Kakadu Sunset (7 page)

The house at Cullen Bay was only a ten-minute drive from Parliament House, but it could have been worlds away. Although the place had all the latest security gadgets installed, they rarely used the system. One time they’d come home from a holiday and hadn’t been able to find the control. They’d set it off and Gina had held her sides, laughing, and the tears had run down her cheeks as the alarm had filled the neighbourhood. After that, they decided it was too much of a bother to switch on and off with the kids coming in and out all day. Most nights they forgot to turn it on.

That would be changing from today.

He parked halfway up the drive, because the paved area in front of the triple garage was strewn with toys. Andrew’s bike was tipped on its side, where it had been left when something more interesting had caught his attention.

A small blow-up plastic pool was sitting on the grass at the edge of the driveway. The strong moonlight caught the small toys bobbing in the shallow water. Binny would spend her entire day splashing about in the four inches of water if she had her own way.

The house was in darkness and the night was quiet. He closed the car door quietly and grabbed his briefcase.

‘David?’ Gina’s soft voice reached him as he closed the front door behind him. He locked and keyed the deadlock, jiggling the key to remove it from the rarely used lock. David loosened his tie and shrugged out of his jacket, dropping it on the white leather sofa in the living room. Gina always left a night light on when he had late sessions and committees.

‘I’ll be there in a minute. I’ll just look in on the kids.’

The house was cool and he flicked off the air-conditioning switch as he walked through the living room. The low hum reminded him of his office and he didn’t want that. Tonight he wanted to focus on his family.

The smell of chocolate cookies pervaded the house and he took a sidetrack to the kitchen on his way through to the kids’ bedroom. The cookie jars were full and Gina had left the coffee pot on for him. He opened the jar and took two, shoving one in his mouth as he walked across to check the sliding door leading to the patio. It was unlocked and he flicked the lock over.

Gina had grown up in a small village in Tuscany where doors were open for neighbours to drop in at will. There, life was slow-paced . . . and safe. Fairweather and his threats aside, it wasn’t safe to leave the house unlocked at night in Darwin. He’d talk to her about locking up later, and try not to let it turn into a fight. He rubbed his hand across his eyes. All they seemed to do lately was have harsh words.

David knew he earned enough to provide a good life for them. The sticking point lately was that he was never there to share that life with Gina and the kids. Now that she was pregnant again, maybe it was time for a change.

Walking quietly down the hall, he looked at the long windows that reached from floor to ceiling in this wing of the house. It would be so easy for anyone to break in if they were determined. The house’s glass walls and open plan had once seemed perfect for their lifestyle up here in the tropics. Now in one night it had become a place where danger lurked in every shadow.

‘Fuck Fairweather,’ he muttered under his breath.
Two weeks
.

Binny was lying with one leg hanging over the side of her bed, her tiny foot just touching the tiled floor. David lifted her leg onto the bed, pulled back the light blanket and slid her up onto the pillow. She murmured as he reached down and kissed her warm cheek.

‘Daddy?’ Andrew lifted his head in the other bed and gazed at him, his eyes reflecting the soft night light.

‘Hey, tiger. What are you doing awake?’

‘Waiting for you to come home.’ As David reached down to kiss his son, two little arms fastened around his neck and held him tightly. ‘We went for a walk to the harbour today and looked for your car but we didn’t see you. But guess what we saw?’

David’s eyes burned even as the warmth of the little arms touched his skin. His family was living without him. Endless late-night meetings, interstate trips, and now this.

‘What did you see?’ He pulled back and looked into the trusting eyes of his firstborn. ‘A circus?’

‘No.’ Andrew sat back and spread his arms wide. ‘We saw the biggest ever crocodile.’

‘In town?’

‘Yup.’ Andrew was full of seriousness. ‘We walked around the rocks and saw it in the water.’

‘Wow.’ David shook his head but didn’t let his feelings show. Walking around the bloody rocks. Gina just didn’t understand the dangers of living here. He ran his hand lightly through Andrew’s hair and reached down to kiss his son. ‘Can you keep a secret?’

The little boy nodded and a grin crossed his face as David held out the chocolate cookie.

‘We’ll have a midnight feast.’ David smiled down at his son who was the image of his mother. Dark hair that curled onto his neck, olive skin and almond-shaped green eyes, long lanky limbs. All of the features that had hit him like a freight train when he had first seen Gina on the catwalk in Milan. ‘But brush your teeth as soon as you wake up in the morning or Mummy will know our secret.’

‘I will, Daddy.’ Andrew finished chewing and David pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his son’s face.

‘Just getting rid of the evidence. Now go to sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.’

‘Promise? Cross your heart?’

Determination filled David at the need in Andrew’s voice. It was time to make some hard decisions about his career. ‘I promise, and after I talk to Mummy, I might have a big surprise for you.’

He waited until his little son snuggled into the pillow and closed his eyes.

The sleep of the innocent.

It had been a long time since he’d slept like that.

Friday
Makowa Lodge

Ellie opened her eyes and watched the sunlight play across the wall of her bedroom. She’d left the slatted wooden blinds open to let the air circulate, and to wake up with the early light.

But she hadn’t needed it. All night she’d tossed and turned through unsettling dreams. Images of her mother wandering between dead mango trees and past the crocodile-filled rivers in a khaki shirt and her old cardigan had woken her in the early hours. She’d still been awake when the sun rose but had drifted off into an uneasy doze.

Now she rolled over and groaned into her pillow. Her head was aching and her eyes were scratchy.

She’d been looking forward to coming back to Makowa Lodge and getting back to work, but that was before she’d seen that ugly slash in the ground at the back of the old farm. It would be a few days before she could get out there again, but Ellie intended looking at it from ground level to see what was really happening. It was too close to the national park for comfort. Her mother would hear the truth, if and when there was anything to tell, but first Ellie wanted to be one hundred per cent sure of her facts. Panos had been lying to her – she was pretty certain of that – and if there was exploration happening on his property she would fight tooth and nail to protect the park. No matter who owned the land, it must be subject to regulations.

She would go down to the farm to ease her mind and try to get rid of this niggling feeling that maybe – just maybe –
some
of Mum’s theories weren’t so farfetched. Why had she put those newspaper clippings of Panos and that man in the folder?

And what about Kane McLaren and his connection to Sordina? Was it just a coincidence that he had turned up when he did? Or was he somehow involved? He was supposed to be a pilot, but he said he wouldn’t be flying. Ellie shook her head and the smooth cotton of the pillow rubbed against her cheek as the thoughts circled her mind.

No, if he was involved with Panos, he’d have no reason to be working at the lodge. Or would he?

Ellie stared at the ceiling and watched the fan spinning lazily in slow circles, barely moving the air.

Why did Kane unsettle her so much? She’d worked with many pilots over the years, some of them difficult, and yet he’d somehow managed to take over her thoughts in the less than twenty-four hours she’d known him. He’d bothered her from the minute she’d introduced herself on the tarmac yesterday. Was it his arrogance, and his attitude to her as a pilot? Why should she care what a macho engineer thought of her ability? She knew she was one of the best pilots in the Territory and didn’t need to prove herself to anybody.

Today they would be together again, set to take the drive down to Jim Jim Falls and she’d just have to deal with it.

Ellie rolled out of bed and stumbled into the small bathroom, determined to get Kane McLaren out of her head. She scrabbled through the cupboard for some paracetamol capsules and popped two into her mouth with a handful of water.

Ten minutes later she walked into the staff dining room at the back of the lodge in search of her first coffee of the day. Kane was sitting at a table with an iPad in front of him. He glanced up and nodded as Ellie crossed to the coffee machine and she smiled tightly as she picked up a cup. At last her head had stopped throbbing. The noticeboard held a colourful poster announcing the band appearing in the Makowa Lodge main bar on Sunday night. At least there was something to look forward to.

‘Come and join me.’ The corners of Kane’s mouth tilted up in a brief smile. So Mr Fix-it appeared to be in a better mood today. After her cup was full, she walked across and pulled out the chair opposite him.

His hair was damp and he wore a khaki shirt the same as hers.

‘Thanks for showing me to my apartment last night.’ He was watching her intently as she checked out his work uniform. It suited him.

‘No problem. Did you get settled in okay?’ Ellie closed her eyes for a second as the first slug of coffee hit her bloodstream. If he could be civil, so could she.

‘Yup.’ Kane held her gaze when she opened her eyes. ‘Look, I was really tired yesterday, and I didn’t expect to be up in the air so soon. If I came across as a bit of a cowboy, I apologise.’

‘We have to work together, so if you’ve ever got a problem, be upfront. Tell me what’s bothering you, and then we’ll get along just fine.’

‘I will.’ Kane pushed his plate away and stood, leaving most of the food untouched. Ellie glanced down at the congealing mix of bacon fat and runny eggs stuck to the plate he’d left on the table.

‘A word of advice.’ She looked up at him and his dark eyes held hers.

‘Yeah?’

‘Never ask for the cooked breakfast in the staff kitchen. Artery cloggers are all you’ll get here. I keep cereal and milk in my room. I only come here for the coffee.’

Kane looked down at her, and his whole face lit up. It was as if another person had replaced the taciturn man of yesterday. ‘Don’t worry. I’m well used to those sorts of meals.’

Ellie tipped her head to the side, waiting for him to continue but he stood silently while she sipped her coffee. He was a good-looking man and she held his gaze a little longer than she normally would have. ‘We’ll have to get going soon. It’s going to be a long day.’ Heat ran up her neck; she’d been staring at him too long.

‘I’m ready to leave when you are.’ Kane had shaved this morning and he looked a good deal more civilised than the unshaven hunk in the unbuttoned shirt she’d taken up in the chopper yesterday. Not that she’d been staring. Okay, maybe she had, but that didn’t mean anything.

‘I’ll head across to the garage and get one of the four-wheel drives out of the compound.’ Ellie finished her coffee in one quick swallow and stood. ‘Are you okay to drive down if I navigate? The last ten kilometres down to the car park is a dirt track and it’s pretty rough. You’ll have to drive back so you might as well get to know the road on the way down.’ She folded her arms. ‘Or would you rather be a passenger?’

‘You’re the boss.’ Kane shrugged casually. ‘I’ll come with you now.’

Ellie pushed her chair in as Kane picked up the iPad. The black headline on the screen caught her eye.

‘
Sordina meets with Aboriginal council. Gives an assurance that coal seam gas exploration will never impact on Kakadu.’

The hair on the back of Ellie’s neck rose as she remembered the earthworks on the farm. This was precisely what her mother had been harping on about for the past three years. The headline was ambiguous. Was the news item about policy or was exploration already being considered near Kakadu? She’d chase up that news article when they got back this afternoon.

Kane shut the cover on the iPad. For a minute she’d forgotten about his connection to Sordina, but it seemed as though it was going to follow her everywhere. Ellie waited for him at the door and then she led him to the main office across the corridor.

As soon as they walked in, Heather came out of the small room at the back of the office and struck a pose in the doorway. Her khaki T-shirt was tucked into a short skirt and she was the picture of elegance. Ellie grinned at Heather before she looked down at her own long pants and work boots with a grimace. ‘
Some
of us have to work today.’ She lifted the flap at the end of the counter and headed for the board where all the keys were hanging.

‘Hey, girlfriend, I’m working. You’re the lucky pair who get to go on a picnic.’ Heather focused her attention on Kane. ‘Morning, Fly Boy. Ready to head off into the wilderness today?’

Ellie rolled her eyes. God, Heather was so obvious. Maybe she just needed to chill out a bit.
Maybe I’m just too damned serious
.

Kane nodded. ‘Morning. Yep, it’s my first experience of Kakadu on the ground.’ The smile he gave Heather was considerably bigger than the curl of lips he’d treated Ellie to.

‘You’re going to love Jim Jim Falls. Pure white sand and crystal clear green water enclosed on three sides by towering, red granite cliffs. You’ll see it from the air soon, but there’s really nothing like being on the ground. You probably won’t have time for a swim today, but maybe I’ll take you there sometime and show you my favourite spot.’

Ellie smothered a smile and wondered if Mr Fly Boy had any idea what her friend had in store for him. She ignored the little niggle of jealousy that rippled through her as Kane held Heather’s gaze.