They shook hands and Dave joined the line of people boarding the plane to Perth.
Bulldust checked the screen on his phone as it rang in the console of his car. Missy.
‘How’d you go?’
‘Hello to you too,’ she said.
‘Sorry. I’m a bit fucking antsy. Hello.’
‘This bloke must mean a fair bit to you.’
Bulldust stared out the window of his car. He was parked on the edge of the Brisbane River, watching the Wheel of Brisbane turn lazily around. Before Missy’s call he’d been seething at everything that Dave had taken away from him. He hadn’t seen his daughter, Shane, since he and Scotty had run that night. Just for that he would willingly kill Dave with his bare hands, let alone the loss of income and loss of lifestyle he’d caused.
Briefly he wondered if Dave was this bloke’s real name—it was how he’d introduced himself at the pub. Dave Barrows.
‘Yeah, I need to have a conversation with him, for sure.’ Bulldust cracked his knuckles as he spoke.
‘Okay, here’s what I know so far. There’s only one flight in from Brisbane tonight, so he should be pretty easy to track. While I was at the airport, I noticed a bloke who turned up in an unmarked cop car. Thinking that might be related to your man, I followed him in.’
‘What sort of car?’
‘Four-wheel drive, troopy. Unmarked and covered in mud.’
Bulldust nodded to himself. Ah, well, there you have it. Sounded like the stock squad to him. And that would make sense; a detective coming from WA to go undercover in a mustering contract business would have needed the bona fides to do it and Dave had just that. He’d fooled Bulldust and all the other blokes in his contracting team. No one had ever questioned that Dave could do the job. He’d seemed like he’d lived and breathed cattle all his life.
‘Right. And who was driving?’
‘That’s where things get a bit interesting. An older bloke who was wearing a blue shirt with what looked like long cattle horns on the pocket. I shadowed him for a bit and heard him talking to the airport staff about needing to get a passenger off the plane quietly, so I knew I had the right bloke.’
‘Did you manage to get a name?’
‘Nope, no name, but I accidentally bumped into the old bloke on the way out and saw that his shirt read Stock Squad, so maybe that will help you.’
‘I’m sure it will, thanks, Missy. Still follow him when he gets off tonight. Just because he’s being picked up by the stock squad doesn’t mean he’s one of them.’
‘Right-oh, I’ll ring you back in about an hour. That’s when the flight’s landing. Now I know what car I’m looking for, I’ll sit back at one of the roundabouts and get on their tail when they come out.’
‘Don’t lose them,’ Bulldust growled.
‘This bloke isn’t leaving, he went out and parked his car, then went through security. I’m guessing he’s sitting up at the gate where your boy is going to get off so he can grab him straight away.’
‘Right, well you know how to do your job. I’ll leave you with it.’
‘I’ll ring you when I’m on their tail.’
‘Cheers.’
Bulldust hung up and narrowed his eyes. The coppers must be worried that he and Scotty were going to try to nail this guy. That would explain the tight security around him. Obviously he had a weakness though—Reeve had said he’d sought an adjournment because he had a sick wife. Maybe he could get at this so-called Dave through her.
Anyway, once they had a name and knew where he lived, it would be easy to cap him. But it wouldn’t be done without a bit of torture and Dave knowing exactly who had him.
He didn’t usually let himself think about Shane, but as he sat there overlooking the river, his thoughts drifted towards his daughter again. Bulldust couldn’t get her look of disgust from his mind. There were nights he dreamed about her yelling at him, asking him, ‘What have you done?’ The horror in her eyes. She’d never said she didn’t want to see him again—the words hadn’t needed to be said. He knew. Shane had been his life since she’d been born and now she wasn’t. Clenching his hands around the steering wheel, he squeezed hard, wishing it was Dave’s throat and he was crushing the life out of him.
That night, after everything had turned to shit and they had known the cops would be coming after them, he and Scotty had split up. He’d headed towards Lightning Ridge in his ute, knowing he’d be able to hide out in an old mine until the heat had died down. He’d swapped number-plates with some spares he had in case something like this happened. He and Scotty had always had escape plans in place in case they were exposed.
Scotty had made it very clear that Bulldust was to blame for the whole mess.
‘You were the one who employed the fucker,’ he’d said. ‘I told you he smelled off when I first met him.’
‘If Joe couldn’t find anything on him, then how the hell did you expect me to be able to?’
By the light of the moon, they had glared at each other, before Scotty had jammed his finger into Bulldust’s chest and backed him against the ute. ‘You were too keen to replace the fella you killed, that was the problem. You needed more manpower and you let him in too quickly. It’s your fault. Not mine or anyone else’s. Yours. You’ve fucked up a good thing and you’re gonna have to wear it. Now we’re probably facing charges of attempted murder of a police officer. Jesus, Bulldust.’
‘He mightn’t make it. We saw all the blood on the ground, so we know he was hit.’
Scotty had shaken his head and got back into his ute. ‘Stay the fuck away from me.’ Then he’d driven off, leaving Bulldust to work out where he was going to go and what he was going to do.
In Lightning Ridge, he’d found a derelict shanty and had lain low there. He’d thanked whatever god there was that Scotty had insisted they always had a large amount of cash stashed in secret spots and Bulldust was able to live on the smell of an oily rag.
Two weeks passed before Scotty had calmed down enough to call Bulldust.
‘We’re gonna get that fucker,’ he’d said.
‘I’ve already thought about that,’ Bulldust said. ‘I read in the paper they’re charging Joe. He’ll have to come back for the trial. We’ll get him there.’
‘Good idea. Get in contact with that lawyer of yours. You’ll need to make sure Joe doesn’t turn on us too.’
‘Already in hand.’
‘Good. Well, I’m going bush for a while. Not sure what’ll happen to my place, but I’m sure the coppers will search it at some stage. If I’m not there, they won’t find me.’
‘Pricks will take all of my vehicles and everything at the depot, I guess. Fuck, I wish I’d never set eyes on that bastard.’
‘Heard from Shane?’
‘No.’
‘Stay out of trouble then. I’ll talk to you later.’
Bulldust remembered sitting outside drinking beer, looking up at the stars, thinking about Shane and wanting to ring her. So many times, he’d stood in the phone box on the main street of Lightning Ridge, late at night. His fingers had hovered over the keypad; sometimes he’d even started dialling her number, when he’d had to stop. He couldn’t risk getting caught. Once Dave—if that was his name—had been dealt with, then he’d think about how he was going to handle Shane. Somehow, he had to get her to understand he’d done everything for her.
The anger made his chest tight and he took a few deep breaths through his nose, trying to stop the feeling of wanting to smash something. The rage wouldn’t help.
His phone rang, providing a welcome distraction.
‘Missy.’
‘Honey, you’re going to want to pay me extra for what I’ve just found out,’ she cooed down the line.
‘Sounds like you’ve had a win.’
‘I picked up the troopy like I said I would. There were two heads in there, and the one in the passenger seat matched the description best as I could see.’
Bulldust listened, wishing she’d get to the
point.
‘Didn’t take long for me to get in behind them. They drove to an empty house—well, it looked that way. Lights were out and there was mail in the mailbox. The passenger went inside and not ten minutes later the garage door came up and he drove off.
‘Got a bit curious about where he was off to so soon after getting home, so I followed him to another house and guess what was inside?’
‘A woman?’
‘A pregnant one. And a child.’
‘The address?’
She told him and he wrote it down.
‘Did you get his name?’
‘As a matter of fact, I did. I watched through the window of the second house for a while and realised he wasn’t leaving any time soon, so I went back to the first house and checked the mailbox and went around the house to see if there was an easy way in. There wasn’t but there was some mail.’ She paused for effect.
Bulldust wanted to jump down the line and squeeze the words out of her. ‘And?’ he snapped.
‘His name is David Burrows.’
‘Barrows? As in wheelbarrows?’ Bulldust was incredulous. He was that freaking brazen to use his own name?
‘Burrows as in a wombat burrow.’
Bulldust was silent, too busy seething to be able to say anything.
‘You still there?’
‘Yeah. What’s with the two houses?’
‘I got a theory on that. There’re also two older people in the second house. I think they’re either her or his parents and the wife and kid are staying there while he’s away. Helping out maybe. Or maybe she doesn’t like being by herself.’
Or maybe he was worried I’d come for her, Bulldust thought.
‘How much do I owe you?’
‘This is on the house, honey, just so long as you look me up when you get back over this way. I’m guessing it won’t be long.’
‘Who knows,’ he answered, not giving anything away. ‘But I will do. Thanks, Missy. Thanks a fucking lot.’
Chapter 25
‘How did it go?’ Mel asked after Dave had read Bec a story and put her to bed. They’d made an agreement when he’d rung her earlier that they wouldn’t talk about anything volatile in front of Bec.
‘It’s all done and dusted,’ Dave said, leaning back against the couch, reaching to take her hand. ‘All behind us.’
There wasn’t any point mentioning the judge’s indiscretion; that would only inflame the situation yet again. Tonight, Mel had been happy to see him when he walked in through the door, giving him a hug and telling him to put his hand on her stomach because the baby was kicking. He didn’t want that feeling to fade just yet.
‘How’s everything here?’
‘The doctor is happy with my blood pressure—it’s still high, but it’s dropped a little since I left hospital. I’m spending most of the day on the bed, which helps apparently.’ She looked a little embarrassed. ‘This blood pressure thing is a bit stupid really—I mean, how many women have babies and they don’t have this problem? Here I am, perfectly healthy, having to lie down all day.’
‘I don’t think that’s the case, sweetie. I’m sure there are loads of women who have high blood pressure and you’ve got to do what’s good for the baby and for you. How’s Bec been?’
‘Very well behaved. Seems she loves being with Mum, who has endless patience. You need that when you’ve got a kid asking “Why?” all the time.’ She changed her tone to a child-like one. ‘“Mummy, why do you put the milk in the fridge? Why do you have to cook the veggies? Why …”’
Dave laughed. ‘They’ve got to learn somehow,’ he said.
‘I guess, but it’s really annoying!’ Mel smiled then turned her body towards him. ‘So, the court case is really all over?’
‘It is for me. Joe wasn’t sentenced while I was there; there was still more evidence to be heard. Justin was next on the stand after me. I guess I’ll hear what happens when the verdict is handed down.’
‘And there wasn’t anything that went wrong? You didn’t see anyone who looked like the guys who used you as target practice?’ she smiled, trying to make her words light, but there was an underlying brittleness there.
‘Not a sign of anyone,’ he answered reassuringly. ‘No, all was quiet on that front. I reckon they’ve forgotten all about me. Probably more worried about trying to stay hidden from the police.’ He paused. ‘The nice part was that I got a Commissioner’s Commendation Award.’
Mel narrowed her eyes. ‘What’s that for?’
‘Bravery.’
Watching her chew the inside of her lip, it seemed to Dave she was trying to work out what to say. Surely congratulations wouldn’t be too hard.
‘How nice they acknowledged that you almost died for them,’ she finally said. ‘And that your children were almost without a dad.’
Now it was Dave’s turn to work out what he was going to say. He was beginning to get sick of the snide remarks. He didn’t die and neither Mel nor Bec was without him. ‘Well, I was appreciative anyway.’
‘And now you’re going to be able to stay home.’ There was some excitement in her voice.
Dave’s heart sank. He’d been hoping to have a little more conversation with her before he had to tell her the bad news.
‘Well, I have some news about that. While I was in Brisbane we found out there had been more cattle stolen from the station we were at last week,’ he said quietly.
Mel cocked her head to the side as if she didn’t understand what he was saying. ‘What does that have to do with you?’
‘As the investigating detective, I have to go back up and make more enquiries. Kevin, the manager up there, hasn’t had anyone to support him through all of this and I promised I would. I can’t let him down.’ As he said the words, he expected Mel to fire back something like how about supporting her.
Instead Mel pulled back from him and moved down to the other end of the couch, not meeting his eyes. ‘You’re going again?’ Her voice was flat.
‘Yes.’
‘When?’
‘Tomorrow morning.’ Dave stood up, put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels while he waited for her to say something else.
Mel wouldn’t meet his eyes, but looked at the floor, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘Tomorrow?’
Dave didn’t answer. There was nothing to say.
Mel stood up and walked out of the room.
‘Shit.’ It was Dave’s turn to shake his head and he dropped back down onto the couch. He put his head in his hands, not knowing what to think. This trip away could be the last straw, and the lack of emotion in Mel’s response was unnerving. Normally she’d yell and get angry.
‘Congratulations. You really know how to upset someone, don’t you?’
Not turning at the sound of Mark’s voice, Dave said wearily, ‘I don’t have a choice.’
‘You sound like a broken record.’
I feel like one, he thought.
‘Let me get this right. You’re going back up north. No point in Melinda moving back home if you’re not going to be there.’
‘No.’ Dave stood up again and looked at his father-in-law. ‘No, you’re right. There’s not.’
‘You bemuse me, Dave,’ Mark said, walking over to look him in the eye. ‘Ellen and I are more than happy to help you financially and yet you still run out the door to go to work every opportunity you get. Don’t you love my daughter? Because from where I stand, it doesn’t look like it. You seem very selfish.’
Dave realised this attitude was what he was going to be fighting his entire life if he and Mel stayed together. She wasn’t strong enough or didn’t want to stand up for Dave in front of her father, and Dave wasn’t sure he had enough fight left in him to keep battling everyone.
‘I do love Mel, Mark,’ he said quietly. ‘You can’t imagine how much I love her and Bec. Your offer to help with money is appreciated, but you know as well as I do that I’m never going to accept it. I love my job—not more than my family
, as you think. What you need to understand is that police have responsibilities to the people they help. To the victims of crime. They rely on us. We can’t let them down, because they don’t have anyone else. They put all their hope in us and trust that we’ll find who has hurt them or their family. I can’t walk away from that.’ He sighed and held his hands out. ‘I’m sorry if you feel that attitude lets down Mel and Bec, but this is who I am.’
For once Mark was quiet.
‘If Mel and Bec could stay here while I’m gone this time, I’d certainly appreciate your care of them. The other thing I need to tell you is that the judge let slip that I live in Perth. You’ll need to keep an eye out for anything unusual. I’m not worried—there’s no talk on the street that they’re going to try to come after me—but you just need to be aware if you see anything strange.’
Mark’s face turned red.
Taking a step closer towards Dave, he looked at him through narrowed eyes. ‘If you’ve put my daughter and granddaughter in danger, you’ll never hear the end of it from me,’ he spat.
‘You think I like this any more than you do?’ Dave’s temper finally found its way to the surface. ‘I don’t. It couldn’t be avoided, and we are doing everything to make sure that nothing happens to anyone. There will be coppers doing a few drive-bys to be on the safe side. I did just say I’m not expecting any trouble. All I’m asking is for you to keep an eye out for anything unusual.’
‘If anything happens to them …’ Mark broke off and stormed out of the room.
‘Well, that went just about the way I expected it to,’ Dave muttered as he dropped back onto the couch.
‘I’m sorry, Dave.’
He looked up and saw Ellen, then shrugged. ‘It is what it is,’ he said. ‘Guess I’d better get going. Got to pack and everything.’
‘I know this is tough for you. I heard what you said to Mark about victims relying on police. I hadn’t ever thought about your work like that and I’d bet my bottom dollar that neither have Mark or Mel. You do what you need to do. Like I said last time, you’re doing really well in difficult circumstances.’
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