“I can take care of myself.”
She was sure he could, but the more she thought about him going into town, the more she hated the idea. “I’ll come with you.”
“No.” His growl was low but no less full of authority. It reminded her of her father which stiffened her spine.
“Either I come with you, or I call the police and report my stolen car.”
He glared at her as if he could change her mind. She crossed her arms and waited.
Sam slipped out of his room dressed in black, her laptop under his arm, and paused when he saw her there. He crept over. “What’s going on?” His voice was barely a murmur.
“I’m going with you.”
Sam shook his head. “It’s no place for you.”
An irrational part of her was certain as long as she had eyes on Brandon, he would be safe. “I’m coming, or I’ll wake everyone and tell them what you’re doing.”
Brandon growled. “You’ve got two minutes to change into something dark and meet us at the shed or we go without you.”
Elation and fear for what she was doing filled her. “I’ll be there.”
She had her shirt stripped off before she even got into her room.
***
Brandon seethed as he hustled over to the shed with Sam. There was no way they’d be able to push Amy’s car down the drive far enough from the house to start it before Amy joined them, but he could hope. He didn’t have time to waste arguing with her and Matt might hear and investigate.
“I don’t like this,” Sam said as Brandon unlocked the driver’s door.
“Me neither but we don’t have a lot of choice.” He wasn’t waiting around for the police to do their work. Dot had called earlier to say they hadn’t been able to locate the laptop but were monitoring things.
He and Sam didn’t have to worry so much about protocols.
Together they pushed the car out of the shed and down the drive. Soft steps behind as Amy joined them and helped push.
Damn it.
When they got far enough away, Sam took the front passenger seat, Amy climbed in the back and with Brandon driving, they headed into town. He flicked on the high beams which were pathetically weak and prayed there was no wildlife on the roads tonight.
“What’s the plan?” Amy asked.
“Surveillance,” Brandon told her. Next to him Sam had already closed his eyes. “Get some sleep if you can.”
“Shouldn’t I help you stay awake? Keep an eye out for ’roos?”
“No. I don’t need help. I’m used to functioning tired.”
“But surely it would be easier—”
“No.” This wouldn’t work if she kept arguing with him. “Sam, tell her how it is.”
Sam didn’t bother opening his eyes. “We’re on a mission. Bran is in charge so we do what he says, when he says it. We should rest when we can, so we can take over when he needs to nap.”
Brandon glanced in the rear vision mirror. She had pursed her lips, but then settled back against the back seat. “All right.”
Relief filled him as she closed her eyes and he soon heard the rhythmic, steady breathing which indicated she was asleep. The hum of the tyres on the bitumen was the only noise he had for the drive to town and he had plenty of time to envision what he would do to the low-life scum who had hurt his family. Seeing Georgie in tears and the fear on Ed’s face made him want to punish someone. Hadn’t his family been hurt enough?
He sighed. He admitted to himself that this mission would probably be a bust, but he couldn’t do nothing. The GPS app no longer showed the laptop’s location which probably meant it had been turned off, but at least they had marked its last known location. Hopefully it would be obvious from the caravan set up as to who they should watch.
