Black Ice (20 page)

All his frustration and anxiety of the past few days erupted in blinding fury. He punched a tree, and cursed as bark splintered into his knuckle.

He ran to his car, slammed it into gear and spun mud from the wheels as he careened back up to the main road and hid in a small turnoff. Brand might have escaped this time, but it would be the last bloody time!

His fingers drummed impatiently on the steering wheel. He was determined to finish what he'd started, and bugger his instructions to make it look like an accident.

 

The siren wailed as the ambulance sped away with Angie and Aaron. Kirri and Daniel had assured the ambulance officers they were all right, and now sat in a hastily erected disaster control tent, speaking to the Police Rescue officer in charge and the SES team leader, Sam Reeves.

'I thought an SES guy was tightening up the Acroprops.' Daniel told Sam Reeves. 'Or maybe putting some more up.'

'We had the others with us,' Sam replied, 'and all our personnel were down in the valley.'

The full impact of his words hit Daniel. 'So …'

'Someone was knocking out the ones we'd put in,' Sam finished for him.

'Why would anybody do such a thing?' Kirri's voice echoed the bewilderment they all felt.

'We'll have an officer check with the house owner to see if he has any enemies who might have taken advantage of the situation,' said the police officer as he scribbled in a notebook. 'And we'll question the SES woman on the road, she may have seen something suspicious. In the meantime, I'd like your full names,' he nodded to Daniel and Kirri, 'and where we can contact you.'

 

'You didn't mention the man at the cable car,' Kirri said as they walked back to their hire vehicle.

'We don't have any idea who he is, Kirri, or even if he was anywhere near here. For all we know Aaron has a neighbour with a grudge and a good set of muscles.'

'Do you really believe that?'

'I don't know what to believe,' Daniel sighed, placing his hand on Kirri's shoulder. She winced, and shrank from his touch. He took her hand, turned her to face him. 'What's wrong?'

'I think the wall played pat-a-cake with my shoulder,' she replied, shrugging gently, 'but it's okay. What I need is a hot shower.'

She looked up at him, at the mud caked onto his clothing, the scratches on his face, his dishevelled hair. And her heart turned over with love for him. The terror she'd felt when she'd thought he was going to die rushed through her, and she began to shake.

Daniel's arms wrapped around her, hugging her close. He smelled of mud and sweat and rope and … Daniel.

Hot tears trickled down her cheeks. His heart beat a steady thud under her ear, calming her own erratic heartbeat, his warmth as soothing as the big hands that gently moved over her back and smoothed the hair from her face.

They stood, holding each other, for a long time. Then Kirri pulled away, wiping her grimy cheeks. She gave him a watery smile. 'Can we please go straight to Dad's? I need to give Catelyn a very big hug.'

Daniel nodded in understanding. He wanted both his ladies with him, safe and secure.

 

They were silent as the car traversed the winding road that clung to the side of the mountain.

Kirri relived the sense of shock and disbelief that had struck her as she'd stood on the rocky outcropping and looked back down the hillside to face the grim reality that only seconds had stood between their escape and death. Aaron and Angie had lost their home in the slide, but others may have lost their lives. She hoped Angie would be all right.

Daniel's thoughts, too, were on the slide, but it was the possibility of coincidence that troubled him. The police had explained away the hit-and-run. Then the driver with the profile Kirri thought she remembered had seemingly turned up at the cable car. All the way from Noosa? Daniel shook his head. Highly unlikely. But …

What if it wasn't co-incidence? What if someone
was
trying to kill him? Why? And who?

Only one person he could think of would have sufficient motive for wanting him dead. Philip Weyburn. His partner hadn't struck him as being ruthless enough to commit murder, but perhaps his obsequious manner concealed something sinister.

Another thought struck him with such force his fingers clenched on the steering wheel. If someone was trying to kill him, then whoever broke into Kirri's flat and hit the old man could actually have been looking for him!

 

The Commodore that drove up behind them was going too fast. Daniel registered the fact with a corner of his mind, still distracted by thoughts of who could have tried to kill them.

He glanced across at Kirri. Her head lolled against the headrest, her eyes closed, the fine sprinkling of tiny freckles across her nose and cheeks stark against the paleness of her skin. She looked exhausted. He wished he could take her in his arms and rock her to sleep the way he had seen her do with Catelyn.

It was only when the Commodore pulled out to overtake them that its colour hit him.

Green.

Instinct kicked in. Daniel braked. Hard.

He caught a glimpse of black hair and sunglasses as the Commodore rammed the driver's side of his vehicle.

Kirri screamed.

The Fairmont ricocheted across the grass verge to where only low scrub bordered the drop to the valley below.

Kirri could feel the fury emanating from Daniel in waves. His knuckles were white where he gripped the steering wheel.

She was having trouble with her own emotions. Her hands were shaking, and she folded her arms to try to keep them under control.

The Fairmont had ploughed to a stop just centimetres short of the edge. The Commodore had vanished around the next bend.

'Could you reverse a little, please?' she asked Daniel. 'I've had enough of living on the edge today.' It was a wry attempt at humour, but it produced only a flicker of response in Daniel's grim features.

He slammed the gear stick into reverse and backed up about a metre, then pulled on the handbrake and tried to open his door. The piercing shriek of metal grating on metal tightened Kirri's already taut nerves. He gave the door a nudge with his shoulder, and it finally swung open. Without a word he got out and stood, hands punched into his jeans pockets, and stared at the damaged car.

Kirri's hands had almost stopped shaking. She took a deep breath, then opened her door and walked around to Daniel. She placed a tentative hand on his arm. 'Are you okay?'

'It was deliberate!' he growled. 'The rotten -'

'You mean … he
tried
to run us off the road?'

'That's just it! He tried to run
us
off the road.' Daniel's eyes blazed with anger. 'If he wants to kill me that's one thing. But he tried to kill you as well.'

'But we're okay.'

'I don't care about
me
, Kirri. But he would have known you were in the house when he sent it crashing down the mountain, and he sure as hell would have known you were in the car now. What kind of a bastard is he!'

'Well,
you
mightn't care about yourself, Daniel Brand, but
I
do!' Kirri's anger matched his. 'You just can't come storming into my life and make me fall in love with you, and have Catelyn get used to having a father, and making me …'

'Do you mean that?' Hope flared on Daniel's face.

'What?'

'About loving me?'

'Well, I don't know how easily you won me over the first time,' Kirri smiled at the change in his expression, 'but it looks like I'm a pushover for a big Yank with sexy eyes and a winning way with fifteen month old girls.'

'Damnit, woman. Answer the question!'

Kirri saw the hope, the need, the love, on his face. 'Yes.' Her voice softened. 'I love you.'

He still smelled of mud and sweat but it didn't matter. With his lips on hers and his body wrapped protectively around her, all the tension melted from Kirri's body. The emotions that surged through her now were so powerful she would have made love with him right there on the side of the road, but when he'd kissed her senseless he drew away, breathing raggedly.

'Let's find a police station. We have a maniac to stop.'

 

'Who would profit from your death?' Detective Ross Claymore asked Daniel as they sat in an interview room at Katoomba Police Station.

Daniel looked over to where Kirri was busy sketching, her eyes closing occasionally in concentration, then her pencil making swift, sure strokes on the page. She'd given a verbal description to the policewoman operating the Penry computer identification system, and was now adding her own drawing to substantiate this.

He turned his attention back to the detective. 'Philip Weyburn. My business partner.'

'Your partner? How?'

'It's complex.'

'It's a quiet afternoon,' Claymore unwrapped a piece of gum and popped it into his mouth. 'I've got the time.'

'My grandfather was stationed in Sydney during the Second World War. He became friends with Philip's grandfather, and after the war they started Brand & Weyburn Constructions together. When my dad was twelve my grandmother got very homesick, so they moved back to the States. Philip's grandfather kept the company going and my grandfather became a silent partner.'

'So how does this affect Philip?'

'Under the terms of the partnership, if one partner dies without leaving any progeny, the other partner inherits his share. It was set up that way to protect the original partners who had invested a lot of their time and effort in building up the business.'

Claymore chewed this over for a minute, then asked, 'What if the deceased's progeny is underage?'

'The surviving partner has control of the business until the child or children turn twenty-five, so I don't think my daughter is in any danger,' Daniel replied, then grimaced, 'accept by being around me.'

'Is the business worth a lot?'

'Cash flow wise, it's fairly substantial, and over the years the assets have grown. Jim Weyburn made some very good land and building purchases on behalf of the partnership. Whoever ends up with the lot would be a very wealthy man.'

'So do you have any proof Philip Weyburn tried to kill you?'

Daniel shook his head. 'No. But the attempts only started when I went up to Noosa, and the only person who knew I was there was Philip. But he wasn't driving the car that tried to ram us. He probably paid someone to do that.'

'That's still not enough reason for us to suspect him.'

'Well,' Daniel felt uncomfortable about disclosing his suspicions about the financial affairs of the business, but he would do anything to protect Kirri, 'since I've been in Australia I've tried to get Philip to let me look at the company financial records, but he's been very evasive. His father died recently so I've cut him some slack because of it, but it's as though he's deliberately trying to keep me out of the way.'

'Give me the details, and I'll get our colleagues in Sydney to check Weyburn out. We've got your description of the Commodore circulating now, so something might come from that. And the Accident Investigation Squad have their forensics man taking scrapings of the paint on your car.'

A minute later Kirri handed the sketch pad to the policewoman. 'I've finished.'

Claymore walked around to study the drawing. 'Profile only?' he chewed.

'Sorry. I never saw him face on any time.'

'And you're sure it's the same man driving the hit-and-run vehicle in Noosa?' There was a large dollop of scepticism in the detective's voice, but when Kirri nodded he said, 'You must be very observant.'

'Most artists are,' she replied.

Daniel stood up. 'We'll be flying back to Cairns first thing in the morning, Detective. You can contact Mick Landers of the Cairns police to pass on any information.'

'You're not staying in Sydney?'

'No. I'm not risking my fiancee's and my daughter's lives by keeping them here with me in Sydney.' Daniel ignored Kirri's wide-eyed stare. She opened her mouth to speak, but he continued. 'As soon as they're safe with Kirri's family I'll fly back to Sydney and look into this myself.'

'We don't approve of vigilante tactics, Mr Brand.'

'Don't worry, Detective. I'm just going to do a little investigating of my own. As a partner, I'm within my rights to demand an audit of the company's books.' He took Kirri's arm as she stood.

'I'll be in touch,' the detective said.

'Good luck with giving up smoking,' Kirri smiled at him.

Daniel saw the astonished look on the detective's face, and murmured 'How do you know he's trying to give up smoking?' to Kirri as he hustled her out the door.

'Nicotine stains on his fingers and he hasn't stopped chewing gum the whole time.' She waited until they reached the blue Calais Daniel had hired to replace the damaged Ford, before she turned and confronted him. 'Why did you tell him I was your fiancee?'

Daniel placed both hands on the roof of the car, effectively trapping Kirri between the car and his broad chest. 'Two years ago you told me you loved me, and two weeks after that you agreed to marry me. A couple of hours ago you told me you loved me. The natural progression from that would appear to be that you will again agree to marry me, so I just saved us a bit of time.'

'I have
not
said I will marry you, Daniel Brand!'

'Will you?'

The grim determination in his voice would have infuriated her if she hadn't seen the desperate anxiety in his eyes as he'd told the detective he wouldn't risk hers and Catelyn's lives. The enormity of what he was now asking suddenly hit her. She thought of the changes it would bring, the problems they would have to work out - where would they live, what would she do about her painting, the questions seemed endless.

She thought of the past two years, the loneliness, the emptiness, the terrible fear of what may have happened to her. Fear that only her love for Catelyn and the support of her family had been able to diminish.

Then she thought of the last ten days with Daniel, his love, his tenderness, his bond with Catelyn. In the short time she had known him she had shared more of herself than she had with any other man. And from what Daniel had revealed, those weeks in New Orleans that she could no longer remember had been the same.