A Place to Stay

by Jennie Jones

  ‘Luke,’ Rachel said as he pulled her into his office, her hand still in his. Her lungs felt filled to capacity and she had to force herself to calmness.

  ‘What is it?’ he asked after he took a moment to study her, obviously recognising her concern.

  ‘I don’t know—I’m just—’

  ‘Come here.’ He took her hands in his and pulled her forwards. ‘You’re safe now. Make your call to Mary. Everything’s going to be fine.’

  ‘Try Jax again.’

  He pulled out his phone and punched in the number. After a minute, he sighed and ended the call. ‘Wherever she is, she’s not answering her phone. But don’t read too much into that,’ he added quickly, ‘Jax hates using mobiles. She’s always forgetting it or letting it run out of charge.’

  ‘Except that this time, she’s evading you. You have to find her, Luke.’

  ‘I will.’

  ‘Can I come with you?’

  ‘No way.’

  ‘Mornin’ all,’ Will said as he strode into the office. He tipped his cap. ‘Hi, Rachel. Don’t be worried. Like I’ve been saying for the last four hours, we’re all going to get out of this alive.’ He put a large plastic food container onto his desk. ‘Barbara said we might need sustenance so she baked scones. In the middle of the night, which just goes to show she’s worried too.’ He paused, then turned to Luke. ‘What’s the score?’

  Half an hour later Rachel was locked inside the cop shop with Jimmy, who was busy filing and didn’t appear perturbed about the incoming and outgoing police officers, although Rachel had no doubt he’d had an ear alert for the information that had been passed around. Luke had brought his officers up to date—except for Donna, who hadn’t arrived yet, but Luke said not to worry because if her husband was on early shift at the mine, Donna would have to organise childcare. He’d told the rest everything he knew, including Wiseman’s pilfering and his possible involvement with the builders, and the money laundering going on at Serenity.

  Rachel had tried hard not to flush with mortification when he’d related the main facts about herself and Peter Fletcher.

  He’d charged Will and three other officers with the search for Jax, Rosita and young Billy, who was still missing. He’d told all officers they were not to approach the museum site or the builders. They’d all been given Peter Fletcher’s description and were told to look out for him but not approach.

  He’d also spoken on the telephone to someone called Solomon and had asked him to make a surreptitious recon of the museum site. It had to be Solomon Jones, the horse whisperer Rachel had heard about but hadn’t met. From the way Luke spoke to him, she could tell he trusted him.

  After he dismissed his officers, Luke had gone looking for Jax—and anybody else who was missing that he might bump into while on patrol.

  ‘You’re going to make a rut in the floor of my front office with all that pacing,’ Jimmy said without looking at her.

  ‘I can’t get hold of Mary.’ Rachel bit into the tip of her thumb. Rosita missing. Jax gone AWOL. Young Billy. And now there was no-one answering the telephones at town hall reception. Not that there’d be anyone there except the usual skeleton staff—but even the CEO’s secretary couldn’t tell her where Mary was.

  ‘I need to get out of here, Jimmy.’

  ‘Negative.’

  Rachel strode to the counter and grabbed hold of it, leaning towards Jimmy. ‘If this man is my ex-husband then everybody needs to know how dangerous he is and what he’s capable of.’ Jimmy took no notice so she slapped her hand on his to stop him shuffling his paperwork. ‘He said he’d get my friends. The people I work with. He wants to punish me. He’ll hurt my friends, Jimmy. Your friends …’

  Jimmy took a few long moments to assess her. ‘We’ve got special services and councillors that come to town once a fortnight,’ he said with a thoughtful expression. ‘They help deal with this domestic violence stuff. Can’t say I’ve had any close encounter with this sort of violence myself, but I can see the pain in your eyes and on behalf of every good man out there, I apologise to you, Rachel Meade.’

  ‘Jimmy …’ Rachel swiped the back of her hand over her eyes, which were now brimming with tears. Warm tears of gratitude. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘You’re worried about Mary?’ he asked.

  She nodded.

  He pulled a keycard from a pocket in the jacket hooked over his chair, left the counter and moved to the rear of the station. ‘I’ll let you out the back way. Don’t tell a soul it was me. Not that Luke’ll believe you… Be careful,’ he said when he unlocked the door and then pushed open the fire escape door. ‘Go see Mary and come straight back here. You got it? It’s an order. A special Jimmy order.’

  ‘Copy,’ Rachel said, and left.

  * * *

  ‘Get yourself to Wiseman’s place and pull him in,’ Luke told Will over the radio.

  ‘What for?’

  ‘Suspicion of theft. Coercion of justice, talking too loudly—I don’t know, make it up. Just get him off the street.’

  ‘On my way.’

  ‘Anything on Billy?’ Luke asked.

  ‘Solomon called me. Said he found Billy’s sneaker impressions on Roper’s land and all around the burnt-out green station wagon at the Baxter farm.’

  ‘What the hell was Billy doing with that vehicle?’

  ‘Don’t know.’

  Luke didn’t have time to ponder Billy’s connection to the burnt-out vehicle. But Solomon was onto it, and that was good news.

  ‘Where are you?’ Will asked.

  ‘Checking the old tracks on the eastern edge of town. After you’ve got Wiseman, you and Louie head west and search for Rosita there.’

  Next, Luke rang Jack, who answered before the first ring had ended.

  ‘Where have you been?’ Luke demanded.

  ‘In transit,’ Jack said. ‘Now listen—I’ve got stuff to tell you. I spoke to an old mate who’s now retired. There’s an op going on behind the Garland op and it was set up years ago—Peter Morrison is in on it. I don’t know how. His profile is low on info. But his name came up a few times and I think he’s the guy who stabbed you—and I’ve got a feeling he’s one of us.’

  Luke stared out the windscreen, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. So his intuition hadn’t failed. Morrison was the guy from the warehouse. ‘A cop gone bad?’ he asked.

  ‘Nothing to confirm that. By my figuring, Morrison’s either an insider, a bad guy who’s happy to snitch—or one of us.’

  Great. They still didn’t know who they were looking for. ‘What about Rachel?’

  Jack cleared his throat. ‘I can now confirm—unofficially—that whoever Morrison is, the op his name is involved in is somehow connected to Operation Garland.’ He cleared his throat again. ‘And that my op knew Rachel was here. I can further unofficially confirm my suspicions that they knew she wasn’t working with Fletcher—but that he’d follow her.’

  Luke’s temper rose to volcanic proportions. ‘Jesus, Jack—’

  ‘I didn’t know until—’

  ‘How could you put an innocent woman in the front line?’

  ‘I didn’t know until late last night! All right? Now quit swearing at me. It wasn’t my call—I arrested the chief whip in his bunny outfit, remember? I’m on paper-shuffle duty. They’ve let me work with you because we go back a long way and they knew you’d listen to me. I’ve been used too. They didn’t tell me anything more than I told you.’

  ‘Bullshit.’

  ‘For God’s sake, Luke, take the personal out of it and listen to me. I did not know Rachel was being used.’

  ‘But you suspected. And don’t tell me to take the personal out of it. Let’s see how you feel when it’s personal—Rosita is missing and Jax is out looking for her. I can’t get hold of Jax.’

  ‘Oh, shit.’

  ‘Not so far removed now, is it?’

  ‘When did anyone last see Jax?’

  ‘Get your arse up here on the next flig
ht and find out for yourself.’

  Luke threw his phone onto the passenger seat and took a deep breath.

  Getting his focus back, he scanned the track he’d driven down.

  No signs of Rosita’s vehicle. If she’d found Morrison, or Morrison had picked her up, he might have taken her out of Mt Maria already.

  Rachel’s safe, he told himself as he continued his drive down the track, examining the rough earth and the bushland either side for signs that a vehicle had driven off-track and further into the scrub. Nobody can get to her in the station.

  A blast of panic stabbed him all the same. He grabbed his radio. ‘Kilo-Mike 102 to Mt Maria base.’

  ‘Go ahead Kilo-Mike 102. What’s up?’ Jimmy asked.

  ‘Just checking on you both. Everything good?’

  ‘Um—yeah. Yeah.’

  ‘Is Rachel okay?’

  ‘She’s—in the ladies’.’

  ‘Call me if you need anything, Jimmy.’

  Luke’s mobile rang. He reached for it. ‘Where the hell have you been?’

  ‘What the hell is Jack Maxwell doing here?’ Jax said.

  ‘Here?’

  ‘He just rang me. Said he was going to skin my backside for—’

  Luke winced. ‘My fault. I needed to teach him a lesson.’ Remorse filled him. Jack would have been given the fright of his life—

  ‘Next time don’t include me in your plans,’ Jax said. ‘And why is he here? He said he was at the airport.’

  ‘That was quick,’ Luke said. ‘Where are you?’

  ‘South of town, by the old caravan park.’

  ‘Get yourself to the cop shop, Jax. That’s an order.’

  ‘I’m looking for Rosie.’

  ‘I’ll find her. You get to the station now or I’ll put Jack on your tail and let him haul you in. Move. Now.’

  He cut the call, then texted Jack to tell him where Jax was and that she should be making her way to the station. Jack would find her and look after her. Although there’d be fireworks.

  Twenty

  CLOSED due to gastro epidemic and other important business that must be sorted. Sorry for inconvenience. Open tomorrow as usual. We hope.

  Rachel read the note pinned to the front door of the town hall reception—written in Mary’s handwriting—but instead of going in the back way and questioning Wiseman’s secretary again, she ripped the note from the door, stuffed it in her jeans pocket and headed quickly back down High Street towards the café.

  ‘Hi,’ Angela Arnold said. ‘What can I get you?’

  ‘I’m looking for your grandmother.’

  Angela coloured. ‘She’s at home.’ She shuffled behind the counter, not meeting Rachel’s eye.

  Rachel put her hand over the young girl’s. ‘What is it?’

  ‘I had a bit of a frightening moment last night. Some man propositioned me.’

  Rachel held her breath.

  ‘He’s one of the builders out at the museum. He’s been following me the last couple of days. It’s really scary, that sort of stuff.’

  ‘Yes,’ Rachel agreed. ‘It is scary. Can you tell me what happened?’

  ‘He asked me for a date and I told him I was too young for him, and he just laughed.’

  ‘How did you get away from him?’

  ‘I walked away. Well, I ran, actually because I thought for a second he was going to grab me and—you know.’

  ‘Didn’t you think to tell someone at the police station?’

  ‘I didn’t think it was a big enough deal for them to want to know.’

  ‘It’s always a big enough deal. Don’t ever be frightened of telling Luke, or Will or any of the officers here—that you’re scared. Don’t ever be frightened again, Angela. And always run.’

  ‘That’s what my gran said—to run.’

  ‘So she knows?’

  ‘She was furious. I’ve never seen her so mad. She said she’d sort it out. She even walked me to work this morning, and our house is only down the street.’

  ‘And we’ll make sure you’re walked home too. Here.’ Rachel pulled her phone out and opened up the Contacts list. ‘I’m giving you the police station number, Luke Weston’s mobile number and my number. You’re to call any of us if you’re approached again. Or just call triple zero.’

  ‘They’re a bit of a shady lot, those builders, aren’t they?’ Angela said, taking the list of telephone numbers off Rachel and opening up her mobile phone. ‘A couple of my friends have been given a scare by them too.’

  ‘Are you sure you think your gran is at home?’

  Angela blushed all over again. ‘She might want to talk to that Mr Wiseman. She said she had a piece of her mind for him.’

  Now Rachel had little doubt: the Agatha Girls were on the warpath, armed with sharp words and probably a car-jack handle. And Luke would be furious.

  Three minutes later Rachel rapped her knuckles on the fire exit door at the rear of the station to get Jimmy’s attention.

  She didn’t want to be locked up but what choice did she have? Locked inside while everything was happening outside. Happening to the people she loved.

  Loved? The thought made her pause.

  She’d viewed the police as single-minded whether they’d been caring or not. Some cops didn’t care; they just went through the motions. But not always and not here. Not in Mt Maria. There was energy, spark, arguments, generosity and heart. All of it in this tiny, away-from-it-all town sparkling on the edge of a desert. It had everything she wanted. Everything she needed. Everything she’d never had. And she wasn’t going to let it slip out of her grasp.

  She glanced around the carpark behind the station. Not a single marked vehicle—they were all in use. But a number of officer’s own vehicles were parked there. One stood out—a big black 4WD sporting all the gear and accessories for off-road driving. She thought she knew who might own that one.

  The door opened and a blast of air-conditioning hit her.

  ‘Long ten minutes,’ Jimmy said, holding the door wide. ‘Get in here.’

  After he’d secured them inside again, she followed him to the front office, slapped the note onto the counter and gave Jimmy a chance to read it. ‘Angela told me she was pestered by one of the builders at the museum. She told Mrs Arnold, who said she’d handle it—but I didn’t want to frighten Angela so I said nothing about not being able to get hold of Mary. Do you have a number for Mrs Arnold and Mrs Frith?’

  ‘Of course I do.’ Jimmy was already thumbing through his notebook. He dialled one number and Rachel chewed her lip.

  Jimmy disconnected the call and dialled the next number.

  After a minute he drummed his fingers on the counter, and Rachel pressed a button to cut the call. ‘They’re not answering. Is that usual?’

  ‘Unless they’re out on some Tidy Town thing, no. They don’t do committee work on Mondays. Amelia says it’s her laundry and household chores day.’

  Rachel shot a glance towards the back door of the station. ‘Whose is that amazing 4WD out the back?’ she asked. ‘It’s impressive.’

  ‘Luke’s. But he’s had it parked here for the last few days for some reason.’

  ‘Have you got the keys?’

  Jimmy grinned and shook his head. ‘Oh no. No way.’

  ‘Just to look for Mary.’

  ‘Luke would kill me, and I don’t want to be the first murdered soul in Mt Maria.’

  ‘Come on, Jimmy.’

  ‘No way! I’ve done enough I shouldn’t have done—and I’m going to get roasted for that.’

  ‘All right.’ Rachel held her hands up. ‘I get it.’ She didn’t blame Jimmy. He’d let her out earlier because she guessed there was a bit of a devil in him. She guessed he liked a little bit of anarchy now and again. She shouldn’t even be thinking about leaving the station anyway, but she wasn’t going to be penned in, pacing the floor and worrying herself silly when she could be out there. She’d never done enough in her past to help others and wasn’t goin
g to be stupid now, but neither was she going to let her friends get hurt. Luke didn’t have enough officers as it was, and the ones he did have were all looking for Billy and Rosita and Jax. And if she told him she wanted to get out there and look for her friends, he’d send all police vehicles back to the station, sirens blaring and lights blinding everyone. She had to sneak out. There was no choice.

  ‘I’ll call Luke now,’ she said, ‘and let him know what I’ve found out. Can I use the telephone in his office?’

  ‘I’ll radio him.’

  ‘No, I’d like to talk to him myself. Is that okay?’

  ‘Sure. Dial zero for an outside line. I’ll make us a coffee.’

  ‘Thanks. White no sugar.’

  When Jimmy went down the corridor to the kitchen, Rachel moved to his side of the counter and patted down the jacket, which he’d left on the back of his chair. She pulled the keycard from the front inside pocket then made her way to Luke’s office. Once inside, she pulled the door to and went to the biggest desk, which had to be Luke’s. Files and folders rested neatly next to a plastic holder for paperclips and pens. She took the receiver off the telephone and hit zero for a line, then put the receiver on the desk.

  There were three drawers in the desk and she started with the top one. Stationery all squared away in allotted slots, but no car keys.

  She found them in the bottom drawer, way at the back.

  She replaced the telephone on its receiver and as quietly as possible, headed out of the office and down the corridor to the back door.

  Once outside, she leaned into the station and called out to Jimmy. ‘Jimmy! I’m going to find the ladies. Call Luke. Tell him what I found out.’

  ‘Rachel Meade!’

  Jimmy’s voice roared in her head. She winced, but pulled the fire exit door closed and ran for Luke’s 4WD.

  * * *

  Luke brought the arrest van to a stop when the station mobile beeped with a text message. He’d been driving down all the old mine tracks for the last hour. He had officers everywhere: north, south, east and west of town. If they didn’t find Rosita in the next thirty minutes, he was going to the museum to front the builders, but he’d make it casual. He didn’t want anything disturbed until he’d found this Morrison.