“Why would your friends do that?” Tess asked.
“Because they owed Stonefish money, or Stonefish were threatening their loved ones. Some of them were asked to come to the station to make trouble.”
No wonder Dot had seemed suspicious of her. “What could they want?”
“I wish we knew.”
She had to figure out how she knew Lee. If he worked for Tan, she would have to leave immediately so she didn’t bring any more trouble to the Stokes family.
“Come on. Let’s enjoy the wedding.” Ed swiped two glasses of champagne from a server and took Tess over to where Matt was chatting with an older couple. “Tess, these are Matt’s parents, Helen and Cecil.”
Tess smiled. “Nice to meet you.”
“Are you Ed’s girl?” Helen asked.
Her face heated. “We’re friends.”
The woman grinned, and her eyes sparkled. “Has he shown you the sky yet?”
What was she talking about?
“Not yet, Helen,” Ed answered. “We only got in yesterday. It was a long drive.”
“Make sure you get him to show you the emu,” she continued. “He knows all the proper constellations.”
Ed turned to her. “I spent a few nights with Helen and Cecil, and they explained how they view the stars. The positions tell them when different seasons are starting.”
How interesting. She’d attended a couple of talks by Aboriginal elders while she’d been at university. “I’d love to learn more.”
Helen smiled. “Get Ed to bring you over while you’re here.”
Excitement shimmered. “Thank you.”
She chatted with the group while Ed excused himself to talk with Georgie. It appeared as if he was making sure everything ran as it was supposed to.
“He always has to know what’s going on,” Matt said, as his parents moved away to chat with others.
She blinked and found Matt grinning at her. She blushed and sipped her champagne. “Maybe that’s because his family leave him out of everything.”
Matt frowned. “The Stokes include everyone. It’s their way.”
She raised her eyebrows. “So why was Ed the only family member not involved in the bridal party?”
He scanned the crowd as if checking she was telling the truth. “I don’t know.”
“He wasn’t involved in the drinking last night either,” she said. “Was he invited?”
“I’m sure Darcy invited him.”
Annoyance simmered. “And no one noticed he was missing until I pointed it out.”
Matt held up his hands. “All right. I see your point. It’s nice he’s got someone to look out for him.”
She nodded, though she wasn’t certain why she was so annoyed all of a sudden. “Excuse me.” With a quick check to ensure Lee was still taking photos, she hurried inside to the bathroom.
When she was done, the house was quiet, but outside voices murmured and people laughed. As she walked down the hallway, Lee entered from the other end. She froze, her heart leaping to her throat. Before she could duck into the nearest bedroom, the man waved. “Hi. Lovely wedding, isn’t it?”
She nodded. Lara’s bedroom was to her left, but it didn’t have a lock on the door.
