A Light in the Dark (Taylor's Bend, #3)

by Elisabeth Rose

  Just read the articles. Not very subtle.

  His reply came a few minutes later.

  When did you get back? Where are you?

  She sent the answers and he replied.

  Drop by after dinner.

  Too tired. Tomorrow.

  Okay. Glad you’re back.

  Her immediate response was ‘I’m not’ but she didn’t send it.

  Betty arrived with rice and a chicken and vegetable dish. ‘Eat,’ she ordered.

  ‘Thank you, Betty.’

  Mia ate slowly. The muttering couple finished and stood up to leave, the woman fussing with her coat and the man fishing in his pocket for his wallet. As they passed her table the man said, ‘You’re Tony’s daughter, aren’t you?’

  She nodded warily. Surely they wouldn’t make a scene here? Betty would pounce.

  ‘We wanted to tell you we liked your dad. He was a good man and that article … Arlo got it right … well … We don’t know what happened or why but … anyway … we wanted to tell you we liked him. Both of them, and we were very shocked and saddened when it happened.’

  Mia gasped and exhaled the breath she’d been inadvertently holding. ‘That’s very kind. Thank you.’

  ‘Goodnight then.’ They both smiled and threaded their way through the tables to where Betty was watching, eagle eyed, by the cash register.

  After dinner, Mia went back to the hotel. Karaoke night had just begun with the MC belting out ‘Black Betty’ again. Must be his signature tune. People were still arriving and a small crowd hovered about the door finishing their cigarettes before going in. Curious eyes turned her way as she edged past them to the door to reception.

  ‘How much did you pay Arlo to write that crap about your murdering dad?’ asked a man.

  She hesitated for a split second debating whether to respond but someone else said, ‘Cut it out, mate. Leave her alone.’

  A woman in a hot pink parka chimed in with, ‘Why else would he bring that up again now, if it wasn’t for her?’

  ‘That’s bloody right,’ said the first man.

  The group closed in, figures made bulky and more threatening by parkas and beanies. The aggressive man had a close-trimmed dark beard and a solid body. He stood in front of her like a snarling guard dog.

  ‘Arlo writes what he likes,’ Mia said. ‘It’s called freedom of the press.’

  ‘Yeah sure, if it’s for the benefit of the woman he’s screwing. That’s freedom of the press.’ He laughed.

  Mia sighed. No point talking to a dope like this, she was too tired. ‘Excuse me, please.’

  She took a step forward but the man didn’t budge. She waited, staring him down.

  ‘Come on, Bluey.’ Pink Parka pulled at his arm. ‘Leave it.’

  Mia yawned suddenly, couldn’t help it.

  ‘Boring you, are we?’ he said.

  ‘Not at all. I’d be happy to stand here all night with you staring at me, Bluey, but I’ve had a long day.’

  Someone snorted with laughter behind her and a couple of people tossed their butts in the gutter and went inside. Pink Parka renewed her attack on his arm, complaining about the cold, and he relented.

  He gave Mia a last threatening glare and allowed his girlfriend to drag him into the bar like a belligerent, intelligence-challenged dog.

  Chapter 18

  Arlo wasn’t surprised by the reaction to his articles and he expected the angry phone call on Wednesday morning he got from Rupe telling him in no uncertain terms how irresponsible he was being. He must have read the paper soon after it was delivered and got straight on the phone.

  ‘You’ve already had a threatening note, what do you think is going to happen now, Arlo? You’ve just accused the council and Greenhill of corruption and the police of incompetence.’

  ‘I expect the police to do something about it. Have you found out where that note came from?’

  ‘I told you, we’re looking into it and you’re not helping. What about Riley? Have you thought about how this might affect him? Or Mia?’

  ‘How might they be affected?’

  ‘Use your brains.’

  ‘That’s what I am doing, seeing the police don’t seem to be.’

  ‘Keep out of it, Arlo.’ Rupe hung up.

  Arlo put the phone down thoughtfully. Keep out of it? What did he mean? Was something going on Rupe wasn’t telling him about? Was Greenhill already under investigation? Or was the council?

  After a few minutes deep in contemplation he picked up his notebook, thumbed through it for a phone number and made a call. Then he made two more. After that he began researching various things via the internet and became so immersed Riley surprised him by coming in through the office door.

  ‘Gosh, is it that time already?’

  ‘Apparently,’ he said.

  ‘How are you feeling?’

  Riley had gone back to school today after missing Monday and Tuesday. Arlo got up and took the bag he’d dumped on the floor.

  ‘Tired.’

  ‘Go through and I’ll make you some afternoon tea.’

  ‘Can I have mudcake from Hannah’s?’

  ‘Okay, but only because you’re still recovering. Make the tea and I’ll be back in a sec.’

  Arlo locked the office door and hurried round the corner to the café.

  Hannah greeted him with raised eyebrows. ‘You’re a brave man. Either that or you’re an idiot.’

  ‘Neither, I’m a journalist. Can I have two slices of mudcake, please?’

  ‘Riley’s feeling better I take it. I saw him get off the bus.’ She scooped the slices carefully into a cardboard container.

  ‘He’s well enough to want cake. He didn’t eat much over the weekend.’

  ‘Poor kid.’

  She passed the box over the counter in exchange for his cash.

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘I’d keep out of the way for a bit,’ she said. ‘There are some angry people out there.’

  He smiled. ‘Not happening.’

  ‘Thought so, but you have a boy to think about.’

  ‘So people keep telling me.’

  Back at the flat he found Riley sprawled on the couch but the tea was made and waiting on the coffee table.

  ‘Do you want to go to bed?’

  ‘Nah. Got the cake?’

  ‘Yes. Listen I need to talk to you.’ Arlo put the cake and forks on two plates and gave one to Riley. He sat in the chair opposite.

  ‘About the paper?’

  ‘Yes. What did people say?’

  ‘Nothing. None of the local kids had read it this morning. Why?’

  ‘It’s going to cause a bit of … trouble. People are going to be upset about what I wrote about Tony.’

  ‘But it was all true.’

  ‘I know but Glenda’s family and friends may not see it that way.’

  ‘Was that what that note was about?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so.’

  ‘So? What was it about?’

  ‘Greenhill and the council. Asking questions.’

  ‘About corruption?’

  Arlo nodded. ‘Definitely.’

  ‘So is that what happened to Tony?’ Riley sat up straight. ‘He found out and they killed him?’

  Arlo hesitated. How did his son get so sharp?

  ‘Dad? It is, isn’t it?’

  ‘I think so.’

  ‘Does that mean you might be next?’

  ‘No! But …’

  ‘You want me to go back to Mum’s, don’t you?’ He sank bank into the cushions deflated.

  ‘Might be a good idea, for a while. Until this is sorted.’

  ‘But nothing might happen and if I go back already Mum will never let me come here again.’

  Arlo looked at the miserable face and a swell of love expanded in his chest. Riley wanted to be with him, here, with the father who’d always put him second. If he sent him away now he’d be treating his son the way he’d treated him most of his life, and how h
e complained his mother treated him. Like a baby. He wasn’t a baby he was a very astute teenager.

  ‘Okay, but if there’s the slightest hint of anything going wrong you’re on the next flight out. Deal?’

  ‘Deal.’ He hacked off a piece of cake.

  Arlo picked up his tea. If Debra discovered the deal they’d made, regardless of any outcomes, he’d never see Riley again for the rest of his life. Had he made another bad mistake to go with the other one? This time, he consoled himself, he was alert and aware and the terrain and circumstances were quite different. Taylor’s Bend wasn’t a war zone in Africa, it was a quiet rural town in Australia. Debra never need know.

  ***

  Mia walked around to see Arlo on Thursday morning. On the positive side Carl had rung and told her the contract was ready to sign.

  Arlo was at his desk, alone in the office. He sprang to his feet when she walked in and came to kiss her on the cheek, his hands firm on her shoulders. She steeled herself to resist him, keep him on a ‘friends’ basis even though the temptation was there, potent, addictive, to fling her arms round him and draw on his comfort.

  ‘How’s Riley?’ she said because anything else would give away her total instability in his presence.

  Arlo’s hands slid from her shoulders. ‘Not completely better but getting there. He didn’t want to miss any more school which was surprising, coming from him after what Debra said.’

  ‘That’s good.’ She turned away and sat down. ‘The fridge won’t be here till next week sometime—or not. I couldn’t get a straight answer out of them. Is it always this bad out here?’

  ‘Not always.’ He sounded miffed, as though it was a personal insult. ‘We’ll manage. Don’t worry about it.’ He dropped onto the chair behind his desk like a sulky teenager.

  ‘I’m going to Willoughby to sign the contract today,’ she said blandly.

  ‘Come with me. I’m going to look at the resort site Greenhill are developing and we can stop in to see Carl on the way through town. I can sign the lease.’

  She smiled. ‘Do you think he’ll be pleased to see you? Someone will have shown him the paper by now.’

  ‘There was nothing derogatory about him in there. Anyway, he thinks I’m a prospective buyer for one of the Bindubi lots.’ Composure regained, he stretched back in the chair with a smug expression.

  ‘Are you?’

  ‘No. I don’t want to live way out there on a five-hectare block. What would I do with all that land? I’m not a farmer.’

  ‘Didn’t he think it odd when you’re moving in to my house?’

  ‘Of course not. He had dollar signs in his eyes. I said I was feeling the parental responsibility of Riley and realising that my flat isn’t a suitable place for us to live so I was looking at permanent options.’ He picked up a brochure. ‘Have a look.’

  Mia flipped through the glossy pages.

  ‘They stand to make close to three million out of this little lot,’ he said. ‘As I said before, my bet is on money laundering. It’s standard practice in some circles.’

  ‘I know. How are sales going?’

  ‘Slow to non-existent at the moment I think but it hardly matters. The main objective is to get rid of their dirty money.’

  Mia stood up. ‘Carl said come this afternoon. Is that all right?’

  ‘Sure. Why don’t we go to the resort site now and have lunch in Willoughby?’

  ‘Fine.’

  Arlo sprang to his feet. ‘Go through to the flat. Give me a minute to lock up here and I’ll be right with you.’

  ***

  ‘What do you think the council will do about the article?’ Mia asked as Arlo drove through town in the direction of Willoughby.

  ‘Ignore it, probably. They’ll figure my readership is too small to have any influence and I can’t prove any of it anyway. It’s the Greenhill connections that will be spooked. They won’t like any adverse public attention drawn to their projects.’

  ‘But you don’t actually accuse them of anything.’

  ‘They’ll want to shut me up before then. We’ve ignored the note and your friend Joel at the hotel. Their next move might be to send in a hitman.’

  ‘Hitman?’ Mia’s voice rose dangerously close to a screech.

  ‘Isn’t that what we think happened to Tony and Glenda?’ Arlo asked.

  ‘But why would they be after me?’

  ‘That’s what I wondered and I don’t think they are. You didn’t get a threatening note, I did. You just had a warning not to talk. In other words don’t ask questions. Which they knew would get back to me so it was really aimed at me too.’

  Mia swallowed. ‘You mean you’re a target?’

  ‘It’s more logical, isn’t it?’

  ‘My God, Arlo! You ignored both of them. How can you be so calm?’

  ‘Because I’m prepared. Tony and Glenda weren’t.’

  ‘But what about Riley? You think they shot Glenda because she was there at the wrong time. What if Riley’s there at the wrong time?’

  ‘They won’t try to shoot me. That only worked because it looked like suicide. I don’t own a gun.’

  Mia sat speechless beside him. The man was actually enjoying this. He must be insane.

  ‘Mia,’ he said in a different tone. ‘Your father was murdered, you know that. You want to find out who did it, you’ve told me that from the start. You knew this could be dangerous. If you don’t want to be part of it I’ll turn the car around and you can go home today.’

  ‘We’ve had this conversation before,’ she said hoarsely.

  ‘Yes, we have. More than once.’

  ‘Keep driving,’ she said after a moment.

  No work was underway at the resort site but big earthmoving machines were trundling about rearranging the landscape and a large truck passed them on the narrow road, going the other way.

  Arlo drove past the site turn-off with its big advertising sign and slowed further along up a rise where another side road descended to meander beside the river.

  ‘We can have a look from here,’ he said as he made the turn and parked on the verge. ‘The land on the right belongs to Hegarty’s. They were approached but wouldn’t sell apparently.’

  ‘Were they threatened?’

  ‘Not that I’ve heard. Not the way Myra’s family was. The land lower down isn’t as good for their project because it’s prone to flooding. Not often but the possibility is there. Greenhill probably didn’t think it was worth making the effort.’

  The neighbouring land rose gently away from the river affording perfect views of the distant mountains and the river winding through the paddocks.

  ‘It’s lovely,’ Mia said.

  ‘It is and so is the Bindubi site.’

  ‘All this activity must be good for the area,’ Mia said. ‘No wonder the council was happy to look the other way and bend the rules.’

  ‘Bend the rules?’ His voice rose. ‘You can’t think what they did is fair enough if it makes money for certain people.’

  ‘Of course I don’t but I can see how they justify it to themselves.’

  ‘Oh right. The ones with no morals. The greedy ones.’ He spat the words out. ‘Your dad died because of them.’

  ‘The councillors didn’t kill him.’

  ‘Yes, they did. He died because of their corruption. Innocent people are always the ones harmed no matter how much the bastards justify their actions to themselves. There’s always a victim.’

  ‘You’re right,’ Mia said, subdued by his anger and the veracity of his statement, but he hadn’t finished.

  ‘I really hate the way these people think money trumps everything. The environment, water, plants, animals—you name it. Well-being, happiness, history, the future,’ he added.

  ‘Money is an important element in preserving all of those things,’ Mia said.

  ‘Agreed, but an element, not the whole.’

  Mia stared out at the building site, comparing it with the peace of the scene acr
oss the river. From where Arlo sat the issue was simple. From her world of high finance, complex forces were constantly at play.

  ‘I guess this is where our worlds intersect,’ she said almost to herself.

  ‘Whatever our views,’ he said more calmly. ‘The fact remains we both agree that Greenhill is ultimately run by a bunch of criminals.’

  ‘Dangerous ones.’

  He placed his hand over hers. ‘Yes.’

  Mia looked at his hand then at him. He squeezed her fingers gently, holding her transfixed with eyes turned dark with desire.

  ‘I really want to kiss you,’ he said hoarsely. ‘Most of the time. All the time.’ He reached across to touch her face with his other hand, the fingers warm and soft against her cheek drawing her close. Before she realised she’d moved, his lips were on hers and she surrendered, relishing the feel and taste of him, his scent, his strength, his gentleness.

  An approaching car engine dragged them apart. Arlo smiled and ran his fingers lightly across her lips. Mia sat back in her seat grinning.

  ‘Sprung,’ he said and laughed.

  A dark blue four-wheel drive came towards them and slowed as it passed. The driver turned his head but gave no acknowledgment.

  ‘Do you know him?’ Mia asked.

  ‘No, he must be from the building site.’

  ‘What’s along this road?’

  ‘Nothing much on this stretch. It’s a back road to Murray’s Corner. It’s a tiny place about forty kilometres away. Two houses and a dog about sums it up. Lunch?’

  Arlo started the car and continued on until he came to an access gate to the site where he did a U-turn.

  ***

  Carl rose from behind his desk when the receptionist showed Mia and Arlo into his office.

  ‘How nice to see you both.’ He shook hands and waved them to a seat. ‘I have the papers all ready for you, Mia.’

  ‘Thanks. We thought Arlo could sign the lease as well while we’re here.’

  ‘Absolutely.’ He produced the papers from a folder on his desk. ‘Take a minute to read through and then if you’re happy, sign where indicated.’

  Mia checked both sets of papers and signed.

  ‘I’ll take care of any issues that come up,’ Carl said.

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Will you be leaving soon?’