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“What? What do you have to do?” She didn’t like where this was going. Especially if it meant he wasn’t about to get naked and repeat last night’s performance. She’d been driving herself half-mad, thinking about the things she’d liked to do to him tonight.
“It’s better if you don’t know,” he replied quietly. “I found something this morning. But I need to go back and double check it. If I’m right…” He let his words drift away.
“Can I help?” If lending him a hand helped whatever he had to do go quicker, so he could come back to her tent, then she’d be more than happy to join him.
“God, no.” He sounded distressed by the very idea.
“Why?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Is it dangerous?”
“Not really. As long as I don’t get caught.”
“Has anyone ever told you how infuriating you can be?”
“Maybe once or twice.” He gave her a devilish grin and reached his arms around her waist, pulling her hard against his body. “I won’t be long. How about you keep the bed warm for me?” His lips descended on hers, and for many moments Indy forgot she was mad at him. Forgot everything except the feel of his mouth and his body pressed against hers.
“Dowait up for me,” he said, and disappeared out of the tent.
Indy stood in the middle of her tent, biting her lip. She argued back and forth with herself inside her head. Finn was a trained police officer. He knew what he was doing. It wasn’t her place to interfere. She was a civilian, with no combat training and no idea how to help him if he did get into trouble. He’d toldher to stay here, and he’d be back soon. But the waiting was killing her.
With a small huff of frustration, she put some clothes on. She couldn’t stand the idea that Finn might be putting himself in danger and she was sitting around in her tent like some helpless female, when she could be out there, doing… What? She had no idea. Indy was a woman of action. If something needed doing, she did it. This situation was no different.
Pulling on her boots, she crept through her tent flap. The nighttime bush would normally be filled with the small sounds of nocturnal animals and insects going about their business. But it was quiet. Too quiet. As if the surrounding bush was holding its breath. A shiver of premonition slid over Indy’s skin. The smart thing to do would be to stay put. But she’d never been one to do the smart thing.
She had no idea which direction Finn had taken. The stock camp was dark and silent. Barbie whined, and she walked over to pat her on the head. Both dogs were staring in the same direction, to the left-hand side of the camp. The camp was set up in a rough circle, with the mess tent and fire almost in the middle, then everyone’s individual tents or trucks on the outskirts at rough intervals, like the spokes of the wheel. Some liked to keep their privacy and kept a larger distance between them and the next bivouac. To her right, Dale, Mack, and Bindi had arrayed their tents in a clump. Indy was loosely a part of the Stormcloud group, but she’d set up her tent a little way into the bush. She liked the shade offered by a giant ironbark, as well as the seclusion. To the left, Brian and Rosie were the next couple around from Indy’s tent. She could just make out the square shape of their truck, which they’d reversed beside a stand of acacia bushes. They were one couple who valued their privacy. They’d angled their truck so that the annex under which they sat faced away from the main camp.
According to her dogs, Finn had gone in that direction. The next encampment around from Brian was Dave, Carrot, and Finn’s. With the water tank and shower as a buffer between them. Indy had thought Rosie may have chosen the spot to be close to the amenities, but it was also a good screen, now she thought about it.
He wouldn’t have gone back to his own tent, would he? Which left Brian and Rosie’s place. She told her dogs to be quiet, and instead of heading straight toward their truck, she took a wide loop, creeping carefully through the dry grass and shrubs. When she was close enough, she hunkered down behind a large saltbush and studied Brian and Rosie’s temporary home. Nothing moved, and there were no lights on inside, it all seemed completely normal. Had she chosen the wrong target? Was Finn off sneaking around the Scanlon truck instead?
A flicker of light at the base of the truck caught her eye. Was that…? It looked like a flashlight, but was gone as quickly as it had appeared.
Bloody Finn. He was up to his old trick of clambering about beneath vehicles.
Sudden insight struck her. Was he looking for the same hidden boxes he’d found underneath the other cattle truck? It made a strange kind of sense.
A dark figure rolled out from underneath the rear of the truck, scampered on all fours along the side to the first wheel arch, and then disappeared again. There was more flickering of the flashlight.
What was he doing? Indy guessed he’d been right about not needing any help. She should probably go back to her tent. Whatever he was doing, it didn’t seem that dangerous. As long as he didn’t wake Brian or Rosie—
There was a thump from inside, and Indy froze.
The door clanged open, and Brian came down the steps. In the moonlight, she could see he was barefoot, and wearing only boxer shorts. He had something in his right hand. Was it a flashlight?
“Who’s under there?” Brian demanded.
Shit, he must’ve heard Finn. She hadn’t perceived a sound, but then she was quite a distance away.
Brian got down to his hands and knees and a strong beam of light pierced the darkness beneath the truck. “I can see you,” Brian said. “Come out here now. And don’t try anything, either,” Brian added, his voice oddly low and menacing. That didn’t sound like the Brian she knew. He was normally so friendly, always ready with a joke to lighten the mood. Then she saw the gun in his other hand, pointed directly at the shape that was now wriggling out from underneath the wheel.
Where the hell had Brian got another weapon? Hadn’t the police already confiscated a handgun from him? What did it mean that Brian had more than one gun?
Finn wriggled out on his stomach and got to his knees. But he had a balaclava covering his face.
“Put your hands where I can see them,” Brian growled. Finn hesitated, but then raised his hands above his head.
Rosie poked a sleepy head through the door. “What’s going—”
“Shut up,” Brian hissed. “And get out here and give me a hand.”
