Fifty Fifty (Detective Harriet Blue #2)(57)

He pointed forwards and we rushed into the field towards the house.





Chapter 87


THE GRASS WAS waist high. I huffed with exertion just keeping up with my partner. Though my injuries from the explosion had been mild, it taken a lot out of me. We flitted across the field and stopped short beneath a window. Kash checked under the house and then flattened on the ground and started crawling underneath on his belly. It was hard to commando-crawl with a broken arm. I dragged myself forwards with him, sweat sticking the dust to my cheeks.

The floorboards creaked a metre above our heads. I twisted onto my side and lay in the dirt, watching my partner’s face, his glasses fogging with condensation.

‘It’s not going to be a problem for much longer,’ someone said. ‘We get whatever the hell we can over the next couple of days, and then we go.’

‘Your wife’s going to be the one that’ll give us trouble, Johnno,’ someone else said. ‘Does she have any idea what we’re doin’?’

‘Nah, mate. No way. She doesn’t have a clue. If any of youse touch her, mate, I’ll fuckin’ stab ya.’

‘ Do as he says,’ someone said. It sounded like Jace. ‘Leave her alone. We don’t want anyone drawing attention to us until we can get everything into place. After it’s done we’ll be outta here.’

Kash and I stared at the dirt between us, listening to the micro-sounds as they came through the boards. Someone flipping the cap off a bottle of beer, the hiss of the compressed air escaping. Someone was standing right over us, causing dust to trickle down into our hair.

‘I know this probably sounds weird,’ a voice said. ‘But do youse ever, I dunno. Have you ever thought about maybe stayin’ once it’s over?’

‘Stayin’? Here? Mate, are you nuts? This place is a fuckin’ shithole. We’re talkin’ about changin’ everythin’. Why the fuck would you want to stay?’

‘I guess I feel like I would kinda miss my kids, you know.’

There was silence. The men moved around, open and closed doors. There was a horse race playing on a television or radio somewhere. At least two of them fell to cheering the horses on. Groans of joy or sorrow, I couldn’t tell, as the race ended.

‘What time do you want to go out there tonight, then?’ someone said.

Jace Robit replied. ‘Usual time. Get out there at eight.’

Kash and I looked at each other. I saw movement out on the road and twisted slightly, squinted in the light.

‘Oh, shit.’

‘What?’

‘Digger. The town dog. Look.’

Out on the road, the plump grey mutt was trotting along on its own, tongue waggling limply between its jaws. No clue where it was going, no sign of where it had come from. I knew that if there was one thing that dogs got excited about, other than food, it was humans lying on the ground. If the dog saw us, our risk assessment score would be through the roof.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

‘Oh God, don’t let it look over here,’ I breathed. I heard the floorboards above me creak. ‘Don’t move. Don’t look at it. Maybe it won’t see us.’

As is typical with my luck, I chanced a look at the road just as Digger was glancing over into the shadows beneath the house. The dog stopped short, lifted her head, sniffed the air. I fancied I saw her smile as she began to bound towards us.

‘Shit!’ Kash seethed. He sprang to his hands and knees, unsure of what to do. ‘Fucking thing!’

The dog was running at us, barking with joy. I heard the men in the house above us shifting, moving to the front of the house, following the commotion.





Chapter 88


‘GO,’ I TOLD Kash. ‘Get to cover. I’ll distract it.’

Kash scampered to the back of the house, around the brick foundations, and disappeared between the long grass. Digger slammed into me, a flurry of licking and happy barks.

‘What is that thing doing?’ I heard Jace sneer from above me. ‘Fucking dog.’

I clamped my hands around the dog’s muzzle. She gave a happy growl, tried to play-bite the cast on my arm.

‘What’s it got?’ someone asked from the couch. ‘A roo?’

‘Dunno. I’ll go have a look.’

I crawled around the foundations, looking for somewhere to hide. If Jace Robit found me down here, he’d know I’d heard their plans to ‘change everything’, to abandon their kids and wives. A group of men fleeing after a dramatic act, whatever it might be. If he found me now … I gripped the bricks, tried to contain the rising panic.

I looked up. There was a narrow gap between the brick-work and one of the wooden beams that crossed the bottom of the house. Just wide enough to snuggle in to, just deep enough to hide in. I didn’t know if I was strong enough to crawl up into it, to hold myself wedged in the space. But I had to try. I gathered a handful of the dry, powdery dirt from beneath me.

‘Sorry, dog,’ I whispered. I flung the dirt in the dog’s eyes. The animal yelped, twisted sideways. I put my feet into the gap beside the bricks and pulled myself upwards.

Digger was blinded and ran out from beneath the house, trying to scrape at its eyes with its paws. Already my broken arm, braced against the wooden beam, was screaming with pain. I closed my eyes and held my stomach in, thought about stone, concrete, solid things. I was a part of the house. I was invisible. I heard Jace Robit walking down the porch stairs mere metres from me.