Each time she exhaled her breath warmed his skin and he dropped a kiss on her head. Whatever it took to get Dan back, he would do for her. They were a family and he would protect their child.

  Guided by the glow of an interior light, they found Lizzy’s ute beside a termite mound that stood tall and ghostly in the moonlight.

  Lowering Lizzy to the ground first, Alex dismounted and tied the reins to a spindly tree branch. He pulled out his torch and took Lizzy’s hand and followed the stockman, hoping Pete’s tracking skills matched the stories he’d shared over dinner.

  Pete held out a hand and they stopped behind him. “Don’t come closer. I don’t want you disturbing the tracks before I’ve read them.” The stockman shone his torch on the ground around the ute, moving the beam methodically from left to right in a wide sweep. Metal roadblock spikes had been set across the exit point and lay embedded in the front tyres.

  “Now we know how your ute was stopped.” Pete’s tone was grim.

  “And why. This proves Dan’s disappearance was planned. Someone set this up knowing you’d follow an existing track through the scrub. They must have faked the radio call for help after they set this trap.” Alex could barely contain his anger. What sort of monster were they dealing with?

  “Maybe if I hadn’t been knocked out I’d be with Dan now.” In his hand, Lizzy’s trembled and Alex’s blood ran cold. What would Dan’s abductors have done to Lizzy if she hadn’t been unconscious?

  Pete swung the torchlight back to the driver’s door. “There’s Lizzy’s footprints and there”—he pointed to the ground on the driver’s side—“are drops of blood, probably from her head wound. Her footprints go around to the rear passenger side. See where she moved back and forth?”

  “I was looking for Dan.” Her hand tightened on Alex’s and she tugged his arm to follow Pete.

  Understanding her desperation to do something, anything to get Dan back, he pulled her against his chest and locked his arm around her waist. “Wait, Lizzy. Let Pete see what else he can find.”

  As Pete hunkered down to examine the dirt beside the rear passenger door, Alex’s torch returned to the ground beside the driver’s door.

  Drops of Lizzy’s blood lay spattered and mixed with the dirt. Rage blacker than night rose in him, threatening to overwhelm reason. Gritting his teeth, his fingers dug into Lizzy’s hip and held her close. Nobody hurt his family, stole their child, and harmed the woman he loved. A synapse clicked open in his brain. He loved Lizzy, and wasn’t this just the wrong time for that revelation.

  He sucked in a breath. If Lizzy hadn’t been standing in his arms, he’d have already charged off into the night chasing the bastards who had taken Dan. But they needed information. Had the abductor headed south, into Tait’s property?

  Pete edged past the ute, angling his torch ahead and stepping slowly as he looked for other tracks. “Found them. Size twelve boots I reckon, and worn down on the right heel.”

  He disappeared from sight between a pair of spindly trees, but a faint glow showed his progress through the bushes. Alex held his breath and tried to pick up sounds of Pete’s passage but he moved silently.

  Lizzy’s hand gripped his shirt as she stood rigid in his arms. “Alex, do you think Tait could be behind this?”

  “Because of what Pete said? I don’t know.”

  “You should have seen him in the solicitor’s office. Red-faced, and shouting that Dan is a Tait and no—deleted expletives—Campbell would cheat him out of his land. We never resolved whether he meant Dan and his inheritance or if Tait had some notion of his own rights to ‘Craeborn’ through Donna.”

  The bushes off to the right parted and Pete emerged. “Quad bike was hidden back there. I found this on the ground beside where it was parked.” He held out his palm.

  “Dan’s pacifier.” Alex’s stomach took a dive. Lizzy had threaded green ribbon to the ring of white plastic herself and Dan’s little fingers played with it endlessly as he sucked on it during the day. Deprived of his comforter, he usually grizzled.

  Lizzy lifted the dummy from Pete’s hand and closed her fingers around it. “Which way did they go? Come on, we have to go after them.” She strode over to Alex’s horse and yanked the reins. They snagged on a branch as Alex reached out to stop her.

  “Wait for me.”

  Pete cocked his head. “Listen. That’s a chopper. Alex, grab the flares. Lizzy, you can’t go. You have to hold one.”

  Lizzy pressed her lips together to hold in the scream building inside her. Why wait for the detective? Pete had found tracks, he had a direction. Why was she holding an orange flare aloft like the bloody Statue of Liberty when her baby was in danger?

  The chopper hovered as its searchlight was switched on and illuminated the uneven ground Pete had selected.

  Blinded by light and swirling dust, Lizzy covered her eyes with her arm and turned away. Over the whump whump of slowing rotors, a door slid open and Lizzy peered under her arm at the shadowy
figures that emerged. One ran towards her, bent low beneath the rotors. As he straightened up in front of her she recognised Caleb Richards. Last time they met, he’d questioned the legitimacy of Alex’s business dealings but now, she appreciated his cool, efficient presence.

  “Detective Richards.”

  “Ms. Wilmot, have you found any traces of Dan?”

  She held up the baby pacifier by its ribbon. “Pete knows which way they went. They were on a quad bike like—”

  “Like the tracks from your hayshed.”

  Certain the incidents were linked she nodded. Blood pounded in her ears as she tried to think logically. “I’m afraid of what they will do to Dan. Whoever has taken him is unhinged.”

  Pete and Alex jogged up and joined them while a small group of police officers checked weapons and adjusted backpacks.

  “Richards.” The men shook hands and Alex introduced Pete.

  The stockman led the way to the ute. “I found tracks of a quad bike heading south. Dan’s pacifier was on the ground beside where it was parked.”

  The detective knelt in front of the ute and examined the spikes. “Deliberately set and illegal.” He checked out the ute, casting a quick look at Lizzy’s injury when he stopped by the driver’s door before moving around to the passenger side.

  She raised a hand to her forehead. If he thought a bump on the head would stop her joining the hunt for Dan, he didn’t know her at all. Clenching her hands at her sides, she stood straight and concentrated on not swaying in spite of the pain hammering in her skull.

  Turning to one of the officers, Richards said, “Photograph everything here. I want clear images of the tyre tracks of the getaway vehicle as well. When you’ve finished, follow us. I’ll radio our location to the pilot.”

  A female officer unpacked a camera, and began a methodical approach to photographing the scene from every angle.