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Brodie’s phone call had brought the plan to leave forward by several hours. Isobel’s man approaching Abby at her mother’s house had escalated the situation and, while Mick and Dodge were now at the hospital keeping an eye on his daughter, the time had well and truly come for Zep to take point rather than call the shots from afar.
He drove six hours straight until he pulled off the highway and caught a few hours’ sleep on the outskirts of Rossglen. Waking around four in the morning, Zep found a road house to refuel the SUV and his stomach, before starting the next six hour drive.
As the night turned to morning, Zep found himself surrounded by the weight of memories and the haunting echoes of decisions made so long ago. Age had been kind to Becca… he must think of her as Rachel. Thanks to Jacko’s social media search, he knew her smile still had the power to set his soul alight. He knew that somehow, she was still the same woman he had fallen for, the one he’d sent away for her safety, and his.
And Abby’s. He’d never missed holding her as a baby, watching her grow and hearing her first words. They were indulgences he’d dismissed as unnecessary. Now, his head warred with his heart. A cascade of unfamiliar emotions swept over him—anticipation, fear and the raw knowledge that a reckoning was coming. He wondered about the woman she’d become, the dreams she’d chased, and the questions that would come upon learning the truth about her father.
Zep wrestled with the paradox of his fatherhood—an absent presence in the life of a daughter he had vowed to protect. Then there was the added complication of the cop Abby was living with. He had no regrets about the life he lived, but what would the consequences be for Abby discovering her father lived, at best, on the fringe of legality?
All this time to think was doing his head in. His gut churned in a way it never did when facing down an enemy or deciding that someone deserved to die for crossing him or his brothers. This was different. It was personal in a way he didn’t know how to handle. With any luck, he’d catch sight of Isobel and kill the prick. At least he’d feel more like himself.
At ten in the morning the carpark at the boat ramp at Faulks Reserve was almost full. Zep snagged a spot overlooking the water and a minute later Brodie climbed into the passenger seat.
“Fuck, man.” Brodie looked him over. “I almost didn’t recognise you.” He tried and failed to suppress a laugh. “You look like a cop.”
“Fuck you,” Zep sneered. He was tired from the drive and felt the weight of his reason for being here in every muscle of his body.
Brodie snorted. “I brought you a coffee.” He held out the peace offering.
Zep accepted. “What’s the latest?” He gulped down the lukewarm, but welcome, caffeine.
“Isobel’s man is Nikos Kypianos. Arrived in Australia about two days before me.”
“Did he make it through the night?”
Brodie sighed. “So it seems.”
A protective instinct so raw and overpowering gripped Zep’s heart with an icy clench. “Was he working alone?”
“From what I could tell. There's been no sign of any reinforcements.”
“That’ll change,” said Zep.
The sun glimmered on the water’s surface. Another boat was being launched into the water with a mix of concentration and practised ease.
“I expect so,” Brodie continued. “Mick has eyes on the hospital and Dodge is tailing Abby. She arrived at the cop shop with the boyfriend about twenty minutes ago.”
Which meant she wasn’t with Rachel, presenting Zep with a window of opportunity.
“Kypianos had a place just outside of Lennox Head. I’ve already searched it and found nothing useful.”
“Cameras?” asked Zep.
“Installed a couple last night. I’m heading back now to keep an eye out.”
Zep grunted his approval.
Brodie placed a key on the dash. “I’ll text you the address of where we’re staying.”
“Keep me posted.”
He started the engine as Brodie exited the SUV. According to the satnav, the hospital was a nine-minute drive. He called Jacko as he drove.
“What’s up, Prez?”
“Need to know the location and status of Nikos Kypianos.”
“That Isobel’s man?”
