Taryn lifted her pen and waited for more.
But Amara just held her stare and said nothing as the pastries sat untouched between them.
Of course, Constable Montrose would be like Finn, who’d mastered the skill of saying nothing.Amara was his shadow, the eager apprentice to the wizard.
But this wasn’t Taryn’s first interview, or her first investigation.
Again, Taryn clicked her pen.‘So how did you become part of the Stock Squad?Did you apply for the job?Do up a resume?Have a board interview?’
Amara stifled a laugh.‘No.Nothing like that.I had to beg.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘I’d overheard someone talking about Finn starting a federal stock squad in the station.He was in Adelaide, getting permission to visit the existing set-ups down south to gather intelligence.Look for the holes.The gaps.’
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Amara’s mouth, her full lips were the kind botox lovers could only dream of.‘No one had heard of Finn Wilde.He was just some federal badge carrier—’
‘Is that what we’re calling Feds these days?’Taryn raised an eyebrow, having been called a Fed since she’d landed here.
‘Back then, it meant someone who didn’t belong.’Amara then gave a quick shrug.‘Funny, I guess I wear the same badge now.’She didn’t take it back—but the edge in her tone softened.Just slightly.‘Are you really a federal police officer?Exactly what is your rank?’
Taryn met her gaze.‘I’m a Senior Federal Agent, with the Financial Crimes Unit, on ministerial secondment.I’ve got a badge and a gun I rarely use these days, since my job mostly involves asking annoying questions that’ll ruin most people’s day.’
Amara raised an eyebrow.‘Do you outrank Finn?’
‘Technically, we’re on equal footing.Except Finn leads the squad, and I get to decide if it survives.’Taryn took a slow sip of her coffee.‘Think of me as the accountability officer… with the nuclear button.’
Amara said nothing, but something in her eyes flickered.Not fear, not exactly.More like recalibration.
Taryn had seen that look before.
The moment someone realised you weren’t just passing through—you were the one with the power to blow it all up.
‘So, where were we?’
Amara re-straightened her posture.‘Finn came through the police stables.Don’t ask me why, but that’s where I was posted.’
Taryn waited, pen still.
‘He wasn’t hiring.Wasn’t even building a team yet.But I offered to help.Figured if he was collecting data, he’d need someone to turn it into something useful.So I helped him collate the stock theft stats, cross-referenced locations, livestock types, and transit routes.All the stuff you’d need for a case study.’
‘For the Commissioner?’
Amara nodded.‘Finn was trying to create a proposal to prove why they needed to invest in a federal stock squad to assist the various state police departments.To help bridge that gap, especially since livestock is regularly transported interstate or overseas.I just made sure it didn’t look like a pile of scribbles in a notebook.’
‘This was while you were working for the equestrian division in Adelaide?’Taryn had done her homework on paper, but she needed to see beyond the data to learn about the players in this game.
‘I was nothing more than a uniformed stablehand, who was going nowhere there.But I know how to do paperwork.’Amara sighed as if letting her guard down.‘I had to chase Finn for the job.I even volunteered to work without pay.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I wanted in.It’s why I joined the police in the first place—to get those who steal livestock… But Finn wasn’t interested, he didn’t want a female on the team.Said he needed a stockman with the same skills I had for paperwork.But I showed him I could be all that and more.’
‘So, he’s against women—’
‘Not like that.’Amara frowned.‘Finn said we’d be on the road.And we started mobile, with no base or station, just Finn’s troopy.Carting a couple of duffel bags, his laptop, my tablet and a satphone.We’d use Finn’s gas cooker for coffee in the mornings, while rolling up our swags, towing his two Harleys in the trailer.We worked out of borrowed rooms in whatever police station would have us.Most of the time it was in roadhouses, or empty small-town stockyards.Once we camped in an empty horse float to escape the rain.’
Taryn raised an eyebrow.
