Little Girl Lost (18 page)

‘Ken, stay with me,’ Gina called in a weak voice. Sarah’s father darted around the car to get in next to his wife.

‘You let her lean on you,’ Adam instructed. ‘Get in, Sarah. We have to get going.’

Sarah hesitated and glanced back at the shop. They couldn’t just leave it unlocked and open.

‘Forget it,’ Pete said, obviously understanding the look. ‘You go with your parents. I’ve got this.’

Sarah met his eyes then for the first time. She wanted him to know how grateful she was. Then she leaped into Adam’s car. The doctor was already behind the wheel, and within a few seconds they had pulled away from the store.

Sarah glanced in a side mirror. This time, she was the one driving away and Pete was left standing beside the road.

The ringing just wouldn’t stop. Max rolled over and glanced at the bedside clock. The glowing numbers told him it was a few minutes after two o’clock. And his phone was ringing. He instantly snapped awake. This had to be work.

‘Delaney,’ he said as he picked up the phone.

‘Mount Isa Dispatch,’ a woman’s voice at the other end told him. ‘We have a call out in Coorah Creek.’

Max had expected as much. When he was off duty the local phone diverted through to the regional HQ in Mount Isa, which was manned twenty-four hours a day. And they would only disturb him in the middle of the night if it was something urgent.

His first thought was for the Travers’ family. Gina had been taken to the hospital earlier that day, after collapsing in the shop. Surely she hadn’t …

‘We have a 141 with a possible 301. Code two.’

Max was out of bed before she finished speaking. A prowler. Possibly armed. This was an urgent matter.

‘Location?’ He flung open his wardrobe and reached for his uniform.

‘Goongalla Mine. The workers’ compound. A trailer home set towards the back of the compound.’

Tia!

‘On the way.’

He slammed the phone down and threw on his uniform. He buckled on his belt, his weapon in its holster. He’d never used the weapon in anger. Hoped he never would. But he was prepared to, if it was necessary.

He was in his car within a couple of minutes of waking. The Code two classification allowed him to use his lights and siren at his discretion. He chose not to. At this hour there would be little or no traffic between his house and the mine, so he didn’t need them. He didn’t want to wake the whole town, but more importantly, he didn’t want to alert whoever was prowling the mine compound to his approach. But that didn’t stop him from breaking several speed limits as he raced towards the mine.

The mine itself was heavily protected by a high fence topped with barbed wire, with heavy iron gates manned around the clock. That was standard practise at any mine, but particularly a uranium mine. The accommodation compound, however, was outside the main security perimeter. It was fenced, of course, but its gates were usually wide open. That had never been a problem – until now.

As he approached the compound, Max let his speed drop and turned off his headlights. He knew this road well enough to continue by the faint light shed by the security lights along the mine fences. The moonlight helped too. He pulled his car through the gates and parked in the dark shadow of a row of dongas.

He flicked off his interior light and cautiously got out, leaving his door open. He stood perfectly still, listening. At first he heard nothing but the normal sounds of night in the bush. But then something out of place. Footsteps. He tilted his head to try to determine their source, when he heard loud angry voices and a grunt of pain.

With one hand on his gun, and the other pulling a powerful torch from his belt, Max began to run towards the rear of the compound, where Tia’s trailer was set.

The sounds got louder. This was some sort of a scuffle involving several people. He swung the torch around and the beam caught a flash of a running figure disappearing behind the mess building. He sprinted after it, only to find himself joined by a couple of mine workers.

‘He went that way,’ one of them shouted.

‘You lot stay out of it,’ Max told them as he set off in that direction at a run.

‘Not bloody likely, mate,’ was the reply as the others joined him.

As a group, they followed the shadow Max had seen. At the other side of the mess, Max paused and shone his torch around. Nothing. He sprinted in the direction of the perimeter fence. There, his torch revealed a hole cut in the wire. He shone his torch into the trees beyond the wire. Nothing. No sign of the prowler and no way to know in which direction he had gone.

Max let his hand fall away from his gun. This was over – for now.

He led the men back towards the mess. ‘Tell me what happened?’

‘I was just getting back after working late,’ one man said. ‘I saw someone skulking around Tia’s trailer and the bike. I grabbed him and called for someone to ring you.’

‘Is Tia here?’ Max asked, his heart beating harder at the thought of the danger she might have been in.

‘No. She’s on shift until six.’

‘I got a message that this guy might have been armed.’

‘That was me,’ a second man said. ‘I saw him and Blue wrestling through the window of my donga. He was holding something. It might have been a gun …’ The man paused and looked a bit bashful. ‘But I’d fallen asleep watching some crime show, so maybe it wasn’t.’

‘I thought I had him, but then he clocked me one,’ Blue said ruefully, rubbing his chin. ‘And I let him go. That’s when you arrived.’

‘Okay. Thanks, guys,’ Max said. ‘He’s gone now. He probably won’t come back, but I’ll hang around anyway. Just in case.’

‘Do you need a hand?’ Blue asked. ‘I wouldn’t mind a chance to give back what he gave me.’

‘No, thanks.’ Max smiled and slapped the man’s back. ‘Get some sleep. If I need you, I’ll let you know. And next time, if there is a next time, don’t go off all half-cocked. Call me first and let me deal with him. Especially if you think he’s armed. All right?’

The men nodded reluctantly.

Max took down a few more details of the incident, and a description, vague though it was, of the intruder. The yawning miners, their adrenaline rush fading, headed to their beds.

Max walked over to Tia’s trailer and walked around it, shining his light carefully on the door and windows. There was no sign of any attempt to break in. The Harley sat in its usually spot near the door, and it too appeared untouched. He didn’t like this, not one bit. His gut told him that Tia’s past had found her. He didn’t know what it was, but his instincts also told him it was dangerous. If he was going to protect her, he had to know what this was all about.

He walked slowly back to his car and moved it to a place from where he had a good view of the trailer and the Harley. He wound the window down to let in some fresh air and settled low in the seat. It was going to be a long night.

Tia stretched, feeling cramped muscles crack as the tension dropped from her shoulders. Ten hours behind the wheel of a machine bigger than a house took their toll. She removed her helmet and pulled the band from her hair, shaking it out with a toss of her head.

‘Long night,’ another driver said as he walked towards the office to clock out.

‘You got that right,’ Tia said, falling into step beside him.

‘I hear there was some sort of scuffle at the mess last night.’

‘Really?’ Tia wasn’t really interested. Tempers occasionally flared at the mess. It was no concern of hers.

‘Yeah. A burglar or something.’

Tia forced herself to keep walking. ‘What did he break into?’ she asked, her voice much calmer than she was.

‘Dunno. I think they chased him off before he got whatever he was looking for. Probably just looking to lift a laptop. Or maybe he was thirsty and looking for beer. Nothing to worry about.’

Oh, but it was something to worry about. The newspaper cutting she had found after her date with Max was safely stowed in the rucksack under the bench in her trailer. She’d been expecting the next move ever since. Now here it was. Tia let her steps slow and the rest of her shift drew ahead of her. They were eagerly discussing the events of the night before, spurred on by details told to them by the incoming shift. Tia wanted no part of the discussion, but she knew better than they did what this was all about.

Most of the others headed straight for the mess when they arrived at the compound. Tia turned towards her trailer, her heart in her mouth. Wondering what – or who – she might find there. It was just after six o’clock and the day was still cool; or rather what passed for cool at this time of the year. The early morning light, however, was clear and in that clear light she had no difficulty recognising the blue and white checks on the four-wheel drive parked under a tree near her trailer.

Max had staked out her trailer? She wasn’t sure whether to be pleased he cared enough to do that or be angry at him for spying on her. She was also a little afraid. If Max and Ned came face to face, there was no good way for the confrontation to end.

She approached the car, and noticed that Max’s head had slumped back against the headrest. His eyes were closed and his long dark eyelashes fluttered against his cheek. He was snoring ever so softly. Tia felt a smile twist the corners of her mouth. Tired as she was, she could imagine how good it would feel to lay her head against his shoulder and join him in slumber. He looked so cute when he was asleep.

But he was also vulnerable, and he had no idea who and what had been out there in the darkness last night.

‘Hey, Max. Wake up.’

His eyes blinked open. In those few waking moments, as he first saw her, the look of pleasure on his face was enough to melt her heart, but not her resolve.

‘Tia.’ A moment later he was fully awake, his eyes searching the compound for any signs that something was amiss.

‘Everything’s fine,’ she said. At least she hoped everything was fine. She hadn’t been inside her trailer yet.

‘I don’t usually fall asleep on the job,’ Max said. ‘But I didn’t have time to grab a coffee before I came out.’

She could hardly ignore the hint. Or suggest they go to the mess. Max wanted to talk to her about last night. That was obvious. And the conversation was best had in private. With a tilt of her head in invitation, she turned and headed for her front door, noting as she did that the Harley was parked where she had left it. She also noticed that someone had brushed away the layer of dust that had accumulated on the seat. When she opened her door, she looked carefully around her home, searching for any signs that someone had been there. It seemed exactly as she had left it. Max and the miners had interrupted her uninvited guest before he could get inside.

But she had no doubt who it was or what he wanted.

She walked inside and Max followed her. She felt very self-conscious having him here, in her private space. He was the first person she had invited inside. The trailer was clean and tidy, but it was pretty bare. A few books lay on a shelf, and the motorcycle helmet was in its usual spot. But Tia was acutely aware that the trailer had no photos or small trinkets, the sort of personal possessions that made a home. She was also acutely aware of what lay in the rucksack in the cupboard under the bench seat.

She busied herself making coffee, while Max sat and waited patiently. It wasn’t the coffee he was waiting for and they both knew it. At last she sat down opposite him at the little table, two steaming mugs between them.

‘It’s someone from your past, isn’t it?’ Max’s voice was gentle.

She nodded.

‘Tell me.’

‘I can’t. He’s dangerous.’

‘If you tell me, I can protect you. But if I don’t know what’s going on, or what he’s likely to do, that only makes it harder.’

‘I can’t tell you. I wish I could, but I just can’t.’

Max covered her hand with his. ‘Tia, you can tell me anything. I know I’m a cop, and I suspect over the years you have had little reason to trust cops, but you can trust me.’

‘I know I can.’

‘And whatever it is in your past that you are so afraid of, it won’t change the way I feel about you.’

‘You can’t know that.’ Half of her wanted to just let go and tell him the truth, but the other half, the honest half, knew that she couldn’t.

‘I do know that. I am your friend, Tia. Always.’

‘I know. But it would be safer if you weren’t.’

‘Safer?’ His brow furrowed. ‘Tia, I won’t let him hurt you. I will keep you safe. I promise you that.’

She shook her head, her heart nearly breaking. ‘No. He won’t hurt me. I meant it would be safer for you.’

The big blue and white rig was parked close to the store. The door was open and Pete was sitting sideways in the seat, drinking orange juice from a plastic bottle. He was the last person Sarah wanted to see, but it looked as if she had very little choice. Doctor Adam’s wife, Jess, had offered Sarah a lift home after the long night at the hospital, and she pulled her car over to the side of the road without switching the engine off.

‘Are you going to be all right?’ Jess asked, with a glance in Pete’s direction.

‘I’ll be fine. Thanks for the lift.’ Sarah got out of the car.

Pete immediately jumped down from his seat, and regarded Sarah through eyes dark with worry.

‘How’s your mother?’

For the merest fraction of a second, Sarah was almost overwhelmed by a desire to fling herself into Pete’s arms and let go. To stop being strong and cry out all the fears and tension of the past twenty-four hours. She wanted Pete to scoop her up in his arms, much as he had lifted her mother the day before and rock her like a child until the pain went away.

But she wasn’t going to do that. She had grown up a lot in the past few days. And she’d come to realise that her knight’s armour was irrevocably tarnished.

‘Did you spend the night here?’ she asked in a voice that was totally devoid of all emotion.

He nodded. ‘I wasn’t sure if the shop and house were locked, so I wanted to keep an eye on things for you. Besides, I couldn’t leave without knowing …’

‘Mum is okay,’ she said quickly. Whatever Pete had done to her, he was still a friend to her family. ‘Doctor Adam says it was just exhaustion and stress. She was so busy taking care of Dad, she didn’t look after herself. None of us looked after her. But that’s going to change now.’

She saw the relief cross Pete’s face.

‘Dad’s still at the hospital with her. I expect Adam will let her come home later today. I need to get things ready for her, to make sure she does absolutely nothing when she gets back. Doesn’t lift one finger. Not even if she wants to.’

‘She’s lucky to have you here to take care of her. They both are.’

‘Thank you for helping us yesterday. And for keeping an eye on the shop,’ Sarah said, struggling to keep her voice polite but impersonal. ‘You’ve been a good friend to us, Pete. We appreciate it.’

‘That was nothing.’ He paused for a moment, and then lifted his eyes to look her full in the face. ‘Sarah we need to talk about—’

Sarah shook her head. ‘No, Pete. Not now.’

His face fell, but Sarah did not have the emotional strength left to feel anything and certainly not sympathy for a man who had lied to her. Well, perhaps not lied, but certainly not told her the truth. There was nothing she could say to him right now, and there was certainly nothing he could say that would change the way she felt. She simply turned and walked into the shop.

She locked the door behind her, and turned the hanging sign to say ‘Closed’. Not that she expected customers. Trish Warren would have made certain the whole town knew to stay away from the shop today. For once she was grateful for the Coorah Creek grapevine.

Slowly she walked through the house to be greeted by a loud wail of protest from Meggs. The cat was waiting for her just inside the kitchen door, sitting next to his empty food bowl. He glared up at her in an accusing manner. The remains of a smashed plate still lay where her father had dropped it the previous afternoon in his rush to get to his wife’s side. She should clean that up, but not now. She didn’t have the strength. It took all of her willpower to retrieve a can of cat food from the fridge and dispense breakfast for her hungry feline.

Sarah walked through to her bedroom. On her return from college, she had moved back into the room she’d used as a child. A few of her prized childhood possessions were still there. Some books. A somewhat battered stuffed elephant. A poster of some long forgotten pop idol. She flung herself down on the bed. Despite the bone weariness she felt after being awake all night, she did not feel like sleeping. Instead she opened the top drawer of her bedside table and removed the faded old photograph she had found in the dusty box in the storeroom. The afternoon she had found it now seemed years ago, almost as many years ago as the day the photo had been taken.

How young she had been. How innocent. As she sat there at the wheel of Pete’s big truck, she had honestly believed in the happy ever after of the fairy tales she read. She had pictured herself, all grown up, driving away into the sunset with Pete. She’d grown out of that, of course, when she went away. But then fallen straight back into the same trap the moment she laid eyes on him again.

It was about time she stopped believing in fairy tales.

She did still believe in love. Her parents had shown her that real love could exist. Sitting in the hospital last night, as her father held the hand of the woman he still loved after all these years, Sarah knew that she wanted to find a similar love.

But it just wasn’t going to be with Pete.

She was too tired to get off the bed to throw the photo in the bin. Instead, she tossed it carelessly away, not bothering to look where it fell.

‘I am an idiot,’ Pete cursed himself softly under his breath as he watched the mine team unloading his truck. This was the load he should have delivered the night before. He had stopped at the shop first because he was desperate to see Sarah and tell her the truth. He was glad he had been there to help, but he wished things were different.

‘As if she wants to talk about me, with her mother sick in the hospital. And her father too, for that matter. What was I thinking?’

He took another swig from the water bottle and looked up at the sun. At this rate, the unloading would be finished very soon. There was plenty of daylight left. He would drive back to the Isa immediately and try to see if there was another load waiting for him. He had to make up some of the money he’d lost during the search and those long days at the hospital with Linda, although that seemed less important now that he no longer had to think about supporting a family.

A short distance away, some workers were coming off shift. He saw Tia immediately. Her height and the femininity that she exuded even in protective work gear made her stand out from her workmates. As she always seemed to be, she was walking a little away from the others.

He raised a hand to catch her eye and she walked over to him.

‘Hi, partner,’ he said.

‘Hi. How’s things?’

‘All right,’ he said. ‘Did you get a chance to say goodbye to the Haywoods? I didn’t and I’m sorry I missed them.’

‘I missed them too,’ Tia said. ‘Max said they dropped by to say goodbye and sent their thanks to both of us.’

‘That was nice of them.’

The two of them stood in silence for a few seconds, watching the last of the load being removed from Pete’s trailer.

‘So, life is back to normal around here,’ Pete said.

‘I guess. But there are times I wonder what normal really is.’

With that she walked away. Pete watched her go, wondering if he too really had any idea of what normal was. His life had been a rollercoaster for the past few weeks. It wasn’t like being physically tired. He worked hard and knew what exhaustion felt like. This was worse. This was an emotional burnout. He couldn’t see any joy in the days, weeks and months ahead, if he couldn’t find a way to mend his bridges with Sarah. One thing he did know, any life that didn’t include her was not going to be a happy one.