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‘Fair enough,’ Kane said. ‘Is there anywhere we can land close to them? Ryan, I’ll get you to come with me and Sandra, and Connor can stay here and fill Graysen in.’

Ryan nodded. ‘I’ll take care of her.’

Graysen gestured down the southern side of the escarpment. ‘I sussed it out on our way out this morning, but it was pretty dark when we left. There’s a flat sandy bit at the end of the one of the gorges fairly close to them. I think it would be firm enough to land on.’

Kane raised his eyebrows as Graysen turned back to Sandra and put his arms around her.

‘I’ll be back with you soon. You stay safe. Don’t trust anyone. Maybe don’t talk to anyone until I get back? If they insist, pretend to be too upset or crook. Okay?’

Kane and Connor exchanged a look as Sandra put her arms around his neck and lifted her face to his. She brushed her lips over Graysen’s. ‘You be careful. Come back to me as quick as you can. It’s going to be strange without you.’

Fast worker, Kane thought.

‘You’ll be fine. You’ve got someone to look after you. We’ll be quick. We’ll have to do it in two trips, but we’ll be back soon.’ Graysen turned to Ryan. ‘Do you have a phone? There’s service at Standley Chasm.’

‘I do.’

‘Ring for an ambulance and let them know that Andrew, the guide, has facial, mouth, and head injuries as well as a suspected broken rib. They should be able to be there from Alice Springs before we get back.’

‘Should we take him straight to the hospital?’ Kane asked, impressed with the cool organisation of this Graysen guy.

‘I think we’re best not to have him in the air for too long. I don’t think he’s got a bad concussion, but I’m not a medico. Jenny, the other woman with us, was a detective and she’s got all her emergency care quals. She thinks he’s okay, but let’s get the paramedics waiting for him as quick as we can.’

‘Right, sounds like we need to get moving.’ Kane held his hand out to Sandra. ‘You right to go, Sandra?’

She looked hesitantly from him to Graysen, and when Graysen nodded, she took Kane’s hand. ‘Yes, the sooner we go, the quicker Andrew will get help.’

***

Graysen stood with Connor as the helicopter lifted off and turned in a wide arc and headed back to Standley Chasm with Ryan and Sandra on board.

Connor’s expression was cool and assessing, and as soon as the noise of the helicopter receded, his first question came as a surprise.

‘So, Graysen, what’s the go between you and Sandra?’

Graysen pushed back the anger that threatened to rise. There was more important information to share than his relationship with Sandra.

‘The go?’ His voice was equally cool.

‘Yes, there’s obviously something going on.’

‘I’m sure Sandra will share what she wants to with you when she’s ready. But be assured, I think very highly of your mother-in-law, and I’ve done all I could to protect her over the past horrendous days.’

Connor nodded. ‘Fair enough.’

‘We joined the tour together and we were buddied up. We’ve got to know each other well in a short time,’ he said by way of explanation. ‘Now I don’t know how much you know, but yesterday one of our trekkers was killed by one of the others on the tour. Three others are missing, and Sandra and I took off into the bush. Andrew, the guide, stumbled into the gorge where we were holed up yesterday, and then last night, Clive and Jenny, the other older couple turned up.’ He drew a breath. ‘I’m assuming that it’s got out on the news when none of us turned up at Birthday Waterhole last night. Jodie must have reported us missing.’

‘Jodie’s one of the guides?’ Connor asked.

‘Yes, and the chef on the trek.’ Graysen ran his hand through his hair. ‘God, it seems like days since we were walking and camping at night. It’s only been thirty-six hours since I saw him kill Maggie.’

‘You witnessed it?’

‘Yes, through the zoom lens of my camera.’

‘You said, “him”?’

‘Yes, his name was Zed, but I doubt if that’s his real name. We think it was a contract killing, but the thing is we don’t know who the target was supposed to be. Maggie is the only one that we’re sure is dead. I think Sandra was even worried that she might have been in his sights at one stage.’