by TJ Park
She remembered how Doug had been slow to leave. Now she had some idea of what had kept him occupied. She knew what would be buried there.
Too easy, Doug. To give away what you have plenty of. I know you meant well, but it shows how little you thought of us. Never a true sacrifice on your part.
Yet she also thought what he had managed to do for them. She would be able to sell the station. And there would be more than enough to provide a legacy for Lauren and Scott. University for Lauren if she wished. A down payment for Scott if he wanted a station of his own one day.
But she kept her hand on the opal in the basket of eggs, still hesitant.
Don’t be stupid, woman. This is what you’re owed at the very least.
But she knew what belonged to her, and what didn’t.
“Mrs Clarkson?”
“Blood money,” she muttered.
“Sorry?”
She stood up and handed him the opal.
“You might want to get some of your men to check over the coop.”
The detective looked dumbly at what sat on his palm. “Bloody hell,” he said.
“I’d suggest digging up the ground,” she said. “But remember, I want it back the way it was, after.”
Hens scattered from the sergeant’s path, one nearly got trampled as he rushed away. “Harwood! Pellowe! Over here!”
She left the enclosure and walked into the yard, cutting a line through the police officers running the other way.
Later, she would ask the detective when the ruins of the house would be deemed safe to enter so she could go in and retrieve what she could. Though much had been taken from her, she still felt blessed by what she’d been allowed to keep, by what she’d been given.
As police and other officials hurried about her, Janet looked over the property, wondering what else she could save.
About the Author
TJ PARK is an Australian novelist and screenwriter. He was raised on a steady diet of Stephen King novels, British science-fiction television, and the cinema of John Carpenter and Sergio Leone. Not much else is known about him. That’s just the way he likes it.
Copyright
Impulse
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in Australia in 2015
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © TJ Park 2016
The right of TJ Park to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollinsPublishers
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
A 53, Sector 57, Noida, UP, India
1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF, United Kingdom
2 Bloor Street East, 20th floor, Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8, Canada
195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007, USA
ISBN 978 1 4607 0664 0 (epub)
Cover design by Ross Robinson
Cover image by Santiago Caruso