‘I hear things, when I’m driving around here. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he was involved.’
Nina lowered her gaze and wondered if the liquor was starting to have an effect on Phil’s imagination.
Phil pushed his stool away from the counter and wandered across to where Ross sat. He reached out for the half-empty bottle and held it up.
‘Can I?’
Ross nodded.
‘Thanks.’
Phil picked up the bottle, pushed through the counter door, and began walking towards the back of the building.
‘Where are you going?’ called Nina.
He held up the bottle, and jerked his head towards the bedroom. ‘I’m going to go back and keep an eye on our guest,’ he said, and disappeared from sight.
Nina stood to follow him.
‘Let him go,’ murmured Ross.
‘Are you sure?’
He nodded. ‘He’s had a shock. It’s probably better to let him get drunk after what he’s been through.’
She placed her own half-finished drink on the counter and moved to the front door, peering out at the intermittent flashes of lightning that illuminated the road and the fields beyond.
She thought of all the years of drought that had held the valley in its clutches for so long, and the relief the farmers would be feeling as they lay in their beds, the sound of rain pelting tin roofs and gutters.
Ross joined her, ducked his head to see through the exposed glass, and slipped an arm around her shoulders
‘How’s it looking out there?’
‘Nasty,’ she murmured, leaning into him. ‘I’m so glad those people had the sense to come here.’
‘Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be riding a motorbike in this weather,’ he said. He glanced over his shoulder, then back to her. ‘Listen, if you need to get some rest, I don’t mind playing host for a couple of hours. You’ve had a long day.’
‘Thanks.’ She shivered. ‘I’m okay at the moment. I’m more concerned with the roof, to be honest.’
‘I know. You look up to the ceiling every time there’s a gust of wind.’
‘This is the last thing I needed, Ross.’ She groaned. ‘No offence, but I thought I’d be heading back tomorrow once I’d got a few things sorted out and some photographs taken for the real estate agency.’
He leaned against the wall and shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘None taken. I realised this afternoon when we were working outside that you might not come back for good.’ He shrugged. ‘I wish you’d think about staying though.’
He looked so dejected that Nina reached out and squeezed his arm.
‘If I do go back, I’ll still visit.’
‘What? Like you have over the past ten years?’
Nina let her hand fall away. ‘I didn’t mean to leave it so long,’ she said. ‘I’ve been so busy.’
Even to her ears, it sounded a flimsy excuse.
Ross eased himself off the wall and looked down at her. ‘Do me a favour, Nina?’
‘What?’
‘Don’t make promises you’ve got no intention of keeping. Not to me.’
He stalked back to the counter and began rifling through the sports bag he’d brought in from his truck, and then swung the bag over his shoulder.
‘I’m going to store this out of the way in your bedroom, if that’s okay?’
Nina ignored the hint of sarcasm in his voice and nodded. ‘Sure.’
Dani glanced up as Ross stalked past her, an exasperated look on her face, and lowered the mobile phone in her hand.
‘Still no signal,’ she said. She dropped the phone back into her bag, before changing the subject. ‘So, where does the name ‘Mistake Creek’ come from?’
‘The early settlers thought they’d find water here, but they were a few miles off course, hence ‘Mistake Creek’,’ said Nina. ‘The actual creek is further up the road – the one that’s flooded.’
‘I can’t believe we were so close to town before we had to turn back,’ said Dani.
‘Hopefully by the time you’ve had a night’s sleep, the worst of this will be over.’
Dani snorted. ‘I don’t think I’ll be sleeping with that noise above my head.’ She raised her finger.
‘I always found that relaxing,’ said Nina as the rain beat on the tin roof. ‘I guess it’s because I grew up with it.’
‘You grew up here?’ The woman’s voice was incredulous. ‘In a truck stop?’
Nina grinned. ‘Sure did. I caught the bus to school every day from over the road there.’ She pointed beyond the boarded up windows, and then her face fell. ‘Seems like a lifetime ago.’
She pointed towards the passageway. ‘We lived back there. Two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom,’ she said. ‘Just before I left to go to university, my dad added the accommodation block round the back. He did really well for a while.’
The other woman arched an eyebrow. ‘This story doesn’t sound like it has a happy ending.’
Nina shrugged. ‘The business has been struggling because of the drought. There aren’t as many tourists passing through as there used to be, and then my father moved back to the city with me last week,’ she said. ‘Although I’ve had my suspicions for the past month about his health problems, it took a while for him to listen to reason, despite some compelling evidence.’
Dani gestured at the bare walls. ‘So what are you going to do with the place?’
‘Sell it,’ said Nina, without hesitation. She bit her lip, realising how abrupt she’d sounded. ‘I–I can’t run the place. I came back to get the place ready for the real estate agent, that’s all.’
She returned to her seat and rested against the counter, nibbled the side of her nail, and then looked at her finger, realising she’d bitten the nail to the quick.
Ross’s reaction had left her confused. One moment, he seemed keen to explore a possible future with her; the next he was fuming because she was selling the truck stop.
She swore under her breath. She hated being cooped up at the best of times, let alone with four strangers and a man who was still sulking about her life choices.
Until she was nineteen, everyone in the area knew her business. When her wish for a relationship with Ross had been shunned, she’d felt restricted by her surroundings and judged by him and their friends.
Leaving seemed the only option at the time, and she still maintained it had been for the best. Then why, now, the slight tinge of regret to her memories and the fact that she hadn’t tried to at least maintain their friendship?
Nina stirred as Ross returned to the room, a slight colour to his cheeks.
She wondered whether he was angry or embarrassed by the earlier episode.
Maybe he was as confused about the whole situation as she had been.
She groaned and rubbed her eyes.
Maybe Ross was right. Maybe she should get some sleep and see what the morning brought.
She raised her head from her hands at an exasperated sigh from Dani.
The woman had unfurled her legs and was standing, stretching her hands over her head, exposing her waist and a black tattoo that stretched from the waistband of her jeans up her ribcage. She exhaled again, loudly, and then turned to Sean.
‘You were right. We should never have stopped here.’
‘What?’ He frowned. ‘You’re joking, right? You’re changing your mind now?’
Dani put her hands on her hips. ‘This is crazy. There’s a man out the back there with a stab wound; there’s a dead man in a car up the road – what sort of place is this?’
She wheeled round to face Nina, an accusing expression covering her features. ‘I’ll bet we could’ve crossed the creek if we’d just kept going like you said, Sean. I should’ve listened to you, not her.’
‘Hey.’ Nina raised her hands up. ‘It’s not my fault you’re stuck here,’ she said. ‘And you’re lucky you are.’
‘Lucky?’ Dani’s eyebrows shot upwards. ‘Are you kidding?’
She folded her arms. ‘No-one’s going to get in now without us knowing about it.’ She glared at Sean who was frowning at her over the top of his wife’s head. ‘Or out.’
11
‘I wonder who the dead man is?’ Nina pulled at the skin next to her thumbnail, distracted for a moment, then looked up at Ross. ‘Any ideas?’
He frowned, leaned against the counter top, and folded his arms. ‘No. I should’ve asked Phil about the vehicle, seen if he recognised it from town or something.’
He flexed his fingers, cracking his knuckles, before folding his hands behind his head and stretching.
‘You don’t think Phil hurt the man out by the creek, do you?’ asked Nina, needing something to think about other than the tanned flesh showing under Ross’s t-shirt. ‘I mean, I’ve only met him today. He’s telling the truth, isn’t he?’
Ross leaned forward and rubbed his hands on his knees before he spoke. ‘I don’t think he hurt him,’ he said. He peered over Nina’s head towards the sofa where Dani and Sean sat, then lowered his voice. ‘I’ve known him for a while. He’s always seemed honest. Whenever I’ve been here with your father and Phil’s stopped for gas, he’s always taken the time to stop and talk.’ He shrugged. ‘I’ve never taken him for the sort of person who has secrets.’
‘Excuse me?’
Nina and Ross turned as one at the sound of the voice.
Sean stood at the end of the counter. ‘Sorry to interrupt,’ he said, ‘but can I use the men’s room?’
‘Of course,’ said Nina. ‘It’s down the passageway – third door on the left.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Here.’ Ross walked over to the collection of emergency supplies. ‘You’ll need this,’ he said, passing him a flashlight.
‘True.’ Sean grinned and took the flashlight before disappearing down the passageway and out of sight.
Nina rubbed her hand over her eyes, stifling a yawn.
‘You okay?’ Ross leaned over and squeezed her shoulder, his earlier outburst unspoken between them.
‘Yeah. Just a bit tired.’
‘Well, it’s been a strange day.’
Nina leaned her elbows on the counter and rested her chin in her palms. ‘What do you think is going on, Ross?’
‘I have no idea.’ He leaned away from her on the stool and looked across at Dani, who was flicking through an old issue of a fashion magazine.
Nina closed her eyes, listening to the rain and wind beating against the building, and wondered how long it would be before they could telephone for help. She opened her eyes to find Ross watching her.
‘What?’
‘You’re shattered. Close your eyes again. I’m going to check on our patient and Phil.’ He winked at her and then wandered off towards her bedroom.
Nina groaned, closed her eyes, and lowered her head to her folded arms.
Ten years had passed since she’d left Mistake Creek, and she cringed when she thought back to how things had been left between them back then.
They’d dated towards the end of high school, but she’d baulked at the idea of remaining in the small township for the rest of her life. And so, after a few months, she’d broken off their relationship, and although Ross had avoided her for a couple of weeks, they’d managed to patch up their friendship.
At least until Nina had changed her mind three months later, regretting her haste to move on and realising how much she’d missed Ross’s company during that time. After spending several weeks attending university interviews, she’d found a course she could study closer to Mistake Creek.
It had been another month until she’d psyched herself up enough to tell Ross. Her passion for him rekindled, she’d returned to the small town, having managed to convince herself he’d still feel the same way.
She’d driven out to the Flanagan farm, timing her arrival so that Ross and his father were returning to the house after working in the fields all day.
She didn’t spot the two-door coupe parked next to the house until afterwards. If she had, she would have turned around.
Instead, she’d parked next to Ross’s truck, climbed out and hurried across to where Ross and his father were walking with three of their dogs from a field. Ross’s father had closed the gate and excused himself, disappearing across the yard and into the large homestead to leave Nina and Ross alone.
She’d turned to him then, her blood rushing through her veins as she opened her mouth to speak the words she’d spent days rehearsing.
When she’d told him she loved him, he’d taken a step back, confusion etched across his face, and then he’d looked down at his feet.
‘I’m sorry, Nina,’ he’d murmured. ‘You didn’t want me, remember? You left. You’re too late.’
Her brain had taken a moment to register her shock, but before she could speak, the door to the property had swung open, and a female voice had called over to them.
‘Ross – your mother says dinner’s nearly ready. Are you coming in?’
Nina had spun round to see a woman standing at the threshold, her hand shading her eyes from the setting sun. Her golden hair curled over her shoulders, and she already looked at home as she smiled at Ross.
Nina had fled, running back to her car before Ross could say another word or, worse, invite her to stay for dinner out of politeness.
As she drove back towards the truck stop, tears had coursed down her cheeks. Why did it take so long for her to realise how she felt? How could she be so stupid to ruin their friendship?
She’d pulled the vehicle to the side of the road, unable to drive as wracking sobs consumed her.
She’d managed to pull her phone from her bag and call her father, to tell him she needed somewhere to stay the night. She’d then climbed out to sit on the hood of the car, watching the sun set over the fields, lost in thought, deliberately deleting each of the text messages that Ross sent, asking her to call him.
She’d eventually reached the truck stop, parking the car at the rear of the property, before pushing open the back door and stumbling into the kitchen.
Her father had turned from the small stove, anguish in his eyes.
‘Thank God you’re here,’ he’d said, pulling her into a hug. ‘Ross phoned me and said you’d left the farm in a bit of a state. He was worried about you, especially when you didn’t answer his calls.’
He’d waited until Nina’s sobs had subsided, and then told her that the woman was someone Ross had met at an agricultural conference two months before. She’d been a regular visitor to the Flanagans at Mistake Creek ever since.
‘She looked so at home,’ Nina had said, wiping angrily at her eyes, her chest aching.
Shock, disbelief, and confusion had clouded her thoughts over the subsequent days, and she’d studiously avoided Ross and the farm. She’d spurned her father’s attempts to coax her to talk to Ross and rekindle their friendship, until one morning she announced to him that she was accepting a university place at San Francisco instead, and fled.
In the intervening years, she’d heard that Ross had married the woman, Stephanie, but that it had only lasted a few years, as Stephanie realised the life of a farmer’s wife in drought-stricken California wasn’t for her.
Nina opened her eyes, sat up, and ran her hand through her hair. There’d be enough time to face up to her past – and the fact the business was for sale and she’d be returning to the city again – once the storm had passed and the events of the past few hours were behind her.
She twisted on her chair in time to see Dani throw the magazine aside with a growl.
‘Are you okay?’
The woman’s head shot up, and Nina noticed her harried look be
fore she plastered a smile across her face.
‘Yes, thanks. Sorry—I’m not very good at being cooped up.’ She waved her hand in the air. ‘And storms make me nervous.’
Nina wandered over to the threadbare sofa and sat down. ‘I guess I’m a bit the same,’ she said. ‘I mean, I’ve been living in the city for the past ten years, but I can’t remember the last time the valley had a storm like this, even when I was a kid.’
Sean reappeared, drying his hands on a towel. A door slammed shut towards the back of the property, and he glanced over his shoulder before dumping the towel on the counter and joining the two women.
Dani eased back into the sofa and curled her legs under her. ‘What do you do in the city?’
Nina sighed. ‘I’ve just lost my job. I was an administrator at a law firm.’
‘A law firm? What did you do there?’
‘Mostly sorting out the court paperwork, but they got taken over by a larger firm, so if I can sell this place I can look after my father. I’ll find something else to do once he’s settled.’ Nina yawned, then stood up and eased out the cricks in her shoulders. ‘What about you?’
‘Oh, not much these days. I help Sean with his business. We decided to take a break recently, so we’ve spent the last week on the road.’ Dani groaned and shifted in her seat. ‘Which is why I’m saddle sore – it’s been a while since I’ve been on a motorbike.’
Nina laughed. ‘Me too – I used to ride dirt bikes with Ross and his brother over at their farm during the summer holidays. I’d probably be sore if I had to ride for a week now.’
She frowned at the sound of Ross calling her name from the direction of her bedroom.
A second shout galvanised her into action.
‘Get in here, quick!’
She sprinted past the counter, her feet sliding on the tiled floor as she rounded the corner, and ran down the passageway towards her bedroom, the beam from her flashlight bouncing off the walls.
She slowed her momentum. Clutching the doorframe, she peered round, her brow creasing as she saw Ross crouched on the floor next to the prone truck driver, his face fearful in the light from his discarded flashlight.
‘I think Phil’s dead,’ he said, his arms jerking as he applied pressure to the other man’s chest. ‘He’s not breathing, and I can’t get him to respond.’
Two FBI thrillers: Before Nightfall and Mistake Creek Page 27