But hopefully Dot would still be safe. He debated calling Martin, but phone reception was spotty in that area. Still he withdrew his phone as his gaze followed the police vehicle, and he frowned as he spotted another ambulance heading down the road, though not at any great speed. “How many ambulances does Retribution Bay have?”
“One.” Nhiari followed his gaze. Her eyes widened. “It’s not got its lights on.”
“Which means what?” Lee asked, hoping it wasn’t what he thought it was.
“Someone’s dead.”
Chapter Twelve
Nhiari’sheartclenchedasthe ambulance drove back to the boat ramp. What the hell had happened? Was Dot safe? Her finger itched over the radio, desperately wanting to use it to check in, to make sure her best friend was still alive. But she couldn’t. Not without risking Lee.
“I’ll call Martin.” Lee made the call. He sighed. “Straight to voice mail.”
So they had to wait and hope something came over the radio, which would tell them what was going on.
It was interminable. The ambulance moved out of view and about twenty minutes later, it returned and headed back to town.
“We should go. Dot needs my help.” Her muscles ached with tension.
Lee placed a hand on her arm. “We can’t. If Martin is there, it will break my cover.”
“What about if I took your car and said I escaped?” It was difficult to breathe, not knowing the outcome of the incident at the boat ramp.
His expression, though sympathetic, was firm. “Call your brother. He can find out what happened.”
Good idea. Dot would expect him to make a nuisance of himself. She braced herself, ready for the anger Matt would direct at her for not contacting him for so long and pulled out her phone.
“Wait.” Lee pointed to the road. Dot’s police car was driving back to the main road.
Nhiari’s heart thumped as she bent down and peered through the telescope. It was difficult to see through the windscreen with the sun glare, but as the car turned, she glimpsed the woman behind the wheel. She exhaled. “It’s Dot.”
“Anyone else with her?”
“No.” She straightened and glanced at Lee. “Martin wasn’t in either car.” Which meant he had either been arrested or was dead. What the hell had happened? Nhiari waited until the police car reached the part of the road where mobile reception kicked in and dialled Dot, putting it on speaker.
“Sergeant Dot Campbell.” Her terse voice was a welcome sound.
“It’s Nhiari. What the hell happened? Is Oliver all right? Where’s Martin?”
A loud exhalation. “Where are you?”
“Top of the ranges. We saw cars but couldn’t see the boat ramp.”
“Kristy and Andrew kidnapped Oliver, and Kristy accidentally shot Oliver through the chest with a spear gun,” Dot said. “Oliver was in the first ambulance. I don’t know how he is.” Genuine fear in her tone now. “Before the ambulance arrived, Andrew started telling me everything about his father, said he’d copied files onto his laptop, but then Martin shot him.”
“Is he dead?”
“Yeah. Martin then wanted to shoot Oliver, but Rodney killed him.”
“So Martin was working for Stonefish.” Nhiari glanced at Lee. His eyes were closed, and both hands were behind his head. Upset about Andrew’s death. She stepped closer and slid an arm around his waist. “Are you all right?” She directed the question at Dot, but Lee opened his eyes and shook his head.
“I’m fucking tired. Tell me you’ve got something to end this.”
She glanced at Lee and he nodded.
“Lucas is in town, at the resort as you drive in. He doesn’t know we know though. He’s playing his cards close to his chest.”
“We need Andrew’s laptop,” Lee said.
