by Jennie Jones
Jack gave him a cop look and went to the vehicle to inspect it for himself. He paused by the rear and glanced at the boot. Did Billy have stolen goods in there?
‘The front left-hand tyre’s a bit worn,’ Billy said, leading Jack’s attention off the boot. ‘But not so much as you need to give me a warning.’
‘Why don’t you let me be the judge?’ Jack checked the petrol cap but it was only the metal flap opening that was duct-taped. The cap screwed on correctly and tightly. He checked each tyre. ‘Both front tyres will need to be replaced soon.’
‘But not yet.’
‘Soon,’ Jack reiterated.
‘There’s more duct tape on the boot,’ Frances said.
Jack didn’t startle easily but it surprised him that she’d joined them, let alone made a comment.
‘That’s nothing,’ Billy said. ‘It locks okay.’
Jack had no intention of looking in the boot just yet, or pumping the boy for information about his brothers who were now working as cleaners at Lizard Claws. He wanted more info from Solomon first. ‘What speed does it reach?’
‘Hundred and forty if—’ Billy stopped the explanation of his prowess and paled.
Jack looked at him from beneath a frown.
‘If I’m on my parents’ property,’ Billy finished.
‘Thought you never went there anymore,’ Frances said. ‘You only go into town, don’t you?’
Billy gave her a stay out of it glare.
‘Your vehicle looks to be in roadworthy condition,’ Jack told him. ‘But it’s going to take a bit of cash to keep it that way.’
‘He’s got a job,’ Frances told him. ‘He works for Solomon.’
Jack smiled at her and left his gaze on her a little longer. She was a lonely looking kid, but pretty beneath the cap of heavy hair, and if he wasn’t mistaken, there was a kind streak in her too. She’d get that from Jax. What had she taken from her father’s gene pool? He didn’t know but found himself inexplicably hoping it was nothing.
‘So you’re clean?’ he asked Billy.
Billy opened his mouth then looked at his hands.
‘He means drugs,’ Frances said.
Jack was taken aback. Frances could read between lines. Interesting, and maybe helpful, but he didn’t want her getting mixed up in anything Billy was up to.
‘I don’t do drugs,’ Billy said, affronted. ‘I never did them. Not even when I had the chance and I had plenty of chances …’ Once again, he stopped when he realised he’d said too much.
Frances stepped forwards.
‘Around my school,’ she said, stopping at Billy’s side as though attempting to protect him, or maybe just to get him to shut up, ‘there was a woman who sold drugs on the street and she had a bodyguard.’
Jack tilted his head, showing her his interest since she was being talkative.
‘The bodyguard had a gun!’
‘Wow,’ he said, giving her the type of shocked frown she’d want. ‘Got any names for me?’ But he couldn’t hold back his smile. It was easy to smile at her, now that she was talking and taking notice of what was going on around her instead of hanging her head and hoping nobody would see her. ‘Don’t worry, Frances. The cops around your old school will know all about the woman and the bodyguard and the gun.’
‘Really? Do you know about drugs here in Mt Maria?’
Billy perked up at that, although Jack knew the boy didn’t do drugs. Being badass was enough for Billy Baxter. He was pretty sure the older boys didn’t do drugs either. They couldn’t afford to, for a start.
‘Yeah,’ Jack said. ‘We know everything that goes on.’
‘Do you get murders?’ Frances asked.
‘Not here.’
‘Do you get a lot of car theft?’
‘Some.’
‘Are there pokie machines in the hotel?’
That one had him stumped. ‘No. Why?’
She shrugged. ‘Just wondered.’
‘You talk such crap,’ Billy said.
Jack glanced at him. ‘You’re talking about a friend of mine.’ He waited out the pause. Billy reddened.
‘He’s okay,’ Frances told Jack. ‘He doesn’t mean half of what he says.’
‘I hope not,’ Jack said, staring out Billy.
‘Have you taken a look at the youth centre yet?’ he asked Frances, moving from Billy’s vehicle back to the work ute.
He didn’t look over his shoulder but the silence behind him told him more than they knew. They’d be throwing looks at each other. Billy frowning in a ‘say nothing’ manner and Frances frowning in an ‘I didn’t say anything’ way.
He turned to check on the pair of them. They were up to something, but perhaps it was no more than getting to know each other. ‘By the way,’ he said to Frances, ‘I’m giving a talk at the youth centre next week. Would you give me a hand?’
Frances paused, caution entering her eyes. ‘How?’
‘I’ll be talking to young people your age. I’d like you to read what I have to say first and let me know if I’ve got it in your kind of language. I don’t want to sound like a dumb adult.’
She had to pinch her lips together to hold on to a smile.
He grinned. He liked this kid. Whatever sat heavily inside her, perhaps it could be mended before it got out of hand. Maybe her hurts hadn’t touched her too deeply yet. He got the impression they were painful and might take a lot to overcome, but they weren’t ingrained like Jack’s hurts as a child had been. He hadn’t got rid of all his hurts—more like aggressive embarrassment about his upbringing—until he went into the force. Jax could help fix Frances’s emotional wounds. Maybe Jack could too, if Jax ever let him get close enough to try.
‘Come on then,’ Billy said, getting into the work ute. ‘Jax will chew my ear off if I get you home late.’
‘Aren’t we going in your car?’ Frances asked.
‘The ute’s got a full tank,’ Billy said, starting the engine. ‘Might as well use it.’
Frances hesitated for a minute then moved towards the ute, shooting Jack a quick look.
‘See you later,’ Jack said. ‘Stick to the limit, Billy,’ he called. ‘And Frances—if he goes over, you tick him off. I’m leaving you in charge.’
She threw him a surprised grin.
‘Typical,’ Billy mumbled, but loud enough for Jack to hear. ‘Now I’ve got to do as she says, and she’s not even an adult.’
Frances suppressed her smile and got into the ute. Jack was pretty sure she’d squared her shoulders a little too.
Solomon came out of his house and walked down the pathway to meet Jack just beyond the far end of the stable block.
Jack was tempted to knock the slow smile off his face. ‘Have any trouble with the fence yesterday?’ he asked.
‘Great day. Sunshine, warmth, good food and very pleasant company.’
Bastard. ‘I saw you kiss her.’
Solomon thought about this for a second. ‘Don’t recall kissing her yesterday. But I kissed her cheek the other day. Were you watching?’
‘You know damn well I was.’ Jack shifted his stance. ‘So what’s going on? Are you making a play for her?’
‘No.’ Solomon pulled a pile of bridles off a rack and hefted them over his arm, his tone and demeanour serious now. ‘I’m showing her the way to you, you idiot.’
He moved off, passing Jack without a glance, and Jack found himself without words.
‘What the hell does that mean?’ he asked a couple of seconds later as he followed Solomon to the stable block.
‘She hasn’t had a lot of love or care from men, Jack.’
‘I know that.’ He didn’t know that, but he didn’t want Solomon knowing he didn’t know it. He only knew that she’d been brought up without a father or grandfather. She only had Rosie and no brothers. He had no idea how many men she might have gone out with. Their one and only date had been cut short by the arrival of a skinny blonde criminal with a homebuilt pistol in her shoulder
bag.
‘So you’ve been keeping an eye on how many boyfriends she’s had?’ he asked, ducking his head beneath a low-formed doorway as he stepped inside a brick-walled tack room.
Solomon started hanging the bridles on their racks. ‘If you want to know the answer to that, you’ll have to ask her.’
‘Who hurt her?’ Jack asked.
Solomon turned to him. ‘I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out for yourself. But at the moment you’re all cop, which funnily enough is the reason you haven’t made the connection with Jax and Frances.’ He made for the doorway then halted. ‘You’ve got to be tender, Jack.’
Jack inhaled deeply. ‘I can’t believe I’m standing here taking lessons in romance from you.’
‘I can’t believe you haven’t sussed it out yet.’
‘I’ve only been here a week, and I’ve had a couple of surprises thrown at me.’ Frances for one, and Jax having trouble on her property.
‘She needs someone to be gentle with her,’ Solomon said. ‘She needs someone strong to be gentle with her because she’s strong and won’t listen unless it’s made obvious. She’s forgotten what it’s like to have a man around, helping her and showing her some care.’
‘Is that why you kissed her?’
‘Maybe I just primed her for you.’
Jack fisted his hand. The man was stirring him up on purpose but because it was about Jax, he pulled himself together. ‘How come you know so much about what she needs?’
‘Instinct. Same as you. She’s not used to men. Not in the way you’re thinking. Go with your gut.’
‘It’s something to do with Frances. Plus her father. Is he still around?’
‘I don’t know, Jack. Honestly, I just sense she was hurt.’ Solomon hung the last of the bridles then gave Jack his attention. ‘She doesn’t talk about it. About this hurt. Never has. I knew there’d be something in her past but not what. Until Frances arrived. And while we’re on the subject of you—whatever the real reason is for you being out here, don’t think for a moment Jax won’t guess that you’re lying.’
She already had, more or less. Solomon too, to some extent, or so it appeared. ‘I’m out here for a rest. Was getting emotional on the job.’
‘Yeah, right.’ Solomon made his way out of the tack room with an amused shake of his head.
Jack had told his superintendent no-one who knew him would believe this, and here he was, trying to make it work by lying about it. ‘Solomon.’
The man halted.
Jack walked to the doorway and lowered his voice. ‘I need to know about Billy and his brothers.’
‘Billy’s okay. He’s lazy, but getting better; he doesn’t mean harm.’
‘Jax said the same.’
‘So what’s he done to grab your interest?’
Jack pointed down the driveway. ‘I’d like to see what’s in the boot of his car.’
‘And you’d like me to open it for you instead of asking him up-front.’
Jack met Solomon’s inquisitive gaze and held it. For a couple of seconds it felt like they were sizing each other up.
Then Solomon headed for Billy’s car. ‘Key’s in the ignition,’ he said. ‘So let’s take a look at what he might be stashing in the boot.’
It turned out to be rope, and rolled-up canvas sheeting.
‘Does he go camping?’ Jack asked, with a frown.
‘No.’
‘This stuff is part of the goods we found in the boot of a car owned by two men who work at Lizard Claws. The two we curfewed. They had similar items in their possession.’ Apart from the electronic gear, which Jack and the op were sure was payment for drugs, why the rope and canvas? What were they using it for?
‘Last I heard, nobody had reported a theft that corresponds to any of that gear,’ Solomon said. ‘I thought you didn’t have any evidence on those two you’ve got curfewed.’
‘We’ll find the evidence.’ Jack made a note to check the system for any reported thefts or recent, known drug trafficking in the Northern Territory. The op was checking the small towns and communities in the vast Mt Maria shire, and a few in South Australia. With Mt Maria being reasonably close to the tri-border, at just over a thousand kilometres north-east, the gear could have come from anywhere. But Will was sure Tonto had come from the Northern Territory, although so far no-one had reported the bull stolen. Maybe all this gear came from the same place.
‘Are you going to take this lot?’ Solomon asked. ‘Haul Billy in?’
‘No.’
‘So you’ve got something going down.’
‘Might have.’ Pointless not admitting something; the big guy knew things. He’d inherited this trait from his uncle, Tani, an Aboriginal elder who knew a lot of things any other human being wouldn’t have a clue about. Tani knew where lost hikers might be found. He knew there was good or bad in the air, on its way or leaving. Jack hadn’t met him, but he’d like to.
He closed the boot, replaced the key in the ignition and turned to Solomon. ‘Are you armed?’
Solomon lifted his arms as though waiting to be patted down.
The casual insolence, plus the amused look in the man’s eye, grated on Jack’s nerves. ‘Don’t tempt me,’ he said drily, knowing that the big guy would understand that Jack could and would take him on if necessary. They were around the same build, probably had the same strength.
But that sort of macho behaviour wouldn’t get either of them anywhere.
‘Do me a favour and keep an eye on Billy,’ Jack said, changing the subject and eliminating the animosity that had built up between them. ‘Especially when Frances is here.’
‘I will,’ Solomon said, dropping his stance. ‘But Billy’s not bad. He won’t hurt her. Nor would he get involved in whatever his brothers are up to, unless it’s something he thinks is wrong. In which case, I think Billy would stand up to them. But I doubt he knows what they’re up to and I doubt they’d tell him. Anyway, just so you know, I’ve been keeping a night watch at Jax’s place since the fence was rammed.’
That got Jack fired up all over again.
‘Don’t get pissed,’ Solomon said. ‘I’m not your problem.’
‘I’m beginning to wonder.’ He toyed with the idea of telling Solomon there was no need for a night watch because the police would handle it. But they couldn’t. Unless Jack himself camped out overnight, and mostly he was in the cop shop until after midnight and Jax might be in some danger anytime after dark. ‘Who hurt her?’ he asked.
‘I told you, Jack, I don’t know. But I know you’ll find out, which is why I’m telling you to dig for the missing intel faster than you currently are. Because it all affects not only Jax, but Frances too.’ Solomon swung around and headed for the house and Jack made for the troop wagon.
You’ve got to be tender, Jack.
He was going to have to dig for said missing intel behind her back, which would really piss her off but he had to do it. If she and Frances needed protection, Jack needed police backup.
He also had to speak to Will. Billy was carrying odd bits of gear for his brothers, who were in cahoots with Bivic. Even Solomon was concerned enough about Jax and Frances to keep a night watch on their place. Jack couldn’t do all this alone anymore, things were moving too fast. Even if he couldn’t yet figure out the connection, there was something going down with the animal issues and it was somehow connected to Bivic.
He fired the engine on the wagon and headed for town and not for Jax’s place as first intended.
He got a parking spot outside the Brown Café. It was gone five o’clock and the café was shut.
He knocked on the glass-panelled door.
Rosie looked up from behind the counter then strutted her hot stuff across the empty dining area and opened the door.
‘Hey there, Jack.’
‘Hey yourself, Rosie.’
Jack stepped inside and glanced around, listening for others who might be out the back in the kitchen, but there wasn’t a sound. ‘
Cleaning up all on your own?’
‘I let the other girls go once they’ve got the place prepped for the next day. What can I get you? Ovens are off but I can slap a toasted sandwich on the grill.’
‘Nothing. I wanted to ask you something.’ He figured it best to head straight in. ‘I need some intel on a guy who works at Lizard Claws.’
Rosie crossed her arms. ‘I make it my business to know everyone. Who is it?’
‘Roper’s nephew.’
‘Eeww.’ Her face said it all. ‘Vib or something.’
‘Biv. Short for Bivic.’
‘Didn’t like him. He’s got dirty fingernails.’
He also had a dirty record, but Jack didn’t want to scare Rosie. Neither did he want the townspeople knowing. It was best if they kept to their own affairs. Bivic wouldn’t touch them or bother them if they appeared to be going about their business as usual.
But he was now more worried about Jax than before.
‘He’s got friendly with the older Baxter boys. Why do you think he’d do that?’ he asked Rosie. What would Bivic, a thirty-four-year-old hardened criminal, want with two stupid young men from the back of beyond? Unless he was playing them or recruiting them. But surely he’d read them and known instantly that they’d be no use to him.
‘Those two will get friendly with anyone who looks a bit shifty,’ Rosie said. ‘Biv, or whatever his name is, is definitely shifty. Mean too; you can see it in his eyes.’
‘Well, stay away from him. I don’t want Davidson getting all macho when he’s off duty.’ He didn’t want anyone hurt.
‘Only saw him the once when he first got here. He was at the hardware store.’
‘What was he buying?’
Rosie shrugged. ‘Hardware stuff … I don’t know!’ she said when he gave her an exasperated look. ‘Rope? Oh, and he had a pile of star picket fence posts and a coil of white wire. Haven’t seen him since.’
He might have been buying all that for old Mr Roper. ‘You haven’t heard anything about the goats that were stolen from Roper’s place?’
‘Nothing. But it’s likely one of his neighbours. They’re always nicking each other’s stock.’