Lucas was nearby and yet he hadn’t told Lee he was here. That made him nervous. What did he have planned?
He had heard nothing from Steven or Joseph either. Had Dot caught them last night?
As if on cue, his phone rang. “Joseph, what can I do for you?”
“They’re on to us.” His voice was low, and it trembled.
“Who are?” Lee was careful to keep his voice cold and disinterested.
“The police. Martin sent me a message to say they were going to pick up Steven. He’ll tell the cops who I am.”
Martin was still being the good spy. That was interesting. “Where are you?”
“At the safe house.”
He frowned. “Who sent you there?” Someone on Joseph’s level shouldn’t know about the safe house.
“Martin.”
What was the man playing at? He was supposed to run those kinds of things past Lee. Unless Lucas had been in touch and told him differently.
Unease settled over Lee. That instinct right before things went bad. “You should get out of town before they put a roadblock in.”
“Where do I go?”
“South. Lose yourself in the city.”
“You want me to go to Perth? There are more cops there.”
“And more people. Take out as much cash as you can now so you don’t have to use your card.” The man hadn’t considered what he would do if he got caught. Not a full-time criminal then. Where had Clark found him?
Probably in a bar somewhere.
Nhiari returned with her phone and radio and passed him an apple.
“I’m not going to gaol,” Joseph declared.
“Then leave now.” He hung up, and bit into the apple, bored with lazy men who wanted an easy buck but didn’t like the consequences that came with it.
“Who was that?” Nhiari asked.
“Joseph. Dot must have got an ID on them last night, but not caught them.”
“What did you tell him?”
“To leave.” At her widened eyes, he added, “He won’t get far. Dot’s likely to spot him on his way out of town, and if she doesn’t, I have his details.”
“Where is he now?”
“At the safe house. He headed there when he got word Steven was going to be arrested.”
She held out her phone. “Dot sent me this last night.”
It was a photo of him at the launch dinner for the shipwreck expedition. Oliver must have taken it. He screwed up his nose. “Lucas required me there. We hadn’t seen each other since the beginning of the year and he wanted to ascertain whether I was still loyal.”
“How did you avoid getting caught?”
“It was a small, private gathering and I’m an executive at an international shipping company. No one looked twice at me unless it was to wonder why an executive was taking photos.”
