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‘Thank you.’ Heather picked up her bag and headed quickly for the door.

‘Heather?’ Ellie was surprised at her friend’s haste to get away. ‘Will you please swing by the bistro and tell Amanda not to wait for me?’

‘All right.’

Ellie frowned as the door closed. She crossed to the window; it was almost dark. She watched Heather turn in the opposite direction to the bistro and hurry across to the back of the day spa. Bill’s old Land Cruiser was backed right up to the staff entrance. Heather opened the driver’s door, jumped in, and black smoke billowed from the exhaust as she drove towards the main gate of the lodge. She indicated and turned onto the highway.

Thanks pal, for telling Amanda not to wait. Heather’s behaviour was bizarre. Ellie frowned as she walked over to the children. She pulled down a couple of large cushions off the sofa and switched the television on. Once the kids were engrossed in the children’s program, she took out her phone and flicked through until she found Gina’s number and pressed call. Like Heather said, it went straight to voicemail. She wondered if she should call David to see if he knew where Gina was; it wouldn’t hurt.

She kept her voice low as she called Call Connect. ‘Parliament House, Darwin, please.’ Once the call was picked up she asked for the office of the Chief Minister. While she waited for it to be answered, she dropped into the chair at the desk and reached over to the drawer. It was partially open and a piece of bright red paper was caught in the top. ‘No fracking for Kakadu’ was emblazoned across it in big letters. A public meeting was happening tomorrow morning at ten o’clock.

Join us and be part of the fight to keep this ancient land healthy for all of our children, black and white. Hear Bill Jarragah speak about the dangers to our environment.

She opened the drawer wide to pull out the paper for a closer look, and something shiny caught her attention.

Ellie gasped and put her hand over her mouth, but the children were too engrossed in the television to hear her. She reached in and pulled out a crystal-encrusted phone case. There was an iPhone loose in the drawer beside it.

Chapter 27

5.00 pm Friday

Parliament House, Darwin

‘You bastard.’ David closed his eyes and grasped the handset tightly as the chilling laugh came through the line. ‘Where is she? Where are my children?’

‘David, David. Calm down. There’s no need to be like that. She’s in good hands.’

Fairweather’s voice sent ice through David’s veins. He’d been trying to reach Gina ever since the news had broken of Panos Sordina’s murder that morning. After several attempts, he’d given up on her mobile and called the main number of Makowa Lodge, but there’d been no answer when they’d put the call through to the room. He’d tried to convince himself that she’d let the battery run flat, or she’d gone out and left the phone in the room, but deep down, his conviction that something was very wrong gelled into certainty as the hours had passed: Fairweather had her. The confirmation turned his stomach to liquid.

‘Your wife is fine.’ His voice was friendly as though they were having a social conversation. ‘But you know what you have to do, don’t you, to make sure she stays fine?’

‘Why? Why now?’

‘You let me down with the boundary change vote, David. So I thought you needed a little prompting to make sure you vote the right way this time.’ Fairweather sighed. ‘I really thought I had made the consequences clear to you.’

David clenched his hand around the phone. He had no choice but to submit. ‘I will vote for your drilling licence. You have my word. But so help me, if you harm one hair on Gina’s head . . .’ He kept his voice level and strong.

‘Now, now, David. You don’t want to get me cross.’ Fairweather’s voice hardened. ‘One of your colleagues made me cross yesterday. And I heard on the radio he had a very unfortunate accident last night.’

David eased himself down into his chair as Fairweather’s meaning registered. ‘Sordina?’ His voice was hoarse and he struggled to take a deep breath. The air was thick and hot, and a trickle of sweat ran down the side of his face. ‘Where are my children, Russell?’

Fairweather laughed. ‘I really don’t know. I’ll be in touch soon, David.’

David stared at his mobile as the call disconnected at the other end. His hand was shaking as he put it down on the desk and searched frantically for his car keys. Everything was moving in slow motion and his ears buzzed as though a thousand cicadas were in his head.

Oh God, where are Andrew and Binny? Surely they hadn’t been left alone in the apartment.

He’d try Gina’s phone one more time before he jumped in the car and raced down the Arnhem Highway. Maybe she still had it on her. Maybe she’d hidden it, or switched it off.

His fingers were shaking as he pressed speed dial. David stared straight ahead, willing her to pick up. Again it went straight to voicemail. As he threw it to the desk in frustration, the landline on his desk buzzed and he grabbed the phone. ‘David Johnson. Who’s calling?’

‘A call for you, David.’ Helen’s voice was hesitant. ‘She wouldn’t say who it was, just that it was important. Do you want to take it?’

‘Yes. Please.’

The call clicked across. ‘Who is this?’

‘It’s Ellie. David, is that you? Look, I’ve got Gina’s phone and I’m a little bit concerned.’