Whitsunday Dawn

by Annie Seaton

  ‘What’s happened? Is Greg okay?’ Fear crawled from her stomach up into her chest and she swallowed. Images of a boat making its way silently across the dark water filled her mind and she darted a nervous glance to the small window above the sink. ‘What did he say?’

  Fynn reached out and took her hand. ‘I know you’re a bit nervous about crossing the Passage in the dark, but we’re going to head out tonight. It’s not safe to stay here.’

  ‘What did he say? What does he know?’

  ‘It wasn’t Greg.’ Fynn stood and looked through the hatch before he sat down again and took her hand. ‘It was Jill, Greg’s partner. She was calling from the hospital.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Greg was involved in an incident on the way home this afternoon. His car went over an embankment and he’s in hospital.’

  Liv put her other hand on top of Fynn’s. ‘Oh, God, no. I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Apparently, a man walking his dog across the road saw it all. He got to Greg and called triple zero.’ Fynn put his arm around her and pulled her close. ‘I’ve got to keep you safe, Liv. It wasn’t an accident. The witness said his car was deliberately rammed by a vehicle that sped away.’

  Liv buried her face into Fynn’s shoulder and they sat close together. It was surreal, an experience totally out of what she was used to.

  When Fynn moved back, he brushed his hand lightly over her hair. ‘So, we’re out of here tonight. Until I can talk to the police in Brisbane, we’re going to hide in a safe spot I know. It’s going to be tricky getting in there with the tide now, but I think we’ll be right.’

  To Liv’s relief, the trip across the Passage was fast and smooth. Fynn hoisted the sails as soon as he’d slipped the mooring, and the boat flew silently across the water. If there had been no concern about Greg, or a fear that someone was watching them, it would have been magical. As they approached the dark shape of Whitsunday Island ahead, the sky brightened and Fynn made his way along the deck to where Liv was sitting on the roof of the cabin below.

  ‘Come over to the helm with me, this is going to be pretty spectacular.’ His voice was low. Jill had texted to say there had been an improvement, and Greg’s condition had been downgraded to stable. Still a concern, but the test results had shown the prognosis for his recovery was good.

  Liv followed Fynn to the stern and stood beside him as she steered them along the western coast of Whitsunday Island. The sky brightened until a silver sheen danced on the water and she looked from the water to the sky. The light was so bright she could see the trees on the island, even though the moon had not yet crested the hill.

  ‘Almost.’ Fynn reached for her hand and held it. Liv drew a breath as the edge of the moon peeked over the hill ahead of them. As she watched, the huge orb rose, a deep yellow ball moving quickly into the sky above the tree line. As it rose higher, the moon turned silver and the sea beside them took on an eerie blue hue. The rays were so bright making a path to the water Liv could imagine them touching her skin.

  Fynn turned his head to hers. His lips brushed her forehead and serenity filled her. She put her arms around his waist and looked up at him. His eyes were shadowed in the moonlight, his brow was furrowed with worry.

  ‘It’s going to be okay,’ she whispered. ‘Greg’s improving. We’re safe and we have the computer.’

  We can deal with it.

  ‘We’ll deal with it, whatever happens.’ Fynn’s whisper echoed her thoughts.

  ‘Whatever happens,’ she repeated.

  Liv lifted her face and time stood still as he lowered his head, until his warm breath fanned her lips. He slipped his hand beneath her loose top and splayed his fingers on the bare skin of her back, pulling her closer. A delicious shiver raised the hairs on Liv’s neck as his lips held hers. A surge of desire spiralled through Liv and settled low in her belly as he deepened the kiss, but eventually Fynn pulled back.

  ‘We’ll explore this later.’ His voice was low and held a promise.

  Liv nodded as his eyes held hers. ‘We will.’

  He looped an arm around her shoulder and held her close, his chin resting on top of her head as he steered them towards their sanctuary.

  * * *

  It was after midnight by the time they were ready to look at the folders Liv had downloaded. She removed the SIM card from the laptop and Fynn turned his router off.

  ‘I’ll see if I can get any network service on my phone, just to make doubly sure there’s no internet service that would let them see your computer come online.’ He held his phone up and clicked away before he grunted with satisfaction. ‘No service at all.’

  ‘So, all right to boot up?’ she asked with her eyebrows raised.

  ‘Right to go.’ Fynn nodded and slid into the seat beside her.

  Before motoring into the bay, he’d lowered the sails and waited until the tide was rising before he steered Footprint carefully into Gulnare Inlet, keeping an eye on the chart spread out beside him, and the wind speed and depth indicator. Even at full tide, there were still a few shallow spots on the way in. Going through the narrow channel in the dark had been dangerous and he’d breathed a sigh of relief once they were past the reef at the entrance. He’d motored slowly into the Upper Gulnare Inlet and then turned the boat into the small creek that came out at the head of the inlet. It was shallow at half tide and once the tide was dead low, they wouldn’t be able to get out, but he had no fear of them being followed to this isolated bay in the middle of the night. Despite that certainty, he’d still kept his eye out on the water as they’d crossed the Passage—and the sky—but there’d been no other vessels or helicopters in sight. Two catamarans were moored in the main inlet of Gulnare, but he knew that it was used as an overnight anchorage as bareboats from the charter companies made their way to the more popular diving spots. He’d sussed them out as he’d quietly motored past.

  The laptop screen came on and Liv took a deep breath. ‘Ready?’

  ‘Ready and waiting. First thing we’ll do is back them up.’ He handed her the external hard drive he’d removed from his computer.

  He leaned over as the folder copied across so he could see the screen too. On the desktop were a neat row of folders and he smiled to himself; he knew that Liv would be organised. On the far right was a folder labelled ‘presentation file’, and Liv pointed to that one.

  ‘That’s the one Rod sent me the link to. I downloaded it and that’s where I chose the wrong presentation from. Look.’

  ‘Who’s Rod?’ he asked.

  ‘Dad’s PR guy.’ Then she shook her head. ‘The previous one, I mean one of the guys at the meeting was his new one. They don’t last very long. Dad is a difficult boss.’

  ‘Interesting,’ Fynn mused. ‘Maybe you were set up?’

  ‘It was a bit fast. Rod had only emailed me the day before Anthony turned up before the meeting and said he was Dad’s new PR man. I asked about Rod but he didn’t answer me. I didn’t give it a thought at the time.’

  ‘So you weren’t ever told why the other guy moved on?’

  She shook her head. ‘I was never told much about what happened in the company.’

  ‘A few things to think about there,’ Fynn said thoughtfully. The data transferred quickly, and he unplugged the external drive and put it on the shelf behind the table. Now there was a back-up copy, he felt more secure.

  Liv clicked on the folder with the wireless mouse. Within the folder there were a series of other folders with varying names. ‘I didn’t have a look in any of the others. I was too peed off at Dad’s attitude telling me what to do. I downloaded it and then headed off to the Lady May.’

  ‘So why did you pick that presentation? It obviously wasn’t the one you were supposed to use.’

  ‘The file name was Community Meeting and Monday’s date. I had a quick look at the others, but they were all older dates, so I opened that, had a quick look and it was almost identical to the one I already had. I noticed that the new location—Earlando Bay—was on a slide, but
Dad had told me on the phone that the new location had been approved on Friday, so nothing seemed wrong to me. He also told me that the rail line had been approved but that wasn’t in the slides.’

  ‘Are you sure about that approval?’

  ‘Dad said it had. He was really pleased.’

  Fynn sat up as alarm bells began to ring for him. ‘I can’t believe the rail line’s been signed off by the traditional landowners. There was massive opposition there, and we were sure that would be the sticking point for the approval.’ He let out a low whistle. ‘Wait till Greg hears that. Let’s have a look at these other folders.’

  Liv read the folder names out. ‘Earlando Bay, CQRC, John, Pol_ Don, and the last one is called Reimbursements.’

  ‘CQRC will be Central Queensland Regional Council.’ Fynn pointed to the folder labelled Reimbursements. ‘We’ll come back and look at the others one by one.’

  Liv clicked on the folder and groaned when it asked for a password. ‘Damn, it didn’t do that for the Presentations folder.’ She typed a password in, but it came up ‘incorrect password’.

  ‘Maybe we can’t get in after all,’ Fynn said. ‘Looks like they were panicking about nothing after all.’

  Liv turned to him and her smile was devious. ‘Don’t give up on me yet.’

  As he watched, she typed a long string of letters and numbers. She turned to him with a huge smile as the folder opened to reveal a list of spreadsheets and word documents.

  ‘Good guess,’ she said. ‘I watched Dad type his password last Friday when I was standing behind him, and I memorised it.’ She shook her head. ‘Would you believe he uses Mum’s full name and birth date? They’ve been divorced for almost twenty years!’

  ‘Clever lady.’ He leaned over and dropped a kiss on her cheek, and left his arm around her shoulder as they stared at the screen.

  ‘I had no idea I’d need it so soon.’ Liv clicked on the first spreadsheet, and again it was password protected.

  ‘Sure looks like these are highly confidential, doesn’t it?’ Fynn lifted his head and then sat still as the noise of a motor drifted across the water. He put his finger to his lips and spoke quietly. ‘I want you to go down to the cabin and take the hard drive with you.’ He closed the laptop and stood. ‘Quickly. Lock the door from the inside.’

  The sound of the motor outside was getting louder and he switched off the saloon light as Liv hurried downstairs to the cabin, clutching the external drive to her chest. He grabbed a flashlight and went up to the deck and slipped into the shadow of the mast. The moon was bright enough for him to see a small tender crossing the bay. As he watched, it headed to the southern shore, and after a few minutes, a flashlight lit up the mud flats. He let out a sigh of relief and headed below deck and tapped on the cabin door. ‘It’s okay, Liv. Just some yachties after crabs.’

  She took a deep breath and shook her head. ‘I cannot believe I’m scared of my own father. It makes me so angry.’

  Her eyes were wide, and Fynn couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to her. She nestled in his arms and he could feel her heart beating against his chest.

  CHAPTER

  28

  Liv and Fynn had worked into the early hours, opening and reading each document. Her eyes widened as they dug deeper into the files. Fynn shook his head in disbelief as he typed up a series of brief dot points to send to Greg as soon as he was well enough to deal with what they discovered. His satisfaction—and certainty that they could stop the coal loader project approval—grew as the hours passed.

  ‘This is pure gold.’ Fynn almost whooped as they read each incriminating document. ‘Payoffs, bribes, political donations and expensive holidays for various councillors from more than one regional council in the north.’

  Liv shook her head. ‘I can’t believe my father’s audacity. And he thinks he is untouchable. He kept them on the company network!’

  ‘And the dates of the donations to the council are dated after the state government changed the legislation late last year. It was one of the factors that Greg suspected once the corruption commission alleged that councillors were influencing the outcome of council decisions on development applications, but each investigation led to a dead end.’ Fynn leaned back and stretched. ‘Greg is going to love this. Zenith are dead in the water with the stuff we have here. No wonder they want it back.’

  ‘No wonder my father wants it back.’ Liv yawned and put her hand over her mouth.

  ‘You look worn out. Why don’t you go down and grab some sleep?’

  ‘I don’t think I can stay awake any longer.’ She nodded and slid out of the seat. ‘And I’ll sleep in the cabin where you put my bag. It’s not fair that I take yours.’

  He looked at her for a long moment. ‘Fair enough. We could be out here for a while. We’ll stay here till Greg is well enough to come up. I’ve got enough provisions to do us up to a week, but we’ll have to go easy on the water. The old girl doesn’t hold that much.’

  After Liv went below decks Fynn packed up the laptop and put the hard drive in a cupboard in his cabin. He was wired and he knew it was going to be hard to go to his bed, knowing that Liv had slept there. Not to mention the overwhelming temptation of the attraction that he was feeling; it was way out of his experience, but he had decided to take it slow. Liv was beginning to trust him, and she was in his care, and he wouldn’t be doing anything to compromise that.

  No matter how tempting it is.

  He stayed up on deck, leaning against the cushioned seat, and he dozed on and off as the moon crossed the sky. The occasional splash of a fish jumping, and the wail of the stone curlews as they patrolled the mangroves in search of crabs were the only sounds to break the silence. Gradually the clouds turned pink as dawn approached and he stood and stretched.

  ‘Good morning.’ Liv’s voice was soft and he turned around in surprise.

  ‘I thought you were still asleep.’

  ‘I’ve been awake for a while. Thinking. Trying not to worry. Planning.’ She smiled as she came across to him and put her arms around his neck. ‘I just put the kettle on the gas, and I figured out how to light it. I’m getting used to this boat living.’

  ‘That’s good.’ He dropped his head and brushed his lips over her cheek.

  ‘Would you like me to bring you up a coffee?’

  ‘Yes, please, and grab some shoes. We’re going to take a walk.’

  Fynn went below decks and brought up the external drive, wondering where to put it so it would be safe. As he stared across the mangroves, an idea came to him. It might seem over the top, but from the events of the past few days, he wouldn’t put anything past Sheridan Corp. It was only a matter of time until they crossed paths.

  As they sipped their coffee up on deck, Fynn pointed to the shore. ‘See the bird in the shallows? He’s a white-faced heron and he’s getting his breakfast. And over there on the beach you can see a couple of ruddy turnstones.’

  Liv shook her head and smiled at him over the rim of her coffee cup. ‘How do you remember all the names?’

  Fynn shrugged. ‘I guess because I’ve always been out here. Being part of this landscape is as necessary to me as breathing.’ He regretted his words as her expression tightened.

  ‘It’s something that’s sadly lacking in my life. Now, anyway. I used to love going out to my grandparents’ farm but all that stopped once I started university, and then for the last eight years, I’ve been trapped on the bloody corporate treadmill. I’ve really lost sight of what’s in life. Spreadsheets, projections, data analysis. It’s all artificial and it can be made to justify whatever we want.’

  ‘We certainly saw that in those files.’ Fynn nodded, his eyes intent on Liv’s face as she kept talking. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright.

  ‘It’s been even more of an eye opener for me and I’m determined to take the company on. You know, I was hoping it was Zenith that was behind the corruption, but those letters to the guy on the council were signed
by Dad.’

  ‘And the donations to the council were from his personal account. Byron’s going to be very interested in all of this.’

  ‘You know, at uni I had a close friend, and like everything else, I’ve lost touch with Bec since I’ve been working for Sheridan Corp. Bec used to say that everything happens for a reason, that we’re all on a journey and grow through our experiences. We used to joke with her and say it was all the spirituality stuff she was into.’ Liv put her cup on the deck and stood before she came over and sat beside him. ‘So, I’m going to be honest. I’ve been kidding myself for too long. I came up here to do a job, but if I go with Bec’s idea that there was another purpose for me coming here, I’ll just accept it.

  ‘My father might have sent me up here to carry out his dirty work, whatever it is, while he had his bribes and corrupt behaviour going on in the background, but there have been so many more positives that have come out of this experience for me. Maybe I’ve been able to help Aunty Tat be a little bit happier, thinking she’s found her sister.’ She dropped her gaze and her cheeks became a little pinker. ‘And I’ve enjoyed meeting you, Fynn. And I’ve learned that you can trust someone by following your heart.’

  She lifted her head and the look that they shared was intense.

  When she looked away, he stood and held out his hand. ‘Come on, put your shoes on. We’re going for a ride.’

  He pulled her up and Liv put her arms around him. ‘Thank you, Fynn. For keeping me safe. I really appreciate what you’re doing for me.’

  His voice was sombre. ‘It’s not over yet. Once Greg’s better, we still have a lot of work to do. Don’t think that the exposure of what’s going on will automatically stop them. They’ll fight every inch of the way. You can see what they’ve done already. How many unlikely people do they have in their pocket? I know John Blumer, and I always thought he was a decent bloke.’ Fynn undid the ropes on the tender and lowered it into the creek.