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Ellie didn’t respond to his question, so Kane followed her around the back of the chopper. She opened the door on the left and pulled herself up into the cockpit in one lithe, practised movement. Nice legs. She was short, but her thighs were muscled and slim.

She buckled herself in and pushed the wiring light test switches one by one. He gave a mental shrug and turned towards the back of the chopper to check the fuel tanks for leaks.

‘Are we right to go?’ Her voice followed him as he went through his routine. ‘Are you done with the clutch check? Blades okay?’

‘All good so far, but she’s not ready to go up yet.’ He ran his hands down each side of the tail rotor.

‘Why not? Is there something wrong?’

‘No. It’s all fine. But I always do three checks on my birds before they leave the ground.’ He made it a statement, not an excuse.

‘We only do one here.’ She gestured to the vacant seat beside her as he came back around the front of the R44 and closed the cowl doors over the tanks. ‘Climb in.’

‘Not yet.’ Kane wasn’t used to explaining himself and he didn’t intend to start now. He was in charge of the safety routine, and that was that. And besides, he wasn’t going up with her. He reached into his pocket for a piece of gum.

‘In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in a hurry. Did Jock tell you why we’re going up?’ Her voice had an edge now, a husky tone that perversely made it even more attractive.

‘Yeah, I know about the search. I’ll only be another five minutes. Two and a half minutes each pass around.’ Kane blinked as the perspiration ran into his eyes. ‘One down, two to go.’ Heat or not, a chill was running through his body.

He checked the rotor blades and skids again as Ellie’s impatience hung in the air like a heavy cloud. By the time he’d finished his final check, her fingers were drumming on the instrument panel and her mouth was set in a tight line.

Kane strode back around to the side of the cockpit and slapped his hand on the roof. ‘You’re right to go.’

‘What are you talking about? I need you too.’ She levelled a steady gaze at him and he saw that her eyes were pale blue, contrasting with her tanned face. ‘Get in.’

‘No, babe. I’ve got stuff to do down here.’

‘Look, mister, I don’t know where you’re from or what you’re used to, but we all work together here. I need a spotter for this search and Jock said you were it, so haul your arse into that seat so we can get out of here. An extra pair of eyes could mean the difference between life and death.’

‘Sorry. Not in my contract.’ He’d made it quite clear when he was hired that he wouldn’t be flying.

‘We’ve got four people missing out there in the park and one of them is a young child. There’s only one hour of daylight left at most.’ She turned away from him and ran a final instrument check. ‘The crocs will be on the move as it gets darker. Want that on your conscience?’

Shit. Kane paused with one hand on the door and popped another wad of gum into his mouth.

Her eyes were fixed on his, and he could see the worry in them. Going up with her was the only choice he had. No matter how hard it was going to be.

‘Let me get my shirt.’ He ran over and snatched it from the chair inside the hangar.

‘Hurry up. You’ve . . . we’ve . . . wasted enough time as it is. Just get in the seat, please.’

Kane slipped his shirt on but left it unbuttoned. He ducked his head as she depressed the engine starter button until it fired, and then reached over to push the fuel cut-off. Before she could roll on the throttle, he bit down on the side of his cheek and swung himself into the front seat beside her. He grunted an acknowledgement as she passed him a headset.

‘Good to go?’ Her voice came through clearly and Kane nodded gruffly.

He stared ahead as the chopper lifted off the short runway and tipped forward as it gathered speed. The forgotten rush of being airborne filled him and he kept his eyes open, focusing on where he was.

The land below was a contrast of lush green forest and patches of scrubby trees on red dirt, interspersed with a network of narrow channels where silver water glinted in the late afternoon sunlight.

Five minutes later they were swooping over a wide river. She pulled a piece of paper from her shirt pocket and passed it to him as her voice filled his ears.

‘Talk me through the grid. Start at Cahill’s Crossing.’

*

With her attention fixed on guiding the helicopter along the search grid, it was a few minutes before Ellie ventured a glance in the direction of the man who was reading the coordinates to her in a flat monotone.

She dipped the chopper low, keeping her eyes fixed on the river and the floodplains below, looking for a flash of colour or movement in the brown and green landscape. The scenic flights she took up most days covered the most popular parts of the national park and in the four years she’d been working as a pilot for Makowa Lodge, she’d flown over much of it. But Kakadu was such a huge area; there were still gorges and valleys and river flats she had yet to explore from the air.