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“Right. Can you walk me through how you found the body again, step by step, please?”
“Sure.” Indy drew in a deep breath and turned her mind back to this morning. If only they could truly go back in time to this morning. Before they’d found the body, and before she knew the truth about Finn. Because it now weighed heavy around her shoulders. She suddenly didn’t want to be the owner of such a secret.
* * *
Indy glanced over her shoulder to the only hill breaking the monotony of the flat landscape, and could just make out the spike of the repeater tower jutting into the air from the top. The repeater tower was there to help strengthen the transmission of the UHF radios everyone used out on muster. But it wasn’t the tower that interested her. It was because the hill was the highest point for miles around, and there was mobile reception up there, or so Bindi had told her.
She needed to get up there and see if Bindi was correct. She needed to read those messages Patrick had sent her. The gall of the man. Her blood boiled at the mere idea he’d called Stormcloud. How dare he?
It was now late afternoon, and Nash had finished his interviews. They’d been given permission to resume the muster tomorrow morning, and everyone was now taking it easy for the rest of the day. Some of the crew, like Brian and Rosie, were attending to small jobs, such as repairing horse tack andsorting through bills that needed to be paid. Others, like Dave and Carrot, were snoozing in the shade of an ironbark. It was the perfect time for Indy to take a quick trip to the top of the hill.
Steve and Daniella had returned to Stormcloud once Nash had finished his interviews, leaving Dale in charge once more. And Aaron had flown out soon after, buzzing his red helicopter over the camp, raising a haze of dust as he went. They still had a lodge to run, with at least twenty guests to keep occupied, and they couldn’t leave Skylar and her half-sister Julie to do it all. Even with Alek and Sasha’s help, they’d be run off their feet. The owners would make it back just in time to help with dinner service.
Indy went to find Dale, who was sitting in the mess tent, chatting to Mack and Bindi, as Bindi prepped the evening meal.
“Dale, is it okay if I take a quick ride up to the repeater tower?” she asked. “Bindi says I can get cell phone reception, and I’d like to check my messages, if that’s okay?”
Before Dale could even open his mouth to reply, Finn appeared around the side of the tent, carrying what looked like a load of laundry.
“Did I hear someone say there was cell reception around here?” He looked like an eager puppy who’d just been thrown a bone.
“Yes, and yes,” Dale replied with a slight chuckle. “Why don’t you take the new guy with you, Indy? I’d be happier if you didn’t go alone. Not with all that’s going on around here.”
A chill went down Indy’s spine. She hadn’t even considered that she might be putting herself in danger by going off alone. Surely, she wasn’t at risk. Was she?
When she cast an uneasy glance at Dale, he shrugged and said, “We can’t be too careful. Not until the police have caught the person…or people…who did this.”
“But I’ll take my dogs. They can protect me, and…” she started to argue. This was something she wanted to do alone. If Patrick had been sending her messages, she didn’t want anyone around as a witness to her private hell. And she certainly didn’t want that person to be Finn. One look at Dale’s serious face, however, told her she wasn’t going to get her way.
“Fine,” she said, trying to keep the slightly sulky tone out of her voice. “Thanks, Dale.” She turned on her heel without meeting Finn’s eye and headed toward the saddling yard. “I’ll get the horses ready,” she said over her shoulder.
“Take a UHF with you, as well. Just in case,” Dale called after them.
Her spirits picked up again ten minutes later, as she kicked Gypsy into a fast trot, with Finn riding Sahara close by. She was aware of Finn beside her, without even having to look. As if his presence were a magnet, calling to her sub-conscience. It was nice to break free of the sombre mood that’d descended over the camp, even for half an hour. Everyone was on edge and withdrawn. Indy thought she could be imagining it, but she might’ve even seen Dave sending suspicious glances toward Scanner when he thought he wasn’t looking. Was everyone starting to have suspicious thoughts about everyone else in the crew, now? It wasn’t a nice thought, and it wouldn’t bode well for their work environment if they didn’t trust one another.
“Thanks for letting me tag along,” Finn said brightly. She guessed he might have an ulterior motive for wanting to come with her. He might have information for her. And maybe this was the chance she needed to ply him for the answers to fill in some of the gaping holes in her knowledge about Finn and what his undercover job encompassed.
“No problem,” she replied, then whistled up Digger, who was heading away from them at a dead run, probably on the trail of a kangaroo.
With the horse’s ground-eating jog, it only took them another ten minutes to reach the base of the hill. The climb was a little slower, as there was no real track. But once they reached the top—Gypsy blowing slightly from the exertion—Indy drew in a breath at the spectacular view. Who would’ve guessed they’d be able to see so far in every direction from this small mound? It just went to show how flat and never-ending these floodplains really were.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” Finn said, dismounting and letting Sahara’s reins drop. Both horses were well-trained, they’d graze any feed nearby, but wouldn’t wander too far.
“Me, either,” she agreed. “This puts it all into a different perspective, doesn’t it?”
Indy also dismounted and turned a full circle to get her bearings. The repeater tower was off to their left, casting a long shadow over the ground. The stock camp was below, and Indy took a few moments to orient herself, picking out the mess tent, the cooking caravan, then her own little tent beneath the ironbark. She told her dogs to stay close. They both lay in the shade, tongues lolling after their fast climb up the hill.
“At least the forensics boys have left,” Finn said. “But homicide is still there.”
She shifted her focus to follow the road away from the camp until she saw a group of police cruisers parked at the edge of the track. Nash’s Land Cruiser was still there, as well.
“Will they stay there all night?” Indy asked, a little incredulous.
“Nah. They’ll probably wrap it up soon. I’d say forensics have taken the body back to Cairns with them.” Finn shrugged and took off his Akubra, then swiped a hand through his sweaty hair. “But they’ll definitely leave a guard or two out here tonight. And perhaps even over the next few days. Until they’re sure they’ve covered every inch of ground around the crime scene.”
“Oh.” It was all Indy could find to say. Who knew these things took this long to process? It all seemed to happen much quicker on those police procedural shows she sometimes watched. It was comforting, in a strange sort of way, to have Finn explain all this to her.
Her gaze drifted away from the outlook below, not really wanting to be reminded of the gruesome scene from this morning.
