Deadman’s Track

by Sarah Barrie

  Tank shook his head. ‘I didn’t have a clue what they were on about. And Jai wouldn’t have the guts to muck them about. He was scared of Pax. He wasn’t about to go screwing over Pax’s boss. He was a trainwreck over those murders. Looked like death warmed up, couldn’t eat, sleep or think. That’s not the type to go up against Cochrane. Pax is a conniving little prick. He’s the one you need to find.’

  ‘Yeah and you’re going to help us do that.’

  Jared was still on edge when they walked out. ‘I’m not happy about this kid being out there with Tess and Riley. He might not have meant to kill anyone, but he’s made mistake after mistake. He’s a time bomb.’

  ‘And do we want him to explode out there?’ she asked. ‘I don’t want to spook him. It might push him over the edge.’ She looked at her phone, read a text. ‘Melbourne Police have just located Cochrane. They’re bringing him in for you. Can you get up there right away?’

  ‘You know I will.’

  Cochrane was seated with his lawyer but he got to his feet as Jared came in.

  ‘You want to tell me what this is all about, detective?’ he asked. ‘Cops won’t tell me anything. This is not legal. You can’t just arrest someone and not—’

  ‘Be quiet and I’ll fill you in. You’re under arrest because you sent Paxton Orvist down to murder your ex, her partner and the boat’s skipper. You involved Vince Finlay in order to throw us off-track with the investigation. You wanted us to think the murders were about the diamonds and set him up by sending your men in to discover some of the missing jewellery. Except what you were really after all along, on top of paying back your ex and Finlay for their roles in putting you away, was Maddie’s phone and the NFC chip in her ring.’

  ‘That’s bullshit!’ Cochrane laughed uncomfortably.

  ‘You cheated on your wife in every way possible. Personally and financially—you wanted in to her accounts. And then you killed her.’

  Cochrane’s face reddened in fury. ‘Oh sure, poor Maddie. I fucked a few whores and stole her money.’

  ‘Twelve million or so. What happened to it?’

  ‘If you believe the lawyers and the cops, I frittered it all away with my extravagant lifestyle. Gambling addiction, whores, elaborate money-making schemes that never quite got off the ground.’ He leant forward and glared. ‘But she had it all along.’

  ‘Bullshit.’

  ‘I’m not lying! She stashed the money away so it’d look like I’d lost it. The bitch framed me to pay me back and put me away. All that missing cash has been siphoned into offshore accounts. Her offshore accounts.’

  ‘And all you need to access those accounts is the phone and the electronic chip in that ring, right?’

  Cochrane hesitated for the first time, sitting back in his chair. He seemed to regret what he’d given away and glanced at his lawyer when the man cautioned him about saying anything more.

  Jared pressed on. ‘And you didn’t mention any of this right through the trial or for the last eight years in prison.’

  ‘Eight years inside. Could have been twenty-five. Not so bad. If I’d brought it up, she would have just removed the evidence.’

  ‘And you wouldn’t have been able to get your hands on it when you got out. That was the plan all along, wasn’t it?’

  Again, Cochrane’s lawyer interrupted. Cochrane closed his mouth on whatever he’d been about to say, then shrugged.

  Jared got to his feet. ‘You’re going to spend the rest of your life in prison.’ He looked from Cochrane’s furious face to the window and shook his head. ‘So close, Bryce. You were so close.’

  CHAPTER

  36

  ‘Why are we heading down to the beach?’ Jasmin asked Tess as they reached a wide expanse of water. They’d spent the night at a nearby campsite, so Tess couldn’t really understand how this part of the itinerary had escaped Jasmin’s attention. Then again, she’d gone to bed early last night, generally pissed off. Perhaps she’d just forgotten to mention it and no one else had, either.

  ‘This is New River Lagoon,’ she told her. ‘We need to cross it.’ The snaking lagoon was calm. The blue sky sparkled on the light ripple of waves created by the breeze across its surface, the first real sunshine they’d seen since beginning the hike. She pulled off her boots and socks, and the sand was cool but soft under her feet.

  ‘That?’ Jasmin asked in terror. ‘How? Isn’t it deep? We don’t have to swim, do we? I can’t.’

  ‘There’s boats, Jas,’ Riley said, catching up and removing her own shoes. ‘Just over there.’

  ‘One on this side, two on the other,’ Tess said, already heading for it. She looked across the lagoon. ‘At least, there should be three, but I can only see two. Doesn’t matter. There’s going to be a few trips involved anyway. We need to make sure we leave at least one boat on either side of the lagoon, so once we’re all across two of us are going to have to row back again in both boats, leave one and row back together in the other.’

  ‘Not a problem,’ James said. ‘I’ll do a couple of trips.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘I don’t mind,’ Brock and Jai said at the same time.

  ‘Thank, Jai,’ Tess said, because she was sure Brock had been struggling with his injury.

  ‘Fine,’ Brock mumbled.

  James, Jai, Chris and Riley went across first. When James and Jai came back with both boats, Brock climbed in with Alex and Jai.

  ‘Let’s go, Jas.’

  Jasmin ignored him and climbed into James’s boat.

  ‘Oh, really mature. You’re going to have to speak to me again at some point, you know.’

  ‘What makes you think that?’ Jasmin asked.

  ‘It was an accident!’

  ‘No, it was ego. You needed to show what a tough guy you were and wouldn’t listen to Tess, then you used what I feel for you to manipulate me into going along with it. Blame the submerged inanimate object all you like—whatever it was, it still outsmarted you!’

  ‘If that’s how you feel maybe I should just leave you all to it!’ He stepped out of the boat again.

  ‘Whatever.’

  ‘Get in the boat, Brock,’ Jai said. ‘She just needs a bit longer to cool down.’

  ‘So this is fun,’ Libby said to Tess before climbing in with James and Jasmin. Tess had to agree. She stepped into Jai’s boat. It was a quiet trip across, and a tense several minutes standing around with Brock and Jasmin waiting for Jai and James to take the boats back and return in one.

  ‘Okay,’ Tess said, putting the oars back in the plastic pipes beside the boat. ‘Packs on. We’ve got a long stretch of beach ahead of us. Ready?’

  ‘Hey! Hello!’

  Tess spun around to see an older couple waving at them from the end of the sandbar.

  ‘Looks like we’re waiting,’ Tess said. ‘Drop your packs again if you like.’

  Riley dropped her pack and wandered a short distance away, head down, looking at the sand. ‘Hey, Tess. What are these?’ she asked, pointing to tracks in the dune.

  ‘That’s wombat,’ she answered, ‘and the one over there looks like wallaby.’

  ‘That’s so cool. They’re everywhere.’

  ‘Most of the wildlife here is nocturnal, so we don’t see them. But there’s plenty around.’ She looked up and smiled politely as the couple caught up to the group. ‘Hi.’

  ‘Thanks for waiting,’ the man with a head of dishevelled silver hair and a tired but smiling expression said. ‘We didn’t realise you were ahead of us.’

  ‘We weren’t,’ Tess said. ‘We’re going the other way.’

  The man’s face fell, the woman with her bright crop of silver hair looked concerned. ‘Never mind then,’ the man said. ‘Have a good walk.’

  ‘Is there a problem?’ Tess asked, sensing trouble.

  ‘Nope, we’re fine,’ he assured them.

  ‘He hurt his arm,’ the woman blurted. ‘Trying to help me up a slippery bit of track. I fell awkwardly on him. He’s w
orried about rowing.’

  ‘I see,’ Tess said. ‘I’ll have to—’

  ‘I’ll take them,’ Brock cut in.

  ‘Thank you,’ the woman replied with obvious relief. ‘I’m Belinda, this is Richard. We really appreciate it.’

  ‘You all go ahead,’ Brock told the group. ‘It won’t take me all that long to take them across and back.’

  ‘We’ll be waiting here,’ Tess said.

  ‘No, Tess!’ Then he said, in a lower voice, ‘I need some space. I really need a few moments to myself.’ He glanced sideways and when Tess followed suit, noted Jasmin glaring at him. ‘I don’t even want to be here anymore. Please, please just go ahead.’

  She sighed. ‘There’s a five-k walk along the beach ahead of us. That’s all you get. We’ll be waiting for you there. I’m not heading back up into the bush without you.’

  ‘Great. Thanks.’

  ‘Brock,’ she said quietly, ‘I’ll talk to Jasmin. It was a stupid mistake, but we’ve all made them, okay?’

  ‘Yeah. Tell her that.’

  He untied the boat without a backwards look.

  Tess picked up her pack. ‘Right. Let’s go.’

  They walked across the sandbar and onto the long stretch of Prion Beach, James and Libby attempting to keep up happy chatter. Jasmin stopped once to look back when the crossing was out of sight.

  ‘Do you think I was too hard on him?’

  ‘I think he’s learnt his lesson,’ Tess said. ‘I can’t tell you what to do, but the trip would be much nicer for everyone if you weren’t at each other’s throats the whole time.’

  She looked along the beach. Prion was one golden strip of sand—Brock should have been visible by now. If he was sulking, it was going to cost them valuable time.

  She took them as far as Grotto Creek, where a tumbling of stones and a trickle of water turned the trail inland, then stopped and took off her pack.

  ‘Still no Brock,’ Libby said, dropping her pack next to Tess’s and stretching her back.

  ‘Nope.’ Damn it, she was going to have to go back and find him. There was no point waiting. ‘Let’s take a break.’

  ‘You want us to go back?’ Alex and Chris offered.

  ‘No, but thanks. I’ll do it.’

  Adding another several kilometres to an already long walk didn’t improve her temper. By the time she crossed back onto the sandbar, she was fuming. It took all of two seconds to see Brock hadn’t returned. Two boats were on the wrong side of the lagoon. The third, which she hadn’t been able to locate earlier, was drifting near the opposite shore.

  ‘Brock!’ she called. Nothing. ‘Brock!’

  Perhaps he’d got caught up helping the couple, hadn’t dragged the boat onto shore quite far enough. It would be difficult to remain angry if that was the case. She looked around. He’d taken his pack. Why would he take his pack across the lagoon?

  I don’t even want to be here anymore, he’d said, and had pushed them to keep going. A sinking feeling sat heavily in her gut. He’d left them on purpose. ‘Stupid irresponsible dickhead!’ she muttered loudly. She stood a couple of minutes longer, hoping by some chance she was wrong, that he’d reappear. When he didn’t, she began the trek back to the rest of the group.

  ‘What if I swim across?’ Jai offered when she broke the news. ‘Try and catch up to him?’

  ‘Are you kidding?’ Riley said. ‘Remember how far it is!’

  ‘Can we walk around it? Head out over the sand to the narrower crossing?’

  ‘Not realistically, no,’ Tess said. ‘It’s high tide and the banks are unstable. The outlet changes course all the time and it’s like quicksand to walk on.’

  ‘I think I could swim it,’ Jai said again. ‘Then I’ll row one of the boats back.’

  ‘And then what? We lose a day and he doesn’t want to come back anyway? No,’ Tess decided, ‘I’m not having anyone else risk anything stupid. He made his decision. He’s with that couple so he’s not alone. He has a PLB if he gets into trouble, as well as all his rations and gear.’ She took out the sat phone and called Indy. When the call went to voicemail she left a message letting Indy know what had happened, and because she was keen to get going, asked her to call National Parks to let them know about the boats. They’d sort it. She put the sat phone back in its waterproof bag and back into her pack. ‘Okay, let’s go.’

  ‘Tess, you’ve already done an extra ten k’s today, do you want to break here for the night?’ Riley asked. ‘There must be an alternative campsite.’

  ‘There’s a small one at Deadman’s Creek about three and a half k’s away, but the better one’s only a couple more kilometres on at Little Deadman’s Bay. We’ll make it. Jasmin?’

  ‘Sorry,’ Jasmin sniffed, wiping at tears. ‘I’ve ruined everyone’s walk.’

  ‘You haven’t,’ Riley said, throwing an arm around her. ‘Brock was a tool, but he’s gone back with those oldies. So now we can get back to having a good time, right?’

  ‘Really? I feel bad.’

  ‘Well, don’t,’ James said. ‘I’m glad he’s left. Come on, Libby and I have been saving a small block of chocolate for just such a day. Let’s get to the campsite.’

  Despite her legs feeling like lead, Tess kept them going. The group made good time through the coastal forest and creek crossings, small gullies and stretches of beach. It was a shame there wasn’t more time to stop and take in the incredible scenery, but they reached the pretty, sheltered cove of Little Deadman’s Bay with daylight to spare, making their fast pace worthwhile.

  Despite the cold temperature, Tess was hot and sweaty. ‘This is the campsite,’ she told them, letting her pack fall from her shoulders with relief. And though they were by the river, Tess wanted the beach. ‘I’m going to set up my tent, then wander down to the beach. Anyone want to join me?’

  ‘Sounds like heaven!’ Riley agreed. ‘My feet are killing me! I want to soak them.’

  ‘It’s rocky, bring your shoes.’

  They set up quickly and went down to the beach.

  ‘This is better!’ Jai said, rolling up his hiking pants and tossing off his jumper to wade into the water.

  ‘Shame it’s too cold to swim,’ Tess said, ‘but paddle and soak your legs. The cold water will be good for them.’

  ‘Hey, a bath would be good for all of us,’ Jai said, and bravely jumped right in. ‘Come on, Riley!’

  ‘Are you crazy?’ Riley asked, navigating her way over the smooth rocks on the shoreline to the water’s edge.

  ‘Not kidding. If I’m clean, you’ll only smell worse, and we have to share the tent, remember?’

  ‘I’ve been washing!’ Riley objected, but as she got close to Jai, he pulled her in. She went under and came up spluttering and squealing at the cold.

  Alex bolted into the sea with a ‘Woo hoo!’ and dived. Chris followed.

  ‘Oh, what the hell,’ James said and, scooping up Libby, ran in. Libby shrieked, laughed, then they both submerged.

  ‘Tess! It’s not that bad,’ Riley called, dragging her loose hair from her eyes. ‘Jas, come on!’

  ‘I think they’re lying,’ Jasmin said with a grin for Tess.

  ‘Can’t be the only pikers,’ Tess said.

  ‘But we’re low on clothes.’

  ‘We’ll make do.’

  Despite the teeth-chattering temperature, the five or ten minutes they all braved it out were worth it. Then they rinsed themselves and their clothes off in the creek, got dry and hung their wet clothes on the branches of nearby trees to dry.

  ‘I think it’s actually colder when it’s not raining,’ Jasmin said as they ate their dinner.

  ‘Yeah, but it’s nice to see the stars,’ Libby said, looking up.

  ‘If you’re not supposed to have open fires here, how come there’s a stone circle just by my tent that looks like it’s been used as one?’ Jasmin asked Tess. ‘It’s not like anyone’s going to wander in during the night and fine us.’

  ‘Which is
why not everyone does the right thing,’ Tess said. ‘But we do.’

  ‘Hey, look!’ Jai whispered and pointed. A spotted-tail quoll came into view, boldly foraging around the edge of Tess’s tent.

  ‘Cute,’ Tess said, ‘but up to no good. Make sure your food’s safely stored tonight, or it might be gone in the morning. Those things can chew through tents.’

  Tess had been asleep a couple of hours when she rolled over and caught an orange glow through the lining of her tent. She jumped up, unzipped the tent and checked outside. Jasmin was sitting by the fireplace she’d mentioned, a small fire burning.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Tess demanded. ‘Put it out!’

  It was only when Jasmin’s surprised face turned in her direction that she realised the girl had been crying.

  ‘I can’t sleep. I needed something to stare at, to keep warm.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Riley’s and Jai’s heads appeared at their tent flap.

  ‘I just needed to think,’ Jasmin said, her voice catching. ‘I wish Brock was here. I shouldn’t have been so mean.’

  Not this again … ‘Then think without the fire,’ Tess said with a yawn she couldn’t quite stifle. ‘I’m sorry you feel bad, but you need to put that out.’

  ‘Oh, come on, it’s only a little one,’ Chris said, appearing. ‘She’s upset.’

  Tess silenced him with a look and he ducked back in his tent.

  ‘Okay,’ Jasmin said reluctantly, and began heaping dirt on it. Tess saw the glow dull to nothing and, satisfied, went back to sleep.

  Screaming woke her. There was a terrifying light. She leapt up and out of the tent at the same time as the others fell out of theirs. Jasmin’s tent was almost completely engulfed in flames. One side had collapsed and smoke poured out of the other. Jai tried to get inside, somehow managed to get a hand on Jasmin’s burning sleeping bag and, with James’s help, pulled it out and away from the tent. Tess patted desperately at the flames while James unzipped it, ripping it off the still-screaming Jasmin. Riley, Libby, Chris and Alex busied themselves putting out the flames already crawling towards the nearby bushland.