He’d shot Jace in the head and turned and clicked back the hammer and shot the man beside him, Damien, before I even got to my feet. I slammed into him, the image of their bucking heads still shuddering through my mind.
There was screaming. Men screaming. The two surviving men, Frank and John, crawled and cowered against the rock walls. Kash was on his feet, stumbling, trying to rip the wire from his wrists. I struggled with Mick for the pistol. His round belly pushed at my chest as he leaned back, hands high, trying to tug it from my grip.
The third bullet hit the wall above us, dislodged rock and dust. It was in my eyes, in Mick’s eyes. I stepped back and kicked him in the crotch before he could take aim again. It was a hard horse-kick with my heel leading. He went down. I grabbed the gun and smashed the butt of it over his nose, crushing bone. I pulled it back and swung again, hammered him in the temple.
Kash’s hands were free. He grabbed the gun before I could pound the unconscious man beneath me another time.
Jace and Damien were dead. I went to their bodies, turned their heads, checked for a pulse. Kash was already disappearing through the gap in the rock to call for medical assistance.
I took the wire Kash had stripped from his wrists and flopped Mick onto his belly, started winding it around his wrists. Frank Scullen and John Stieg were watching me, speechless, as I pulled the wire and knotted it over and over again.
‘I should make you arseholes free yourselves,’ I said as I went to untie them.
Chapter 104
THE TACTICS WERE dirty. Tox liked that. He’d pinned Regan on the carpet, tugged and twisted him up into a headlock, but the other man had got hold of a shard of the broken vase and jammed it into Tox’s forearm.
He stumbled into the kitchen and pulled the shard from the wound, spraying blood on the cupboards. There was a kettle nearby with a curved handle. Tox grabbed it and threw it, listened to it clunk off Regan’s head. There was a wine rack by the door to the kitchen. Regan grabbed a bottle and held it by the neck like a club.
He lunged. Tox grabbed the arm before it came down, smashing the bottle against the top edge of the fridge. He got a couple of punches in while Regan was distracted. They fell against the fridge, rattling things inside. Tox went for Regan’s throat, his thumbs gripping his windpipe, crushing tendons. Regan’s boots slipped in the wine. He was under him, between his legs. Tox grabbed a handful of shirt. Regan grabbed his ankle, brought him down, tried to crawl away while Tox recovered.
Tox steadied himself against the kitchen counter and spied the knife block. Regan was coughing, gurgling, something in his throat broken or bent out of shape. Tox slid a knife from the block. A lean, mid-size filleting blade. Razor-sharp. He turned towards his victim. The fantasy of every mother and father with a raped daughter. The beast at your mercy, a sharp blade, his legs splayed. Tox would have to hand Regan over to the police alive. He knew that. But maybe there was something he could do to make sure the man never raped a young woman again.
Chapter 105
‘HOW MANY SPARE officers have you got?’ Kash was in the car, the phone pressed to his ear. I knew he was talking to the command chief of White Cliffs, who had loaned us officers to patrol the main street of Last Chance Valley while the people gathered. ‘I need at least two to come protect some bodies and take some suspects into custody. Can you redirect your men? No, not the one we’ve been looking for. Another one. I’ll send you the location.’
I told Frank and John to lie on the ground, and stood at the entrance to the cave in case Mick woke and tried to come out. I didn’t expect him to. I’d knocked him pretty hard. John Stieg was crying, his head on the rocky earth. Kash came and stood by me.
‘Do you believe them?’ he asked. ‘About the diary?’
‘I do,’ I admitted.
‘So the town’s still in danger,’ he said.
It was a breathless, wordless hour. And then Kash and I were back on the road, Kash driving too fast, smashing over plants and logs as we headed towards the highway. We had come so close to death. I had rushed at a gun without thinking. My mind kept trying to reassure me that I was safe, dumping calming chemicals into my veins, attempting to slow down my pulse. But we hadn’t found the diarist. We’d been wrong about Jace Robit and his crew. I only realised I was gripping the seat cushion so hard with my good hand when Kash reached over and touched my arm.
‘You’re making me nervous.’
‘Watch the road,’ I said.
Kash swung the car onto the highway. I shifted in my seat. There was sand all through my shirt and pants, driving me nuts. I pulled my bra away from my body and dumped a load of it onto my stomach. I wriggled in my seat, trying to get it out the bottom of my jeans.
In my left front pocket, another deposit of sand, and a small piece of paper. I pulled out the folded sheet and opened it. Switched on the overhead light. The letters were small and clunky, but I knew the handwriting right away. Had studied it closely.
Dear Officer Blue,
So sad you didn’t want to come away with me. I think we wold have made great partners. I’m sorry for steeling! I know it’s wrong. But its a big bad world out there and I’m gonna see it if it kills me. I’m getting out of here finelly! You’re a cool chick. See you round some time.
Zac Taby
‘ What is it?’ Kash asked.
‘Nothing.’ I wiped my face, tucked the note away. Zac must have left it before he walked out of Snale’s house, towards his doom. I’d failed him. I’d failed him.
‘Harry?’
‘It’s nothing. It’s fine. Let’s get back to town. If the killer shows his face, I want to be on him like wildfire.’
Chapter 106
THE TINY TOWN was lit up like a Christmas tree. People wandering towards the centre from the dark road out of town, cars parked haphazardly on the dirt. Kash and I drove through slowly, blasting the horn and shining the enormous hunting lights at dazed men in Akubras carrying bottles of beer.
‘Fucking Aussies,’ I said. ‘Any excuse to have a piss-up.’
Someone was seriously threatening to kill these people, and they were coming out in force to pretend they weren’t afraid. Horns beeping, shopfronts open. I leaned over and looked at the back car park of the mechanic’s. There was no semitrailer there. That, at least, was something.
We spied Snale telling off a couple of youths and stopped beside her. Her uniform was patched with sweat.
‘It’s a madhouse,’ she panted as Kash rolled down his window. She looked at us, seemed to measure the trauma on our faces. ‘What happened? Are you two alright?’
‘We’re OK,’ I said. ‘We’ll stash the car and come help with crowd control.’
Kash drove on. By the edge of town, there was a streak of white in front of the vehicle. Kash slammed on the brakes. It was Bella Destro, in ridiculous high heels beneath her blue jeans, steadying herself against the asphalt with one hand, a beer bottle in the other. I got out of the car and helped her to her feet.
‘You’re the last person I expected to see out here,’ I said.
‘Woo! Detective Harriet Blue!’ She staggered, grinned at me, sweeping back her hair. ‘Look at all these people! It’s a party!’
Kash honked the car horn, scaring us both. I dragged Bella towards the passenger side door.
‘I’ll drive her home. She’s off her head,’ I told Kash. ‘You meet up with the other guys, give them a hand. I’ll be back in a minute.’
I wasn’t focused. I was sad and hurt about Zac’s letter, about the stupid young lives all around me, kids trying to run off with stolen gold, flopping on the road like wounded animals, cheering and reeking of beer. This was a maddening place. I momentarily felt so beyond rage I could hardly speak.
I was distracted. Not thinking at all as I started driving Bella back the way we’d come, into the dark.
Chapter 107