“God rest his soul.” He interrupts.
“Your brother took his own life?” I place the lighter on the table and take a long draw from my smoke.
“Yes. Falcon was a such a troubled, lost, loner boy, but nobody should be trapped inside themselves like he was. Driven to make it all stop in the end.”
“So you saw it coming?”
“Nope, I didn’t. But I probably wasn’t around enough to notice. Not a day goes by that I don’t wish I’d been home more to take care of him.” He takes a long draw from his smoke. “Ten-year age gap didn’t help. I was in training for the army, and he was in Melbourne. I always knew he was troubled—hell, so did Mum, but he seemed happy enough with his best mate by his side and Morgan on his arm.”
“Best friend?”
“Thick as thieves they were, him and Logan.”
“Logan?”
“Logan Raffety. It was Falcon, Morgan, and Logan against the world back then. They went everywhere together. Did everything together. Then when Morgan went off to university, and they busted up, he still had Logan.”
“Do you see Logan? Is he from around here?”
He shakes his head. “Nah. He’s still back home in Melbourne where we all grew up. He’s a police officer actually, so he won’t be hard for you pigs—I mean, cops, to find.”
I shift my eyes to Roland who is leaning against a single rail, writing into his notepad. He nods to indicate he’ll arrange someone to look into Logan Raffety.
“Do you have the copy of the note Falcon left before his death?”
Winston ashes his cigarette. “Nah, I don’t. I put it in the coffin with Mum, and it burned with her. Falcon’s death broke mum’s heart. She kept that note on her dresser, never far from her side, every day after the coppers returned it. She couldn’t stand the thought of him hanging himself as he did. She was the one who found him.”
“Your mother’s death entitled you to ownership of the land and cabin.””
“Yeah, it did. She had dementia, you know. You’d think she’d have forgotten Falcon and the circumstances of his death, like she’d forgotten everything else, but she didn’t. It was the only memory she clung on to. It tortured mum. It’s one of the reasons I came here—to take care of her. I decided to stay after she was gone. Live a quiet existence.” He closes his eyes momentarily. “Mum died here in this cabin. She loved the wilderness. She was happy, happy in this home, right to the end.”
“Was Morgan’s name in the suicide note, like our records indicate?”
“I wouldn’t know. I never read it. Couldn’t bring myself to try and understand a single word. I harboured a lot of guilt over his passing. Do you think Morgan going missing has something to do with Falcon taking his life, his death?”
“It was our strongest lead. You were our strongest lead.”
He flicks his wrist. “Nah. Nope. It had nothing to do with me. And anybody who knew Falcon would never wish harm upon Morgan. Not me, not a soul. There’d be no one harbouring any ill wishes toward her because of his death. Falcon was mentally disturbed.” He places his finger to his temple and taps. “He had problems up in his head, extensive problems. He was wired wrong, I think, and for a long time he never shared what he was going through with his family, just his best mate. Lucky for us, Logan kept giving us updates about how he was travelling.”
“They were that close?”
Winston nods. “Morgan didn’t cause Falcon’s death. Falcon did. He took his life. If anything, Morgan probably gave us more time with him than we would have had otherwise. He was much happier and stable when she was around.” He pauses, then takes a long inhale. “I’m not gonna lie, even with her around, there still was this lonely, confused, and tortured boy inside him.”
I drop the butt of my smoke to the wooden slats of the veranda and stomp until the cherry no longer burns.
“So are you taking me to the station, or are you going to let me see where this fire might be?”
“We’ll take care of the fire. You need to give us a statement.”
“Fine.” Winston spits on his fingers and extinguishes his smoke between them. “Let me get my wallet and shit.”
“Sure.”
We conduct a one-hour search, and the house turns up nothing. My stomach drops. This isn’t our guy. He doesn’t even have a bloody television.
I feel like I’m back at square one. I’ve no idea who has Morgan, but I do know she’s out here somewhere.
The sun is peeking out from behind the mountains and a blanket of light fans across the once-dark landscape. Daybreak is only moments away.
“Pull out,” I call to the blue team. “We’re going inland to search. Morgan’s out here.” At least we’ll have light.
As quickly as I instruct them on our next move, we’re heading for the cars. Here’s hoping we’re not too late.
“Astin, we have a big problem.” My partner cups my arm and yanks me, causing me to stumble over my feet.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I'm shocked. Roland has never handled me in such a way.
“Listen,” he barks through his teeth. “Shit has gone down. Reid is MIA in his father-in-law’s four-wheel-drive. He has a passenger on board—his brother. John—you know the neighbour? He’s just been placed under arrest and has been hauled down to the station. Shirley, his wife, is assisting with the investigation, and she’s also down at the station. Lynette is holding the fort. Reid and Morgan’s parents are caring for the children back at the Banks home, and we have four uniformed officers on-site with them. Max has a unit with him, and they’re coming in our direction.”
“When?” My body stiffens. My heart beats hard in my chest.
“This all went down about an hour ago. Look.” He holds out his mobile phone. I start reading the messages.
“That’s the address Reid’s going to?” I snap as I point to the screen.
“Yes. The neighbours own that fucking cabin. Astin, this property didn’t show up in our title search.” He pauses, then shakes his head. “Shirley has advised that John has been communicating with the abductor. She overheard him having a phone conversation about it.”
“Who is the abductor?”
“Shirley didn’t know, and John hasn’t said. They’re grilling him down at the station, but he’s giving nothing up.”
“Fuck,” I hiss. “So now we have two fucking civilians about to enter the field. Are they armed?”
Roland shakes his head. “We don’t think so.”
“Do they have a fucking death wish?”
I grasp my portable radio. “All teams, all teams, we have located the property where Morgan could be. We have two civilians, Reid and Cruise Banks en route to the cabin at sixty-seven Lane Road, Corbet’s Landing. Team red, you’re the closest. Get your arses there and make sure those two don’t get themselves killed. This is a state of emergency. Everybody, move out.”
Urgency overcomes us, and as I climb into the car, I already know that this won’t end well, and someone’s going to get killed. The question is, how many body bags are we going to need by the time it’s all said and done? I can only hope we’re in line for a miracle.
What the hell is Reid thinking? And how did he give Max the slip?
“Roland, get Max on the phone, now.”
The sirens blare. Red and blue light the sky. We have three lives to protect.
This just made my job so much harder than it already was. Why didn’t Reid trust that I’d bring her home?
Morgan
I’m frantic when a chill pricks my skin. I search with desperation. Where’s my family? Don’t go. Don’t leave me.
My body feels as if it’s floating. I lift.
“Help. Help me.” There’s no sound.
The distinct smell of petrol fills my nose. My eyes open only a crack and I see a flash of what looks to be a hand. Whose hand is that?
My bottom impacts with a hard surface.
Thump thump, ba boom, ba bump, lub-dub.
There is a heart beating calmly against my ear.
VooRRRR, vooRRR, vooRRR.
An engine revving has my head rolling.
The revving stops, replaced by an idle.