Jay nodded, the sadness on his face clear.
“Tell us what happened,” Dot suggested.
“I got a call on Friday. They asked me to make sure Lara was out of the house Saturday morning. Suggested I go riding with her.”
“Who’s they?”
“The guy calls himself Tan Lewis. I’ve never met him in person.”
“Go on,” Dot prompted.
“Saturday morning Tan calls back and says I need to kidnap Lara, leave her somewhere on the Ridge so they can pick her up and then lead the rest of you away from her.” He glanced at Lara. “I said no, but they sent me a photo of Nathan with a gun held to his head. I couldn’t risk it. I told Cheryl to pack the van. Lara would identify me as the one who kidnapped her, and I didn’t want to be arrested.”
“But you kidnapped her knowing Stonefish might hurt her.” Darcy’s voice was as cold as the terror that filled his body at the thought those monsters could have taken his daughter.
Jay stared him down. “It was her or Nathan.”
“He apologised when he tied me up,” Lara said. “He seemed sorry.” She reached into her pocket and withdrew a utility knife, handing it to him. “This helped Faith free me.”
Jay smiled. “Keep it. I hoped you’d use it.”
“You gave it to me on purpose?”
“Yeah. I didn’t want those bastards to get their hands on you.”
“I couldn’t reach it in my pocket.”
“But it helped,” Faith said.
“I never considered the cave would flood,” Jay said. “When Matt mentioned it, I couldn’t let Lara drown.”
“What did they hope to accomplish by kidnapping Lara?” Matt asked.
“They wanted to force me to sign the contract selling the Ridge to them.” Brandon turned to Dot. “What happened to the guy I was meeting with?”
“He’s in gaol,” Dot responded. “I read him his rights, locked him up and left Colin with him to get answers while Nhiari and I drove out here to arrest Jay.”
“Is he talking?” Faith asked.
“He’s terrified and worried about his wife. He owes them money too,” Dot said. “Said when Brandon signed the contract, someone from the company would arrive to counter-sign.”
“That means someone else must have been watching the meeting,” Darcy said.
“Yeah,” Dot said. “The shopping complex has three security cameras. We’ll go through the footage and see what we can find.”
With so many tourists around town, Stonefish might blend in. “Did the guy say anything to you when you had afternoon tea together?” Darcy asked Jay.
Jay frowned. “What guy?”
“Thursday afternoon you were at Ningaloo Café, sitting with the guy who showed Brandon the contract.”
Jay exchanged glances with Cheryl. “Charmaine and Roger? I had no idea they worked for Stonefish. They came over and chatted to us.”
“What about?”
“Retribution Bay. What we’d recommend they do in the area. I figured they were tourists.”
How many people did Stonefish have working for them?
