And how loud that emptiness became when all you had were your own thoughts that were suddenly so clear to find the answers.
‘These patterns you found,’ she said, ‘you were hunting something.’
His hands tightened on the wheel.‘I was hunting for answers.Didn’t realise how close I got until it was too late.’
‘How so?’
‘I thought I had time with Dane Carter, who’d first mentioned the Stock Agent.But they got to him first.Renzo admitted to Izzy that he worked for Everlight, but didn’t name names.’
‘Renzo was the one who murdered Meghan?’Her cousin.
Saying it out loud, hearing it bounce off the Troopy’s windscreen, hit her differently.
But his pause...that only made it worse, like he knew how personal it was for her.
‘And?’She pushed for more.She had to.
‘You already know Izzy saw it happen right in front of her.’He gritted his teeth, steering them along a road of hazy heat.Filled with so much tension it practically rolled across his heavily inked knuckles as he gripped the steering wheel.‘Renzo could’ve killed Izzy, instead he kidnapped her to find out what she knew about Everlight.’
‘Everlight is the key…’ But she still didn’t have that file copy from Izzy, and with Finn’s angry protectiveness over Izzy, this Gaps File might just be the compromise.
But if he kept this much paperwork…
Maybe she’d been asking thewrongperson therightquestions.
Turning back to the file, she dragged out her notebook, and started cross-referencing dates, the connections he hadn’t known he’d made, and the doors he’d unknowingly opened.
‘Let me get this straight… TheRough Stockcase.Your team’s first case.That was all about genetics, DNA, sperm, embryos.Cryogenics.All done on prized rodeo stock.With two suspects dead.And on Everlight property.’
Finn nodded and kept driving in silence.
She then read on, digesting his notes, as the fragments from her interviews with his team helped fill in the puzzle.
‘Then, between all of the other jobs, a few months later you have theCold Stockcase.Stolen crocodiles, where you find the mystery vet-technician who took the DNA, sperm, and eggs from the Rough Stock case.Only, Bastion chose to die in fear of his life.’
Again, he nodded.
And she took more notes.
‘Then theWild Stockcase.’With her notebook balanced against her belly, she flicked through his extensive file of notes, wishing she had a desk, or even a slab of wood, to work off.But she pushed through, digging for information to form some sort of preliminary conclusion.‘The deserted cattle station, Dixby Downs, was illegally being used as a way station?’
‘Stockmen call them spelling yards,’ Finn cut in.‘Somewhere to rest the mob, swap ’em out, feed ’em up before they disappear again.’
‘So the perfect place to switch prime stock,’ she said.‘And to collect and store genetic material—sperm, embryos, DNA—harvested from stolen polo and equestrian champions.’
‘That bust included wild buffalo and a mob of banteng that are on the endangered list,’ he piped in, resting his wrist on top of the steering wheel, somewhat relaxing, while she felt the strain deepen across her shoulders, the more she dug into the Gaps File.
It was certainly living up to its name, filling in the gaps of what she’d learned in conversation, interviews, and research.
‘The missing overseer—Seery, Sawyer Dixby—revealed the identity of the mysterious Stock Agent, as Red…’ She dug through the paperwork.
‘GradyRedGalloway.He’s married to Lydia, who manages the stockyards.’
‘And she’s your informant, along with young Brodie.’
He nodded.
Great, now she was getting somewhere.‘According to your notes, Sawyer told you that someone else was behind it.Someone above Red?’
