Should he tell Sam?He was ex-military, so surely that gave him some kind of security clearance.And Dot trusted him.“A hideout with fake, moveable mangroves and enough space to hide a small boat.”
Sam’s gaze sharpened, and he swore.“That’s how they did it!”
Oliver frowned.“What’s been going on here?”
Sam stared at him for a long moment and then said, “The man who shot Dot’s brother escaped in a dinghy, but no one found the dinghy afterwards.”
Oliver’s mouth dropped open.“Mark was shot?Is he all right?”
“He died.”
Shit.Dot had idolised her brother when she was younger.She had hoped she could salvage their relationship when she went back to Retribution Bay.
Had she done that?
Either way, her brother’s murder would have devastated her, and Oliver hadn’t been there for her.
Her parents would have been useless.“How did she cope?”
“Brandon or Nhiari would be the best ones to tell you.I wasn’t here for it.”
“Brandon Stokes?He’s back here?”
“Moved back at the beginning of the year.”
Shit.Were he and Dot back together?Brandon had broken her heart when she was a teenager, but they might have rekindled something.He glanced at Sam, debating whether to ask the question.
“Brandon’s my best friend.He got married a couple of months ago.He and Dot are friends.”
Oliver nodded his thanks for the answer, despite the unasked question.“They were close once.”At least she’d had someone who knew how useless her parents were.No wonder she was so intent on processing the scene herself.“Did she catch who shot him?”
“A few days later, he kidnapped a friend and was killed during the rescue.”
“Dot killed him?”
Sam shook his head.“Dot wasn’t there for it.”
“Why not?”
“It’s complicated, and a whole other story.”
Maybe Retribution Bay wasn’t the sleepy little backwater he’d thought it was.“Do you get much crime up here?”
“This year we have.”Sam put his finger to his lips as they neared the bushes.
“I should have your badge for this,” Rodney growled.“You’ve destroyed our entire operation because you didn’t follow my instructions.”
“If you’d included me in your plans, I wouldn’t have,” Dot retorted.“How was I supposed to know you planted the camera there?”
“Your team has a leak,” Rodney said.
“I know!Why do you think I ignored you?”
Oliver’s mouth dropped open.This sounded like serious stuff.Had Dot inadvertently ruined the organised crime division’s sting operation?
“What were you even doing here?”Rodney said.
“Checking the rest of the islands for evidence.There were only two I hadn’t searched because I kept getting called back to town.”Dot’s voice lowered and became less emotional.“Every time I get close to something, I get a call, so when you radioed, I figured someone was trying to stop me again.I couldn’t let this evidence slip away.”
