Fifty Fifty (Detective Harriet Blue #2)(55)

‘This is unbelievable.’ Sam sounded scared. I sounded scared, too. My voice was coming back to me, half a second later, the recording device used by the prison echoing as it taped us. ‘Maybe if they catch him, it can all come to an end.’

‘Whitt and Tox are on it,’ I said. ‘I’m going to wrap up here, and then I’ll be right there with them.’

‘I’d rather you weren’t,’ he said. ‘Harry, he got into my apartment. He can get into yours. What he did to those women. He’s an animal. He’s smart and he’s vicious.’

‘I’m pretty vicious myself, you know.’

Kash smiled beside me as he drove.

‘ I know you are, but I just don’t need anything else to worry about. If I know you’re out there in the desert I can at least pretend you’re safe.’

Sam was always like that when we were kids. Protective. Worrisome. When we were placed in different homes he would sometimes run away from his placement to find me, even if he had to catch the train from one side of the state to the other. Just to see me in person with his own eyes and confirm I was alright. I felt a powerful yearning to be home with him, to be on the hunt for the man in the picture.

I told Sam we were going to catch this guy. One way or another. I’d spend every dollar I had. I would give up my job, my life, my freedom, if that was what it took.

I sent a text message to Tox Barnes, the beginnings of an idea tingling in the back of my mind.

Something to try, I typed. Maybe go round my apartment and turn the lights or TV on. If he broke into Sam’s place, maybe he’ll break into mine. Worth a shot.

Tox didn’t answer. He rarely did. But I knew he would know it was a good trap to set. Whoever this man was, he was obsessed with my brother. Now that Sam was off limits, maybe I could lure him over to me.





Chapter 85


KASH HAD WOKEN me from a thin sleep at sunrise by nudging the edge of my bed with his heavy boot. I’d heard him huffing around at 3 am and it seemed he hadn’t showered. He smelled of sweat.

‘It’s all a set-up,’ he said.

‘I’m going to need coffee if you’re going to be vague,’ I said. A shimmer of hope went through me that he was talking about Sam’s case, but he was holding a laptop, and when he sat down beside me I saw it was full of Qantas ticketing information.

‘Jace Robit’s crew are making a run for it.’ Kash pointed to the screen. ‘An ASIO buddy sent me these after I put in for security checks on Robit and his three mates. In the last six months, all four of them have applied for passports. They’ve each booked a one-way ticket to Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar. All leaving on the same day.’

‘When?’

‘Next week.’

‘ They could be going on a bucks’ weekend.’ I rubbed my eyes.

‘John Stieg,’ Kash brought up a mugshot of Jace’s short, thick-bodied friend, ‘he’s closed all his online gaming accounts and cashed in the remaining credit. Frank Scullen’s divided his bank accounts with his wife in half and taken his share out in cash. Damien Ponch sold his truck.’

‘A big bucks’ weekend.’

‘One-way tickets, Blue.’ Kash nudged me. ‘Focus. I think this whole thing has been a misdirect. An exit strategy. They’re not on the offensive. They’re trying to hold us off, ensure we only react to the wrong circumstances.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Get your things.’ He got up and kicked my bag towards me. ‘I’ll explain on the way. Last Chance might be in more danger than we thought.’





Chapter 86


KASH HAD THE binoculars trained on Jace Robit’s house and was slowly adjusting the focus, the dial making a soft clicking as he rolled it with his fingers. The agent had plenty of high-tech equipment in his truck. Beyond the windshield, affixed to the hood of the car, a parabolic microphone was pointed towards the house on the plain. Now and then it picked up voices from inside, the clunking and shuffling of objects.

Robit’s three friends were inside with him: Frank Scullen, John Stieg and Damien Ponch. When the heat is on, criminals tend to band together, which isn’t clever behaviour. Drug dealers call more frequent meetings. Bank robbers organise a late-night rendezvous. Young partygoers who got out of control one weekend and assaulted a girl all come together for a crisis talk to get their stories straight. Kash was muttering reconnaissance to himself like he couldn’t help it, marking out distances and wind direction.

‘Four confirmed in the interior,’ he murmured. ‘None visible on the exterior.’

‘ Yo, General Patton.’ I slapped his chest. ‘Tell me what’s going on.’

‘Here’s my theory. The gold we found at Chief Campbell’s place belonged to these guys,’ Kash said.

‘What makes you suspect that?’

‘Think about it. Chief Campbell’s got eighty K worth of gold stashed in his house, and his wife doesn’t know about it. It’s not recorded as evidence at the police station. The very first people Olivia Campbell pointed to as suspects were these guys. She sensed they were a threat to her husband. She asked him what he was up to, and he said it was a drug sting. Well, we know that’s not true. There’s nothing in the police log about a sting operation. Snale knew nothing about it.’