“So we wait until Lucas tells us what he wants?” Lee asked.
Rodney nodded. “I’ll travel with the treasure. What are Dot and Nhiari planning?”
Lee shrugged. “They’ve talked options but haven’t finalised anything. They’re waiting for Lucas to tell me his plans.”
“And will you tell them the truth?”
He chuckled. “What do you think? We’ll all be able to get away from this god-forsaken town.”
“How will you escape? The Stokes aren’t likely to let you go.”
“We’ll need eyes on the van at different points of the road. Nhiari and I can take one of those positions, and I can slip away from her easily enough.”
Lee’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen and then at Rodney. “It’s Lucas.” He answered, and Rodney strode closer so he could hear. “What’s the plan?”
“Coral Bay,” Lucas responded. “There’s an airstrip. The plane will meet us.”
“What time?”
“That’s where you come in. I need to know where the truck is at each moment. You’ll tell me.”
Lee frowned and glanced at Rodney. “Wouldn’t Rodney be better at that? He’ll be in the truck.”
“So will you.”
What did he mean? “They won’t let me into the truck.”
“I’ll get Rodney to say he’ll transport you to Perth in it,” Lucas said.
“That’s highly irregular. Do you think they’ll go for it?”
“He’ll have to make sure they do.”
Rodney’s lips pressed together.
“Call me when the truck leaves Retribution Bay. Then call again when you turn on to the Coral Bay road. I’ll meet you there.” Lucas chuckled. “We’ll kill any police riding with you and make our escape.”
“Except Rodney,” Lee clarified.
“As long as he doesn’t outlive his usefulness.” Lucas hung up.
Well shit. That wasn’t good, but Lucas didn’t know Rodney was listening in. This could all go badly if Rodney was loyal to the police. Lee would have to watch his back and somehow make sure Nhiari and Dot weren’t with the truck.
He cringed. His chances of achieving that were slim. What was Lucas thinking? It wasn’t a well thought out plan.
Lee looked at Rodney. This was awkward. “The Coral Bay airstrip is pretty barren. Not a lot of places to hide.” He’d investigated a lot of exit and entry options while he’d been up here. “We can tell the others Lucas is planning to take the treasure to the Coral Bay boat ramp,” he continued. “That way when we turn off the main road, they won’t be suspicious. They can lay an ambush at the boat ramp and we’ll turn off early.”
“Dot will insist someone rides with the treasure,” Rodney said.
“So convince her it should be you,” Lee said. “You go with the driver. I’ll be in the back. You can insist on that, right?”
Rodney hesitated, which seemed out of character for him. “Nothing I’ve insisted on has worked with Dot. She’s tenacious.”
Was that a hint of admiration in his tone?
“Then I’ll take care of them while we’re in the back of the truck,” Lee said. “They won’t expect it. I can have them tied up before we arrive, and we can drop them before we get to the airstrip.”
He didn’t discount the fact Lucas might shoot them out of spite if they were still in the truck when they arrived at the airstrip.
