Romy’s voice chimed in, quieter but urgent.‘How the hell did we miss that?We’ve got eyes on everything—’
‘Not everything,’ Stone’s frustration bled through.‘They used the ridgeline.But you’re right, I should’ve caught it.’And normally, he would’ve.Stone could spot a camouflaged crocodile in a swamp without blinking.He’d stew on this one for a while.
Finn didn’t hand out praise, and he didn’t do mollycoddling or back pats, but if Taryn were here, she’d say something like:Even snipers blink, Stone.
He muttered, almost an echo of her, ‘It happens.’
Just enough for the team to take a breath without the fuss.
That woman was rubbing off on him.
But he shouldn’t even be thinking about her, not as he got low behind the trailer, to watch a dual-cab LandCruiser rolling in.With a set of the mismatched tail-lights, it was far too clean for a station vehicle.
The engine cut.The driver’s door opened.
It was Red.‘Bob, you in?’ He pressed on the car’s horn to shatter the silence.
The demountable door swung open, spilling yellow light across the blackness as more spotlights lit up the scene.A second man, lean and fit, wearing a battered stockman’s hat, and a loose, long-sleeved stockman’s shirt, trotted down the steps in well-worn boots.
Bob.
He was younger than expected.Dirt under the nails, sliding a pack of rollies into the back pocket of his dusty jeans.His eyes were sharp as he glanced over the yarded cattle as he strode casually across the compound.But there was nothing casual about it at all, it was the look of a well-trained stockman who’d effortlessly read the shift in the herd just by the lean of the shadows.
Finn got down low and barely murmured over the mic, ‘Hold position.And listen in.’
Amara ghosted into the shadows of the rear tyre of the last trailer.And Stone was radio silent, no doubt leaning over Romy’s shoulder to watch from one of her many cameras.
Red’s voice barked in the night air.‘You said the switchwas clean.You saidno delays.’
Bob shrugged, hooking his thumbs through the belt loops of his jeans.‘What do you want me to do?The truck is gone.The switch was made perfectly.Only a few minutes late, but it went down like clockwork.And we’ve got all those fresh beasts catching a snooze before we draft them.Besides, didn’t you always say to be ready for losses?So, no biggie.’
‘It’s sloppy.And if this brings heat on me—’
‘Heat’s already on you, mate.They arrested Tooley.I warned you not to be near any changeovers with the drivers around.’
‘Dammit.’Red dropped his head, his wide-brimmed hat casting shadows over his face, leaving only the long red bushman’s beard visible.‘They gave him bail?’
‘Yes,’ Bob answered.
‘Did we?’Amara murmured over the airwaves, watching from the shadows.
Finn confirmed.‘To make Red panic.’Bailing out Tooley hadn’t been kindness, it had been bait.A way to make Red show up hot, to forget his carefully curated cover as a respected stock agent, to hopefully spill like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
And Red was fuming now—pacing, swearing, showing his cards.Exactly what Finn wanted.
Red stepped in closer to Bob.‘Does Tooley know this place?’
‘No,’ Bob said, steady.‘Just you and me, mate.We’re the only locals who do.And the only others are Clancy and the pilot who fly in, load, and leave fast coz Clancy hates the heat.Come on, it’s why we chose the quarry in the first place.No one comes out here.’
‘Next time, no mistakes.Or I’ll find someone who can follow instructions.’
‘You reckon you’ve got that kind of pull?’Bob let out a chuckle.‘You’re not running the show, mate.You’re just another hand in the mob, same as me.’
Red’s jaw clenched.
There it was.Redwasn’tthe top dog.He was just another one on the leash, like the others, and didn’t like it.Finn hoped Romy got all that on her drone somewhere above them.
‘Here’s the paperwork.I want no mistakes, so check it now.’Red tugged the paperwork free from his ute and headed across the clearing, still arguing with Bob.Their voices fading as they stepped inside the demountable with the door open.
