by Annie Seaton
‘I don’t know.’ In a flash, he wondered if his brother would try to go to Alison. He would probably see her house as somewhere safe.
Her voice hitched and she cleared her throat. ‘He was your brother, Trav. And I was so afraid of him. What he might do to Cass or the boys if I didn’t do what he said. But I was most afraid that you’d believe him.’
‘It’s all right, sweetheart. I want you here. At Hidden Valley, where you belong, and where I know you and Cass are safe.’
‘Really? Even after what happened, you can say that? I trusted him.’ Travis closed his eyes as she started to cry. ‘And he had those photographs.’
‘And he betrayed our trust. What sort of man do you take me for? Al, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you for what my brother did. I want you to come home. I love you. I’ve never stopped loving you.’
Travis gripped the phone as he waited. His heart beat slow and heavy as the silence lengthened.
Finally, Alison’s soft voice broke it. ‘We need to talk before you make any promises. There’s a lot to consider. I don’t even know what happened that night.’
‘There’s a lot to overcome, but I know we can do it. I just need to know one thing, and we can work together from there. I need to know you love me. That somehow you’ve continued loving me through all this shit my brother caused.’
‘Yes. Of course I do, Trav.’ Another sob, and then Alison’s voice steadied again. ‘I’ll come home and then we’ll see what happens.’
‘Is Cass well enough to drive up?’
‘Yes, she’s bounced back to normal.’
‘Will you come as soon as you can?’
Travis held his breath.
‘We’re on our way.’
* * *
Joel had ridden the fence line to the edge of the property and it was almost dark. Travis had followed the road to meet him, his torch playing on the path ahead. Just before he’d reached him, he’d spotted fresh tyre tracks in a gully where the road was soft from yesterday’s rain. He followed the tracks up the hill until they came to a stop. He climbed out of the saddle and pulled the larger flashlight out of his saddlebag. A vehicle had been this far and then turned around. He followed the tracks in an arc, and then back the way it had come. This was obviously as far as Gavin had driven. No one else would have been out this way since the truck had come in with the first grocery delivery for Emlyn a few weeks ago. Kev had refused to come back that way due to the state of the road, and he’d brought in the subsequent deliveries via the Kennedy Highway.
‘Emlyn!’ Travis cupped his hand to his mouth and called as loudly as he could. He waited and listened before he called again. ‘Emlyn!’
The sound of horses’ hooves was the only response, and Joel appeared over the ridge.
‘What did you find, Dad?’
‘Some more tyre tracks.’
‘Where’re Blue and Jase?’ Joel looked around.
‘They’re following the road and exploring all the side tracks off it. They should catch up with us soon,’ Travis replied.
Joel shook his head as he looked into the dark bush surrounding them. ‘It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack, Dad. She could be anywhere. If we knew why he came out here, it would give us a clue. What would he have been looking for?’
‘We’ll find out. You take a break. I’m just going to ride through here and call for a while.’
Travis rode slowly through the bush and called until he was hoarse, while Joel rode back along the road to meet Bluey and Jase. The fear within him grew the more he rode. He had no doubt now what Gavin was capable of, and it horrified him.
They had to find Emlyn.
He spurred his horse along and cantered back across the flat grasslands at the base of the ridge. Suddenly, he was hurled forwards as the horse came to a dead stop. He gripped the mane and held the reins tightly to stop himself pitching over its head.
‘What’s wrong, boy?’ He stroked the horse’s head until it had calmed. Swinging himself off carefully, he looped the reins around an ironbark tree and held his flashlight in front of him as he walked forwards. Taking care where he stepped, he came to a thick covering of vegetation on the ground and leaned forwards. There was a gap, and as he pushed at the scrub, the hole yawned deep in front of him. Travis played the flashlight into the deep hole, but there was nothing to be seen below. No movement, and to his great relief, no body lying prostrate below. Just some fallen rocks and tree roots dangling into the gaping space. The property was dotted with entrances to the tubes; he’d forgotten how he and Gavin had come out here when they were boys and explored. He’d never realised that it was a system of caves linked to the volcano over at Undara. Once he’d started boarding school, he’d rarely come to this side of the property, unless they were searching for missing beasts, but it appeared that Gavin had had reason to be out here.
Travis led the horse back to the road, calling Emlyn until the lights of the ute lit up the bush around him, and dispiritedly, he walked back to join Bluey and his boys.
* * *
Emlyn would have given anything to have her phone with her, and to have a drink to ease her dry lips. She was in a quandary; she could wait for help to arrive, and risk dying of dehydration, or she could expend her energy trying to find a way out and locate some water. How long that would take was an unknown, but she decided that was the risk she had to take. Rocks skittered beneath her feet as she made her way carefully to the top of the rock fall at the back of the cave where a shaft of light shone through a gap.
Her breath caught each time she turned the wrong way and the sharp pain spiked in her back. She was almost to the top, and as she stretched to move a small rock that was impeding her progress, the pain gripped her again. Stars filled her vision and she fought for breath. She sat for a moment with her head in her hands. As she sat there, the rocks beside her began to roll, and she lifted her hands to cover her head.
Finally, the rumbling stopped, and a cloud of dust rose to meet her. She wiped her eyes, and relief filled her when she turned around. A huge gap had cleared between the rocks and the roof of the cave. With renewed energy, Emlyn scurried to the top, using her hands to drag herself up. She lay on the rocks and looked over into a cave full of light. It was so long, she couldn’t see the other end, but skylights dotted the roof every few metres. She leaned further over the gap; a rock fall like the one on the side she’d come in from gave her access to the large tube. She turned around and swung her legs over, finding solid purchase with her feet, before she crabbed backwards down the rock fall.
She stared around her as she reached the bottom. There was still enough light coming in to see that she was in an intact lava tube much larger than any they had explored on the other side of the property. Despite her situation, awe filled her as she stood in the massive tube. The floor was covered with silt, and she knew that meant there was an opening somewhere as the silt had washed in and covered the original basalt. Stepping out, she followed the cave as it progressed in a straight line. Apart from the bats dotting the ceiling, there was no sign of any life. After a while, she stopped and tilted her head to the side, hope rushing through her. Moving as fast as her back would let her, she followed the sound. The cave narrowed, and ropes of tree roots filled the space in front of her, but the sound was getting louder the further she went. As she moved forwards the long cave split into three tubes, but she followed the middle one where the sound was pulling her.
The light dimmed, but it was still bright enough to see the shining surface on the cave wall ahead. She stepped carefully over the wet mud to where spring water emerged from a crack in the cave wall. Reaching out tentatively, she held her fingers beneath the water until they were wet. She brought her hand to her face and sniffed her fingers, before putting her index finger on her tongue and tasting the liquid.
Sweet, fresh water, with no taste of dirt or metal in it. Taking care not to overdo it, she cupped her hand beneath the flow and took small sips until her dry mouth a
nd lips were eased. Relief flowed through her, and as she relaxed, the constant ache in her back eased.
Now all she had to do was find a way out. Wherever she searched, she knew she could come back to the spring and stay hydrated. Deciding to explore ahead before the light faded for the night, she moved forwards. The skylights ended, and the cave roof lowered the further she walked; there was no sign of any light ahead. As she entered the last small chamber, she yawned, and her neck prickled a warning as her heart rate began to speed up. Aware of pockets of bad air, Emlyn held her breath for as long as she could before she turned and hurried back the way she had come. Taking a couple of shallow breaths as she made her way back, she finally reached the spring.
Disappointment came to the fore, and hope plummeted. There was no path out that way. She sat beside the spring and glanced at her watch as she considered her options.
Six-thirty. It was the middle of summer, but it would still be pitch dark down here by seven. Even if there was an opening out to the bush, apart from the skylights in the roof, she’d never see it in the dark. It mightn’t be five-star accommodation, but there was water, the air was clean and it seemed to be a safe spot. As she considered her options, there was a rush of noise above and a flurry of wings as the bats headed out for their nightly hunt for food. There was a flow-through of air, and she looked around for somewhere to lie before it was too dark. There was a wide, flat lump of basalt over near the cave wall, surrounded by deep, fine silt. She used her hands to scrape a deeper mound of soil, and then went back and washed them under the water. Sitting on the rock with her legs stretched out, her back was supported against the wall and hurt less.
Emlyn closed her eyes, wondering how she was going to endure the long hours until it was light again. As she sat there dozing, her eyes flew open; she could have sworn she heard her name echoing around the vast chamber. She lifted her head and listened, but all there was to be heard was the dripping of the spring, and the rustling of the leaves in the bush above. Her eyes closed again, and she let sleep take her.
* * *
As midnight approached, Travis insisted that they all return to the base camp. They’d searched and called along the fence line and road, with no sign of anyone.
‘There’s no point searching in the dark,’ he told the twins when they wanted to keep going. They had taken a break and eaten the last of the food Bill had packed for them.
‘It’s not safe with the entrances to the tubes around here, and besides, if Emlyn is unconscious, we could walk within a metre of her and not see her,’ he said.
Bluey nodded. ‘She’s out here somewhere. I have no doubt about that.’
‘We’ll leave the horses here and go back with you in the ute. There’s a small dam over there to water them.’ Travis turned to Bluey. ‘Then have something to eat and let them know about the tracks. I’m sure they’ll focus the search in this direction. We’ll have a bit of a rest until daylight.’
Jase stared at him. ‘Are you going to take a break, Dad?’
Travis shook his head.
‘So, we won’t either,’ Joel said. ‘We won’t stop until we find her.’
They drove into a brightly lit base camp an hour later. There were more vehicles parked there and Travis noted that a long table had been set up on the verandah of the donga where the mess was. A couple of groups of people stood where the vehicles were parked, and he could see more people inside the building. He’d radioed the base as they’d travelled in and told them they were on the way back in. The police had coordinated two searches: one out on the Conjuboy Road, and another on a road that led to the south-western corner of the property. There had been no result at either location.
Detective Baker came out of the building followed by another tall man with dark hair as soon as the ute pulled up. Travis swallowed; he had to share what he’d found with the detective.
‘Travis.’ Baker nodded to the man beside him. ‘This is David Barber, Emlyn’s husband.’
Travis held out his hand and it was taken in a firm grip. ‘I’m sorry we had to meet this way,’ he said. ‘I want you to know that whatever my brother has done, he’ll pay for it.’
‘Thank you.’ David nodded. ‘You’ve found tyre tracks, Brett said?’
‘Yes.’ Travis turned to Baker. ‘I think it would be a good move to intensify the search out that way, Brett.’
‘Let’s go, then.’ David turned, but Travis put a hand on his arm.
‘In the morning. It’s not safe at night. There’re too many places where it’s dangerous to walk in the dark.’
‘I can’t stand around here doing nothing.’ David’s eyes were shadowed. ‘Em could be lying there, hurt … or worse … we need to be looking.’
Brett held Travis’s gaze as David ran his hands over his face.
‘We’ll set out from here half an hour or so before first light,’ the detective said. ‘That’s how long it takes to get there by vehicle, right, Travis?’
‘Yes. We can be there in about twenty-five minutes in the dry. You’d never find your way to the tracks without us. There’s a rabbit warren of old fire trails and tracks through the paddocks, but we know the main trail to the back gate. That’s where the ute tracks are. I know he’s been out there.’
‘Good. I’ll get Sergeant Brennan to work out some new search teams. Come inside both of you. There’s been a couple of developments I need to talk to you about.’
Travis came to a decision. ‘And I need to talk to you, too. In private.’
Bill had toasted a huge pile of sandwiches, and a large pot of coffee sat on the table outside the door, but Baker led them inside. There was no sign of the university team except for Bill, and Larry, who was helping in the kitchen.
After they sat down, and Bill had put a plate of fresh toasted sandwiches in front of them, Brett Baker filled them in on an incident at the bank. ‘The manager said Gavin was quite agitated when he couldn’t access the account.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ Travis said drily. ‘A quarter of a million snatched from his reach. I still can’t believe he got that far with Carroglen.’
‘Your brother appears to be a very clever man, Travis.’
David stood. ‘I’m getting a coffee.’
Travis watched as he walked outside to the verandah before he spoke. ‘Brett, I need to fill you in on something. It might be relevant to what’s happened today. You’ve already said that Gavin has robbed at least one girl in Townsville. Without going into details, I need you to know this.’ He cleared his throat and stared past the detective’s head. ‘My broth—Gavin—drugged my wife in our house twelve months ago when I was out working the boundaries.’
‘What? Why are you only telling me this now? Why didn’t you have him charged? It would have saved—’
‘I’ve only found that out this afternoon. From a photo. I found his lair. I didn’t touch anything, but there’re two large metal boxes there. Who knows what else you’ll find in them.’ Travis switched his gaze back to the detective’s face. ‘I didn’t want David to hear that. My brother is capable of anything.’
‘And you never had an inkling of what happened?’
Travis stared at him. ‘If I had, I would have killed the bastard with my own hands.’ He managed to keep his voice steady. ‘My wife is on her way home now. We’ll know more when I talk to her.’
CHAPTER
32
The Strand, Townsville, 2 February, 6 am
The rage that had filled Gavin when he left the bank stayed with him and escalated to white-hot anger when he saw the police car at his unit. He was in desperate trouble. ‘Bloody cops,’ he muttered as he turned the ute around. He’d slept in the back seat of the ute in a large car park at the harbour.
The grand total of thirty-five dollars was in his wallet, not even enough to fill up with fuel to go back to Hidden Valley. Driving to the Strand, Gavin parked near the restaurant strip. He might as well get something to eat while he thought up a plan. Sleep had put
him in a slightly better mood and he was thinking a bit straighter.
He was going to have it out with Travis, and he could give him access to the station account. He had no doubt that Travis had got wind of the new account and stopped him. There was no way he would know about the insect woman. Travis could pay him the money that Carroglen had deposited and he’d disappear.
Mr High and Mighty Travis who thought he deserved everything.
Gavin knew he could run rings around his brother with anything he tried to do. He had all the brains in the family, and he’d made sure that Travis’s family life had gone to shit. At least it had given him somewhere to live while he waited for his cryptocurrency to make him a wealthy man.
He considered his options.
He could threaten Travis with something unless he gave him the money.
Or he could tell Travis to come to Townsville and show him the photo of Alison.
Damn. He gripped the steering wheel tightly when he remembered the photo was at the cave, along with the photos of the backpackers he’d robbed over the last two years. It would be worth going back there to get it. He’d love to see the look on his brother’s face when he saw the photo. Maybe he’d even tell him that they’d been having an affair and that the little bitch of a girl was his daughter, not Travis’s. That would make his bloody holier-than-thou brother very unhappy.
What sweet revenge.
Gavin started to feel better and he chuckled as he sat in the ute watching the tide go out. The mud flats were brown, and the white foam of the small waves picked up the mud as they broke on the seaweed-strewn shore. He hated this city; there was nothing here for him. He was going to find somewhere else to live; somewhere with a good climate, blue seas and plenty of bars.
And a good internet connection.
He got out of the ute, walked down to a coffee shop and ordered a big breakfast and a strong coffee. As he ate, he kept an eye on the customers as they parked their cars and came into the coffee shop. A middle-aged woman parked a Toyota Corolla in front of his ute and then sat at the table beside his. When the woman went to the toilet, leaving her keys on the table, he wiped the egg yolk from the plate with his toast and shoved it in his mouth. The keys to a plain white sedan that wouldn’t get anyone’s attention.