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‘Come on, Els, that’s a bit harsh.’

‘Harsh! He deserves everything he gets. Remember that line he used to use on the female tourists? Hankering for an “authentic” Aussie experience?’

‘Yeah. Still, you gotta admit, he was pretty good-looking.’

‘Ew, Heather! How many times do I have to tell you: don’t screw around with workmates. Anyway, I met his replacement this afternoon. Have you?’ Ellie walked around to the end of the table and Heather followed her.

‘I haven’t met him yet, but I saw him from a distance yesterday when Jock was showing him around. Sex on legs.’ Heather dropped her voice and her brown eyes sparkled. ‘Just as well I don’t follow your rules, because I fancy me a bit of Mr Fly Boy.’

‘He wouldn’t care for the nickname.’ Ellie chuckled. ‘He reckons he’s only Mr Fix-it. I have to sort out his role with Jock tomorrow.’ Ellie slid along the bench seat and let another workmate squeeze in, rolling her shoulders as the tension lifted a little. This was a part of the job she enjoyed, spending time with friends who loved the Territory as much as she did. She would trust these people with her life. Even Mike had been dependable once he’d cut the sleaze act.

It was an open question whether Kane would fit in here; they were a pretty tight group. If her hunch that he was ex-military was right, he should be used to working with a team, but after this afternoon she had a feeling he wouldn’t want to.

Terry, another of the Aboriginal staff, leaned towards her. ‘Hey, Els. Welcome home. Got a new croc story for you!’

Standard conversation in the evenings; the guys all knew she was terrified of the huge suckers and they loved to tease her, each yarn more exaggerated than the last. She’d been terrified of crocodiles ever since she was a child when she’d seen a fisherman taken at Cahill’s Crossing. She and Dad had been fishing and he’d done his best to shield her from the sight, but the screams of the man as he’d been dragged off the causeway had stayed with her. But despite the shiver that ran down her back, Ellie wasn’t worried. It was their way of saying they’d missed her. ‘Okay Terry, spill.’

‘I was over at Borroloola last week and a whole group of backpackers went missing the night before I arrived in town.’ Terry looked at her over his beer, the sides of his mouth twitching.

Ellie frowned. ‘A whole group? I didn’t see that in the Darwin Sun online.’

‘Jeez, Ellie.’ Heather rolled her eyes. ‘You’re hopeless. You can’t even leave the Territory without reading the paper to see if the place survived while you were away.’

‘You can’t talk.’ Ellie gave her friend a playful punch on the arm. ‘I seem to remember you getting so homesick on that school excursion to Sydney that you cried all night and they almost sent you home.’ She turned back to Terry. ‘So what happened?’

‘They were camping in tents on the edge of the McArthur River and the locals reckon that a monster croc came in and ate the lot of them.’ Terry clamped his mouth shut and Ellie resisted the smile tugging at her lips. ‘Ate all the food, the tents, everything.’

‘Wow. That sure would give them indigestion.’ Ellie widened her eyes. ‘Are you sure you’re not trying to wind me up already, Terry? I’ve only been back five minutes.’

Terry’s dark eyes scrunched as he burst into a laugh. ‘It’s good to have you back on board, love.’

‘It’s great to be home, Terry. I missed you guys.’

Heather flicked her a glance and Ellie knew Heather sensed that her trip away had been difficult. She smiled at her friend and leaned over towards her but before Ellie could speak, a brawny arm came around her from behind. Steve, the barman, pulled her back against him and slid a kiss along her cheek towards her lips. She pushed him off with a grin. ‘Down, boyo!’

‘Missed ya, darlin’. Beer or a wine?’ Steve’s voice was pure Irish and his expression was cheeky. He hit on her every night and Heather had told her more than once that she was crazy not to take up with him, but Ellie had seen too many relationships go pear-shaped. Itinerant staff and good-looking tourists all out for a good time; it was a recipe for disaster – Mike was just the latest casualty.

‘Beer, please.’

Steve turned to get the drinks. He was handsome, but she didn’t want to get involved in the casual sex that was often a part of this close-knit community of workers.

Her job was her life. She clung fiercely to the security of her routine, and she wouldn’t risk it for any one-night stand. Maybe she was stupid and maybe she was missing out on some of the good times, but it hadn’t killed her yet.

Chatter washed over Ellie as the cold liquid hit her throat.

‘How’s your mum doing?’ Heather touched Ellie’s hand and spoke quietly as the laughter and conversations continued around them. ‘Things as bad as Emma said?’

‘Worse, if it’s possible. The doctor’s changed her medication and she barely sleeps.’ Ellie stared out into the darkness as her throat closed up. The last of the light had gone quickly, and the tropical darkness enveloped the low forest surrounding the lodge. ‘She’s still hung up about Dad’s death. She just can’t accept that he took his own life. It’s killing her. She does nothing apart from trawl the internet or sit on Em’s verandah staring into space.’

‘Oh, the poor thing,’ Heather said sympathetically. ‘It must be hard for Emma too.’

‘Mum still swears that Dad got a big offer for the farm from some mining company a couple of months before he died. She thinks he was murdered to get him out of the way.’

‘Really?’ Heather shook her head. ‘She’s still on about that?’

‘She’s lost the plot. She’s stuck with her murder theory to justify Dad’s death to herself. Em and I even went through his papers again, trying to convince her to let it go. She feels so bloody guilty that she didn’t see how depressed he was about money . . . or the lack of it.’ Ellie swallowed, determined not to give in to the ache in her throat. ‘None of us did. When he got that bar job at the pub in Jabiru, I thought it eased the money situation and he still had time for the farm. He seemed happier that last weekend I saw him. I thought he was happy.’

‘Poor Dru got home from school just after your mum found him, didn’t she?’