He’d figured lying low until the heat faded would be his best bet. And posing as a nature photographer gave him plenty of reasons to spend time in the ranges scoping out the best locations.
That had definitely paid off.
“Have you got any water?” Nhiari sat on the rock he used as a seat.
Lee dug in his backpack and pulled out a flask, handing it to her. She gulped down the liquid without hesitation and he moved across to the entrance. From this height he could see down the canyon, but aside from a kangaroo lazing in the shade below, nothing moved. The ranges were perfect for hiding as there were very few roads in.
“So what now?”
It was a good question and not one Lee had a good answer for.
“Can we search for the boys from here?” Nhiari added.
Lee shook his head. They’d come too far north and west. There was no way the boys could have made it this far. “They would have found the boys by now.”
“You can’t know that.”
He glanced at her. “Do you think any of them will give up before they find them?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “The boys couldn’t have gone more than a couple of kilometres and if Sherlock trained them as he said he did, they would stick to shade and cover until they could find help.” He hoped he was right. He hated the idea of the two children out there alone, but he had to look at the bigger picture.
Nhiari scowled as if she was building her argument.
“Those boys weren’t scared, even when Kurt handed them over and drove away. They whispered together, but I heard Jordan reassure Cody that Sherlock would come for them.” The only person to show him that amount of faith had been his father.
The stabbing pain hadn’t lessened in the past year, but he could ignore it. “Will they mount a search party for you?”
“Matt will search even if no one else does.”
“Your brother is a pain in the arse.” Matt had been in the wrong place at the wrong time on a number of occasions and had almost blown Lee’s cover. And he was continuing to be a pain even now. It didn’t matter that Lee had saved his and Georgie’s life.
Nhiari barked out a laugh and then smothered it as if realising she shouldn’t agree with him. She swallowed. “Did you kill Clark?”
The question was unexpected, but how should he answer it? He couldn’t forget Nhiari was a police officer, and she could put him behind bars.
Though she knew enough of his crimes to arrest him now. He hadn’t cared what happened to him when he first started his mission. He had only wanted Lucas to pay.
Now, he wished he’d done things differently.
“Yes. Georgie is innocent.”
Nhiari leaned forward. “Why did she say she killed him?”
“Because I asked her to. If Stonefish knew I had killed Clark, they would have stopped trusting me and I need their trust.”
“So you let her be accused of murder?”
He narrowed his eyes, annoyed she was trying to push his buttons. “Self-defence not murder, and you know it.”
“Tell me what happened.”
An order, not a request. Lee clenched his teeth. He should have just left her tied up in the cave. Should have ignored the small part of him that hoped if they spent time together, she would see who he truly was, not who he’d had to become.
He kept his eyes on hers as he crossed to the other side of the cave and leaned against the cave wall. “Clark kidnapped Matt and called Georgie to come to his rescue. His plan was to kill them both.”
“Why?”
“Clark was a spoilt child who had watched too many movies. He only got involved in the business at the beginning of the year after I did. He couldn’t stand the praise his father gave me for my work.”
Nhiari’s eyebrows raised, but she didn’t speak.
