Without a Doubt

by Fleur McDonald

  Dave’s heart gave a hard thump. Giddy up, he thought. Here we go.

  ‘No mum and dad places, just the ones owned by corporate with lax management procedures. When we know we can get in there safely, we go in and take a few cleanskins.’

  ‘Who’s we?’

  ‘If you’re in, you’ll meet them all. If you’re not, you don’t need to know.’

  ‘What’s the split?’

  ‘Fifty percent to me and the other fifty percent split between the rest of you.’

  ‘Pretty hard to know what my cut’ll be if you don’t tell me who’s involved.’

  ‘There’s only another three of you.’

  Dave scratched his head and watched the hills go by. How to handle the next bit. ‘How many do you do a year?’ he finally asked.

  Bulldust shrugged. ‘Depends on the season. No point in taking cattle when there’s no money in them. Not worth the cost of the diesel and chopper.’

  Chris, thought Dave. Makes sense. Easier mustering with a chopper. Quicker. That meant it was likely the rest of the crew were the ones he’d already met. Except Shane. He’d bet his next pay cheque that Bulldust wouldn’t ever put her in a situation that was illegal.

  ‘If you’re in, then you’re in forever. No halfway with this,’ Bulldust warned.

  ‘Can I think about it?’

  ‘Yeah. You’ve got thirty ks to think about it. That’s how long it is back to town. But if you’re not in, you can take your pay, pack your bags and fuck off. And if you breathe a word of this conversation to anyone, I’ll hunt you down and slit you open.’

  Dave didn’t doubt that for one moment.

  The rest of the trip was silent. Inside Dave was cheering. He wanted to race straight to the cops and tell Justin and Spencer what had just happened. He’d done it. Infiltrated the ring, like they’d asked him to!

  Lost in thought, Dave didn’t see the sixty-kilometre an hour sign. It wasn’t until Bulldust pulled up at the gate of the depot and got his key out to unlock the gate that Dave realised he had to give an answer.

  ‘What do you think?’ Bulldust asked.

  ‘I’m in.’

  Chapter 30

  Spencer hadn’t slept well the last few nights. Melinda’s news had rocked him, and not for the first time he wished he hadn’t sent Dave undercover.

  He would’ve loved to have talked to Kathy about it—she knew something was bothering him because he’d been tossing and turning and waking her up—but he couldn’t. Even though he trusted her with his life, he just couldn’t tell her.

  ‘One, two, three and gliiiiiide,’ the dance instructor called out from the front of the hall.

  ‘Spencer,’ Kathy whispered. ‘Concentrate!’

  ‘Sorry.’ He refocused and picked up where they were and moved effortlessly across the floor with the other couples, ending the dance with Kathy in a spin and dip. They were finished! Everyone clapped and congratulated each other on another great dance night.

  ‘I just love doing this,’ Kathy said as they walked out into the cold night. She tucked her hand through Spencer’s arm. ‘And I love dancing with you.’

  ‘Never thought I’d enjoy it as much as I do,’ he answered, pulling his arm in close to his side so he could feel Kathy’s hand against his ribs. He was pleased his hip seemed to have come good and wasn’t aching the way it had.

  They walked in companionable silence back to the car and Spencer unlocked the door and held it open for her. When he was settled in the driver’s seat, he turned to her. ‘Sorry, love, I know I’ve been a bit distracted lately.’ ‘No more than when you’re on an important case.’ She patted his knee.

  Spencer wished Melinda could’ve have been like this for Dave. It made such a difference having an understanding partner, one who supported what he did. Two people pulling in the same direction was much better than two people pulling in different directions.

  ‘I’m having trouble making a decision,’ he told her.

  ‘Can I help?’

  ‘Trouble is, it’s a personal matter, but it involves a copper who is on an undercover assignment. So, no, I don’t think you can.’

  Kathy didn’t answer. Spencer turned on the engine and put the car into drive.

  ‘Is there someone at work you can talk to?’

  ‘Not really. I’m the only one who knows about it.’

  ‘Hmm, tricky.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Spencer?’

  ‘Mmm?’

  ‘There has to be one other person who knows about the operation, doesn’t there? Doesn’t the policeman have a handler?’

  ‘Yeah, he does.’

  ‘Why not talk it through with him?’

  Spencer thought about that. He could ring Justin and get the lie of the land. He’d be able to call on the pretence of another catch-up. Hell! That was so obvious, why hadn’t he thought of it?

  ‘You know what, love? That’s what I’m going to do.’ He put his hand on her leg and gave it a squeeze. ‘What would I do without you?’

  ‘I hope you never have to find out,’ she said, covering his hand with hers.

  The next morning Spencer went into the office early and made sure there were no other detectives around. He picked up the phone and dialled. ‘Justin, it’s Spencer.’

  ‘Hang on.’

  The phone thudded in his ear and then Spencer could hear a door shutting.

  ‘How’re things?’ Justin asked when he picked up the phone again.

  ‘I’m more interested in how things are going over there.’

  ‘You were on the money with this boy, Spencer. So far he’s played his role perfectly. Got to town and tried to flog one of my officers, then got into a fight with Bulldust’s boys. I heard they were having breakfast at the roadhouse a few days ago, then he turns up here, calls us all pigs and fuckwits, and says he’s off mustering but he’s not skipping town. He’ll try to be back in time for his court date. I haven’t seen or heard from him since. My guess is he’s out bush with the Highwaymen. I know they’re out of town at the moment, mustering on a station not far from here.’

  Spencer wanted to smile. He knew Dave was the right bloke for the job. ‘He’s good all right,’ he said, nodding to himself.

  ‘So what’s the reason for the call?’ Justin wanted to know.

  ‘Well, his wife came and saw me a few days back.’

  ‘Oh yeah?’ Justin’s voice became wary. ‘Got a problem?’

  ‘Yeah, she’s pregnant.’

  The phone line hissed with silence.

  ‘You want me to tell him?’ Justin finally asked.

  ‘That’s what I’m not sure about. I said I wouldn’t and explained all the reasons why, but the more I think about it, the more I’m not sure that’s the right thing to do. He probably should know.’

  ‘You sure it’s his?’

  ‘I’m very confident about that.’

  ‘I got the impression they were estranged.’

  ‘Yeah, I did too, but apparently he asked her to spend the night with him before he left and then he took off without saying goodbye. We’ve got one pretty pissed-off wife. She thinks cops are always the winners.’

  ‘Oh, one of those.’

  Spencer sighed heavily. ‘What do you reckon?’

  ‘I might wait until I see him again. Shouldn’t be long because he got charged with a three-course meal the day he got here. If he doesn’t turn up, I’ll have to lock him up.’

  ‘If he can be, he’ll be there,’ Spencer said.

  ‘Let me make an assessment from there. If I tell him, I’ll let you know, so you can tell the wife.’

  ‘Sounds like a plan.’

  ‘Right. Everything else okay?’

  ‘Very quiet here, mate. It’s winter. The people disappear from around here then. Too cold for them all.’

  ‘You’re quiet and my station isn’t. Maybe I’ve got the common denominator!’

  Spencer laughed. ‘Maybe you have!’

  Chap
ter 31

  It was dark when Dave got to the depot the next morning. There were three familiar cars parked out the front of the shed—Larry’s, George’s and Chris’s.

  Dave nodded to himself. He’d been right about the crew. ‘Morning,’ he said to them all, only to receive nods back. Shane was nowhere to be seen. Not surprising.

  There was a nervous energy running through everyone. Nothing had been unpacked from the previous muster, so all that had to happen was for them to get into the vehicles and drive.

  ‘Need to get out of here before light,’ Bulldust muttered to everyone. ‘The fewer people that see us the better.’

  ‘Where are we going?’ Dave asked.

  ‘You’ll see when we get there.’

  That was enough to make him shut up.

  ‘When we arrive, you go with Larry and set up the hessian,’ Bulldust told Dave. ‘The rest of the boys already know what to do. Follow their lead. We move swift and fast and don’t take risks when we’re on the bikes. No one is to get hurt while on one of these musters.’

  Dave nodded.

  It took two hours to get where they were going and Dave knew from the sun they had headed in a northerly direction. When he got back, he’d look at a map and work out which station they were on.

  He and Larry manhandled the hessian from the back of the ute and started to unroll it. It would take four men to lift the bundle onto the back of the truck but only two to set it up. The roughness against Dave’s hands reminded him of when he was back at the farm helping press the old jute wool bales with his grandfather, before they changed to polypropylene.

  ‘We set it up in a V shape,’ Larry told him. ‘We’ll run the cattle down this fence line here.’ He pointed to the plain- and barbed-wire fence they had pulled up next to. ‘The hessian can start from here.’ He marked the ground with his boot. ‘And head back this way. It needs to be like a funnel so they’ll run straight into the portable yards everyone else is putting up. Got it?’

  Dave nodded and grabbed the steel post thumper and began to bang the posts in, and Larry followed behind him, securing the hessian to the posts.

  Once they’d finished, they went to help Bulldust and George, who were clipping the portable yards together and making sure they were locked in place.

  Dave looked at the set-up and knew they’d been doing this for a long time. They were a well-oiled machine. It wasn’t like the last muster he’d been involved in. They’d all been laughing and joking as they worked. This morning they were quiet and worked quickly, not leaving anything to chance.

  ‘Get going, Chris,’ Bulldust instructed as they started to put the raceway in place. ‘Get up and have a look. Don’t need too many; we haven’t got long. Just a load.’

  ‘How do we know we’re not going to run into someone?’ Dave asked as he twisted wire around the two panels, holding them together. He did his best to sound nervous.

  ‘I do my research.’

  Dave nodded. He wasn’t getting the information he wanted, but he couldn’t ask any more questions without raising a flag. If he’d been in Bulldust’s place, he wouldn’t want questions from the newcomer either.

  In the morning air, the helicopter sounded extra loud to Dave. He watched it take off, marvelling at the manoeuvrability of the machine, until George threw a pair of wire strainers at him.

  ‘Concentrate,’ George said. ‘Strain those wires up over there, then hang the hessian over it. Make sure it’s tied down enough, so it doesn’t flap.’

  Dave did as he was told.

  ‘Dave!’ Bulldust barked about ten minutes later. ‘On the bike and head out through the creek. Chris has a mob of fifty down on the creek and thirty out over the hill. I’ll take the thirty.’

  ‘Sure thing.’

  With adrenalin running through him, Dave kicked the bike to life and headed out in the direction Bulldust had given him. This country was different. It was still red and covered in spinifex, but there were creeks crisscrossing the landscape. There was water in them, so the cattle would be on the water, he had no doubt.

  In the distance he could hear Chris in the chopper. Dave looked up to see where he was, but there was nothing save blue sky.

  He noticed the powerlines that were running along the edge of the creek and wondered if Chris had seen them. Putting the thought to the back his mind, he concentrated on looking for the cattle Chris had already sighted.

  There was a pool of water ahead, surround by lush green grass. That would be the perfect place to camp, Dave thought. He rode towards it and saw the chopper pushing the cattle in his direction.

  Veering off to the right, he drove in a wide arc and came in behind the cattle. He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and realised George was behind him on the bike too. His face was set and serious, unlike at the last muster when he was the class clown, jovial and unperturbed.

  Dave motioned to him to come across to the other side, but he didn’t see.

  Chris brought the chopper down low and cut off the leaders who were trying to head back into the scrub. He was close to the powerlines and Dave watched in horror as the skids just about clipped the high wire.

  ‘Powerlines!’ he screamed into his mic. ‘Chris, powerlines below you!’

  In response the chopper jerked upwards and away into the distance.

  ‘Fuck!’ That was Bulldust over the radio.

  ‘Just bring these,’ George instructed Dave, and between them they ran the mob into the yards, where Bulldust already had another small mob locked up.

  ‘That was fucking close,’ Dave breathed as he took off his helmet.

  Bulldust looked furious. ‘Hurry. Get these drafted. We’re out of here.’

  Within an hour, the cows were let out and the calves were on the truck and ready to go. The crate was rolling from side to side with the weight of the animals, and Larry jumped into the cab.

  ‘Catch you later,’ he called to Bulldust with a thumbs-up.

  Bulldust gave Larry a stop sign and beckoned Dave over. ‘I got word last night that we’re a man short on the other side. You go with Larry and do what he says. Take your swag.’

  Dave nodded, grabbed his swag from the ute and threw it up into the cab. Bulldust was talking with Larry as Dave climbed into the truck and settled himself in the seat.

  Larry turned to him as he slammed the door and put the truck into gear. ‘It’s gonna be a long drive so make sure you’re comfortable.’

  It was dark and they stopped for nothing. The drive had been silent other than Larry thanking him again for his help in the yards the previous day.

  ‘How much further?’

  ‘Hour or so. There’s some food in the fridge. Help yourself.’

  Dave looked over into the bunk and saw the fridge. Opening it, it was stacked with cold meat and salad meals, plus muesli bars, cans of Coke and iced coffees. He grabbed an iced coffee and muesli bar and sat back down. ‘You want anything?’

  ‘Nah, mate, I’ll eat when I get there.’

  ‘Where are we going? I saw the Territory border sign back there.’

  ‘Bulldust’s got a holding property. That’s where we’re going now. I do this run every time we do a muster like this.’

  ‘You must clock up some hours.’

  ‘Doesn’t bother me. I’m used to it. I like driving.’

  ‘You’d want to.’

  Dave leaned forward and looked up at the night sky. The stars were still out, but in the rear-view mirror he could see the slow of the coming sunrise. He looked across at Larry’s hands, which were steady on the wheel, and wondered if he’d taken some kind of upper to be able to drive this long without a break. He knew plenty of truckies who did. It wasn’t as popular as it had been a few years ago, especially now the energy drinks had come out and No-Doz was available over the counter. Sometimes these were enough to keep people going.

  He was about to ask the question when Larry said, ‘I don’t drink coffee much, so when I need a pick-me-up I have an i
ced coffee or a Coke. There’s enough sugar and caffeine in those to help me along. I used to drive fuel trucks, so the long hours aren’t new to me.’

  ‘How’d you get in here?’

  Larry looked across at Dave with clear eyes. ‘That’s my business.’

  ‘Sure thing.’ Then for good measure he added, ‘Sorry.’

  ‘No bother.’

  ‘So what do we do when we get there?’

  ‘Unload, brand and drive home.’

  Dave nodded.

  There was nothing more said until they pulled up at the next set of cattle yards.

  Larry switched the engine off and turned to Dave, who was opening the door.

  ‘Watch Scotty. He’s a bastard.’

  Dave nodded.

  They got out of the truck and Dave went to unpin the gate while Larry shook hands with a tall, heavy-set man who was sitting astride a motorbike.

  ‘Who’s that?’ Dave heard him ask.

  ‘Bulldust sent him. He heard you were down a man.’

  ‘Who is he?’

  ‘Dave. He’s okay. Bulldust cleared him. Handy in the yards and he’s what’s-his-name’s replacement.’

  Replacement? Dave’s mind flew to the murder of Bill Clarke. Bulldust had always said he was a man down.

  ‘Get ’em unloaded.’

  Larry nodded and signalled to Dave to open the gate.

  Dave assumed it was Scotty on the bike and watched as he dismounted and went towards the fire that was burning near the cattle crush. In it was a branding iron and Dave knew they’d be branding the cattle today.

  The calves’ hooves clattered down the steal loading ramp and they bellowed loudly looking for their mums.

  ‘How far away are we from anywhere else?’ Dave asked Larry nervously once they’d finished unloading. There was a lot of noise.

  ‘A long way, don’t worry.’

  Scotty went over to Dave and eyeballed him. ‘I hear you’re handy in the yards?’

  Dave’s stomach dropped. Fuck. He recognised this Scotty! But where from?

  ‘I can hold my own,’ he answered, his brain racing.