‘If it was anything tasty, the salties would have ripped into it by now.’Sliding his hands into his pockets, Stone stood beside Craig and said quietly, ‘I have a sneaky suspicion that the thieves came here to set up Raven.Living down the road and driving a van does make her an awfully convenient patsy.’
‘I agree.The thieves’ tracks run off that way…’ Craig pointed to the gap returning them back onto the main goat track.‘We need to follow them.’
‘I’m with you.But if the Duchess were here, she’d be demanding we get that bag first.’
‘You’re the crocodile wrangler, you go poke around.’Craig folded his arms over his chest.
‘I could strap you into the sling and lower you down from the chopper to give you a rodeo ride you’ll never forget.’
‘I’ve retired from rodeo, and isn’t the sling banned for a bit?’
‘For egg collecting.This is rubbish collecting.’Stone narrowed his eyes at the simple sports bag.‘Hang tight, I’ll get my fishing rod, and we’ll hook it out.’
Pretty soon they had fished out the gym bag, which landed on the ground with a thud.
‘According to Amara’s crash course on playing pretend police, one of us takes a video of the other one opening the bag for evidence.’Craig adjusted his hat while the bag drained of river water.
‘Maybe I should have brought Romy with us.She’d know how to videotape all the right angles.’With a figure that had all the right angles, too.He could just picture the pretty little filmmaker tucking her sandy-blonde hair neatly behind her ears, crouching in cargos tucked into boots, to start filming.Compact.Easy and fuss free.And if he was lucky, she’d peer up at him, showing her warm brown eyes, and smooth sun-kissed complexion, with that small, crescent-shaped scar on her chin.She was a woman who liked her stories, and he’d bet there was a story to that little scar, too.
‘Romy’s cute.’
She was more than cute, but Stone wasn’t going to admit that.
‘Romy isn’t one of your typical backpackers, is she?’Craig squinted at Stone, even though his eyes were shaded by his hat.‘That drone she had was state-of-the-art, and probably worth more than my ute.’
‘My crocodile leather boots are worth more than your ute, mate.’
‘You know what I mean.What is Romy’s story?’
Stone sighed, staring at the slow shifting river she’d love to film.‘Romy came out here to film a documentary, argued with her director, quit, and caught a lift with me.’
‘Where is she now?’
‘Sitting at home, keeping Finley company.’Even if Stone was tempted to check on Romy every five minutes, he had to remember she was just another backpacker who’d eventually leave.They always did.It’s why he liked backpackers—they came with short-term expiry dates to live their lives elsewhere.
‘You’re very calm about having strangers in your house like that.Izzy and I are still wary of anyone coming down the driveway.’
‘That’s understandable.’Because Craig’s wife had been kidnapped from their farmhouse a few months back.‘How is Izzy doing?’
‘Brilliant.’Craig even gave a goofy smile, like a man in love.‘She’s got her morning routine down pat, with plenty of clients and bees to keep her busy.My bee-queen is making her first lot of beeswax candles this week.And she’s mastered that security system you put in for us.Thanks for that.’
‘Least I could do.It’s your home, brother.
‘How do you know that security system?’
‘I have a thing for security systems.I’m always updating them and have that same system at home.’
‘Really?Didn’t peg you as a security conscious guy.’
‘Just because I have backpackers there, I’m not an idiot.I’ve got pet crocodiles to watch.’Stone may not have any social media accounts to kill time, but he did use his phone’s security app to check on his house pets regularly.
‘Izzy uses the security system app on her tablet to watch the quarantine animals from the couch when she’s having one of her brain fatigue days.She says it’s like watching a documentary.And she loves her documentaries.’
‘You don’t say.’Remembering how Romy told him documentaries catered to a select audience.Again, it made him wonder if Romy would branch out and do her own documentary.She seemed hesitant, with her eyes flaring with fear whenever he mentioned it.
Just thinking about her, Stone couldn’t help but scroll open his satphone and peek at home, just to check everything was okay.And it was.Romy had taken over the dining table with her camera and laptop, while Finley cruised underneath her.
‘So, I’ll do the filming, and you get to do the unveiling part.’
