Zina nodded, licking her lips. “I know. It really wasn’t my intention to drag you into all of this. I just wanted –”
“I know,” Trent cut her off, nodding. “But I made my choice. And I’m sticking with it. And if I can help you, then I will. But it may take some doing. And I think we have to get somewhere safe before we do it.”
“Somewhere safe,” Zina repeated, before biting her lip. “Well, what about the opposite of that?”
Trent raised his eyebrows. “Well, I mean, sure, if that’s what you want. But could I maybe get in on your thinking?”
Zina pulled in a deep breath. “There aren’t only eggs in that case,” she said. “There’s also a USB, with some info I swiped from Hargreaves on their latest project. It’s all encrypted, of course, and it would have taken you guys a while to figure it out. But you would have. And then you would have known theotherreason I knew I had to get to Australia.”
“You mean aside from the sunny weather and the beaches,” Trent said, voice deadpan.
“Yeah, and your pie floaters, of course,” Zina said. “But no – there’s one last egg Hargreaves are after. And they seem to think they’ll find it here.”
“Well,hereis a pretty big place,” Trent said. “Can you narrow it down any?”
Zina nodded. “Yeah – they think they’ll find it buried deep underground, out in the desert somewhere. They’ve been buying up mining prospects, as many as they can, for years now. So far, they’ve had no luck. But they must think they’re onto something, because they’re still at it.”
“Mining – what kind of mine?” Trent asked.
“Opal mines. They’vedefinitelymade a lot of money out of it, but that’s not their main purpose there, it’s just a convenient sideline,” Zina said. “The land they’ve been buying up is somewhere called Jackson’s Ridge?”
“Oh – I know it,” Trent said. “Well, I knowofit. It’s on the way to Coober Pedy. I have family out that way. Or I used to – they moved north a few years ago.”
“So… you’re familiar with the area, then?” Zina asked, leaning forward, hope beginning to bloom in her chest.
“Not very,” Trent admitted. “But I can get us there. You say Hargreaves are poking around out there? Then it seems like the kind of thing we should be stopping them from doing.”
Zina felt a smile twitching at the corners of her lips. “You mean… together?”
Trent nodded. “I mean together.”
Chapter 6
There was really only one motel in the town, and it was immediately apparent why it had rooms free – Zina thought ifthiswas what she saw on opening the door, she would have immediately kept driving until she reached the next town as well.
“Well, it’s, uh… well, it’s cozy!” Trent said, as both of them stood in the doorway looking around the room. The brown wallpaper was mildewed and, in some places, outright rotting, the carpet was worn completely away in places, and… well, the less said about the bed, the better.
“Well… that’s one way of putting it,” Zina said, as they made their way inside, Trent closing the door behind them.
“On the bright side, we have multiple exits, and we have a bit of a vantage point, being on the second floor. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing. I guess?”
“I know,” Zina said somberly. And shedidknow Trent was right, but part of her couldn’t help longing for a long, hot bath and a soft, fluffy bed. She’d been on the run for so long she felt like she couldn’t really remember what it felt like to fully relax – but then, that was pretty much a feature of the life she’d chosen as a field agent. “And anyway, I’ve stayed in worse places.”
Thatwas true as well. Maybe she’d just gotten soft – while being undercover at Hargreaves had demanded a high state of alertness, part of playing her role had been living in averynice apartment on her fat Hargreaves salary, which had been very generous even as a relatively low-level employee. That, she supposed, was part of the reason people kept working for them, even when they got to know more of the shady stuff Hargreaves was involved with: the money was hard to walk away from.
Trent was over by the far wall, opening the door that Zina assumed led to the bathroom. He whistled.
Zina was alittleworried about what that might signify, until he said, “Well, at least the bathroom’s pretty swanky – I mean, compared to the rest of it. Maybe they had some rennos done, but only had enough cash for the bathrooms.”
“Somewhatdone?” Zina asked, as she came over to join him.
“Ah – renovations, sorry,” Trent said, shooting her a grin.
Poking her head around the side of the doorframe, Zina had to admit he was probably right. The bathroom looked newly done – not fancy by any stretch of the imagination, but relatively clean, with what were obviously some nice new tiles – not moldy, not scummy – and a bathtub that looked like it might actually have seen a scrubbing brush in the last week or so, and a showerhead that wasn’t leaking green water into it. No actualbaththough, which, churlishly, she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed by.
“Okay… this is actually pretty nice,” Zina said. “I take it back. We can stay here.”
“Well, I’m happy to hear that,” Trent said. “Seems like you could do with a moment of peace and quiet, even if itisjust in the bathroom of a cheap motel.”
