Adam touched his arm at the end of the strange tale, knowing, because he was a cop, just how much Rick had risked to help them. Thank you.
Again Rick didn’t quite look at him, and Adam had the sense of something being off. ‘She’s my sister. I waited over a year for her to come here, plenty of time to get a few plans in place. You only had a few days.’
How could you be sure she’d come?
Rick fiddled with a pen lying on Adam’s tray table. ‘Your brother said she’d come, and your great-aunt. They said—’ He shrugged. ‘I’m sure she’s told you by now.’
Yeah. Now he couldn’t look at Rick. So damn stupid. All those years, his family had known, and he’d been blind.
‘So what will you do?’
Adam tried to smile, and pointed at him. Second wedding? Best man?
Rick grinned. ‘You bet.’
He made a fist, giving Rick’s shoulder a weak punch.
His friend laughed. ‘I had fun playing rogue cop, being the unknown spy, outwitting the undercovers on my tail. I might join ASIO.’ He winked. ‘Well, mate, I told you months ago you needed a shake-up, and you got it. You can’t say life with my sister will be boring. She’ll keep you on the run till you’re ninety, I reckon.’ He winked. ‘Not to mention other sundry members of the family.’
He winced with the pain his laugh of agreement brought. Never could two lives be less reconciled than the ones he’d lived. Life with Sharon had been a carousel: quiet, steady, predictable, but constantly coming back around to tension and regret. If he continued to bring up Zoe the way Sharon had wanted him to, he’d lose her. Zoe was his daughter, with the adventurous streak that could either be repressed to the point of rebellion, or nourished to make her life pure joy.
Life with Elly was a roller coaster—but experiencing the joy of every minute with her was more than worth living through the downs that had come, and would be sure to come again, if not so dramatically as this time.
The last chains around his heart snapped and fell. At last, he’d escaped his self-inflicted prison – and Zoe was young enough to ensure she’d never remember it, thank God. He was alive again, and he’d stay that way—so long as Elly was by his side. His every memory of happiness came from her. Doctoring those bedraggled critters of hers, running wild on the grass, climbing trees, stealing tractors and apples. Riding the highway in fast convertibles, eating pizza, skinny-dipping. Seeing the love in her eyes as she looked at his daughter.
A passion he’d never known before. Watching her come to vivid life under his touch; reaching out for him again and again, in unashamed wonder and desire. Talking about his hopes and dreams, knowing she not only listened, but shared in every one of them, and would help to make them come true if she could. Setting up the clinic together would be a challenge he’d treasure for life—so long as he had Elly beside him.
His face broke out in a crazy grin that made him wince in pain. Finally he realised why his marriage had been so traumatic for him and Sharon both; at last he understood what he suspected Sharon had known the whole time. Loving, adventurous Elly-May was the love of his life, and always had been.
Now to find her, and convince her he was worth another try.
‘I think he knows,’ Rick said as he found Elly in the doctor’s office. ‘At least he knows something’s not right. Someone’s going to say something about you before long.’
She sighed and rubbed her forehead. ‘I thought you’d find it hard to lie to him. Can you take me to the bus tomorrow?’
‘He loves you, Janie.’
She almost winced. ‘Sometimes that isn’t enough.’
‘Why not?’ Her brother held her gaze. ‘He wants you to stay here, Janie—and so do the townsfolk. So do I.’
She walked around the desk to him, hugging him as fiercely as he did her. ‘I want to stay.’
He kissed the top of her head. ‘Then stay, little sis.’
Tears stung her eyes again. So emotional lately. ‘Not while Danny’s alive. Not while none of us can stop Jeremiah.’
Rick sighed. The media had already reported the so-called ‘witch hunt’ of the Spencer family, thanks to Jeremiah’s barristers and friends on the High Court. Lorena Spencer had been given a court order to keep her away from Danny. ‘It’s only been a few days. Give us some time, and we’ll—’
She shook her head. ‘You did more than anyone could, but five people died, and Simon is still critical. Adam will never be the same, and Jeremiah gets away with it all again. You can’t take on the whole system and win, Ricky. Adam almost died this time. I can’t risk him—or you. If I lost you again …’
‘Not going to happen.’ He lifted her up as if she were a child, holding her hard against him. ‘It’s hard for you to believe, but I’m here for life. I love you, Janie-jan.’
‘I’m wetting your shirt,’ she whispered, hiccuping.
‘Ruin the damn thing, and I’ll still love you.’
Every word he spoke was a balm on her soul. He knew she couldn’t say it back yet, and didn’t mind. He’d had the stable family life and love. ‘I’ll let you know when I change phone numbers.’
He sighed. ‘I can’t stop you?’
‘It’s for you.’
He sighed again. ‘You just won’t see it, will you? We’d rather risk it all to have you with us. I wish I’d found you years ago, before you stopped believing people could love you.’
Eyes and throat stinging, she held him so hard he probably couldn’t breathe. ‘I believe you love me, Ricky.’ There was no way she could deny it, after all he’d done.
‘Just not anyone else?’
One shoulder lifted, and fell. Not lying, just unable to tell the truth.
‘If we can stop Jeremiah Spencer, you’d come back to us?’
She wished she knew. ‘I’ll always be your sister.’
His jaw worked. ‘Go pack, little sis. I think there’s a flight tonight from here to Bankstown.’
Seven days later, Rick came in the hospital room to find Adam dressed, his bags beside him. ‘You’re off, then?’
He nodded. ‘I tried to quit, but Sarge gave me indefinite leave until I come back.’ Though he could speak now, more than a week after the siege, his voice still rasped and his throat hurt like hell. ‘I’ll get the car, then I’m off to the Southern Highlands to see Zoe. Then I’m heading to Sydney.’
Rick tossed him the keys. ‘I brought the Beemer in. I had a feeling you’d be off today. Since I have to be in Sydney by Monday for the hostage negotiation course and the D exam, I thought I’d hitch a ride with you. I need to see my fiancée, or she might run off with another Prince Eric lookalike.’
He tossed the keys back. ‘You drive.’
His friend grinned. ‘What’ll you do when you find her?’
‘Marry her, bring her home to Macks Lake and set up a mobile medical clinic together. I’m signing up for flying lessons and upgrading my first aid from basic.’
Rick laughed. ‘When you get out of your rut, you don’t muck around. Good thing for both of us, as well as the town. I’ll be glad to have her nearby.’ He gripped Adam’s hand. ‘Welcome to the family, bro.’
‘Don’t get emotional on me. My throat still hurts.’
Rick laughed, then sobered. ‘She answers my calls, but won’t tell me where she is. By the time I get the tower she’s calling from, she’s gone somewhere else. She knows I’m visiting you, so she’s locking me out. I’ll go meet my family while I’m in Sydney; I’ll get more information from them than you could, and I’m sure she’s with one of them.’
His throat thickened. ‘Thanks, mate.’
‘Brother,’ Rick amended softly.
He nodded. After years alone, he had acceptance, family. Thanks to Elly. ‘Brother.’
‘You know Spencer’s put the wheels in motion to have Danny removed to his care? We’ve got to find her—fast—or she’ll leave the country.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Adam replied, just as taut. ‘I’ll find
her.’
He signed himself out of the hospital. Rick slung their bags into the boot of the BMW. ‘I’ll be looking for her as soon as they have a replacement for one of us. Let’s find her, mate.’
CHAPTER
22
Adam slammed down the phone for at least the fiftieth time. ‘Where the hell is she?’
His mother touched his arm. ‘You’ll find her.’
‘How? Either every single member of both her family and mine are lying through their teeth, or she left them months ago without trace! Even Rick isn’t answering my calls now. He’s with her, I know he is, but he won’t talk to me.’ He was at his mum’s on a flying visit to see Zoe before he tried another friend, another relative, anyone who might know Elly’s whereabouts. He’d been running around for over two months now.
‘Would it help to talk about it, Adam?’ his mother asked quietly.
His gaze fell. ‘It’s—hard for me—’
‘Except with Janie.’ Mum’s smile was sad, but accepting. ‘It was always that way. Your father was wrong to keep you apart.’ She shrugged as he looked up in sudden fury. ‘You know how much your father wanted for you and Jared. The Jepsons have always been a respectable family. When Jared went into corporate law and married Hannah, and then took over the farm, your father was content. But you always worried him. Being a policeman, especially in the Federal Police, was enough to frighten him. Your feelings for Janie, though—they terrified him.’
‘Her Koori background,’ he said flatly.
‘Give your father some credit,’ his mother snapped. ‘No, he wasn’t fond of it, and that was obvious to us all, but he got used to it. But he could never feel safe around her. It was all the things he saw she was bringing to life in you—that passion for living, and disregard for consequences—your wildness when you were with her scared him. So before Janie was old enough for you to get serious with her, he arranged for you to meet Sharon. She was everything he wanted for you: a lady, a teacher, a daughter of a friend in the Southern Highlands Council.’
‘And I fell for it. I wanted Dad to be proud of me for once.’ He met his mother’s eyes. ‘Sharon and I were never suited. We were miserable together.’
‘I know. It hurt me to see you and Sharon so unhappy. It hurt your father, too, the way you buried yourself in work, taking so many risks.’ She added quietly, ‘Avoiding him and Sharon.’
‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I even avoided the kids.’
‘He knew he was wrong to do what he did, but a man of his pride couldn’t admit it, or tell you he was sorry, even when he was dying.’ His mother gulped, and smiled. ‘But you’re still young. So find your Elly, and give me more babies to fuss over. I’ll be happy to move to Macks Lake to help out with babysitting while you two play Flying Doctors. It’s time you learned to fly again, son.’
‘I’ll do my best, on both counts.’ He hugged her, feeling closer to his mother than he had in many years.
His phone rang. After checking the caller ID, he snatched it up. ‘Aunty Hat, how are you?’
‘We have no time for that,’ Aunty Hat snapped. ‘I assume you’d like to know where Janie is? Or did you merely use her?’
‘You know where Elly is? Is she with you?’
‘She was here for a fortnight. I lied every time you came or called, just as her family all did. She doesn’t want to see you.’ His great-aunt sounded belligerent. ‘Promise to do the right thing by her, Adam, or I hang up now!’
He laughed, giddy with relief. ‘I already did the right thing, Aunty Hat, I swear!’
‘Hmph. A tribal marriage?’ His aunt sniffed. ‘I want a ceremony I can see, in a church or a garden, with all the family. Swear to it, Adam, or she’ll be gone before you can find her.’
‘Anything Elly wants is hers. Aunty Hat, please tell me where she is,’ he pleaded. ‘I might have hurt her, but I never used her. I love her.’
‘I always knew that,’ his great-aunt said. ‘I’m glad you finally know it, too, darling.’
A sudden suspicion hit him. ‘Did you play Cupid on us, Aunty Hat?’
‘What do you think?’ She gave a wise chuckle. ‘When you wouldn’t come out of your grief and guilt, I only knew of one person you’d respond to.’ She sighed. ‘ I lost the love of my life. I didn’t want you to lose yours. I just want you to be happy, Adam. Janie’s always loved you, the way you deserve to be loved—and she deserves everything she wants.’
Gruff with embarrassment, he said, ‘I don’t know about deserving her. But I’m not letting her go again.’
‘Good boy.’ To his surprise, his great-aunt giggled. ‘How many stiff-necked Jepsons do you think will boycott the wedding?’
‘I don’t care. Please, just tell me where she is!’
Aunty Hat sighed again. ‘She’s flying out to the Congo tonight to join a volunteer medical team in the war zone.’
He gasped again. ‘The Congo? What the hell—I mean, what for?’
‘You don’t know? Haven’t you watched the news?’ Aunty Hat sounded frightened. ‘Detective Sergeant Barlow called her three days ago. Jeremiah Spencer paid an actor with a strong resemblance to his grandson to get a job as a wardsman at the place Spencer was being held, and then swap places with him. Spencer’s been on the loose for seven days now. The actor was arrested, but they let him go. Apparently he thought he was on one of those reality shows—Jeremiah Spencer even had a fake TV contract drawn up for him. Danny swapped clothes with the wardsman, changed his hair and put in contacts the wardsman gave him, and was gone by the next check. They believe he had inside help. Three members of the security staff have emptied their bank accounts and disappeared. But Jeremiah Spencer has at last stepped over the line. He’s been charged—something to do with aiding and abetting a known criminal.’
‘My God,’ he gasped. Why the hell hadn’t Sarge told him? Because I haven’t answered the phone unless a member of the family was calling. Because I don’t want to be a cop anymore.
‘Janie panicked, and called a friend who’d signed up with the Medicin Sans Frontières team. They always need more medical staff. She said this time, even if Spencer’s grandfather could get him a fake passport, he’d have to get through a war zone to find her.’
He collapsed into a chair. ‘Maybe she’s right. She’ll never be safe in Australia with Spencer on the loose.’
‘Go to the airport, Adam,’ Aunty Hat said gently. ‘You need to see her before you make the decision to let her go.’
His trained ears picking up her urgent stress on the word ‘see’, he growled, ‘What’s happened to her, Aunty Hat?’
She sighed. ‘I promised her I wouldn’t tell. But if you see her, you’ll know what to do.’
‘Thanks.’ About to hang up, he added, ‘Love you, Aunty Hat.’
She gave a rippling laugh. ‘Just find her, Adam. Take your badge. It’s the flight via Johannesburg.’
He dropped the phone. ‘Call any of the family who can make it to the airport in time, Mum. I’ll need all the help I can get to make Elly agree to come back to me.’
Zoe had been bouncing from foot to foot through the conversation. ‘Are you going to get Annelly now, Daddy?’
Adam nodded, swinging her up onto his hip.
Zoe kissed his face repeatedly. ‘Bring her here, Daddy, so we can go home! She wants to go home. She told me.’
He frowned, staring at his daughter. ‘What? When did Aunt Elly call you?’
Zoe giggled. ‘All the time, Daddy. The last times—this many—’ she held up a hand full of fingers ‘—from Uncle Rick’s phone. She said it’s our special secret.’
He couldn’t feel anger; he understood and forgave, even though it hurt that Elly and Rick had both lied to him. They loved Zoe, and Rick would do anything for his sister—as Elly would for him … for them both. She was willing to sacrifice herself to save him. Again.
‘Will you do me a favour?’ he asked, and when he told his daughter what it was, she laughed and grabbed his phon
e from him. At almost five, she could work the damned thing better than he could.
After kissing Zoe a final time, he went for the BMW at a run. The dust swirled around the old farm as he screeched away without a backward glance. But he made a final call, to reinforce the local cops who were watching his mother and daughter, night and day.
By the time he’d reached the outskirts of Sydney, Adam knew he was being followed. Every time he glanced in the rear-vision mirror, the silver turbo sedan was the same distance behind him. If he slowed down or sped up, it copied his action.
He had less than three hours to lose the tail and find Elly. Though he still had his police ID, he didn’t have a gun. He hoped to God Rick had his. He’d tipped off the airport police, giving his name and rank, and told them they could probably find Danny Spencer at the gate with the flight to Kinshasa via Johannesburg. He also reported the tail.
He called Rick, but it went straight to message, as usual. He called Elly’s grandmother, and her cousin Kara, with the same result. Please, let them all be with her.
He took the quickest route to the airport through backstreets he’d found during his time as a city cop. He drove as fast as he could without risking injury to anyone. Come on, God, where are the cops around here?
His prayer was answered. A few minutes later, sirens wailed behind him. He stopped, flashed his badge and immediately recruited new allies. They chased the silver car, calling for backup as their quarry roared off.
A stretch limo fell in behind him at the airport turn-off from the Princes Highway, but he paid it no more attention than necessary before he roared into the international terminal, parking in the emergency section. He flashed his badge again; the security guards watched both the car and the entrance, in case Danny Spencer escaped the cops on his tail.
Having flashed his badge at check-in, Adam soon found out she hadn’t even checked in yet. He looked everywhere. At last he found her in a café bar near her check-in desk, surrounded by family, both Larkins and Jepson. He blew out a sigh of relief, sending up a silent prayer of thanks that she hadn’t yet gone through security to the gates, and for his mother’s quick work in sending half the family he had in Sydney.
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