“The boat ramp shouldn’t be busy,” Nhiari said. “Not at this time of year.” She turned to Lee. “Did Lucas confirm he would be on the boat, or do we need to consider he’ll get picked up at a different location after the drop?”
“He said he wanted to be part of it, because everyone else has been incompetent.”
That was good.
“We’ll need to be close to the ramp,” Brandon said. “If we can borrow a small fishing boat, we can be in the area and go onto the ramp when the truck arrives.”
Still it would put them at a disadvantage should anything change. They needed a car in the parking bay and people on the ground.
She studied the satellite image. Her parents’ place was a few kilometres from Coral Bay. They had a property and there were multiple shortcuts into the small tourist spot, one which passed the airstrip. It was private and they could easily anchor the police boat offshore, ready to give chase.
She studied it further. That’s what was bothering her about this whole thing. A boat was far too slow. Even if the police didn’t know what Lucas had planned, they could have a plane in the air in less than an hour. If they put a tracker in the bag of treasure, they’d easily follow the boat and call border patrol to pick it up.
The sensible option, considering Lucas had a private plane, was to land at the airstrip, do the transfer and take off again. He could be halfway to Singapore before they could get anyone to help.
There was also the small airstrip on her parents’ property in case they spotted the police’s presence.
“Nhiari, you all right?” Lee asked.
She nodded. “Just thinking about options.” She waved her hand indicating they should continue their discussions. She needed to call her parents anyway to tell them she was all right, and to return the missed call she’d had from them yesterday. They could tell her whether anyone had been scoping out their place recently. It was almost impossible to sneak around in a car with all the dusty tracks.
It took another hour and some phone calls to the Organised Crime division by Rodney to come up with a plan. Brandon and Lee would be in the truck’s rear with the treasure. Lee would be officially under arrest and being transported to Perth for processing. Dot would be on the ground at the boat ramp with a team from Organised Crime, and Sam and Sherlock would be seen with Oliver and his team in the gulf—out of harm’s way. They would be available, if necessary, to chase Lucas’s boat if it headed north.
Nhiari would stay in Retribution Bay with business as usual. Lee seemed relieved by the plan. Nhiari stood and stretched. “I need to call my parents.” She ignored Rodney’s grunt. “They’ll want to know I’m safe.”
She didn’t wait for an answer and instead walked outside and around the side to the small patch of grass and shaded trees. She dialled their number and her father answered. “Finally! I didn’t think you’d ever call me back.”
She smiled, pleased to hear his gruff voice. “Sorry. I’ve been conserving my phone battery. I’m at the Ridge and I’m safe.”
“You still with that Lee man?”
“Yes, he’s here. We’re hoping this will be all over by the weekend.”
“Good. I don’t like this business. I don’t feel as if I can trust any strangers coming around.”
Her interest peaked. “You’ve had strangers at the property?”
“That’s what I was calling you about. Yesterday we had a bloke drive in. Said he was interested in learning about our culture. Was real interested we had our own airstrip and wanted to know how big our community was.”
All her senses dinged. “What did he look like?”
“About my height, Asian guy, neat dark hair, wore a suit in this heat.”
Could have been Lucas. “Did he look at the airstrip?”
“Just asked how long it was and whether it was regularly maintained. When I asked why he wanted to know, he said he was a tourist operator, thinking of starting custom tours to this area from Singapore. Asked if I was interested in being part of it. Teaching people bush tucker.”
Had Lucas lied to Lee about his plans, or was Lee lying to them? “What did you tell him?”
“Well I didn’t trust him, but I said I’d be interested to read his official proposal and gave him my email address.”
“He might be part of what is happening here,” Nhiari told her father. “It might be worth you and Mum coming into town for a few days until this all blows over.”
“I’m not letting anyone push me off my land again,” her father blustered.
She winced, not surprised by his vehemence. “Will you promise me if anyone comes by on Saturday that you will leave them alone?”
“Not if they’re on my land.”
