Dad turns to me, one hand raised. ‘He’s gotta do it, Amie. If Snowie realises Gavin missed out he’ll get suspicious of Harris.’ He looks back to Harris. ‘You give Gavin his share. Then after you leave, I’ll bust him. Not for this – I’ve already got an excuse for picking him up. This’ll just be the icing on the cake when I get him for violations on his car.’
Harris sucks on his bottom lip. ‘No guarantee he won’t whack it up his arm before you catch him.’
‘I’ll just have to risk it. There’s a fair bit there – if I move fast he won’t have a chance to use it all before I search him.’
‘Is arresting Gavin really the only way?’ I ask.
‘Far as I can see, yes.’ Dad sips his tea, sits back in his chair. ‘Amie, if I bust Gavin for possession, he’ll get referred to a rehab clinic. And it’ll be expedited and mandated by a court order, so he won’t have to wait and he won’t be able to skip out. If the judge is sensible, they might even mitigate his jail sentence into custodial-plus-rehab. Trust me, that’s a good outcome for Gavin.’
Harris leans over the table towards me. ‘Could be a lot worse, Amie. Gavin’s gonna sweat, but he’d be doing that anyway. Better he sweat it out in a rehab place.’
‘The rest of it…’ Dad flicks a finger at the ziplock bag full of drugs on our kitchen table. ‘You return that to me, Jared can put it in impound. Meanwhile, I’ll give you what you’re owed. You go back to Mildy looking like a good boy.’
Harris nods. Dad’s face gets that satisfied look, the one he always wears after he’s solved a particularly tricky tinkering job. ‘Harris, you’re doing a good thing. Get more info on the local batch and I’ll pass it on to CIU. If we can break up the operation before delivery, that’ll be a great help. That’ll make a dent.’
‘Mildura will start to look unappealing as a drug-holiday destination,’ Harris says.
‘Exactly. And if this guy, Leon, goes down, then even better.’ Dad’s mouth makes a bitter twist. ‘I hate guys like him. Local kingpins acting like the bloody mafia. They sawBreaking Badon the telly once and decided they’d give it a go – get-rich-quick scheme. Top up the old superannuation. They’re like a poison. They don’t give a shit about the community they’re living in, the community they’re destroying. It’s all about the money.’
‘Leon’s a poisonous bastard, I know that much.’ Harris’s lips curl in a similar way. His face has a zealous anger. ‘I wouldn’t mind seeing someone knock him off his perch.’
‘Well, you could be the little rock that brings Goliath down, mate.’
‘Sounds mighty appealing.’ Harris stands, pushing back his chair with a creak. He swipes the plastic baggie off the table.
I’m glad it’s gone, out of sight. That doesn’t mean I’m not still thinking about it. ‘What’re you doing now?’
‘Gotta make delivery,’ he says, shrugging. ‘And I’ve gotta get outta here, hey. I parked miles away, and snuck in quiet, but the less time I spend here, the better.’
‘Good,’ Dad says. ‘When’s your next check in with Amie?’
‘Dunno.’ Harris looks at me. ‘How’re we gonna work this? Like I said, this is my last trip to Ouyen for a while…’
I’m honestly not sure. I rub my forehead. ‘We need to work out a new system and we need to talk about it. If you’re dropping that off to Gavin, then meet me after. In about an hour, say?’
‘I gotta stop and see my dad, too,’ he says, very deliberately not frowning. ‘Gimme an hour and a half. Not here, but.’
‘At the rez, past the old Lutheran Church? We can walk in from different directions. I’ll take the camera so it looks legit.’
‘Cool. See you at the rez a bit before four.’ He ducks out.
Dad turns to me, looking quietly triumphant. ‘And you’re still worried about him?’
I cross my arms over my chest. ‘Yeah, actually, I am. He seems stronger today, sure, but it’s not always like that.’
‘But it’s working for him, Ames. You can see that, right? And he’s good at it. He’s a bloody natural.’
Harris does seem more relaxed, I’ll give Dad that. But I’m thinking about the bigger picture. ‘So, I guess you’ll be arresting Gavin Donovan soon.’
‘Yeah, I’d better ring Jared and give him the heads-up.’ Dad slugs back the rest of his tea, pushes out of his chair. Sees my expression. ‘Don’t stress about Gavin. This’ll be good for him. He might not look at it that way, but it’s true. And don’t stress about Harris. Did you see his face? He looks like he’s finally found his calling.’
Dad’s face is lit, too, with that strange fire, just like Harris. They’re both glowing with this energy, eyes on the prize. And they get off on it: it’s the Secret Agent dream every six-year-old boy has. I’d almost be excited about it, too, but I saw Craig Davies. He and his sister will have those scars – mental and physical – forever.
Harris has enough scars. He doesn’t need to add to the collection.
*
When I arrive at the rez, hiking socks rolled down and my camera in my hand, I discover Harris is already here, sitting half-hidden under a big tree. He’s taken off his hoodie, and his threadbare T-shirt has spots of red on it. There’s a butterfly closure on a cut high on his forehead, near the hairline. The skin around the cut looks red, puffy.
