‘Great-nephew,’ Jemma repeated. She stared at Hamish as though he could make sense of the relationship. ‘Wait. Jacob isRohan’sson?’
As she disconnected the call a minute or two later, Jemma shook her head. ‘How did I not see that coming? Once I’d realised that Celine and Rohan knew each other from uni days, I should have figured out the illegitimate son. I knew about his existence and the timeline was right there in front of me.’
‘How could you put that together? Like, why would you? It sounds like corruption is more than skin deep with that lot.’ The couch sagged as Hamish settled back. ‘So you’ve not only refused the partnership and basically flipped Gerard off, but you’ve got actual beef with his family. I guess now he’s not going to make you partner in a practice here?’
Jemma pressed a hand to her forehead, obviously trying to slot the new information into her future plans. ‘I imagine his stance will be all about crisis management, whatever that looks like.’
Hamish’s heart felt like a lead weight. So briefly, it had seemed like everything had finally fallen into place. Relieved as his own phone buzzed an interruption, he turned away slightly.
‘Hey, Lach,’ he said as he flicked the call onto speaker.
‘No, it’s me,’ Charity replied. ‘Lachlan’s already crashed for the night. Said you insisted on putting in crazy hours today.’
‘Yeah, I was planning on heading to the city.’
‘Course of true love, I’ll forgive you.’ There was a smile in Charity’s voice. ‘But actually, I’m calling about Tara. I justtook a run out to Evie and Paul’s place to drop off one of those fruitcakes Paul loves. Evie mentioned that Tara had been around earlier to collect the ducklings to take to Charlee’s.’
‘Good-o.’
‘No. Not really. Evie said that Tara said she remembered who had tried to run them over and that she’d gone to deal with it.’
‘Wish she’d given me a heads-up first.’
‘Well, she wouldn’t have reached you guys on the machinery. But it’s not that, Hamish. Evie said Tara was being weird. And from the way she described it … Look, I don’t have much experience, but I reckon it sounds like she was using. Or, you know, maybe she was drunk.’
The fact that she actually managed to sound hopeful it was the latter revealed the depth of Charity’s concern.
‘I could call one of her brothers, but I figured, seeing as Lach had told me you’ve already been dealing with her … ?’
‘I’m on it. Thanks, Charity.’
He hung up but sat there rubbing his head. ‘I’ve got to go and find Tara.’
Jemma was already up, retrieving her clothes from the floor. She handed him a shirt. ‘Do you have any idea where to look?’
‘Not a clue.’
‘She’s off a farm, right? Okay, you head out to her house. I’ll cruise the streets here.’
He scrubbed his hands across his face. While he appreciated Jemma trying to take charge, she had no idea how vast this area was, how many barns and hay sheds and fallen-down cottages could be harbouring someone looking to snort, smoke or shoot up.
A pounding on the back door jerked his head around. No one knocked around here, or, if they did, it was a politeprecursor to barging in. But the door remained shut. He strode down the hall and yanked it fully open.
Framed in the doorway was Charlee, her face white. She was supporting Tara, who giggled up at him.
His relief at seeing her alive almost overwhelmed his anger.
‘Where’s bloody Ethan?’ Charlee demanded.
He cocked an eyebrow at her fury. ‘Adelaide, I assume.’
‘No, he’s not. We went out to the piggery again last night to set up cameras, like Jemma said—’
He felt Jemma stiffen alongside him.
‘—and he reckoned he was taking a sickie today because he’s so over his boss. Then he came past mine about two hours ago. Now I can’t bloody find him anywhere.’
‘Charlee, you know him better than I do. It’s not like I have a tracker on the dude. Come inside. Tara, what the hell?’ His relief had quickly given way to rage. He had bigger problems to deal with than Charlee’s ongoing frustration at Ethan refusing to accept the relationship she wanted.
