Deadly Secrets Page 6

  ‘Come on,’ Madi told the others, ‘we’ll be moral support.’

  Reid watched Jordan re-enter the room, closely flanked by several friends. So she was little Miss Popularity, was she?

  She took the microphone and, he decided a moment later, sang like she spoke: with a touch of sexy that stirred something inside him he wanted desperately to ignore.

  He watched, helpless to do anything else until eventually he noted Martha’s speculative glance. Slightly embarrassed, he grinned lopsidedly. ‘She’s good.’

  ‘That she is.’

  He glanced around the room, found Brett watching Jordan on stage along with the rest of the room. When he caught his eye, Brett raised his brow and the slow shake of his head said, ‘tough gig’. If only he knew, Reid thought, but shrugged with a ‘What can you do?’ kind of smug amusement he knew he’d pay for later.

  Jordan finished the song with relief. She’d sworn to herself she wouldn’t so much as look in the direction of her probation officer while she was up there, but the temptation had been just too much. His expression had been unreadable, but his eyes had been so intent on her face at one point, that she’d almost forgotten the words. By the end of it, she couldn’t wait to get off stage.

  But just as she was about to head back to her friends, the sound of a bottle breaking had her stopping in her tracks.

  Forgetting all about Reid, she turned back to see David and a local truckie having a go at each other just in front of the stage. The truckie, Merv, staggered on his feet, pointing the jaggedly broken bottle threateningly at David.

  ‘You did that on purpose!’ he accused in a slurred voice.

  ‘Back off, you drunken idiot. You’re causing a scene.’

  Merv’s eyes popped. He blustered, ‘Like I give a shit. Apologise!’

  ‘That’ll do, Merv,’ Harry called out, appearing beside Merv while Reid moved across to cover David. ‘I think you’ve had enough. David, back off now, son.’

  Both men growled at each other but stepped away.

  Jordan rolled her eyes. So the probation officer wanted to play policeman, did he? Figures. Then, as David walked away, she saw Merv throw the broken bottle. She opened her mouth to warn him but Reid’s hand had already shot out, snatching the funnel only inches from David’s face. Then there was no time to detest the fact he’d gotten to play hero because, with a vicious growl, Merv launched himself at the now shaken David.

  With a running jump, Jordan leapt off the stage onto the large man’s back, sending him sprawling onto the floor. As people scrambled to get out of the way, Jordan pinned him, leaned over and, thinking quickly, whispered in his ear. After a stunned pause, Merv shook his head and, satisfied, Jordan climbed off and helped him to his feet.

  Harry put a hand on Merv’s shoulder. ‘I’m thinking you need to spend some time down at the station to cool off. Want to press charges, David?’

  David looked at Jordan, who shook her head. Still, he waited a beat. ‘Nah, forget it.’

  Merv rubbed his hand over his face and offered a hand. ‘Sorry man. You know.’

  David took it and, like magic, the crowd dispersed to their respective areas.

  Reid just stood there attempting to get his head around the fact that Jordan had just tackled a pissed-off drunk three times her size and weight, and no one seemed to think anything of it.

  ‘I owe ya!’ David called out to him. Reid shook his head — as much to clear it as to answer David.

  ‘Seems nice of you to let that go.’

  ‘The man just lost his wife. I’m happy to cut him some slack — this time.’

  ‘I see.’ He headed back to his table and noticed Jordan was already sprawled comfortably in his chair talking to Mary and Martha. Pulling around a seat from a nearby table, he sat down. Their eyes met, his considering, hers cautious. ‘Nice tackle.’

  Jordan shrugged, but her eyes danced. ‘Nice catch.’ Draining the last of her Coke, she stood. ‘I’m playing taxi, see you later.’ With a wave and a round of goodbyes, she caught Merv’s eye and they headed out into the parking lot.

  Martha watched Reid’s eyes follow her out and smiled to herself before she said, ‘Merv’s wife recently died very suddenly. He’s not taking it well. That “Michael” that Daisy was talking about is his son. They’re both acting out in their own ways, I suppose. Very sad.’

  Reid nodded thoughtfully. ‘Any idea what Jordan said to calm him down?’

  ‘She asked him if he thought his wife would have been proud of his behaviour and who was going to look after Michael while he sat in a cell. Now she’s giving him a ride home.’

  ‘Nice of her,’ he had to admit, and wished it wasn’t. It was too easy to forget who she was; what she’d done.

  Martha nodded with a meaningful look. ‘Jordy’s always doing things like that.’

  Reid knew he was being chastised, but kept the automatic retort in his mouth, and in the spirit of the evening, played along. ‘I guess we got off on the wrong foot.’

  Carol overheard his comment and laughed out loud. ‘I reckon that’s the understatement of the year.’

  Later, as Reid wandered out to his car, his thoughts turned back to Jordan. Harry hadn’t been kidding about the town’s protective attitude towards her. He decided that either she was incredibly good at fooling people or she’d turned her life around pretty sharply in the last couple of years.

  Another thought crept into his mind again, refusing to be ignored. There was that other possibility of course: not everything is black and white. What weren’t they telling him?

  CHAPTER

  5

  Jordan tipped a bucket of grain and chaff into Prima’s feedbin and gave the mare a quick pat. ‘Enjoy, sweetheart.’ She was pleased with how the mare was progressing, and knew Julie would be relieved next time she came out to see her.

  She picked up the other buckets at her feet. Three more horses to feed, two needed to be worked, stables had to be cleaned. She’d go into Joel’s shop around lunchtime, load up the truck for the feed run. Then she could get home and start on the cattle.

  The drone of a trailbike in the mountains behind her stopped her in her tracks. Damn it, this was the third morning in a row. And she’d seen bike tracks coming as far down as her back gate last week. The last thing she needed was the cattle spooked and running their weight off. It had to be kids using her trails instead of the state forest ones. And that meant they were cutting fences somewhere. Enough was enough.

  Two minutes later she was on the quad bike and speeding up the main fire trail. When she reached the general direction of the noise she turned off the engine to listen. She heard bird calls, and the breeze moving the leaves in the gum trees. But the bike sounds had stopped. All around her dappled light played over foliage, and nearby a brave little water dragon bobbed its head up and down at her from a fallen tree.

  It was always so lovely in the forest, and she couldn’t resist stepping off the quad to share space on the fallen tree, sending the little water dragon scampering for cover. She closed her eyes and absorbed it — breathed it in and forgot, for a full minute, about the world below.

  But as nice as it was, she reminded herself that there was no time to sit around up there today. She needed to keep moving or she’d never get into town in time to load the truck for Joel.

  From his hiding spot behind the ancient ghost gum he could almost touch her — just reach out a hand and stroke that lovely hair. He’d known she’d stop here. It was where she always came to sit, to think. She sighed gently, carelessly running a hand through her hair. She was so beautiful, so perfect. His angel. Maybe he should take her. Right now. The temptation to touch was so strong his hand reached out. Should he? Shouldn’t he?

  And then she rose from her position, climbed back onto the quad and headed back down the trail. He watched her go; smiled. It was right to wait. She would be worth it.

  Small-town dynamics were a law unto themselves, Reid decided with a frustrated shake of
his head. In the week since he’d gone to the club, he’d run checks on all of Jordan’s friends, then uselessly branched out. Everyone knew each other; most everyone had had dealings with everyone else. Disputes were solved in-house, land leases were traded for machinery loans, partnerships sprung up and were dissolved with cases of beer and handshakes, records of purchases, sales, trades and agreements were creative and generally scattered and incomplete. He pitied the local tax man, wondered how accountants in Whitewater Creek kept their sanity. All he’d wanted to do was research possible trails to people who could have the means and equipment to red flag them for his case. His head was spinning.

  So far all he’d really found was an interesting yet probably useless snippet on Joel Tanner, the so-called unofficial mayor of Whitewater Creek, a man with a perfectly clean record, barring an apprehended violence order against the late Sean Carter — the same Sean Carter who was killed in Jordan’s accident. Coincidence? He didn’t believe in it. Still, this was Whitewater Creek — anything was possible. He’d have to hope Brett was getting somewhere with his crowd because so far this investigation had gone absolutely nowhere. It wouldn’t hurt to have a casual chat with some of Jordan’s friends though. He stretched, rubbed the stiffness out of his neck, and decided he may as well start with Joel.

  Jordan was almost finished loading the truck for the delivery run. The McCauleys’ order was the last to load. She ran her eyes over the list: lucerne chaff, oats, scratch mix, pellets. She finished filling the pallet with the order, climbed back into the forklift and manoeuvered the pallet onto the back of the truck. Leaping out, she slid the feed bags into the tightly packed space. Now all she had to do was…

  She made to jump down just as Reid appeared in the exact spot she had intended on landing in. Unable to stop herself, she twisted mid-air and ended up falling straight into his arms.

  ‘Hi Jordan.’ His voice was quiet, his eyes suspiciously dark. ‘Should I be grateful you didn’t tackle me to the floor?’

  For several mortifying seconds she could do nothing but stare while her mind struggled uselessly with the command to shove that particular image back to somewhere it didn’t conjure up very dangerous fantasies. She knew he’d been referring to the incident with Merv, but his expression suggested his thoughts were now somewhere way more interesting. On top of that, too much of her was pressed against his hard body, his arms were cradling her as though she weighed nothing and her face was bare inches from his. Realising she was clutching his shoulders — his very strong, very large, shoulders — she quickly lifted her hands, then didn’t know what to do with them when he didn’t immediately release her. ‘If you could just…put me down?’

  ‘You sure? You sound a little unsteady.’

  And the bastard just had to point it out! Swearing silently at how utterly and completely she hated the universe, she pulled herself together. Sort of. She might not like him but what he did to her hormones was just plain criminal.

  She pushed at him and was immediately set back on her feet. She was unsteady, damn it. So she stood where he’d put her and took a couple of deep breaths. ‘I’m fine. You surprised me.’

  ‘I surprised you?’ Reid took a deep breath of his own. ‘I came to talk to Joel.’

  ‘He’s not here.’

  ‘You’re loading all this yourself ?’

  ‘Yes. Why?’ Jordan frowned as a thought dawned on her. ‘You want to check the truck? My bag? Perhaps you’d like to do a breath test?’

  He grinned, shook his head. ‘Settle down. I simply meant that it looks like a big job for one person.’

  She knew she was flustered, probably overreacting; she couldn’t help it. ‘Well you’ll have to forgive me for making assumptions. Keeping up with what’s going on in your head is next to impossible.’

  Humour danced in his eyes. ‘What’s really wrong, Jordan?’

  She took several head-clearing steps away. ‘I — you just…’ A sound of frustration escaped her throat. ‘Go away!’

  He chuckled. ‘Tell Joel I’ll catch up with him later. I’ll see you next week.’

  Reid needed something to think about; a lead, any lead. Because for the last few days the memory of Jordan being in his arms had been occupying way too much of his time. Just like it was when he struggled with a report he was working on. He swore in frustration at yet another disruption when his phone alerted him that he had a message. It was from Brett and he checked it, hoping for something. Anything.

  ‘We’re live at three.’ He smirked at the text. Brett did love his intrigue. He must have something worthwhile set up. He checked the time: nearly two. He’d head off, have a late lunch, then get over to Brett’s. Raking his hand through his hair, he stretched and headed for the door…almost colliding with someone entering the station.

  ‘Reid Tallon?’ the tall, silver-haired man in the expensive suit greeted pleasantly.

  ‘Yes. Can I help you?’

  ‘Judge Carter. Call me Hal.’ The man extended a hand and Reid shook it. ‘I was wondering if you could spare me a minute?’

  Reid’s first thought was ‘money’. The guy wore it like a bad attitude. And fingernails — Reid never met a man you could trust who had those sorts of perfectly manicured fingernails.

  ‘Certainly.’ He led Hal through to his office and watched him glance distastefully around the room before folding himself into a chair.

  ‘How are you settling in?’

  ‘Well thanks.’ Reid replied absently, reluctantly taking his own seat.

  ‘Good to hear, good to hear.’

  ‘What can I help you with, Hal?’ Reid assumed the guy hadn’t strolled in for a social visit.

  Hal took a moment, as though choosing his words carefully. ‘You’ve probably noticed, Reid, that this is a small town. Mostly everyone knows each other. I’ve been here close on sixty years now. I know just about everyone and everything that goes on.’

  ‘That right?’

  ‘I also have a strong interest in seeing this community protected; that it stays the sort of place people want to be to raise their families, run their businesses.’

  ‘Well, I can certainly understand that, Hal.’ What the hell is your point?

  ‘So when I see things going on…things that threaten that very nice image, I believe it’s my obligation to report it to the proper authorities.’

  ‘Well, Sergeant Steiner’s your man there, Hal.’

  ‘Oh, yes.’ Hal waved a hand dismissively. ‘But…I hear that while Neil’s away you’ve been put in charge of Jordan Windcroft’s probation.’

  Reid caught the gleam in the older man’s eye and felt himself tense. ‘That’s correct.’

  ‘Good, good. See…Harry’s a very good police officer, very dedicated. Problem is he’s…a little biased when it comes to Jordan.’

  Reid shifted in his seat, narrowed his gaze. ‘Go on.’

  ‘I’m not sure if you’re aware but the man Jordan killed in that drunken road trip of hers was my son, Sean.’

  ‘I’m sorry for your loss. It must have been very difficult.’

  ‘It continues to be difficult,’ he replied in a tone that just didn’t quite pull it off, ‘and it’s been made more difficult knowing that the woman who caused his death has never really had to pay for it. Now, when all this happened I expected Harry to be on side, prosecute — as he should have — to the full extent of the law. Instead, I find out he’s been in all the right ears and doing his level best to assist Jordan with leniency. Well, it wasn’t an easy time, but I took the high ground — made peace with the situation. At the end of the day it was an accident, albeit a preventable one.’

  ‘That’s very good of you, Hal. Though the way I heard it, Sean crossed onto the wrong side of the road and slammed into Jordan.’

  ‘Well, we’ll never really know how it happened, now, will we? The point is,’ he smoothly continued, ‘it just adds insult to injury when people whisper in my ear that Jordan’s not sticking to her side of the probation
bargain. That she’s still…dabbling, if you know what I mean.’

  Reid sat back, linked his fingers behind his head. ‘Why don’t you explain it to me?’

  Hal Carter’s visit made him late, so when he arrived at Brett’s small unit an hour later than planned, he was relieved to see a poker game still in full swing. Four men sat around a table, a small amount of cash in the middle. The strong smell of beer and cigarettes wafted from the front window.

  Reid’s appearance went unnoticed just long enough for him to take in the scene and get a good look at the men, before, at a staged curse from Brett, they jumped simultaneously to their feet and gathered up their belongings. Money was divided and Brett babbled an apology about ‘a fucking probation meeting’ before hurrying them out the door.

  ‘Gentlemen,’ Reid acknowledged as they shuffled past him uncomfortably. As the last one disappeared down the street, Reid looked enquiringly at Brett. ‘Nice crowd.’

  ‘You can say that again. Shit, I’m never going to get the stink out of this carpet. Bloody stoned fool dropped his beer all over the floor and took me twenty bucks.’

  ‘Stoned?’

  ‘Joints were out earlier. I invited them this afternoon because I wanted you to get a look at them, especially the one in the red tee.’

  ‘Skinny, nervy, mid-forties, stubble, mullet haircut, five-eleven, grey-brown hair, sunken brown eyes…’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, show off. Name’s Brian Dunmore. Got him to bragging at the pub last night about how he can get me as much first-grade meth as I like. I told him I was keen — hence the poker invitation. Weird bastard, cagey…you got a look at him, he’s on something. Beau Davison of the blue t-shirt’s spent a bit too much time on some heavy stuff too, I’d say. He’s pretty quiet ’til you stir him up, then he’s a mean bastard with a temper like a cut snake. Gary’s a harmless enough try-hard with some strange ideas and Jonno — don’t know — he barely said boo. None of that lot are transient either. They work for a guy named Hal Carter who lives just out of town past the Windcroft place.’