—R
Sent: 11:58pm, Wednesday
‘Then it takes Drew almost six hours to respond, and that’s when he books the jet from Adelaide to Darwin.Around the same time, he sends this.’She brought up email three:
FROM: [email protected]
TO: [email protected], [email protected]
SUBJECT: Re: Confirm your end
Jet is on track.
Be there with the last load.
D.
Sent: 5:17am, Thursday
Finn shrugged.‘He delayed his response, making Red sweat it out.Drew would do that.Or he was asleep.It was midnight.’
Taryn shook her head.‘Drew would’ve had an alert set for emails from Bob or Red.Those two made him too much money.And we both know Drew is the kind of man who keeps at least three backup plans especially for times that feel like chaos.’Especially after a message like Bob’s.
She looked at Finn.‘Drew never said he’d be on that jet.He just confirmed it was coming.When I crosschecked the bookings,’ she said, tapping on her laptop, ‘I found something else.’
‘What?’
‘A second manifest, logged by the shell company Stokemir PC.That’s the bank Drew hides behind.This one’s inbound from Canberra to Darwin.Look…’ She spun her screen towards him.‘The time stamp matches Drew cancelling his speech at the ag conference.Minutes after Bob’s first email came through.’
She met Finn’s eyes.
Finn didn’t need to say it.They both knew what it was.
Drew’s running.
‘Would Drew have an escape kit?’
‘Yeah,’ Finn muttered.‘Passport, cash, burner phone… maybe even a fake ID.’
Taryn frowned.‘Where would Drew stash it?Somewhere discreet?Not his house.’
‘No.’Finn shook his head.‘Drew’s smarter than that.He wouldn’t use post office boxes, that’s too obvious and too traceable.He would’ve just bought a nondescript car and paid for long-term parking.Somewhere public, out of the way, with 24-hour access to drive through, grab what he needed out of the boot, and then keep moving.Like an airport.’
They stared at each other, trying to work out if Drew had the time to fly back to Canberra and get on that other jet?Or was Drew on the jet coming from Adelaide?
‘What I don’t get is why Darwin?’she murmured.‘Both jets are headed there.If he’s escaping, why not disappear from somewhere bigger, like Sydney or Melbourne?’
‘Because Darwin’s the perfect exit point.Always has been.’Finn took over her laptop and brought up a map of Darwin.‘It’s remote.Quiet.With lots of international traffic, and not just tourists.There are plenty of private hangars that run flights to the Indigenous communities, islands, deserts, and mine sites.There are FIFO locker services, and long-term car parks no one monitors—especially with miners coming and going 24/7.Perfect for someone like Drew to walk right through without even getting near a security camera.’
‘Among his many fishing stories, my boss called Darwin the gateway to Asia.’
‘And for good reason.You don’t need to vanish in a big city.You vanish in a city so small and forgotten that no one’s watching.’He looked at her.‘And around here?The NT’s so small, half the Federal jobs are covered by local cops playing dress-up for the Commonwealth.’
‘Would Drew know this?’
Finn nodded.‘He’s been in and out of Darwin plenty of times to fly overseas.I’m sure he’d know every loophole in the system.After all, it’s where he’d sent all that high-end stolen stock, like the equestrian horses, to get their genetic material to smuggle out of the country.He didn’t keep that livestock down south, he had them all brought up here.’
‘I’ve got his flight logs for the past three years.’She tapped at her laptop.‘Might be worth checking how often he dropped into Darwin.And if he’s rented out any long-term car parks under his bogus company names.’
