Live To Tell

by Valerie Parv

  He was probably right, but instinct wouldn’t let her turn her back on what was shaping up to be quite a story. She couldn’t wait to learn more about the neighborhood feud from Blake and his family.

  “Don’t power up your laptop yet,” Blake said, as if sensing her interest. “This doesn’t concern you.”

  “If it’s meant to scare me away from Diamond Downs, it does.”

  “We’re only guessing that was the explanation for the attack. Wylie could simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “But your theory fits the facts as you know them,” she said. “It also explains some of the disturbances I’ve heard around the river since we set up camp here.”

  Blake’s interest sharpened. “You didn’t mention any disturbances.”

  “I don’t know what’s normal for the outback. For all I know, the sounds in the bushes could have been dingoes or one of those wild pigs.”

  “Or someone setting me up to be eaten by a crocodile,” Nigel added. “Why the devil didn’t you say something sooner, Jo?”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t, but it doesn’t help now. It’s more important to find out if your Max Horvath is behind this, and stop him before somebody gets hurt.”

  Blake shook his head. “Don’t you get it? That someone could be you. I’m putting both of you on the next plane back to Perth.”

  She and Nigel spoke at the same moment.

  “Good idea.”

  “The hell you are.”

  “You can throw me off Diamond Downs, but you can’t make me leave the Kimberley until I’m ready,” she asserted.

  Blake’s expression conceded reluctant defeat. “Then you’re better off where I can keep an eye on you. If you carry on with your assignment as if we don’t suspect anything, Horvath might get cocky and give himself away.”

  “And both of you could wind up dead.”

  “We won’t. Blake knows what he’s doing.” At least she hoped he did.

  Blake picked up Nigel’s pack. “We’ll take your car back to town. Andy, you take the jeep and see if you can find any more signs. We’ll meet back at the homestead later.”

  The other man grinned. “Tom will be dying of curiosity by then.”

  “Tom’s my brother and Andy’s honorary clan brother,” Blake elaborated. “His engagement party’s tonight.”

  He must be the ranger who was marrying the princess, she assumed. Quite a family. “Do I get to meet him?”

  Blake pushed his Akubra hat back on his head. “According to Des, under your editor’s rules, you’re only supposed to come to the homestead in a life-and-death emergency. I guess a crocodile attack qualifies. If you happen to be there for the party, it can’t be helped. Until we know more, I don’t want you staying out here on your own.”

  Nigel shifted impatiently and she nodded, feeling the familiar surge of excitement that told her she was on to a big story. Far bigger than Karen, her editor, had guessed when she dreamed up this assignment. “You’re on.”

  Chapter 2

  Are you crazy? Blake asked himself as he drove to Halls Creek. Nigel sat stony-faced in the back seat clutching his pack. Jo was in front beside Blake, staring thoughtfully out the window. Blake couldn’t force Jo to leave, but what could she do if he dumped her in town and refused to return her to Diamond Downs? Once he knew the facts, Des would back Blake’s position. So why didn’t he?

  Because from the moment she’d turned up at his croc farm expecting him to teach her how to survive in the bush, she’d caught his attention. What red-blooded man wouldn’t be attracted to someone who moved as enticingly as she did? Neither athlete nor vamp. More like a woman with a mission. She had a compact, curvy shape that raised Blake’s temperature on sight, and her unusual blue-green eyes reminded him of the semiprecious gem New Zealanders called greenstone. The last few days in the open air had kissed her milky skin with roses. His fingers itched to release her streaky blond hair from its ponytail for the pleasure of watching the breeze catch the strands.

  Her refusal to be scared away by the crocodile had earned his grudging admiration, although he believed her confidence was misplaced. She didn’t belong in the outback. The whole idea of a survival-type scenario was bull. But he couldn’t deny that his foster father needed the fee her magazine was paying. Some money was coming in from visitor interest in the recently discovered rock art on the land, but there was a long way to go before tourism replaced the dwindling income from raising cattle.

  Blake, his foster brothers and Des’s daughter Judy helped as much as they could, but she was a bush pilot with people depending on her. Tom had responsibilities as the shire ranger. And Blake had the croc farm to run. None of them could give Diamond Downs as much money, time and attention as it needed. Yet Des wouldn’t consider selling up. The land was in his blood and he wanted to leave it for Judy and her kids, and theirs after that.

  The other fly in the ointment was Max Horvath’s greed.

  What a piece of work he was. He’d been an unpleasant child, taunting Blake and his brothers about their lack of pedigree. Max had been thirteen when his parents’ marriage ended and his mother took him to live in the city. He’d come back for vacations and had developed a huge crush on Judy. Too soft-hearted to reject him out of hand, Judy had gone on occasional dates with Max, only breaking off the relationship when Max became serious. Now Blake wondered if her rejection of Max’s marriage proposal had sown the seeds for this dangerous feud.

  Unbeknownst to the boys, Des Logan had borrowed heavily from Clive Horvath, Max’s father and Des’s best friend, to keep the station going. After Clive was killed suddenly in a riding accident, Max had inherited their place and the mortgage Clive had intended to tear up. His son wasn’t so forgiving. Since taking over, Max had been pressuring Des to repay the debt or forfeit Diamond Downs to him.

  Blake thought he knew which option Max preferred. According to family folklore, Des’s grandfather had found a fabulously rich diamond mine on his land. The location had been lost when he vanished without a trace. The belief that Des’s ancestor’s spirit guarded the site had kept the indigenous people from revealing what they knew about the mine’s location. As boys, Blake and his siblings had tried without success to find the mine, eventually giving up and deciding there was no substance to the legend.

  Max wasn’t so easily convinced and had made no secret of wanting to find the mine. First, he had to claim ownership of Diamond Downs, and that wasn’t going to happen while Blake had breath in his body to prevent it.

  He steered the car into the airport parking lot, cut the engine and swiveled toward Nigel. “Your stop, Wylie.”

  The other man ignored him and looked at Jo. “Last chance to change your mind.”

  Against his better judgment, Blake decided to do the gentlemanly thing. “I’ll give you two a few minutes to say your farewells.”

  He stepped out of the car and closed the door. He tried not to listen but overheard when Jo’s voice rose in protest. Evidently she was still resisting Wylie’s entreaties to return to Perth with him. After a couple of minutes, the other man slammed out of the car and headed for the terminal without a backward glance. Jo got out more slowly, her gaze troubled.

  Blake couldn’t help himself. “Is the love affair still on?”

  “I’m not in love with Nigel, not that it’s any concern of yours.”

  Blake was surprised by the sunburst of satisfaction blooming through him. If she’d been his woman, nothing could have made him walk away. He resisted the childish urge to yell “and stay out” after Wylie, instead switching his focus back to Jo.

  As his gaze collided with hers, he felt a slam of sexual awareness unlike anything he’d experienced in a long time. His breath whooshed out and he felt his knees flex, if not exactly buckle. Suddenly, working with her didn’t seem like such a bright idea. He might not have liked Wylie, but at least he’d served as a buffer zone between them.

  Now there was only the two of them and a lot
of time alone in the bush ahead.

  “What now?” she asked, sounding strained.

  He shrugged off the urge to hold her and soothe away some of the strain. “Now we meet Cade’s flight.”

  “Cade Thatcher, your youngest foster brother,” she supplied.

  His brows winged upward. “You’ve done your homework.”

  “A good journalist does,” she said. “And despite what you think of me, I am a good journalist.”

  “I never said you weren’t. Only that you’re a novice in the outback. From what I’ve read of your articles, they’re well researched and written.”

  She hadn’t expected the endorsement, he saw from the surprised look she gave him. The pleasure lighting her gaze sparked an answering surge in him. He was really going to have to watch himself around her.

  Between the scars he carried from his past love life, and his foster father’s troubles, Blake didn’t need any more complications in his life right now. That certainty sharpened his tone as he said, “Let’s get inside out of the heat.”

  Heat was on Jo’s mind, too, but not in the way Blake meant, she decided as they approached the terminal. Through the glass, she saw Nigel standing at the check-in desk. He saw her but he didn’t react. His parting words had convinced her he accepted it was over between them. Shouldn’t she feel upset instead of relieved, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders?

  Later would do to examine that, she decided as a tall, raven-haired man spotted Blake and strode out of the terminal to meet them. He was almost rail-thin and moved with the unconscious grace of a man at home in his body, as he gave Blake a back-thumping greeting. “About time you got here.”

  “Jo Francis, meet my no-manners foster brother, Cade Thatcher.”

  Cade’s smile broadened. “Jo Francis? You’re a writer with Australian Scene Weekly, aren’t you?”

  She nodded, finally placing him. “And you’re the wildlife photographer.”

  “I was.”

  He didn’t say what he was doing now, and she didn’t feel she could ask at first meeting. Blake grabbed the other man’s well-worn leather bag. “Car’s this way.”

  In the parking lot, Cade regarded the vehicle with interest. “What happened to your Jeep?”

  Blake put Cade’s bag into the back seat, then held the front passenger door for Jo. “This is Jo’s rental car. Andy’s using the Jeep. Jo’s staying on Diamond Downs on a writing assignment for the next month.”

  Cade climbed into the back. “Are you coming to Tom’s wake tonight, Jo?”

  “I thought it was an engagement party.” Then she caught on and smiled. “Looks like it.”

  Cade nodded. “The more, the merrier. I haven’t met the bride yet, but I hear she’s beautiful and royal to boot. She should soon straighten Tom out.” Then he grew serious. “How’s Des?”

  Blake steered the car onto the highway. “Not good. He’s moved up the waiting list for a transplant but the way things are at home, he’s not keen on having the operation even if a donor heart becomes available.”

  Cade rested his forearms on the seat back between her and Blake. “Can’t say I blame him. He values his independence.”

  A trait he’d passed on to his foster sons and natural daughter, she’d already noticed. She couldn’t imagine Blake willingly depending on anyone. “Is Max Horvath the reason Des doesn’t want to be away from Diamond Downs?”

  Cade’s fingers drummed a tattoo on the seat back. “You’ve heard about him?”

  She nodded and Blake said, “We think Max put Eddy Gilgai up to feeding a big croc to lure it closer to Jo’s camp. Earlier today, it attacked the man she was with.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “He wasn’t harmed, but he’s on his way back to Perth right now.”

  A taut smile ghosted over Cade’s features. “Do you plan on following him?”

  “I’m staying,” she said, her tone daring either man to argue. “My assignment is to report on what it’s like to survive in the outback, not to turn tail at the first sign of danger.”

  “Brave lady,” Cade murmured, sounding impressed. “You must tell me more about this assignment. Maybe I can help.”

  Blake’s irritation flared into full-blown jealousy. “I’ve agreed to show Jo the ropes. She doesn’t need two guides.”

  Cade withdrew to the back seat, symbolically conceding the turf to his older brother. Amusement rang in his voice as he said, “I knew I should have caught an earlier flight.”

  “I still have to clear the change with my editor,” Jo said, sensing the unspoken communication between the two men. Annoyed because she also sensed it concerned her, she sharpened her tone. “Blake may have too much experience to make the story work.”

  “I don’t have anything like his experience,” Cade said coyly.

  Blake’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “We’re talking about bush craft.”

  “What did you think I meant?”

  Enough was enough. “Will you two either cut it out, or let me in on the joke?”

  “No,” both men said with one voice.

  “I’m glad you agree on something.” She pulled out her cell phone and speed-dialed Karen’s number. The editor’s secretary put her straight through. As if dictating a story, Jo reported the day’s events and Nigel’s abrupt departure. She was aware of Blake and Cade silently absorbing her account.

  The editor expressed horror at the near miss with the crocodile, but said nothing about Jo aborting the assignment.

  When she reached the part about Blake offering to help out in Nigel’s place, Jo found herself crossing her fingers. Not that she wanted to work with the crocodile man. She just didn’t want to be pulled off a story that instinct told her had the potential to grow far beyond the original assignment.

  “You’re sure it’s Blake Stirton you’ll be working with?” Karen asked.

  Jo’s glance flickered to him. He controlled the car with easy movements, and his fingers had relaxed on the wheel, but his posture suggested a tension that made her curious. “Is there a problem?”

  The vehicle swerved very slightly. Blake may have been dodging a rough patch in the road, rather than reacting to her words. She couldn’t tell. “Would you like to talk to him yourself?” she asked Karen on impulse.

  “No. Don’t put him on.” As if realizing how strange she sounded, Karen moderated her tone. “I’ll take your word that you can work with him on this. The deal will be the same as we agreed with Nigel Wylie.”

  “Great. I’ll tell him. Thanks.” Confusion had reduced Jo’s speech to monosyllables. The editor had reacted like a scalded cat at the prospect of speaking with Blake. What was going on here?

  She flipped the phone shut and replaced it in her bag. “My boss is happy for you to help me complete the assignment.”

  Blake looked doubtful. “She said that?”

  “Not in so many words. But she didn’t pull the plug on the story.” She shimmied sideways as far as her seat belt allowed and addressed Blake. “Have you ever met Karen Prentiss?”

  A frown furrowed his brow. “Not as far as I know. Why?”

  “When I offered to let her talk to you, she reacted as if I’d arranged a personal introduction with the devil.”

  “Maybe she’s the mother of one of your old flames, Blake. Your sinful reputation precedes you,” Cade suggested unhelpfully.

  Jo caught her lower lip between her teeth, not enjoying the tightening in her stomach that went with picturing Blake and his old flames. “Karen doesn’t have children. After a few drinks at last year’s office Christmas party, she told me she and Ron couldn’t have any.”

  Cade grinned. “Then she must be jealous of you teaming up with a world-famous crocodile expert.”

  “World-famous in the Kimberley,” Blake said ruefully. “You probably caught her at an awkward time, that’s all.”

  She let a sigh escape, wondering why the idea of working with Blake held so much appeal. “You coul
d be right.” But the puzzle nagged at her all the way back to Diamond Downs. Karen wasn’t usually the hysterical type. Something about Blake’s involvement in the project had shocked her even more than hearing about the crocodile attack. Jo wished she knew the reason.

  Chapter 3

  Half the people in the region had to be at the engagement party, Jo decided, surveying the rows of trestle tables groaning with food, much of it contributed by the guests themselves in the best outback tradition. Festooned around the homestead, ribbons of fairy lights competed with the impossibly starry night. Until coming to the Kimberley, she’d never known so many stars could be visible from Earth. They spilled across the inky blackness like countless diamonds on a jeweler’s cloth, seeming close enough to touch.

  “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” came a softly accented voice.

  Lost in wonder, she hadn’t heard the other woman approach. She immediately recognized Tom McCullough’s fiancée, Princess Shara Najran. On arriving at Diamond Downs, Jo had met Tom and his royal bride-to-be who were not long back from visiting her father, King Awad of Q’aresh to obtain his blessing on their marriage.

  Any family would be lucky to have Tom in their midst, Jo had decided. He was as easygoing and charming as he was good-looking. In contrast to Blake’s intensity, she thought, her gaze automatically seeking him out and finding him a little apart from the crowd, leaning against the veranda railing. Nobody would call him easygoing. From the little she knew of him already, he expected a lot from people, but even more from himself. Charming didn’t fit, either. Her writer’s mind sought out a more appropriate word, finally coming up with compelling. He was the kind of man she instinctively knew would complicate her life, but who nevertheless attracted her like iron filings to a magnet.

  When their eyes met, she recoiled, as if she’d been punched. The feeling was so blatantly sexual that her breath stalled in her throat and she had a hard time wrenching her attention back to the princess.