“I’ll get Sam to find it.” Dot sighed. “Can you call him? Tell him Oliver has been found and to return to town.”
“Yeah. Take care of yourself and let me know how Oliver is. We’ll be in touch.” Nhiari hung up.
“We can’t risk that laptop,” Lee said. “If Rodney is working for Stonefish, we’ll never get the information on it.”
“They’ll all be busy at the station for the next hour or so interviewing Kristy. Can we get to town without anyone seeing us?”
He nodded. “Call Sam. Get him to procure the laptop. We can arrange somewhere to meet.”
Nhiari found Sam’s satellite phone number and dialled.
“Nhiari, are you all right?”
“Yeah. Dot asked me to call, but don’t tell anyone it was me. Oliver’s been found. You need to bring the students back to town.”
“Is he all right?”
“He was shot with a spear gun. He’s been taken to the hospital. That’s all I know.”
Sam swore. “OK. We’ll head back soon. Are you going to meet us?”
“We’re still in hiding,” she said. “But I need you to find Andrew’s laptop for me. I’ll be in touch when you get back to the marina. Don’t tell anyone you have it.”
“Done,” Sam said. “I’ll see you soon.”
Nhiari hung up. “Do you want to call Lucas?”
Lee ran a hand through his hair. “I really thought Andrew would be OK. He shouldn’t have blabbed. He knew at least one cop was crooked.” Lee sighed, unable to hide the grief in his tone.
She hugged him. “You aren’t responsible for other people’s actions. You couldn’t have known what either of them was going to do.”
“Doesn’t hurt any less. The kid was lazy, but he was sweet when he was younger.”
She felt for him, but right now they needed to focus on the job. “How are we getting into town without Lucas seeing us?” Nhiari asked.
Lee nodded towards the west coast. “We go the long way around.”
She waited for him to pack away the telescope and then followed him back to the cave. It would take the boat about half an hour to return, assuming all students were on board and not diving. Another ten minutes for them to disembark and Sherlock to drive them back to the house they’d been renting. Sam could bring the laptop to them. “Let’s meet them at the lighthouse.”
Lee shook his head. “Not enough escape routes. We don’t know whether either of those men will let me go, even if you vouch for me.”
That was true. They tended to act first and ask questions later. “What then?”
“We don’t know whether Lucas has been told about Andrew. If he knows, he’s going to want that laptop. He could demand it from a student.”
Nhiari shook her head. “He wouldn’t dare get close enough to Sam and Sherlock. They would restrain him.”
“But he doesn’t know the police are on to him.”
“That’s still quite the risk to take.”
“I honestly don’t know anymore.” He sounded defeated.
Nhiari pulled him into her arms. “We’ll get him. We can use the treasure as a lure. This will all end soon.”
He looked into her eyes. “I don’t want this to end.”
Her heart thumped. He was talking about them. “I know,” she said. “Neither do I, but we’ll work something out.”
