A road train barrelled past, and Ed lowered the gun. As soon as they were gone, the man could go out to the road and flag someone down for a lift, which meant they had to keep moving. “Get to your knees.”
As the man slowly did so, Ed kept backing away and the moment the man’s knees touched the dirt, Ed took off, sprinting for the van. He glanced behind to see the man charging after him. He let off a shot, aiming for the ground, and the man yelled and stumbled, hitting the ground.
Ed kept running, praying he hadn’t hit him. Tess had climbed into the passenger seat, so he jumped behind the wheel. “Hold this.” He shoved the gun into Tess’s lap, slammed the car into first gear, and took off.
The van crawled up to speed, and the privacy curtains blocked Ed’s view behind him. Eventually he hit forty kilometres, then sixty, then eighty.
His hand trembled as he put his seatbelt on. Tess was quiet next to him, holding the gun as if it were a snake.
They were safe, for now.
“You want to tell me what the hell that was all about?” Ed fought to keep the anger from his voice as his body shook.
She sobbed, her eyes wide in fear. Shit, he couldn’t stop yet, and he couldn’t take his eyes off the road. “Tess, talk to me.” He reached out to touch her knee, and she cringed back.
Yeah, she was terrified. “How much trouble are you in?”
“I did nothing wrong.”
He wanted to believe her. From their conversations today, she didn’t seem like a criminal. She was too innocent. “Then why is a man with a gun after you?”
“It was Salvatore. I saw something I shouldn’t. They killed a woman.”
That Ed could believe and it explained why she was so nervous and had packed nothing. “Why didn’t you go to the police?” His body was high on adrenaline right now, but kangaroos didn’t care. He forced himself to slow a little, wishing he could see behind him.
“The police who come into the restaurant are friends with the owner. I didn’t think they’d believe me. I was going to call in Geraldton, but I thought if you overheard me, you might leave me there.”
Ed swore and glanced at her. “How long have you been on the run?”
“Since last night.”
But they’d already tracked her here. “How did they find you?”
“I don’t know.”
“What have you got in your bag?”
“My laptop and my phone.”
She hadn’t used her laptop today. “It must be your phone. Get rid of it.”
Tess nodded and wound down her window. For a moment she clutched her phone to her chest and then she threw it into the bush.
The next police station would be in Newman, but they might get phone reception at the roadhouse. “We need to call the police.”
“I know,” Tess said. “But I’m scared they won’t believe me.”
Sergeant Dot Campbell would, but she was the officer in charge in Retribution Bay, and he didn’t have her direct number. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
He listened as she explained what she had seen and how she had run. No wonder she’d been so desperate at the airport. He needed his phone, needed to know the second they got reception, but it was in the back and with the amount of ’roos they’d seen on the road he didn’t want Tess climbing into the back to get it. Up ahead was a sign for another rest stop. He’d risk stopping for a second.
“What are you doing?” Tess shrieked as he pulled in.
“Getting my phone and opening the curtains.” He shoved the door open. The road behind them was empty. Quickly, he opened the curtains, handed Tess his phone and took the gun from her. It was similar to one he’d used when his workplace had gone to a shooting range for their end-of-year Christmas party. He released the clip and cleared the bullet from the chamber before handing it back to her. “Put it in the glove box.”
He hit the road again. “Tell me when we get a signal.”
His entire body slumped as the last of the adrenaline left him. Exhaustion threatened to overwhelm him, but he didn’t dare stop. Chances were high the next car along the highway would pick up Salvatore and give him a lift. People didn’t leave anyone stranded out here. With that in mind, he made note of the odometer reading so he could tell the police where they’d camped.
