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‘Well, where do they think they could be?’
‘Ellie, nobody knows. They could have got spooked and taken off, but they didn’t report in and there’s no sign of them or the truck. It’s anybody’s guess. We know we have to go very carefully; our primary goal is to find your mum, and if there’s anybody else out there that needs rescuing or medical treatment, we’ll handle it as it comes. What Greg is certain of is that there are two professional operatives out there who were on some sort of mission. They suspect—or I reckon it’s pretty much a certainty—that something’s been witnessed and that the rest of the trekkers and the guides are—’ he hesitated— ‘hopefully hiding in the scrub.’
Dru interrupted. ‘Are what? That’s not what you’re thinking. Don’t beat around the bush, Connor, we need to know.’
Connor put his arm around Dru. ‘It’s alright, sweetie. There’s nothing to know. We don’t know anything.’
Ellie looked at him. ‘Can you just tell us exactly what Greg has discovered?’
‘Okay, what we know is there’s two operatives, but there’s no positive identification of them. The names the trekking company have on their booking, and have shared with the Federal Police, and they have passed onto Interpol, are non-existent. No passports, no Social Security records. No records anywhere in the UK, in the US, or Australia. The names they booked under are unusual so it’s an easy search. They were posing as man and wife according to the company, and said they were doctors from Scotland.’
‘But they’re not.’
‘No, they’re not. Greg’s got searches running on other databases to see if he can intercept any other communication with those names.’
‘So, they work for someone who does this sort of thing and they were after someone, you both think?’ Ellie forced herself to stay calm. ‘They wouldn’t have been after Mum, would they? It wouldn’t be Russell Fairweather?’
‘Ellie,’ Kane said. ‘Russell Fairweather’s in prison.’
‘I don’t care if he’s in prison. That doesn’t mean he can’t communicate with someone. I wouldn’t put anything past that bastard.’
‘No, I think you’re going out on a limb there, Ellie,’ Connor assured her. ‘Russell Fairweather wouldn’t be in a position to hire operatives from overseas to come in just to get your mum. That’s all over now. He has no money and he’s locked away, but to reassure you, I’ll get Greg onto that too.’
‘Thanks. And yes, you’re probably right about him. So, they were after somebody on that trek. Do they have any idea who the other young couple are? The ones who’ve been—’ Ellie’s voice broke. ‘Oh, God, I hope Mum’s okay.’
Kane put his arms around Ellie and she leaned in for comfort. ‘I’m sorry. I’m okay.’
‘They don’t because anyone who’s interacted with the trekkers are out on the trail. The Federal police get there this afternoon—they’re flying into Alice Springs according to the chatter—and it doesn’t take long to drive out to Standley Chasm. That’s where they all set off from this morning,’ Connor said. ‘We’ve managed to get a hold of the trekking itinerary for this particular tour.’
Dru looked at him and shook her head. ‘Duh, it’s on the fridge, sweetheart.’
‘Ah, so it is. I forgot. Anyway, Greg’s got it too, so if there’s been any changes, we’ve got the latest.’
Chapter 22
Larapinta Trail
After they’d made Andrew as comfortable as they could, Graysen walked down to the waterhole, keeping an eye on the cliffs above, and his ears tuned for any unnatural sound. He took his walking boots and thick socks off and walked into the water; it appeared to be a lot clearer in the middle than around the edge. The soft silt squelched between his toes, and as he filled the bottle, he wondered what else was in there.
Standing straight and screwing the cap on, he scanned the cliffs around him; he was exposed in the middle of the gorge. The wind was starting to come up, ruffling the water, and it was hard to hear anything apart from the rustling of the leaves and the scattering of small stones as they rolled down the cliffs into the gorge. The occasional thumping of a kangaroo or a wallaby jumping through the narrow end of the gorge broke the silence. If the wildlife were heading that way, perhaps it meant there were more waterholes, or perhaps it meant more feed in a wider valley. That was the way he’d be heading off in the morning, so he took note of how far up the gorge the break in the cliffs was.
Looking around once more, Graysen sat and let the wind dry his feet before he put his socks and boots back on. The temperature had dropped, and he hoped that the rocks and the cliff face would hold warmth for a while. It was going to get very cold tonight out in the open, with no cover and no groundsheet. The risk of lighting a fire was too high. If they were being looked for, it would be like providing a beacon saying, “here we are, come and get us”.
Frustration filled him as he thought of leaving Sandra out here in the remote gorge with Andrew. Hopefully as soon as he got to Standley Chasm it wouldn’t take too long to get a rescue team out here. He was just going to have to take good notice of where they were before he set off tomorrow, and note markers of his route as he headed east.
He could hear her chatting to Andrew as he walked closer. Her soft, sweet voice and the kindness in her words brought a smile to his lips.
‘When Graysen comes back, we’ll move you and you’ll be more comfortable. When we get out of here, I’d like to meet your two little boys. It sounds as though they’re a similar age to my grandson, James. When we go back, you’ll probably be in the hospital for a day or two. Do you have any family there to look after the boys for you? If you don’t, I’m sure Graysen will be happy to help me out and mind them while your wife visits you.’
Sandra was sitting beside Andrew and she looked up and smiled as Graysen approached. That strange feeling he knew from long ago hit him in the chest and he smiled back. She was a lovely person and he was starting to care about her way too much. Not just because he was looking after her; he’d known what a good person she was from pretty much the first minute he’d met her at the luggage carousel. It hadn’t taken long for that to build into an attraction the more he got to know her.
He shook his head as he stood watching her. Despite Andrew’s tangled and bloodied hair, she was gently smoothing her fingers over his forehead and his head, obviously avoiding the injured part of his skull. She’d turned his head to the side to keep the pressure off the wound.
Trying to get his focus off the attraction to her, Graysen wondered about the extent of Andrew’s injuries and whether his head injury had caused a major concussion—or worse. If so, it would take more than a day or two in hospital for him to recover, but he guessed that Sandra was trying to reassure the young guide. Her puffer jacket was rolled into a pillow and it looked like she’d cleared a section of the flat ground around him.
‘Hi, all done?’ she asked with a smile. ‘I found a branch and leaves on the ground over there and used it to sweep the ground clear.’
‘Looks almost cosy,’ he said. Graysen couldn’t get over how well Sandra was coping with the situation. She’d told the group she was out here to find herself and her strength. Well, she’d certainly done that.
