Harrigan sipped the bitter drink Harold had given him and said nothing.
‘You see the way the creek winds?’ Harold continued. ‘It’s like a snake. A dry snake. When it rains, that creek will fill up and it’ll flood the roads. That water will get channelled through this country for miles. It’s a stupid place to bury someone because one day they’ll get washed away. If it ever rains again.’
‘It will,’ Harrigan said.
‘I don’t believe that. Not any more. You see the red gums down there? They’re big trees, they’ve been here for a long time. They’re dying now, there’s so little water.’ He put down his mug. ‘I guess you’re not staying for dinner. Ambro’s cooking.’
‘I’ve got to be back in the city tonight.’
There was silence.
‘Are you going to be okay out here?’ Harrigan said.
Harold sat for a few moments, smoking.
‘Yeah, I think I will now. Ambro’s here with her kids. That’ll make a difference. This is where I live. I don’t want to be anywhere else, even when it’s like this.’
‘I owe you for last night, Harry. If it hadn’t been for you, everyone here would be dead and I could have ended up using the same grave as the man in the creek. If you ever need any help, you call me.’
‘Call it even, mate. How are you travelling?’
‘I’m getting the afternoon plane from Wagga. My lift should be here soon.’
Harold looked at his watch. ‘You’d better hurry, mate. It’s an hour’s drive.’
‘Boss.’ One of Trevor’s people sent down from the city appeared in the doorway, his mobile in his hand. ‘I’ve got an urgent call here from Trevor. Can you take it now?’
‘Why didn’t he ring me on my phone?’
‘I was already talking to him.’
Harrigan took the phone and walked to the end of the veranda.
‘Trev. What is it?’ he asked.
‘Boss, I’ve got some bad news for you.’
‘Has something happened to Grace?’
‘No, she’s fine as far as I know. In fact, she rang me a while ago. Wanted to know how you were. I told her you’d had a brush with death but you were okay.’
Fuck, Harrigan thought, remembering that he hadn’t returned her call.
‘It’s something else. Your son. I’ve got a report here of a kidnapping from Cotswold House, forty-five minutes ago.’
‘I told you to put a guard on that place!’
‘I did, mate,’ Trevor said. ‘Hear me out. I’ve got details of Susie Pavic and Tim Masson suffering from concussion and bruising. They were both knocked out, locked in an office, and your son was snatched. They’re on their way to RPA, if they’re not already there. Masson is serious but none of the injuries are life-threatening. I’m putting a task force into action now. We’re pulling out all the stops.’
‘Why wasn’t there a guard on Cotswold?’
‘There was until eleven o’clock today, boss. Marvin found out I’d organised it behind his back. He rescinded the order and didn’t tell me. When I found out, I rang him and asked what he was up to. He ripped into me like you wouldn’t believe and hauled me in front of the commissioner who told me off for insubordination.’
‘Why the fuck didn’t they ring me? Why didn’t you?’
‘Marvin told God that you were hypersensitive about your son and the best thing to do was not to run it past you because you’d just be unreasonable. Meanwhile, there was no need to waste resources. I just got out of that meeting, boss. My ears are still ringing. I was about to call you when Colin rang me instead.’
Harrigan’s mind was so filled with white fury he couldn’t speak.
‘I’m on my way back,’ he said at last. ‘I’m leaving now.’
He cut the connection and handed the phone back.
‘Are you okay, boss?’
‘Is my lift ready? I’ve got to go now.’
‘I’ll check.’
‘What’s up?’ Harold asked.
‘It’s my son. He’s the latest collateral damage. He’s not dead, someone’s got him. I’ve got to leave.’
‘Mate, come with me. Whatever’s happened, you have to take these with you.’
In the living room, Harold handed Harrigan a soft package, carefully wrapped. ‘It’s the crop specimens. Someone has to test them out.’
‘Okay, Harry, I’ll take them. I’ve got to leave now. I’ll see you.’
His car was waiting for him at the back gate. He told the driver to get him to the airport in time for the afternoon flight, no matter what. They sped down the track, leaving a trail of red dust. The terrain out here was as wide as the sea. You either connected to its huge, open distances or the loneliness crushed you.
I have my own tattoos, Harrigan thought. Unlike Harry, his were on the inside. Experience had cut scars into his mind, into the underside of his skin. Marks as permanent as the colours Ambro had fixed onto his old friend’s body. Harrigan’s invisible markings made up who he was; Harold’s showed him to be a part of this stretch of red ground forever. Implicitly, they understood this about each other. It was why they could trust each other. The way Harrigan trusted Grace. The way he hoped she trusted him.
Whatever trust there was between them, they would need it all. He wouldn’t have the time to see her when he got back. He wouldn’t even be able to tell her when he might have the time. The only question on his mind was where was Toby? The world had changed these last twenty-four hours. He had a murderer and an abductor to go after, even if she’d never pulled a trigger in her life, even if she hired other people to do her dirty work for her. I have been threatened with abduction and murder all my life, Elena Calvo had told him, fishing for his sympathy and loyalty. She’d had no qualms about inflicting these fates on other people. There was no way she would walk away from this. The thought gave him no relief. They drove on through the dry landscape.
20
A car was waiting for Harrigan at Sydney airport and he drove straight to police headquarters. Arriving at the incident room, he found it closed up and apparently empty. He tried the door but it was locked.
‘Boss.’ Frankie appeared in the corridor behind him. ‘I heard you were in the building. We were told not to call you.’
‘What’s happening?’
‘Marvin told us to stop what we were doing and get out of there. Then he locked the door. We might be being replaced, every one of us.’
‘Why?’
‘The contract’s been stolen from the evidence room. We had a forensic scientist coming in tomorrow to have a look at it. When I went to check it, it was gone. Someone’s stolen it, they must have done. When Trev reported it to Marvin, he came down and stuck the knife into him and then locked us out.’
‘Where’s Trev now?’
‘He’s in the commissioner’s office with Marvin, probably being sacked.’
‘Where’s the rest of the team?’
‘We’re all in the tea room. We were thinking about going to the pub,’ Frankie said. ‘We’ve got nothing else to do.’
‘Like fuck you don’t. You can get back inside this room and get back to work right now.’
‘We don’t have the key. It’s in Marvin’s pocket.’
‘Then use your initiative. Don’t you have some manpower? Break the door down if you have to.’
Frankie laughed. ‘Okay, boss. Whatever you say.’
Without another word, Harrigan headed for the commissioner’s office.
He startled Chloe at her desk. It was a fitting name for a woman who was always as chillingly stylish as a spun-steel mannequin.
‘I understand the commissioner is interviewing Inspector Gabriel at this moment. Given that he’s my officer, I’d like to be present.’
‘Both Inspector Gabriel and the special assistant commissioner are in there with the commissioner now. I don’t know if they want to be disturbed.’ She hesitated. ‘I’ll buzz them.’
Immediately she had, Marvin came outside, blocking the door to the commissioner’s office. Harrigan looked past him. The commissioner stood behind his desk, Trevor in front of it, both confronting each other, both clearly angry. Marvin shut the door quickly. Harrigan saw him take in the marks on his face.