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“We’ll start in the great room,” she said, not bothering to turn and face him when she spoke. They emerged into a huge, open-plan room that he’d glimpsed as he’d threaded his way down the maze of hallways, looking for where he was supposed to meet Steve. It was even bigger once they were all the way in, with enormous, floor-to-ceiling, picture windows running along the whole front of the room. He could see some of the windows opened out onto an expansive, covered verandah, where there were plenty of comfy chairs and recliners scattered around for guests to take in the stunning view of the billabong farther down the slope.
“We serve dinner over there.” Julie pointed to the right. “Or the guests can have their meals delivered to their cabins, if they prefer.” Two long tables filled the area, with a couple of smaller ones tucked into the corner. “We like everyone to sit together. Sort of like one big, happy family. But couples can request a separate table if they want a little privacy.”
“Love the fireplace,” Aaron commented as his gaze snagged on the centerpiece of the room. It was as big as everything else around here, and fitted in perfectly. It looked to be made from local sandstone, the stone facing soaring all the way to the high ceiling above. Comfortable leather chairs were dotted around in small groups, and Aaron could imagine guests enjoying an apéritif and a glass of wine as they sat and chatted.
“Yes, Dad designed that. But we hardly ever need to use it. It rarely gets cold enough up here.” That much was true. It’d been bloody boiling outside as he walked from the helicopter up to the lodge. But at least it was cool inside. The high ceilings and flagstone floors kept the heat at bay. Plus, there must be some kind of air-conditioning running. Julie glanced at him, her eyes flicking over his outfit with a look that said she thought he was overdressed. Maybe he was, but his black jeans, lace-up, patent-leather shoes, T-shirt and sports coat were almost a uniform for him. He needed to look neat and well-groomed, but not too formal. Modern but reserved, that was how he thought of himself. A far cry from the clothing he used to prefer. Worn, blue jeans, checked shirt and dusty boots. He almost laughed out loud at the memory.
“Where are all the guests at the moment?” he asked instead.
“Lunch is over, so most of them will be gathering up at the stables, ready for the trail ride,” Julie explained. He was a good judge of people’s body language; it helped in his line of work to be able to decipher people’s actions as well as their words. And Julie’s body language was slowly becoming less tense as she relaxed in his company.
He was surprised she hadn’t launched straight into another attack as soon as they were alone. But it was as if she’d decided on an uneasy truce. For now. Instead, she kept up a semi-stilted running commentary of the lodge, never quite meeting his eye, but slowly gathering momentum as she talked about how Steve and Daniella had brought their dream of Stormcloud Station to fruition.
The more he saw, the more impressed he became. Both with the building and with Julie.
Julie was showing signs of her old self now they were out of that awkward meeting with her parents. Her speech became more animated as she explained how Steve and Daniella had designed the lodge to have the least impact on the land on which it was built. She was proud of her father and how he’d constructed this place from the ground up. When Aaron and Julie had been together, he’d often called her his little ray of sunshine. She was one of the most optimistic people he knew. At least, she had been back then. Life had obviously thrown her some curve balls, and her positiveness was now tempered by recent angst and more than a healthy dose of cynicism. But not many people stayed the same. The world had a knack of taking people down a few pegs by showing them the hard truths and adversity. He was a good case in point. After he found out the truth about his father, his self-confidence had taken a battering. His belief in who he was had been shaken to the core. And that was one of the reasons he’d had to leave. He was no longer the person Julie thought him to be. But he also had no idea who he was supposed to be going forward, either. At least finding Jake and joining Shield Solutions had given him a direction. He didn’t regret joining the agency; it’d taught him to be tough and unyielding, all things he needed to be if he were to survive.
“Can I take a look at the verandah?” he asked, when she wound to a halt about how sustainable the resort was.
“Sure.” She opened one of the big doors and led him outside. A wall of heat hit them as they left the sanctuary of the lodge. Even while he took in the view from the wooden deck, he was also mentally documenting angles and best vantage points. A couple of well-placed cameras out here should do the trick. And one more inside. He’d like to take a tour of the whole outside of the lodge first, before he made his final decision.
He wandered down the length of the verandah, Julie trailing behind him. It was the first time he’d really stopped to take in his surroundings. This place sure was beautiful. The sounds of birds calling drew his attention down the grassy slope toward the billabong. A sparkling swimming pool with a wooden platform on three sides stood between them and the large body of water. Deck chairs were spread around the platform, tucked in the shade of large umbrellas. Two people, a couple by the looks of them, swam lazily in the pool. Aaron studied them, but after only a few moments of watching their body language—they weren’t the least bit interested in what he and Julie were doing on the veranda, they were much more interested in touching each other—he decided they weren’t a threat. A swim might be nice. The water looked so inviting, a cooling dip to wash away the sweat and drive away the heat and flies. Pity he hadn’t thought to bring his swimming trunks. And a pity he was on duty.
“Do you want to take a closer look?” He’d been so enthralled by the vista, he almost hadn’t noticed Julie wander up and stand at his elbow.
“Yes, please.” He needed to take a tour of the whole place anyway, it’d help him to map the area in his head, and he may as well start down at the billabong.
She led him to a set of stairs that went down off the veranda and onto the lush, green grass. They gave the pool a wide berth, but Julie made a point of waving and smiling at the couple swimming. It was part of her job, he supposed, but he still didn’t like her easy acceptance of everyone around her. He needed to get her to understand that she should take more care, at least until they caught this guy. He made a mental note to talk to her about putting up some boundaries.
More out of habit than out of a fear that anyone was watching them, Aaron’s gaze searched the surrounding area, checking for anything out of place, or anyone showing more interest than they should. Apart from the two in the pool, the front section of the lodge was deserted. Julie must be right; everyone else had chosen to go on the trail ride this afternoon.
“This is a natural billabong,” Julie said, slipping easily into tour-guide mode. “It was the reason my dad and Daniella chose this location to build the lodge. They stumbled across it and just knew this was the place.”
“Doesn’t it flood in the wet?” While he’d never experienced it himself, Aaron had heard how much rain they got up in the north. Rivers and creeks flooded, and roads got severed; sometimes stations were cut off from civilization for weeks or months.
“No, we’re really lucky, the lodge sits up slightly higher, on the rocky foothills of the Mount Mulligan Ranges.” She pointed toward the large escarpment that dominated the skyline in the distance behind the billabong. “The creek that feeds the billabong often overflows and floods the lower side,” she pointed toward the other side of the body of water. “And sometimes it gets so high that our driveway becomes almost impassable. Certainly without a four-wheel-drive.” She gave him one of her impish grins. “But we’re lucky, the road between us and Dimbulah is rarely impassable. And we usually fly a lot of our guests in by helicopter, so that solves that problem.”
She turned and planted her hands on her hips, and he was caught up in the beauty of her smile. She’d put on her Akubra as they sauntered down the hill, and the shade from the brim hid most of her face, but her teeth flashed brilliant in the hot sunshine. Just as he was about to ask Julie to show him some more, there was a loud jangling noise.
“Sorry, that’s my phone.” She smiled as she pulled it out of her back pocket.
“Wait.” His hand descended on her wrist before she could answer the cell.
“What?” She turned wide, blue eyes up to his face.
“Do you recognize the caller?” he asked brusquely.
“No, why…?” Her mouth formed a perfect O as it suddenly dawned on her. “Surely not,” she replied indignantly. “You can’t think that this could be him.” She gave a great smile, suddenly confident. “That’d be too much of a coincidence. This phone is different from the one I had in Brisbane; he couldn’t have tracked it down. This must be a wrong number, or something.”
“Answer it, but put it on speaker,” he requested, not letting go of her wrist.
She did as she was told, holding the phone between them so they could both hear, but the amused smile still played over her lips as she said, “Hello?”
There was a pause, and Julie flicked a quick look at him from beneath half-lowered eyelashes, as if to say, see, I’m right.
Then a male voice said, “Hi, Julie. Long time no see.”
She sucked in a breath and held the phone at arm’s length.
