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Reed was a little surprised at the vehemence in his father’s voice.
“But if she’s worth it, then you’ll find a way to get around those complications. And believe me, I know. Your mum’s one of the most complicated women on this planet.”
“Got that right,” Reed agreed. “But this is different. Sierra…Well, she’s been hurt. And she’s looking for someone to blame.” He didn’t add, and that person is me.
There was a second of silence on the other end of the phone line. “I won’t pretend to know the full story, but when someone’s hurting, they usually just need time to work stuff out. Give her a bit of space and understanding. But don’t give up on her. She’ll come around in the end.”
“Mmhmm.” Reed made a non-committal sound in his throat. He wasn’t so sure any amount of space and understanding would heal Sierra’s wounds.
“It’s about time you let someone into your life again, Reed. You’ve been alone too long now. It’s time you fell in love.”
He was shocked by the forthright words, especially coming from his father. “Ah…thanks, Dad. I’ll think about that.”
“Good,” Nikau replied, voice gruff. “All right, off you go, and find that missing child.”
“Bye,” Reed said down the phone, but his dad had already hung up.
Well, that was an interesting conversation. His father had never voiced his opinion on his son’s love-life quite like that before. Not even when he was grieving for his stillborn son. Or when Penny left him.
Life had always taught him, if you let someone in, let yourself have feelings for them, then all you were doing was opening yourself up for them to hurt you. Love wasn’t worth it. But the conversation with his dad had suddenly turned things around in his head.
A message pinged on his phone and he looked down. It was from a number he didn’t recognize. Reed frowned as he opened the text.
Hi, this is Kylie. You don’t know me, but I’m a friend of Sierra’s.
His eyebrows slowly lifted. It wasn’t from Sierra herself, but this might be the next best thing.
I’m so sorry for not getting in touch with your sooner. I got caught up with the boys and then my boss was in a pickle at work. Anyway, never mind.
Was this woman ever going to get to the point?
Sierra asked me to contact you. She wanted me to tell you she is okay. She stayed with me last night.
Reed let out a small puff of relief. Thank God. Then he narrowed his eyes at the phone. Damn woman, why didn’t she have the decency to talk to him herself? Why did she have to get a friend to do it?
Sierra also asked me to tell you that she borrowed my car, and is headed out to some place called Hog Bay, and to please not worry about her anymore. That’s all. Bye, from Kylie.
He ground his teeth together in frustration, fighting the urge to hurl the phone at the wall. Anger warred with growing anxiety in his gut. The last thing he needed today was to be chasing Sierra all over the island. Especially when she most likely wouldn’t even talk to him. His father’s words came back to him. “Give her a bit of time and space and she’ll come around.”
Reed grunted and stood, walking over to the large map of KI hung on the wall behind the reception desk. With his finger, he traced the road to Hog Bay. It was isolated. Why would she go all the way out there by herself? Something wasn’t right. The more he looked at the map, the more it set his stomach to churning. There were no search sites over in that direction, not as far as he knew, anyway. So, she couldn’t be out with an SES crew. What the hell kind of clue could she possibly be chasing over there?
Kylie’s text had told him not to worry, that she was only letting him know as a courtesy. But something told him he needed to get over there.
* * *
Sierra sat in the idling car, staring across the gravel road at the partly hidden driveway. It was pure luck she’d spotted the small turnoff. This was the third time she’d made a pass down this section of the road, and had been just about to call it a day, turn around and drive back to Kylie’s. Could this be Evan’s place?
A wire fence straggled along the side of the road, falling down in some places and in severe need of repair. Tall weeds grew high and gangly along the fence, and Sierra could just make out some old pastures on the other side, but they looked unused and unkempt, no animals had grazed here in quite some time. As she peered through the windshield three gray heads popped up over the top of the weeds, and a small mob of kangaroos stared thoughtfully back at her. Well, no domesticated animals grazed these paddocks. This small patch of land was at odds with the two farms on either side. As she’d driven down the road, she’d seen well-tended fences, and fat sheep filling a couple of the green paddocks. Evan had said his land had once been a small farm, more of a hobby farm, really, but they’d raised some goats and a few cows for milk. Now it was completely run-down and unkempt. Ripe for his plans to re-build and renovate it.
She put the car into reverse and backed it up a hundred meters or so, until she came to a large stand of eucalyptus trees. Pulling the car off onto the side, she slid it in behind the trees, nose in against the falling-down fence. Grabbing her bag and coat, she locked the car and walked back up the road. She checked her phone was in her bag, and noticed she was getting some weak reception, which was good if she needed to make a quick phone call.
Instead of walking back to the overgrown drive, Sierra looked for a spot where she might get through the fence. Why announce herself by boldly walking straight down the driveway? She would take a more circumspect route and hopefully take a look around without arousing too much suspicion. Sure enough, there was a gap in the fence where one of the wooden posts had rotted away. She squeezed through, and then had to fight her way between the tangled long grass and weeds until she came out into the clearing and the slightly shorter pasture. As she stepped into the open, numerous sets of eyes swiveled her way. A whole mob of kangaroos stared belligerently at her, as if annoyed their peaceful breakfast of grass had been disturbed. She took a couple of steps towards them and they took off, bounding in great, lazy hops away from her, toward a patch of thick scrub at the other side of the clearing. The overgrown driveway skirted along the edge of the pasture, heading in the same direction, so she decided to follow the roos’ lead.
It was now mid-morning, but in typical KI tradition, the clouds hung low, threatening rain, and the day was gray and dismal. The long grass was damp with raindrops from a previous shower, and her pants were soon saturated up to her knees. Thankfully, she had on her hiking boots, so at least her feet would stay dry.
The branches crowded down low and thick as she came to the end of the pasture. This area hadn’t been cleared, or even had a fire through here in a long time. The trees lined up like dank soldiers in front of her and there were places where the undergrowth was so thick, she had to go around rather than beat her way through it. An aura of disquiet settled in her abdomen, urging her to turn around, go back to her car, forget about her little escapade. But she stiffened her spine. There was nothing to be afraid of here. She’d walked all over KI, through dense scrub and over sparse, coastal heath, she knew what she was doing. Was a pro at this. All she wanted was to take a quick survey, get the lay of the land, and then get the hell out.
Evan had mentioned the property had an old, ramshackle cottage, mostly falling down and definitely not livable. Then there were two or three sheds, Evan thought they were used for housing the hobby-farm animals once, long ago. Sierra assumed they would be at the end of wherever the winding driveway led. She glanced over to her left and could just make out the meandering road as a shaft of sunlight broke through the clouds. If she kept it on her left, walked parallel to it, then she could remain hidden in the bush and hopefully approach the place unseen.
