‘You don’t have to tell me,’ Dave said.
‘Anyway, I’ve got maps, pulled the IRs and, yeah, it’s got to be the same bloke. There are too many individual crimes with basically the same MO to make them one-offs.’
‘I thought so too. I got all the moon phases and weather reports for the dates that the crimes occurred. Whoever’s behind it is really clever and organised.’
‘I agree, and they might still get away with it, too, because we have another problem.’
‘Somehow I knew you were going to tell me that.’
‘We’ve been told to back off.’
‘By who? The druggies?’
‘Yep.’
‘Do you know anything else?’
‘Well, only what they were willing to tell me, which wasn’t much. But the story goes that the car is connected to a Donald P. Hample, also known as Donnie or Paddy. I’m not going to do a search on him, because I’m pretty sure he’ll be flagged too, but I know who he is. He’s allegedly an underworld figure peddling drugs, but – surprise, surprise – he has a legit business: a real estate agency selling rural properties.
‘The druggies seem to think that if they can get hold of this car, they can tie Donnie to it and a couple of crimes, but they’ve lost track of it.
‘Now, I’ve been doing some thinking. What if Donnie knew the druggies had something on him – a photo of him driving it or something – and he asked someone to make the car disappear? And just suppose this someone who was meant to break it down or push it into the ocean or whatever didn’t. Let’s suppose they ghosted it instead – filed off the chassis number, put new plates on and kept it. Be tempting, wouldn’t it? Brand new sports car, something to pull the chicks with.’
Dave kept silent, but he was nodding his head all the while. What Geoff was saying rang true.
‘Now, if our rural thief did that, he’d have the perfect car for casing farms, wouldn’t he?’ Geoff continued. ‘He might stand out, but a bloke driving a Mazda RX-8 wouldn’t want anything from a farm, would he? He’s obviously completely lost! And here’s the best bit. If he has ghosted it and is using it to check out farms, he wouldn’t be driving it that often. What do you think?’
‘That’s a pretty interesting theory, mate, and it all sounds plausible. I’m sorry if I’ve got you in hot water with the druggies though.’ He broke off as his mobile rang. He looked at the number. ‘Hey, Geoff, my cousin’s calling on my mobile – just hold the line for a minute, would you? . . . Hey, Kate.’
‘Oh, Dave, you’ll never believe what’s happened.’ Her voice came in hiccups, like she’d been crying.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked urgently.
‘We had a phone call yesterday, saying to stop meddling or something would happen to make us stop – but we didn’t take it seriously. I mean, we haven’t investigated that much, and –’ She talked on, not making any sense to Dave.
‘Kate, what’s happened?’ Dave broke in.
‘It’s Matt, he’s been bashed. The police think he was hit with an iron bar. Dave, he’s in a coma. Bloody hell, he might die!’
‘Kate, you need to calm down. Tell me what the message said.’
Kate repeated it word for word.
‘Okay, hold on.’ He picked up the other phone. ‘Geoff, it looks like we’ve definitely touched a nerve. My cousin’s friend – the one who had the fertiliser stolen – has been assaulted. He’s in a coma.’
Geoff swore. ‘Hell, Dave, what can of worms have they opened?’
‘Who only knows. I’ll ring you when I’ve worked out what I’m going to do. Thanks, mate.’
‘Talk to you then.’
Dave hung up the landline and picked up the mobile again.
‘Where are you at the moment, Kate?’
‘We’re still at home.’
‘Are you going to the hospital?’
‘Yeah, we’re just about to leave. Matt’s wife Anna and his parents are already there.’
‘Tell me what you know about the attack.’
Kate sniffed and took a shuddering breath. ‘All I know is what Anna told me when she rang. His friend Shane had arranged to pick him up to go out for a drink, but when Shane arrived Matt was lying on the ground in the dark. Shane called an ambulance and now he’s at Royal Adelaide Hospital.Anna didn’t find out till this afternoon because Shane couldn’t get hold of her – she was out at our place early this morning. Dave, I’m scared.’
‘Of course you are. Look, just be very careful. Stay in contact with me all the time – just a text message to say things are okay. If something happens, anything unusual or strange, let me know – and make sure you tell the police who are investigating the assault about the threatening phone call you had. Have you still got it on the machine?’
‘I think so.’
‘Good, take the answering machine with you to the hospital and give it to the police so they can listen. Kate? Be careful. I don’t know what we’re up against, but it’s serious shit, okay?’ He hung up.
His fingers hovered over his computer, itchy to look for information on this Donald Hample and his Mazda, but he didn’t dare. How else could he help look after Kate from over here?
In frustration, he turned back to the reports from Merredin, but his mind wasn’t really on the job.
‘Bastards,’ he muttered. Desperate people had no respect for human lives when they were cornered. They would do anything not to be caught. He’d seen it time and time again when innocent people had somehow got caught up in criminal activities and had been badly hurt, sometimes physically, but mostly mentally. He didn’t want that to happen to Kate. Or her friends.
He wasn’t used to feeling helpless. Usually he could make a decision and act on it. Dave thought about flying to Adelaide, but he knew there was simply no point. It was out of his jurisdiction; his hands were tied.
He paced the room for a while, then shrugged. It was time to take some of his own advice. Let the cops do their job. What else could he do?
Chapter 42
Anna’s eyes were red from crying. She sat next to Matt’s bed, holding his hand, stroking his hair and talking to him softly.
From the time she’d received Shane’s phone call, packed Ella a bag, driven to Adelaide, dropped Ella at Rob’s then gone on to the hospital, six hours had passed. In that time, the doctors had assessed Matt, run their tests and worked out what they were going to do. The nurses had cleaned the blood from his head, but, surprisingly, there had been very little to see. Other than his face being incredibly pale and the various monitors he was hooked up to, he looked like he was sleeping. She still hadn’t seen his doctor and had to make do with the snippets the nurses were telling her. The frustrating thing was they couldn’t tell much – they weren’t allowed to.‘You’ll have to ask the doctor that,’ they said, looking at her with sympathy.
The door opened and she looked up, hoping to see the doctor, but it was Matt’s father, his face ashen. He tried to smile at Anna but couldn’t seem to make his mouth work.
‘Hello,’ Anna said softly.
‘Any change?’
‘No, not yet.’ Anna looked back at Matt’s still body.
Ian dragged a chair over to the other side of the bed. Anna couldn’t look at Ian and she hadn’t been able to talk to Laura either when she had been here earlier. She’d been worried that they would ask her to leave, but she needed to be by Matt’s side – she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. Their separation had been forgotten, in Anna’s mind.
They sat in silence, Anna avoiding Ian’s eyes, each lost in their thoughts, until Ian leaned forward and touched Anna’s hand.
‘Anna, love,’ the older man started, ‘you need to be here, okay? There’s no need to feel uncomfortable around Laura and me. We know the last couple of years have been really tough for you and Matt, but we’re sure this separation thing was just a temporary blip in your marriage. As far as we’re concerned, you’re still Matt’s wife and you have a right to be her
e.’
Anna’s eyes swam with tears. Everyone had said the breakup was just a small setback in their relationship but, until today, she hadn’t believed them despite the way she’d missed him and craved his company. She had thought her marriage to Matt was truly over.
But when Shane had rung her from the hospital, the fear she had felt had taken her breath away. And now, as she sat here, holding the hand of the man she loved, she knew she could never be whole without him.
Anna felt the lump in her throat grow so large she didn’t think she could talk, but somehow she managed to say, ‘Thanks, Ian. I hoped you didn’t think it was inappropriate for me to be here, but I couldn’t be anywhere else. I love him.’
The door opened quietly and a man walked in. He held out his hand to Anna. ‘I’m Doctor Grant,’ he said.
Anna stood quickly and shook the doctor’s hand, introducing herself and Ian.
‘Is he going to be okay?’ she asked desperately, all the other questions she had planned to ask suddenly forgotten. All she needed was the reassurance that Matt would be fine, that he would be himself again. Her husband, Ella’s dad.
‘Matt has sustained a severe brain injury as a result of his assault. There’s quite a bit of swelling around the brain. So, to give him the best chance, we’ve put him in an induced coma. That means we’ve given him heavy drugs to put him in a coma – it’s important you understand that we’ve made him go into it, okay?’
Anna and Ian nodded.
‘Most of the swelling is at the back of the brain, where he was hit.’ The doctor indicated with his hands, before continuing. ‘The point of keeping him unconscious is to reduce the amount of energy needed by that part of the brain. Once the swelling starts to go down and the brain begins to heal, we’re hopeful the area that has been worst affected will have been protected. If it has been, Matt should, in time, make a full recovery.
‘I’m prepared to say the outlook for Matt is positive, but of course there are still plenty of variables, and we won’t know for sure until he regains consciousness.’
Anna sagged against the bed in relief.
‘I’m going to monitor him over the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. That will mean some brain scans and a few other things. If the swelling has started to go down, then we’ll bring him out slowly.
I promise you we’ll do the very best we can for him.’
‘Thank you,’ said Ian, his voice hoarse, tears in his eyes.
‘Thank you very much, Doctor Grant.’ Anna echoed his sentiments.
The doctor reviewed the chart at the bottom of the bed, then said goodbye and left.
Anna picked up her handbag.‘I’ll go and call Sam and my brothers,’ she said. ‘I’m so thankful Ella is with Rob. She didn’t really understand what was happening and why I had to leave so quickly. I just told her Daddy was sick and Mummy needed to go and see him.’
Ian nodded. ‘I’ll ring Laura. She was trying to get in contact with all the family before she came back in again.’
Their calls made, they sat in silence, Anna holding one of Matt’s hands and Ian the other. Anna’s mind was churning with questions, with things she wanted to say to Matt, but couldn’t with Ian there. ‘I’m sorry, Matt. I didn’t believe you and I should have. I love you.’ She felt an urge to talk to fill the silence, to drown out the beeping of the machines. To let Matt know they were there. She didn’t want him thinking he was alone.
Finally, Anna said, ‘Tell me about Matt as a baby.’
Ian shifted in the chair and cleared his throat. ‘Such a long time ago, but at the same time, it seems like yesterday. He was a screamer. Used to scare us half to death in the middle of the night when he woke up wanting a feed.’ He smiled sadly. ‘And he was a right little monkey when he was a toddler. Had Laura running everywhere after him, much like your Ella now.’ His voice broke and he looked down at the bed.
Anna saw him swallow hard and regretted her question. ‘I’m sorry.’
Ian shook his head. ‘No. It’s okay. It’s good to talk.’
They were silent again then Anna started to hum the songs she knew Matt loved. She told him stories of Ella and funny things which had happened with Kate and Sam.All the while, she was trying to connect with him, willing his damaged brain to heal.
Anna didn’t hear Ian get up and leave and she didn’t know how long she sat there, but when she felt a hand on her shoulder, she jumped and came out of her trance.
‘You need to sleep, Anna. How long have you been here?’
Anna blinked. It was Matt’s boss, Jimmy.
‘I don’t know. I don’t even know what day it is.’
‘Come on, let me take you back to the yard. Or a hotel. Somewhere you can shower and sleep. You’ll be no good to anyone if you collapse from exhaustion.’
‘I can’t leave. I need to be here.’
‘What about if I ask the nurse if she can bring you a bed?’
A wave of tiredness overtook Anna as she looked into Jimmy’s kind face.
‘Anna, I think Matt is a top young man. I’ve enjoyed getting to know him over the last few months and I’m so sorry this has happened.’ Anna noticed his face was creased with worry and sorrow.
‘I can’t leave, Jimmy, I just can’t.’ She turned back to look at Matt.
With a sigh, Jimmy sat in the chair Ian had vacated and he patted Matt’s arm awkwardly.
‘Come on, me lad, you need to come back to us. You’ve got a wife who’s waiting to see you.’
Anna smiled sadly, and then looked around as the door opened again and a nurse entered.
‘Mrs Butler? The police are here wanting to ask you some questions. Can you come and talk to them?’
‘I don’t want to leave Matt.’
‘Well, love, it’s probably best to get it out of the way so you can concentrate on getting better. I’m sure they won’t take long.’
‘I’ll stay here, Anna. I won’t move until you get back,’ Jimmy promised.
Anna got up stiffly and followed the nurse down the corridor to where two police officers sat in an office.
‘Hello, Mrs Butler.’ The older of the two rose and held out his hand. ‘I’m Sergeant Harry Jones. Could we ask you some questions about what happened to your husband?’
‘I don’t really know anything, we were separated,’ Anna blurted out, blinking back her tears. ‘I wasn’t there.’
‘I understand, but any tiny piece of information will help us find out who did this. Did you know he was going out last night?’
Anna shook her head. ‘No. The first thing I knew was when Shane rang and told me something had happened.’
‘When was the last time you saw him?’
‘About a week ago. He came over to see our little girl, Ella.’
‘And did he seem okay? Normal? Didn’t mention he was worried about anything? Or anyone?’
‘No, but he didn’t really talk to me. It would be best if you talked to our friends Kate and Sam. He’d been seeing them a lot.’
‘Why was that?’
‘Well, they’re friends.’
‘Okay. So you’re not aware of anything he was doing that could have put him in danger?’
Anna exhaled. It was time for her to show Matt she believed in him. Hoping it wasn’t too late, she cried. ‘Yes! He was trying to find out who stole our fertiliser and Sam’s motorbike. But it wasn’t just him, it was Sam and Kate too. There was a heap of other farmers in the mid-north who’d had things taken from their farms. Matt was convinced the same person was doing it.
‘Someone left a threatening message on Sam and Kate’s answering machine warning them to stop asking questions.’ Anna paused, trying to catch her breath; her words were coming out so fast. ‘Then this happened to Matt.’
The police officers looked somewhat stunned. Did they think this was just a random bashing? Anna thought. Well there was something going on, and it needed to be blown wide open.
There was a tapping at the door and she
looked up to see Sam and Kate standing there.
‘Oh, thank God,’ cried Anna, then she burst into floods of tears.
Chapter 43
Jimmy left the hospital, his shoulders heavy with sorrow.
He liked Matt a great deal. He could see something in the lad he recognised from his own young self: a thirst to do what he loved. Such a shame that he’d had it all snatched away.
Oh yes, he remembered the excitement of starting his own business, of feeling complete when he was working. But he also remembered his devastation when he lost so much in the eighties. In that way, he could relate to Matt as well.
Jimmy knew Matt had been grieving since he’d started working for him and that was another emotion that he remembered. Losing the business he had built up with nothing but his own hands was like the loss of a loved one. It meant he was a failure, not only in the eyes of his wife and family, but also in the eyes of the community and to all who knew him. He’d let himself and everyone down.
Of course, Jimmy now knew this wasn’t true and had tried to explain that to Matt. It was a matter of Jimmy being older and wiser. And just when he’d thought he was finally getting through to the lad, this happened.
To see him lying unresponsive in the hospital bed broke his heart.
Jimmy drove aimlessly through the city, taking turns without even noticing where he was going. Subconsciously, he must have had a destination in mind, however, because the next thing he knew he was pulling into a parking spot in front of his old home. He was back where this whole ghastly mess had started.
The large cement bricks of the public housing block were stark and grey and the paint was peeling from the windowsills. When Jimmy looked up he could see an old lady watching hopefully from the window on the second floor. Who was she waiting for? Family? Did they come often – or ever?
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