Page 50 of Outback Skies


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“Dead?” The word felt like ash on her tongue. It was her worst fear confirmed. Garrett and Swampy meant to kill Finn somehow. She’d gleaned that much from their conversation. And in amongst it all, Finn had also bartered his life for hers. “You’re going to kill him?”

He gave an exasperated sigh. “Like I said, it’s out of my hands. I’m doing Griff this one favor. And you might just be an asset to me, as well. But if you don’t move now, then I’ll leaveyou hog-tied in here, and you’ll die in the explosion, just like everybody else.” Garrett swore under his breath, and she knew he hadn’t meant to let that last detail leak.

Explosion. So that was what he had planned. A bomb of some kind, perhaps. And by everyone else, she assumed Garrett meant the rest of Finn’s detective team. This was a trap, and they’d be walking right into it. Finn must know that. So why had he…? He was letting Garrett take her…to use as some sort of hostage, by the sounds of it. Was that any better than dying in an explosion? But Finn must have a reason. He didn’t do anything without a reason. Was it just to save her life? Or did he have something else up his sleeve?

She took a deep, shuddering breath. Her fear was turning to rage. It bubbled up her throat, and it was all she could do to stop it from erupting in a spout of hysteria. A streak of white fire lit through her, stealing her breath with its ferocity. If her hands hadn’t been tied behind her back, she might well have tried to rip Garrett’s heart out. Instead, she bottled up that anger, keeping it ready, like a simmering cauldron, for when she needed it.

She’d listened in shock as Finn agreed to make the phone call to his boss, Garrett holding the phone to his ear for him. When she tried to interrupt, Finn had shaken his head vehemently, and Garrett had slapped his hand over her mouth, and glared at her.

She’d listened as Finn told his boss the story Garrett wanted him to spin. Something about him escaping, hiding out and being injured. Asking Mike Rogers to send the team to retrieve him. Adding to the enticement that the two criminals weren’t far away, and if they hurried, they may well make an arrest at the same time. Finn’s voice had been flat and devoid of emotion, not meeting her eyes. She wasn’t sure how he could do this to his friends and colleagues. Betray them like this.

Garrett had cut the ties around her ankles and pulled her to her feet. “Outside, you.” He yanked roughly on her arm.

“Wait. At least let me say goodbye,” she pleaded. She might not understand what Finn was doing, but she couldn’t just leave him there.

Garrett grunted, but held her by the arm as she leaned down to look Finn in the face, her loose hair tumbling sideways over her cheek. Her heart threatened to burst from her chest at the thought this might be the last time she ever saw Finn. He needed to know how she felt about him. But there was no time. There were no words. Something unexpected and powerful surged through her. It made her speak the words she hadn’t thought she was ready to say.

“I love you,” she whispered.

A tender press of his mouth against her cheek. “I love you, too,” he rasped in return.

Then Garrett had wrenched her around and pushed her through the door. They’d climbed a flight of stairs and were standing in some sort of kitchen. Dusk was falling outside; it’d be dark in a few minutes. Indy’s quick perusal of the kitchen and the other rooms she could see through the open doorways was of an empty house. Derelict and rundown. Linoleum peeling on the floor, the cupboard doors hanging open. Was this a hideout? An empty house they were using as a bolthole? She’d heard Finn repeat the address to his boss over the phone, but it didn’t mean much to her, apart from the fact she’d been right about them being in Cairns. It didn’t really matter where they were. She could figure that out later. All she needed now, was to escape.

Snarling like a trapped animal, she said, “You should just leave me here. I don’t want to go anywhere with you.”

“Stubborn fucking woman,” Garrett snarled back. “You’re coming and you ain’t got no say in it.”

Indy heard an engine outside the kitchen window, and looked up in time to see a set of headlights appear as a vehicle swung into the driveway out front, Swampy at the wheel. It wasthe same white four-wheel-drive he’d been driving when they’d abducted her. Perhaps he’d hidden it out of sight, in case the cops were already looking for it. The driveway ran down the side of the house, allowing the car access to the backyard, and Swampy drove the vehicle right through until it was almost at the back door.

“He’s here.” Garrett’s face hardened, as if he were steeling himself for what was to come. “You need to keep your mouth shut and do as I tell you,” he commanded.

“And what if I don’t?” she yelped.

“Then you’ll die, like I said before.” Garrett never even had the decency to look at her, as he spoke, just peered out the window at the encroaching dark.

Indy considered Garrett as he stared at the car idling in the backyard. It would do her no good to stubbornly insist she wasn’t going with him. She believed him when he said that if she stayed in the house, she would die. And if she died, then so did Finn. Which meant the only way to survive was to go along with his plan. For now. And if she survived, there was a small chance she could also help rescue Finn. It was a long shot. But it was all she had. She couldn’t wait until Finn’s team arrived, because they would just barge in and set off the bomb. She needed to warn them, as well.

Her shoulders drooped, and she closed her eyes for a brief second. Was she really going to give in?

As if Garrett felt her concede defeat, he tugged her along by her bound wrists, down the short hallway. And she let him lead her. Out the back door and down the two steps onto the dusty ground.

“What’s she doing here?” Swampy asked, opening the driver’s door and peering out, leaving the car idling.

“I’m taking her to the docks, as added insurance. In case the cops pull us over before we get there.” Garrett kept his voicedown, and glanced over the fence, is if afraid a neighbor might hear him.

Swampy looked unconvinced. “That’s not the damn plan, and you know it. We don’t need a hostage.” But he also kept his voice down, his gaze darting about in the gloom.

“It might not beyourplan, but mine is better. A hostage can’t hurt.” Garrett’s tone turned pleading. “Come on, you know I’m right. Once we get to the docks, we can shoot her and drop her over the side. No one will find her body for days. And if the sharks find her first, well…” Garrett lifted his hands in a show of indifference.

Indy didn’t like where this was going. This didn’t sound like a plan to set her free.

The fat man stared at Indy for ten full seconds, stroking his beard as if in deep thought. “Fine, bring her along. She’ll end up dead, either way.” He waved the pair of them toward the rear door. Indy dragged her feet, scuffing along in the gravel of the driveway. Should she make a bolt for it? If she got free of Garrett, she could sprint down the driveway and be gone. Although her bound hands would hamper her running.

“Keep walking,” he whispered in her ear, as if he sensed her treacherous thoughts, pushing her inexorably toward the vehicle.

“Have you set the motion sensors?” Swampy asked, just as Garrett opened the door.

“Oh, ah…” Garrett glanced over his shoulder at the house.

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