“Drive him in,” Sam said. “I’ll guard here until Dot arrives.”
Nhiari looked at the two dead bodies. She couldn’t leave civilians in charge here and Sherlock had medic training. Lee would be better with him. “No. You two take him. I’ll tell the ambulance you’ll meet them halfway.” She visualised the map they’d studied. “The track to the main road should be through there. You’ll go past the main house.”
Sam nodded.
She leaned close to Lee as she battled letting the fear take control. “You’re going to be all right.” Her voice shook.
“I’ll make sure of it,” he gasped, pain washing over his face.
“I think his lung is punctured,” Sherlock said.
“He’s been shot too. Right shoulder,” Sam told him.
Nhiari helped Lee to his feet, but he leaned against Sam as he climbed down the stairs. Sherlock brought the car close to the door. Sam lay the backseats down to make a larger area for Lee to lie down in and Sherlock climbed in beside him.
Nhiari bit her lip and clasped her hands together. She desperately wanted to go with him, to figure out the truth. She wanted to tell him she loved him, but the words stayed unspoken. Instead she stood where she was while Sam climbed into the driver’s seat and they drove away.
She moved over to Lucas and checked his vitals, though she was certain Sherlock would have already done so.
Dead.
Good. She radioed dispatch to inform the ambulance Lee was on his way to them.
She had two dead people on her hands and if Lee was to be believed, they were in control of Stonefish. This could all be over.
She almost tripped over the backpack full of treasure. With a sigh, she picked up both bags and put them back into Lucas’s four-wheel drive.
All of this was over a few bags of riches.
And everyone who wanted it was dead. The only person alive who might know the truth as to whose side Lee was on was Rodney.
She wanted to be sick. Chances were high, Lee would go to gaol after he’d been patched up. Rodney was unsympathetic.
All the stress and agony of the past few months rolled over her. She stumbled to the stairs of the plane, sank down and cried.
Rodney’s team arrived about an hour after Dot and Brandon and had taken over the scene. It gave Nhiari plenty of time to get herself together.
One of them strode over to her as others set up the lighting, and she managed a smile through her exhaustion. “Doug! It’s so great to see you.”
“I couldn’t let the two of you have all the fun.” He hugged her and she winced from her bruises. “How did you come to be here?”
She told him about Lucas speaking with her father and her waiting in position in case Stonefish used that airstrip.
“Why didn’t you tell Rodney?” Doug demanded.
She stiffened at his tone. “Because he was working for Stonefish.”
He swore. “You could have told me.”
“I thought you were going on leave.”
He sighed. “Damn it. This whole case has been a mess.”
“How’s Rodney?”
Doug raised his eyebrows at her. “This wasn’t all his fault. Last I heard, they were taking him into the operating theatre, but he’d be fine.”
Together they watched Doug’s team load the treasure into the back of a police car. “I don’t think Stonefish has anyone left who will go after it, but there are plenty of civilians who would,” Nhiari said. “You need to be careful with it.”
