Tess had finished her meal, so he waved at her to come outside. “Yeah, give me a second.” He held out the phone to Tess. “Dot wants to speak with you.”
She shook her head.
“She can’t help you without details, and the sooner they can get to the murder site, the more chance they have of finding evidence.” He wasn’t sure of that last bit, but it sounded right.
Tess took the phone. “Hello?”
There were enough cars around to add noise to the morning, and Tess kept her voice low. He listened while Tess told Dot who she was and why she was in Australia. “I work for Tan Lewis, who owns a Singaporean restaurant in Balga.”
Ed froze. Impossible. It couldn’t be the same person who had been harassing his family for the past six months. “Say that name again,” he demanded.
She glanced at him. “Tan Lewis.”
He grabbed the phone. “Dot—”
“I know. I’ll check into it.”
Good. He gave the phone back to Tess, his mind racing. If Tess witnessed Tan Lewis shooting someone, or ordering it, then he would go to gaol and stop coming after Ed’s family. Though Stonefish Enterprises was a large company, and probably had a lot of people they could throw at them, it would feel like a win against them finally.
“How do you know Tan?” Tess asked.
He waved towards the phone. “I’ll explain later. Finish talking to Dot.”
It took a while for Tess to tell her story and answer the myriad questions Dot had and then finally, Tess handed the phone to him.
“All good?” he asked Dot.
“Not even close. I thought you were the one Stokes I didn’t have to worry about.” She sighed. “I’ll see you at the Ridge.”
“Yeah, thanks Dot, I owe you one.”
“No, you owe me a dozen,” she said. “Drive safely.”
He smiled and hung up. Dot was all bark. “You ready to go?” he asked Tess.
“How do you know Tan?” she demanded again. The concern on her face was impossible to ignore.
Ed sighed and walked back to the van. “It might not be the same man,” he said. “But there’s a guy by that name who has been harassing my family to sell the station. Works for a company called Stonefish Enterprises.” It took him a second to realise she’d stopped walking and was staring at him. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve seen invoices with that name on it at the restaurant.”
Excitement simmered. Perhaps she could help him put Tan away. “That’s great. When you get to the Ridge, you can tell Dot everything and hopefully she’ll have enough to arrest him.”
She shook her head. “No. I can’t go with you.” She glanced around, as if looking for other options. “If he finds me, he’ll kill me, and he might hurt your family too.”
Ed grasped one hand she was waving about. “He’s been hurting my family already,” he said. “Or at least sending his goons to do the work. They’ve sabotaged the station, set fire to our feed and kidnapped my niece to force us to sell. We haven’t been able to trace anything back to him, but you can. You can help us send him to gaol.”
She bit her lip.
“We need you, Tess.”
“But he might find me at your station.”
Was it wrong of him to put her in danger because he wanted the guy caught? “Brandon is ex-military and half his team is at the Ridge for the wedding. They’ll be able to protect you.”
She swallowed and then nodded. “All right.” At the van, she asked, “Do you want me to drive?”
The sun was above the horizon, but the wildlife might still be active. “I’ll take us out of town.” His energy had spiked after eating and speaking to his family, and the thought they might finally stop Stonefish. “Let’s go.”
