Finn shifted fast.
He could barely make out their faint voices through the thin tin walls and what floated out through the open door.
‘Draft the cattle tomorrow,’ ordered Red.‘Find another driver, someone clean.Then have the cryogenic canisters ready for the plane to do a quick land and go.And that’ll be it for a bit.’
There it was.Their exit plan.Cattle and canisters.Freight and flight.The fallback route in case things got ugly.All the points Finn needed to work on to cut them off.
Bob dropped the paperwork on a desk by the door, near a simple camp bed set-up.‘Are you saying we’re shutting up shop?’
Red trotted back down the stairs.‘They have our truck!’
‘Yeah, so?’Bob followed him.‘Tooley won’t say anything.’
‘Of course he will.That’s how he got bail.Finn Wilde would never have let Tooley walk unless it was bait.’Red started pacing.One hand wiped over his thick red beard, as if he could wipe away the mess.
‘But Tooley doesn’t know this depot exists.He’s never been to the quarry, so we’re safe—’
‘But it’s still exposure!’Red’s voice cracked across the yard like a whip, silencing the low cattle murmurs.
Bob didn’t flinch, but he took a wary step back.
With his eyes wild, chest heaving, mouth drawn tight, Red was unravelling, slamming his hand against the side of the ute.The sound rang out like gunfire in the stillness.
‘Easy now…’ Bob murmured, taking another step back as if dealing with a feral scrub bull.
‘Dammit!’ Red jabbed a finger toward the open yard.‘Finn’s done this to me too many times now!Only now he’s rattling the entire chain above me.’Red prowled in a tight circle, like a caged dog, hands on hips one second, tugging at his collar the next.His thoughts must have been in such a violent storm that his body couldn’t contain them.
But then he stopped pacing.‘It was never meant to get this big.It was meant to…’ Red trailed off, wiping down his beard as if to compose himself.‘We were particular about what we took.Just skim off the top and no one would notice.But they’re noticing it now…’
Red started pacing again, batting at the bugs attracted to the spotlights that shone down upon them like some outback theatre, where Finn and Amara had ringside seats in the shadows, right alongside the cattle.
‘Now I’ve got my name on the paperwork that is linked to that truck.’Red broke off, rubbing his forehead as if preparing for the mother of all migraines.‘She doesn’t know.She can’t know…’
There it was.That raw edge of fear surfacing beneath Red’s fury.More worried about Lydia finding out what he had been doing than Finn catching him.Just as Taryn and Finn had explained to Lydia earlier, how that mix of shame and fear was a potent combination if left uncontrolled.
Red spun around again, his voice full of authority, as if fighting for self-control.‘We move what we’ve got out of this yard.Then we shut it down.’
‘Another panic shutdown?’Bob scoffed.‘Aw, come on.’
‘Orders from above.That new fed’s heading back to Canberra soon.Then we’ve got a month, max, to wait it out.’
Finn scowled with heat.
Were they talking about Taryn?
‘Same as the banteng and horses, same as the crocs that the Stock Squad recovered,’ snapped out Red.‘We lie low for a bit.Only this time we wait until that fed goes home and does up her report, and we get the all clear.’
‘Pfft, you’re just panicking.’Bob’s laugh echoed into the night air.
Red spun around and took a step closer.
And another.
Stalking straight up to Bob to get right in his face.‘You think this is a joke?’Red’s voice was low and barely restrained.‘You think I want to shut it down?Do you think I enjoy cleaning up after every stuff-up, every near miss, and every bloody delay?’
Bob held his ground—but his chin dipped as if a small retreat.
‘You laugh again, and I swear I’ll bury you in this quarry like you were nothing but dirt under my boots.You knowwhat I’mcapableof.You saw what I did to your cousin—and the dumb cops still haven’t figured that one out.’
