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CHAPTER ELEVEN
“YOUR CAR IS fixed. You’re lucky there wasn’t too much damage. Lefty said we got it out of the water in time.” Dale smiled to himself as he imagined Daisy’s excitement at the news on the other end of the phone. It’d been two days since he dropped her back at the outstation. She’d be desperate to get her car back. And he was desperate for her to have it back. It was dangerous to live in such isolated country with no means of reliable transport. Even if she had her workmate to look after her, things could still go wrong quickly out here. She didn’t seem to understand that. But then again, why would she? A city girl, with no experience living on the land, she’d have no idea how rapidly things could go bad.
“Oh…ah, thank you. That’s great.” Was it his imagination, or did Daisy not sound as enthusiastic as she should? “I’ll have to arrange to get into town somehow and pick it up. Thank you so much for all your help.”
What? It sounded like she was blowing him off. About to thank him and hang up.
“No, no, you don’t understand. Your car is already at Stormcloud. I drove into town with Steve yesterday. Lefty said it was ready, so I drove it home again. It was too late to call by the time we got back last night.” He hoped he’d done the right thing. But the silence on the other end of the phone was making him doubt himself.
“Oh, sheesh…um, you didn’t have to do that.” She fell silent.
Why was she acting so cagey? And a tad ungrateful, if he wasn’t mistaken.
He heard her take a deep breath. “What I mean is, thank you. I’ll get Ryan to drive us over on the motorcycle and we can pick it up. But, Dale…” He wondered what was behind her hesitation. “I’m not sure I can pay you back for the repairs just yet.”
Was that all that was concerning her? She didn’t have the money. “Don’t worry, your insurance should cover the cost. I can wait until they pay you out, that’s not a problem.”
He heard her hesitation again, and it suddenly became blindingly clear to him. Waiting for the money wasn’t the problem. The car wasn’t insured. What kind of person would drive an uninsured car into the isolated north Queensland countryside?
He jumped in before she even had time to answer. “But even if you aren’t insured, aren’t you doing a consultancy for the uni? Surely, they’ll help you pay for it?” He’d been wondering why she wasn’t driving a university vehicle. Didn’t they have a fleet of cars? Or at the very least, they could’ve hired her a proper vehicle.
“This is, ah… a private consultancy. We’re doing it off the books.”
Of course they were. Things were just not adding up with Daisy. But he couldn’t very well call her out on a few vague suspicions. It was time to end this line of conversation. He had a more pressing reason to contact her. “I’m sure we can sort something out, don’t worry about it. There’s another reason I’m calling. Steve and I went into town at the senior sergeant’s request yesterday. It seems the autopsy has turned up some interesting findings, and he wants to come out and talk to all the staff involved again.” Dale assumed that the police would also contact the guests who’d been on the station at the time, all of whom had left by now.
There was silence as Daisy digested this additional information.
“He and the senior constable are coming out to Stormcloud tomorrow,” Dale continued. “I wanted to warn you, they’ll be coming your way at some stage. They said they’ll be re-interviewing everyone over at Koongarra, as well. I was going to lead them out to your place, in case they got lost.” That was a bit of a lie. He didn’t need to show them the way, he could just give directions, Senior Sergeant Robinson was an old hand at negotiating this country, and they didn’t need his help. But Dale wanted to see Daisy again. Needed to see her. This was the best excuse he could come up with. Her coworker hadn’t seemed that keen on Dale, and he got the feeling that Ryan wouldn’t take kindly to him turning up unannounced. There’d been an aura of animosity coming off the guy, and Dale wasn’t sure why. Was Ryan perhaps keen on Daisy? She’d assured Dale there was nothing going on between them. But maybe Ryan wanted more than Daisy did. The other guy was good-looking, with the same dark skin as Daisy. Dale wasn’t sure why that confused him as much as it did. There was no earthly reason why two indigenous people wouldn’t do a consultancy together. But his gut told him there was something a little off, even though he couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
“No.” Her exclamation was so loud he had to move the phone away from his ear. “No, don’t bring them here. They don’t…” She seemed to be searching for an excuse, which was odd. “I’d rather talk to them at Stormcloud, if that’s okay. I’d feel more at ease there. They can interview me at the same time as everyone else.”
It was an odd request, but then if he wanted to see her, it was even better if she came to him. Especially if Ryan wasn’t around to interfere. Maybe Robinson would interview Ryan later, with the rest of the indigenous community. The senior sergeant was more concerned with the statements from the people who’d actually been on the station at the time of the death. Dale also found it a little odd that she hadn’t asked about the new findings from the autopsy and what they meant. She seemed more worried about the police coming to the outstation than she was about a murdered girl. Again, Dale felt the stirrings of unease deep in his gut. The other day, when he’d dropped Daisy off at the outstation, something had felt…off. He couldn’t put a finger on what it was exactly, but a niggling voice had asked him why a university would put up two of its staff in practically derelict accommodation. On the drive home, he couldn’t help wondering if perhaps he should’ve checked the outbuildings for Stormcloud’s stolen ATV. But that would be ridiculous, because he trusted Daisy. Even though he’d only known her for a few days, he was convinced she was no thief. That Ryan bloke, on the other hand…Dale wasn’t so sure about him. He rammed the disloyal feelings down into a box and closed the lid. Of course, neither of them had stolen the ATV, or taken the missing meat, or any other such nonsense.
“Sure, I can arrange that. I’ll pick you up after lunch tomorrow. How does that sound?”
“That works,” she agreed. “I can collect my car from you afterwards.”
“Yep, kill two birds with one stone.” Belatedly, he decided he probably shouldn't have used the word kill, and he grimaced.
* * *
Dale let out a long, slow breath. That’d been intense. He was completely wrung out. Senior Sergeant Robinson hadn’t pulled any punches today in the interview. He searched the living area for a sign of Daisy, hoping like hell she hadn’t left yet. He’d made her promise to wait until he was free, but with Daisy you just never knew. He was the last to be interviewed today. She’d been on the list right before him, her expression tense and closed off as he’d watched King lead her into the interview.
There she was, huddled in the corner of the living room, staring out the large windows toward the billabong. Daisy turned green eyes toward him. They were full of misery and a hint of confusion. It seemed the Sarge had been rough on her as well. She looked small and forlorn, dwarfed by the huge windows. Wearing a simple white T-shirt and khaki shorts, with her hair pulled back into a loose braid, the afternoon light on her face made her look younger somehow; more vulnerable.
She had looked pale and drawn even when he picked her up today. That vibrant personality and seductive smile not evident. He put it down to stress about the upcoming interview. But deep down, he could feel something about her had changed. She was withdrawn and would hardly meet his eye, only answering in monosyllables when he asked a question.
He wondered what’d been said during the interview. The police had commandeered the small meeting-room-slash-business suite; a room designed for businessmen who just couldn’t leave their work behind. It had a table large enough to seat eight people with a desk in the corner set up with a printer, fax, Wi-Fi modem and computer, and anything else someone might need to stay in touch with the corporate world. Robinson had placed himself at one end of the table, indicating Dale take the seat across from him, and King had leaned against the far wall, watching the proceedings but not participating. It all felt a little different to the first time they’d interviewed him; more intimidating. King, who was normally a friendly and open guy, had a blank look on his face that was unreadable. His blonde, curly hair slicked down flat against his skull today, probably in an attempt to tame his surfer hair.
Had Robinson told her the same things as himself? And if he had, what must she be thinking? Was she looking at everyone with a hint of suspicion? Would she look at him with suspicion? His tongue probed the inside of his cheek where senior constable King had taken the cheek swab. It wasn’t painful, merely uncomfortable. Dale had been surprised when Robinson requested a DNA swab, but he’d been quick to agree. After all, he had nothing to hide. Robinson said it was protocol, and Dale, never having been involved in a murder investigation before, believed him. King had performed the procedure efficiently and quickly, placing the sample in a plastic Ziplock bag on the desk. Dale noticed other bags with samples inside already lined up, but then Robinson asked another question and diverted his attention before he could study them carefully.
Dale crossed the room toward Daisy, weaving his way between the tables and chairs. No one else was around, everyone must have returned to their duties after they’d been interviewed. He lay a gentle hand on her shoulder, a form of commiseration. At the first touch of her skin, his mind was bombarded with images of them kissing in the laundry. It was as if that kiss had been a thousand years ago, so much had happened in the past few days. He could still feel her nails digging into his back, her mouth hot and demanding on his. He wanted to reclaim that feeling of passion, of being completely and utterly alive. It was the only good thing to come out of these few days of madness, and he wanted to keep hold of it. Wanted to do it again.
“You okay?”
She merely nodded.
The interview had been tough, because the Sarge had declared that Karri’s death was no longer considered accidental. This was officially a murder investigation, and they were all considered persons of interest, at least until they could narrow it down to one suspect. The Sarge wouldn’t reveal how he knew these things, but Dale guessed it had something to do with the wound on her head. It was one thing to speculate that Karri might’ve been murdered. But it was a whole other thing to have that suspicion confirmed.
