“You must. His people have your father. They’ll kill him.”
She froze, staring at the red dirt. A beetle rolled a ball of dung along the ground in front of her, oblivious to her shock. “What?”
“They have your father,” her mother sobbed.
“What? How?” Nothing made sense anymore.
Her mother sniffed, and just as Tess was about to scream with frustration, she said, “It’s a long story.”
“Well, start telling it.”
Her mother gasped as if affronted by Tess’s tone, but Tess didn’t care. She needed answers.
“It started about ten years ago. Your father got a job at the docks and was approached by one of his colleagues. They would give him some money if he didn’t pay any attention to what was in a container coming in. We were struggling back then, and it was supposed to be a once-off occurrence, so he agreed.”
Tess closed her eyes. She could guess the rest. “What was in the shipment?”
“They never said. The next time a shipment came in, he refused, but this organisation had evidence of him agreeing to the previous shipment, and so they blackmailed him. He’s been trapped for years.”
“Tan’s part of this organisation?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you send me to stay with him then?” Surely they should have protected her.
“Because he found out you were going to Australia and demanded it. Your father was trying to get out, and this was a way of controlling him. We tried to talk you out of going, but you insisted.”
She refused to feel guilty. They should have told her the truth, or at least warned her. “Mum, you need to go to the police.”
“No! They’ll kill your father.”
“The police have a warrant for Tan’s arrest.”
Her mother wailed. “No! You must stop them. Tell them you lied.”
It was too late. Salvatore was in gaol, and he’d talked. They had probably already arrested Tan. Would her father be killed? Tess wanted to be sick.
“They said if you don’t go back to Tan within six hours of calling us, they’ll kill your father. They’re monitoring our calls.”
The nausea swirled like a cyclone in Tess’s stomach. Maybe the police could help her save her father. “I’ll call you back, Mum.” It was eight o’clock. The first thing she needed to do was find out where Tan was. She strode back into the house, the fly screen door slamming behind her.
“Everything OK?” Amy asked.
Nothing was. She shook her head. “Do you have Dot’s phone number?”
“What happened?” Georgie asked.
“I called Mum. She said Stonefish have taken Dad and will kill him if I go to the police.”
Ed walked in, hair dishevelled and his T-shirt and shorts crinkled. “What did I miss?”
Just the sight of him calmed her rapid heartbeat. “I need to find out if they’ve arrested Tan. They’ve got my dad.” Her voice quivered.
He snapped to attention and whipped out his phone. “I’ll call Dot.”
Tess paced the kitchen. At some stage they had returned the washing machine and the cupboard to the laundry and set the table back in its proper position.
Ed put the phone on speaker. “Dot, did they arrest Tan?”
