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CHAPTER SIXTEEN
WAS WAZZA GUILTY? The debate kept rolling around in Daisy’s head. One thing was for sure, Dale hadn’t liked it when she made the suggestion. It was good that he was so terribly loyal to his friend. But it wasn’t so good if that loyalty blinded him.
The ATV bounced over a large river rock, and Daisy scrambled to grab hold of the leather strap above her head. They were nearly at the old mine site, and she listened as Dale shouted across to another vehicle traveling beside them to keep a lookout for the remains of the wooden mine shaft elevator rising into the sky around the next bend, as it heralded the entrance to the abandoned mining village. Daisy tried to take in the surrounding countryside, but her mind refused to cooperate, it was still dwelling on the events of earlier this morning.
The one good thing about today’s arrest was that it took River off the suspect list. She hoped Dale believed her now, that her brother had nothing to do with Karri’s death. Daisy had to be careful to keep the relief off her face, as she watched the senior sergeant drive Wazza away. But Dale must’ve known what was going on in her head, because he shot her a conspiratorial glance when no one else was looking.
The police must have firm evidence to have arrested Wazza. Some sort of DNA clues to link Wazza to the murder, maybe. But what was it?
She still had a vain hope that River would contact her using the sat phone. She’d tried calling it last night from her cell when they first discovered he was missing, but the sat phone had been turned off. And again, this morning, she’d tried it once more, but with the same result. River might have the phone, but he would not turn it on unless he needed to contact someone.
She stifled a yawn behind her hand. The combination of a late night and an early start, mixed in with the generous dose of stress over River’s disappearance and now Wazza’s arrest, was getting the better of her.
“I’m feeling the same way,” Dale said, flicking her a lopsided smile. It wasn’t quite enough to light up his dimples, but the promise was there. She wanted him to smile at her again, the way he had last night. Sheesh, had it really only been last night? So much had happened since then. She hadn’t had the chance to process the fact that they’d slept together. That she and Dale had made love under the stars. Maybe it was a good thing. If she couldn’t dwell on it, then she wouldn’t have time to come up with all the reasons she shouldn’t be with him.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got coffee and supplies when we get there.” He turned to look at her fully, his brown eyes crinkling at the corners. Oh God, those beautiful, brown eyes, she could melt into them. His fingers rested lightly on the steering wheel, tanned and long. She followed the shape of his wrist up to his powerful forearms, bare where he’d rolled his shirt up to the elbows. She remembered those skilful fingers from last night. How they had played her body, making it sing like a finely tuned instrument.
His Akubra was firmly set on his head, giving him that quintessential Aussie cowboy look. She was wearing his borrowed one again, but knew she didn’t look half as sexy in it as he did.
“There it is,” Timothy, one of the guests, yelled excitedly. His wife squealed in reply from her seat next to him in the ATV, pointing toward the wooden structure towering high above the trees ahead. They were a young couple on their honeymoon, who’d only arrived yesterday. Timothy had invented some kind of cell phone app and started his own software company that was now worth millions. A wunderkind, by all accounts. The best thing about the couple was they didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that there was an active murder investigation going on at the station. In fact, Timothy thought it was kind of cool. Daisy wasn’t sure what to make of his attitude. It was a bit macabre.
The other guests had varying reactions to the news when Daniella filled them in on Wazza’s arrest during their morning get together after breakfast. Daniella had wanted to keep everything on the down low. If she had her way, she would’ve pretended this whole thing was one big mistake. Dale had told Daisy that when Karri’s body was first discovered, Steve had talked Daniella into a compromise, and they’d decided that each morning they’d give the guests a brief rundown on what’d happened so far and give them any updates they’d received from police. It was only fair, Daisy thought, that the guests were told the truth. They were giving up their hard-earned money to pay for a stay at a luxury resort, and they deserved to know how that might affect them. Daniella was quick to assure everyone that the luxury resort would go on functioning as normal, and the guests need not worry they’d lose out in any way.
Dale let the young couple lead the way, also waving through two men in their ATV, a father and son duo, letting them go ahead. Two more ATVs were making their way up the side of the riverbed behind them. Dale told the tour group that normally at this stage of the year, there’d only be a muddy trickle in the bottom of the riverbed. But with all the recent rain, it was now nearly full.
“Come on,” Dale called. “You’re gonna miss out on the chocolate brownies if you don’t hurry.” The older woman driving the closest vehicle waved to show that she’d heard, but continued picking her way slowly through the boulders, her husband encouraging her from the passenger seat. She wasn’t the most confident of drivers, but at least she was giving it a go, Daisy thought. This woman and her husband—Sarah and Michael—had asked a lot more questions about the consequences of Wazza’s arrest than the younger couple, but in the end, they too, seemed convinced that everything was under control, and they could continue to enjoy their stay.
Daisy’s stomach rumbled at the mention of brownies. She hadn’t had a chance to eat much of her breakfast before the police had shown up this morning.
Ten minutes later, all the four-wheel-drive vehicles were parked beneath the shade of an enormous coolabah tree.
“The whole mine site is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register. While it’s technically on our property, it’s still open and available to the public. This is the old manager’s cottage,” Dale explained as everyone gathered around him. “You’re welcome to take your time and look through it. The local Shire have set it up as a museum, to give you a glimpse of how things might’ve been back in the twenties and thirties when it was in its heyday. There’s also an old cemetery farther up the hill for you to explore. There are still quite a few abandoned miner’s cottages scattered around the old township. Please don’t go inside any of these, as they’re not safe. You can walk around the outside of them, but don’t go in.” He stopped talking until everyone looked at him. “I mean it, please don’t go into any of the other buildings.” There were nods of agreement, and Dale continued. “Let’s meet at the elevator shaft on the edge of town in, say, forty-five minutes. I’ll have morning tea setup for you, and I can show you the old mine shaft, although we can’t get down it anymore, it’s too dangerous. Then we can go over to the main battery, where they used to crush the quartz stone and process it to remove the gold. Afterwards, we can visit one of the old horizontal shafts. But please don’t go near anything that is boarded up or signposted keep out. Those signs are there for a reason. To keep you safe.”
“Cool, I love all this old historical stuff. Let’s go.” Timothy took his wife by the hand and they disappeared into the manager’s cottage, the father and son duo following close on their heels.
Sarah, the woman driving the ATV, turned to Dale. “Which way to the cemetery? I love looking at old headstones and trying to figure out how those people’s lives were affected.” Michael rolled his eyes behind her back, but when Dale pointed them in the direction, he dutifully followed his wife. The other couple, two women, Sadie and Peta—who’d proudly proclaimed to everyone who’d listen that they’d been together for over twenty years and had already decided now it was finally legal for them to marry, they were going to come back to Stormcloud to have the ceremony—took off toward the centre of the township. They, too, were holding hands and Daisy had a moment of wistfulness. How would it be when she was that age? Would she be married? Would she still be that much in love? Would it be Dale she was in love with?
What the…? Where had that come from?
“Do you want to give me a hand setting up morning tea?” She almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice, hoping he couldn’t see the guilt that must be written all over her face because of her wayward thoughts.
“Only as long as I can have one of those brownies you mentioned. I’m starving,” she said, patting her belly and hamming it up, hoping he didn’t notice the flush creeping up her neck. Why ever had she thought that it might be Dale she’d be holding hands with in twenty years?
“It’s a deal.” Dale retrieved two large wicker baskets from the rear tray of his ATV and handed one to her. Then he dragged out a foldable table, and they walked farther into the abandoned town, following a rocky pathway that wound through the trees. The old gold mine was situated at the base of a small escarpment, a blunt finger of rock, part of the larger range, of which Mount Mulligan escarpment was also a part.
Red rock abounded here. Tufts of dried grass broke through the red gravel wherever she put her feet. It was a sparse country, beautiful, but harsh. Not luxuriant and green, compared to around Stormcloud lodge. Daisy wondered what it might’ve been like to live here so long ago. It was interesting to get a glimpse back in time, but also a little sad that this place full of such history had been allowed to fall into wrack and ruin. The only sounds were those of birds calling from trees, and the incessant singing of the cicadas. The place felt completely deserted, and she had to force herself to remember there were eight other people in the area. It was a little spooky, and a shiver of fear ran its cold finger down her spine. She didn’t know what’d caused such a reaction.
“How many people come out here? Say, on a weekly basis?” Daisy asked, her interest piqued.
Dale shrugged and tilted his head in contemplation. “Our tours probably bring the most consistent numbers. We come out here at least once a week, and usually we have a larger group than this.” Dale grimaced at the reminder they were down by half their number of guests. “But this site is deemed one of the local attractions, and so you get other travelers in their four-wheel-drives coming through here. In the high season you could get up to fifty people a week.” Dale made it sound like that was an impressive number, and Daisy had to hide a smile. It probably was a good number, considering how isolated they were. But it still wasn’t as high as Dale seemed to think it was.
There were an awful lot of places to hide around here. If someone didn’t want to be found, they could certainly choose one of the condemned cottages, even though Dale had warned against going inside. Could River have possibly found this place? Could he be hiding out here somewhere? She took another, more careful, look around, studying the rows of collapsing huts. No, she was just being silly. River would be long gone. And he wouldn’t have enough supplies to keep him going out here, either. A person would need to be well-prepared if they wanted to stay here for any length of time.
She helped Dale find a flat spot in the shade of the large, wooden structure, away from the covered mine shaft, and helped him unfold the table. The heat was already building, the humidity almost disabling, and she wiped ineffectively at the sweat on her brow. This tropical northern heat took some getting used to.
True to his word, as soon as the table was set up, with a crisp, white tablecloth and empty mugs for the tea and coffee, Dale waved a container of still-warm brownies beneath her nose. “Don’t tell anyone I’m giving out favors.” He smiled cheekily. If she could’ve been certain no one was watching, she might even have stood on tiptoe and kissed him, long and hard.
“I won’t, I promise.” She bit into the brownie and gave a groan of pleasure. “Oh, my, these are to die for. Almost as good as her wattleseed scones.”
