Without a Doubt

by Fleur McDonald

  Dave tried to memorise everything he was hearing, but his thoughts were becoming fuzzy.

  ‘I don’t care what you two do, but I’m going to the bridge. That’s where he’ll get out, and if we stand here arguing, we might just fucking miss him. Call Joe. Get him on the lookout.’ Scotty started up the bull buggy and drove off.

  Dave had to strain to hear Bulldust’s words, his voice had become soft and pleading. ‘I’m sorry, baby. I did everything so I could give you the life your mother would’ve wanted for you. Please go.’

  ‘What did you do? I need to understand, Dad.’ Shane was crying now.

  ‘I stole cattle. Trouble was, once I started, I couldn’t stop. There were times people were going to spill their guts and I couldn’t have that. They had to go. Scotty and I got rid of them.’ He took a breath. ‘So now you know. Get away from here as soon as you can.’ There was silence. ‘Don’t ever forget I love you.’

  A motorbike engine cut through night air and faded into the distance. Dave could hear Shane’s sobs and gradually her footsteps also disappeared.

  Chapter 37

  Dave wasn’t sure how long it took to get close enough to the town to be able to get out of the river. In the bush that lined the banks, he took off his shirt and wrapped it tightly around his upper arm. A couple of times as he pulled it tighter, he almost passed out with pain.

  Or lack of blood.

  He was finding it hard to focus; his thoughts were becoming blurry and he knew he’d become unconscious before long.

  ‘Focus,’ he told himself through gritted teeth. ‘One foot in front of the other. One step, Bec; two steps, Melinda; three steps, baby. Bec, Melinda, baby,’ he kept repeating to himself.

  He stayed in the shadows and out of the streetlights. Once he looked behind him and saw he was leaving a glistening trail of blood. If they had the dogs with them, they’d pick him up without any trouble.

  He walked as quickly as he could through backyards and alleyways, staying off the main roads. A couple of times he stumbled and had to bite his tongue so he didn’t cry out in pain. One step, Bec; two steps, Mel; three steps, baby. The black fog was beginning to circle his mind.

  Dogs barked as he entered their yard, but he kept moving. He had to be like a shark, never stop moving. If he stopped he was dead.

  About three blocks from the police station, he saw a squad car backing out of a driveway. Relief flooded through him. He broke into a trot, trying to wave his good arm, but they didn’t see him and drove away.

  ‘No,’ he said as he stopped and watched it turn a corner. With no choice but to keep walking, he did just that.

  Car lights came up behind him and another police car came to a stop in front of him. Dave broke into a run, heaved the door open and threw himself inside.

  ‘I need to go …’

  It was Joe behind the wheel. He gave a slow smile. ‘Well, well, I’ve been looking for you.’

  Dave didn’t say anything. He reefed on the car door and tried to get out but Joe had already hit the lock.

  ‘Cop shop. Now,’ Dave said as loudly as he could. He had to gain control. Somehow.

  ‘I’ll certainly take you to where there is judge and jury.’

  Dave didn’t say anything. There it was. Confirmation Joe was dirty. Fuck.

  ‘Not talking? Cat got your tongue?’

  He didn’t reply. The fogginess was back.

  ‘Who are you really, Dave? You turn up in this town, your bike’s fucked, keep getting yourself into trouble.’

  They were just about at the police station and Dave tensed, ready to fly out of the car and up the steps yelling for help.

  ‘I don’t think you’re who you say you are, but I can’t find anything to say you’re not. Want to enlighten me?’

  The car drove straight past the police station.

  Three streets on, Joe turned the car and drove towards the depot.

  ‘Still not talking? I reckon you will in a bit.’

  Black spots were coming and going in front of Dave’s eyes and he knew he had to get out of the car. Right now.

  He waited until Joe was concentrating on the road and about to turn the corner and, with a burst of energy, he leaned over, pushed the locking button and pulled on the handle. He rolled out of the car door and into the darkness. He hit the bitumen and felt the sting of gravel rash, but it didn’t stop him. As quickly as he could, he ran into a garden and dropped behind the fence. It was a good hiding spot; lots of trees and bushes.

  ‘Hey!’ Joe was out of the car. Dave could hear his heavy footsteps, heading in the opposite direction to where Dave was.

  Blending into the darkness, he let Joe search for him with his flashlight while he pressed deeper into a bush that he’d managed to hide in. He knew he couldn’t stay here long. He needed urgent medical help.

  The light faded and he knew Joe was out of the picture now.

  ‘Oi! What’s going on out there?’

  Dave froze as a man appeared on the verandah.

  ‘Police!’ he called out without thinking. ‘We’ve been chasing a burglar, please go back inside, sir.’

  He was rewarded with the sound of the door slamming and a light coming on in the front room.

  Dave stood up and got his bearings, realising he was only a couple of streets from Justin’s shed. Thank god.

  Leaving the safety of the bush, he went down the side of the house and clambered over the fence. He dropped to the other side, breathing heavily. He wanted to moan with pain and fear, but he couldn’t risk anyone hearing him. He was so close now.

  His slow shuffle took him down one more street and he turned the corner. Seeing Justin’s house, he managed a faster trot. Sneaking down the side path, he found the red flowerpot and collapsed inside the door of the shed.

  Dave opened his eyes and saw Justin bending over him.

  ‘Mate, you’re going to be all right. You’re going to be fine. Hang on, the ambulance is coming.’

  ‘Bull—’ He couldn’t make his tongue work. His mouth was so dry and he felt dizzy.

  ‘We’re looking for them. Don’t worry. You concentrate on staying alive. Stay with me, Dave. Think about that new baby you’ve got on the way.’

  They were the last words Dave heard until a searing, red-hot pain shot through his arm. He opened his eyes later to see ambulance officers bending over him. There was a needle and the blessed relief of darkness again.

  He came to briefly as he was loaded onto the Royal Flying Doctor plane. Taking one look at how close the ceiling was to his face he shut his eyes, diving back into the welcome blackness of unconsciousness.

  All he knew was he was safe and alive.

  Chapter 38

  Dave opened his eyes and tried to work out where he was. The lights were bright and everything seemed to be white.

  Had he died?

  ‘Ah, you’re back with us.’ Justin came into his line of sight and Dave blinked a few times to get him into focus. ‘You’re in Royal Brisbane Hospital.’

  Dave licked his lips and blinked again.

  ‘How long have I been out for?’

  ‘About a week. In an induced coma. They’ve operated on your arm to get the bullet out. And you needed a blood transfusion. You were lucky you didn’t lose any more blood. When I found you, I thought you were dead.’

  ‘What happened?’

  Justin leaned forward and started to speak in a low and slow tone. ‘We’ve arrested Larry Jones, George Dellaney and Chris Mooney and charged them with perverting the course of justice and stealing. They admitted to being complicit in the murder of William Clarke.’

  ‘Where were they?’

  ‘They’d obviously all got word that we were looking for them so they’d decided to split. All except George, who was at home in bed when we knocked his door down. Larry was stopped on his way to the airport in Mount Isa. Chris, he was a bit more difficult to track down. He’d taken the helicopter and flown out to his mate’s station. But we got h
im. Took a couple of days. They’re the brawn behind the operation, not the brains.’

  ‘Bulldust and Scotty?’

  Justin shook his head. ‘Not yet. They’ve gone bush. They’re good bushies, so they’ll be hard to find.’

  Dave let that sink in. He didn’t like the sound of that.

  ‘We’ve got a BOLO out on them.’

  Be On The Lookout. That wouldn’t do a lot of good if they were driving the back roads or cutting across station roads.

  ‘What did you find? Did you get enough?’

  ‘We got a bit. We found Shane at the depot. She was in a bad way—crying and traumatised. When we calmed her down, she told us what had happened. It seems that neither of them actually admitted to murdering anyone, but there was certainly enough circumstantial stuff there, along with what you’ve told us, so we’ve got warrants out for their arrest, citing the murder of William Clarke and another old bloke Shane told us about, Hector Brann.

  ‘Bulldust coughed on the riverbank,’ Dave said slowly, wishing he could unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth. ‘Told her everything.’

  Justin leaned in. ‘What’d he say?’

  Dave blinked and closed his eyes for a minute. He needed a rest and he’d only been awake for a few seconds.

  ‘Want some water?’

  He nodded.

  Justin held the straw close to his mouth and, opening his eyes, Dave tried to focus on it. The straw looked like it was moving all over the place. He frowned, bringing his hand up to steady it so he could get it in his mouth.

  The water tasted as good as the first beer after months of dry.

  ‘Just that he’d stolen cattle so he could put her through school and give her the life her mother would’ve wanted for her. He didn’t actually admit to killing.’ He paused again, shutting his eyes. He tried to remember exactly what had been said. ‘I think he said something like: “Scotty and I had to get rid of them.”’

  Justin let out a breath. ‘She blamed Scotty. Said he was the violent one. Is that consistent with what you’ve seen?’

  Dave nodded, eyes still shut, remembering Bulldust’s soft words to his daughter: ‘I love you.’ He couldn’t imagine Scotty saying that to anyone.

  Justin continued with his side of the story. ‘We also found the cable ties they were going to use on you and they match those that were used on Bill.’ He shrugged. ‘Again, a good lawyer will argue that all musterers are bound to have cable ties in their shed, but these were linked together as if they were going to be used as handcuffs.

  ‘You were pretty lucky.’

  ‘I know.’ Dave muttered. He opened his eyes and tried to sit up, but the effort exhausted him. He gave up. ‘What about the cattle?’

  ‘After Larry told us about the holding station, I sent Andy, our stock squad bloke, over to the Northern Territory. We found plenty of cattle with the brand you described. Now the interesting thing is this: the brand doesn’t mean Shane and Ashley. It means Scott and Ashley.’

  ‘What?’ Dave wanted to shake his head and get rid of the fuzziness.

  ‘They’re brothers,’ Justin said.

  ‘That’s right!’ Dave remembered. ‘Shane called him Uncle Scott.’

  ‘Yeah. Different mothers. Other than that, Shane didn’t tell us much more. She seemed as if she’d only just found out about all the illegal activities and was very shocked by it.’

  ‘Bulldust kept her away from anything that was remotely illegal or dangerous. I only saw her on a legit muster and she worked the round yard from up on a rail.’ He talked with his eyes shut, trying not to move his head. Each time he moved he felt dizzy.

  ‘I thought as much.’

  Dave lay there thinking, then an idea came to him. ‘Scotty was carting his cattle down to the WA block and selling them into the WA market.’

  ‘You’re on the money there. Scotty spent most of his time in WA unless there was a truckload of cattle coming from Queensland. The rest of the time Ron Preston kept an eye on things.’ Justin grinned. ‘You’ve broken open a huge cattle stealing operation, Dave, and hopefully we can find Bulldust and Scotty and we can charge them with murder.’

  Dave was quiet. ‘What about Joe?’

  A deep anger settled on Justin’s face. ‘Larry and George told us about Joe’s involvement with Bulldust. He’s going to have the book thrown at him and I’m going to make sure it happens.’

  ‘What about me? When can I go home?’

  ‘Doc seems to think that once you woke up, you’d only have another couple of days in here. They’ve cleaned up all the gravel rash and fixed your shoulder where the bullet hit. You’ll probably need to have a bit of physio on that shoulder, but you can do that back in WA. You’re as good as new, really.’ He drew in a deep breath. ‘Dave, with Bulldust and Scotty still in the wind, you’re going to have to watch your back all the time, you know that, don’t you?’

  ‘You reckon they’ll come after me?’

  ‘If Bulldust doesn’t, I have no doubt Scotty will. By the sounds of it, he’s a cold-blooded killer and he won’t think twice about capping you.’

  ‘He recognised me. I heard him tell Bulldust.’

  ‘Do you know from where?’

  Dave shook his head. ‘I’ve been trying to work it out, but I don’t remember. Maybe from a pub in Barrabine. I’m not certain.’

  ‘That makes it even more imperative you take precautions.’ ‘You going to put someone on my family?’

  ‘Already done, but we’re not expecting any trouble there for a while. It’ll take him a bit of time to work out who you were. Hopefully he never will. And you’ll look different once you get rid of that beard and grow your hair back.

  ‘I will.’

  Justin shook Dave’s good hand. ‘Thanks for all your assistance, mate. We surely couldn’t have done it without you. Good luck back in WA. Keep in touch, yeah?’

  ‘Thanks for your help,’ Dave answered. ‘Bloody glad I knew about that red flowerpot!’

  ‘Me too. Be safe, Dave.’

  Chapter 39

  ‘The seatbelt sign has been switched on for our descent into Perth. The local time is twelve twenty-five, if you’d like to adjust your watches.’

  Dave looked out the window and stroked his freshly shaven face. It felt strange after so many months of having a beard. His arm was still in a sling, but he had a specialist appointment in four days’ time and he was hoping the doc would say he could take it off. It didn’t ache as much as it had when he’d first woken in the hospital, although there were many times he was glad of the analgesics he’d been given. Dave was looking forward to starting physio and getting back to work.

  The familiar landscape of the Perth hills made his stomach do a little flip as the plane glided over them and made a sharp turn to line up on the runway. The skyline was the same as when he’d flown out, but he was coming back a different person.

  His hair hadn’t grown much—it still looked like he had a number two all over. Thankfully there wasn’t any sign of the grey in his hair that there had been in his beard. He’d told Melinda that girls weren’t the only vain ones around! He wasn’t ready to go grey just yet. She’d laughed.

  Spencer had rung him yesterday and told him that both he and Melinda would be at the airport. He’d need to go back to the station for a few days of debriefing, but he could see Melinda for a short time.

  He couldn’t wait to put his arms around her. His near-death experience had made him realise he didn’t want to be parted from Mel or Bec again, or the new baby. He was not sure how it would work when he arrived home, where they would live, or how it would be when he saw Mark again—he would have to apologise, he assumed. Being undercover had made him go with the flow a lot more. There had always been things around him that he hadn’t been able to control, and he had to take some of that attitude back into his new life.

  New life, because he certainly wasn’t the same person who had left three months ago, and from their daily phone calls, Me
linda didn’t seem to be either.

  The wheels hit the runway with a little bounce and squeal of tyres and a nervous anticipation filtered through Dave.

  Melinda had told him what she needed, what she wanted. She needed their family living in the same house. She needed to be closer to her parents. She needed Dave.

  Spencer had informed him that he’d be heading up the stock squad, not going back to Barrabine. His days in the goldfields were over. As much as he was sad to leave Barrabine and his old partner, there was too much to look forward to.

  He smiled as he looked towards the terminal. He’d achieved his goal. He was now the lead detective on the stock squad. It had come at a cost, but he was finally where he wanted to be. He had his wife, his family and his dream job.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Perth. You may now disembark the aircraft.’

  Dave stood up, hoisted his kit over his shoulder and walked down the bridge towards his future.

  Acknowledgements

  ‘Books can truly change our lives: the lives of those who read them, the lives of those who write them. Readers and writers alike discover things they never knew about the world and about themselves.’

  Lloyd Alexander, Time Cat

  First off, to DB again. As I said at the beginning of this book, he inspired the storyline and enabled this novel to happen. When we sat at the Grosvenor pub ten days before (yes, I repeat, ten days before) my deadline, DB said to me: ‘How about we put Dave undercover?’

  My comment was: ‘If you’re changing the storyline this close to my deadline you need to be at my beck and call to finish this.’

  ‘I can do that’ was the answer!

  So I wrote fifty thousand words in five days … Yes, you read that correctly! I also threw out about the same amount.

  True to his word, DB read every single chapter and was at the end of the phone whenever I needed him, and there is no possible way Without a Doubt would be what it is without him.