The front door opened and Nathan felt a jolt of horror at the sight of his mother. Her cheeks were pale and sunken beneath bloodshot eyes and her shoulders were hunched as though it was taking all her effort simply to be upright.
‘I thought you were trying to sleep,’ Harry said.
Liz Bright didn’t bother answering as she blinked into the light through slitted swollen lids. Nathan could see fresh tears forming as she looked at them. Neither he nor Bub was the son she wanted to see, Nathan knew, then immediately felt guilty for thinking it. Liz had always tried hard not to play favourites, but Cameron’s ready smile, quick mind and well-run property hadn’t made it easy. Bub, unshaven and dust-streaked, was rubbing his eye with a dirty finger. Nathan knew he looked no better.
Liz brightened a touch at the sight of Xander, and she pulled him close, holding him fiercely. When she let him go, she reached up and put her arms around Nathan too. He hugged her back. The movement had the rusty edge of underuse.
Liz took a deep breath. ‘Tell me.’
‘Maybe we should go inside –’ Harry started, but she cut him off.
‘No. The girls are inside. Tell me here.’
Nathan found himself once again wishing that Cameron were there. He would handle this properly. Bub, who was crouched down whispering to his dog, offered no help.
‘It was quite strange,’ Nathan started, then stopped. He tried again, doing his best to explain as Liz began to pace up and down the verandah. She only went a short way, as though torn between wanting to hear but unable to bear it. ‘We’re not sure,’ he found himself repeating. ‘I don’t know.’
‘His car worked,’ Bub interjected at one point, sending Liz shuffling to the far end of the floorboards. ‘We tried it.’
‘Not bogged?’ Harry said, looking from one brother to the other. ‘No flats?’
They shook their heads.
‘Any idea what Cam was doing out there?’ Nathan asked.
‘Didn’t mention any work in that area,’ Harry said. ‘He wrote in the book that he was going to Lehmann’s Hill.’
‘Bub said he seemed a bit stressed lately,’ Nathan said.
He saw Harry glance at Liz and wondered if he was reluctant to talk in front of their mum. Harry nodded. ‘I reckon that’s fair to say, yeah.’
‘How bad was it?’
‘Hard to tell.’ Harry’s face moved a fraction. It was still impossible to read. ‘He hadn’t been himself for a few weeks, looking back. Maybe a month, would you say?’ He looked to Liz, who gave a tight nod, staring past the lush garden to the barren brown land beyond.
‘It didn’t seem like anything too serious though,’ Harry went on. ‘Obviously. Or we would have done something.’
‘What do you mean by not himself?’ Nathan said.
‘Didn’t have his eye on the ball around here as much as usual, but nothing we couldn’t handle. He said he was tired a few times. I got the idea he maybe hadn’t been sleeping that well.’
‘He hadn’t,’ Liz said quietly. ‘I heard him sometimes in the night.’
‘And he was touchy,’ Harry said. ‘Sometimes looked a bit rough around the edges.’
No, that definitely didn’t sound like Cameron, Nathan thought.
‘Had something happened?’ he asked. ‘You been having any problems here?’
Harry shook his head. ‘Property’s been good. Going well. We’ve had a strong year.’
‘Great. Good to hear,’ said Nathan, whose own bottom line had once again been written in red rather than black. The children’s decorations shimmered in the wind and he thought of his nieces. ‘Do Sophie and Lo know yet?’
‘Ilse’s in there telling them now,’ Harry said, and Nathan automatically glanced towards the door. It was empty. He missed what Harry was saying. ‘Sorry?’
‘Glenn called.’
‘Oh.’ The regular sergeant. ‘He’s back in town, is he?’
