Leopard Dreaming (33 page)

‘If I lose you now, my beautiful Mirage, it’ll kill me.’

Mira collapsed against him, understanding finally, but too inexperienced and lost for words to convey it. Their hearts beat in time, and he seemed so comfortable against her, as if their bodies were now sculpted to fit each other; as if every cell in her body was now chemically aligned and bonded with his. She drew his hand up against her heart, hoping he could feel it too, but he lingered only a moment before reaching higher to caress her lips with his thumb.

She cuddled his hand to her cheek, briefly wondering if this was the same hand he’d used to kill the men who’d tortured Ben. It seemed impossible for such a gentle thing to be such a lethal weapon. Nuzzling it, she drank in the smell of him, wishing she had more time to revisit every pore of him. Inside, she was purring, and let all the world bark at her. She didn’t want to care any more. She’d finally found her safe place in the world, and it wasn’t a home like anything she’d dreamed of. Not a forest or a desert or any other remote place in the world. It was
him
. Inside the field of his energy with his body touching hers and somehow making her tingle.

A small voice inside her warned it was only her skin being over-sensitive, or maybe her senses being over-stimulated.

‘We have to get moving,’ he said, finally. ‘Gabby used the phone, so it won’t be safe for you here soon.’

‘No, please …’ She gripped him by the arm, unable to let him go just yet. Not until she’d explained herself. She owed him that much at least for all the trouble she’d caused him, and for the heartache still to come when she finally found Ben. Her hand returned to cup his face, stretching the moment until she could almost feel the snap coming. ‘Adam, I just …’ She felt his expression soften again at the sound of his name on her lips. ‘I feel terrible confessing this now, but —’

‘Don’t. There’s something you need to —’

‘Please, Adam, me first? I just assumed you were using me that night, like your colonel and general before you. I thought you’d been ordered to do or say anything, whatever it took to keep me off-balance and easier to manipulate. I’m ashamed to say there’s still a small voice inside me, warning me that you’re not the man you pretend to be.’

‘Oh, Mira!’ He chuckled and leaned nearer to whisper, ‘that’s exactly what I was just trying to tell you. In private moments like these, please, call me Jayson —’

‘Hey, Adam!’ Gabby called as she bolted out from the house. ‘Beachside, we’ve got company!’

B
en saw the local police Landcruiser ahead on the pier, waiting with its lights flashing. Hard to focus with swollen eye sockets until the ferry drew closer, and yet he felt sure he could see a surfboard strapped on the roof.

A comical but common sight on Straddie.

The vehicle also managed to block all lines of traffic and prevent anyone from disembarking as the ferry pulled in and bumped against the shore. A redheaded woman in plaited pigtails and jeans stood at the bullbar like a farmer’s daughter, chewing on a strand of grass while a white Shih Tzu dog yapped excitedly at her heels.

He recognised the woman immediately. Not with joy. Sergeant Cassie Delaney. He’d avoided her most of his life, ever since their junior school principal appointed her as the class monitor, and in protest at her little Queen Elizabeth attitude, he’d spiked her salad sandwiches with torn leaves from a certain weed that grew wild in remote parts of the forest, where drifters had often camped illegally. Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t known she’d skipped breakfast that day, or that raw cannabis on an empty stomach would take her as high as smoking it.
Intended as a prank to scare her. He’d just assumed the raw leaf would be harmless, like a herb.

‘How far did you expect to get?’ Delaney asked the moment she hopped aboard.

‘Hi, Cassie,’ he said dejectedly. ‘Dress code’s slipping, I see.’ The only things that gave her away as a cop were the vehicle and a badge on her hip with the name Sergeant C. Delaney.

‘I was off-duty, you lunatic. Headed out to catch some waves until you wrecked my day. Selfish bastard. Why can’t you lay up sick until you’re better like any normal victim of crime? If you had anywhere left to bruise, I’d beat you up myself. Now shut up and swallow these.’

She opened her fist to reveal two large oblong tablets. Both white.

He blinked at them without moving. ‘Shouldn’t that be a choice between red and blue pills?’

‘Painkillers, you idiot. Ferry took an hour, so you’re at least that far from your last dose, and I’m not getting sued for denying medical care through your own stupidity. Now open your big gob, or I’ll find somewhere less enjoyable for them to get into your system.’

‘Police brutality, huh?’

‘In your case, bet your arse.’

She waved her badge at the curious ferry staff and other passengers, signalling them to back off and let Ben off first, just as her dog leapt into his lap.

‘Hey, Bam Bam.’ He rubbed the dog’s ears with his padded hands, while the little ball of fluff whined with worry and licked his face.

‘Down, boy. Take point,’ Cassie ordered. ‘Back to guarding the car.’ She took control of the wheelchair and pushed Ben ashore, while her dog ran ahead and chased a seagull off the aerial. ‘I know you’ve never really trusted the badge or uniform, Benny,’ she
whispered as they passed the next crowd of passengers. ‘And I know you’d rather burn off your ears than listen to me, but you need to hearken up for a change. For pity’s sake, take my advice and lie low for a while.’

‘Oh, really? So why aren’t you shipping me straight back to bed?’

‘Orders to the contrary. Are you well enough for the front seat, or do you need to be chauffeured?’

‘Chauffeured where?’

‘Best room on the island.’

‘Oh, great,’ he muttered, assuming she meant the local cell block. ‘If you’re arresting me as a public nuisance or whatever, you’ll have to roll me up into the back. My ankles are busted so I’m not getting up for anyone, short of Mira Chambers or the grim reaper.’

‘Is that the blind girl rumour has at your house a week ago?’

‘And is again, if I’m lucky.’

Delaney frowned and took him to the specially built lock-up section at the rear of the vehicle, where she used a ramp to roll him up gently as human cargo, then employed handcuffs and a cord to secure his wheelchair so it couldn’t roll during transit, leaving his woollen clubbed hands free.

‘Aren’t you supposed to read me my rights?’ he asked, miserably.

‘Yeah, sure. You’ve got the right to be stupid. Now shut up. You’ve stirred up another hornets’ nest.’

She slammed the door and locked it, promising a smooth ride, no more than thirty minutes — which confused him. The local station sat uphill within sight, barely two minutes by car around the corner, and the only smooth road long enough for a half-hour drive on the island went north to the little tourist town of Point Lookout.

Gabby led Mira inland at a fast pace, following Lockman’s instructions to stay off the wallaby trails as much as possible, while he circled around to check out their company; two fishermen in baggy clothes and sloppy hats which almost hid their weaponry and crew cuts — but not their behaviour — as they landed their small boat and headed all too cautiously in a straight line for the beach house.

Lockman recognised them at once, and worked his way around to intercept them at the beachside patio, where one had stopped in the garden to provide cover as his colleague crept up the steps.

‘Lost?’ he asked, surprising them both from behind. Weapons clapped at him as they spun about. ‘Easy, mates. Perimeter’s secure … Last I heard, you were playing cops ’n’ robbers, on stakeout in a rusty old Landcruiser.’

‘Last we heard, you had the girl,’ replied the thick-necked Sergeant Brette, relaxing his aim finally. ‘Where is she?’

‘Far from here.’

Lance Corporal Finnigan turned his back to peer through the glass door anyway, seemingly without noticing that Lockman hadn’t lowered his aim. A week ago, they’d needed to trust each other with their lives when they’d approached the house during the siege, but Lockman remained cautious as ever about them. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be her umbilical?’ Finnigan asked.

Lockman shrugged. ‘An umbilical is a leash that’s up to five times longer than it needs to be.’

‘Far from here. Got it,’ Brette said, as if that was enough for him. ‘So what’s with the phone calls from here? Anyone injured?’

He shrugged again, knowing they meant the call Gabby had made to the hospital to ask about Ben, but he didn’t know for sure if he could trust them. He
didn’t even dare trust his gut instinct that they were okay.

‘So why the telethon?’ Brette persisted. ‘Lasso said you dialled every hospital within an hour’s drive on the mainland.’

‘If the general is watching the house that closely, she should know why.’

‘Focused elsewhere, mate. You know how it is. Priorities.’

‘Still, it should be obvious. You all know what happened here, and you know Miss X had a relationship with the homeowner. I’m walking a fine line here, trying to stay in her good books so she’ll let me stay close, and I figure it might score me a few extra points if I can find out how his recovery’s coming along. Apparently he’s not where he’s supposed to be — I don’t suppose you lads happen to know anything?’

‘Not yet.’ Brette withdrew a slim headset from inside his fishing jacket and applied it to his ear, while clicking his fingers at Finnigan as a signal to hand his headset to Lockman. ‘Papa Bravo to Mama Bear. Site secure. Alpha Lima is here with a special request, over.’

‘With fries?’ asked Lasso from the other end of the connection.

‘A straight answer will do,’ Lockman replied flatly. He repeated what he needed, and a brief silence followed.

‘We’ll have to get back to you on that, Alpha Lima. Relocation requested by the occupants yesterday. And since then Romeo has gone walkabout in search of Juliet.’

‘Walkabout?’ Brette repeated. ‘The poor bastard can’t even stand up to take a piss.’

‘Return to grid and relieve the beta team,’ Lasso said without any further explanation, and then the line went dead.

‘You’ve gotta love that guy,’ Brette said, returning his headset to his pocket. ‘Personality of a beer fridge.’

‘Without the beer,’ Finnigan added. ‘Keep the headset, mate. It’s tight on me anyway.’

‘Might as well,’ Brette agreed. ‘Citizen now or not, if it wasn’t for the girl’s phobia with surveillance you’d have a full kit of your own, with a list of all today’s com-codes. No other way for Lasso to get back to you anyway, right?’

Lockman rolled the headset in his hands, knowing he should have given it straight back. Every headset could be tracked, and this time he couldn’t remove or disable that feature as he had with the device in Mira’s shades — at least not in the slim window of time he had or with the tools at hand. He could also use them to learn the whereabouts of Bennet Chiron.

He clapped Finnigan over the shoulder and gave a nod of thanks to Brette, wishing them both luck — and meaning it. Good shots and medics, the pair of them, despite their unfortunate knack for letting him get too close up their tailpipes. Lockman knew he still had a huge weakness too, but so far he’d been able to hide it from everyone except Mira.

Lockman dissolved back into the bush, leaving them to enter the house, as he knew they would. They had to verify the situation for themselves — while he took off southwest, using the same trail he’d used on the way in and laying a new one, before melding into the forest again. Then he turned north to catch up with Gabby and Mira.

Lasso placed his next call, rerouting to ensure it appeared to come from the Commissioner for Police in Brisbane.

‘Sergeant Delaney?’ he said as soon as the line connected. ‘What’s your position?’

‘Ten minutes from the hotel,’ she replied, turning down the Beach Boys
I get around
from her private collection.

‘Change of plans. You know a little place called Poacher’s Cove up there?’

‘You mean the condemned pier that’s now a reef? Yeah, I know it. Five minutes from here.’

‘Light the lamps and make it two, Sergeant. We need that pest off the street.’

‘At the pier? He’s in a wheelchair! It’s all mud, sand and mosquitoes out there.’

‘You’ll be met, and well taken care of.’

‘Am I not authorised to know what’s going on yet, sir? This is my island, after all, and my community at risk if anything goes haywire with whatever exercise you’ve got going on this afternoon. I don’t appreciate being forced to take the day off and then used as a taxi to —’

‘Update?’ Garland asked as she entered the covert command centre; a rented penthouse that overlooked most of Point Lookout.

Lasso terminated the call, making it appear as if he’d merely switched surveillance views of the street. ‘Nothing worth mentioning, ma’am. Pretty quiet all round, actually.’

Mira tried not to puff so hard, hoping Gabby wouldn’t hear her. For once, her legs ached more than her head, but she’d had plenty of practice escaping sighted pursuers, so she drew strength from her fears to keep her legs pumping. Fear of being caught, locked up and never being able to trade her life for Maddy’s. Despite any plans Lockman had in mind, there seemed no other way around it — no way for her to get a captive off a submarine without Garland lurking nearby with a hair trigger to blow it up or rain bullets down to ensure she neutralised her own problem finally.

At a fallen tree, Gabby came to an abrupt halt. ‘Climb on my back, honey. I’m ugly as a mule, but luckily as strong as one, oui? I’ll carry you.’

Shaking her head, Mira used the time to lean against the tree and catch her breath. ‘Don’t say that,’ she puffed. ‘You’re lovely.’

‘Oui, and you’re blind, sweetie. At least let me carry the joey.’

Mira hugged the pouch tighter, unable to bear the idea of parting with her tiny friend. ‘I’ve lost everyone else.’

Pockets wriggled — as she did whenever Lockman drew nearer.

Mira barely heard him this time.

‘You dropped this.’ Taking her hand, he slipped a small fold of paper into her palm.

Mira clasped it to her chest, recognising the crumpled slip of paper and feeling sick with guilt that she hadn’t noticed it missing — something as precious as Ben’s handwriting. And here was Lockman, of all people, giving it back to her.

‘You saved it for me?’ She couldn’t understand why. He’d seemed much keener to ensure she never thought about Ben again.

‘He’s your friend, Mira. I respect that, and I respect him. He went through hell, guarding your secret, and we both owe him for that.’

‘Am I missing something?’ Gabby asked.

Lockman let go of Mira’s hand. ‘Nothing you can’t guess for yourself. If it weren’t for him, she’d still be in a rubber room at Serenity. Here, take this.’

It took a second before Mira realised he was talking to Gabby.

‘A headset?’ Gabby asked. ‘What for?’

‘I need you to hang onto it. That “nice general” is assigning someone to track down Ben, and they’ll let you know when they find him. Your code name is
Alpha Lima, they’re Mama Bear, and that’s supposed to be a secure line, but don’t break radio silence for anything. Don’t even listen to any of their radio chatter or you could end up communicating with the enemy inadvertently. You’ll feel a slight buzz when the call is for you, much like a phone, okay?’

‘Mama Bear, oui? So who’s the daddy?’

‘That’s the billion dollar question of the year. It’s also why we need to part company here. Mira and I have to finish setting up a meeting, and hopefully an ambush, to help the authorities.’

‘What about those two big beefeaters at Ben’s place? Were they bad guys or friendlies?’

‘Friendlies, I hope. Still hard to tell, so don’t trust anybody. Not even General Garland, unless you’re looking her in the face so you can be sure it’s really her voice. That headset can be used to track every step you take, and if she can track you, so can the people who took off with Ben, okay?’

‘You want to use Gabby as a decoy?’ Mira complained. ‘No way! Get rid of it. I can find Ben by myself!’

‘Only if you don’t mind missing your chance to meet Kitching and retrieve Maddy.’

‘We’ve still got six hours for that, at least.’

‘And if Ben were still here on the island, I’d be the first to agree. I’d find a way to get to him, but you told us he left by a hospital bus. So why don’t you ask Gabby how many specialised medical transports like that are stationed here on Straddie?’

‘None,’ Gabby said. ‘If anyone here needs a medic in a hurry, they call the surf life savers club at main beach or the local police sergeant.’