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Steve shook his head slowly. “I feel like this was partially my fault. I never thought I’d have to vet my contractors,” Steve said, with a despondent frown.
“You couldn’t have known.” Dale lifted his chin in his stepfather’s direction. “This isn’t any of our fault.”
“Dale’s right,” Finn confirmed. “The reason most drug dealers get away with it is because they blend in. They’re exactly like you and me. Except for one vital point. They don’t have strong enough morals to say no to easy cash.” How could he explain this so that Steve didn’t feel guilty? “Brian and Rosie were a little different from most dealers. They weren’t also drug users. They were selling an item for greed alone, and not because they needed to use it, as well. Meth users, or addicts, tend to stand out. You can usually tell there’s something a little off with them. But that wasn’t the case with Brian or Rosie. So don’t go beating yourselves up that you didn’t notice something was wrong.” Finn hoped that put Steve’s mind at ease. But knowing the owner’s own high moral standards, he’d probably question himself forever. And would probably also be more circumspect when taking on contractors next time.
“Why did they do it?” Beth asked. “It’s so hard to wrap my head around.”
“To help them buy that property they had their hearts set on. It would’ve taken them another four or five years of hard slogto be able to afford it by doing contract mustering. Rosie was desperate to settle down. She wanted to start having kids.” Finn lifted one shoulder. Wasn’t it the same story the world over? “But it seems Brian was the mastermind, and Rosie went along with it when she found out how much money they could make. Brian said he was only doing it for Rosie. And Rosie said she was only doing it for Brian.” Love sucked sometimes. Made you do stupid things. He was sad that this couple’s love had led them to do something so desperate.
“So where does Wombat fit into all this?” Scanner asked, clearly not caring about the motivations behind the criminal couple, more interested in the gory stuff.
Finn took another swig of his beer before he answered. “Wombat was the middleman. He supplied Brian and Rosie with the drugs they needed to on-sell. Problem was, Wombat told them he didn’t have any meth for them this time around. They knew it wasn’t true, because Brian had been in touch with his contact the day before, who assured him the drug drop would be made by Wombat. The night Wombat was murdered, Brian called his contact to complain, and he said he had someone in the area who would come andsort it out.” Enter Ronaldo.
“Yeah, well, that’s one way to sort out a problem. Kill the guy,” Carrot scoffed.
“Yes, it was certainly an overuse of force,” Finn agreed. “And I think Brian will confirm these facts once they’ve questioned him thoroughly. But it seems things got out of hand. Ronaldo wasn’t supposed to kill Wombat. According to Brian, he and Ronaldo were just supposed to scare him enough to hand over the drugs to the Wagners. Brian lured Wombat into the bush, where Ronaldo surprised him. Ronaldo demanded he hand over the rest of the drugs immediately. But when Wombat refused, saying they were missing, that they’d never been in his truck in the first place—which everyone knew was a lie—Ronaldolost hisshitaccording to Brian, and went bat shit crazy, pulling out a concealed machete and hacked the other man to pieces.”
“Yeah, we saw his handiwork up close and personal,” Indy chimed in. “I think bat-shit crazy pretty much sums it up.”
“But what was this Ronaldo doing here in the first place? How did he just mysteriously appear out of the bush?” This was Steve, trying to get the conversation back on track.
“That’s where things get a little sketchy. We believe Ronaldo was sent to watch Wombat, because the gang already suspected him of skimming off the side. And possibly keep an eye on the other truck drivers, as well. Which is why he was situated in that camp not far away.”
“But how did Ronaldo end up dead? If he killed Wombat, then who killed him?” Dale asked, deep frown lines showing his confusion. “Oh, God, don’t tell me it was Brian?” He leaned forward, elbows on knees, and stared at Finn, aghast.
“I don’t think so,” Finn replied. “Like I said, it’s all a little confused, but Brian was adamant he never killed anyone. Brian said Ronaldo was alive and well when he left to return to his secret camp. Mighty pleased with himself, by the sounds of it. Whether there was another man in that camp with Ronaldo and when he found out what he’d done, he took revenge. Or whether the gang found out how badly he’d fucked up, and sent someone to sort him out, we’re not sure yet.”
“But we’re in the middle of the outback. You don’t just send someone to sort something out,” Dale argued. “It’s not like we’re in the city, and you can just hop in a car and drive around the corner.” He shook his head and banged the edge of his plate with his finger to make his point. “My vote goes to there being a second person in that camp.”
Finn probably agreed with Dale, it was one of the major puzzle pieces his team were trying to fit together. They’d alreadyrehashed this topic many times since he, Mack, and Indy had found the corpse, but were no closer to having an answer.
Possibly even more important was the identity of that second man. Finn thought about the silver lighter sitting guilelessly in his jeans pocket. He still hadn’t told Mike about the find, or his suspicions. He’d thought about telling him, but it was all too insane earlier today, when Finn had talked to his sarge over the sat phone. Mike had jumped on the first plane out from Sydney to Cairns, where he was going to meet with Coldwater and Sampson. He also hoped to get a chance to interrogate the Wagners himself.
Finn was going to call him again tonight, after everything had settled down, to catch up on the day’s fast-moving events. And try to slip Garrett’s name into the conversation, make sure there’d been no further sightings. Finn would love to know how his brother had got mixed up in this gang, and what his role was, but he was unlikely to find out, now. He guessed his brother had hightailed it out of the area. If he’d even been there at all. Even though he was sure the lighter belonged to Garrett, it wasn’t indisputable evidence that he’d been in that camp. Someone could’ve stolen the lighter, or Garrett could simply have given it away. And Finn couldn’t really tell Mike now that he’d tampered with the evidence. Taking the lighter was a huge no-no. He’d definitely receive a reprimand, and it could possibly hurt any further chances of promotion. If Garrett was a part of this drug gang, it’d come out soon enough. Finn decided to hold his tongue.
Mike was probably going to ask Finn to come to Cairns. In Mike’s view, his undercover job was finished here now. But Finn wasn’t so sure. He wanted to stay for another two days until the end of muster. Just to make sure the Stormcloud crew were kept safe. Until that mystery second person was located, Finn wouldn’t rest easy. Mike would argue that it wasn’t his job tokeep them safe, but Finn would argue it was. The sarge would have everyone working twenty-four-seven on the case. They had plenty of clues, they just needed to put the puzzle pieces together now. Mike would be working frenetically to crack the case before the syndicate decided it was too risky and fled back into the dark corners of Italy, or even around the globe.
Indy nudged his knee, bringing him back to the present. Her eyes sparkled in the firelight and his chest tightened at her beauty in that single moment.
If only he could be one-hundred-percent sure he was staying for the right reasons. Was he just trying to convince himself that his job wasn’t truly over? Or was Indy the reason?
“I agree there was probably a second person in the camp,” Finn said, forcing his thoughts back to the current conversation. “As soon as my team works it out, I’ll let you know.”
“That’d be great,” Carrot mumbled sarcastically, as if he didn’t really believe Finn.
“All this talk about murders and drug trafficking is doing my head in,” Dale said, standing up and stretching. “And after our severe lack of sleep last night, I’m gonna hit the hay early; don’t know about the rest of you.”
“So, we’re back out to muster tomorrow morning?” Scanner asked. “Same as always?”
“Yep, everything is back to normal,” Dale confirmed.
“I’ll help Bindi with the dishes, and we won’t be far behind you,” Mack said, capturing Bindi’s hand and pulling her to her feet. She smiled at him so sweetly, a smile meant only for him. It gave Finn a jolt. Not jealousy, exactly, more like a yearning to have something like that. That special connection between a man and a woman. He could have that with Indy, if he wanted. But what would he have to sacrifice to make it happen?
“So, the million-dollar question is, are you staying on to complete the muster?” Steve asked Finn, bringing him backfrom his musings. The Scanlon group, who were all about to leave the campfire, turned and stared at him with interest, as did everybody else.
“Yes, sir, I’d like to, if you’ll have me. I like to finish a job once I start.”
“Good man.” Steve nodded approvingly. “Now that we’re two people down, your help will be appreciated.” He and Dale disappeared into the dark together. Finn knew they wouldn’t be heading straight to bed, as they had indicated. There were always jobs to do for someone in charge, such as switching off the generator that drove the shower, checking on the horses one last time. One of Dale’s nightly rituals was to visit the cattle yards, just to make sure they were secure for the night.
