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“You mean he was blackmailing them?” Daisy asked. Did this couple’s avarice know no bounds?
“Exactly.” Dale nodded, running a hand through his hair. “It was only recently that Sally came up with the scam of charging the guests double the amount for their accommodation. Then she would syphon half the money off to her account. She figured those types of people were so rich, they never even looked twice at how much they were paying. But that’s where she got it wrong. The police aren’t sure yet, but they suspect Sally and Johnny were part of a much bigger crime syndicate. Perhaps being run out of Vietnam or Hong Kong. They’d been planning to move down to Brisbane soon, where the pickings are richer.”
“Before Karri discovered what Sally was doing and blackmailed the blackmailers,” Daisy said, having to keep the note of sarcasm out of her voice; she knew Dale wouldn’t appreciate it.
“Yes.” Dale gave a heavy sigh. “The Karri I thought I knew wouldn’t do such a thing. But Robinson revealed that a large sum of cash was found hidden under her mattress when they searched her room on the day of her murder. What in hell was she going to do with that money?”
Daisy shrugged. She didn’t know the girl very well. “Perhaps she already knew she was pregnant,” Daisy mused. “Maybe she was keeping the money for her baby. For a better life.”
“Perhaps. Although she’d have been more than welcome to stay here. Even after she had the baby. And I’m sure Wazza would’ve looked after her, he’s a stand-up guy. He wouldn’t have let her cope on her own. He’s devastated to find out she was carrying his child.”
“I’m sure Wazza is a stand-up guy, but maybe Karri couldn’t see that. You know what kind of life they have over there in the community. The elders do everything they can to make it a good place to live, but there’s still poverty and violence. Karri was probably used to having to fend for herself. If you hadn’t offered her this opportunity for employment, where do you think she would have ended up?”
Dale shot her a look of surprise. The concept had clearly never occurred to him. But Daisy could empathize with Karri. While Daisy been brought up in relative luxury because of her father’s status in the community, she still saw the way other indigenous people struggled to live their lives; struggled to integrate into society; struggled to stay true to their culture. She knew Karri would most likely have been scared to keep the baby because it’d mean the end of her employment here. In some ways, she didn’t blame the poor girl for taking the money.
“I never really thought about that before,” he admitted.
The sun had set; the stars appearing in the sky, and she turned to stare at the horizon. Daisy slapped at a mosquito buzzing around head; they were the worst part of living in the tropics. She’d need to go inside soon, or get eaten alive.
“And maybe you’re right about Karri believing she couldn’t stay here,” Dale admitted quietly. Daisy tipped her head and waited for him to elaborate. “Remember how I said that I thought there was something going on between Karri and my mum?”
Daisy merely nodded.
“I asked her tonight, and she admitted that she’d been wrong. Get this, she heard the rumor before from Alek—although why the hell Alek is telling her this kind of thing, I don’t know—that Karri was seeing some bloke. This was about three months ago. At the time Alek thought it was someone on the station, although he couldn’t prove it. Turns out Alek’s little rumor-monger ears were half-right, because that was when she was sleeping with Wazza.”
Daisy pursed her lips but said nothing. She thought she already knew where Dale was going with his story.
“Anyway, my mother jumped to the wrong conclusion, that it was me Karri was carrying out her clandestine affair with. She supposedly confronted Karri, who of course denied it. But my mother didn’t believe her.”
“She always has been a bit of an overprotective mother bear,” Daisy said. “Why didn’t she just come and ask you?”
“That’s what I said. Once I got over falling off my stool in amazement that she could be that shallow,” Dale said. “She gave me some lame excuse that she didn’t want to upset me.” Dale blew out a breath from between his teeth. “I mean, really? How could she have been considering sacking poor Karri over something she never did? Because of me?”
Daisy shrugged. She could see through to the truth, even if Dale couldn’t. Daniella didn’t think Karri was good enough for her son. Perhaps because she was black, and relatively poor. Who knew what went through Dale’s mother’s head? She had a lot of values and morals that Daisy didn’t agree with. Daisy already knew Daniella didn’t want her forming a relationship with Dale. And today’s events had probably cemented those reasons more securely in the other woman’s head. But Daisy no longer cared what Daniella thought.
“As long as you made your objections to you mother’s interference obvious, there’s probably not a lot more you can do about it.”
“I certainly did that,” Dale agreed. “I’m hoping after tonight, Daniella no longer feels she can meddle in my private life.”
That was a good thing for Dale, and for any future partner he might choose. If only he’d choose me. Where had that come from? There was no future for them. She needed a change of topic.
“So, was Johnny her boyfriend, or her boss?” Daisy asked, leading him away from the dangerous waters of thinking about him and her together.
While he shot her a puzzled look at her sudden switch in subject, he said, “Both, I think. She was really upset when Robinson told her Johnny was dead. She really flipped out.”
“What an odd relationship,” Daisy said softly. “A love-hate sort of thing.”
“It was pretty sick, that’s for sure. What she did for him, stealing, lying, manipulating and then finally killing. That’s not genuine love, is it?”
“No, it’s not,” she agreed. Love needed to exist between two equals. Neither partner should have more power than the other. There should be trust and empathy. If she ever got married, there’d have to be mutual respect, as well as deep well of love to draw on. A little like what she and Dale shared. Actually, a lot like how she and Dale were when they were together. Sheesh, there she went again, thinking about her and Dale together. She wasn’t allowed to fall in love with him.
She drew in a sharp breath. Love. That was such a complicated word. Dale was staring at her, almost as if he could read her mind. She flailed around for something to distract him. “What about the station? Your family? Is everything going to be all right now?”
His brown eyes were almost black in the failing light. So dark she couldn’t read the emotion behind them as he continued to stare at her. Eventually, he said, “Julie is going to stay on for a while, to help. Until we can replace…” He couldn’t bring himself to say Karri’s name. “But yeah, otherwise things are going to stay pretty much the same. Wazza was pretty shaken up by the whole experience, and he’s going home to visit his family for a few weeks. Bookings have dropped off a little; not as much as you’d expect.” Dale barked out an ironic laugh. “Mum seems to think the bookings will pick up quickly. It makes the place seen more dangerous, and people love the morbidity of it all, believe it or not.”
That was pretty ironic. Daisy tipped her head backward and swallowed the last bit of red wine while staring up at the stars. “The sky is so clear here,” she said. “Crystal clear. And the stars are like diamonds.” She gave a chuckle at her own cliche. But it was true, the stars were so bright, so beautiful. Dale’s shoulder brushed against hers, and she looked down to where his hand rested lightly on his knee, muscular forearms flexing slightly. Images of those arms wrapped around her waist assaulted her mind.
“Will you stay with me tonight?” His question took her by surprise.
She wanted to say no. It was going to be hard enough to leave him in the morning anyway, without having one more memory burned into her brain to haunt her. Because she had no idea if she’d ever see Dale again. They were an imperfect match. The odd couple who couldn’t be together.
But then, she needed as many memories as possible, so she could hold them close to her heart, keep their precious moment together safe inside her.
She nodded and held out her hand to him. It was time to go inside and get away from the voracious mosquitoes. What better place to spend her last night at Stormcloud Station than in his bed? In his arms?
