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‘Thank you, Mr McLaren.’ Garrett nodded at Ellie before turning back to Kane. ‘Once again, I’m sorry to hear of your mother’s death. It’s been a very difficult night for you and I do appreciate you coming in.’

‘You can find me at Makowa Lodge in Kakadu. I have a job to go back to.’

Kane strode from the building. Ellie’s hand was still in his and she kept up the pace he set. They stepped out into the street and the noise of the morning traffic was a welcome distraction to the jumble of his thoughts. Kane stopped and looked down at her.

‘Bloody hell. What’s going on?’

‘Are you okay? I know you didn’t get on with Panos, but it’s still a shock.’

Kane shook his head. ‘It might sound hard, but Panos’ death has had no impact on me at all. I’m just grateful that Mum was gone and she didn’t have to deal with it.’

Ellie slipped her arms around his waist and leaned into his chest. Kane dropped his chin to rest on the top of her head and took comfort in her warmth. They stood silently for a moment outside the office block as the busy crowd pushed past them.

‘I’m going to have to leave for Makowa soon. Will you be okay?’ Ellie lifted her head and Kane stared into her clear, blue eyes. He wondered if she knew how much her support had helped him through those early hours this morning.

‘Kane. Stop looking at me like that.’

‘Like what?’

‘Like you’re wondering if I believe you. Don’t even go there. That man was so rude asking you those questions.’ Her hands tightened on his back. ‘You should put in a complaint.’

Kane shook his head with a rueful laugh. ‘He was only doing his job. I understand where he’s coming from. The timing sucks but he has to find out what’s going on.’ He put his hands on Ellie’s shoulders. ‘And the reality is that Panos was murdered. It was no drunken accident. When it hits the news, it’s going to be big.’

‘Kane?’ The tremble in Ellie’s voice sent a surge of protective warmth spiralling through him. He’d failed before and he wasn’t going to fail again. The thought of sending her back to the lodge alone bothered him. He suspected – no, he knew – that Sordina’s death was not a random killing. It was somehow tied up with what was happening at the farm. His mother had said enough to make him certain of that.

Ellie’s next words echoed his thoughts. ‘It’s too much of a coincidence, isn’t it? The fracking. Bill’s accident. Panos’ death.’ Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at him. ‘There’s someone behind all this. What are they trying to achieve?’

‘I don’t know, Ellie.’ He rubbed his thumb gently along her full bottom lip. ‘But I’m going to find out.’

‘Should we go back and tell that detective what we suspect?’ Ellie stood on her toes and brushed her lips across his. Her hair brushed against his face and he was filled with need. Kane wasn’t used to that feeling and a warning rippled through him as he held her.

What the hell are you doing? He was leaving himself too open. Slowly he dropped his hands and the expression on his face must have mirrored his thoughts.

‘Not yet.’

Ellie lowered her gaze and stepped away. ‘You’d better take me back to the motel, so I can collect my car.’ She glanced down at her watch. ‘I’ll be cutting it fine as it is.’

‘I’m only going to do the essentials with the funeral home. I’ll get back as soon as I can. I want you to be very careful. Make sure you’re not alone at all. Stay around the rest of the staff till I get back. Don’t even go to your apartment. Okay?’ Kane tilted her chin up with his fingers. He couldn’t help himself. He leaned down and took her lips with his in a brief kiss. ‘Drive carefully. Okay?’

‘I will.’ Ellie held his gaze, her blue eyes steady.

Full of trust. The cold feeling began at the base of Kane’s neck as Ellie’s eyes changed to the dark brown of Hawk’s. He took a deep breath and pushed away the growing panic before it could take hold of him.

Chapter 26

2.00 pm Friday

Makowa Lodge

Ellie had plenty of time to think on the way back to the lodge. So much had happened in the short time since she’d driven down this highway. There’d been no mistaking the feelings that had consumed her when she’d been with Kane in the early hours of the morning. Not just when he’d held her. The intensity of his gaze in the motel bed had made her stomach swoop like it did when she put her helicopter into a steep dive. He’d let her into his head, into his heart, and she suspected that giving himself to her had been a huge step for him; as big a step as it had been for her.

Meeting Kane had set her on the right path towards her own healing. Once they’d investigated this stuff at the farm, she would decide whether she could let the past go and focus on her future. It would take some time to figure out what that future held, and whether Kane would be a part of it.

Slowly, slowly. A frown wrinkled her forehead as her father’s words echoed through her thoughts. He’d taught her patience as they’d raised the trees from seedlings, and as he’d sat with her in the shed, waiting for her chickens to hatch beneath the special lights they’d set up. She hoped that Kane had good memories of his childhood; he was going to need something to look back on to help him grieve for his mother.

She stared straight ahead as she drove past the farm. Time for that later.

The sight of the high phone towers looming ahead at Jabiru surprised her. Ellie had been so immersed in her thoughts that she’d paid little attention to the traffic. Now the short final leg towards the lodge awaited her. A pall of smoke hung in the still air of the early afternoon, indicating the seasonal burn-off was still going. Ellie slowed down as the smoke thickened, and cursed as she came to a line of traffic stopped ahead of her on the highway just south of the Bowali Cultural Centre. She slipped the car out of gear and pulled the handbrake on, settling back to wait. If the fire had jumped the road – which it looked like it had – she could be in for a long wait.