Pay Dirt (12 page)

Been a long day, Tobin said,
closing his eyes and stretching. Reckon Ill sleep like a baby tonight. Give
us a call when teas ready.

A small table topped with green
linoleum had been left behind at the house. Wyatt dragged it to the centre of
the room, set it with the disposable plates and cutlery, and unfolded four
canvas and wood directors chairs. Like everything else, the chairs were chosen
for easy disposability.

He thought about Snyder. Wyatt never
judged whether or not he liked the people he teamed up with. He was interested
only in their skills and where the cracks were. Snyder hadnt made a good first
impression but once hed known what the job entailed hed put his mind to it.
Snyder was helping with the domestic work too. That mattered. It meant he knew
about teamwork. Somehow Wyatt didnt think they could expect that sort of
support from Tobin.

They ate at seven oclock. No one
felt inclined to do anything after that. They sensed the huge darkness and
silence outside, while here in the house the lamplight was too meagre to
encourage reading, card-playing or talk. They were all asleep by nine oclock
and no one moved until dawn on Tuesday.

They worked hard that day. While
Tobin made expert-looking road-closed signs from planks, beaten roofing iron
and tins of black and yellow paint, Wyatt helped Snyder paint the
breakdown-recovery truck pale blue, Bravas colours. The next day Tobin would
paint the black bull logo and the words
Brava Construction
on both
doors. It was clear that he had a good eye and a steady hand. The truck itself
was well-chosen. The tray was long and sturdy. The tailgate was easy to
operate, sloping nicely to the ground, and there was a powerful winch system.

At ten oclock Leah drove down the
track in the dusty utility. She wore jeans, shirt and scarf, and was carrying a
basket.

Wheres she off to? Tobin asked.

Every couple of days shes been
going to the short cut to pick wildflowers.

Tobin stared at Wyatt stolidly,
looking for the trick.

Shes checking if the local law
ever go down it, Wyatt explained. So far she hasnt seen anyone use it, not
even a local farmer, but we have to be sure.

He watched Tobin to see that he got
it. He knew it was important to take pains with Tobin. Tobin had a quick,
graceful body, as if he took pleasure in using it, but his mind was plodding.
What was worse, he seemed to know it.

Got you now, Tobin said.

He went back to slapping paint
around. After a while he said, She your bird?

Snyder heard him. He straightened up
next to the wheel hubs he was painting and said, Leave it, mate.

I was only asking. Tobin went back
to his painting. Soon he was whistling a Seekers tune badly.

Wyatt got their minds off it. The tarp,
he said. I misjudged the size.

Mustering lost credit, Tobin said, Looks
like the boss fucked up.

Wyatt frowned at Snyder, warning him
to stay out of it, then turned back to Tobin. One of us will have to go and
buy another one.

Theres a hardware in Vimy Ridge,
Tobin said. Plus I need toothpaste.

They watched each other guardedly.
Wyatt recognised the signs. Tobin was testing him, asking: do you trust me? If Wyatt
said that he couldnt go, the result could be resentment and trouble down the
track. Wyatt also knew that he shouldnt go in with Tobin. Tobin would think he
was being chaperoned.

They continued to watch each other.
Eventually Wyatt nodded. Okay. Go in after lunch. Leah will be back by then. Ill
give you some money.

They returned to their painting.
Leah reappeared at twelve-thirty and they stopped work to eat sandwiches and
drink cups of tea. At one oclock Tobin changed out of his paint-splashed
clothes and drove to Vimy Ridge, $500 of Wyatts money in his pocket. While
Wyatt finished painting the truck, Leah spread maps on the table to familiarise
herself with the local roads and Snyder took his big radio to the top of a hill
to do a band search.

Tobin returned at four oclock. He
gazed levelly at Wyatt as he got out of the utility, then reached into the back
of it and hauled out a tarpaulin. He laid it out on the grass. It was large and
new. All right? he said, looking at Wyatt again.

Perfect.

They worked until five-thirty. Tobin
finished the road-closed signs, then painted a couple of large Brava
Construction logos on the tarpaulin. While he did that, the others washed the
dirt off the Holden utility and painted it. At five-thirty, when Wyatt
announced a halt, Tobin produced his football. He kicked it around with Snyder
and Leah until darkness fell. Wyatt appeared to be watching from his chair on
the farmhouse verandah, but in fact he was watching only the images in his
head, looking at the Steelgard hit from all the angles. Dinner that night was
minestrone soup and spaghetti bolognese. Dessert was a question and answer
session to iron out wrinkles in the job.

* * * *

TWENTY-TWO

Letterman
hated the country. His suit was wrong, so were his shoes, and hed had to park
several kilometres short of the farm and go the rest of the way on foot. Hed
bought the car that morning, soon after Snyder had called him on the radio. It
was a clapped-out Valiant that had set him back $1900. He should have spent
another hundred and bought some suitable bush gear as well.

But hed found Wyatt. He climbed
through a wire fence and cut back across a paddock to the Valiant. A mistake,
he soon realised. The ground was full of traps for the kind of shoes he was
wearing. They slipped off the grass tussocks and twisted on concealed stones and
rabbit holes. Grass seeds hooked themselves to his socks and trousers. Now that
hed found Wyatt all he wanted to do was go back and wash the dirt off. He
badly needed a Quick-eze.

The only accommodation available in Vimy
Ridge had been an on-site caravan in the tourist park. Snyder had called him
there at one-thirty saying he only had a moment, he was supposed to be doing a
band search on his radio.

Where are you? Letterman had
wanted to know.

Were camped in this empty
farmhouse.

How the fuck am I supposed to find
you? I told you to come in and get me. I didnt give you that two thousand for
nothing.

Settle down. One of the others is
going in. You can follow him out here.

Wyatt?

Not Wyatt, a guy called Tobin.
Snyder described Tobin. Hes picking something up at the hardware. The same
ute that picked me up yesterday.

Ill find him.

I tell you what, Snyder said, its
a sweet job.

Letterman didnt care about the job.
As a concession to Snyder hed agreed to hit Wyatt when the job was over; what
he cared about was how easy Wyatt would be.

Tell me about Wyatt.

Hes hard to read. Hes all brain
and nerve reflexes. On Thursday I wouldnt try announcing myself if I were you.
Id just go in and pop him.

What about this Tobin bloke?

Hes a moron. Wyatts the only one
with a gun. Apart from me.

There had been a pause. Letterman
said, Apart from you. How did you get a gun?

Snyder had been cocky about it. Brought
it with me. What I do is I strip it and hide the parts with the radio gear so
no one knows what it is, then reassemble it later.

Very clever. I hope youre not
thinking of popping Wyatt. Hes strictly mine.

Its sort of insurance, Snyder
said. You know, in case a certain person decides he might try and get out of
paying me what he owes me, kind of thing.

Letterman had gestured irritably at
the wall of his caravan. Tell me about the farmhouse. I cant get too close
behind this Tobin character.

Stop when you come to a tin hut in
the corner of a paddock. The farms off to the right about three or four ks.
But we got a deal, you know. You dont pop Wyatt till after the job.

Shut up. All Ill be doing is
checking out the place. I have to know where to go on Thursday while youre out
doing the job.

You better time it right Thursday.
If Wyatt sees you hell kill you, no question. If he sees a car shouldnt be
there, he could jack it in.

Yeah, yeah, Letterman said. Listen,
what about the locals?

Youll be right, Snyder said. Its
the only farmhouse along there. Hed sniggered a little. Tell you what, you
could wear one of your suits. If you meet anyone on the road you could tell
them youre from the bank. Theyll think youve come to repossess and theyll
piss off and leave you alone. I like the grey one myself.

Letterman thought about Snyders
crack now as he stumbled across the paddock. Snyder would be the first to go,
no question.

After breaking radio transmission Letterman
had left the caravan and gone to look for Tobin. Hed picked up the big hoon at
the hardware place, waited while he made a phone call at the post office and
shopped at the Four Square supermarket, then settled in a kilometre behind him
on the road north from Vimy Ridge. They travelled on the bitumen for several
kilometres then turned onto a dirt road. Letterman had hated it. Tobins
utility stirred up thick dust so it was like driving through brown smoke and
clouds of it had poured in around the Valiants pissy door seals. Hed sneezed
and cursed and hoped to Christ he didnt have a head-on smash with someone
coming from the opposite direction.

Thirty minutes later hed thought hed
lost Tobin, but then he saw the tin-hut corner. A narrow, pitted track ran off
to the right of it. He had parked there and crossed the paddocks in his
unsuitable shoes and seen the farmhouse in the distance.

And now he was back at the Valiant,
his discomfort forgotten. By Thursday afternoon all this would be over.

* * * *

TWENTY-THREE

Wyatt
normally did nothing on the day before his big heists, but this one was
different. Hed never worked with this team before and, knowing what a killer
boredom could be, hed deliberately made the lead-up time short. When Wednesday
morning came, he still had plenty of things for them to do.

The most pressing was another
question and answer session. He wanted them fresh and rested for that. After
breakfast he gathered them at the table with maps, notebooks and cups of tea.
Leah, he noticed, looked calm. Snyders puffy face was creased with recent
sleep, but he sounded alert. Tobin had been difficult to wake. Hed held them
up for fifteen minutes while he got up and ate a bowl of breakfast cereal, and
now he was yawning repeatedly and asking, Could you run that past us again?

Wyatt took them step by step through
the job. When we leave here tomorrow morning I want the place to look unused
in case something goes wrong and we cant come back. I want everything to be
buried, prints wiped off every surface, dust spread around. It wont stop a
thorough search but there shouldnt be a thorough search if the place
looks
unused.
Even so, I dont want them uncovering the little thing that leads back to one
of us. I dont want them realising the scale behind this. If all goes well we
come back here again for a few days and clean up again when we finally leave.

Tobin yawned. Just a hassle if you
ask me.

Wyatt ignored him. At about
ten-forty-five we drive the ute and the truck across to the short cut and put
up a road-closed sign behind us.

Snyders eyes seemed to sink deeper
into his fleshy face and frown lines appeared above them. Lets hope no one
reports it to the local council.

Its temporary. We dont want
anyone using the short cut while were getting set up. Leah will be tailing the
van on the bike. When she calls to let us know the vans a few minutes away
from the turn-off, Ill go back and take the sign down.

Snyder nodded. Meanwhile I monitor
the radio in the van?

Correct

What about the Belcowie end of the
short cut?

You and Ill drive along it to
check theres no one around. If its clear, we place the second sign there at
the Belcowie end. If someone is on the road, we wait. If they look like being a
problem, I either call the whole thing off or remove the problem.

Tobin shot the air with his finger. Pow,
then chuck them in a ditch.

Wyatt said nothing. He looked
bleakly at Tobin until Tobin started to mutter and shift in his chair. Nothing
like that, Wyatt said. If some old geezers feeding his sheep on the road, we
tie him up till its over, nothing else.

It wasnt scruples or sentiment
behind his thinking. There would always be innocent bystanders in the wrong
place at the wrong time. What Wyatt cared about was the hue and cry that
followed a shooting. The cops were always more energetic when guns were
involved.

So weve cut off the road at both
ends, Snyder said. What then?

Tobin here parks the truck where
the road dips down into the creek and we hide the ute ready to box in the van.

You want me to help load?

When the time comes. Meanwhile youll
be monitoring the Steelgard frequency ready to jam it.