‘Righto,’ Craig replied.
‘Porter, take the Hellhound east.If he bolts, he’ll head toward that ridgeline.Box him in, but don’t engage unless I say.’
‘Copy that.’
‘Amara, sit quiet in the police ute on the west.If this goes sideways, you light him up.’
‘You want me to spook him or cut him off, sir?’
‘No lights and sirens, just make the police ute visible as if Porter’s doing one of his usual patrols.’
The radio clicked off.
Taryn watched as the dust started billowing out from behind the tyres of the two trucks, announcing the trailer swap was completed.
No way… Her eyes widened at the screen, at that thing that wasn’t just a truck.It was a beastly metal serpent three trailers long, loaded with cattle and momentum.No wonder they called it a road train… that was what—120 tonnes?
Even empty, those things could chew up a patrol vehicle without flinching.
It’d be like bringing a knife to a gunfight.
And here she was, tucked into the passenger seat, as Finn stealthily drove them closer to Billycan Corner, preparing to take on a road-born behemoth.
The radio hissed, then Romy’s voice cut in: ‘We’ve got comms.Triple trailer is checking in—Clean swap, ETA forty to the stockyards,his words.No questions asked.First truck says he’shomebound.Just running late.’
‘Which means they’re used to this routine,’ Finn muttered, as he started down the hill.‘Swap, split, and no one blinks.’
Taryn watched it unfold on the tablet feed…
The drone filmed the long road train gaining speed like it knew the road well.
Ahead, the red dirt road stretched wide, but the five-way intersection narrowed into the perfect choke point.
They were close enough to hear the truck lower its gears as it approached the intersection.
From the south end, Finn was sneaking up on the thing, using the road train’s thick dust cloud for cover, that was like a rolling, red wall that swallowed them whole.
Visibility: zero.
Control: definitely not hers.
She reached for the hail-Mary bar on the dash, fingers locking tight, the other braced on the grab handle above the door—because clearly, this troopy came fitted for trauma.
She didn’t flinch.Didn’t panic.
Just let Finn drive blind at highway speed, through thick walls of churning red dust and God-knows-what, like he did it between breakfast and his first strong black.
Lord help her,she might actually be enjoying this, as the adrenaline flooded her system like a drug.
‘So,’ she called over the roar of the engine, ‘is this the part where I’m meant to scream, or sign a liability waiver?’
Finn didn’t take his eyes off the road—if there even was one.‘Just hang on and don’t start preaching like some back-seat driver.’
‘Preaching?Trust me, if I was preaching, you’d be getting a whole PowerPoint presentation, including footnotes!’
He snorted.‘Always gotta have the last word, don’t you?’
‘Occupational hazard.’
