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“How long since you’ve sat on a horse?” Julie asked with a cheeky grin, swinging lightly up into her saddle.
“A long time,” he admitted, letting his gaze find hers. His stomach suddenly fluttered with nerves, and he wondered if he’d be able to do this. Julie had assured him earlier that it was just like riding a bike, your body never really forgot how to do it. Some of his nerves must’ve transferred to Chester, and he danced a few steps sideways. Aaron took a deep breath and chided the horse in a low voice. “Oi, settle down.” Then he lifted his foot into the stirrup and swung his leg over the horse’s rump.
Julie was right, his muscle memory kicked in and he began to move with the horse, as it walked after Dusty. He was riding in a western saddle, almost like sitting in an armchair, and his legs stretched and loosened, feeling the gait of the large animal beneath him.
Julie turned and flung another cheeky grin at him. “How’s it feel?”
“Great.” He threw a grin back at her and urged Chester to walk up, so he came alongside Julie. “It feels great,” he admitted.
“You can take the cowboy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the cowboy,” she remarked.
Aaron lowered his eyebrows. Perhaps long ago, he’d thought of himself as a cowboy. But not anymore. His life was in the city now.
“Chester’s a great horse,” Julie said, waving her hand in his direction. “He used to be dad’s stock horse, but he’s got a new young gelding he’s training up, so you get to ride him instead. He’s practically bomb proof, and really patient. He’s only got one flaw; he hates snakes. Dad told me one time Chester bucked him off when a snake slithered in front of them as he was walking down a dry creek bed.”
“Good to know.” He patted the chestnut’s warm neck. He didn’t blame the horse, snakes were nasty, evil creatures.
“Are you up for a trot?” Julie didn’t wait for an answer, however, she merely squeezed her heels into Dusty’s side and took off, leaving him to follow in her wake. Oh, he was going to be sore tomorrow, and he’d probably regret this, but right now, he may as well enjoy it.
Fifteen minutes later, they crested the top of the low escarpment, and Aaron reined Chester in and drew in a deep breath. Scrubby floodplains spread out around them as far as the eye could see. Here and there a bottle tree reared majestically into the sky, clumps of smaller Acacia dotted in between, the billabong near their camp a bright jewel in the midst of the dry, brown country. The stock camp almost looked idyllic from up here, the parched clearing and the unadorned austerity softened by the distance and heat haze.
Away in the distance, a plume of dust rose into the sky. “Is that…?” He pointed in the direction.
“Yep, that’s the muster,” Julie concurred. “Looks like they’ve already got quite a large bunch gathered up.” She removed her sunglasses and squinted into the distance. “I guess we’ll find out when we take lunch out to them.” Pulling off her Akubra, she ran her hand through the short strands, rubbing away the sweat and dust. Her eyes were crystal blue today, reflecting the sky. He’d enjoyed the view as they’d climbed the small hill with Julie in the lead, watching her neat, jean-clad ass move with the rhythm of the horse, hips rolling almost hypnotically in front of him.
A metal tower soared around ten meters into the sky, right above them. It was a basic structure, with what looked like an antenna on the top. Aaron had just tilted his head back, holding onto his hat, so he could see right to the top when something pinged in his back pocket. His phone.
“I’ve got coverage,” he crowed with delight. Dismounting, he let Chester’s reins drop onto the ground—Julie assured him the horse was well trained and wouldn’t wander away—and pulled out his cell. It pinged again. And then again. Absurdly, Aaron felt a swell of relief, like an addict taking a drag of a clandestine cigarette. He was obviously becoming way too attached to his phone. But this was for work, so he could feasibly justify it.
Julie remained atop her horse, drinking in the vista below. Her phone began to make pinging noises, as well, but she ignored it. If only he had her self-control.
Aaron opened the email app and hungrily began to scan through the incoming mail. There were at least four emails from work. But it was the two from Nikolay he was most interested in. He opened the newest one first, sent only an hour ago, which was a succinct summary of what Nikolay had found out about the rest of the church group. As far as Nikolay was concerned, this Travis guy fitted the profile of their stalker the best. But he reiterated Jake’s concerns from last night, stating that it was highly likely Mailmann might be an alias, as it was unusual for any real person to have such a small online footprint, with so little information out there in the world. And while he couldn’t discount the pastor—which made Aaron stop and think for a second—the man with the beard seemed to be the most obvious suspect. Then Aaron opened the email sent last night, scanning it quickly before downloading the attachment and clicking on the photo. Jake had been right, the photo wasn’t great. It was of a group of around ten people, all holding up signs with pro-life slogans on them, three of them men, but expect for one younger goth woman dressed all in black, the rest were older women wearing cardigans and sporting gray rinses. Nicolay had circled the image of a man standing at the rear of the crowd. Jake zoomed the photo in to see if he could make out any features, but he already knew that he didn’t recognize this person. The hat hid his eyes, and the scruffy beard hid most of the bottom third of his face. It could be half the men in the inner city of Brisbane, for all he knew. The guy was wearing a white shirt, buttoned up to the neck, and a dark-gray cardigan, also buttoned up, but that was all Aaron could see of his outfit, as a short lady with a purple, knitted jumper blocked out the rest. Would Julie recognize the guy? It was a long shot.
Aaron approached Julie, who was in the process of dismounting. He hadn’t mentioned his discussion with Jake last night with her yet. But now he had the photo, he needed her to look at it.
“I want you to see something,” he said, standing beside her and holding up the phone. “Our private detective has tracked down that group of protesters outside the clinic on the day you were there. And we have a list of names and some photos.”
Julie froze, her hand lifted halfway to her face to take off her sunglasses. “He did? You do?” Her face paled beneath her Akubra.
“Yes.” Perhaps he should’ve broken the news to her a little more subtly, but it was too late now, so he plowed on. “There’s one guy we’re especially interested in. His name is Travis Mailmann.” Aaron searched her face for any signs of recognition. “Is that name familiar to you in any way?”
Julie removed her sunglasses and hat, and tapped them lightly against her leg, then bit her lip, her eyes taking on a faraway look. For a second, he was distracted by her white teeth worrying at her lip, and for a mad moment he had to fight the urge to rub his thumb gently over those plump lips to soothe away her concern.
“No, can’t say that I have,” she said eventually.
Aaron held his phone up in front of her. “What about this guy? Have you ever seen him before?”
Julie stared at his phone, leaning in close to get a good look. She started to shake her head, but then frowned and pursed her lips. She took the phone from his hand and zoomed in on the photo. “He looks…” She shook her head. “I don’t know why, but I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere.”
Aaron’s blood pounded through his veins as he watched her scrutinize the image. Could this be the break they were looking for?
“It’s something about his eyes. No, wait, maybe it’s the beard, and the way he’s dressed,” she mused. “Like he’s some kind of nerdy hipster. But that hat. Why would a hipster wear a baseball cap?”
To cover his identity, Aaron wanted to say. But he let her roll things over in her mind. They were close, he could feel it.
“The cap is one of those stupid touristy ones, like the ones my local newsagent used to sell back in Brisbane—Wait.” She held up a hand. “I think I remember where I saw him. I was at my local supermarket buying some fresh fruit a few days after I went to the clinic. It’s only a block from my house and I used to walk up there all the time. I wasn’t looking where I was going, and I turned around and bumped right into him. My apples went everywhere. He was most apologetic and helped me to pick them all up.” She tapped a finger against her lips. “I didn’t really look at him, I was too busy collecting my fallen fruit. Probably the only reason I remember the incident was because he said something that struck me as kind of strange at the time.”
“What did he say?” Aaron encouraged.
“He kept saying he was sorry, over and over again. But then he said something like, fate works in mysterious ways, and I should thank God for his merciful hand.” Julie lifted her gaze to Aaron’s face. “At the time, I brushed him off as some harmless quack. I got my fruit together, paid for it, and headed home.” A shiver ran through Julie. “I remember feeling a little creeped out the whole way home. I was so glad when I finally walked through my front door and shut it behind me. At the time, I put it down to still feeling guilty over the whole termination. But now…” She put a hand over her mouth. “Oh, God, he could’ve followed me home. I led him straight to my place and I never even knew it.” Her blue eyes brimmed with tears. “How could I have been so stupid?”
“You weren’t stupid, Jules. You hold no blame for any of this.” Aaron put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. He’d seen it so many times before; the victim feeling in some way responsible for bringing down the violence onto themselves. “This is a good thing. It means we’re closer to catching him.”
But his words had no effect, and her tears began to fall. “I made this happen. If I’d never met Judd. If I’d hadn’t had that damned abortion. If I’d been a bit more aware of my surroundings.” She swiped at her eyes angrily, but it didn’t stop the sob from breaking free.
“Oh, Jules, it’s okay.” He pulled her into his arms. “None of this is your fault,” he soothed, his hand automatically coming up to stroke her hair. “We’re going to get you through this, I promise.” This was the second time she’d broken down and cried in his arms. The first time had ended in a kiss. This time, he was determined to only be there for her support, nothing more. He held her lightly against his chest and let her rest her head in the crook of his shoulder. A horse snorted softly nearby, and the sunshine beat down on his shoulders as a trickle of sweat ran down his spine. She was pliant and soft in his arms. They were standing out in the middle of the desert in the blazing sun, while Julie’s heart was breaking. The incongruity of his surroundings wasn’t lost on him.
He’d left her so long ago because he knew she deserved better. But now it felt like they’d come a complete circle. Here he was, holding the woman he’d once thought was his one true love while she lamented the failings of her life so far. A small voice kept asking what might’ve happened if he’d stayed. Could he have saved her all this pain and heartbreak? Or would he have been the cause of so much more?
