“Sorry, am I late?” She slid in the seat opposite her.
“Not at all. It didn’t take me as long as I thought to walk here.” Milly beamed.
“That’s great.” They ordered lunch and then Milly asked, “Did you like the place?”
“I did. I can make something nice of it,” she said. Though it may take a little longer than she’d like to get the work done if she couldn’t find a local to do it.
“Wonderful. Your father’s booked us flights to Perth on Friday evening and we won’t be back until Tuesday. I insisted on catching up with your brothers while we were in town.”
“Say hi to them for me.”
She was pleased both her parents seemed happy with their decision. Her mum looked a lot more vibrant than she had in the past few weeks, as if having something to look forward to had given her a new lease on life.
After they ate, they wandered along the verandahs of the shops and then out into the sun. So much for the weather forecast of rain. She enjoyed this kind of weather for winter, but the summers were scorching. It had been a shock to the system when she’d first moved here to help her mother, but she would get used to it.
As they crossed the road, a black ute drove towards them. Her mother stumbled, falling on Faith, and Faith almost dropped her. “Oof, sorry darling,” Milly said.
Faith glanced down the road. The ute still came towards them and if anything had increased its speed. The windows were too dark to see the driver. “Quickly, Mum.” She pulled on her mum’s arm, heart racing as the car barrelled towards them.
“It’ll stop,” her mother said.
Faith wasn’t so sure. “He hasn’t seen us, Mum.” With more strength than she knew she had, she yanked her mother forward, and they both stumbled to the edge of the road, tripping on the curb and falling in a heap on the ground. The ute raced past.
Heart racing, she dusted the dirt off her palms. “Are you OK?”
“Bloody tourists,” her mum grumbled. “No respect.”
Faith rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. The vehicle was too far away to get the number plates. A normal person—whether a tourist or not—would slow down if people crossed the road in front of them. Perhaps she was being paranoid. She helped her mum to her feet and then helped her brush the dirt from the back of her pants. Faith gave her mother a tissue to stop the bleeding on her palms.
They kept to the footpaths as they walked home, with Faith looking for a black ute in any of the driveways they passed. She stopped to get the mail while her mother continued into the house saying she was going to wash up. In the letterbox was a plain white envelope with her name on it. No stamp. No address.
She scanned the neighbourhood, but no one was in their garden. Her hand shook as she slid her finger under the flap and pried the envelope open. Inside was a single piece of paper. The typed words sent a chill down her spine.
Next time we won’t miss.
Chapter 14
Darcy hung up the phone after speaking with Faith, his hand shaking with rage. Very carefully he put the receiver back on its charging station rather than slam it down like he wanted to. Stonefish had gone too far.
“Is something wrong with Faith, Dad?” Lara was getting biscuits out of the kitchen cupboard for afternoon tea.
Yeah, something was wrong. Someone was threatening her, and if he caught the bastard, he’d kill him. Instead, he forced a smile. “No, pumpkin. Faith’s coming to hang out here for a couple of days. She wants to go through some ideas she had with Amy.”
At her name, Amy glanced up. “Horse-riding stuff?”
Darcy nodded. It hadn’t been difficult to convince Faith to stay at the Ridge, and that told him she was scared. “Have you done your homework?” Lara’s pout gave him her answer. “Go get your school bag.”
The second she left the room, Amy asked, “What gives?”
“Faith and her mum were almost run down today,” Darcy said, his hands clenching. “A letter addressed to Faith said next time they won’t miss.”
Amy swore. “She OK?”
“Shaken. She took the letter to Dot, but there were no prints. Faith’s parents are heading to Perth for a few days, and she’s convinced them to go a day early.”
“Rain’s forecast on the weekend,” Amy blurted.
He frowned, but then Lara walked in. Ah. Well spotted.
