‘After the whole debacle with Brandt, I figured that she would be the one to have answers. So I decided I needed to kidnap her. And you two wouldn’t approve of that, obviously. So I left.’
‘And?’
‘Dead end. She doesn’t know anything.’
‘I was paid to deliver a package to the post office,’ Kate said. ‘I don’t know who by, and I don’t know why. I swear.’
Dawes leaned forward. ‘Brandt’s imposter escaped.’
‘Wow, that’s news,’ King said.
Kitchener shook her head. ‘No it’s not. Because you would have been staying in that motel. He would have come after you. He stole one of our vehicles.’
‘How exactly did he manage to do that?’ King said.
‘We’re still trying to work that out. We found him dazed in the hallway. He refused to speak. Didn’t say a word. We put him in a cell and made the necessary calls. He must have slipped a key, or picked the lock, or something. That’s still unclear. But now he’s dead. That’s very clear.’
‘Do you have anything else on him?’ King said.
‘We ran him through the system. He flew in from America the day before last. Fake passport. We don’t know his real name. Now we never will.’
‘How did he get his hands on a grenade in the time it took to get to the motel?’
‘How do you know it was a grenade?’
‘I know what the remnants of a grenade blast look like. I was in the Special Forces.’
‘We know that also,’ Dawes said.
‘You do?’
Kitchener pointed at him. ‘I did some digging, King. After you escaped. Made some calls. You weren’t just a soldier. You were part of something called Black Force. What are the chances that a government mercenary just happens to come wandering through Jameson at the same time that all this shit goes down?’
King cocked his head inquisitively at Kitchener’s speech. Then he answered. ‘Very slim. Which is why I’m thinking it has something to do with me.’
‘I’m starting to suspect that too,’ Kitchener said.
‘You think I’m the one in charge?’
‘I don’t know what to think. This is a clusterfuck.’
‘Why would they send an imposter into the police station to try and kill me if I was the one in charge? See how little sense that makes?’
Silence.
‘See my face?’ King said. ‘You think I’d do that to myself?’
‘Like I said, I don’t know what to think.’
‘Well, use basic reasoning. I’m trying to help you stop this. And it has something to do with Rafael Constructions, I am one hundred percent certain.’
Dawes detached the radio from his belt and held down one of the buttons. ‘Helen, you there?’
Another voice crackled out of the speaker. ‘Here.’
‘Still at the motel?’
‘Yep. Forensics had to come down from Hurst. Twenty minute drive. They’ll be here a while.’
‘Can you run an errand for me?’
‘Sure.’
‘Head down to Rafael Constructions. Their head office. Just check it out quickly. Make sure everything looks okay.’
‘Will do.’
The conversation ended sharply. Dawes slotted the radio back into its place and leant on the conference table on his elbows, running a hand through his hair.
‘I’ve barely slept,’ he said. ‘We went to check out Brandt’s place yesterday afternoon. No sign of him. He’s likely dead. There’s something bigger going on…’
‘That’s what I was trying to work out,’ King said. ‘Before you two crashed my party. That Bernie guy is a slimy fuck. He knows something we don’t.’
‘Helen will give the place a look-over.’
‘Who’s Helen?’
‘Another officer.’
‘Can she protect herself?’
‘Of course.’
‘I’d say we should all head back there right now,’ King said. ‘Because that place gives me the creeps. And after all the shit I’ve seen in my life, anything that gives me the creeps is definitely worth checking out.’
‘We’ll let Helen handle it,’ Kitchener said. ‘Until then, we’re going to need a statement of everything you’ve done from the time you left yesterday to the time we picked you up today.’
King sat back in his chair and stared at them, allowing the silence to grow to an uncomfortable length. ‘You know I’m not going to be able to do that.’
‘Why is that?’
‘Well I could lie. It wouldn’t take much effort to make up a bunch of bullshit. But I don’t want to waste your time. I want to get to the bottom of this.’
‘Then tell us what you saw.’
‘Nothing I saw has done anything to develop the investigation. I was close to developing it, but you two interrupted. Now we’re here.’
Then the radio crackled to life. A short, sharp burst of static. A moment of silence. Then a voice. Helen’s.
‘Uh… Dawes?’
Dawes picked up the radio, his hand twitching, his face reddening. ‘Helen, all clear?’
‘Kind of.’
‘What do you see?’
‘There’s no-one here.’
‘What?’
‘Everyone’s gone. The place is empty. A whole bunch of paper has been shredded. Looks like they left in a hurry.’
Rage flooded King and he slammed a fist on the desk, causing everyone in the room to startle. For once in the last three days he had come close to the truth. Close to getting the edge over Bernie and finding out exactly what the new owners of Rafael Constructions were doing with its resources. Now he was sitting in a police station, answering useless questions, letting the people behind this slip away without reprimand.
‘Get me there,’ he told them, ice in his voice. ‘Right now. I’ll sort this out.’
It didn’t take long for them to make up their mind. They glanced at each other, mulling over what decision to make next, wondering just how legal any of these processes were. But common sense eventually gained the upper hand.
They knew he was something else. Some kind of force they couldn’t contain.
Kitchener looked at him. ‘Back in the car.’
CHAPTER 27
Dawes broke the speed limit for the entire duration of the trip. They made it back to the head office in less than five minutes. King and Kate in the back, the two officers up front. What they were doing was completely against the law. Punishable by serious jail time. But in this situation, the smartest play. They’d recognised that King was a trained killer, and that they needed his help.
There was greater danger than King in the forest.
It was clear that Rafael Constructions had been deserted on a moment’s notice. The front door to the building lay ajar. Three vehicles that had previously been in the parking lot were now gone. There were no cars left except for Billy’s abandoned sedan, almost crumpled beyond recognition. A woman in police uniform stood on the front deck, beckoning them over. King guessed she was Helen. She looked to be at least six-feet tall, slim, in her late forties. A stern, no-nonsense woman. That much was clear.
The four of them got out of the police car and approached the office with an air of apprehension. Dawes and Kitchener withdrew jet-black pistols from the leather holsters at their waist and aimed them at the building. King recognised their make. Smith and Wesson M&P40’s. Standard issue for Victoria Police. Semi-automatic. Reliable. They’d do the job.
‘Fun morning, huh, Dawes?’ Helen said as they stepped onto the deck.
‘To say the least,’ Dawes said. ‘You been inside?’
‘Briefly. There’s no-one around, I can tell you that.’
‘Helen, this is Jason King.’
‘Who is he?’
‘He was passing through. He used to be a soldier. He can help us.’
King nodded a greeting at Helen, but he wasn’t focused on pleasantries. He scanned the office’s exterior, looking for anything out of place.