Promise of Hunters Ridge

by Sarah Barrie

  A car appeared in front of him—Clint’s car. He overtook it, noticing Cam in the front seat. He cursed and slowed as he drove through the town itself, past a few pedestrians and not much else. There were lots of cars around, though. They’d probably met in this part of town and gone out in groups from here. The vigilante mentality of it worried him deeply, but he understood them, their sense of purpose. This town finally had a chance to stop a killer. He just hoped they didn’t end up inadvertently causing more deaths.

  I can’t worry about that now. He’d drive himself mad with scenarios. How much further ahead could they be? As soon as it was safe, he put his foot down, turned on the siren. Another minute and he heard the report: a group of townspeople were in pursuit of Ally’s car.

  ‘Back off! Back off immediately!’ he ordered. The panic rose higher and shot through him. He’d never felt this level of fear. Not even in his past dealings with Rob. It was somehow even worse than the last time he thought he might have lost Mia. And that had been terrifying enough. He’d loved her then but not with this all-consuming entirety. His whole being depended on finding her, on finding Ally and that beautiful baby alive. And keeping them that way.

  He got back on the radio. ‘Are tactical response there yet?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Indy confirmed. ‘I’m here with them at the roadblock. Some local truckie’s parked a semi across the road. Beats the hell out of our barrier. And we’ve lights and road spikes set up.’

  ‘If he sees all that he’s going to panic. He’ll shoot at least one of them as a diversion. Maybe all of them in a rage.’

  ‘Ben, we can back off but there’s a line of parked cars and pissed-off locals behind that truck, in the bush, by the roadside. Everywhere. I’m not going to be able to move them all.’

  He tried to think, to fight back the dread and work it out. He needed to give Rob an alternative—another way. ‘Put the spikes a kilometre in from the roadblock. I need that car stopped short of a major confrontation. Get some of our guys in the trees. Now, Indy. There’s not much time.’

  He heard her shout the instructions, then she was back on the radio. ‘How far out are you?’

  ‘Four minutes. What car saw them?’

  ‘Two guys in a green Maverick. I told them to back right off.’

  ‘They’re just ahead. I’m passing them now.’

  ‘Then you’re close. Be careful.’

  He turned off his siren and slowed down. ‘When the car hits those spikes take your time getting someone over there. If he stays in the car don’t approach them. If they get out, head in the wrong direction. Let him think he’s safe. I need to do this myself.’

  ‘Are you sure that’s a good idea?’

  ‘It’s the only one I’ve got.’

  ‘Ben, no matter what you do, this could all go bad. The chances—’

  ‘Of him letting them go are slim to none, I know. Is there an ambulance out there?’

  ‘Three. Be careful.’

  ‘We’re almost out of town,’ Mia commented. Please let someone be hearing all this.

  ‘Not yet we’re not. You just keep driving, Ally, keep going till we get where I want to be going to.’

  ‘If we’re gone for too long someone will come looking,’ Mia said.

  ‘And if I let ya go, you’ll tell them which direction I’m headed.’

  ‘So you’re not planning on letting us go? We may as well just stop the car right here.’

  Again he leant forwards, again she felt the edge of the blade. ‘If you’re good, maybe I’ll just sidetrack out onto a trail somewhere and dump ya. Give ya a good long walk back into civilisation. Maybe I’ll just kill ya. Haven’t got that completely figured out yet. Let’s wait and see what happens.’

  Mia chose option B. Rob going out of his way to keep them alive was a joke. She risked a look over her shoulder. He had the knife at her throat but with his other hand he kept the gun barrel against the capsule. Would a bullet penetrate it? Capsules were designed to be strong, to withstand accidents, but there was no way she’d take that kind of risk.

  The darkness was closing in around them, and she could see nothing but bushland. Where was everyone? Where were the roadblocks? Was anyone listening? It was quiet, the only noise that of the engine as Ally sped the car further out of town.

  The sound was like an explosion. For one terrifying moment she thought he’d done it, fired into the capsule, but the baby was fine and the car was fishtailing, slowing. Rob began cursing violently.

  ‘What happened?’ Ally asked.

  ‘Road spikes are what happened, ya stupid slut. There’s lights up there a bit through the trees. That’d be a road block and they know we’re coming, trying to slow us up.’

  Mia chanced a look at Rob. He was moving jerkily, perspiring. Desperation was radiating from him in waves.

  ‘Get out.’ He kept his head low as he reached into the capsule.

  ‘No!’ Ally screamed.

  ‘Shut up! This baby’s getting me outta here. You’re gonna take it and keep it quiet. Get out and stand in front of the passenger door. I’m coming out behind ya. Hurry the fuck up! They’ll be coming.’ He dropped his rifle and pulled out his hunting knife. ‘Mia, you’re walking, behind me. Ya do anything stupid, I’ll cut your sister’s spinal cord in half. Right?’

  ‘Okay, Rob, whatever you say.’ Mia slipped her finger over the radio to turn it off before lifting her other finger from the button. She would have liked to have kept it with her but had nowhere she could disguise it. She looked at her sister, willed her to stay calm. Ally nodded.

  ‘Right. You’re out first,’ he told Ally, pushing the baby at her.

  Ally clung to Chloe and slowly opened the door. Rob slid out right behind her.

  ‘Let’s go, Mia.’

  Mia climbed out of Ally’s side and stood behind Rob. He had one hand clasped tightly around Ally’s shirt, the other held a knife at the small of her back.

  ‘Ya stay right behind me—got it? Put your hands on my shoulders so I know you’re not up to anything.’

  ‘All right,’ Mia promised, and looked around. ‘I can’t see anyone.’

  ‘They’re not far away. We’re going to head off the road in that direction.’ He pointed, and Ally moved off as instructed.

  But as they bulldozed through thick scrub and spiky bushes, Ally tripped.

  ‘Get up!’ Rob growled.

  ‘I can’t see where I’m going,’ Ally cried.

  ‘Eyes’ll adjust. Keep walking.’ He shoved her and they moved a couple of rapid steps forwards. Mia concentrated on keeping up. It wasn’t easy in the dark scrub, but if she stumbled into him he’d likely push that knife into Ally’s back, so she did her best.

  When they were far enough away from the road, Rob adjusted their course. The lights from the roadblock shone through the trees as they passed it.

  ‘You’re good, you’re through it,’ Mia said. ‘Let Ally go.’

  ‘It’s too easy,’ Rob said. ‘I say they’re still watching. Waiting for me to move from in between ya both so they can get a shot. Keep going.’

  ‘You don’t know that.’

  ‘Yeah, well, I’d rather be paranoid than dead.’

  Chloe began to grizzle, and Ally shushed her.

  ‘If ya can’t shut that kid up, I’ll do it.’

  Mia’s eyes darted everywhere and caught a movement behind them—she couldn’t quite make it out. As they continued their trek, she made out another, and another. Silhouettes. Men, moving silently behind them, around them. Her relief was intense. Help was here. But what could anyone do without getting Ally killed?

  They kept walking, further from the car, further from the lights of the roadblock. Men kept following, waiting, Mia supposed, for an opportunity. She was waiting too—for the moment Rob decided he was clear and could put a knife in Ally. What else could he do? He couldn’t let them go.

  Another figure appeared—waved a hand quickly to catch her attention. Ben. She couldn’t m
ake him out well but she’d know him anywhere. He signalled. Slow him down.

  Ally slid a little, regained her footing. The perfect opportunity. Mia deliberately slipped too, going down with a cry. She’d planned to fake it, but the cry was real. The knife she’d made in Cassie’s store room and forgotten was there nicked her skin—the curtain-fabric buffer must have slipped out of place during their trek.

  Rob crouched behind her. ‘Get up!’

  ‘I’ve hurt my leg. I’ll try. I …’ She turned her head just enough to see Ally was still on her feet. ‘I think I can get up.’

  ‘You’d better hope so. If you’re no good to me, I’ll kill ya now.’

  She tugged desperately at the remaining binding around the knife as she made a show of getting her feet under her. The knife came free, and a move Indy had shown her sprung to mind.

  She swivelled to her feet and lifted her elbow to connect with Rob’s jaw, putting her weight behind it. The strike connected with a painful jolt that knocked them both off balance.

  ‘Run, Ally!’ Mia ordered, scrambling to get her feet back under her.

  ‘Mia, look out!’ Ben’s voice. Lights sprang to life.

  Blinded, but knowing Rob was behind her, Mia whipped around, sending the knife out in an instinctive, protective arc. The swing met enough resistance to slow her movement, before momentum had her spinning the rest of the way around, almost landing on her own makeshift knife as she stumbled back to her knees and threw a hand out to stop her fall.

  Her hand was wet. Something had spattered against her face. She dived out of the way as Rob’s shadow blocked the light and braced for whatever was about to hit her. But nothing did.

  Almost too scared to move, she cautiously turned her head and saw Rob faltering, blood flowing freely from a gaping hole in his neck. He stared at her, then stumbled. Mia scrambled back, eyes wide, silently begging for someone to do something.

  She noticed them approaching then, all the others, surrounding them. Some in uniform, some not, police and locals alike armed with guns and machetes and bats. She saw them, though her eyes barely left the man in front of her as he collapsed to the ground.

  ‘How’s it feel?’ The words were barely audible, a raspy whisper as the life faded from his eyes.

  Horror and desperate relief hit her with equal force. Her gaze dropped to her hand as she brought it up in front of her face and stared at the shard still clutched there. Ice ran through her whole body. Her fingers convulsed, releasing their death grip. The glass fell almost soundlessly to the ground.

  Emotions, too many and too intense, took her over, while the evidence of what she’d done lay at her feet. She took a step back, then another, on legs that wobbled and threatened to collapse.

  Ben caught her and wrapped himself around her. As the shock and the tears flooded in, he held on. ‘You’re alive. You saved Ally, you saved Chloe. You did what you needed to do. Just focus on that.’

  Despite the heavy atmosphere of death, a collective weight lifted and a strange calm overtook the scene. The mismatched group of spectators who had hunted the hunter stood eerily silent, witness to the death of a monster, to the end of an evil that had taken their daughters, sisters, friends, and the safety and security of every life in Hunters Ridge.

  Ben scooped Mia into his arms, and as he carried her away, the crowd parted solemnly to let them through. She looked back long enough to check Ally and Chloe were safe, were following, then she turned away, looking only forwards. She wouldn’t look back again. Couldn’t.

  It was done.

  EPILOGUE

  The regent honeyeater flitted in an ancient river gum that spread its long branches out over the river. A magpie swooped in, and as the honeyeater flew away, a twig snapped and fell gently to the water, catching Jasper’s attention. He left his digging to dive on it with a splash and, capturing it, proudly carried it to the bank.

  Mia stared out over the gently moving river, oblivious. Today had been a good day. In the two weeks since Rob had lain dead at her feet, she’d experienced both good days and bad. It would be a while before the good ones consistently won out, but she’d get there.

  Rob had said it would happen; that before this was over she would know what it felt like to kill, or she would know what it felt like to die. That if she experienced the rush of taking another life then she’d finally understand him.

  Now it was over, and he’d been right: she knew what it felt like to kill, violently. But he’d also been wrong. She would never understand him, because there’d been no pleasure in it. There had been only revulsion and pain and horror. Rob had been a monster in life, and his unfathomable inhumanity had died with him. That was that.

  Jasper’s shaking sprayed her calves with icy droplets of water and she brought her thoughts back with a gasp and a smile. ‘Thanks!’

  With a happy grumble he sat to demolish his stick.

  She looked around, finally taking in her surroundings. As though the land itself knew of the cleansing, everything looked, smelled, sounded, even felt brighter. The peace sank into her and she closed her eyes and welcomed it. This place wasn’t evil. And the evil that had tried to claim it had been erased.

  ‘Mia?’

  Ben. She might have wielded the knife, but he’d saved them. If they’d come across that roadblock, the confrontation would have killed them. She knew it.

  She turned and smiled, and when he walked up beside her, she put an arm around him, dropped her head to his shoulder. ‘Hi.’

  ‘Everyone was wondering where you’d gotten to. Thinking?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  He turned her in his arms and took her face in his hands. ‘There was nothing else you could have done, you know that. You’re going to be okay.’

  ‘Yeah. I am.’

  ‘It’s finally over.’

  She shook her head slowly. ‘No, this is just the beginning. It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?’

  ‘It is. He hasn’t taken that away from you. You still love it.’

  ‘This is where my family are, where we got through the worst, where I want to be. Hunters Ridge has had a rough past, but I think there’s a chance at a great future here.’

  He gazed at her with so much love it took her breath away. ‘For us … together?’

  Somewhere past the line of trees, a little way down a pretty trail where a happy yellow cottage sat in its own private place, Chloe squealed with delight. Friends laughed, Ally called out to Cam, and he responded. Another squeal, this time from Ebs. Lee would be behind it. More laughter, more noise. Happy noise.

  Mia belonged here. Her future was here. And as she looked up into the eyes of the man who’d been in this with her from the beginning, had seen her through to its end, her smile deepened. Because the rest of her future stood in front of her.

  ‘Together.’

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  This series has been so much fun to write, and would have been impossible without the help and support of so many wonderful people.

  First, to the readers for the enthusiasm you’ve shown toward the series. I can’t thank you enough for the messages, the inspiration and the lovely reviews.

  A big thanks also goes to everyone who has contributed to the series through their time, knowledge, and experience. Thanks to Belinda Neil, Angela D’Bras and Tangil Kinch for your police insights, and Lee and Damien Burgess for the legal bits. As always Tea Cooper and Ann B Harrison, thanks for critiquing and for dragging me away from the computer occasionally to clear my head with a coffee or a good glass of wine.

  To Kate Cuthbert, thanks so much for the advice and inspiration (especially the under the bed idea in book 1!).

  To Sue Brockhoff, Annabel Blay, Julia Knapman and the rest of the fabulous team at Harlequin, thank you for all your hard work and support.

  And finally, to my family. Thanks again for stepping up when I was locked away writing and editing. The Christmas decorations weren’t too late going up.

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  First Published 2017

  First Australian Paperback Edition 2017

  ISBN 978 148922651 8

  PROMISE OF HUNTERS RIDGE

  © 2017 by Sarah Barrie

  Australian Copyright 2017

  New Zealand Copyright 2017

  Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilisation of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the permission of the publisher.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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